Community ​Engagement

Community Service Projects

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In a year punctuated with unprecedented COVID-19 restrictions, our staff and students did not stop short at reaching out to the community, albeit in a safe and responsible way. Here is a cross-section of our efforts, ranging from caring for the marginalised to promoting various social causes.

Reaching out to the Marginalised

• Unable to visit St Luke’s Hospital during the pandemic, students from the School of Business & Accountancy (BA) ComServe found alternative ways to spread festive cheer to its residents. They creatively put together a video montage filled with heart-felt well-wishes and a cheerful rendition of festive songs during National Day and Christmas, and delivered love gifts comprising goodie bags and hampers for its residents and staff. They also engaged virtually with the residents.
• The School of Engineering (SOE) organised its first virtual community service event for the residents of the Jamiyah Nursing Home (Darul Syifa) in March where staff and students folded origami fishes and wrote encouraging messages for distribution to 240 seniors. Participants also enjoyed a mini-workout activity and a sing-along session over Zoom.
  
• The Engineering Interest Group (EIG) from SOE came up with two social innovation ideas – a home monitoring system and a home-based reality orientation system – to build a more inclusive and compassionate society for those with dementia.
  

Love for Planet Earth

• ​As part of the National Parks Board’s (NParks) One Million Tree planting initiative, the School of Life Sciences & Technology (LSCT) staff members and students from the Landscape Design & Horticulture (LDH) course planted 300 native trees in Pulau Ubin.
• Together with the Public Utilities Board (PUB), marketing students from the Diploma of Business Studies (BS) developed a series of digital campaigns to educate young people on climate change and water scarcity. The campaigns, which included digital treasure hunts, were well-received.
• Forty-five students from the School of Design & Environment (DE), led by a team of lecturers, participated in the North West Community Development Council’s (CDC) upcycling design initiative.
• Under the Lively Places Programme supported by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), etc.lab, a community engagement platform under DE, collaborated with dot.club to create an installation made of recycled pallets called Urban Living Room at Tanjong Pagar. Members of the public were invited to co-create the installation by making macramé hanging planters and painting old furniture to transform the installation into a cosy nook for all to enjoy.

For a Good Cause

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  Mass Communication (MCM) students from the School of Film & Media Studies (FMS) launched two public campaigns for two different but equally worthy causes. One project spread the anti-drug message among the young through a social media campaign, while the other celebrated Singapore’s hawker culture (picture) through a series of mini-documentaries, podcasts and an Instagram magazine. The projects were supported by the Central Narcotics Bureau and National Heritage Board respectively. Both projects were covered in the local media.
• A group of Media Post-Production (MPP) diploma students highlighted the plight of low-income families through five videos which were made in collaboration with Beyond Social Services and screened on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
• The School of Health Sciences (HS) launched a programme to train vaccinators in response to the Ministry of Health’s need to increase its pool of COVID-19 vaccinators during the progressive rollout of the vaccination programme in Singapore. By the end of March 2021, 89 vaccinators had successfully completed the training.
• Students from the Arts Business Management (ABM)students from the School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HMS) marked the 10th edition of their signature event Verve with the launch of their first virtual arts festival in December. With the theme “TENacity”, the community arts festival showcased a collection of digital art and interactive multimedia works.
• School of InfoComm Technology (ICT) graduate Lucas Liao led a team in an initiative to help hawkers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) digitalise their services when their businesses were disrupted by the pandemic. They provided the service to 105 hawkers and 118 SMEs.
• LSCT partnered Chua Chu Kang Zone 7 Residents’ Committee and NParks’ Animals & Veterinary Service to promote responsible pet ownership through a series of webinars.
• ​Chinese Media & Communication (CMC) students developed a podcast series called Beyond Light which promoted social inclusion for the visually impaired and the deaf. The programme was featured on various MediaCorp platforms. They also curated a Chinese learning package comprising an animation video and game for Secondary 1 students called Breezlearner (picture), which was published in Singapore Press Holdings’ student publication, ​Comma​.

Service-Learning Projects

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With the advent of COVID-19, we quickly pivoted to eService-Learning to ensure that Service-Learning (S-L) can continue as part of our core curriculum to create a positive impact in the community. During the academic year 2020, we implemented 37 modules with eS-L across 31 diplomas.

• ​​In a collaboration with Soap Cycling Singapore and SG Accident Help Centre, our students who joined NP’s Civic Internship programme put together 200 packs containing upcycled soaps and other personal care items for migrant workers in Singapore. The students distributed the care packs to 50 workers temporarily residing in the vicinity of our campus while the remaining care packs were given to quarantined migrant workers.
• As part of their Service-Learning in Action (SLA) and Conventions & Events Management integrated project, students in BA’s Tourism & Resort Management (TRM) course created a series of Instagram campaigns for TOUCH Community Services to raise awareness on mental health conditions among youth.
• Banking & Finance (BF) students from BA collaborated with the Central Provident Fund Board (CPF) for its SLA module. The students conducted focus group discussions with volunteers and grassroots leaders to understand their challenges when engaging with the elderly on CPF retirement and estate planning matters. With the insights, CPF could develop suitable publicity materials for future engagements with the elderly.
• Students from the Diploma in Chinese Studies (CHS) course designed 12 online classes -​ from craft work to virtual tours - for more than 130 seniors from various senior activity centres. They did this as part of their first-year Service-Learning (S-L) and core module, Speech Communication in Chinese. The S-L element was first introduced to the module in the October 2019 semester.
• Accountancy (ACC) students worked with the ​Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) to conduct financial budgeting workshops for migrant domestic workers via the Zoom platform. The students helped the workers analyse their spending and saving trends and identify their financial goals so that they can better balance their expenses with their income.
• ​Our students were able to serve underserved communities in Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia, despite not being able to travel during the pandemic. In March 2021, 66 students from all NP schools participated in six pilot YEP-GO (Youth Expedition Project Goes Online) projects carried out with overseas partners. The students’ projects ranged from helping the overseas youths enhance their English communication and IT skills to discussing issues related to environment sustainability, mental and cyber wellness, all carried out remotely​.