Our Story
A Place to Read, Reflect, and Prepare
Curventa exists because some conversations are worth having slowly, with good material in hand and a small group of thoughtful people around the table.
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Founded on the Belief That Context Changes Everything
Curventa was established in Singapore in 2018 by a small group of educators and practitioners who had spent years observing a particular pattern: adults approaching their later decades often felt underprepared — not because they lacked intelligence, but because the topics had never been made readable.
Financial vocabulary, estate concepts, CPF Life mechanics, LPA documentation — these subjects tend to arrive late, delivered either in dense legal language or in settings where a product sale is quietly waiting in the wings. Neither context serves the person sitting across the table.
The response was Curventa: a reading organisation, not an advisory firm. We write and curate materials, we facilitate discussion, and we hold space for honest conversation. We do not sell products. We do not offer advice. We read together, and we talk.
Our Mission
"To make the concepts of later-life household planning accessible, calm, and conversational."
Reading-led, discussion-supported programmes with no product agenda
Materials grounded in Singapore's regulatory and social context
Small, carefully managed cohorts to protect the quality of conversation
Tactful, considered language — never pressured, never rushed
Our History
Seven Years of Quiet Work
When Curventa first opened a reading circle in Telok Ayer in 2018, the group had nine participants and a borrowed meeting room. The topic was wills and what adults in their fifties typically do not know about the process. The conversation ran long. People came back.
Over the following years, the programmes expanded to cover household budget conversations — the particular difficulty of talking about money with adult children, with siblings, with ageing parents. The reading materials grew alongside the conversations, shaped by what participants actually asked rather than what organisers assumed they needed.
In 2021, Curventa moved to its current space at 137 Telok Ayer Street, a sixth-floor room chosen for its quietness and natural light. The Pre-Retirement Decision Frameworks workshop was added the following year, responding to repeated requests from participants in the estate planning series who wanted something more focused on the years immediately before leaving full-time work.
Today, Curventa runs cohorts throughout the year with a consistent waiting list for the estate planning programme. The team remains small by design. The reading room seats fourteen comfortably.
The People
Who Runs Curventa
A small team with backgrounds in adult education, financial communication, and programme design.
Rachel Chong
Founder & Programme Director
Rachel spent fifteen years writing adult education curricula before founding Curventa. She designs the reading frameworks and facilitates the estate planning series.
Marcus Koh
Content & Materials Lead
Marcus has a background in financial communication and plain-language writing. He researches and writes the programme workbooks and reference materials.
Priya Tharmalingam
Cohort Coordinator
Priya manages participant enrolment, cohort scheduling, and the logistics of each session. She is typically the first point of contact for new enquiries.
Our Standards
How We Hold Ourselves Accountable
Educational Scope Only
We hold ourselves to a clear line: reading programmes, not advice. Our facilitators do not give personal recommendations, and our materials carry no product placement.
Participant Confidentiality
What participants share in discussion sessions is held in confidence. We do not record sessions, and personal disclosures are not referenced outside the room.
Annual Material Review
Reading materials are reviewed and updated annually to reflect changes in Singapore's CPF framework, estate legislation, and household planning context.
Cohort Size Discipline
We do not exceed twelve participants per cohort. If demand is strong, we open an additional cohort rather than expanding beyond what allows genuine conversation.
Data Protection
Participant data collected through enrolment is held securely and used only for programme administration. We do not share contact information with third parties.
Post-Programme Feedback
Every cohort completes an anonymous written feedback form. Responses inform the next iteration of reading materials and session structure.
What We Stand For
Reading Programmes Designed Around Adults, Not Products
Curventa operates in a distinct space within Singapore's adult education landscape. We are not a financial planning firm. We are not affiliated with any bank, insurer, or investment product distributor. We are an independent reading organisation whose sole focus is helping adults aged 40 and above develop a working vocabulary around the household and estate decisions that shape later life.
The individuals who attend our programmes are, in our experience, already thoughtful people. They have built households, raised children, and navigated careers. What they often lack is not the capacity to understand these topics, but a setting in which the topics are presented plainly, without an agenda, and with time for questions that feel genuinely welcome.
The Singapore context matters. CPF Life, Lasting Power of Attorney, advance care planning directives, spousal nomination — these concepts are specific to this country's legislative and social framework. Reading materials produced for a British or Australian audience may introduce vocabulary that does not map cleanly onto what Singaporeans actually encounter. Curventa's workbooks are written from within that local framework.
We are also committed to plain language. The test we apply to every paragraph is simple: could a well-read adult with no background in law or finance follow this without stopping to look something up? If not, we rewrite it. The goal is reading that is accessible without being condescending — material that respects the intelligence of people who simply have not encountered these topics before.
If you are approaching your fifties or sixties and have found yourself avoiding certain conversations because you did not know where to begin, Curventa's reading programmes offer a starting point. Not a conclusion, not a product recommendation — a starting point, with a small group of people in a similar position, and time to read carefully.
Take the Next Step
Begin with an Enquiry
We are happy to discuss which programme fits your situation before you commit to anything. Send us a message or call during reading room hours.
Get in Touch