The worldwide COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 threw a wrench in the works — border controls tightened, the economy shrunk, and livelihoods were affected. When we entered Circuit Breaker mode here in Singapore and movement was restricted, it felt as if there were 1,001 things we wanted to do yet we couldn’t. Get-togethers were put on hold and services were disrupted — IPL treatment being one of them.
It’s no secret that the year didn’t go according to plan for many of us.
But moping around wondering “what could’ve been” isn’t quite our style. Putting our heads together, we decided to embrace the new normal. Beginning with our 7th Anniversary on 7th September, we wanted to make 2020 better for those around us — at the very least, put a smile on someone else’s face.
With that in mind, we sought to grant wishes as part of our anniversary event!
At Japan IPL Express, we host a Free IPL Weekend every year. As tradition goes, we serve 100 free IPL Shots to as many customers as we can during this time.
In view of 2020 having been a rough year for everyone due to the pandemic, we dialed up the celebratory spirit by running a #WishToReality Instagram giveaway on top of the usual Free IPL Weekend. We kept the rules simple. All anyone had to do was tell us their wish on Instagram, and they stood a chance of having it come true! We encouraged participants to be as creative as they wanted to be — these wishes didn’t have to be IPL-related at all.
Between 24th August and 2nd September, all participants had to do to stand a chance at turning their #WishToReality was:
- Download a template and add in their wish
- Share the post on Instagram and tag @japaniplexpress and #JIPLWishToReality.
By the end of it, we granted the wishes of 8 lucky individuals, thereby fulfilling up to $17,777 worth of wishes. Choosing winners was tough because there were so many solid entries and deserving circumstances. In fact, we were so blown away by the entries that we decided to award 8 winners instead of 7 as we had originally set out to. After careful thought and consideration, we decided on recipients based on who we believed we’d be able to make the biggest impact on. One winner received the Lenovo IdeaPad S145 laptop for her daughter to do school work on, as well as 1,000 free IPL Shots to be used on any body area of her choosing. Another winner was awarded $3,000 to get braces for — in her own words — a confidence boost! You go girl.
It was heartening to see participants wanting to improve the livelihoods of loved ones: one winner received $1,000 to contribute her share of her dog’s veterinary bill; one mum got Mothercare E-Vouchers worth $200 to buy Jellycats for her daughters, while another mum was gifted $700 to buy two comfortable beds for her sons — there’s no denying the perks of a good night’s sleep!
Other winners received a nutritious Tian Wei lunch and dinner confinement package (worth $1,688), an iPad to practice drawing on, and a Sony a6400 E-Mount Camera with APS-C Sensor and 16-50mm power zoom lens. Self-care and self-improvement strongly resonate with us, and we wish these winners all the best in their personal development journey. Keep striving, and we believe you’ll achieve great things.
Amidst 2020’s whirlwind of events, we wanted to help ease struggles and make a difference in someone else’s life, even through granting the simplest requests. We believe that no dreams are too big or too small, and we are grateful for having had the chance to help some come true.
