SIF’s Inaugural Bazaar for Good

29 April 2019

SIF’s Inaugural Bazaar for Good

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On Saturday, 6 April 2019, President Halimah Yacob, Patron of the Singapore International Foundation (SIF), launched the SIF’s inaugural Bazaar for Good (B4G). Held over that weekend at the National Library Board at Victoria Street, B4G brought together our Citizen Ambassadors and Friends of Singapore to showcase the positive social impact that can be achieved through cross-border collaborations between Singaporeans and members of the international community.

In line with the SIF’s mission, B4G sought to galvanise the public to pledge their support for a better world – one that is peaceful, inclusive, and offers opportunities for all. President Halimah Yacob, SIF’s Patron, made the first pledge at the launch ceremony. Over the weekend, 3813 pledges were collected. The pledging continues online at https://www.sif.org.sg/get-involved
President Halimah toured the Bazaar’s multimedia exhibition which was zoned by five focus areas of the SIF’s work. During the walkthrough, President Halimah met and engaged with Citizen Ambassadors such as (from left) Ms Kannigadevi Ravindran and Dr Nirmala Karuppiah who volunteer with the ECE Enhancement and Pedagogy Project in Mumbai, India. They have dedicated their time and talent to contribute to Singapore’s global citizenry efforts.
The inaugural B4G also celebrated the 10th anniversary of an SIF signature programme – the Young Social Entrepreneurs (YSE). Since 2010, the YSE programme has nurtured a network of 1,000 youth with innovative business ideas focused on social good. As part of its year-long celebration, the SIF invited 15 social enterprises – including YSE alumni and partners from Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia – to showcase their social causes at the Bazaar. These inspiring social enterprises shared about their work and offered a range of food, drinks, wellness, and lifestyle products.
Besides showcasing their products and services, several of the social enterprises at the Bazaar took the opportunity to run workshops to raise awareness about the work they do. Project Nomad (founder Nasrul in green) conducted leather craft making workshops over the two days.
Another YSE alumni – Praxium – also conducted T-shirt Silkscreen Printing workshops for youth aged 10-16 to communicate how a simple skill like this can be extremely useful in preparing them for the uncertain future, and possibly even help them discover what career aspirations they might actually have.
The Bazaar also featured music performances by inclusive ensembles, including these group of performers comprising children of mixed abilities from Drum Prodigy Singapore.
Conducted by Playeum – headed by an SIF Arts for Good Fellow – this creative toymaking activity encouraged the young and young at heart to create their own masterpieces of art using creativity, artistic touch and ideas all with recycled materials.
Visitors to the Bazaar were also able to participate in an immersive Virtual Reality experience into the world of those differently abled conducted by Our Better World, the SIF’s digital storytelling platform.
Citizen Ambassadors, such as this student, who have been on the SIF’s Water for Life programme in Cambodia explained to members of the public how Bio-Sand Filters – a key part of the clean water programme – works.
A mockup of the SIF’s direct service literary programme in Indonesia and Vietnam – Words on Wheels – was also used by social enterprise Society Staples to conduct sign language workshops.