W
ithitsauraofold-worldcharm,
itiseasytofeellikeyouare
time-travellingbacktoaslowerway
oflifewhenyouspendanafternoon
ensconcedinRafflesSingapore,as
wedidforthiscovershoot.But,of
course,thewaywelivehastransformedimmenselysince
thisgrandedameopeneditsdoors 132 yearsago,andparents
tryingtofigureoutthebestwaytopreparetheirchildrenfor
theunknownfutureareacutelyawareofthemodernworld’s
ever-acceleratingpaceofchange.ElaineKim—motherto
threeboysagedeight,sixandtwo—isnoexception.
Infact,theresultofherpreoccupationwithimproving
earlychildhoodeducationisjustastone’sthrowawayfrom
ourphotoshootlocation.OveratthenearbyFunanmall,
Trehaus,abusinessco-foundedbyElainein2016,numbers
amongthetenantsofthenewlyreconceivedintegrated
development.Itstartedoutasaco-workingspacewith
childcareservicesandwaspartlyinspiredbyElaine’s
experienceasaworkingmum.“Spendingtimewithmy
childrenwassoprecioustome,andIwantedtocreatea
spacewhereyoucouldworkandstillhaveyourchildrenin
yourlife,”shesays.
NowrelocatedtoFunanfromitsformerOrchardRoad
location,Trehausstillhasworkspacesandacurated
playspacetoencouragequalityfamilybondingtime.Ithas
alsointroduceditslatestinnovation,TrehausSchool.This
SiliconValley-inspiredpreschoolandchildcarefocuses
notjustonimpartingacademicknowledge,butalsoaims
tohelpyoungchildrenacquireusefulskillsandinculcate
character-buildingvalues.
“Allmychildrenattendedtoppreschoolprogrammes,
andIfeltnoneofthesereallypreparedthemwell,”Elaine
sayscandidly.“Thingsinthissectorhavenotchangedfor
decades.Butgradesarenottheonlythingthatmatters.Soft
skillsandcharacter,theseareveryimportanttome.We
wanttobringupkidswhodon’tjustthinkaboutwhatthey
wanttodowhentheygrowup,buthowtheycanmakethe
worldbetter.Wewanttoraisechange-makers.”
TheeldestoftwochildrenborntodoctorBenNeo
andmemberofparliamentLilyNeo,Elainewasraisedto
rememberthat“ineverythingwedo,weshouldthinkabout
howtomakeapositiveimpactforothers”,shesays.“My
parentsdothatintheirlivesandwork,andthatstrongbelief
hasguidedallthethingsIdo.”Itinfluencedherchoiceof
specialisinginpalliativecareasadoctor,andisalsothe
reasonsheco-foundedCrib,asocialenterprisethataimsto
empowerfemaleentrepreneurs.
DEEP IMPACT
ELAINE KIM
Thisnon-profit’sphilanthropicarm,CribGivesBack,
raisesfundsfororganisationssuchasEmancipAction,which
aidsvictimsofsextrafficking;aswellasOperationHope
Foundation,whichhelpstheunderprivilegedindeveloping
countries.CribGivesBackcollaboratedwiththelatteron
HolidayForHope,asignatureinitiativethatsawdonors
travellingtoCambodiain 2018 todistributenecessitiesto
communitiesinneed.Elainebroughtherboyswithheron
thetrip,and“it’sbeensomeaningfultometobeableto
involvethem,andhelpthemseehowwecantrytomake
adifference”.
ThenextHolidayforHopetriptoNepaltakesplacein
November,andparticipantswillhelpcommunitiesstill
recoveringfromthe 2015 earthquake.Inthemeantime,Elaine
hopesthatTrehausSchool’sforward-thinking,future-proofing
modelwillflourishinSingapore,andperhapsevenexpand
beyondtheseshores.“Wehopetobringthistoasmany
peopleaswecan.Aneducationsystemthatteachestheright
valuesandskillsthatpreparechildrenforthefuture—that’s
thekindofimpactthatwilllastforgenerations.”“We want to
bring up kids who
don’t just think about
what they want to do
when they grow up,
but how they can
make the world
better. We want to
raise change-makers”
singapore tatler. october 2019 163