By: Noelle Hui
Did you know that every year, over 1500 students drop out of secondary school in Singapore? For the country with the world’s most powerful passport, this means that these young people had complex challenges that led them out of the classroom. Starfish Singapore is the grassroots non-profit bringing them back in.
For more than a decade, Starfish Singapore has worked with young people who left the traditional school system — not to put them back into a classroom as quickly as possible, but to rebuild something that has to come first: the sense that they’re worth investing in at all. Starfish Singapore offers a safe space for each individual and their unique journey.
The organisation’s foundation is one of consistency, presence, and a willingness to show up for these young people and empower them to dream differently.
“Starfish was conceived as a community project, a small group of people with the most sincere intention. Little did we know that the youths we helped, helped us, in return. The experiences serving our Starfishes in many ways challenged our own beliefs and attitudes, and with it, we experience self-growth” reflects Siti Yariyati, Starfish Co-founder and Board Chair.
That approach shows up in the numbers as much as the stories. Alumni rate their experience with Starfish an average of 4.8 out of 5 — a figure that’s less about satisfaction and more about trust rebuilt. In recent alumni surveys, the same words keep surfacing: youth who arrived feeling lost, and left with something closer to belonging.. A sense that they had a place, and people who expected them to stay in it.
“Given we are a small nonprofit with only 2 full time staff, my scope ranges from working directly with the youth, to doing up pitch decks, writing grant applications, working on our newsletters, processing claims and budgeting for the organisation! I am always thankful for mentors who are willing to guide me through the various aspects of my role “ says Kaamela Barvin, Partnerships and Communications Manager.
That’s the part of Starfish’s work that resists easy description — the slow, patient labor of convincing a young person to trust in an institution after being displaced once. It happens in small moments: showing up when you said you would, remembering details about someone’s life that no one else bothered to ask about, treating a setback as information instead of proof of failure.
And the volunteers that show up remind each young person that their dreams still matter, that their journey is unique and yes, people still believe in them. One deeply moving fact is that in 2025, more than 50% of the organisation’s volunteer engagement were “Starfish alumni” of the very same programs. They felt like it was time for them to give back.
“Having completed my N-levels has been a major milestone in understanding and giving hope to myself. Truly now I do believe that setbacks now such as failure, does not mean the end of the world but just a rebranded word for trying again and learning. So I will try my best down the line to support starfish and maybe one day I’ll be one of their donors” says Shadiz Irfan, Project Starfish batch of 2025.
Starfish calls itself a second chance. The organization would probably resist calling what it does “teaching” — but every young person who leaves believing they belong somewhere has learned something no classroom could have given them on its own.
Want to donate, volunteer or know more about Starfish Singapore? Find out more at https://starfishsingapore.org/ or drop us an email at hello@theonehourproject.com.
