A Better Way To Protect Tomorrow
About New Life
New Life brings sustainability to life through art, turning discarded materials into powerful stories about climate change, environmental responsibility and endangered wildlife.
Presented by Singlife, a leading homegrown financial services company in Singapore, New Life reflects a simple belief: protecting tomorrow means caring for the planet we all share, and laying the foundation for financial security and resilience.
Together with artists, advocates and communities, New Life inspires us to rethink what we consume, what we discard and what we can protect, because the future is ours to give a better life.
Bordalo II
From trash to New Life: Meet Bordalo II
The world-renowned Portuguese artist and artivist is returning to Singapore, bringing his powerful vision of endangered wildlife and sustainability with him.
From the streets of Lisbon to the walls of Paris and the gardens of Singapore, Bordalo II transforms salvaged plastic, scrap metal, end-of-life debris and other discarded materials into monumental sculptures that challenge how we think about consumption, waste and the natural world.
Since 2012, he has created more than 200 installations worldwide, using over 115 tonnes of reused materials.
This time, he is giving New Life to something extraordinary.
New Life
Pledge
Take the New Life Pledge and be part of a better way to protect tomorrow.
Complete your pledge and stand to win attractive prizes, including a 3D2N stay at Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree and dining vouchers at farm-to-table restaurants.
About Bordalo II
New Life
Forums
Untrashing Nature: How Can It Be Done?
What happens when the trash we throw away becomes a story about the state of our planet.
Join our conversation with Dr Janil Puthucheary, conservation groups, businesses and the arts as we unpack Singapore’s waste challenge, its impact on nature, and the role we can all play in creating a more sustainable future.
Climate Literacy
1
Emissions Are Climbing
We release nearly 40 billion tonnes of CO2 yearly, which will burn through our 1.5ºC carbon budget in less than four years. Past this threshold, climate damage becomes irreversible.
Net zero CO2 by 2050 is not an ambition, it is the only option we have left.
2
Tonnes Of Trash
The scale of global trash is approximately the weight of 200,000 Eiffel Towers, 6,000 Empire State Buildings, 19 million blue whales, or 350 million adult elephants. Much of it doesn't disappear. It piles into landfills, drifts into oceans, and seeps into the forests that destroy wildlife.
Source:
https://www.unep.org/zerowasteday/did-you-know/real-impact-waste
3
Among The Most Powerful Blue Carbon Sinks
Mangroves can lock away large amounts of carbon emissions, securely storing them in coastal mud for thousands of years. When cleared, the trapped greenhouse gas is unleashed into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming.
Source:
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/inside-look-beauty-and-benefits-mangroves
4
Food Insecurity Is Real
A rice bowl tragedy. Heatwaves reduce crop yields. Droughts dry out irrigation. Floods destroy harvests. When the world's farms fail, our plates feel it first.
Source:
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-plans-cloud-seeding-for-drought-hit-rice-bowl
Presenting Sponsor
Singlife is a leading homegrown financial services company offering a better way to financial freedom through insurance, investment and advisory solutions.
Committed to sustainability across its business, operations and communities, Singlife was the first Southeast Asian insurer to join the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment and is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Sustainable Insurance.
Singlife was awarded Champion of Good by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) and the Sustainability Award at the 2025 Asia Insurance Industry Awards.
Partners
Sustainability Partner
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one of the world's largest independent conservation organisations, working to halt environmental degradation and build a future where people live in harmony with nature. WWF-Singapore partners with governments, businesses and communities in Singapore and across the region to protect and restore biodiversity, address climate change and scale solutions that deliver lasting impact.
Venue Partner
Gardens by the Bay is a premier horticultural attraction located in Singapore’s city centre. Built on a foundation of sustainability, more than 1.5 million plants from all over the world thrive in its two cooled conservatories, the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, as well as on its iconic Supertrees and in its sprawling outdoor gardens.
Engineering Partner
China Construction (South Pacific) Development Co Pte Ltd (CCDC), established in Singapore in 1992, delivers integrated construction solutions across education, commercial, hospitality, healthcare, and transport. As a green building pioneer since 2006, it has completed over 70 BCA Green Mark-certified projects, 13 of which are Green Mark Platinum + SLE, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable development.
Hospitality Partner
Circularity Partner
Held In
In Support Of
Held In
Celebrating
Hospitality Partner
Supporting Partners
FAQs
From trash to New Life: Meet Bordalo II
New Life by Bordalo II, presented by Singlife, is a four-year sustainability initiative in Singapore, centred on a 7-metre sculpture of a mother and baby Sumatran orangutan made from discarded materials by Portuguese artist Bordalo II. Unveiled at Gardens by the Bay on 22 October 2026, it calls on Singapore to find a better way to protect tomorrow, starting with everyday choices. It also includes the New Life Pledge, public forums, a children’s book and sustainability-related art contests in 2027.
What is the purpose of New Life?
New Life aims to turn what Singaporeans already know about the challenges facing our planet into everyday action. Singlife’s research, the Singlife-SGFIN Sustainable Future Index 2026, found that the strongest driver of sustainable action is ownership: believing that your own choices make a difference. New Life makes sustainability tangible and relatable through art, and makes it easier to act through the New Life Pledge. It is about hope, not guilt.
Who is Bordalo II, and what is his connection to New Life?
Bordalo II is a Lisbon-born Portuguese street artist and “artivist”, known worldwide for large-scale animal sculptures built from discarded materials such as salvaged plastic, scrap metal and end-of-life debris. He created New Life, his second major work in Singapore after his 2022 tiger sculpture at Gardens by the Bay. His work asks audiences to look again at consumption, waste and the natural world.
How does New Life promote sustainability through art?
Art makes an abstract issue something people can see and feel. New Life is built from recognisable discarded objects, so visitors see what we throw away turned into a mother and baby orangutan, a species that depends on healthy forests. The baby represents tomorrow, and the future we are responsible for protecting. From the sculpture, people can move to action through the New Life Pledge.
How can I participate in New Life?
You can take the New Life Pledge at newlifesg.com, choosing one or more of eight everyday actions, from taking public transport and choosing reusables to repairing before buying new and considering the environmental and social impact of your investments. You can also see the sculpture at Gardens by the Bay, attend the public forums, and share your pledge on Instagram by tagging @newlifesingapore. Details of events are on the website.
Find Us
Address
SG50 Lattice, Bayfront Pavillion,
Gardens by the Bay, Singapore 018953