Outward Bound Singapore campus on Coney Island to open in second half of 2026

The new Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) campus on Coney Island will be officially opened in the second half of 2026, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth, Goh Hanyan on Thursday (March 5).

With the new campus, OBS will be able to offer the MOE-OBS Challenge (MOC) programme to all Secondary 3 students by 2030, Goh said during the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth's (MCCY) Committee of Supply debate in Parliament.

Construction of OBS Coney began in June 2021, and it will be OBS' third campus, in addition to its existing Pulau Ubin and East Coast campuses.

Prior to OBS Coney, about 65 per cent of the Secondary 3 cohort from across 90 schools — 18,000 students — took part in MOC last year, Goh said. 

MOC is a five-day residential programme, where students are grouped into teams of 12 and embark on outdoor challenges meant to build up physical and mental ruggedness, while providing them with opportunities to interact with peers from diverse backgrounds.

The new OBS Coney campus will include advanced ropes challenge courses, integrated climbing systems and other team-based challenges to enhance group-learning experience.

Goh also spoke about potentially extending OBS to all ages and expanding the OBS overseas programme, based on suggestions from MPs Darryl David and Valerie Lee.

While acknowledging the "valuable suggestions", Goh said that the current MOC scale-up must be prioritised first due to limited resources, and that other areas can be considered at a later time.

@asiaone The new OBS Coney campus will include advanced ropes challenge courses, integrated climbing systems and other team-based challenges to enhance group-learning experience. #sgnews #Singapore #Parliament #Youth #Students ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

Creating a youth precinct at Somerset Belt

While friendships can be formed through organised activities like OBS, they can also be forged in everyday moments spent together, Goh said.

"Many young people feel that as years pass, there are fewer physical spaces where this can happen naturally," she said, adding that MCCY will be creating new spaces for them starting with Somerset Belt.

Somerset Belt, the area around Somerset MRT Station — comprising *SCAPE, the Somerset Youth Park, and Skate Park — will be developed into a youth precinct with construction expected to begin later this year.

MCCY received over 16,500 responses on hopes and aspirations for the new space, with youths and stakeholders working alongside architects and planning teams to redevelop Somerset Belt.

When completed, it will include a performance stage, communal courtyard spaces, and modular structures that youths can use for meetings, pop-ups, and other ground-up activations.

There will also be an outdoor space which can be used for fitness and play.

"We will create more welcoming, open spaces across Singapore, where you can gather freely and form friendships," Goh said, adding that more details will be shared when the SG Youth Plan is launched.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com