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Why this entrepreneur chose to spend up to $120k a year on a community initiative
The founder of Repair Kopitiam, which gives broken items a second life, shares why he’s against “maximising profits”
Community initiative Repair Kopitiam aims to drive positive change, says Mr Veerapan Swaminathan (second from right), founder and director of Sustainable Living Lab.
PHOTO: THARM SOOK WAI
Genevieve Chan, Content STudio
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A gratifying scene unfolds across nine heartland spaces on the last Sunday of each month. Residents young and old arrive bearing the casualties of daily life – faulty electrical appliances, torn clothes, and frayed toys.
They’re met by smiling volunteers armed with tools and a shared passion: Giving broken items a second life.
The volunteers are from Repair Kopitiam, a community initiative launched by social enterprise Sustainable Living Lab in 2014.
“We’ve always been inspired by the Repair Cafe movement (where people meet up to repair items together) in the Netherlands,” says Mr Veerapan Swaminathan, 39, founder and director of Sustainable Living Lab.
“But we knew that we wouldn’t be able to run it in the same way in Singapore because there isn’t a pervasive do-it-yourself culture here.”
He hit on the idea to teach people how to repair general household items when “some of our employees started bringing in spoilt items they found that can be repaired and used”, he says.
These trainers could then pass on what they’ve learnt by volunteering and coaching others for free, says Mr Veera.
On a whim, they had an informal meeting. Momentum grew.
Repair Kopitiam, which started with just one location, is now held across nine venues including Ang Mo Kio, Tampines and Jurong East.
Over 4,000 volunteers were trained and have coached in at least three sessions since 2014. About 700 of them remain active, says Mr Veera.
Repair Kopitiam also runs a series of home repair and maintenance courses. These are subsidised by SkillsFuture Singapore and the National Silver Academy for Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 50 and above.
Growing with the flow
Repair Kopitiam’s ability to grow, adapt and respond to demand mirrors the flexibility of Sustainable Living Lab.
Founded by Mr Veera and two friends after graduating from the National University of Singapore, the company has continuously reinvented itself as it seized opportunities – from producing upcycled goods to running innovation programmes.
Mr Veera was studying mechanical engineering, and his friends were studying engineering science. His two co-founders have since left the company; one went on to pursue a PhD and the other to work at a non-governmental organisation.
An early two-year project in 2006 with an Indian start-up, which they took on as part of the Mondialogo Engineering Award, opened their eyes to agriculture’s harsh realities and the need for sustainable solutions.
The project was located in the state of Maharashtra. Farmers were killing themselves when they incur debt and lose their land due to a bad harvest or supply glut, says Mr Veera.
Mr Veera and his co-founders helped develop a solar drying solution to increase the shelf life of produce, providing another source of income for farmers.
The experience sparked their passion.
They launched Sustainable Living Lab in 2011 to “tackle agricultural issues by bringing new technology and new devices into the market”.
But there was little demand in Singapore for it. While that initial business failed, Mr Veera learnt that “it's not about identifying problems – because there are so many to address in sustainability – but about timing”.
He shares that they now follow the “three P's”:
- Policy: Identifying the right policy window, because they often work with the public sector
- Private: Like-minded corporates that they can partner
- People: Having manpower and resources to carry out the project, especially if it is overseas
Mr Veera cites the example of the company’s latest project in Indonesia: An industrial water recycling business. “Industrial wastewater is not a new problem,” he notes.
A 2023 United Nations Environment Programme report estimates that the world will face a 40 per cent gap between water supply and demand by 2030. Unconventional water resources, such as recycling wastewater, will be needed to close this gap.
Mr Veera gives two reasons for acting with urgency: Rising costs and stricter local regulations. Indonesia’s water tariffs increased by 16 per cent from July 2022 to July 2023, according to the 2023 Global Water Intelligence Water Tariff survey.
“We are constantly looking out for opportunities where these three P’s are aligned,” he says. “Once we see an opportunity, we go for it.”
Power of partnerships
Sustainable Living Lab has grown beyond Singapore’s shores, with offices in the US, Indonesia and India staffed by 80 employees. It’s also working on projects across 35 countries.
“With good partners, you don’t need a permanent presence,” says Mr Veera. “Covid-19 taught us to work virtually and rely on partners to deliver programmes. We developed a lot of trust.”
The need for networks rings true across Asean and Greater China, as outlined in UOB’s latest Business Outlook study. Conducted between December and January, the study surveyed over 4,000 business owners and executives from small to large enterprises in seven markets in the region.
Ms Kavita Bedi, head of Group Business Banking, UOB, says: “We connect businesses to our network and partners for collaboration to accelerate their growth ambitions. Our suite of digital solutions provides them access to financing more seamlessly and enhances their capabilities.
“For SMEs embarking on their decarbonisation journey, we offer a range of working capital solutions to support their sustainability agenda, so they can build long-term resilience and relevance within the value chains that they operate in.”
Key findings from the study include:
- 87%
Of businesses said that sustainability is important, but only 44 per cent have adopted sustainability practices
- 29%
Of companies say that connections to the right training or solution providers is needed to help them become more sustainable
- Nearly 3 in 10
Businesses say partnerships with industry peers to share best practices would help drive their sustainability journey
Beyond dollars and cents
Sustainable Living Lab has seven entities today, from an upskilling platform in Singapore and the US to a sustainability software solutions provider in Indonesia. It also has a non-profit arm, with initiatives such as Repair Kopitiam.
They’re united by Mr Veera’s vision: To create positive change, not just make profits.
“Not everything in business has to be about maximising profits,” he says. “If it’s only about that, the company culture would be poisoned.”
Repair Kopitiam used to drain up to $120,000 every year on costs such as tools, spare parts, and salaries of one full-time and one part-time employee. But Mr Veera kept it going anyway.
It now gets support through government grants and fees from the courses it runs.
“A lot of people asked us why we were spending so much money on it,” he admits. But there’s a higher purpose we want to achieve through Sustainable Living Lab’s initiatives, he says.
“This work (in sustainability) offers me the opportunity to leave a legacy and drive change, measured beyond dollars and cents. It’s something worth spending my life on.”
Building a Sustainable Asean is a series sharing insights on how individuals and businesses can take action to forge a cleaner, greener tomorrow.
This is the first of a five-part series in partnership with
