Amidst the jaded students brought up on ‘teach the test’ schooling, four Singaporean public school teachers (bent on expanding the horizons of youth to instill a sense of motivation to understand, act and empathize) founded The Thought Collective: a dynamic and engaging series of social enterprises, ranging from magazine publishing to restaurants, to a think tank to social innovation, consulting and of course, education. Capitalizing on popular English language programming to draw in students to their first initiative (School of Thought), the quartet created compelling class lessons that brought empathy and social awareness to the budding generation. The School of Thought has been continuously refined as more than just a socially responsible tuition program, to become more like a R&D unit for socially responsible education. From School of Thought came a current affairs magazine publishing arm called Think Tank Publishing, a social innovation trails arm called Thinkscape (that guides tours, not through tourist attractions, but journeying through some of the poorest areas that show grassroot narratives of Singapore), a socially conscious restaurant and coffee chain called Food For Thought and a social innovation consultancy called Common Ground. All five share the common goal of building the social capital of Singapore through social innovation, proving that with a little creativity, flexibility and determination, agency and activism can be restored to a people. Drop by for feel-good food at one of their three Food For Thought restaurants, each located on fertile ground for inspiration.
- Taste The Good Life : 1 Cluny Road (Singapore Botanical Garden)
- Share The Good Times : 93 Stamford Road (Natural Museum of Singapore)
- Fast Food For Thought : 8 Queen Street (Singapore Art Museum)