We found the need to support the campaign and brought “Lend Your Leg” to Singapore. We’ve asked you to send in a snapshot of one pant leg rolled up and boy were we pleased to see your entries. In order to spice up the campaign, we’ve decided to give an $80 voucher to the most creative entry!

Here’s a look at some of the entries! Flip through the entire album of Lend Your Leg entries here.

Imagine our surprise when we opened our email to this entry by Queenie of Artybody.com! She lent her leg by painting them with Rumdul flowers, rainbows and doves inspired by the Pursuing Peace bangle!

Amazing.

So congratulations Queenie, we honestly couldn’t think of a reason not to award you with the Saught voucher! We’ll be contacting you real soon

Love,
Pixie

Meanwhile, here’s a little insight into the adventures, and misadventures, as one of their students Peixin or “Pixie” (affectionately called) journeys through the slums of Cambodia, a visit to the local school by the Girls’ Brigade, and her experience working alongside artisans from our partner NGO workshop – Fileo.

- begin -

“Our first encounter with Cambodia was a deliberate move by our lecturers not only to plunge us straight into how many of the locals live, but also to shock us out of our comfort zones. Many of us would never imagine a dumpsite as a backyard or have to scour through that “backyard”, scavenging for recyclable knickknacks to sell for a living. Sadly, this dumpsite serves a playground and Treasure Island for thousands in Cambodia.

As part of our experiential trip to Cambodia, we visited a city dumpsite and its neighbouring slum. Surprisingly, the first thing I noticed was not the smell, but the smiles of the residents who welcomed us warmly to their village. Children ran up to us with curiosity and kept saying “hello” to us. It was only after a while that I registered the foul smell. We made our way on the unpaved ground to the dumpsite, where we were greeted with an unnaturally colourful field. There were plastic bags and whatnots strewn all over the place and we could feel the ground sink in as we tried to manoeuvre across the dumpsite to the higher ground. As we took a short hike through the trash, worried about sinking deep into the black and oily muck, 5 year olds were running circles around us – bare footed and fearless!

After the hike, we went to the local school managed by the Girls’ Brigade where we interacted with the students – children who pick and sold rubbish for a living. At the start we relied heavily on the translator to help us get our instructions across to the kids but we didn’t have to do that for long because laughter took over as the universal language! That day, it rained heavily. It would have smelled fresh with rainwater in Singapore but we could only smell waves of decomposition there. The village was flooded by the time our class ended and we trudged through our first flood to get back to our comfortable rooms in our hotel, with heavy hearts.

//edit by the Saught team: we just felt that we had to tell you – that Peixin and the rest of her classmates – had of their own initiative, hand sewn gorgeous little slingbags for the children from fabric remnants (they are of course, fashion students from Temasek Polytechnic), and filled them with many treasures and trinkets. #heartmelt

That same day, we went to the Fileo Workshop for the first time to meet our artisans. I had imagined it to be the same sort of workshop I saw in school, spacious like a warehouse with proper shelves for tools and materials but Fileo Workshop is a humble home with one level for work and another for rest. The tools were basic but the final products were not. A tall and quiet artisan, Mr Lim was sitting near the entrance, skilfully creating pieces of artwork for an order. I was eventually assigned to Mr Lim, and we will be working together to realise my design and whilst he seemed to be a little intimidating at first, he was a delight to work with afterwards. He nearly completed one of my designs within 3 hours! Our day ended after everyone had a chance to speak to the artisans and we all went back to the hotel, excited about what we will be accomplishing in the days to come.”

Tan Peixin
Global Citizen
Temasek Polytechnic School of Design 

We are thrilled to present the exclusive behind-the-scenes short film of “Seeking Peace”, by the incredibly talented Rainer Chia. Featuring Singaporean photographer Warren Wee and model/personality Jade Griffin, as well as Kate from ERIIN, the film entitled “Freedom” beautifully captured the jewelry collection by Temasek Polytechnic in motion. There are little snippets of the Saught team goofing around at the end as well.. complete with wind-in-hair + Warren’s astronaut helmet. We thoroughly loved the entire process.

“Freedom” – A behind-the-scenes exclusive of Saught+Warren Wee&ERIIN by Rainer Chia from Saught on Vimeo.

Music: the Steady Coolness by the Drexler, licensed via With Etiquette

If you’ve noticed new additions to our current product photographs by the talented Herman Rahman, we are so very thrilled to present to you the full gallery of photographs by a collaboration with our featured partners as part of our PeaceMakers collective of creatives and retail partners: Singapore’s very own WarrenWee of O-O Studio, in collaboration with the fabulous Kate&Maisha from ERIIN, featuring model and personality Jade Griffin. 

A little background story of the gallery shoot titled “Seeking Peace”:- when we were sourcing for a name that really captured what our vision was, we found that one of the root words of “peace” was the middle english word “saught”. We discovered that “saught” also meant “to seek peace“. Although international conflict can be quite foreign to most who live in rather peaceful communities free from violent wars and genocides, peace is very much a universal truth. We are all looking for peace in our lives, between our families, amongst our friends and within our communities. 

Although we’ve only launched 4 months ago from the seed planted in December 2010, we’ve met so many inspiring and big-hearted people in Singapore, Cambodia, Vienna, the UK, the USA… the World is filled with PeaceMakers and PeaceLovers.  Our collective of PeaceMakers include designers and artists inspired to create jewellery which convey a story of transformation from war to peace; photographers, videographers and models whom translate gorgeous visual stories, to retail partners spreading the message of Saught: made for PeaceLovers around the world.

Meanwhile.. We’ve also got a surprise for you lined up with some exclusive “behind-the-scenes” footage! Watch this space, it’ll be up soon. 

(from top to bottom: Pursuing Peace bangle, Pursuing Peace earrings, and Pursuing Peace necklace)

(from top to bottom: Union of Strengths earrings, Union of Strengths round ring, Union of Strengths square ring, Union of Strengths necklace)

(Jade is wearing both the Petals on a Bloom earrings and bangle)

(Jade is wearing the Bricks of Hope Earrings)

(Jade is wearing the Renewal Bracelet)

We have been very privileged to be able to be a part of Rajana Association’s work in Cambodia of teaching locals in the skills of handicraft. To us, it’s always about people and community, and we are committed to giving a voice to all those who are part of our Saught family. So as we celebrate placing our 2nd order with Rajana for the Petals on a Bloom Bracelet which has sold out (thank you for your support!), we would like to tell you more about the artisan behind this beautifully crafted product!

Artisan Profile:
Ven Sovanna is 30 years old and started work in Rajana since 2004. He was selected by Mary Hill – the founder and former manager of Rajana (Rajana is now 100% locally run!), to start apprenticeship at Rajana. At a young age of 22, it was difficult for him to find employment as he lacked higher education. Rajana had provided him a livelihood and a future as a craftsman. He learnt the skills of carpentry, carving and creating beautiful traditional wooden products; silk painting, and developed his skills further to become a silversmith. His favourite part about being a silversmith at Rajana is creating bangles and rings. His dream and utmost ambition is to create a vocational skills and handicraft training centre for orphans and the elderly.

It always never ceases to amaze us with how people like Ven, have such a heart to give back to his community and to pay it forward.

Petals on a Bloom Bracelet

We are so so so excited to say that we are 3 days away from our big debut night with Actually! Kanha (the Manager from Fileo), and Macara (the artisan behind the Bricks of Hope collection) have got their spanking new passports, and are ready to travel out of Cambodia for the first time! Big thank you to the wonderful people from Temasek Polytechnic who will be flying them down for this weekend also for the MOE Excelfest, which showcases Temasek Polytechnic’s collaboration with us.

It’s so amazing thinking back a year ago when we were thinking which stores we’d love to see Saught stocked at.. and we thought “wouldn’t it be so cool if we could be stocked at Actually?” So, big WOW. Providence.

photo credits: http://actually.com.sg/

Getting email notifications about new orders never fails to brighten up my day, I always find myself letting out a whispered “Yay! New Orders!” without realizing I was actually articulating my thoughts.

We have had quite a number of overseas orders which has pleasantly surprised us, it is good to know that our products are worth the extra shipping costs, and I have to add they definitely are! A special shout-out to Louise Jack, whom Pam met in Vienna, thank you for your support and we saw your tweets! We are so thrilled your friend loves his Renewal Bracelet and doesn’t want to take it off even in the shower (but we cannot guarantee the leather will not emit a strange smell after that)! Also another special mention to Tony Jenkins, a repeat overseas customer of ours, thank you so much for your support and your interest in Saught, we really hope you like the pieces you got!

We have received mixed reviews, some very positive feedback, but also some not so positive ones. We only want to offer pieces that tell a story and are of good quality and design, so we appreciate your feedback! We apologize to anyone who experienced any unpleasantness with regards to their p(ea)ces and rest assured that we are taking all comments and feedback very seriously. So, thank you for all the wonderful support!

Over the past month, we have been getting in touch with other budding entrepreneurs who share similar passions and interests and the journey has been amazing thus far.

Just to name drop a little…we met up with the girls behind ERIIN recently and they are a wonderful pair! We had a great time laughing and chatting over tea with Kate and Maisha and realizing we really had so much in common, from wanting to do business, to a love for fashion and making an impact. Some of our Saught pieces will soon be found on ERIIN.com. Also do check out the awesome photo shoot they did for their upcoming Spring/Summer selections to be released soon and see if you can spot some of your favorite Saught pieces. Here’s a sneak peek:

photo credit: http://www.ERIIN.com

Finally, some exciting news that’s got me soooo stoked. Our Saught jewelry pieces will be placed in a physical store very, very soon in conjunction with a uber cool/make-a-statement/quirky/fun concept store featuring tastefully picked designers/brands/products! Stay tuned for more news regarding a Saught launch event to be held at the end of this month!!!!!!!!
zomgkillmenowpleasedyingofexcitement.

and I leave you with a picture taken on my first trip to Cambodia in 2009 when I went to teach for 2 weeks at a nursery/preschool ran by the Don Bosco ministry there.

Shot with a Nikon FM2, 35mm B&W 800 (I cannot remember which brand) film

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ade

We are so proud of how everything has turned out, every single product featured here has been carefully thought out and refined, our website epitomizes what Saught is all about and we are eggggcited to be able to finally share it with everyone.

Saught.com.sg could not have happened without the help of many people, and we would like to take this opportunity to give these people special mention.

Our friends and family who have been our number one supporters from the start. Thank you parents for understanding that this is something we really wanted to do. Thank you for the reminders to eat our meals and get enough sleep while we tried to juggle having a full time job and getting Saught launched. Thank you our dear friends who have been eagerly waiting for this day and who have been so encouraging and supportive.

Our wonderful friend and website designer Priscelia Chin (check her work out at helloprisc.com). From the start when we were brain storming about our logo and the type of look and feel that we wanted for the website, Pris had been involved. She offered her professional and friendly advice and patiently dealt with our indecisiveness and many odd and weird requests for color and font etc. She went out of her way to ensure that we were satisfied with the work that she put in for Saught and in these last few weeks have really been a huge help that we could not have survived without. THANK YOU PRIS, words cannot express enough the gratitude that we feel.

Low Yong Zhen our web developer, who accommodated all our last minute requests and who worked behind the scenes to tie everything together and to make the Saught website come alive. Thank you for helping us even at such short notice and given you also were busy with other projects, this website would not have materialized without all your hard work.

Currently a photography student at Temasek Polytechnic, part-time free lance photographer and full-time uber cool dude Herman Rahman, who has kindly been helping us with our product photos. If it was left up to us, goodness knows what they might have turned out to look like. Thank you for helping us do justice to our jewelry by making them look as beautiful as they really are!

The helpful and kind people at NUS Enterprise, Professor Wong Poh Kam and his team who have believed in Saught from the start. The amount of support that they have given us has been amazing, reminding us about grant applications and putting us in touch with experienced entrepreneurs have served to broaden our network and given us opportunities to meet with experienced professionals and gain invaluable advice. Thank you for all your help so far, Saught certainly would not have made it to this day without all the support from NUS Enterprise.

Professor Tom Kosnik of GLEAN (Global Leaders Entrepreneurs, and Altruists Network). Thank you for your advice and faith in us and for giving Saught access to your wonderful network.

Carol Shyau of Shokay for her invaluable business and social advice. As a lady who fully understands what we are trying to do and why we are doing it, she has given us much to think about and has helped to refine and better our social business model. Thank you Carol and we look forward to possible collaborations with Shokay in the future.

Shiao, the lady behind Food For Thought, who has been our “go-to” person whenever we were stuck regarding a business or social concept and who has offered us advice with her years of social business experience. Thank you for taking time despite your busy schedule to talk to us whenever we needed help!

The students and teachers of Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Design and School of Moving Images. Thank you so much for coming on board this Cambodia project with us. Being able to involve other young people in what we are doing makes it even more meaningful. Thank you for putting in time and effort on top of your normal school work and projects and for being so enthusiastic and full of energy. It has been a pleasure working with all of you and we look forward to more collaborations ahead.

Finally people, Saught is here!!! and here to stay!!! So please read more about us and browse through our collections. Wear our Saught jewelry and join us in building a community of advocates to champion for peace, rebuilding efforts and sustainable development.

Pictures from our Feb 2011 Cambodia trip

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Pam, Sooky, Ade

Remember My Story from Saught on Vimeo.

In October of 2011, the Saught team journeyed up to Cambodia with Temasek Polytechnic design students and lecturers who were working on jewelry designs for Saught.

Together with the Cambodian artisans, they displayed sheer creativity, determination and hard work to finalize their designs to make them perfect. Along with the design students, we also had on board our trip students from Moving Images – who kindly and professionally put together a video which best depicts the problems of post-conflict countries like Cambodia and what Saught aims to do.