Singapore's developer scene was broken, not cracked. Vibe coding fixed it.
AI Tinkerers Singapore has been running demo nights, workshops, and hackathons that draw more than 100 people each time.
The organizer team behind AI Engineer Singapore noticed the AI tech and hackathon scene in the city dwindled during and after the pandemic. However, Vibe coding and organic tech collectives have helped bring back the excitement to the city. AI hackathon 65labs and AIE conference have redefined Singapore as an AI hub. When Yong Quan Tan, a college grad in 2023, began using OpenAI's GPT-4, he worried his developer skills might not be sufficient for a tech job.
He sought to learn about AI developments in Singapore, finding a lack of AI culture similar to that in San Francisco, Tel Aviv, and Bengaluru. Vibe coding, using natural language to have AI write software, has lowered the cost of building software and given almost anyone a chance to join the AI boom. AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, and scaleups such as Cursor and Cognition, have established Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, creating hundreds of tech and non-tech jobs.
After finding the Singapore chapter of AI Tinkerers in late 2024, Yong Quan Tan took over the group and now runs demo nights, workshops, and hackathons focused on AI applications. AI Tinkerers now called Natives, runs events that regularly attract over 100 people. 65labs, a Singapore-based builder collective, held its Cursor hackathon in October 2025, attracting more than 1,000 applicants and producing nearly 150 working products.
The conference attracted over 1,000 attendees in May 2026 and featured speakers from major AI companies, including Singapore's foreign minister. Nehal Agrawal, who graduated with a business degree in 2024, noticed that AI felt gated when she first started learning about it. However, Vibe coding opened the gates, allowing people from all backgrounds to participate in AI events.
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