New Outward Bound Singapore Coney Island campus opening in 2nd half of 2026 among key MCCY updates
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The new Outward Bound Singapore campus on Coney Island was first announced in 2016, but faced delays in completion.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE – The new Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) campus on Coney Island will officially open in the second half of 2026, a decade after it was announced during Budget 2016.
The completion of the campus was announced during the debate on the budget for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on March 5.
Other plans, such as a new committee to strengthen the Singapore Indian identity and for youth to take the lead in co-creating programmes and curating spaces they use in the Somerset Belt, were also covered.
Here are the key takeaways:
OBS Coney Island Campus
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Goh Hanyan said the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) OBS Challenge will be progressively scaled up and offered to the entire Secondary 3 cohort in Singapore by 2030.
In 2025, 18,000 Secondary 3 students, or about 65 per cent of the cohort, took part in the programme, which aims to build life skills, confidence and resilience among youth. “In time, all 15-year-olds in Singapore will get to experience OBS at least once in their lives,” Ms Goh said.
The five-day residential programme under the National Outdoor Adventure Education (NOAE) Masterplan provides opportunities for students to work with peers from different backgrounds, and build up physical and mental ruggedness.
“Through the shared experiences, they will learn life skills, gain confidence in tackling the unknown and make lasting friendships,” she said.
There are currently two campuses, on mainland Singapore and on Pulau Ubin.
The new OBS Coney Island campus will include advanced rope challenge courses, integrated climbing systems and other team-based challenges.
The campus, which has been awarded the Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy status by the Building and Construction Authority, is designed to blend with existing vegetation layers on Coney Island through low-rise building designs, and has diverse plants to create new habitats for fauna.
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio GRC) and Ms Valerie Lee (Pasir Ris-Changi GRC) asked about extending OBS to all ages, as well as expanding the overseas programme offered by OBS.
Ms Goh acknowledged these suggestions, but added that with finite resources, the ministry’s priority is to get the MOE-Outward Bound Singapore Challenge scale-up right for Singapore students first, before considering other areas.
First announced in 2016 it was delayed.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, MCCY said the new Coney Island campus is a major development and timelines for its completion were revised due to issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and the need to ensure construction methods minimised environmental impact.
More programmes by youth, for youth
A new Somerset Belt Youth CoLab will be set up to let the youth take the lead in developing and running programmes in the Somerset Belt and *SCAPE.
This aims to build confidence and a sense of ownership among the youth through responsibilities like managing these spaces, budgets and activities.
Fifteen young people were selected for this task, said Ms Goh. *SCAPE will provide training, mentorship, and access to working space for them, along with an annual budget of $300,000 for the CoLab to lead and manage activities in the district.
The CoLab will officially convene in March, and more details will be announced when they are finalised.
Strengthening the local Indian community
A new Indian Engagement and Development Committee (INEI) will be formed to strengthen the Singapore Indian identity, coordinate community efforts and develop youth leadership over the next five years.
The committee will be chaired by Senior Minister of State for Transport Murali Pillai, and Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Dinesh Vasu Dash. “Inei” means to come together or be connected in Tamil.
More than 150 Singapore Indian organisations and 240 Singapore Indian youth leaders aged up to 35 have been engaged since August 2025 to gather views on the community’s priorities in the coming years.
The committee will focus on a few key areas, including uplifting the community by further supporting disadvantaged Indian families and improving the coordination of last-mile assistance.
The committee aims to strengthen social cohesion by encouraging established and emerging Indian organisations to work together in areas such as arts and sports.
It will also develop a pipeline of Indian Singaporean youth leaders who can serve and lead the community in the future.
An annual INEI forum will be set up for the community to come together, review its progress and discuss initiatives for the future. The first forum is planned for April, with more details on the committee to be shared then.
“I request members of the community to come forward and share their views,” Mr Dinesh said.
Support for citizen-led projects, ground-up initiatives
The $50 million SG Partnerships Fund to fund ground-up initiatives that benefit the community will start accepting applications from April 1.
The fund by the Singapore Government Partnerships Office was announced during Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s Budget speech on Feb 12. It offers three tiers of support for individuals, ground-up groups and larger organisations.
The Seed Tier for pilot initiatives will offer funding of up to 100 per cent of the programme cost up to $5,000 and over a year-long implementation period. The application period for this tier is all year round.
Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Low Yen Ling said: “We hope that this tier, with its simple application process, will motivate more individuals and ground-ups to come forward with their ideas, no matter how small, to address community needs or better the lives of their fellow citizens.”
The second tier, Sprout, is aimed at groups looking to grow their impact across multiple communities. Funding will be based on up to 80 per cent of programme costs, and up to $50,000 and two years of implementation.
Those who wish to apply for this tier of funding can do so in 2026 between April and May, July and August, October and November, or in 2027, between January and February.
The Scale Tier, for registered organisations to launch major initiatives, can get funding of up to 80 per cent of their programme costs and up to $1 million, with up to three years of implementation. Organisations can apply between July and September 2026, and from January to March 2027.
Those who are keen can apply through the OurSG Grants Portal from April 1.
Correction note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly said there were four OBS campuses instead of two.
