Lee Jia Wei, 24, along with four others – Joanne Hoe and Sharon Lim, both 22, Marcus Wong, 24, and Poh Jiawei, 25 – started The Basement at SMU. The cafe is a social enterprise aimed at helping the disadvantaged. The space is secured on a two-year lease from the SMU Office of Student Life which offers the area at a “supportive rate”, said Jia Wei. The group now runs a soup kitchen nearly every quarter, with the first being for SMU’s cleaners to celebrate the Winter Solstice last December.