Category: Company Events

The year-end annual Christmas party is always a great chance for CPR employees to engage with each other and spread the holiday cheer. Our 2022 Christmas party took place on the evening of 5 December. From delicious bites to festive-themed activities, there was fun all round.   

We engaged in festive trivia by playing Christmas-themed quizzes and “guess the song” games, with F&B vouchers as prizes.  Our very own “Santa” and “Santarina” also distributed Christmas cookies and chilled juices to everyone.  

As part of the festivities, we also announced the winner of the “Xmas Ornament Ball Design Competition.” Using the materials provided in advance, our employees got their creative juices flowing as they sought to put their own spin in the design of their ornament balls. From whimsical and fancy designs to cute and intricate creations, we were certainly impressed with the artistic flair of our employees. The Top 10 designs were chosen through a voting process during the evening. The winners received attractive prizes and their ornament balls were chosen to be displayed in the office Christmas tree.  

Overall, our annual Christmas party rounded off the year perfectly and brought colleagues from different departments together for an evening of festive fun and merriment.  

In 2022, CPR reached a major milestone by turning 10! For 10 years, CPR has grown from strength to strength, thanks to the dedication and commitment of a strong team. To mark the momentous milestone, the Rec Club organized a series of special events including an Amazing Race team-building event and a 10^th anniversary dinner. A big thank you to the Rec Club for organizing the two successful events!  

A night to remember: Our 10^th Anniversary Dinner  

Held on 17 November 2022 at the JEN Singapore Tanglin, our 10^th anniversary dinner was a truly special evening. Attended by CPR employees, we had a wonderful time celebrating CPR’s accomplishments and milestones over the past decade.  

The dinner was aptly themed “Yokoso Japan” which means Welcome Japan. This is a nod to our roots, as CPR was established 10 years ago as a wholly-owned subsidiary of our Japanese parent company Chugai Pharmaceutical.  

Sporting smart casual or Japan-themed attire, we were treated to canapes and a delicious four-course dinner while enjoying music from a live band. The evening was filled with fun and games that included a lucky draw with amazing prizes, a Japan-themed photo booth and a quiz which tested everyone’s knowledge of how well they knew their colleagues. During this occasion, we also took the opportunity to hold an award ceremony to recognize the contributions of employees with 10 years of service.  

Teamwork and collaboration through our Amazing Race adventure  

On 23 September 2022, our employees turned up in full force for a day of camaraderie and teamwork. From the starting point at YMCA @ One Orchard, we divided into teams to compete to become the Amazing Race Grand Champion. Over 5 hours and covering a distance of 5km outdoors, we went to various Singapore landmarks in the city to solve a series of exciting tasks. The goal: to be the first team to reach the finishing location.  

At each landmark, we had to complete challenges such as Chapteh kicking and climbing around fort canning hill to find answer to get the clue for the next checkpoint. The day was packed with thrills and excitement as we raced to beat the clock and move on to the final location.  

Overall, we had an amazing time during this team bonding event and forged closer ties with our colleagues. Congratulations to the winning team and to everyone who participated who made our 10^th Anniversary Amazing Race a success!  

Congratulations to Sir David Lane on receiving the Honorary Citizen Award

We would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to CPR Chairman Sir David Lane on his conferment as an Honorary Citizen of Singapore.

The Honorary Citizen Award is conferred for life and is the highest form of recognition by Singapore’s government to foreigners who have made outstanding contributions to Singapore’s growth and development.

Sir David was recognised for his significant contributions to the development of biomedical sciences in Singapore. He received his award from Singapore President Mdm Halimah Yacob on 25 August 2022 at a ceremony at the Istana.

Over the past 15 years, Sir David has contributed profoundly to the research ecosystem in Singapore by helping to build R&D capabilities, set up key infrastructure, attract investments and recruit top R&D talent.

He is an Honorary Senior Fellow at A*STAR and its former Chief Scientist. He has held leadership positions at A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) where he led efforts to discover new biomedical knowledge to improve healthcare and therapeutic outcomes.

He also established A*STAR’s Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), now known as the Experimental Drug Development Centre(EDDC), where he spearheaded the development of research capabilities and cutting-edge technological platforms for drug discovery and screening. This led to notable successes including the placement of two promising drug candidates in clinical trials and a strong pipeline of drug discovery projects. As the former Chairman of A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), he steered the strategic direction of its research network.

Sir David has also played a key role in the landmark discovery of the p53 cancer gene in 1979. His expertise in this field led him to establish A*STAR’s p53 Laboratory, which uses p53 as the model system to research protein interactions and drug development to inhibit such interactions. Sir David was knighted in 2000 for his pioneering work and efforts in cancer research.

As Chairman of CPR, Sir David helps to drive the direction and focus of CPR so we can achieve new innovations in drug discovery. We are grateful for his insights and leadership in this arena.

Building team spirit through festive fun 

On 10 December 2021, CPR employees enjoyed an evening of festive fun as we celebrated Christmas through a virtual X’mas party. The occasion offered teams the opportunity to connect with each other and share memorable experiences.   

From an immersive perfume-making workshop to online games, CPR employees had an enjoyable time bonding over an entertaining evening as we commemorated our 9^th Anniversary on 30 July 2021.

Just one year shy of a decade, the CPR family has been growing in numbers over the years and our annual anniversary party has always provided employees with the chance to connect and have some fun outside of office hours.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we marked this highlight of CPR’s social calendar with a virtual celebration. This was a new-found way for our employees to connect with each other while keeping safe.

After an introduction to the evening’s activities by the Rec Club, we kicked off the evening with an online Perfume Making Workshop. To create our own personalised bottle of perfume, we first had to take an online personality test to see whether we were more inclined towards citrus, fresh, floral, woody or oriental scents. Armed with our individual DIY perfume-making kits, we then enjoyed the creative process of experimenting with various combination of fragrances from the range of essential oils available to create our signature scent. This was certainly a highly-interactive and engaging activity that got our creative juices flowing!

Following this, CPR Chairman Sir David Lane and Head of Translational Research Division  Tomoyuki Igawa delivered warm welcome speeches before we broke into separate groups for our respective team dinners. While it was not possible to have a physical meal together due to dine-in group size limits, we still had a great time bonding over our virtual meals and made use of food delivery vouchers to order our favourite foods.

Another highlight of the night’s activities was an online Bingo game. Amping up the fun factor, we engaged in a little bit of friendly competition to see who would be fastest to cross off the numbers on our board. The night was not complete without a lucky draw where 25 attractive prizes were up for grabs including shopping vouchers, staycation vouchers, electrical appliances and trendy gadgets.

We also celebrated project successes with a special screening of congratulatory video messages and introduced the new Rec Club committee members who would be organising upcoming company-wide events. The night ended with heartfelt closing remarks by CPR CEO Hideaki Shimada.

Keeping our employees happy and healthy is important to us! To promote a healthier lifestyle amongst our employees, our Wellness Club kickstarted the Fruits Day initiative in June 2020.

Throughout the year-long initiative, we provided free fruit packs to our employees so they could enjoy that extra dose of vitamins and nutrients at the workplace.

Why fruits? Fruits offer a bountiful of health benefits – they are great-tasting yet rich in nutrients. Besides being a source of natural energy, fruits have essential vitamins, minerals and fibre and contain health-boosting anti-oxidants. Consuming a diet that contains fruits may also help to prevent chronic diseases.

Check out the selection of fresh fruits our employees enjoyed throughout the year-long Fruits Day campaign.

Lastly, here are some fun fruit facts you may not know!

Apples, peaches and raspberries belong to the rose plant family!
A strawberry isn’t a “true” berry … but a banana is!
Apples give you more energy than coffee!

Kaizen (改善) means continuous improvement. It is a unique part of Japanese corporate culture where employees from all levels of an organisation proactively work together to bring about incremental improvements that will contribute to the organisation’s success. 

The Kaizen concept is embedded in CPR’s corporate values.  Every year, we hold an annual Kaizen presentation where employees present how they plan to implement this concept for the year ahead by making improvements within their team in their day-to-day operations.

Despite the pandemic situation, nothing stops us from getting together for our 8th Anniversary Party. A big THANK YOU to Recreation Club members’ great effort in organizing the event during these tough times!

The party began with building a Terrarium activity where many of our colleagues could participate with their kids. Great catch-ups during the dinner session as some of our colleagues are still working from home. The lucky draw was the highlight after dinner, with 20 prizes to be won which include trendy gadgets, electrical appliances, staycation, and vouchers.

On 9th January 2020, CPR has held an in-house project celebration.

The celebration started with an opening speech by our guest – Dr Hisafumi Okabe, the director and COO of CPR, and followed by the development story of the project by the Project Leaders.

Our yearly X’mas party was held at Mount Faber in celebration of our hard work and effort for 2019.