FRASERS Property Singapore on Friday (May 26) announced its Inclusion Champions programme, which aims to create more inclusive spaces and experiences for members of the community with different needs.

Under the initiative, the group’s mall employees and representatives from participating retail tenants will attend an annual training programme.

This will equip them with skills to better engage persons and shoppers with dementia or autism. 

The inaugural batch of Inclusion Champions comprises 10 mall retail tenants, including Osim, Eu Yan Sang, and Cathay Cineplexes.

The participating tenants will dedicate space within their outlets to function as dementia go-to points or transition points.

“Calm shopping hours” could be a thing of the future too, with in-store lighting and music softened to cater to the needs of the neurodivergent and the elderly.

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Adelle Tan, assistant general manager of Osim, said these “calm shopping hours” are a natural extension of the company’s own brand values, which centre on the enhancement of customers’ well-being and advocating healthy lifestyles.

The project consists of a six-hour programme, which commences in the third quarter of this year. It will also include consumer inclusiveness and first-responder training.

The sessions will be conducted by SG Enable, Dementia Singapore and St Andrew’s Autism Centre.

“Our malls are central nodes for surrounding communities to meet and share experiences,” said Soon Su Lin, chief executive officer of Frasers Property Singapore. “It is imperative for us to embrace and enhance inclusivity and sustainability across our properties.”

Seher Faizullabhoy, marketing manager at Scoop Wholefoods, concurred, saying: “Our organisation was established with a clear purpose – enhancing the health and well-being of individuals. The idea of inclusivity aligns perfectly with this objective.”

The project was announced at the launch of Paint It Forward, a community art jamming initiative by Frasers Property Singapore, to be held across 10 of its malls from May 26 to Jun 25.

Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the Ministry of Social and Family Development, was the event’s guest of honour.

Frasers Property Singapore said that participants at the art jamming sessions will be given the opportunity to “paint on specially designed canvas outlines inspired by works of art created by the persons with disabilities behind the National Day Parade 2020-2022 collaterals”.

The group will donate S$10 to the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund for each participant in the sessions. The fund provides financial assistance and supports the aspirations of persons with disabilities. The artworks produced through Paint it Forward will be combined and displayed as a collage at Northpoint City mall from Jun 21 to 25.