Story Teller
Share Your Story
For people aged 75 and over, with those 85 and over invited first. Share your life and wisdom, and approve everything we publish.
Every life, a treasure.
What if every living older person can befriend a younger person and share wisdom and video stories? Treasures Bowl 聚寶盆 is a social media platform with weekly podcasts, reels and commentary, each one born from a real conversation between generations.
We start before the window closes
Next 5 years: capture the stories of the under 1%
70M
Alive today, born 1940 or earlier
2 wks
A language disappears
Why Now?
A window closing daily
Fewer than 1% of the world’s people are aged 85 and over. This generation of WWII survivors, witnesses of decolonisation and first generation diaspora holds lived memory that is rarely recorded. We have five years to reach the 70 million who are still here.
We start in Singapore, with Story Tellers aged 75 and over, and those 85 and over invited first. Then we grow to diaspora communities abroad.
What is Treasures Bowl?
Treasures Bowl is a social media platform with a regular schedule of podcasts, reels and commentary. Strong human connection is mandatory: every story begins with a real conversation between an older Story Teller and a trained Story Keeper, matched by language.
What We Publish, Every Week
One
A podcast
The conversation, in the Story Teller’s own voice.
Two
A short reel
The story retold on video. AI made scenes are labelled.
Three
A commentary
An older or a younger influencer on what the story means today.
Nothing is published until the Story Teller says yes. See how consent works ↓
聽
In Chinese, the character for “to listen” joins ear, eyes, undivided attention and heart.
How a Connection Happens
The Singapore prototype model, to be tested and refined with residents.
1
Train
Story Keepers of all ages learn active listening, with clinical safeguards.
2
Match
A Story Matcher pairs a Story Teller and a Story Keeper by language and dialect.
3
Relate
A one hour exchange, in person. The Keeper answers first, briefly, before asking.
- TB Questions: five senses → history → reflection → a kind or funny legacy memento.
4
Connect
The Keeper retells the story in a 60 second reel, comes back again, and passes the bowl to the next Keeper.
5
Publish and perform
A weekly podcast, reel and commentary, and a live Treasures Bowl Jam show.
Together, these steps lead to wellbeing, for older and younger alike.
Consent Comes First
The Story Teller is always in charge
A life story is a gift, so consent is the main question in our design. Who decides what is recorded, published and retold? The Story Teller does.
Three separate yeses
Taking part, recording and sharing each need their own consent.
The Teller approves every story
Every podcast, reel and AI recreation is approved first, and consent can be withdrawn at any time.
AI made stories are labelled
Viewers always know what was recorded and what was recreated.
A video fingerprint for authenticity
In development: a digital fingerprint for each recording, so a shared copy can be checked against the original.
Why Treasures Bowl
Treasures for the Person. Treasures for the World.
A live conversation, not a form or a bot.
Two people, captured on video, because expression carries meaning that audio alone loses.
We train each Story Keeper to practice presence.
Patient observation builds emotional resilience, and guided prompts surface the foods and habits that carried a family’s wellbeing.
For the Common Folk, in the community.
Matched by language and dialect, beyond the family, with real livelihood for the people and communities who fill the bowl.
New media norms, positive human connection.
A podcast, a short reel and a familiar face, on a steady cadence, so stories travel and friendships last.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little PrinceWhere Treasures Bowl Sits
Most tools are an old form of story archive. We focus on new media and human connection.
Positions are our own reading of public product descriptions.
October to December 2026
The Singapore Prototype
An NUS Distinguished Seniors Fellowship Programme (DSFP) Impact Project
Co-created with community members in Queenstown, one of Singapore’s most aged districts, plus one or two other senior communities. Our question: can latent human capital become durable community contributions?
22.6%
Queenstown, Singapore, residents aged 65+
30
Stories in October
226
Stories by end of 2026
Singapore Snapshot
72,800 citizens aged 85 and older call Singapore home, and nearly 6 in 10 speak a Chinese dialect their grandchildren often can’t speak back.
Prototype Timeline
October Record 30 stories and find an older and a younger influencer.
November and December Publish every week and grow toward 226 stories.
January 2027 WEF Week Davos showcase (to be confirmed).
March 2027 DSFP Festival performance.
Dates may change as the prototype progresses.
Join the Singapore Prototype
Help a story live on. Share your experience, listen, connect generations or add your perspective.
Story Keeper
Volunteer to Listen
Listen in a shared language or dialect. Learn active listening and retell a story in a 60-second reel. All ages welcome, including students.
Story Matcher
Help Make a Match
Help connect a Story Teller and Keeper by language or dialect. Community organisers, families and funders sponsoring a match are welcome. We are recruiting 10 Story Matchers.
Story Commentary
Add Your Perspective
An older or younger voice offering commentary on each story and why it matters today.
What taking part involves
Story Tellers and Keepers meet in person for a one-hour conversation, matched by language or dialect. Keepers learn active listening and return to share a 60-second reel.
Choose a role to start an enquiry. Ask about dates, location and the time involved before taking part.
Partner as an Organisation
Help expand Treasures Bowl through corporate sponsorship, philanthropic funding, technology or community hosting.
Founder
Why I started Treasures Bowl
My mother is 87.
I’ve spent five years trying to finish a book and a film about her and her generation of friends, part of the Chinese diaspora in America. I’m still trying. That effort became the seed for Treasures Bowl, a way to capture these stories before they’re gone, easily, for every family, not just mine.
Read more about April and Treasures Bowl
April’s background
Oldest sister of five · mother of four · Yale University BSc Electrical Engineering · Stanford MBA · Certified Integral Coach · Chair, Yale International Alliance · Founder, Zigen Fund · 5× Edu-Tech Entrepreneur
Origin of the name
I chose Treasures Bowl 聚寶盆 for its folklore. The Jade Emperor kept it in his Heavenly Palace until the mischievous Monkey King kicked it down to Earth, where it multiplies any good thing placed inside it.
Inspiration
“Listen to the reed, how it tells a tale, complaining of separation.”
بشنو از نی چون حکایت میکند · از جداییها شکایت میکند
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I
“Live the questions now.”
Leben Sie jetzt die Fragen.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
A family story in verse
There once was an ahma 阿妈 with tattles,
Of healing food and typhoon rattles,
Her grandkid pressed ‘record’,
Videoed wisdom, not bored,
Now her laughs become family chattels.
Join the founding team
We are recruiting a Founding CEO, a Fractional CFO and a CTO who share the mission.
Advisors
Meet the people advising Treasures Bowl and explore their backgrounds.
Get in touch
Have a story, a question or a way to help? Choose what brings you here.
Thank you for getting in touch.
Your enquiry has been sent to Treasures Bowl.
Prefer email? info@treasuresbowl.com