Animal-loving boy will celebrate his birthday at The New Paper Courts Big Walk at S’pore Zoo
Kenneth Tan, who turns seven on Nov 28, is going to get a big birthday surprise.
His father, Mr Tan Say Yam, will be taking the boy to The New Paper Courts Big Walk.
Joining them will be Kenneth’s mother, his younger brother and the family’s domestic helper.
Mr Tan, 45, a stay-at-home dad, said he intended to share the news only days before the event.
“If I tell the boys now, they would get too excited and start pestering me by saying ‘I want to go now’,” he said.
This will be their first time taking part in the Big Walk as a family.
Kenneth, a Primary 1 pupil at Pathlight School, has an immense love for animals and nature. That is why Mr Tan feels it would be a perfect birthday celebration for his son.
Both Kenneth and his three-year-old brother, Daniel,love reading books like Animals (a children’s encyclopedia) and picture books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Mister Seahorse and The Mixed-Up Chameleon by author Eric Carle.
TOYS
The boys also own stuffed toys of their favourite animals such as the giraffe, zebra, bear, rhinoceros and penguin.
Kenneth has a zebra that never leaves his sight, while Daniel is always clinging to his bear.
Their mother, Madam Foo Sheh Ling, 43, an administrator, said: “We want them to see the animals that they read about in their books because seeing the animals in books and in real life is very different.
“It is important to foster the curiosity for nature and animals in them.”
Mr Tan said: “There used to be farms with a lot of cows, but Singapore is like a concrete jungle now.
“There is no real contact with the animals, and to be able to actually see them is rare.”
Kenneth loves going to the zoo. “Kenneth has been to the zoo so many times because he loves it so much,” said Mr Tan.
“Last year,we visited about five times, and this year, about three or four times.”
Madam Foo added: “They prefer being around greenery, places like the Singapore Botanic Gardens.”
Ms Jacqueline Pascual, 29, their domestic helper, will also be joining the family at the Big Walk.
She said: “When sir told me that he signed everyone up for the walk, I was very excited.”
