Gateway Entertainment created Project SMILE in 2002, uniquely combining the study of magic with service to the community. The project advanced ‘magic literacy’ in Singapore and across Asia through the hands-on learning of magic, and inspired those interested in learning magic to use the art to bring joy to the less fortunate in society.

In one of its programmes in 2010, 312 students from Hougang Secondary School learnt basic magic and performing arts skills from Priscilla Khong and her team of magician-facilitators in a three-day camp. The students went on to share their newfound knowledge and joy with those less fortunate in a one-day community service project at 16 different homes island wide.

A pioneer in service-learning, Project SMILE was also integrated into MY NAME, the service-learning programme for students at Ngee Ann Primary School. This programme was offered to the entire Primary 6 cohort for three years from 2008 to 2010. In addition, Project SMILE worked with Assumption Pathway School since 2009 to train over 150 students per year, with the goal of arming these students with the necessary skill to serve their community.

In 2005, Project SMILE became a part of 千牵手(Qian Qian Shou —’Thousand Linking Hands’), an ambitious project with a vision to see 1,000 pairs of hands linking up to serve the needy and disadvantaged in various parts of China. A partnership between TOUCH Community Services International, Shanghai Hua Ai Community Service Management and Shanghai LeQun Social Work Service, Qian Qian Shou was founded to engage and develop youth in the areas of leadership and volunteerism and expose them to cultures other than their own.

Each year, Qian Qian Shou brought dozens of participants from China and Singapore together in an intensive three-day camp in which they learnt magic tricks and how to identify the needs of a beneficiary community. Beginning in Shanghai, the project grew to include other cities in China and various Chinese partners including Northwestern University of Xi’An and Chengdu University of Informational Technology. With its 10^th and final edition in 2015, Qian Qian Shou achieved its goal of seeing 1,000 hands coming together in service to the community. It proved to be a powerful tool that empowers young people with a skill, and that bridges, connects and engages youths from Singapore and China.

As of its conclusion in 2019, Project SMILE had trained more than 20,000 students in Singapore and elsewhere in the world in the art of magic. It has also touched the hearts of thousands of disadvantaged beneficiaries in day care centres, homes and hospitals.