Inclusion Is for Everyone. But Where Do I Fit In?
Where Do I Fit In?
When Benjamin first encountered Project ONE and was introduced to the OneTee, he thought it was “a really cool project” — one built around an idea he could get behind: making everyday life work better for more people.
Where he was less certain was what any of it had to do with him.
It’s a question many of us might recognise. A more inclusive Singapore sounds like something we can all get behind. But where do we fit into it?
“I didn't want to overreach,” he says. “I didn't want to represent something that I couldn't authentically own.”
Look a little closer, though, and there are some familiar threads.
Long before he worked in music, Benjamin spent much of his childhood training as a competitive swimmer. These days, he moves between the audio industry, performing on stage and FIGHTDAY, the Muay Thai business he runs with his wife.
There wasn't a grand plan connecting any of it. One interest led to another, and each opened up a different part of his life.
Mostly, Benjamin followed what interested him and saw where it went.
In his case, quite a few places.
Finding a Common Frequency
Music was one of those places. Muay Thai was another.
They've taken Benjamin into very different rooms, alongside people whose lives might otherwise never have crossed his own.
“I've truly never met a more diverse group of people than in a Muay Thai gym,” he says.
There are the usual things we use to place people. What they do, where they studied, how much they earn. But once everyone steps into the ring, much of that seems to fall away.
“We're just there for the sport,” Benjamin says. “It's what we have in common. And that's enough.”
Over time, training alongside people from different walks of life gave him glimpses into experiences far beyond his own. Different circumstances, different priorities, different ways of looking at the world.
“I can be inspired by anyone, really,” he says. “As long as they have a passion for something they care about, their background doesn't matter that much.”
Music has given him another way of seeing difference.
At FATfreq, where Benjamin works with musicians and audio, even something as familiar as listening to the same song can turn out to be surprisingly personal.
Two people can hear the same thing and come away with entirely different experiences.
“Everyone hears the world a little differently,” he says.
Spend enough time in different rooms, with different people, and perhaps you become a little less certain that the way you see or experience something is the only way to see it.
For Benjamin, that's been one of the unexpected things about following his interests. They haven't just given him more things to do. They've given him more ways to understand the people around him.
All Part of the Picture
Across the different parts of Benjamin's life, one thing seems to come up again and again. There is rarely only one way for something to work.
Sometimes, that shows up in the people around him. Other times, in the things we make.
At FATfreq, for example, Benjamin works with audio technology that traces its roots to hearing aids, reimagined for a very different use. It is one small reminder that something designed around one need can sometimes find a much wider place in the world.
The OneTee brought that idea somewhere far more everyday.
A T-shirt is about as universal as clothing gets. But the people wearing one are anything but.
That was what surprised Benjamin. For all the thought that had gone into making the OneTee work for different bodies and needs, it didn't feel particularly different when he wore it. It simply found a place in his wardrobe and his everyday life.
“I realised I didn't have to give up functionality, comfort or my personal sense of style to make it work for me,” he says.
In a Muay Thai ring, people don't need to come from the same place to find common ground. Two people can hear the same song and experience it differently. And one T-shirt can belong in very different wardrobes without asking the people wearing it to be the same.
Maybe making Singapore more inclusive works much the same way.
We don't need to have all the answers. We just need to stay open to perspectives beyond our own, and perhaps recognise that, in one way or another, we all fit into the picture.
ONE Stories is an editorial storytelling series that explores the lived experiences, perspectives and conversations that often go unnoticed, unseen and unheard.
Through every story, we hope to encourage a little more understanding and consideration for the many stories around us, and a greater appreciation for the many different ways people experience everyday life.
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