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SOWING THE SEEDS TO ENRICH LIVES

After graduating as a graphic designer in 1996, Alan Ng started his creative journey at an advertising agency before venturing into event management. This change in environment led him to developing an interest in art of woodwork building, where he soon became involved in a number of on-and-off community-based projects in ‘kampongs’. In an interview with CSR Malaysia, Alan talks about how this newfound love instilled in him a desire to teach creative thinking and problem-solving skills through the wonders of woodworking, culminating in the creation of Ignition Lab.
“My many years of experience in the creative industry made me realise, when it comes to creative thinking and problem solving, a lot of young people always seem to suffer from a lack of confidence,” says Alan.
Inspired by the countless possibilities creative woodworking can bring, Alan uses his workshop as a safe space for hungry individuals, young and old, to work in small teams to find their balance through team-building activities and interactivities.
From toy cars all the way up to a fully-fledged wall shelf, he constantly encourages his students to look beyond their own expectations. “When I ask my students to build a stool, the idea is not to simply complete the stool, but also enable them to foresee what the available spaces within the stool itself are,” explains Alan.
“How can they convert that void space into a storage compartment? They will think further and be more creative when they explore such possibilities among fellow classmates, like converting the initial creation into a piece of furniture with better utility value. ‘Wait, I’m not just making a stool. It can be all these other things. This actually makes them realize this is more than just a one-off build.”


(Photo Courtesy: Ignition Lab)
Alan’s enthusiasm and dedication to his students’ development has always been of the utmost importance, and he’s always there to lend a helping hand. But no matter how hands-on he can be, there’s just one rule he has stood by when conducting his class; to leave the product designing in their trusty hands.
“If I were to give my students detailed sketches, I would be the one in control of their execution since all the steps are there for them; I don’t do that,” says Alan who find that this method allows for his students to depend on their own creative thinking skills to design a build.
“I have a look at their designs, and advise them on how to strengthen it. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to say no to their ideas, but we always find ways to make it work.”
No matter how difficult a design might initially be, Alan always encourages his students to go beyond what they expect of themselves and delve into yet unexplored areas because he knows that, at the end of the day, it’ll be all worth it when they’ve seen their creation come to life right in front of them.
“The most fulfilling part is seeing the smiles on their faces, and the excitement for their build. Even with adults, during the first hours of the team-building classes, you’ll see a lot of worry and anxiousness when they’re faced with having to contend with using a miter saw,” reveals Alan.
“But after going through the exercise, they gain much confidence, and those who were hesitant at first end up contributing to cutting the most wood for their team. So it’s great to see everyone come together like that.”

(Photo Courtesy: Ignition Lab)
The idea of a community isn’t just an ideology the ex-graphic designer incorporates in his programmes at Ignition Lab. Alan believes that it is his duty to give back as a community as well.
“Many of our builds are contributed to charities or refugee centres, so that gives the team a good sense of achievement. They’re not just here to learn and build something; they’re part of a community-based project that’s going to improve someone’s life.”
Ignition Lab’s community-led social initiative has been recognized by the Obama Foundation, JA Malaysia and BP, just to name a few and welcomed the likes of internationally-acclaimed actress Julia Roberts and Barack and Michelle Obama themselves to their initiative, helping to better the lives of young students from low-income communities by providing their schools with facilities such as chairs and desks.
“By being involved with the Obama Foundation, I get to meet people from different parts of the world, and the whole experience was just absolutely fantastic, not just for me, but also the members of the Asia Pacific who came under the programme.”
“Ignition Lab’s programmes let me reach out to other foundations and communities, and at the same time, help others become more creative. For example, I love teaching product design, and under the young entrepreneurship programme by JA Malaysia, youths would come in and learn it. I also touch on branding and identity because I believe it’s easy to create a product, but if you can enhance their understanding of image identity and branding, that will bring it to a better standing,” continues Alan.



(Photo Courtesy: Ignition Lab)
And as someone who never shies away from an opportunity to change someone’s life through ever-growing community efforts, he gave his two cents on the notion that most companies often opt to engage in more short-term projects rather than creating long-term alliances with sustainable organisations, and how can they change the way they look at corporate social responsibility or CSR, in general.
“In my experience, a lot of companies have this idea that CSR is just something you do by the way, that it is a give-and-go situation. Once they’ve hit their key performance indicators (KPI) requirements, they’ve fulfilled what is needed by the company. But CSR is actually so much more.”
“If they try to focus their efforts on social enterprises, this will open up brand new opportunities for them to invest their time in, rather than just glossing over an non-governmental organisation (NGO) and deciding there and then that it will not be worthwhile for them at the end of the day.”
Alan urges companies to always bear in mind that there must be an objective. If even a single recipient is able to learn something from you, they might have a chance at turning what you taught them into something that can guide them in life.
“People are gifted with so many talents, but they only seem to apply it to their own scope of work. What if they could apply their skills to those in need of them?”
“It can be through a teaching programme based on your skillset or a day trip for someone to learn something new; I think you’ll find it very rewarding. You’ll be assured that you either sent them home well-fed or your influence helped them to see a better future for themselves.”
Alan concludes with some words of wisdom that we all can live by: “Don’t just sit in your little world; get out there because life is full of surprises, and I think you’ll find that it’s so much more rewarding to give than to always take.”

(Photo Courtesy: Ignition Lab)
For more information about Ignition Lab, check out their website. To keep up-to-date with their latest programmes, make sure to link up with them via Facebook, Instagram and Youtube channel or drop them an email here.