IWD 2024: Ku Geok Boon of SG Enable on why we should see past disabilities

What does inclusion mean? This International Women's Day, we feature incredible individuals leading social enterprises that are championing the underrepresented and underserved. Their mission? To shatter societal stigmas and create pathways to equal opportunities for all.

Prior to assuming the role of founding CEO at SG Enable in 2013, Ku Geok Boon spent nearly two decades working in the education sector.

Her belief in maximising the potential of every individual has been a driving force throughout her career. At SG Enable, she spearheads initiatives aimed at fostering inclusion and dismantling barriers for individuals with disabilities in Singapore. Her efforts encompass diverse areas such as inclusive employment, technology adoption, and community integration.

Notably, she played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Enabling Village in 2015, Singapore’s first inclusive community space that is also home to the country’s inaugural inclusive gym, the first inclusive preschool, and the first outreach clinic tailored for persons with disabilities.

Given your background in education, what motivated you to transition into the disability sector and take on a leadership role at SG Enable?

I am a builder at heart, and the opportunity to set up a new agency that focuses on rallying different stakeholders to come together to make a difference to people’s lives was too good to be passed up. Like education, the social service sector allows me to make a direct and tangible impact on the community.

Please share more about the Enabling Village’s conception, development, and its impact.

Enabling Village is the first inclusive community space in Singapore dedicated to integrating persons with disabilities in society. Beyond providing services to persons with disabilities, caregivers, and organisations, it also brings together community amenities, lifestyle retail services and inclusive programming.

The Enabling Village will also expand with a four-storey extension expected to be ready by 2025. The extension will feature i’mable Collective, an integrated experiential space with a retail showcase, cafe, gallery and studios to profile and nurture creatives with disabilities, promoting integration and inclusion. It will be Singapore’s first showcase that brings together pan-disability artists and makers’ works under one roof.

What does Inspiring Inclusion mean to you?

Our work actualises the recommendations set out in the national Enabling Masterplan 2030: in training and employment, promoting independent living, and creating physical and social environments – such as malls, transport spaces and digital communications – that are inclusive to persons with disabilities.

In the employment space, for example, we have improved employment outcomes for persons with disabilities. Our strong belief in developing “human capital” pushed us to develop and launch a national accreditation for inclusive employers, the Enabling Mark, with support from SBF Foundation, and the Enabling Academy to provide lifelong learning opportunities for persons with disabilities. Going beyond “human capital”, we seek to develop “human equity” by changing mindsets and fostering greater empathy.

How do we collaborate as a community to promote acceptance and understanding of persons with disabilities?

We need to move from sympathy to empathy – to see past the disability, focus on abilities, and make inclusion the norm. The next decade will see us unlocking community assets to develop more community-based services to provide more choices to persons with disabilities for meaningful engagement.

With Singapore’s ageing population, there’s an even greater need for accessibility and inclusion. When we meet the needs of persons with disabilities, we cater to the rest of society, and ensure equitable opportunities for people of different abilities and needs.

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