CapitaLand codevelops its first kindergarten - CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten with the local community through participatory design
Supports inclusive and quality education through funding from CapitaLand Hope Foundation and Singapore-Vietnam partnerships
Singapore, 9 May 2018 – CapitaLand is leveraging its real estate expertise and engaging the local community through participatory design to codevelop its first kindergarten, CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten in Vietnam. CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten is the 28th school in the network of CapitaLand Hope Schools in China and Vietnam, and the third in Vietnam.
CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten is supported by CapitaLand’s philanthropic arm, CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), which contributed over S$215,000 to the construction and enhancement of the school with international non-government organisation World Vision and the Tien Lu District government.
CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten is currently the largest school in Le Xa commune, playing a significant role in the holistic development and education for about 350 students aged five and below, providing a safe and child-friendly environment for learning. With CHF’s support, the two-storey kindergarten now has 10 well-equipped classrooms, a teachers’ room, a meeting room, toilets, and the children will also get to enjoy a new playscape, courtyard, sensory wall and murals. Since phase one of the school was completed in late 2017, student enrolment rate at the kindergarten has increased 10% to 73%.
Mr Tan Seng Chai, CapitaLand’s Group Chief People Officer and Executive Director of CapitaLand Hope Foundation, who officiated the inauguration of CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten, said: “At CapitaLand, we are focused and strategic in our corporate philanthropy efforts - from the way we leverage our expertise to help the community, integrating the communities’ needs in the design of our buildings, to supporting underprivileged children’s needs through CapitaLand Hope Foundation. We have been combining CapitaLand’s extensive real estate design, development and master planning capabilities, with the collective efforts of our staff volunteers to build inclusive and sustainable communities across the world.”
“As we celebrated the inauguration of CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten, we also marked our 25th International Volunteer Expedition since we started this initiative more than 10 years ago. Through participatory design, we aim to empower the community to influence the development of the children’s education, and give them a greater sense of ownership in creating a better future for the next generation,” added Mr Tan.
Mr Chen Lian Pang, Chief Executive Officer, CapitaLand Vietnam said: “Vietnam is a key growth market for CapitaLand and we remain committed to contributing to the country’s urbanisation journey. We recognise that the long-term success of CapitaLand’s business is closely intertwined with the health and prosperity of the communities in which we operate. We seek to improve not just the economic, but also the environmental and social well-being of the community, in line with our credo ‘Building People. Building Communities.’. In total, our three CapitaLand Hope Schools in Vietnam provide quality education to about 650 students each year. Beyond building schools, we also aim to make a meaningful difference by giving time and attention to the children through our volunteer expeditions and programmes. I would like to express our sincere thanks to World Vision, Hung Yen Province and Tien Lu commune for their support in the construction of CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten.”
Better education through participatory design
With the aim to create a more inclusive school environment and improve the quality of education for children in the school, CapitaLand’s product and development experts joined faculty, researchers and students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Vietnam’s National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE), to research on the educational needs of Le Xa commune, the local climate and culture, for the school’s second phase of development.
These research findings were applied in the participatory design workshop jointly organised by CapitaLand with SUTD and NUCE in January 2018. At the workshop, new perspectives and ideas were generated together with the local community, students’ parents and teachers. After multiple iterations, the design prototypes were finally cocreated.
To bring these designs to life, CapitaLand brought together about 80 CapitaLand staff volunteers from markets such as China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam on CapitaLand’s biannual International Volunteer Expedition (IVE) from 1 to 8 May 2018 to volunteer at the kindergarten. CapitaLand also garnered support from Nippon Paint in the execution of these designs during the IVE, sponsoring paint towards the meaningful cause.
During the expedition, the following designs and amenities were created:
· Courtyard – To minimise water retention and flooding during the rainy season, the landscaping at the courtyard serves to provide proper drainage and further level the ground, offering a conducive shared space for the students, teachers and parents to interact.
· Murals - Depicting the story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and a local Vietnamese fable ‘Thousand Bamboo Knots’, these illustrations are painted on the walls of the school to not only provide a colourful learning environment, but to also aid the teachers’ efforts in storytelling and engaging the younger students. The murals are also painted with the students’ favourite colours.
· Playscape – To address the lack of a play area and offer a safe space for exploration and activities, a colourful playscape is artistically created using locally sourced recycled tyres and water barrels. The playground is modular in nature, to offer new forms of play that cater to a variety of ages.
· Sensory Wall - To promote interaction and encourage discovery amongst the students, a sensory wall featuring metal tins, pipes, pots and pans is created. The design elements seek to stimulate imagination and creativity, and is the first of its kind across the 28 CapitaLand Hope Schools.
CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten is the third Hope School in Vietnam after CapitaLand Nang Yen Primary Hope School in the Phu Tho District of Hanoi and CapitaLand Thạnh Phuoc Primary Hope School in the Long An District of Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam is CapitaLand’s third largest market for CapitaLand in Southeast Asia after Singapore and Malaysia, with S$1 billion worth of gross assets under management in Vietnam as of 31 March 2018. CapitaLand has 12 residential developments, one integrated development and 21 Ascott serviced residences with around 4,700 units, across seven cities in Vietnam.
Please refer to Annex A for quotes from a parent of a student and a teacher of CapitaLand Le Ha Hope Kindergarten, and representatives from SUTD and World Vision. The building of CapitaLand Le Xa Hope Kindergarten is the third time CapitaLand has adopted the participatory design methodology to create inclusive and meaningful designs for the community. For more about CapitaLand’s participatory design efforts, please see Annex B.