Board of Directors
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors for Financial Year 2020/2021 and Financial Year 2021/2022 as elected at My Community’s Annual General Meeting on 8th September 2019.
Jasper is the co-founder of fast-growing community organisation, My Community. He works closely with grassroots organisations, community groups, schools and corporate entities to develop inclusive and sustainable educational initiatives and heritage programmes to better connect Singaporeans with their built environment. As the President of My Community, he is involved in developing some of its landmark and award-winning carnivals and programmes such as the inaugural My Queenstown Festival in 2013 and its subsequent edition in 2015. Both editions attracted more than 30,000 participants.
In My Community’s early days, Jasper along with co-founder Kwek Li Yong, knocked on doors across the historic town of Queenstown with the goal of building up an archive of common man memories and artefacts. Their work raised the profile of Singapore’s first satellite estate and led to the development of history and community trails around the heritage-rich neighbourhood. This approach went on to influence heritage work conducted in other communities and estates in Singapore. Over the years, both co-founders also worked to grow a pool of passionate volunteers and enthusiasts in their bid to promote participatory and community-oriented heritage across the country.
Li Yong is an advocate for greater community involvement in cultural management and urban governance.
Working closely with grassroots organisations and residents, the heritage advocate researched and pieced together the Republic’s first community-driven conservation paper in 2013 which sought for the protection of key sites in Queenstown. Some of these buildings were subsequently conserved by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Queenstown went on to pick up the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Heritage Town Award in 2014. His portfolio of participatory-based works includes a comprehensive heritage blueprint featuring among other things, a network of community corners and gathering points such as the Museum @ My Queenstown which opened in December 2018.
In addition, he has researched and produced research assessments and reports on the Jurong Lake Gardens, Dakota Crescent, Tanglin Halt, Stirling Road and Pulau Ubin for government agencies such as NHB and the National Parks Board, as an independent heritage research consultant.
Kim Yen, a seasoned events organiser and grassroots leader, has 26 years of volunteering experience.
Having always had a heart for Queenstown, the neighbourhood of her youth, she felt a connection to My Community’s cause after volunteering as a guide for its Holland Village and Commonwealth heritage trail in 2015. Today, she is actively involved in the organisation of My Community’s museum activities and events.
Kim Yen strongly believes in the importance of documenting and preserving Queenstown’s history and collective memories as the heritage-rich estate is under constant threat of redevelopment and erasure in land-scarce Singapore.
Veena assists with secretarial work at My Community and co-leads its My Tiong Bahru heritage tour. She is also involved in its ongoing cultural mapping exercise at Tanglin Halt. Her interest in Singapore’s history and heritage stems from listening to her grandfather’s riveting stories of the past. She strongly believes in the importance of preserving such rich stories and keeping this intangible inheritance alive.
A full-time programme manager with the Caregivers Alliance Limited, Veena conducts training support for caregivers as well as Institutes of Higher Learning. She used to work as a correctional specialist at the Singapore Prison Service’s rehabilitation and reintegration division, and its psychological and correction rehabilitation division.
Jeremy, who is pursuing a concurrent Bachelors with Honours and Master’s degree in architecture at the National University of Singapore, is deeply passionate about architectural heritage and believes in community-centric design. He has produced housing master plan proposals for a rural housing complex in Northern Queensland, Australia, and for high density urban living in Singapore’s Greater Southern Waterfront area for the Housing and Development Board.
At My Community, he helms architectural documentation projects and contributes to its cultural mapping endeavours. As treasurer, he works with the organisation to safeguard its finances.
Lip Sin, a history aficionado and stalwart in the heritage community, manages My Community’s ever-growing stable of popular heritage tours. Working closely with the organisation’s large pool of passionate volunteer guides, he co-curates sharp, concise and captivating trails for the public. As My Community’s internal auditor, Lip Sin oversees governance matters and internal control processes at the organisation.
Lip Sin has chalked up a wealth of experience in research, editorial and production work during his time at the National University of Singapore, CNET Asia and Icfox. He currently works in the media industry.
Outside of My Community, Lip Sin lends his editorial voice and translation skills to cultural institutions and organisations such as the National Gallery of Singapore, the Tan Kah Kee Museum of Malaysia and heritage group All Things Bukit Brown. He is also a founding member of Pink Dot SG and amateur theatre group The ETCeteras.
Ci En, an active volunteer with My Community, loves the people of Queenstown as well as its built and living heritage. She co-leads one of three teams of cultural mappers conducting research and documentation work at Tanglin Halt – one of Singapore’s early public housing estates which will soon be demolished. She is also leading a team of volunteers to help Tanglin Halt residents, affected by the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, relocate to Dawson.
Ci En graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Studies from the National University of Singapore. She is currently a special education teacher.
Rachel is a volunteer guide with My Community where she conducts heritage tours to help Singaporeans and tourists discover more about the island’s early history and roots. Passionate about people, she is also an active volunteer at Assisi Hospice and a grassroots leader with the Commonwealth Residents’ Network.
She is currently the sales operation lead for the Singaporean branch of Micro Focus, a multinational software and information technology business. Prior to joining Micro Focus, Rachel chalked up more than 10 years of sales and operations experience working for leading technology and software multinational corporations such as IBM, Blackberry and Dell EMC.
Roy has been volunteering with My Community since 2017. He guides its My Tanglin Halt and My Dawson heritage tours, and organises school reunions around the Queenstown neighbourhood as part of the Museum @ My Queenstown programming calendar. His desire is to reconnect people to places. Outside of My Community, the oil and gas engineer is responsible for the financial well-being of various engineering projects. He also ensures expenditures are well documented and within budget.
