About Us

A Home away from Home!

Balestier Students’ Hostel (BSH) was established in 1970 to meet the specific needs of foreign students studying in Singapore. Over the years, we have gained considerable experience taking care of the education and welfare of more than 10,000 foreign students from different countries.

A distinguishing element of BSH is summarized in our Vision: “A Home Away From Home”. We look after our students like parents look after their own children. We give them all the help and supervision needed to do well in their studies and we organize talks and activities to nurture their social development. We have developed a programme that has benefitted our students over the years. However, like parents, we are also firm and require disciplined behaviour so that our students will grow up to be independent and socially responsible adults.

Convenient and Easily Accessible Living, All in One!

BSH is a 4-storey building situated at the junction of Boon Teck Road and Balestier Road. It was founded more than 50 years ago and is registered with the Government of Singapore. The Hostel is very spacious, well-equipped and professionally managed to cater to the needs of foreign students from countries in this region.

BSH is within walking distance from a spacious field, banks, a wide variety of shopping malls, food outlets, clinics and hospitals. We are also just minutes away from bus stops and two Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations – Novena Station and Toa Payoh Station – so getting around from our hostel is definitely very convenient. With our strategic location, BSH is easily accessible from the Primary and Secondary Schools in the area.

BSH has always defined and run itself as a ‘boarding-school’ style hostel through a strong set of beliefs.
Our values today simply put words around what we’ve always valued. We want you to have a deep understanding of these values so you can make them your own.

Our Mission

To provide the love and support our students need to develop their potential to the fullest.

Community Value

Dedication to every student’s success!
Innovation that matters – for our BSH educational community!
Trust and personal responsibility in all educational relationships!

BSH Value Proposition

Making Good Education Easier, BSH members aspire to making it happen!

Founder’s Message

It is with great pride that I would like to introduce Balestier Students’ Hostel, fondly called BSH by our students, to you.

My wife, Jennifer, and I started this hostel in 1970. We were among the first hostels in Singapore and we have, over the years, gained much experience in managing students of all ages and academic abilities. We were the first hostel that the Ministry of Education identified to place their scholars when Singapore started offering scholarships to our neighbouring countries. Since then we were home to scholars from China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

However, BSH did not just take in government scholars. We had students with different academic background and abilities. In fact, this mix of students has contributed to the rich diversity and richness of our hostel.

I am proud to say that almost all our students, regardless of whether they were scholars or not, have done very well in their studies. The same can be said of their behaviour. My wife and I are always very proud whenever we go to the schools as guardians because the principals and teachers always have such good things to say of our students.

I am sure that their behaviour and academic success are due largely to the values and love of their families. However, we would like to believe that BSH has also contributed to this by ensuring that we have a caring and disciplined environment. We demand and expect a lot from our students. But we also care for them and provide all the help they need to live up to these expectations.

Perhaps BSH is best captured by our statement that it is “A Home Away From Home”. We set high expectations, we are strict and we demand the best behaviour and effort from our students. But, like parents, we do all these because we care.

Yours sincerely.

Ms. Cynthia Ng

CEO

Ms Ng has over 10 years of experience in education management, project development, industrial marketing and organizing international exchange events. Her main focus is on applications to Singapore government schools. She is also experienced in all levels of academic education from primary school to university in Singapore.

Achievements:

Women Entrepreneurs Awards
Master of Business Administration，Anglia Ruskin University
Bachelor of Business Administration，University of South Australia
Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood Education, Peking Normal University
Diploma in Business Management，Singapore Institute of Management
Diploma of Computer Science and Technology, Peking Beihang University
Certificate of Kindergarten Principle, Fujian Normal University
State (National) Consultant Psychologist Grade 2, The Minstry of Human Resourses and Social Security, PRC

Ms. Cindy Koh

Business Operations Manager

For more than 20 years, Ms. Cindy Koh have accompanied more than 8,000 international students from various countries. She has seen some through from primary school to university. They are just like her own children, and she enjoys seeing them grow up happily and succeed in school.

Experience:

Has over 20 years of experience in managing BSH and obtained Certificate In Practical Counselling (Advanced)
Oversees the daily operations of the hostel and schedules the deployment of teachers, executives and security guards
Understands and interacts with students of all ages
Guides the students to develop good habits and maintain good physical and mental health
Organize various activities to encourage students to engage in community and social integration
Act as a guardian for international students and keep in touch with the school and attend parent-teacher conferences for the students
Keep in touch and communicate with parents regularly to keep them updated with their children’s progressed