“The first thing
a dictatorship does is
remove dialogue.”
Embedded Files
For July-Sep RHD & Nat'l Day Programme Availability
Pope Francis
Youth Interfaith Dialogue Forum
Singapore 2024
Being
Bridges
Designing the Dialogue of Difference
for Human Dignity
Leveraging the Singapore experience of diversity, harmony & resilience for the world.
We are tried-&-tested.
Leveraging the Singapore experience of diversity, harmony & resilience for the world.
We are tried-&-tested.
His Holiness Pope Francis at the Interfaith Youth Audience, CJC, Singapore, offering his papal blessing upon the work of Being Bridges and our products at the official dialogue showcase by the Vatican and MCCY for the last Apostolic Journey of his papacy visiting the region of Asia Pacific, September 2024.
Presidential Commendation
Presidential Commendation
President Halimah Yacob opening the ICCS conference with praise for Basil Kannangara, founder of Being Bridges, and Nicholas Pang, creator of the award-winning Smol Tok conversation cards, for our collaborative partnership designing Diversity By Default, a card game bridging various forms of diversity.
Cultural Recognition
Cultural Recognition
MCCY Minister Edwin Tong commending Being Bridges founder, Basil Kannangara, at the ICCS closing address for our innovative interfaith VR tours project, Being Guests. The local project rose to fame when it was awarded the top prize at the international 'Mission: Unite' hackathon for social cohesion.
We specialise
in facilitating meaningful
intercultural, interracial &
interfaith programmes.
We've got this for you.
Doing Dialogue Differently
We curate community conversations.
We engage culture, ethnicity, and faith.
We make tools* for social impact.
Tools*? Yes.
We design products;
we develop projects; and
we deliver award-winning
programmes.
Looking for support?
Guided Conversation Cards for Social Harmony
Guided Conversation Cards for Social Harmony
Our social harmony tools are specially researched and designed to bring communities together to explore the stories, traditions, and beliefs that shape who we are.
Our programmes are optimised to impact both real-life neighborhoods as well as diverse MNCs.
Customise your own.
“[Their]
efforts help to foster
cohesion amidst
diversity.”
~ Former Singapore Minister for Education, Mr. Chan Chun Seng,
about our youth development programmes for global connectors in the future of work.
Experience our innovative workshops pivoting
multicultural diversity
as a tool for cultivating
resilient communities.
Leverage our expertise.
“The virtual reality was so real… felt like I was there!”
~ Teenager, Malay, Muslim, visiting our community VR kiosk during the National Day season.
VR Tours for Social Harmony
VR Tours for Social Harmony
Being Guests compilation with subtiltles (watermarked).mp4Community visitors immerse themselves in our interfaith VR learning journeys
“Even though I’m Catholic, I also learnt something new about my own faith and the meaning behind some items in the church, particularly the sanctuary lamp.”
~ Youth, Indian, Catholic, visiting our community VR kiosk during the National Day season.
Our Help
Our Help
We help organisations navigate the sensitive terrain of diversity in these significant, yet often overlooked, ways.
Strategic Consultation: Custom solutions for culture, ethnicity, and faith-based diversity challenges specific to your context
Innovative Tools: Award-winning programmes and products (like our VR interfaith tours and dialogue card games) that make difficult conversations accessible
Safe Space Facilitation: Structured dialogue sessions where your team can ask difficult questions and surface hidden tensions constructively
Capacity Building: Train-the-trainer programmes that equip your leaders with ground-up expertise for ongoing intercultural engagement
Whether you're addressing workplace friction, community tensions, or wanting to strengthen organizational cohesion, we don't just preach unity—we build practical bridges between differences.
Our Packages
Our Packages
Our service packages help you transform complexity into connection.
Trainings & Workshops
Our award-winning capacity-building workshops incorporating multicultural conversations for communities of all sizes
Festivals & Roadshow Kiosks
Modular configurations for corporate and community booths featuring our award-winning 360° interactive VR tours
Talks & Panel Discussions
Realtime storytelling for lunchtime brown bags, firesides, assembly addresses, AMA's, forums, multi-speaker panels & roundtables
Immersive Learning Trails
(Our latest offering!) Learning journeys that are pedagogically sound built atop the multimodal stories from our award-winning modules
Consultation & White Label
Behind-the-scenes specialist consultation for programmes, products, and projects as well as White Label services & licensing
Sustainable Social Impact
For a substantial list of partners and clients, get in touch with us below, and we can send you a full prospectus and share some of our experiences
Our Credibility
Our Credibility
Our designs are researched and developed for intercultural, interracial, and interfaith projects that catalyse both personal and social transformation.
NATIONAL PUBLIC CREDIBILITY
ICCS2022 Industry Recognition: Our work in Singapore has been formally recognized at the prestigious International Conference for Cohesive Societies, with projects honoured by leading government officials at this industry-wide gathering.
CONTENT MATTER EXPERTISE
Global Interdisciplinary Specialisation: We're certified with formal training from renowned secular and religious institutions, mentored by leading global experts in multiculturalism and community development. Leveraging research from anthropology, psychology, and philosophy, we customize strategic projects around culture-based, ethnicity-based, and faith-based diversity.
CONTEXT-SPECIFIC RELEVANCE
Practical On-the-Ground Experience: With over a decade of hands-on experience building diversity and dialogue spaces worldwide, we understand how to engage different community segments effectively. Our ground-up work advancing UN-chartered (SDG) social harmony goals enables us to adapt proven international approaches for specific local contexts.
Our Journey
Our Journey
Made in Singapore, Motivated by the World
Being Bridges is the collective brainchild of Basil Kannangara and Bev Dason, a brother and sister team who started it as a labour of love based on their own multi-ethnic family heritage and interfaith experiences growing up in multicultural Singapore.
Their admiration and passion for the island-nation's globally reputed diversity and harmony was enkindled by long personal stints living and working abroad.
From Community Initiative to Global Consultancy
A ground-up initiative that started off as civic participation and community voluntarism, Being Bridges evolved through years of facilitating dialogue circles, designing immersive interfaith experiences, and developing innovative educational tools.
What began as informal bridge-building in community centers gradually attracted the attention of government agencies, corporations, and educational institutions seeking authentic expertise in navigating Singapore's sensitive religious and cultural landscape.
A Globally Recognised Social Innovation Agency
Today, Being Bridges stands as an award-winning social innovation consultancy recognised at the International Conference for Cohesive Societies, serving diverse clients from grassroots organizations to multinational corporations.
Our wide-ranging clientele spanning government ministries, schools, community centers, religious organizations, and corporate teams, reflects our unique capacity to translate ground-up wisdom into strategic solutions that foster genuine understanding across differences.
“Such initiatives help
to dispel misperceptions,
build bonds, and
create trust.”
~ Former President of Singapore, Mdm. Halimah Yacob, commending our Diversity By Default toolkit.
Partner an innovative
social enterprise born,
bred, and based in the
world’s most religiously
diverse country.
Partner an innovative
social enterprise born,
bred, and based in the
world’s most religiously
diverse country.
Engage our offerings.
“We were looking for a speaker to share about How To Enact Change, and Basil [from Being Bridges] really went above and beyond.
Pulling in a range of examples from his experience in diversity dialogues and beyond, his sharing was clear, relevant, and convincing.
He was warm and friendly towards our students, creating a conducive environment for them to buzz and ask questions as well.
The response for the event was great, and we’re definitely looking forward to working with Basil again!”
~ Rachel Wong, NUS High School,
Senior Council President,
Student Leadership Summit, July 2022
Whether you are ready to begin now or want to explore further, we invite you for a quick call.
30 to 60 minutes — a simple Zoom.
No agenda, no obligation, no pressure.
You share, we share, and we discern together.
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