Changkat Primary turns 2,000 old uniforms into new creations

A couple of months ago, 10-year-old Kaelyn Ore was given a pair of uniform shorts by her teachers to bring home and cut up.

- Ng Wei Kai Correspondent

A short instructional video guided the Changkat Primary School pupil on how to properly take apart the garment, which had been donated by a schoolmate.

Kaelyn brought the cut-up pieces back to the school in Simei, when they eventually joined around 2,000 other used uniforms starting a new life as pouches for cutlery and tissue paper, stuffed owls and other items.

Since January, parents, pupils and volunteers have worked to upcycle old uniforms into about 1,400 gifts in celebration of the school's 60th birthday and in line with its emphasis on sustainability education.

Most of these items were given to visitors at an event held at the school on July 5 marking its anniversary, while some "premium" ones such as paint brush holders will be auctioned, with the proceeds going back to the schools' parents' support group for educational programmes.

Every pupil — about 1,000 of them — was given a donated uniform to cut up as a project to do with their parents.

These were then upcycled into the items by volunteers from the parents' support group as well as parents of former pupils and the public, with help from other institutions like Temasek Polytechnic.