Pro bono photo service for underprivileged groups in S’pore among award-winning youth initiatives

(From left) Rachel Goh, 23, and Ethan Tan, 22, co-founders of Project Obscura, which won the Communities for Good (Groundup) award at the President’s Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards 2026.

Published Oct 08, 2026, 04:20 PM

Updated Oct 08, 2026, 04:20 PM

Project Obscura won the PVPA 2026 Communities for Good (Groundup) award for free photo work for charities and needy groups.

The student group began in 2022, won trust slowly, and has now covered over 170 events with more than 330 volunteers.

Youth winners also included the founders of giveinstead.sg, which raised funds for charitable causes, and BrightGuides, which gave free tuition to help low-income students.

SINGAPORE - An ovarian cancer patient who had been told she had only months to live had one last wish: to make a video of her life to be played at her funeral.

But quotations from private production houses went up to $10,000, beyond the budget of Ambulance Wish Singapore, the charity handling her case and granting the wishes of terminally ill patients.

A group of students stepped in, offering to conduct a video and photo shoot for free.

On a golden-hued evening in April, they captured moments of her and her husband on their usual walking route around MacRitchie Reservoir.

“She said she never even had a wedding photo that was like that, and it felt like she was doing it all over again - living life,” said Ethan Tan, 22, co-founder of Project Obscura, an initiative that does pro bono photography services for social service agencies and underprivileged groups.

On Oct 7, the ground-up initiative was among 17 individuals, organisations and partnerships recognised at the President’s Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) 2026, for making a positive impact on the community. It won the Communities for Good (Groundup) award.

The awards received a record 455 nominations this year , and introduced a new category to recognise young givers aged 17 to 25.

The idea for Project Obscura started in December 2022, when Tan and his former Eunoia Junior College classmates Rachel Goh, 23, and Clarence Chua, 23, wondered if they could lend their photography skills to charities that may not have the budget to afford such services.

Goh was then a first-year English Literature university student, while Tan and Chua were in National Service. They sent out emails to multiple organisations, but progress was slow at first.

“People were a bit skeptical of the professionalism we could bring, especially if it came to high-level events,” said Goh. “It’s very difficult to put 100% trust in these three random kids.”

They gradually built their portfolio and word spread.

Project Obscura has since photographed over 170 events and delivered over 50,000 photos to charities and beneficiaries. Its volunteer pool now has more than 330 and it also mentors underprivileged groups in photography skills.

Its services are free when beneficiaries are directly involved, such as in the case of the ovarian cancer patient. For events of a more corporate nature, such as charity galas, it charges below-market rates. Of the fees collected , 80% goes to the volunteer photographer and 20% funds the initiative’s operations.

The group also receives support from various sources, including $35,200 from the Youth Action Challenge Grant under the National Youth Council.

The founding trio does not take a single cent from this project and hope to do this for life , said Goh, who is pursuing a Masters in English Literature at the National University of Singapore.

Tan is now a third-year law student at Singapore Management University, while Chua is reading medicine at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was guest of honour at the Oct 7 awards ceremony at Raffles Hotel, which was organised by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre. Also in attendance at the event was Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Education David Neo.

Among the winners in the new People of Good (Youth) category was 17-year-old Shoken Tsurumaru, who founded G iveinstead.sg at the age of 14 in 2023.

The non-profit platform encourages people to turn special occasions such as birthdays and weddings into opportunities for charitable giving.

The United World College of South East Asia student had been inspired by a family friend who asked friends to donate to a fundraiser instead of giving birthday gifts.

Giveinstead.sg has since worked with over 2,100 donors and 36 charity partners, raising over $325,000 through various campaigns.

One birthday fundraiser helped pay for violin and dance lessons for 30 children from low-income families through SHINE Children and Youth Services. The children later performed at a concert for their families and friends.

“The real joy that comes out of this is seeing how much it helps others,” said Tsurumaru , a Singapore permanent resident.

People of Good (Youth) category award recipients Ashsufi Hussin, 23, and Shoken Tsurumaru, 17, during the President's Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards ceremony at Raffles Hotel on Oct 7. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO

People of Good (Youth) category award recipients Ashsufi Hussin, 23, and Shoken Tsurumaru, 17, during the President's Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards ceremony at Raffles Hotel on Oct 7.

The other youth award recipient was Ashsufi Hussin, 23, a final-year mechanical engineering NTU student who started a free mathematics tuition initiative.

The BrightGuides Programme, which Ashsufi started with support from the Muslimin Trust Fund Association in July 2025, has over 40 volunteers supporting over 25 underprivileged students.

Tuition sessions are held at the Sallim Mattar Mosque in MacPherson and the An-Nur Mosque in Woodlands. Ashsufi hopes to extend the programme beyond the Muslim community.

“I believe there are a lot more youth out there who are much more creative than I am, who have so much more ideas than I do,” said Ashsufi. “I hope more will step forward.”

Christine Tan is a correspondent at The Straits Times reporting on social affairs and issues of justice in Singapore.

（从左至右）23 岁的 Rachel Goh 和 22 岁的 Ethan Tan 是 Project Obscura 的联合创始人，该项目在 2026 年总统志愿服务和慈善奖中获得了“社区公益奖”（Groundup 奖）。

发布于2026年10月8日下午4:20

更新于2026年10月8日下午4:20

Project Obscura 因向慈善机构和贫困群体提供免费摄影服务而荣获 PVPA 2026 社区公益奖（Groundup）。

该学生团体成立于 2022 年，经过一段时间的积累，逐渐赢得了信任，目前已报道了 170 多场活动，拥有 330 多名志愿者。

青年获奖者还包括 giveinstead.sg 的创始人（该网站为慈善事业筹集资金）和 BrightGuides 的创始人（该网站为低收入学生提供免费辅导）。

新加坡——一位被告知只剩下几个月生命的卵巢癌患者，留下了一个最后的愿望：制作一段记录自己一生的视频，以便在她的葬礼上播放。

但私人制作公司的报价高达 1 万美元，超出了新加坡救护车愿望基金会的预算。该基金会负责处理她的案件，并帮助绝症患者实现愿望。

一群学生挺身而出，主动提出免费进行视频和照片拍摄。

四月一个金光灿灿的傍晚，他们捕捉到了她和丈夫在麦里芝蓄水池附近散步的瞬间。

“她说她从来没有过一张这样的结婚照，感觉就像重新开始了人生，”22 岁的 Ethan Tan 说。他是 Project Obscura 的联合创始人，该组织为社会服务机构和弱势群体提供免费摄影服务。

10月7日，这项自下而上的倡议与另外17个个人、组织和合作项目一起，因其对社区的积极影响，在2026年总统志愿服务和慈善奖（PVPA）上获得表彰。它荣获了“社区公益（自下而上）”奖。

今年该奖项获得了创纪录的 455 项提名，并新增了一个类别，以表彰 17 至 25 岁的年轻捐赠者。

Project Obscura 的想法始于 2022 年 12 月，当时 Tan 和他以前在 Eunoia Junior College 的同学 Rachel Goh（23 岁）和 Clarence Chua（23 岁）想知道，他们是否可以将自己的摄影技能贡献给那些可能没有预算负担此类服务的慈善机构。

当时，吴同学是大学一年级英国文学专业的学生，​​而陈同学和蔡同学正在服兵役。他们向多个机构发送了邮件，但起初进展缓慢。

“大家对我们能否展现出专业水准持怀疑态度，尤其是在高级别赛事方面，”吴先生说。“要完全信任这三个素不相识的孩子是非常困难的。”

他们逐步建立起自己的作品集，口碑也随之传播开来。

自那时以来，Project Obscura 已拍摄了超过 170 场活动，并向慈善机构和受益人提供了超过 5 万张照片。其志愿者队伍目前拥有 330 多人，并且还为弱势群体提供摄影技能方面的指导。

如果受益人直接参与，例如卵巢癌患者，则该机构提供免费服务。对于更具商业性质的活动，例如慈善晚宴，则收取低于市场价的费用。所收取的费用中，80% 支付给志愿摄影师，20% 用于资助该项目的运营。

该组织还从各种渠道获得支持，包括国家青年委员会青年行动挑战拨款 35,200 美元。

吴先生说，该项目的三位创始人不从中收取一分钱，并希望终生从事这项工作。吴先生目前正在新加坡国立大学攻读英国文学硕士学位。

Tan目前是新加坡管理大学三年级的法律系学生，而Chua正在南洋理工大学（NTU）攻读医学。

10月7日，在莱佛士酒店举行的颁奖典礼上，尚达曼总统作为主宾出席。此次颁奖典礼由国家志愿服务与慈善中心主办。文化、社区及青年部长兼教育部第二部长梁振英也出席了此次活动。

在新设立的“好人奖（青年）”类别中，有一位 17 岁的 Shoken Tsurumaru，他在 2023 年 14 岁时创立了 Giveinstead.sg。

该非营利平台鼓励人们将生日、婚礼等特殊场合转化为慈善捐赠的机会。

这位东南亚联合世界书院的学生受到了一位家庭朋友的启发，这位朋友请求朋友们捐款支持筹款活动，而不是送生日礼物。

Giveinstead.sg 至今已与超过 2100 名捐赠者和 36 家慈善合作伙伴合作，通过各种活动筹集了超过 325000 美元。

一次生日筹款活动帮助SHINE儿童和青少年服务机构为30名来自低收入家庭的儿童支付了小提琴和舞蹈课程的费用。孩子们后来为家人和朋友们举办了一场音乐会。

“真正让我感到快乐的是看到它对其他人的帮助有多大，”新加坡永久居民鹤丸说道。

10月7日，在莱佛士酒店举行的总统志愿服务与慈善奖颁奖典礼上，23岁的阿什苏菲·侯赛因和17岁的鹤丸昭健荣获“青年杰出人士奖”。（海峡时报摄影：张文杰）

10 月 7 日，在莱佛士酒店举行的总统志愿服务与慈善奖颁奖典礼上，23 岁的 Ashsufi Hussin 和 17 岁的 Shoken Tsurumaru 荣获“青年之星”奖。

另一位青年奖获得者是 23 岁的 Ashsufi Hussin，他是南洋理工大学机械工程专业的应届毕业生，他发起了一项免费数学辅导计划。

在穆斯林信托基金协会的支持下，Ashsufi 于 2025 年 7 月启动了 BrightGuides 计划，该计划拥有 40 多名志愿者，为 25 多名贫困学生提供支持。

辅导课程在麦弗逊的萨利姆·马塔尔清真寺和兀兰的安努尔清真寺举行。阿什苏菲希望将该项目推广到穆斯林社区之外。

阿什苏菲说：“我相信有很多年轻人比我更有创造力，他们的想法也比我多得多。我希望有更多人能站出来。”

克里斯汀·谭是《海峡时报》的记者，报道新加坡的社会事务和司法问题。