Our Team

Shiyun has a deep interest in understanding what makes a happy life. By spending most of her time interacting with the community, she enjoys learning the insights of human joy and suffering, and what can be done for people to live more happily. She founded 3Pumpkins to explore how social relations can be transformed and strengthened through socially-engaged arts. Her re-imagination of a village of care for children is materialised in Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC), a children community club located in Boon Lay that anchors an intergenerational and inter-agency social support system in the neighbourhood. 

 

Shiyun resides in Quantedge Foundation’s Philanthropreneur-in-Residence (PIR) programme that incubates social sector champions to advance social mobility in Singapore. She is also a mother of an 11-year-old child. 

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"3Pumpkins was founded out of necessity: in order to care for the community, especially the children of Tak Takut Kids Club, in a principled and sustainable way, an honest and robust organisation structure had to be in place to care for the people who care for the community. I am grateful to have the support of many to keep this work going!"

Jingzhou’s journey in this space started with and continues to be sustained by questions. It started with: “how can I respond to my own privilege?”, evolved into “what and how can I best offer to the people around me?”, and grew to be “there may be some good reasons for things to be the way they are, but when things need to change, how can we get there together?” 

 

He settled into the identity of being a community worker, as he could not find another work identity that provided similar kinds of opportunity to grow towards becoming a better human being. While his favourite words are still “how can I help?”; today, his vocabulary has expanded from “help” to “presence”, from “intervention” to “relationship”, and from “joy” to “peace”. He enjoys growing deep human relationships, learning from the realities of daily life, and bringing together people to care and love as a community. As a person with the privilege of choice, he chooses to believe there is good in every person, and works towards creating and holding spaces for the good in humans to come alive and thrive. 

 

He is part of the team at the Cassia-Merpati Resettlement Team, and currently serves as the Assistant Director at South Central Community Family Service Centre, where he leads the Home Ownership and Livelihood teams. 

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"I believe in 3Pumpkin's mission to facilitate and build happier living, through social relations and communities of care. It was impossible to say no to joining as a board member as it was one way I could help with the work, and I also wanted to learn about serving through a different capacity."

Darren is a recognised Forest School Practitioner, with years of experience in the Education, Social and Humanitarian sectors. He believes in the absolute importance of bringing Nature learning into a human being’s life, as nature is the root of all our existence. Darren is known for his unique “gangster” and grounded style in proactively advocating for the causes he believes in. 

 

Darren is currently the Principal of Forest School Singapore, and a leader in the Nature Education movement in Singapore and in the region. He has been serving at Singapore Fen Yang Guo Association as an executive committee member since 2013, the Citizen Consultative Committee and the Eco Club at Telok Blangah as a grassroot leader since 2022,  and he is part of the the West Coast Town Council Action fo Green Town Sustainability Team Committee. He can be found every week in the Alexandra Forest on Wednesday mornings,  a space for recharge and “meditation”. 

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"I started my journey with 3Pumpkins as a volunteer with TTKC. I grew to enjoy and appreciate the work done at TTKC over the years. As I evolve in my own capacity, I found the opportunity to support from the Board member, an angle that could allow me to contribute with better overview. I hope to bring my experience and understanding over the years, to assist and support 3Pumpkins in growing as a shining light in the social sphere in Singapore." 

Fannie takes a keen interest in the area of poverty alleviation and in her day job as CEO of Etonhouse Community Fund, she oversees efforts to nurture the potential of children and youths, especially those from the lower-income demographic. She also volunteers for causes that support marginalized communities and keeps herself updated on the social challenges in the region and from time to time, mobilize for community support towards various causes/ communities in need. 

 

On the occasion of self-care, she appreciates a solitary session with a "teh c siu dai" (and sometimes a healthy juice) while reading a book.

 

"At TTKC, I was so glad to witness an environment whereby children are safe, organically and actively participating in activities which interest them and hanging out happily with each other, the volunteers and staff alike. The children and youths mattered and were heard in this space.  In joining 3Pumpkins, I hope to support Shiyun and the team in the area(s) required to enable them to focus on carrying out this important work of being effective “relational bridge builders' ' and have fun while at it."