Collaboration with GET Singapore

GET SINGAPORE is a non-profit collective that showcases Singapore’s retail brands and merchandise by creating a platform for local retailers to feature and market their merchandise to a wider audience both in Singapore and around the world. It provides public access to well-designed, branded merchandise, including where to find them, product details and promotions. It also promotes a vibrant image of Singapore as a place where good design and innovative retail ideas exist.

GET SINGAPORE will be featured at 1^st Avenue when it re-opens on 14 May after a month of renovations. Our RMT Seniors will also be working on a branding campaign project with GET SINGAPORE.

Some of the brands showcased in 1^st Avenue include the chic, fashionable yet functional apparel and accessories from bYSI®, uniquely fun accessories and speakers from Action City, spunky, cutting edge street-wear fashion apparel and accessories from X-TOMIC® by 77^th Street, trendy and fashionable footwear from Ripples and the exclusive range of handmade products from US-trained fashion designer Anna Tsang, founder of Mother and Child Project. The revamped 1^st Avenue with a refreshingly edgier new look is now leaner and meaner with something for everyone, so do come down and visit us!

RMT Retail and Social Entrepreneurship

The Diploma in Retail Management (RMT) will partner 4 social enterprises to organise a community event on the weekend of 4 and 5 August 2012 at Changi City Point. This event helps to promote social entrepreneurship as well as allow our RMT Seniors to apply retailing strategies to help the non-profit organisations. The funds raised through the sales of merchandise produced by these enterprises at the event will help support and further their causes.

One of them is the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA), which was formed in 1970 as a general welfare service. It has progressed over the years to include services for the elderly and disabled in Singapore. Today, AWWA reaches out to offers the elderly, children and young people with special needs to empower them to maximise their potential for independence.

Another partner is the Mouth Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) which is an enterprise that sells paintings, greeting cards, calendars painted by artists who, for reasons due to accidents, birth defects or illness, are deprived of the use of their hands and hence, use either their mouth or foot to create their work.

The Mother and Child Project, a social enterprise run by the Singapore Anglican Community Services is another enterprise involved in this event. It provides home-based sewing contract work for disadvantaged mothers so that they can be economically self-sufficient. The organisation sells a wide range of products ranging from tissue pouches to patchwork quilts and hand-painted clothing.   

The fourth organisation is Action For Singapore Dogs. Established in 2000, its mission is to improve the welfare of stray and abandoned dogs in Singapore. The company frequently organises events to raise funds for veterinary care of rescued dogs and to promote adoption of our local dogs.

RMT looks forward to working with these 4 social enterprises and to raise the awareness to support the causes of these organisations.

A Different Freshmen Orientation

Student leaders from the Diploma in Retail Management (RMT) organised a unique and exciting Freshmen Orientation for the RMT Freshmen on 25 April 2012. Instead of having the usual Orientation on campus, RMT’s programme took place at Changi City Point. The group, comprising of about 100 students and staff gathered at the Audi Foyer for a quick lunch and then set off for Changi City Point for an afternoon of interesting team-bonding activities.

The group gathered at the mall’s outdoor amphitheatre and then embarked on an exciting ‘Retailer Hunt’ game within the mall. Patterned after the popular Korean game show ‘Running Man’, the Freshmen were divided into groups to search for retailers and merchandise within the mall as well as nearby Singapore Expo to complete their given set of tasks. The game provided opportunities for the students to collaborate with their friends from other classes to receive bonus points. Keenly participative, the RMT students enthusiastically and eagerly scoured the mall for hints, clues and answers, all trying to be the first to complete the hunt. After nearly 2 hours, all the groups completed the ‘Retailer Hunt’.

The Orientation continued with visits to several selected retailers such as Home-Fix, Guardian, Nike Factory Store and Hush Puppies. At each store, students were given a brief introduction of the company and its business. The Freshmen found this interesting as it provided them a glimpse into the titillating world of retailing.

The day concluded with a debrief by the Diploma’s Course Manager, Mr Sam Tan as well as a prize presentation and photo session with the teaching team. The Freshmen found this Orientation a refreshingly unique one and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon bonding with their peers and lecturers.  

The sun was blazing!

Home Fix visit

Hush Puppies Visit

Arab Street

So, the sleepless nights, over dosage of caffeine and mountains of notes had taken its toll on your body. But life's too short for you to brood about the blunders you have made in exams. In that instant, when you have handed up the last exam paper to the invigilator you feel like flying. The air smelled of freedom.

Perhaps the remedy for ‘post exams dissonance’ would be different for each one of us. However, for me, retail therapy proves to be a good way to alleviate my pain.

I took a long walk along Haji Lane and found many new shops that add to the old boring scene of people puffing Shisha. A salon, a cupcake shop and game shop have just joined the rest.

Some of the shops that you may want to visit:

A Thousand Tales (Bar Stories + Café Fables)

2nd Storey

Replete with retro, designer furniture, queer and eccentric display pieces, Thousand Tales is a lifestyle concept store borne from the imagination of a trio of girls who are passionate about living interestingly. It has since evolved into a showcase of local talent.

As you walk up the stairs, you would find more furniture and a café and bar hidden in an adjoining room. In the day, it is a café that serves non-alcoholic drinks and finger food. From 6pm onwards, it is a bar called Bar Stories that serves alcoholic drinks and pasta. You may opt for the Mojitos instead of the cocktails as some of them have similar tastes. Please, spare yourself from the agony of having to pay a lot for their main course – they come in petite sizes.

Pluck

I give you my word – the best ever brownie you can find in Singapore, accompanied by homemade ice cream. Soft and chewy texture inside out topped with warm chocolate sauce. 

Walk a little bit further and you would see people sitting on a lush red velvet sofa by the window enjoying a cup of ice cream. Pluck is a quaint café cum retail shop. The products they carry are a little out of the ordinary – functional objects made special with clever design, beautiful aesthetics and fine detailing.

Home accessories that transform the space of your home, statement jewellery pieces crafted by our local designers, understated luxe handbags are some of the things that you will find in Pluck.

To ensure that you have a memorable shopping experience, Pluck houses an ice cream parlour that serves homemade ice cream and delectable desserts. Some of you may be familiar with the ice cream they serve when they set up a counter in 1^st Avenue last year. 

Doinky Doodles

If you happen to stride along Bali Lane, you would be fascinated by the name “Doinky Doodles” on the signage. When you peer inside the wooden framed door you would see this:

I admit, I am still young at heart even though I am XX years old. So there I was, climbing up the stairs, not knowing how I got there in the first place. When I reached the top of the stairs, I saw these:

          

Vintage teacup sets

Hand made bags, wallets, purses and pencil boxes (The little room in the corner is used to conduct crotchet, sewing and embroidery lessons)

Doinky Doodles provides sewing, crochet and embroidery lessons if you have a knack of doing handicrafts. Otherwise, learning a thing or two may come in handy.

Visit their website at: http://www.doinkydoodles.com

Elephant Parade 2011

The Elephant Parade is the 'IN' thing now. Our crew head on the streets to give you the latest happenings and some scoops on what the RMT students are up to!:D

There may be tonnes of exhibitions that you feel not worth attending; but you cannot afford to miss the Elephant Parade. The Elephant Parade is held for the sole purpose of raising funds to help the Asian Elephants.

It started with a visit to Chiang Mai’s elephant hospital where Marc and Mike Spits saw Mosha. Mosha, the baby elephant, lost her limb after accidentally stepping on a landmine. It was a very miserable sight. This sparked the father and son team to start the project to create the awareness of the pain that the elephants are going through.

In 2007, the first ever Elephant Parade was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Over the years, the parade toured 10 cities and this year it’s Singapore’s turn. To date, a herd of 162 baby elephants marched the shores of Singapore and they are placed at various venues. These life size fiberglass sculptures are decorated and hand-painted by local artists like Tina Tan Leo, owner of alldressedup and Dick Lee. Renowned artisans around the world including Paul Smith and Marc Quinn also paint these elephants.

To prove that we also have a flair for painting, our RMT students joined the painting workshop conducted by Tangs held on 5 December 2011.

The elephant replicas are available at the 1^st Avenue kiosk and they come with signatures of the artists. You can also paint your own personalized elephant by purchasing the art box set. If you’ve got the talent and finesse, submit your entries to enter the best-decorated elephant contest! If your elephant is chosen, it will be mass-produced and you too, can get instantly famous! (Who knows you may emerge victorious out of the hundreds of hopefuls?)

All the 162 elephants will be displayed in The Singapore Botanical Gardens from 8-11 January 2012. Entrance would be free of charge, so hop on and join the herd!

Hairloom and Caramel

Tired of the same boring café setting that has chestnut brown tables, audible churning sound of the coffee machine and hellishly long queues that frustrates you? There is in fact, a quiet place to just enjoy a cuppa or a palatable plate of comfort food – Hairloom and Caramel.

Left: Carrot Cake, Right (Clockwise from left) Ham and Cheese Baked Penne, Salmon Spaghetti in Pink Sauce, Black pepper smoked duck Sandwich with Dijon Mustard.

Mind you, Caramel is NOT just a café; it has an adjoining salon and a small space that sells the owner’s very own art creations and some other vintage trinkets (Handmade cards and notebooks, vintage glass and tea set and handbags). The place itself is pretty hard to locate as it is hidden in the Beach Rd precinct – a place where youngsters rarely go. The western food that they offer is by far the most delectable and affordable (considering that GST is waived, while service is charged at 5% and that the most expensive main course is $14.50).

It has been quite a while since I have known this place where I spent most of my fondest memories. The birdcage, the greens, a replica of the flamingo and the Victorian designed chair is placed as the window display that creates a homey feeling to it all. Inside, the exquisite tables, chairs, retro sofas, old school portraits, the airplanes and birds that are suspended from the ceiling bring back memories of an unforgettable childhood. For me, it was the place where I used to celebrate my birthdays, my bad days, my good days and other momentous events.

The food is served on colourful vintage porcelain plates and bowls that add a unique touch to the whole dining experience. Not mentioning the cakes that are hard to resist especially when you are sitting near the glass refrigerator. If you can’t get enough of the place, you could probably mingle around the shelves to get some antique finds from the 80s. Otherwise, Hairloom, led by Elle magazine well-known hairdresser, Calvin, can impress you with one of his highly acclaimed cutting techniques. On rainy days, it would be perfect to tuck yourself in with a book on the sofa, clearly, the owner would not mind.

Unfortunately, they have closed their doors on the 5th November 2011. If you still yearn for their food and cakes however, you can still drop them an email for private orders and catering. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it would still be the place that makes the whole dining and shopping experience worthwhile. There is another way to preserve the place though an intervention, aye? :D

 For Catering and Cake Orders:

http://ifeellikebaking.blogspot.com/

Love Green Event

By Jean Cheng, Third Year Student

As the title suggests, the event organised revolves around the notion of being environmentally friendly. It was a successful collaboration between our senior students of Temasek Polytechnic, Diploma in Retail Management and CHOOSE. by Olive Ventures. The event aimed to raise awareness of going green either by utilising the vermicompost bins or selecting from a range of eco-friendly products.

Everyone was given a role and each individual had an important part to play. Shifts were being rotated and there was one Event Manager per class for every session. They led the team towards our common objective as mentioned earlier. To help profile the event, we publicised it on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

In the morning of 16 July 2011, we geared up for the commencement of LOVE GREEN Event at VivoCity. Most of us were apprehensive about the crowd we would expect and the performance we could achieve. After all, we had hardly any experience in running an event. However, the crowd began to pick up and our engines started rolling.

The first booth offered Eco-Chic merchandise featuring fashion apparel and accessories and they ranged from organic cotton t-shirts to upcycled hairpins. There is no denial to the possibility of being fashionable and eco-friendly at the same time.

Next to it was a booth that provided energy-saving electronic gadgets which were fascinating. One of the more popular products was the Dynamo Powered Flashlight which does not require batteries.

Following that was a booth displaying household items such as the Bamboo Chopping Board Set and Lavender Fields Laundry Powder. Opting for these products is already a step closer to being environmentally friendly.

The last booth exhibited vermicompost bins which educated the public on how disposal of household waste can be an act of going green.

Surrounding the event venue were posters done by us and they helped to inform the public on the numerous ways to be more conscious of our environment.

Although the LOVE GREEN Event was held over a weekend, preparations for the event had begun way before. Lecturers and the senior students were all mobilised to ensure the event was a success. Being just students, we were greenhorns as far as organising an event was concerned. To our surprise, we managed to overcome the many doubts and obstacles we had initially faced and gained a tremendous sense of accomplishment from the event.