How Iron Nori and Carousell are inspiring empathy and altruism among local businesses

How Iron Nori and Carousell are inspiring empathy and altruism among local businesses
PHOTO: Carousell

Pan-seared Norwegian Salmon with herb roasted potatoes, soft shell crab spaghetti, grilled Australian ribeye beef steak topped with demi-glace sauce. These are entrées that would be typically served in a respectable restaurant, easily relished by any discerning patron. 

And yet, at Iron Nori, these dishes might be tough sells for the common Singaporean diner.

You see, Iron Nori is a social enterprise that trains and employs differently-abled employees to prepare them for the F&B industry, with up to 50 per cent of its staff comprising people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other intellectual disabilities. The front-of-house service is manned by special needs crew, who take on roles such as a cashier, server, waiter or cleaning steward. 

It’s an uphill battle, taking on the expectations of Singaporeans, says Bernard Chan, a volunteer strategic operations consultant at Iron Nori. When asked about some of the challenges Iron Nori faced, Chan didn’t hold back about his thoughts on “demanding” diners. 

“There is an expectation for low-priced food, fast table service, big portions, surplus of paper napkins and cutleries,” he observed, pointing us to a couple of negative reviews left behind by past Iron Nori patrons. 

“The above culture and expectation is the greatest challenge in special needs F&B training. This is because the special needs crew are clearly less effective than neuro-typical staff,” Chan explained. Still, it’s pretty remarkable that the eatery has maintained a solid rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars from 185 Google reviews.  

But the man does believe that the existence of a special needs restaurant would be able to champion and drive the spirit of empathy within the local F&B space. It’s why Iron Nori is recognised as one of the 74 Champions of Good this year as part of the Company of Good programme developed by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). 

Champions of Good

Champions of Good are exemplary organisations that have been recognised for doing good by engaging their partners and stakeholders on a collaborative journey. Iron Nori is no stranger to corporate giving, of course, having participated in the Giving Week movement last year by hosting a fundraising dinner — cooked and served by its special needs crew — and donating a portion of the proceeds to St Andrew’s Autism Centre. 

This year, Chan assured that the company’s SG Cares Giving Week — Giving Week has banded with SG Cares from 2020 on — initiatives will be expanded. Come Dec 1 to 7, Iron Nori will once again prepare a Giving Menu that will be hosted at its flagship restaurant at 9 Jalan Wangi. Proceeds will be donated to Caritas Singapore, the social and charitable arm of the local Catholic Archdiocese. 

Since the enterprise has expanded to include a special needs bistro pub at Tanjong Pagar Road, Iron Nori will help to host various social enterprises and champion social causes at its Tanjong Pagar location throughout the course of SG Cares Giving Week. 

Being a Champion of Good has brought about an escalation of positive social impact for Iron Nori — Chan believes that the national recognition has given them a platform to showcase that persons with disabilities have their own strengths. 

“We are constantly challenging legacy beliefs that persons with disabilities are only receivers of help and support. They can also be a volunteer pool and are able to contribute to the national giving campaign via their skills,” he offered. 

On the corporate side of things, Chan noted that getting the Champion of Good recognition is a clear demonstration of how businesses can start doing good even before turning profitable and how the dynamics of business management skills can be harnessed to drive social impact. 

Harnessing a community

Conferred this year alongside Iron Nori and 72 other organisations is none other than Singapore’s homegrown online marketplace: Carousell. 

For a platform mainly intended to facilitate the selling and buying of second-hand items, it would seem only natural that some Carousell users would just give them away as well.

As far back as 2016, the #Blessings hashtag started trending on the online marketplace, a movement started by a single mother. The user had reached out to fellow Carousell users to ask if they would be willing to donate or let go of their essential items at a lower price to help mothers in need. 

“When the movement first began, children and baby items were consistently the most popular items both given and received by our users,” recounted a Carousell spokesperson. 

“We have a great community of parents who pass on their items to those who need it more, and last year, more than half of the active users transacting free items were mothers.”

Users have also shared with Carousell how gratifying it has been to give away their items while decluttering. Used furniture in good condition have found new owners who would need them — all easily searchable on the Free Items category launched on Carousell earlier this year. 

Inspired by the philanthropic efforts of its users, Carousell embarked on partnerships with various Singapore charities to facilitate donations to benefit the community at large. Last year saw the platform partnering with 26 charities — including the Singapore Children’s Society, Metta Home for the Disabled, Care Corner Senior Services — as part of Giving Week 2019. 

One step further was taken to fix a common issue in donation drives: the excess supply of poor-quality items that these charities might not need. In fact, they could even be burdened by the extra resources and manpower needed to dispose of unwanted items. 

Carousell’s reached out to each organisation to set up a wish list filled with specific items they needed. Charities would be allowed to inspect all the free items and request only for those that matched their needs. 

“This way, the organisations are not overloaded with unnecessary items, and any excess listings can be taken by Carousell’s existing Free Community,” said the company’s spokesperson. 

Surprisingly, some rather high-value items have been listed for free, according to the spokesperson. A Samsung Galaxy Camera, a three-seater black leather sofa, and even a genuine Coach wallet count among the items being given away. 

The ease of usage on the platform has played a part in encouraging Singaporeans to take part in donation efforts. Carousell has been seeing a greater variety in free items listed, such as home appliances and electronics. For users with faulty electrical items, they can always seek help with the repair enthusiast community on the platform to breathe new life into damaged goods.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/carousell.sg/videos/1538277046226256[/embed]

The community of compassionate users will once again be rallied for SG Cares Giving Week this year when charities such as The Salvation Army will partner with Carousell.

“More unused items can reach communities in need, creating win-win situations for both donors and the charities,” affirmed the spokesperson. 

Generosity is contagious — kindness breeds kindness and goodness spurs goodness. It’s already been scientifically proven that a single act of kindness can influence others into it just as easily. 

As both Carousell and Iron Nori have shown, generosity and kindness eventuate in much good for all involved: individuals, businesses, and the community. 

When the Champions of Good programme recognises role models on a national level, it would just be a matter of time that other organisations and companies across the island take their own first steps towards building a City of Good. We all could use a little kindness after all, especially after everything we’ve been through this year. 


Visit companyofgood.sg/champions-of-good and givingweek.sg to find out more about who the Champions of Good 2020 are and their Giving week initiatives. 

This article was brought to you in partnership with NVPC

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