A mobile application aimed at helping youth quit vaping was among the winning student projects unveiled at the launch of Law Awareness Weeks @ CDC (LAW@CDC) 2026 on October 3 at Our Tampines Hub in Singapore. The event marks the beginning of a month-long nationwide initiative designed to promote legal awareness across communities.
The app, ClearAir, was developed by a team including law students Joy Liew and Amber Tng from Singapore Management University (SMU), and computer science and information systems students Anson Koh and Lee Yi Terng. The idea stemmed from Liew’s experience at a Meet-the-People Session in Tampines in 2025, where she encountered a primary school boy who had been fined by the Health Sciences Authority for vaping. She helped the family appeal the fine, an encounter that highlighted the prevalence of vaping among younger children and prompted her to create a tool to address the issue.
ClearAir is designed for young people caught vaping who want to quit. The app allows users to track their progress through daily check-ins and set financial goals to discourage spending on vaping products. It also enables users to identify locations where they may be tempted to vape, offering reminders when near these areas. A “Craving SOS” feature provides immediate distraction through games and success stories from former users when the urge to vape arises. The developers consulted social workers during the app’s creation and identified existing support gaps, including the lack of family members to assist some youth and the risk of relapse between counselling sessions.
ClearAir was one of five student-led projects that received $5,000 prizes from the Access to Justice Community CoLab, a platform encouraging innovative solutions to legal challenges faced by the community.
Another winning team from SMU addressed accessibility issues for visually impaired individuals navigating employment claims. They developed See-Kaki, an AI chatbot that guides users through employment claim procedures, which are often complex and must typically be handled without legal representation. The team identified that online legal infographics were difficult for screen readers to interpret, creating barriers for those with visual impairments.
Meanwhile, a group of National University of Singapore law students focused on preventing youth from becoming unaware victims of money mule scams. During a stint at the Public Defender’s Office, team member Kristen Joseph Fernando noted many youths were trapped in such criminal activity unknowingly. Their initiative, Spot It First, uses deceptive-looking messages mimicking scam advertisements that redirect individuals to an educational website highlighting red flags and legal consequences. The site has attracted over 180 visitors to date.
At the launch, Singapore’s Minister for Law, Edwin Tong, praised the students for applying fresh perspectives to longstanding legal challenges. He emphasized that access to justice requires systems designed from the viewpoint of the public rather than solely from legal professionals. “It must be a system that can work for people. It’s easy to say, but I think it’s much harder to do,” Tong remarked.
LAW@CDC, first launched in 2015, continues to foster community engagement through talks and activities addressing legal issues such as neighbor disputes, family law, and scams scheduled at community centers nationwide through October.