Society Staples Pte. Ltd. – Community Development Intern

It started off as a community project (Deaf Dragons) in 2012 – a full crew of Deaf paddlers using the sport of dragon boating to combat condescending attitudes of society towards Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). While the team achieved success in the sporting arena, the founders also uncovered a much bigger gap. The lack of awareness, education and opportunities for PWDs were clear limiting factors that restricted the progress of social inclusion.  

The same duo, Ryan Ng and Debra Lam, decided more needs to be done to address this gap. Their solution became a social enterprise outfit named Society Staples with an ambitious vision of creatinga more inclusive future for PWDs. By utilising a myriad of channels, the team facilitates social inclusion through awareness and advocacy works, community events as well as training and consultancy projects. Their strength lies in pushing the envelope on current solutions, experimenting and prototyping different ways to solve the most urgent needs and gaps in the disability sector.

Having done over 150 events and impacting the lives of more than 15,000 individuals from all walks of life, Society Staples has since grown from strength to strength. In recognition of their good work, the company has received prestigious awards such as ‘Best for Disabilities Social Inclusion Advocacy’ by Worldwide Business Review in 2018 and ‘President’s Challenge Social Enterprise Start-Up of the Year’ in 2015 among many others. 

The dream is for the company to fold because that would mean social inclusion has become so seamless and natural that there is no longer a demand for such solutions. Till then, Society Staples will continue to be at the forefront of advancing social inclusion, and the team is definitely onto something much bigger than its initial intention.