We crafted complete meals around a single grain of rice to illustrate just how precious each grain is in the eyes of a hungry person. Collaborating with popular restaurants, we worked with their chefs to craft these single-grain meals out of actual ingredients, replicating some of Singapore’s most popular dishes. The activation phase of the project consisted of serving actual single-grain dishes to restaurant clientele, followed by an explanation of the idea by a Red Cross volunteer. Reactions were recorded and turned into videos shared over social media. Eventually, replicas and images of the dishes used on placemats, postcards, posters and social media were used to propagate a simple message: just as a single grain of rice is precious, so is the smallest donation. Physical donation boxes were set up at participating restaurants accompanying our collateral. Online, all communications pointed to the Red Cross website’s donation link.

Even in outwardly prosperous Singapore, there are people who have fallen through the cracks of society and are unable to afford basic necessities such as food. The public is largely unaware of this issue as there isn’t an official poverty line in Singapore, and the destitute have no visibility. The Red Cross has a programme called FoodAid that caters to these people, from the aged and infirm and skip-generation families to the working poor. Due to a lack of awareness (and a prevailing belief that nobody goes hungry in Singapore), FoodAid does not receive the donations it needs to cater to all those in need. Therefore, the task was twofold: to generate awareness by alluding to the issue without explicitly stating it (the Singapore government does not tolerate such indictments), and to collect donations.