Rise Above Campaign 2023 – Preventive Drug Education and Outreach Through Rail Network and Student – SANA

On Saturday, 23 September 2023, the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA) held its annual Rise Above Campaign (RAC). The RAC creates a platform for students and SANA Peer Leaders to contribute to the anti-drug cause by spreading preventive drug education (PDE) messages.


This year, the campaign comprised two events; the first was the launch of the “Overcoming Addiction, Renewing Hope” campaign through one of Singapore’s rail networks, featuring the stories of four SANA Peer Leaders – Mr Alvin Chiong, Ms Syamlia, Mr Nabil Saeed and Mr Gan Pay Chin. Peer Leaders are persons-in-recovery who volunteer with SANA as anti-drug advocates and support our outreach efforts.


The key visuals feature three main aspects in each of their stories – their newfound careers and educational pursuits, the benefits reaped from staying away from drugs, including mended familial bonds, as well as the support received from SANA in their recovery journey. The month-long campaign will see the visuals strategically located within the train and a train station to reach out to commuters along the rail network.
Taking the campaign one step further, our Peer Leaders shared their stories in full detail with us, which can be found on our event microsite at https://sanaofficial.wixsite.com/renewinghope.

Whole of Community Approach: “Overcoming Addiction, Renewing Hope” was launched by Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development (centre), alongside SANA’s President, Mrs Gillian Koh Tan (in green) and Executive Director, Mr Kok Weng Chew (extreme right). The campaign was made possible through the support of sponsors, donors and our 4 Peer Leaders who stepped up to contribute to the cause.
Journeying Together: A/P Faishal Ibrahim viewing the campaign microsite after scanning the QR code on an in-train visual.

Following the launch, the entourage proceeded to the first-ever awards ceremony for the Gold tier of the SANA Badge Scheme. Initiated in 1979, the Badge Scheme is one of SANA’s longest-running programmes which promotes anti-drug advocacy amongst secondary school students in the uniformed groups. Still going strong after 44 years, SANA is proud of the continued progress of the programme, successfully launching and having students complete the Gold tier, which required students to develop videos with anti-drug messages to convey the harms of drug abuse to the larger community.

SANA Peer Leader Mr Mohammad Hairi was the emcee for the occasion and shared his own journey of recovery, noting some of the similarities between the videos produced by students and his own experiences. Guests then proceeded to view the winning videos at the exhibition booths set up as part of the programme.

Gold Tier Anti-Drug Advocates: Students sharing with A/P Faishal Ibrahim about their preventive drug education project.

Our preventive drug education efforts continue to be strengthened by the unwavering support of the community, which imbues us with hope for future collaborations as we work towards a drug-free society. To view more photos from the event day, you may visit SANA’s Facebook or Instagram at @singaporeantinarcotics.

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