I'm Singapore's Guerrilla Wayfinder
You might not know who I am, but I bet you've seen my signs
Hello, my name is Vareck. You might not know who I am, but I bet you've seen my signs. I am Singapore's guerrilla wayfinder.
Why Wayfinding?
My interest in wayfinding began when a new standard was introduced to the public transport system. Its hyperminimalist design omits so much information that I find myself taking longer to navigate public transport than before. If it could confuse a public transport nerd like me, I thought "what about someone who's using it for the first time?”
That's when I realised the importance of wayfinding. During my travels abroad, I became hypersensitive to navigation systems. Collecting samples of wayfinding from KL, Jakarta, Manila, Melbourne, Taipei, Amsterdam, and Brussels, I know that things could be much better at home.
An opportunity came when I enrolled into NIE. That is the National Institute of Education, an island in Pulau NTU. Staying in a hall of residence, I got around using the NTU shuttle buses. The problem was, there was no information on the ground. Trying to use it for the first time was like stepping into a restaurant without a menu.
I, with many other students, experienced waiting at the wrong bus stop near Lee Wee Nam library on a rainy Sunday, only to see a bus fly by without stopping. So I thought, what if I take matters into my own hands?
That kickstarted my journey of guerrilla wayfinding.
The first sign
With the power of Photoshop, I designed guerrilla signs for the bus network.
The first iteration featured a straight line for the blue shuttle bus, and had transfer icons from KL's transit map. The hall printer came in handy, with cashless payment available for A3 printing. Stick some double sided tape, wait for the last bus to depart, mount it on a wall - and voila - this is NTU's first bus wayfinding sign!
Over the next few days, I asked students on the ground for feedback - some of them even thought that the sign was done by the school! Some suggestions that floated around include - making it a loop to represent the round loop the bus goes in. Others brought up opinions about transit icons and legibility.
So off I went, tweaking the map to feature a small loop for the blue service. Then I realised that would be a problem for the red loop. It goes anticlockwise and putting information would mean that people have to read from bottom to top.
Just like the next stop displays we have in buses. But if i have to create a separate sign telling people how to use it - that means that my design isn't good enough.
The Importance of Design
Side tracking a bit, I thought about the phone I was using - an iPhone, and how most people around me bought flagship phones for personal use. Most of them didn't really need the power of the chip inside, but they got them because they got attracted by their sleek design.
Perhaps we don't improve things due to our perceptions of design. Artists are frequently looked down upon as non essentials in Singapore - but without artists, who will be the ones communicating information visually, and who will be the ones holding up a mirror to society?
Pushing On
So I balanced out the design by adding stops on both sides, like the Circle Line, and that would help people understand information more easily.
Afterwhich, it was the standard operating procedure. Wait for the last bus, hop on the bicycle, and paste those bus signs! In 1 night, I covered all the stops in the northern half of NTU.
Mounting the final one at 1am at NIE, I was exhausted from the numerous hill climbs and classes I had earlier in the day. With the sign up, of course there was no fanfare or celebration. But that night, I bet I was the happiest person in Pulau NTU.
Setbacks
I shared my progress on social media, hoping that people would join this movement. But what happened was exactly what I was expecting; Waking up to a wall of criticism bashing that I was a rogue vandal, a scourge of society. Some of the signs I put up were even taken down in less than 24 hours. What a strange feeling it was. When I stayed silent, the signs stood till the weather destroyed them. But perhaps when people realised that they were unofficial, they were swiftly taken down in true Singaporean efficiency.
When an MRT shutdown on the East West Line was announced, I created an alternative route map for commuters to take bus services. Sharing it on Instagram, I asked people if they'd like to help to give out such materials during the line closure. Within an hour, I received several messages flooding my inbox, with one common theme: "Got permission?"
Hilarious yet unsurprising, reflective of our risk averse and do not culture. So prominent that it can be found in our MRT. In most cities, train announcements begin with "The next station is…", but in Singapore, we start ours with a melodious chime followed by "Please do not…"
Goodbye NTU
As my diploma education was coming to an end, I reprinted batches of signs to mount them at every single stop. Cycling around NTU on the last night of my hall stay, it was a bittersweet feeling;
Climbing up Nanyang Crescent for the last time, flying down the medicine faculty's hill, pasting the bus signs, not knowing if they'd even last a day, and peeling off the last bits of my 3M tape.
Although my heart was aching knowing that the signs would be taken down some day, knowing that I did my best made my 40km bike ride home feel like a warm hug from the wind around me.
More Guerrilla Signs!
Returning back to Pulau Ujong, I continued putting up signs in places where things can be improved. Wayfinding for park connectors where original signs have fallen off,
or bus stops where signage was unclear - such as Marine Parade Station, where two bus stops with the same ID serve different bus services.
A Surprise Trip Down South
Having fought an uphill battle over the past year, little did I expect to be invited to Indonesia to speak about my experiences pushing for change in Singapore. Meeting likeminded activists in Indonesia opened my eyes to the messy yet beautiful world of civil society abroad.
People who make guerrilla wayfinding signs in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Padang, and KL. Some of whom I've known through local media articles.
Others, through city governments who collaborate with activists to create integrated navigation systems across walk, cycle, and ride modes.
It was so relieving to not just meet people who were doing the same. For the first time since the start of my wayfinding project, 6 degrees south of the equator, I felt seen, heard, and known.
Just Go!
Just like the Indonesians who sparked a wave of citizens improving their cities' navigation, I thought of doing the same by sharing my story.
Reaching out to several Singaporean state and independent local media channels, my inbox stayed empty for weeks. The story got rejected.
But then I remembered the times where I faced challenges trying to formalise the campus bus signs.
So instead of waiting for people to tell my story, why not, I tell it myself? That's why I wrote this article.
Push and Pulls
As lonely as it felt being the oddball, little did I realise that I was unconsciously shaping the people around me. I would have fit in better in Indonesia, where there are existing communities working on such interests. But then I realised how much civil society in Singapore has been stifled over the years that trying to build it back up is like hitting the gym for the first time in decades. And the challenge I was facing is just like the first few people carving a desire path through a patch of tall grass. But the more people there are trudging down the path, the more worn the grass gets. A dirt path is formed, and the easier it gets for people to join in.
Spending my own money and time on a project like this sure had a terrible return on investment in the economical sense. But being a single candle in a dark room, perhaps my signs didn't just get commuters where they're going - they were giving people permission to join in.
Permission to Create
After putting up signs in NTU, the wayfinding signs for temporary bus services were put up by the NTU Student Union for the very first time. While the union didn’t reach out to me when I was studying there, the presence of a sign is a step forward from previous years.
The bus stop sign at Marine Parade eventually got formalised in 2025 when the LTA finally installed a plastic sign to direct commuters.
But the one that made my eyes teary was at Caldecott station. I was travelling to Toa Payoh to visit a friend and exiting the station, I spotted a sign.
It was one, definitely not made by the authorities.
It was designed by another citizen.
I can't explain just how happy I was, seeing someone else light up their torch and continue the spirit of helping commuters.
Keep The Signs Going!
Perhaps that's the beauty of activism. It's so hard and risky, and emotionally tiring yet no matter how hard I try to leave it, my heart tugs me right back to the centre of doing things. And the reward doesn't lie in the existence of those signs - because one day they will fade, fall off, and be disposed of in Pulau Semakau.
Nor do they lie in credit, acknowledgement, or material gains. Where I believe the true reward lies is in the hope that spreads to others; to empower people to step up and give back to the community. That to me, is priceless!
If there's one thing I hope people could take away from this article, it's that now is the time to leave our "do not" culture behind and start doing, because the next stop is ours to create. The road ahead is daunting, but I'm sure no matter how long it takes, we'll eventually find our way.
With Love,
Vareck
Spot on! 👏 Edgy? Maybe. But this is exactly the kind of forward-pushing spirit Singapore needs more of.
Thank you for all your hard work <3