Singapore – The Singapore Tourism Board is courting Hong Kong’s younger travellers with a campaign that leans heavily into street culture, nightlife, and art—a deliberate shift from the polished, orderly image long associated with the Lion City.
The initiative, titled “We Don’t Wait for Fun”, targets early-career travellers aged 25 to 39 and aims to present Singapore as less stopover hub, more creative playground.
The push will unfold partly through a debut partnership with ComplexCon in Hong Kong this month and a collaboration with Singaporean visual artist tobyato.
The campaign paints Singapore as a place where heritage and street culture rub shoulders. Old shophouses meet skate culture.
Campaign messaging leans on three themes: “Compact Adventures”, “Unexpected Experiments”, and “Pioneering Ideas”.
The first plays to geography. A traveller might start the day exploring murals in the Bugis district, swing east to the Peranakan shophouses of Katong-Joo Chiat, then chase adrenaline at HyperDrive on Sentosa before ending the night among the bars of Clarke Quay.
“Unexpected Experiments” pushes the city’s contrasts. Visitors can surf, ski, and skate at Trifecta, spot wildlife after dark at the Night Safari, or zipline through the trees at Mega Adventure Park.
Then comes the spectacle. “Pioneering Ideas” points to large-scale attractions such as the light displays at Gardens by the Bay and the nightly Wings of Time Fireworks Symphony performance—crowd-pleasers that double as Instagram bait for the social-media generation.
The street-culture angle will take centre stage at ComplexCon Hong Kong on 21–22 March.
There, STB will unveil a three-metre “Sneaker Stone Dragon” installation designed by tobyato, blending sneaker aesthetics with traditional Asian guardian-lion motifs.
The artwork draws inspiration from the historic Dragon’s Teeth Gate, a rocky landmark that once marked Singapore’s harbour entrance.
The result is deliberately hybrid: stone mythology meets sneaker culture. Laces, stitching, and bold colourways wrap around a dragon form—a nod to Singapore’s past while speaking the visual language of modern streetwear.
Visitors will also be able to win limited-edition collectibles designed by the artist, including toy sculptures, keychains, sports jerseys, socks, and stickers.
A nostalgic playground game—Goli Shoot—will feature at the booth, echoing the marble-shooting pastime common in Singapore’s old kampongs and schoolyards.
Beyond the exhibition floor, the tourism board is linking the campaign to travel bookings through a partnership with ShopBack, the regional shopping and rewards platform.
The promotion runs until 30 April and offers Hong Kong users travel perks tied to trips to Singapore.
“Our ‘We Don’t Wait for Fun’ campaign aims to spark curiosity among Hong Kong’s next generation of explorers,” said Andrew Phua, chief representative and executive director for Greater China at the Singapore Tourism Board. “Working with ComplexCon and tobyato invites travellers to see Singapore as a place where culture, creativity, and spontaneity meet.”
For tobyato, the collaboration draws on the city’s contradictions.
“Singapore is full of contrasts—old and new, serious and playful,” he said. “This project takes something rooted in heritage and remixes it through the lens of today’s street culture.”
