Singapore – Just recently, a new partnership has been launched that involves the Singapore academe with the aim to serve the communications industry through the nurturing of future and next-generation communications professionals. 

The partnership is between integrated communications agency APRW and Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (NTU WKWSCI) who launched the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund. The fund aims to help students fund their final-year projects at the school and in addition, to recognize and celebrate the best projects with the APRW Excellence Award.

The program is part of APRW’s 25th-year anniversary celebration. Through the fund, APRW hopes to empower and enable students of NTU WKWSCI to be one step closer to achieving their dreams as communications professionals. 

APRW plans to raise S$160,000 for the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund, and will be galvanizing its community including clients and partners to contribute to the fund.

To mark the launch of the fund, APRW and NTU WKWSCI jointly held a panel discussion titled ‘Towards Effective Public Messaging Strategies: Implications for Post Pandemic Communication’. The panel highlighted key considerations for the communication of public health issues and research findings on the critical role of mainstream news media as public education tools to correct misinformation during public health crises.

Guest-of-Honour and the Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of National Development, Kiat How Tan, was also present in the signing ceremony which was held at NTU campus on 8 September 2021.

Pei Lin Cho, APRW’s managing director, believes that the success of a company lies not just in the growth, but how they have a greater role as a homegrown company to leave a lasting legacy for the next generation. 

“Together with the support of our clients, business partners, and media friends, we want to contribute our part towards creating a shared future through this partnership with NTU WKWSCI,” said Cho.

May Lwin, the chair of Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, shared that as part of its curriculum, NTU WKWSCI’s Final-Year Project (FYP) aims to provide students with opportunities to apply the knowledge and abilities they have acquired at WKWSCI to real-time societal issues. 

“Our final year projects in various tracks like strategic campaigns, journalism, film, and research have produced output that contributed to improving society on numerous fronts. This is therefore opportune that APRW’s collaboration with WKWSCI will enable our final-year projects to progress even further,” said Lwin.

APRW has also commissioned one of its clients, local e-coffee company Hook Coffee, to create a signature blend called Brew Your Mind to support the fundraising efforts. About 50% of all proceeds from the sale of this coffee will go towards the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund.