TEENAGE INNOVATOR AIMS FOR
A MORE SUSTAINABLE SINGAPORE
Illustrating a book, Kickstarter projects and giving inspirational speeches at public events are just some of Dylan’s notable accomplishments.
By Luqman Mashren
Dylan in front of the One Kind House, a 21st-century kampung house where he
ideates and prototypes his inventions.
(PHOTO CREDITS: Dylan Soh)
At 18 years of age, Dylan Soh has achieved some truly incredible things. Dylan is an environmental innovator, striving to revamp Singapore’s urban farming and do his part in helping Singapore to achieve sustainability.
Dylan’s journey started back in 2012 when he decided to join his father, Calvin Soh, 53, on his eco-farming journey. A few years prior, Calvin quit his job as the head of marketing at Publicis Asia to focus on his family and began farming on their rooftop.
From there, their family developed a passion for urban farming and began working towards an ambitious goal: sustainability for Singapore.
When he was 10 years old, Dylan spoke at his first TEDx talk, sharing about urban farming and the future of Singapore’s sustainability.
His second came two years later, where he narrated The Big Red Dot, a children’s book for adults that was written by his father and illustrated by him.
“It's the story of a little red dot who realises she is a big red dot, after going on this journey of self-discovery,” Dylan says.
“I was very scared, but I believed what I said although I didn't understand a bit of it. I was very young and talking about pretty complex and deep stuff but from a childish point of view.”
After a successful TEDx talk, Dylan was asked to speak at numerous public events. When he spoke at SLUSH, a startup and tech event, he met the creator of Angry Birds, Peter Vesterbacka.
Calvin and Dylan with Peter Vesterbacka, who offered Dylan an internship in Finland that he eventually attended in 2017. (PHOTO CREDITS: Dylan Soh)
In Finland, he was able to tour their schools. Impressed with the education system there, he decided to enrol in their International Baccalaureate program after completing his O-level examinations.
While undergoing his secondary school education, Dylan started on his first Kickstarter project and eco-farming innovation, the Grow-it-Yourself (GIY) Stick. The GIY Stick is a simple tool that uses a plastic bottle and a piece of fabric to make any plant self-watering.
The GIY Stick is designed to fit almost all household size pots and can support up to 5kg of water. (PHOTO CREDITS: Dylan Soh)
“In 2016, we realised the biggest problem [with urban farming] was that people either over-water or under-water their plants, so that was the first [urban farming] problem to solve and that’s how I came up with the GIY Stick,” Dylan says.
Infographic by Luqman Mashren, Instructions by Dylan Soh
The GIY Stick was a huge success on Kickstarter, earning 873 donors and $35,807 worth of donations, surpassing their $20,000 target. The GIY Stick has a price tag of $20 for three and is available for purchase on the One Kind House website.
Dylan was determined to repeat the success of the GIY Stick with his latest invention, the One Kind Block.
The One Kind Block is a Lego-like hydroponic system that is designed to farm without soil, using only water and nutrients to grow the plants.
The One Kind Block was a 4-year work in progress before the final product was decided. (PHOTO CREDITS: Dylan Soh)
When the One Kind Block Kickstarter was first launched in May 2020, the target was a huge sum of $149,000. After only garnering $38,137 and failing to meet the target, Dylan and Calvin were disappointed.
However, they recovered swiftly, relaunching the Kickstarter in Dec 2020, with a more realistic target of $39,000.
“We were too ambitious, there’s [lessons] to be learnt. We’re back now, this time with a performance analyst,” Dylan says. “Now, we can see the actual data that comes from Facebook or Kickstarter; who interacts with [the website], who’s interested in the One Kind Block.”
The One Kind Block is sold in sets of three and has a price tag of $39 per set. With the fundraising still in progress, Dylan and Calvin are hoping to redeem themselves.
“We learn to succeed by failing,” Calvin says. “If you try and you don't succeed, what did you learn from it? The real failure is when you don’t learn anything.”
His close friend, Kevin Leong, 18, comments on how Dylan had a different approach to his academics compared to his schoolmates in secondary school.
“He’d rather spend his time creating or expressing whatever was on his mind down on a piece of paper, carrying a notebook and pencil anywhere in school,” Kevin says.
Dylan admits he did not do well for his O-level examinations.
“We weren't preparing both Dylan or Ava for a job. We were preparing them for the future, because the future may have jobs that do not exist yet,” Calvin says. Ava is Dylan’s younger sister.
Dylan dropped out of the IB programme in Finland due to COVID-19 but he is taking this in his stride.
Quoting the sagely tortoise in Kung Fu Panda, Dylan says, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery, today’s a gift, that’s why it’s called a ‘present’.”