HackerspaceSG is a technology community center and

hackerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sci ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. While predominantly an open working space for software projects, HackerspaceSG is also a landmark of the Singapore DIY

movement Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

, and also hosts a range of events from technology classes to biology, computer hardware, and manufacturing. The space is open to all types of

hackers A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bugs or exploits to break ...

History

HackerspaceSG was initially founded by four people in late 2009. The four people came up with the idea after reading about similar centres that have opened up around the world, specifically in the United States, China and Japan. Wong Meng Weng envisioned HackerspaceSG as a spot where hackers and other

geeks The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

can congregate, exchange ideas and come up with cool applications, and where the clubhouse is a "combination of living room, science lab, and shared office space for the geek community". Though the plan was initially to just have a place for geeks to gather and network, this soon evolved into a co-working space catering mainly to tech startups. The institution has often been recognised as Singapore's first co-working space. During the Singapore start-up 2.0 boom, it was also touted in the mainstream media as a meeting space for the

start-up A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend ...

and

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

communities, even hosting

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

's co-founder

Eduardo Saverin Eduardo Luiz Saverin ( , ; born March 19, 1982) is a Brazilian billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor, known for having co-founded Facebook. In 2012, he owned about 2% of Facebook shares, valued at approximately $2 billion at the time. Base ...

when he was in Singapore.

Physical space

The first iteration of HackerspaceSG was located at 70A Bussorah Street in Singapore. The 2-year lease was extended once, but in October 2013, the landlord expressed a desire to develop the Bussorah Street unit into two distinct units. This meant that members would have had to endure dust and noise, and it was unlikely that the units would be leased back to HackerspaceSG at existing rates when the lease was renewed. In October and November 2013, a search for a new location commenced, with the membership finally settling on 344B King George's Avenue. A lease was signed on November 11, 2013, and move-in occurred on the next day. In November 2021, due to increasing rents and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, HackerspaceSG moved to a different unit within King George's Building, to 336D King George's Avenue. In December 2024, HackerspaceSG moved for the third time to its current address in Textile Centre.

Organisation

HackerspaceSG is a not-for-profit

membership organisation A membership organization is any organization that allows people or entities to subscribe, and often requires them to pay a membership free or "subscription". Membership organizations typically have a particular purpose, which involves connecting p ...

, with many chores and activities performed by self-directed member volunteers. Organisational decisions are proposed and discussed at monthly plenums, and decided mostly by consensus. A

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

handles

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

and government-mandated filings. The organisation has open membership: anybody can become a member. It is primarily financed through membership dues, but is open to accepting 3rd party

sponsorships Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

to fund expansions and renovations.

Culture

HackerspaceSG is entirely communal space, from the tools in the electronics lab, to the desks, to the food in the refrigerator. Anything left in the space is considered fair game for anybody to play with. Very few restrictions are placed upon people, as long as they do not detract from the experience of members or consume resources they do not replace. Any member may host an event in the space.

Partnerships

Some partnerships formed in HackerspaceSG have been the subject of controversy and media coverage, like the organisation of a

nyotaimori , often referred to as "body sushi", is the Japanese practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the naked body of a woman. The less common male variant is called . History The origin of can be traced back to the food play of () performed in ...

event as a part of a series of themed dinners.

Notable businesses with HackerspaceSG history

* Viki * JFDI.Asia * Islamicevents.sg

References

External links

Hackerspace.SG"The official HackerspaceSG Google Group""What do Seattle, Silicon Valley, Berlin and Cambridge (both Cambridges) Have In Common?"
e27. October 14, 2009
"Co-Workers of the World, Unite at Hackerspace.SG"
Tech in Asia. October 16, 2009
"Developing a 'hacker' culture of ideas, innovation"
ZDNet. November 9, 2010.
"High-tech tinkerers on the rise"
The Straits Times. May 5, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackerspacesg 2009 establishments in Singapore Computer clubs Hacker groups Hackerspaces Internet in Singapore Culture of Singapore Education in Singapore DIY culture