Community Development & Social Equity
Community Development & Social Equity
Ongoing projects starting in AY26/27
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Project SAH-bah
Project SAH-bah
The Seventurers
The issue our group is addressing is the Bajau Laut community’s difficulty in citizenship documentation due to their own lack thereof and the community’s stigma against the confusing and troublesome process. We are partnering with the Borneo Komrad which functions as an "alternative university" model focused on cultivating local leadership and self-advocacy. Rather than relying on external figures, it trains local youth from within the community to become educators and leaders.Our group aims to help stateless pregnant women have proper access to information and resources in order for them to register their baby for a birth certificate upon the baby's birth. We aim to do this by collaborating with Borneo Konrad and Universiti Alternatif in order to first gather information about the birth certificate registration process, secondly create an audiovisual booklet guiding readers through the birth certification process, and lastly disseminating the booklet through workshops or other means. While our target audience will mainly be the stateless pregnant women of the Bajau community, we are also looking for opportunities to expand the target audience if time and resources allow.The Seventurers
Project Country: Malaysia
Project Supervisor: Dr Ng Keng Khoon
Group Ref: 26ADKK04R
Built By Us
Built By Us
Built By Us
Migrant construction workers are an integral part of Singapore's development. However, economic, social and structural factors have placed them in a precarious position where they are dependent on their employers for their livelihood and well-being. Their vulnerability has thus led to their exploitation by employers. Despite the severity of the issue, advocacy has been insufficient due to Singaporean citizens’ limited knowledge of it.We plan to work together with The Good Neighbour to plan five sessions with the migrant construction workers at Sojourn Care Centre, to both accompany them and learn more about their situation. After these sessions, we will use what we have learnt to create a board game. The board game will be catered to Singaporean youths, and would educate them more about this problem. Ultimately, we hope it generates greater sympathy for the workers among youth, enticing them to advocate more for the workers’ rights and improve their situation. Built By Us
Project Country: Singapore
Project Supervisor: Dr Leung Wing Sze
Group Ref: 26ADWS02
Notes to Remember
Notes to Remember
Notes to Remember
An estimated 1 in 10 people in Singapore aged 60 and above have dementia. With Singapore as one of the fastest ageing societies in the world, people living with dementia (PLWD) will only increase in number. Dementia has a significant negative impact on the wellbeing and quality of life of both PLWD and caregivers, where PLWD undergo a loss of cognitive abilities, physical functions, and agency, and caregivers face the risk of burnout. To address this, our project is partnering with Dementia Singapore to conduct a series of music and crafts workshops.In these workshops, we plan to engage with PLWD to identify and record a song or audio clip that is meaningful to them (e.g., familiar childhood music), which will then be transformed into a physical keepsake in the form of a music box. In the crafts workshops, PLWD and caregivers will be provided material to decorate their boxes, allowing space for participants to express their creativity and individuality. We hope the sessions will engage PLWD and bring some relief to caregivers in the short run, and in the long run aid in slowing the decline of PLWDs' cognitive functions by promoting emotional wellbeing and preserving motor skills. Notes to Remember
Project Country: Singapore
Project Supervisor: Dr Chand Somaiah
Group Ref: 26CCCS01
Empowering Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore
Empowering Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore
AURA
We are AURA, a team of six Year 2 students from six majors — AI & Statistics, Psychology, Economics & Mathematics, Business Analytics, Data Science & Economics with Art History, and Robotics & Machine Intelligence. We aim to emphasize Migrant Domestic Workers’ (MDWs) well-being. Our name captures our mission: Articulate unaddressed needs, Uphold strong social networks and skills building, Recognize the dignity of MDWs and Activate their agency.We propose to work with We Are Caring, organizing a series of workshops that not only provides the MDWs with relaxations, but also strengthens the sense of community among them. We aim to use these workshops as opportunities for mutual cultural communications between us, them, their peers, and even their households.AURA
Project Country: Singapore
Project Supervisor: Dr Chand Somaiah
Group Ref: 26CCCS02
Employ to Empower
Employ to Empower
Yahti's Yodelers
Our project aims to improve employment opportunities for rough sleepers by developing a job database in partnership with HHOS. Through conversations with Derek Lim, the volunteer head at HHOS, we found that there remains a significant gap in addressing employment opportunities for rough sleepers. Many rely on contract or daily-wage work and face distinct barriers to securing jobs. As many beneficiaries are older adults, navigating mainstream recruitment platforms such as FastJobs may be challenging due to limited digital literacy, lack of resumes or missing supporting documents. They also require roles aligned with immediate income urgency, and the need for jobs that match their physical abilities and accessibility.To address this, we are developing a centralised database curated for these ground realities. Volunteers from HHOS will be able to quickly filter vacancies based on parameters such as job duration, location, transport accessibility, physical demands, meal provision and payment frequency before recommending suitable opportunities to beneficiaries. A key objective of our project is to establish long-term hiring partnerships with corporations (MNCs and SMEs) across sectors to provide sustainable employment opportunities and training opportunities for rough sleepers. Yahti's Yodelers
Project Country: Singapore
Project Supervisor: Dr Nurhidayahti
Group Ref: 26CCNM01
Supporting Rough Sleepers’ Hygiene
Supporting Rough Sleepers’ Hygiene
Hygiene Hominids
Hygiene Hominids aims to increase access to hygiene for rough sleepers in Singapore. Through our partnership with Homeless Hearts of Singapore (HHOS), a homeless and rough sleeper befriending group that operates across various neighbourhoods in Singapore, and direct engagement with rough sleepers during outreach sessions, we identified challenges relating to their access to affordable laundry services and information about available hygiene amenities. To address these issues, we intend to pilot a laundromat token programme to subsidise laundry costs and collaborate with rough sleepers to set up a hygiene resource database that maps amenities such as laundromats, public washrooms, showers, and water refill points. These interventions are designed to empower rough sleepers to maintain more regular personal hygiene while increasing awareness of existing community resources. By lowering barriers to accessing hygiene resources, our project hopes to improve rough sleepers' dignity, well-being, and ability to make informed decisions about their hygiene needs. Hygiene Hominids
Project Country: Singapore
Project Supervisor: Dr Nurhidayahti
Group Ref: 26CCNM03
Project Elephants
Project Elephants
Ecoelephants
Karen Elephant Home is an ethical elephant sanctuary in Mae Wang, Northern Thailand, founded by Mr Kriengkrai to provide high standards of welfare for elephants while supporting livelihoods within the surrounding Karen village. However, declining tourism, the sanctuary’s remote location and limited online visibility have constrained visitor numbers and revenue, threatening the long-term sustainability of its welfare-focused model.In partnership with Mr Kriengkrai, our project aims to strengthen the sanctuary’s financial sustainability through two key workstreams. First, we will improve the production of elephant-dung souvenirs by introducing more efficient processing equipment and developing 3D-moulded, portable products that can eventually be marketed beyond visitors to the sanctuary. Second, we will strengthen the sanctuary’s digital presence through website improvements, search engine optimisation, social media branding and direct communication channels.We aim to increase average monthly paying visitors from approximately 10 to 125, website traffic from around 200 to 1,000 monthly visits, and social media followers from approximately 19,000 to 50,000. Beyond supporting Kriengkrai and his elephants, increased revenue and visitor activity can benefit local mahouts, drivers, vendors and shopkeepers, while promoting ethical elephant tourism and Karen culture.Ecoelephants
Project Country: Thailand
Project Supervisor: A/P Peter Vail
Group Ref: 26CCPV01R
Project TBC (Rohingya Women)
Project TBC (Rohingya Women)
Project
Our project empowers a Rohingya women-led organization in Malaysia by collaboratively developing safe, sustainable marketing channels for their traditional crafts. We will engage the community through asset mapping, co-creating ethical brand narratives, and building a safe space for them to sell such as pop-up markets and a digital storefront. The primary envisioned outcome is a self-sustaining, community-owned social enterprise. Through a structured mentorship model, we will transfer digital, financial, and marketing skills to Rohingya youth. This idea aims to increase artisan income by 20-30%, to strengthen their economic resilience.Project
Project Country: Malaysia
Project Supervisor: Dr Tan Sok Teng
Group Ref: 26CCST01R
Project Sampaginto: Mitigating Rural Vulnerability
Project Sampaginto: Mitigating Rural Vulnerability
Team Sampaginto
In Bololmala, South Cotabato, Philippines, the Blaan tribe, an indigenous community, has traditionally relied upon small-scale subsistence farming as a source of livelihood. However, the continual uncertainty climate and economic shocks have introduced into farming’s viability, as well as the more economically stable prospects in major cities has driven migration of youths out of Bololmala, and out of the Blaan tribe. Hence, the Blaan tribe faces the threat of a potentially aging community unable to preserve its traditional practices and customs through intergenerational sharing, as more youths emigrate for better opportunities.As such, our project aims to work with the Bololmala community to preserve the Blaan traditions and diversify economic opportunities. This will be done through the conducting of mini-bamboo bootcamps for local artisans to empower the community to utilise bamboo as a source of income via its use as a building material. Additionally, use of bamboo will also be exercised to construct a mushroom farm and a community event hub. We hope that the event hub will be able to serve as a space for cultural preservation through the sharing of practices, as well as an economic growth through its use as a marketplace.Team Sampaginto
Project Country: The Philippines
Project Supervisor: Dr Julius Bautista
Group Ref: 26STJB02R
Stray Dog Welfare in Laos
Stray Dog Welfare in Laos
Project ROAM
Booming economic opportunities in plastic and textile industries in Cigondewah resulted in environmental pollution, degradation of community spirit and cohesiveness, and overnarrowing of prospective career routes for future generations. This project aims to address the crux of the issue: lack of inspiration to pursue other dreams and career options.We intend to engage primarily with the teenagers within the Cigondewah community, as well as establish partnerships with other secondary stakeholders. The medium of our engagements will primarily be through workshopping with them, centred on these three themes: Waste Management, Nutrition and Entrepreneurship. Through these themes, we will like to tie it to the overall narrative of empowering the future generation of Cigondewah to translate their dreams of revitalising Cigondewah, a plastic-ridden kampung with little variety of job prospects, inspiring them as key players in the future to make a economically vibrant, eco-harmonious Cigondewah into a reality. Project ROAM
Project Country: Laos
Project Supervisor: A/P Louis Ng
Group Ref: 26ADLN03R
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