Transforming individuals and communities through active citizenship

Stevson Lim, a Year 1 student reading double majors in Data Science and Analytics and Political Science was drawn to the College of Alice & Peter Tan (CAPT)’s established ecosystem of partnerships with local community organisations, which provides unique platforms for students to contribute meaningfully through real-world projects.

For him, CAPT is not only a place to live in but a vibrant learning environment where interdisciplinary collaboration thrives.

He says, “CAPT isn’t just about studying, it’s about growing with a diverse, brilliant community that values curiosity, dialogue and meaningful learning through active engagement. I have learned to appreciate the value of seeing the world through many different lenses.”

One of Stevson’s most memorable experiences was his role as a Trail Leader for the trail “Celebrating the Last Goodbye” during CAPT’s flagship Community Engagement Festival (CE Fest). This trail delved into the world of morticians and funeral directors, a topic Stevson describes as “often overlooked yet deeply meaningful”. Planning and organising the trail opened his eyes to the importance of sensitivity and respect in approaching this topic. 

What stood out for Stevson most was the CE Fest finale, where all the different trail groups and community partners gathered for a shared meal in a lively space filled with stories, connections and laughter. This was truly a powerful reminder of the impact of community engagement and the residential college ethos of mutual learning.

Stevson currently contributes to CAPT Kamal, a service-learning group that supports underprivileged children in India through physical engagements. His team designs engaging educational workshops in data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy for these children.

“Collaborating with peers from fields like psychology and sociology challenged and deepened my own data-driven perspectives,” Stevson says. For instance, his peers’ insights into child learning patterns and cognitive development guided the team to shape curriculum content in a way that was not only technically sound but also empathetically tailored.  

Through this process, Stevson experienced firsthand how learning and innovation happen when diverse disciplines come together. The complexity of social challenges demands more than just technical expertise; through the process of working through such social issues, Stevson became more mindful of the need to understand human behaviour, social structures and ethical nuances.

Stevson will be embarking on his journey as Tulpar House Head this year. He has also started a new Technology Development subcommittee under the House Committee, to explore ways to integrate more technology into our daily lives - from making the House Laundry Telegram Bot more user-friendly to developing a Supper Bot for the house.

In short, his CAPT experience has been nothing short of “transformative” and his learnings have profoundly shaped his approach to problem-solving and collaboration.

“Working with peers from different disciplines helped me appreciate that complex issues, particularly in the community space, cannot be tackled from a single academic lens. The interdisciplinary nature of these engagements trained me to consider psychological, social and policy-related dimensions in tandem with data-driven approaches,” Stevson says.

Understanding the context behind data - what communities value, how they respond and what narratives shape their world - has also led him to more informed and impactful contributions.  

This multi-lens thinking is something he plans to apply in the future, where he hopes to bridge the gap between evidence-based insights and meaningful policymaking.