aikiForest is the brainchild of passionate individuals who practice Aikido as a way of life and believe that Aikido has to be shared with more people beyond the dojo (place of training) so that more can benefit.

Aikido is creatively re-interpreted from its traditional format, making it contemporary and inspiring for children. Our mission is to seed in the hearts and minds of children, a genuine love for Aikido, creating a positive ripple effect in and beyond their community.

aikiForest is an affiliate of Aikido Shinju-kai, officially recognised by the Aikido World Headquarters. We are honoured to have Philip Lee Sensei (6th Dan), Chief Instructor of Aikido Shinju-kai, as our Technical Director.

At aikiForest, we believe in the uniqueness of every individual. Our programmes allow each child to unlock their potential and grow in their own ways.

Cheen Cheen is a trained architect who chose the road less travelled by pursuing Aikido full-time as Philip Lee Sensei’s deshi (disciple) in 2003. Apart from conducting classes extensively for a wide range of participants, Cheen Cheen was also the operations & programme manager at Aikido Shinju-kai. She spearheaded the exploration of virgin ground for target groups such as the preschools, sports education in schools, special education, senior citizens, and achieved considerable success.

To better serve the needs of the preschool and children segment, a different direction and branding is required. aikiForest is therefore conceptualised as Cheen Cheen takes leadership in creating a new company affiliated to Aikido Shinju-kai.

Cheen Cheen is a proud mother of two young sons, whom she loves dearly. Her dream is to be able to train Aikido at different dojos around the world together with her husband and children.

M-Cartoon was formed in 2003 and over the past 8 years, we have been training and coaching more than 2000 children from ages 5-16 years old in creative cartoon drawing from PCF kindergartens, childcare centres, enrichment schools, community clubs and Civil Service clubs. We are currently enrolled by other enrichment centers to conduct illustrating programmes, such as “The Young Author Scheme and Young Comic Artist” scheme, in various schools and also engaged by “Your Choice” magazine to be their regular cartoon strips and article contributor.

M-Cartoon offers a children’s creative cartoon drawing programme that involves a series of weekly lesson plans devoted to the emotional, physical and social development of children aged 5-6 years old. The activities are designed to improve their aesthetic creative expression, motor development/co-ordination and other sensory stimuli while reinforcing good social skills in a group play environment.

Our main focus is on developing the children’s creativity and know-how, via a theme-base illustration programme, to equip and enhance the children in visual learning, drawing techniques and exercising their critical-thinking skills. Children will get to learn to express themselves from drawing different animals, people and surrounding objects in a fun and motivating environment. This generally complements and enhances the main stream art and craft lessons currently part of the kindergarten’s core curriculum.

M-Cartoon also specializes in conducting workshops for supporting staffs, special needs and main stream teachers/principals via our “Creative Tools To Engage Children” programme. We aim to equip the participants with the necessary technical know-how fundamentals, so that they can continuously interact and engage the children in creative cartoon drawing even after our programme. During the workshop, participants will learn the core cartoon illustration tools and fundamental creative mapping skills.

Chang Shiang’s passion in drawing and training led him to conduct many creative drawing workshops with children and adults alike. He has also conducted workshops training teachers on how to engage the students through drawing, because this would empower them to use creative drawing in their lessons and teach them to more students.
Being a certified People Association trainer, Chang Shiang has trained and facilitated multitudes of children in cartoon illustrating skills and creativity over the past eight years. He has also been a judge for children art competitions in various Community Clubs, and an invited lecturer with ITE in digital media department.
Chang Shiang’s mission in life is to help children uncover their hidden potential through drawing, and to become the best that they can possibly be. He strives to allow children to express themselves more confidently, and dare to let their imagination run wild through his workshops and classes. Chang Shiang’s philosophy in training is: Give the man a fish a day, you will only feed him a day, teach him HOW to fish, he will be able to fish for life.

Ingenio Pte Ltd. was founded in 2005 to specialize in the use of innovative curriculum and technology to foster creativity & enhance learning. Ingenio’s multi-cultural team from seven countries includes professors, music educators, recording artists, designers, engineers, and story creators whose prior work have appeared on Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, and Disney.

Ingenio’s teachers and students have won creativity-related awards in Singapore and abroad. Some of these awards include Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors? Award, Excellence in Innovation Award at the Indira India Innovation Summit and Ideas@Work competition.

Ingenio has received the kind support of Creative Community Singapore, an initiative by Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) and Media Development Authority (MDA).

Ingenio is also the organizer of the highly acclaimed Camp Invention in Singapore; Sponsored by the US Patent and Trademark Office, this US programme is attended by over 60,000 students annually.

Ingenio’s managing partner is Titus Yong.