A group of young volunteers from Keeping Hope Alive (KHA) are on a mission to change a common habit among motorists in Singapore—excessive honking. Their inspiring story has already gained recognition in various media outlets, including CAPITAL 95.8FM, Lianhe Zaobao, and Straits Times.
Meet the passionate team of youth volunteers:
- Ashley Rao, 14, from Anglo-Chinese School (International)
- Harkman Tham, 14, from Hwa Chong Institution
- He Chen Qinrui, 16, from Temasek Junior College
- Rafael Sng, 17, from Temasek Polytechnic
An observation by Ashley Rao sparked the project. She, noticed the challenge of alerting hard-of-hearing drivers during a Grab car ride. This observation led to the creation of a vehicle decal aimed at promoting road graciousness by encouraging motorists to flash their headlights instead of honking.
The final design of the decal—a blue image of an ear resembling a lightbulb with lines symbolizing that the light is turned on—was refined through extensive iterations. While the primary motivation was initially to assist deaf motorists, the group decided on a general decal that could benefit all drivers.
Notably, in Singapore, deaf and hard-of-hearing motorists are not legally obliged to display any notification of their condition on their vehicles. However, they must undergo a hearing assessment with hearing devices before obtaining a driver's license.
One enthusiastic supporter of this initiative is a 58-year-old cabby, who, due to hearing loss, once unintentionally caused a road incident. With the new decal, he hopes to encourage drivers in similar situations to use visual notifications like flashing their lights.
Over 300 small decals, suitable for small cars and motorcycles, will be distributed for free at vehicle workshops and insurance companies. The young volunteers invested more than $200 of their pocket money into this project and plan to expand by producing larger decals if the need arises.
These remarkable young individuals have no profit motive behind their initiative; they are driven solely by the desire to promote a more gracious and considerate community.
Hence, they welcome members of the public to download the decal from the following link :-
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zPn76LMbqapZPucea6kNgQhWVXQQomx3?usp=sharing
Their story is a shining example of the positive impact that young people can have on society.