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Students sharing handmade cardboard bear models with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the Future YOUth Charter Launch
National youth platform · Singapore · 2025

Future YOUth
Charter Launch

Student ideas moved from the Fablab to a national stage—using cardboard, public storytelling, and collaborative making to give youth aspirations visible form.

01 · Story

Youth ideas, made impossible to overlook.

The Future YOUth Charter created a public platform for young people to respond to mental health, racial and religious harmony, sustainability, and stronger communities.

For the launch at Ngee Ann City on 1 March 2025, Singapore Polytechnic students translated those themes into a physical environment of low-poly cardboard sculptures, furniture, signs, and small bear characters.

The centrepiece was an SG60 bear holding a heart: a warm, recognisable figure built at an architectural scale. It gave the student team a natural meeting point for conversations with visitors, community leaders, and the media.

WHEN1 March 2025
WHERENgee Ann City
PLATFORMPeople’s Association Youth Movement
The Straits Times report showing Prime Minister Lawrence Wong meeting students beside the cardboard bear
The Straits Times documented the launch and the students’ meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Excerpt from The Straits Times describing the FutureYouth campaign and community issues
Media coverage placed the project within a wider national conversation about issues young people care about.
The Future of Youth exhibition panel presenting themes and activities across the event
The event panel mapped the charter themes, youth proposals, and public activities.
02 · Design

Prototype the pieces before building the environment.

Dimensions, structural tests, surface finishes, and identity details turned early cardboard studies into event-ready objects.

Dimensioned cardboard table and stool prototypes marked 80, 70, 50, and 40 centimetres
Full-scale dimensions established comfortable heights for the table and stools.
Plain cardboard table and stool prototypes assembled in the Fablab
Unfinished furniture prototypes tested structure, proportion, and assembly.
Completed cardboard table and stools finished with red-and-white grid patterns
Printed surfaces transformed the structural prototypes into event-ready furniture.
Close view of the layered red SG60 heart sign before installation
Layered lettering and a red heart gave the bear a clear SG60 identity.
03 · Build

A friendly giant emerges from flat cardboard.

The team moved between scale references, structural trials, full-size assembly, and finishing—keeping the low-poly construction visible as part of the character.

Completed low-poly cardboard bear holding an SG60 heart inside the Fablab
The first completed SG60 bear established the scale, pose, and low-poly visual language.
01 · CHARACTER

Make the message approachable.

The bear held a large SG60 heart while its faceted cardboard form kept the fabrication process legible. A familiar character softened the scale and invited visitors closer.

02 · SYSTEM

Design every object as part of one family.

Furniture, arches, signs, and smaller bears repeated the same material and geometric language, allowing separate student contributions to read as one environment.

04 · Delivery

Monumental cardboard still has to fit through a door.

Transport references, staged components, loading sequences, and on-site reassembly were essential parts of delivering the installation safely.

Reference collage showing previous large cardboard bears being packed and transported
Earlier installations provided practical references for packing and moving oversized bear sculptures.
Yellow 24-foot lorry considered for transporting the installation
A 24-foot lorry provided the carrying capacity required for the largest pieces.
Large cardboard bear body parts staged in a corridor at Ngee Ann City
Bear components arrived separately and were staged for final assembly on site.
Delivery truck open beside Ngee Ann City during installation move-in
The delivery truck positioned beside the venue for move-in.
A large bear section being removed from the rear of the delivery truck
Oversized bear sections were carefully unloaded by hand.
Completed SG60 bear installed inside the Future YOUth event tent
The reassembled bear in position before visitors entered the event.
05 · Launch

The build became a platform for conversation.

Students presented their work, met national and community leaders, and saw their fabrication become part of a larger public discussion.

Singapore Polytechnic student team standing with the completed SG60 bear and PAYM display
The student team with the completed centrepiece at the Future YOUth Charter Launch.
Fabrication team gathered beside the SG60 bear holding red heart signs
The fabrication team celebrates the completed public installation.
Students presenting handmade cardboard models to national leaders and the media
Students explain their ideas and handmade models to leaders and members of the media.
Student team taking a celebratory selfie beside the large cardboard bear
A student-team selfie captures the energy behind the public-facing work.
Singapore Polytechnic student maker seated at the Future YOUth event
One of the student makers representing Singapore Polytechnic at the launch.
Students and guests gathered in front of the SG60 cardboard bear installation
Students and guests gather around the bear as a shared symbol for the event.
Completed SG60 cardboard bear displayed with a large red heart
The finished bear on the green event floor, ready to welcome visitors.
Project team posing with SP and PAYM letters at the Future of Youth installation
The project team marks the launch beneath the completed Future of Youth display.
Supporting record

Details around the main build.

Visual references, furniture in use, and a pre-move team photograph complete the project record.

Collage of earlier Singapore Polytechnic cardboard bear installations
Earlier bear projects informed the scale, construction, and public presence of the new centrepiece.
Visitors gathering around circular cardboard tables and stools at the launch
The completed cardboard furniture in use as an informal gathering space.
Project team posing with the bear installation before transport to the event
The team with the assembled bear and smaller characters before move-in.