Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang (centre) with Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) principal and CEO Lim Kok Kiang (left) and NP SEA Advisory Panel chairperson Jason Bay launching SEA Unbound on May 28.

SINGAPORE – Three in four Ngee Ann Polytechnic students will graduate with overseas experience by 2030, with the institution’s latest push to send more of them abroad, especially to countries in the region.

Its new five-year initiative, SEA Unbound, aims to deepen students’ understanding of South-east Asia through two new fully funded programmes.

One is the SEA Study-Observe-Adapt-Reflect (SOAR) programme, a week-long trip to a South-east Asian city integrated into students’ curriculum. Activities could include visits to local universities and companies, workshops and cultural exploration.

Over 3,500 students across 17 selected diploma courses – from arts business management to engineering science – will go on such trips to understand how their discipline applies in the region.

The second programme is the SEA Immersion and Leadership (SAIL) programme, which is expected to involve 300 student leaders over the next five years.

During the two-week stint, students will visit two South-east Asian cities to gain insights into urban challenges through engagements with industry leaders, entrepreneurs and community changemakers.

They will also take part in hackathons alongside students from local universities to propose solutions to these challenges.

The initiative is supported by a $10 million SEA Talent Fund from the Ngee Ann Kongsi, which will complement existing funds in financing the two new programmes and overseas internships in South-east Asian cities, including those under NP’s existing programmes.

The polytechnic’s move aligns with the target set out by the Education Ministry during Budget 2020: to have 70 per cent of all students from institutes of higher learning gaining some form of overseas exposure by 2028, with 70 per cent of these opportunities based in the ASEAN-China-India region.

Speaking at the launch of the initiative at NP’s campus in Clementi on May 28, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade & Industry Gan Siow Huang said the launch of SEA Unbound comes amid growing protectionist sentiments and global geopolitical tensions.

“This is a period that ASEAN... has to be more united than ever to stay relevant and navigate the uncertainties in the global landscape,” she said.

Ms Gan said there is a need to not only equip the workforce with technical skills but also cultural intelligence and regional perspectives to navigate ASEAN’s diverse business environment.

By 2028, every NP student will have foundational knowledge of South-east Asia through regional content as part of a common curriculum.

One in three NP educators will be sent on fully funded programmes in the region, ranging from one-week exposure trips to five-month attachments. The aim is for nominated academic staff to gain current knowledge and perspectives about the region to shape curriculum and overseas learning for students.

NP has also set up overseas centres in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta, each led by a country manager, to provide students taking part in programmes in these cities with on-the-ground support.

Besides connecting students to companies and helping them navigate local cultural and business practices, the centres aim to facilitate networking with industry leaders, start-up founders and overseas alumni mentors.

Third-year NP student Ariqah Mufidah Mohamed Yuhaidi, 19, said visiting Bangkok and Jakarta for the pilot run of the SAIL programme from September to October 2025 was eye-opening.

The psychology and community development student spent one week in each city and worked with peers there to propose solutions to address food stability and waste management issues.

“What really stayed with me was the cultural exchange,” she said. “We weren’t just solving problems together but also learning from each other’s cultures, habits and ways of seeing the world.”

She had previously visited Yogyakarta on NP’s Youth Corps Expedition Project programme to support underserved communities over two weeks.

Feeling confident after these two experiences, Ms Ariqah has applied for a third opportunity to return to a country in the region through NP’s Global Entrepreneurial Internship Programme.

Her schoolmate Jeffrey Chua, 18, is on the same stint, doing a venture-building internship at ExpresSo NB, the corporate innovation arm of Thailand’s national energy company PTT.

The third-year business studies student, whose trip is fully funded under SEA Unbound, said he gained insights about approaching new markets with an open mind and is more confident about pursuing other opportunities abroad.

“(For) internships in Singapore, I could do them any time, later on in university or after I graduate. But an opportunity like this is a lot more rare and I just wanted... to step out of my comfort zone and explore something new.”