Sim Hao Jie, Founder of Ministry of Hope Affairs: Next generation Singaporean industrial designer to know
By Olha Romaniuk -
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With design thinking unbounded by any one discipline, industrial designer Hao Jie Sim finds inspiration in daily life to develop solutions for the betterment of everyday living.
Influenced by the environments he puts himself in, Hao Jie started out on his career path by seeking opportunities to contribute his design skills to social projects through events like Designathons and Hackathons organised by organisations like DesignSingapore Council, Health Promotion Board and National Council of Social Services.
Leading with passion and driven by compassion, Hao Jie’s works explore and tackle real-world challenges for the betterment of human lives, a noble ambition supported by his design process grounded in research and exploration.
Inspired by Rodney Loh of NextofKin Creatives
Influential in Hao Jie’s formative years as a product industrial designer starting out in the industry was Rodney Loh, design director at NextofKin Creatives, whom he credits for teaching him that design does not have to be linear.
“He instilled in me the value of observing behaviours, seeking inspiration and transforming it into our own concepts, often citing Picasso’s quote, “Good artists copy, great artists steal,” Hao Jie recalls.
Sim also attests that being surrounded by passionate individuals who strive to solve real-world issues with design has shaped his choice of projects and has motivated him to continue applying his skills for the greater good.
The Monkey King project is a collaborative project Hao Jie embarked on with Edmund Zhang.
Designing Without Thought by Naoto Fukasawa
Underpinning Hao Jie’s design philosophy and process are some of his earliest influences and notable figures in the industry, like Naoto Fukasawa. The concept of ‘designing without thought’, or finding inspiration in subtle behaviours and general ideas, is what Hao Jie still firmly believes in today as he ventures beyond the realm of industrial design.
The SAFSG framework presented on the website.
Design Bettering Lives
While his interests began with a genuine appreciation perspectives for industrial and product design, he notes that, as his career is progressing, his interests are shifting to investigating more and more how design can be used for the betterment of lives.
“In addition to design’s ability to visualise and make things relatable, a significant aspect of design is able connecting the dots to create fresh perspectives,” he explains.
MOHA’s presentation during the SAFSG Framework launch.
“This ability can be scaled across different projects and disciplines. With my recent collaborations and projects like MOHA’s Senior Active Force SG, I’ve learned the importance of storytelling and its key role in design.”
Rendering of the Kohler Struktura project.
Founded Ministry of Hope Affairs
With likeminded individuals, Hao Jie established Ministry of Hope Affairs (MOHA) as a collective of friends who share a common passion for assisting seniors.
“The team, which comprises Naomi (counsellor), Glenda (UX Designer), Ethan (3D Generalist), Peng Ho (PhD student at SUTD), Hwee Xian (Data scientist), and myself, originates from diverse backgrounds and aims to make a genuine impact through empathy, research, and design,” he says.
The team received funding from NCSS to pilot a project called Senior Active Force SG (SAFSG) during the NCSS Social Design Challenge in 2019.
A faucet concept Hao Jie conceived for Kohler.
Senior Active Force SG (SAFSG)
Comprising two parts – Senior Active Force SG and Senior Active Force SG Framework – the project by Hao Jie and his MOHA cohorts is a platform for seniors to participate in activities easily, empowering a senior army to contribute meaningfully to society.
He believes that the project can plant the seeds in development of a standard language in the social sector, encouraging conversations about designing for seniors, by providing an integral understanding of seniors’ mindsets, attitudes, behaviours, and the “key phases of seniorhood in Singapore.”
A collection of stamps Hao Jie designed for the Juror of Everyday Designs.
An Army of Senior Citizens
Looking into the future of his work, Hao Jie is looking beyond the boundaries of design for inspiration.
“Inspiration may come from everyday life, much like MOHA’s SAFSG project began with a simple comparison to the army,” says Hao Jie.
“This was where we asked ourselves, “What if there was a senior army where seniors could enlist to continue contributing to society in their unique way?” Armed with this unbounded curiosity and the ability to ask the right questions to achieve design solutions, he continues to seek out projects similar to SAFSG where design can be used to serve unobserved needs through industrial and product design and beyond.
The engaging display invites viewers to stamp their mark of approval on their favourite designs of everyday objects.
Hao Jie Sim for Kohler
“I am most proud of this project that I have done at NextOfKin Creatives with Kohler,” says Hao Jie referring to Kohler Struktura, a hygiene urinal design for the Istinja process, a religious cleansing ritual for men. “Not only does the urinal help to save 50 per cent more water, it also enables men to cleanse themselves in line with the Muslim ablution process.”
Through getting feedback from different prototypes and interactions, Kohler Struktura presents an optimal combination that best meets the user’s needs and expectations.
Monkey King
Conceptualised together with Edmund Zhang, the Monkey King is a collaborative project to re-envision and capture the timeless stories and values of a traditional deity in a modern day context and usage, while retaining the genuine appreciation for its possessions and features.
With the Monkey King project, Hao Jie and Edmund imagine a future where art aficionados can obtain traditional deity sculptures on art and design retail channels, and where an international audience could enjoy the folk stories of different deities in their own ways.
Through the abstraction of form, the Monkey King sculpture pays homage to existing forms of effigies, while imbuing them a softer, simplified and succinct representation.
Senior Active Force SG Framework
“I am currently working with MOHA on Senior Active Force SG, as we continue to look at how we can continue to test and pilot it on the ground,” Hao Jie says about his ongoing venture, demonstrating the importance of cross disciplinary teams and design impact on the social sector.
Senior Active Force SG (SAFSG) reimagines a future where seniors are part of an ‘army’ that empowers them to stay active and contribute meaningfully to society.
The project uncovers the attitudes, mindsets, and behaviours of seniors as they go through senior- hood and is supported by the Good Design Research Initiative by DesignSingapore Council.
Juror of Everyday Designs
As part of the Superposition exhibition at the National Design Centre, Hao Jie proposes that design is “neither valuable nor useless until it is observed and measured.”
In this tongue-in-cheek installation, he invites viewers to act as design jurors to stamp their approvals on ordinary designs; the trophy and stamps that he designed are modelled and designed after the few famous design awards in the market.