Raffles Institution - ASEAN Social Innovations Programme

What Our Subject is About

Southeast Asia is the road towards a $1 trillion gross merchandise value economy by 2030 (Bain, Temasek, Google 2021). In anticipation of the rise of the digital economy, ASEAN Social Innovations Program (ASIP) is a remote-first cross border digital skills exposure program for driven youths. We partner with schools in ASEAN and deliver exploratory courses in User Experience (UX) research, User Interface (UI) design, low/no-code web development and digital marketing. We also curate remote internship opportunities with both Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and startups in the region. Students have the opportunity to learn and hone their digital skills to solve problems through a project of their choice as well as optional work experiences.

What We Do To Develop Students' Interest/Abilities

Beyond UI, UX, web-dev and digital marketing, the remote-first approach of the program prepare students for the future of work in a cross-cultural setting.

In 2021, Raffles students collaborated with students from Colegio de Letran de San Juan as well as Meridian International Business, Arts and Technology (or MINT) College over a month period to develop a digital solution to solve a social problem of their choice.

Some of the tools that students are exposed to include but not limited to Slack, Github, Miro, Webflow, Notion and Figma. While the tools may change rapidly, fundamentally students who go through the program get a better sense of how to rapidly deploy a minimum viable product using a no-code stack. They also learn to setup digital workspaces to collaborate synchronously and asynchronously.

Students are also exposed to emerging trends in the region through industry sharing throughout the program. In 2021, students heard from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), NUS Fintech Lab, InstaReM (a cross border payment solution), Grab and more. At the end of the program, students pitch the solutions to a panel of industry professionals and investors.

ASIP_KHMY JIP_groupPhoto

Sharing by Filipino professionals during January Induction Program 2019 – students learnt about comparative education analysis between Singapore and the Philippines, transport infrastructure as well as food and culture of the Philippines. Similar exposure will be offered through our program by engaging relevant professionals in various sectors

Speakers at our program are leaders with years of industry experience. We actively work to enable partnerships with schools in ASEAN to offer a cross cultural learning experience.

Who We Are

• Kahhow Lee, co-program owner

• Melvin Yeo, co-program owner

Prior to our teaching stint here in RI, we have both studied and interned overseas in cities such as London, New York, Jakarta and Manila across a range of sectors such as non-profits, finance and social enterprises. These experiences helped to guide the design of our program. We both enjoy working in organic, collaborative environments and to inspire curiosity and interest in ASEAN and the world.

What Our Students Say

“What really helped me was the UX/UI, I've been applying it to everything ever since. The presentations as well and pitch decks have been efficient.”

- Fiona Ortiz, student from MINT College who attended ASIP 2021

“I think I learnt about how these new skills can be used in real world contexts specifically, how they can be very effective once you’ve gotten basic foundations down.”

- Sarrah Rose, student from Raffles Institution who attended ASIP 2021