New OBS Coney Island campus with over 100 adventure elements officially opens

Nearly 60 years after its first campus at Pulau Ubin was established, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong officially opened Outward Bound Singapore's (OBS) new 12ha Coney Island campus on Friday (Sept 11) .

Boasting over 100 adventure elements, including wheelchair-accessible facilities, the new campus is designed to equip Singapore's young with the capabilities and ability to face adversity with confidence and grit, PM Wong said.

He pointed out that despite the changes Singapore has undergone since Ubin campus was opened, the need to build character has not diminished.

"Today we are more secure and successful. But the world around us is more complex, more volatile, more unpredictable, more dangerous."

And while people may tend to associate OBS with its expeditions and obstacle courses, PM Wong highlighted that OBS is for the young to discover what they are capable of, when they are stretched beyond their comfort zone.

It also includes discovering what a group can achieve when everyone works together, he added.

With the new campus, the Ministry of Education-Outward Bound Singapore Challenge programme (MOC)— attended by over 120,000 Secondary 3 students since 2017 — will be expanded to all Secondary 3 students by 2030.

It was attended by 18,000, or about 65 per cent of the Secondary 3 cohort, from across 90 schools last year.

PM Wong was accompanied by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Second Minister for Education David Neo, and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth, and Sustainability and the Environment Goh Hanyan.

OBS said in a factsheet that its new Coney Island campus is designed with both accessibility and sustainability in mind.

It includes over 70 high adventure and more than 30 low adventure elements in a mix of open-air and sheltered settings, allowing programmes to go on regardless of weather.

Team-based activities are also designed for larger groups, with challenges now able to accommodate up to four students at a time.

Some of the activities are also designed with wheelchair-accessible facilities, allowing more inclusive youth participation in the programme.

OBS said it engaged persons with disabilities to shape and validate these universal design features, and consulted experts in industrial safety processes for persons with disabilities.

The new campus also has eco-friendly features such as rainwater harvesting systems to reduce waste, usage for irrigation and washing of equipment, while the optimised natural ventilation can minimise reliance on air-conditioning, according to OBS.

"These elements give students a glimpse of what responsible environmental stewardship looks like in practice," it said.

OBS said it has been operationalising its new Coney campus with small-scale MOC pilots since June 2026.

It plans to progressively increase the campus' capacity in a manner that maintains a safe and good quality programme.

In his remarks, PM Wong also said that opportunities will be expanded to include older students, so that they can return to OBS.

"What matters most is what our young people experience here – and what they take away with them, from this experience.

"So we will continue to improve the OBS programmes, including new elements on well-being, giving students practical ways to manage stress, recover from setbacks and support one another," he added.

在乌敏岛的第一个校区成立近 60 年后，新加坡总理黄循财于星期五（9 月 11 日）正式为新加坡户外拓展训练中心 (OBS) 位于康尼岛的新校区揭幕，该校区占地 12 公顷。

黄总理表示，新校区拥有超过 100 个探险项目，包括轮椅无障碍设施，旨在培养新加坡年轻人自信、坚韧地面对逆境的能力。

他指出，尽管自乌敏岛校区开放以来，新加坡发生了诸多变化，但培养品格的必要性并未降低。

“如今我们更加安全、更加成功。但我们周围的世界却更加复杂、更加动荡、更加难以预测、更加危险。”

虽然人们可能会将 OBS 与探险和障碍赛联系起来，但黄总理强调，OBS 是为了让年轻人发现自己在走出舒适区后所能达到的成就。

他还补充说，这还包括发现当每个人齐心协力时，一个团队能够取得怎样的成就。

随着新校区的落成，自 2017 年以来已有超过 12 万名中三学生参加的教育部-新加坡户外拓展挑战计划 (MOC) 将于 2030 年前扩展到所有中三学生。

去年，来自 90 所学校的 18,000 名学生（约占中三学生总数的 65%）参加了此次活动。

黄总理陪同他出席的有文化、社区及青年部长兼教育部第二部长梁振英，以及文化、社区及青年部兼永续发展及环境部高级政务次长吴汉彦。

OBS 在一份情况说明书中表示，其位于康尼岛的新校区在设计时兼顾了无障碍性和可持续性。

它包含 70 多个高难度冒险项目和 30 多个低难度冒险项目，涵盖露天和室内环境，使项目能够不受天气影响地进行。

团队活动也适合人数较多的团体，现在的挑战项目一次最多可以容纳四名学生。

部分活动还配备了轮椅无障碍设施，使更多青少年能够参与到项目中来。

OBS表示，他们与残疾人士合作，共同制定和验证这些通用设计功能，并咨询了残疾人士工业安全流程方面的专家。

据 OBS 称，新校区还具有环保功能，例如雨水收集系统以减少浪费，用于灌溉和清洗设备，同时优化的自然通风可以最大限度地减少对空调的依赖。

“这些要素让学生们得以一窥负责任的环境管理在实践中是什么样子，”声明中写道。

OBS表示，自2026年6月以来，它一直在通过小规模的MOC试点项目来运营其新的Coney校区。

它计划逐步增加校园容量，同时保持安全、高质量的课程。

黄总理在讲话中还表示，将扩大机会范围，让年龄较大的学生也能重返OBS。

“最重要的是我们的年轻人在这里的经历——以及他们从这段经历中学到的东西。”

“因此，我们将继续改进 OBS 课程，包括增加有关身心健康的新内容，为学生提供管理压力、从挫折中恢复以及互相支持的实用方法，”他补充道。