Building futures with Halogen: when corporate partnership transforms youth development

For CIMB, its involvement has evolved from supporting the NFTE programme to launching targeted initiatives that leverage the bank’s specific capabilities. The four-month Halogen X CIMB Mentorship Programme pairs staff members with youths for sustained, structured guidance. “While sponsorships are important, real impact comes when our people get personally involved,” says Sazali Bin Baharom, head of Islamic banking and sustainability at CIMB Singapore. The programme tracks metrics including confidence gains, soft skills development and post-programme outcomes, ensuring accountability alongside intention.

Kek Yu Min, a final-year polytechnic student and mentee in the programme, describes the value of direct access to industry professionals. During one conversation about her uncertainty over choosing a university major, her mentor offered perspective that shifted her thinking: “You have everything ready, the only action you need to take now is to apply for that major.” The insight wasn’t revolutionary, but its delivery mattered. “As long as I am passionate about the field I want to enter, and willing to put in the effort, there is little to worry about,” Kek reflects.

This human dimension distinguishes effective programmes from well-intentioned ones. Career roundtable events bring CIMB management and staff into direct contact with participants, creating moments of connection that transcend formal mentorship structures. The bank’s staff gain leadership and coaching experience while contributing to youth development, creating what Sazali describes as “a virtuous cycle of learning and giving back”.

Andrew Boey, chief financial officer and officer-in-charge at CIMB Singapore, frames the commitment in strategic terms. “Youths are at a critical and formative stage of life, and the right intervention today can shape their future career paths and contributions to society,” he explains. The focus on underserved youth addresses social mobility gaps while aligning with CIMB Foundation’s pillars of education and economic empowerment. “When we invest in youth, we're also investing in the region’s long-term prosperity, in our future leaders, customers, workforce, and the inclusive growth of the communities we serve.”

This partnership model offers lessons beyond its immediate context. Tse emphasises that youth development work cannot happen without “a village”—strategic partnerships provide not only funding but access to networks, resources and mentorship that institutions alone cannot supply. Corporate volunteers serve as adults who believe in youths and invest time listening to them, creating what she calls “the magic of the NFTE programme”. As technology evolves and new challenges emerge constantly, the need for agility and adaptive thinking grows more urgent.

On October 29, the Halogen Charity Golf 2025 will gather supporters at a fundraising event at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong Course that represents one visible dimension of this ongoing work. CIMB serves as presenting sponsor, while Emirates Gold and Alpine Motors, the exclusive distributor of Corvette in Singapore, provide hole-in-one prizes.

Yet the real measure of success unfolds more quietly, in conversations between mentors and mentees, in classrooms where entrepreneurial thinking replaces rote learning, in moments when youths recognise their own capability. “Success, to us, is multidimensional,” Sazali observes. For mentees, it means greater self-awareness, improved soft skills, and mindset shifts around goal-setting and continuous learning. For the CIMB, it strengthens staff development while creating measurable social impact.

The collaboration between CIMB Singapore and Halogen suggests that corporate partnership, when structured with care and commitment, can produce outcomes that justify the investment of resources and human capital. It requires moving beyond the comfort of financial contribution into the complexity of sustained engagement. With thousands of youths equipped with entrepreneurial mindsets and a growing network of alumni, volunteers and corporate partners, the model demonstrates what becomes possible when the community comes together.

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