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Enduring friendships transcend borders and time. This was illustrated at SIF Connects! Jakarta, an event that was held in the Indonesian capital on 3 November 2022.

More than 200 people – including some SIF alumni from the 1990s – attended the event. They comprised the SIF’s partners, its programme alumni, members of the diplomatic community and Singaporeans based in Jakarta.

Mr Ibrahim Senen, SIF-ASEAN Student Fellow and Chairman of Indonesia Bright Foundation (IBF) said: “My peers and I participated in the Fellowship programme in 1994.

“Meeting everyone in person again felt like a warm homecoming. A lot has changed, but I continue to be inspired by the many new SIF initiatives in different parts of my country.” He was among about 30 Fellows who had taken part in SIF programmes in the 1990s.

Amidst networking at the event, some participants found opportunities for potential collaborations.

They include NGO partners in the SIF’s Our Better World network – Sumba Hospitality Foundation (SHF), which creates employment opportunities for Sumbamese youths through vocational training in hospitality, and Sisterhood Community Centre, which supports refugee women in Indonesia. They are working together to tap into common networks to enable Indonesian university students to design and implement mental health programmes for their beneficiaries.

Ms Redempta Tete Bato, Head of SHF said: “I am very grateful to the SIF for linking me up with a like-minded organisation that also seeks to advance mental health initiatives for its beneficiaries. SIF Connects! is a valuable platform for us to expand our networks and help us to make a greater social impact.”

Inspiration Factory Foundation, which educates underprivileged children to build on their self-esteem and IBF, which provides educational scholarships to disadvantaged students, also connected after the event. They are now exploring ways to provide higher education opportunities for children from underserved communities in Indonesia.

Some Indonesian alumni of the SIF’s Young Social Entrepreneurs (YSE) Global programme also showcased their social enterprise at the event. This included the sale of retail products made by the enterprise beneficiaries.

YSE Global 2016 alumnus Kama Batik, for instance, sold more than 130 products, comprising batik skirts, earrings, and hair scrunchies hand-made by unemployed women in need of support in Pekalongan, Indonesia.

Ms Novi Anathasia Purba, co-founder of Kama Batik, said: “We are happy that people resonated with the work of Kama Batik and supported our products. SIF Connects! Jakarta tonight also enabled us to meet more partners and collaborators. We are already in talks with people who would like to order more products and provide us with a batik showcase. Thank you, SIF!”

At the occasion, SIF Chairman Ong Keng Yong noted that the event was the eighth SIF Connects! in Indonesia since 2011. It also marked the 30^th year of collaboration between the SIF and the Indonesian community.

He said: “This affirms our commitment to keep the ties between both [Singapore and Indonesia] communities strong and enduring. Since 1992, we have collaborated on more than 100 projects and initiatives in six Indonesian cities. We have built strong partnerships and ties along the way, while uplifting lives at many levels of society together.”

SIF Connects! is a platform for the SIF to reconnect and renew relationships with programme alumni and Friends of Singapore. For more updates, visit SIF’s Facebook and LinkedIn.