socialservice.sg: Recent Episodes
Jin Yao Kwan
socialservice.sg is a website, podcast, and newsletter dedicated to social service research, practice, and policies in Singapore. It is run by Jin Yao Kwan.
Cover art photo by Ng Shi Wen (https://www.photorikiki.com/hard-at-work).
On May 15, 2024, at the Istana, Singapore's fourth prime minister Lawrence Wong took his oath of office and was officially sworn in, taking over from prime minister Lee Hsien Loong. This political transition is significant for a host of different reasons, and so, across two episodes, we take a deeper dive with Dr. Kenneth Paul Tan of Hong Kong Baptist University. We look back, and we look ahead. We look back, across Singapore's first three prime ministers or three generations of leadership. We then look ahead to three potential electoral scenarios for Mr. Wong and his ruling People's Action Party or PAP.
In this second episode, we focus on the next general election. Fundamentally, we ask Dr. Tan, is it the PAP’s election to lose, or the opposition parties’ election to win?
LISTEN TO THE FIRST EPISODE.
We previously hosted Dr. Tan on this podcast in 2020, in an episode focused primarily on our collective, growing reliance on migrant labour in neo-authoritarian Singapore.
The feature photos are by Ng Shi Wen (episode) and Kelli McClintock on Unsplash (cover).
On May 15, 2024, at the Istana, Singapore's fourth prime minister Lawrence Wong took his oath of office and was officially sworn in, taking over from prime minister Lee Hsien Loong. This political transition is significant for a host of different reasons, and so, across two episodes, we take a deeper dive with Dr. Kenneth Paul Tan of Hong Kong Baptist University. We look back, and we look ahead. We look back, across Singapore's first three prime ministers or three generations of leadership. We then look ahead to three potential electoral scenarios for Mr. Wong and his ruling People's Action Party or PAP.
In this first episode, we ask Dr. Tan: Across Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, and Lee Hsien Loong, how has the ruling PAP consistently approached Singapore’s governance since we became a self-governing state? We then explore those three electoral scenarios for Mr. Wong, in terms of the PAP doing better than they did in GE2020, the party doing about the same, or if they come close to losing or even loses its parliamentary supermajority.
LISTEN TO THE SECOND EPISODE.
We previously hosted Dr. Tan on this podcast in 2020, in an episode focused primarily on our collective, growing reliance on migrant labour in neo-authoritarian Singapore.
The feature photos are by Ng Shi Wen (episode) and Kelli McClintock on Unsplash (cover).
About four years ago, in the lead up to GE2020 as well as halfway through the pandemic election, author Loke Hoe-Yeong shared about the electoral strategies of Singapore's opposition parties. Now, four years later, we've invited him back. We start with a brief reflection of GE2020 and its aftermath, before turning most of our attention to three of the main opposition parties in Singapore: the Workers' Party, the Progress Singapore Party, and the Singapore Democratic Party. And after a quick primer on the NCMP or non-constituency member of parliament scheme, we briefly discuss what Hoe-Yeong describes as the coalitions of electoral losers.
The feature photos are by Ng Shi Wen (episode) and Kelli McClintock on Unsplash (cover).
How do the economy and economic conditions influence electoral outcomes, both broadly and in Singapore? What can we understand from Singapore's ranking as one of the world's most expensive cities as well as the country's Consumer Price Index, or the CPI? And if the fundamental root cause of Singapore’s low wages can be attributed to widespread cheap sourcing and the influx of foreign workers from very low-wage neighbouring countries, how do we address that problem?
To answer these questions and more, we host Dr. Linda Lim, Professor Emerita of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan. We previously hosted Dr. Lim on this podcast in 2020, in an episode focused on the minimum wage, Singapore’s Progressive Wage Model, and low-wage labour in the country.
Here are the other links referenced in the episode:
- Linda Lim: A scholar’s journey, in and out of Singapore (Knowledge Praxis, academia.sg).
- WhatsEnough.sg (the Minimum Income Standard study); We also spoke to Drs. Ng Kok Hoe and Teo You Yenn on this podcast, during which they explained a “basic standard of living”, detailed the study methodology, and addressed five common responses and rebuttals to the study (socialservice.sg).
- MyBasket.sg, an inflation calculator for those in Singapore.
The feature photos are by Ng Shi Wen (episode) and Kelli McClintock on Unsplash (cover).
Singapore’s next general election must be held by November 2025, which is still some time away. But whether it is GE2024 or GE2025, with plenty of time and space, we’d like to use the next few months (or the next year) to discuss key election issues with experts and voters. For us, “Before the Ballot” provides that space.
Feedback? Suggestions? Or join us as a guest? Get in touch at jykwan@udel.edu, or DM us on Instagram (@socialservicesg).
With Alfian Sa’at and Ng Kah Gay, we have a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening conversation about the arts and publishing vis-à-vis civic engagement and political participation in Singapore. What does it mean to be challenged with the unfamiliar? How do we provoke more conversation and action through artistic modalities? And how do we make sense of censorship, self-censorship, and pushback, while accounting for the interdependence of individuals, society, and the state?
Alfian is a Singaporean playwright, poet, and writer, and Kah Gay is the editor of Ethos Books, Singapore's leading independent publisher.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Gülfer ERGİN on Unsplash.
In this wide-ranging conversation on community and community-based governance with Aaron Maniam, we cover many diverse but related topics. First, we discuss the global state of democratic governance in the context of community-based governance as well as truth and misinformation. We then learn more about his Ph.D. dissertation comparing public sector digital transformation efforts, before a segue into his evaluation of other tools - deliberative polling, panels, and citizen assemblies - to facilitate community-based governance. Finally, Aaron shares his perspectives on web3 platforms and dealing with diversity.
Aaron is a Fellow of Practice and Director of Digital Transformation Education at the University of Oxford. He was also previously on the podcast, exploring citizen foresight work and the influence of language and metaphors on futures thinking.
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Hannah Sibayan on Unsplash.
Today, we have a broad conversation on PE2023 with veteran journalist Bertha Henson. She reflects on Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s landslide win, shares how she got involved in Mr. George Goh’s campaign, and discusses and evaluates the office of the elected presidency in Singapore. In particular, we highlight two bodies: the Presidential Elections Committee, or the PEC, as well as the Council of Presidential Advisors, or the CPA.
This episode was recorded on September 11, 2023. She was previously on the podcast before and after GE2020. You can also read the publication, “Lights on the Istana: Training the Spotlight on the Presidency”.
Listen to the full mini-series:
- Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
- Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
- A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
- Singapore’s presidential… Group job interview? (PE2023)
- Veteran journalist Bertha Henson on PE2023, the PEC and CPA, and the office of the elected presidency
Resources for information about presidency:
- The president's constitutional, ceremonial, and community duties, as described on its website.
- A primer by “The Straits Times” on the president’s role and powers.
- An explainer on Singapore’s elected presidency by CAPE.
- Resources and readings compiled by academia.sg, including “Why Singapore’s next elected President should be one of its last”.
- The Menon Commission Report.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Max Oh on Unsplash.
What are the experiences of Singaporean academics who have spent time abroad, before returning home and working to reintegrate, both as academics, and as Singapore citizens. Together with her collaborators, in the article - "International academic or citizen scholar?: Singaporean returnees in the global city" - lead author Yasmin Ortiga focused on this notion of reintegration as well as the conflicting demands associated with it. Like many others, I enjoyed reading the article, and the conversation I had with her, as you'll hear, was a delight.
Dr. Ortiga is an assistant professor at Singapore Management University.
This episode is part of the “Making Research Sense” series of the podcast’s sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Rogan Yeoh on Unsplash.
Like the entire PE2023 campaign thus far, the presidential forum offered little beyond scripted platitudes and vague generalities. Be that as it may, Isaac Neo and I sat down after the forum to chat about our general impressions, and how the limits of the forum modality perhaps reflected the limits and ambiguities associated with Singapore's elected presidency.
Listen to the full mini-series:
- Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
- Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
- A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
Resources for information about presidency:
- The president's constitutional, ceremonial, and community duties, as described on its website.
- A primer by “The Straits Times” on the president’s role and powers.
- An explainer on Singapore’s elected presidency by CAPE.
- Resources and readings compiled by academia.sg, including “Why Singapore’s next elected President should be one of its last”.
- The Menon Commission Report.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
Singaporeans go to the polls on September 1, 2023 to elect our new president. We choose from three candidates: former senior minister and deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund GIC Ng Kok Song, and former CEO of NTUC Income Tan Kin Lian.
An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Singaporean youth, or about 15 per cent of the electorate, will be voting in the presidential election for the first time. In the lead up to Polling Day, in this mini-series, we speak to three first-time voters - all of whom are students - about their thoughts on the presidential candidates, the institution of the presidency, as well as the issues and considerations they are prioritising.
Today, in the final episode of our three-part mini-series, we have 24-year-old Aamir Bana, a student at Yale-NUS and the National University of Singapore. He is part of CAPE, but speaks in his personal capacity in this episode. This was recorded on August 22, 2023.
Listen to the full mini-series:
- Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
- Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
- A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
Resources for information about presidency:
- The president's constitutional, ceremonial, and community duties, as described on its website.
- A primer by “The Straits Times” on the president’s role and powers.
- An explainer on Singapore’s elected presidency by CAPE.
- Resources and readings compiled by academia.sg, including “Why Singapore’s next elected President should be one of its last”.
- The Menon Commission Report.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Max Oh on Unsplash.
Singaporeans go to the polls on September 1, 2023 to elect our new president. We choose from three candidates: former senior minister and deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund GIC Ng Kok Song, and former CEO of NTUC Income Tan Kin Lian.
An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Singaporean youth, or about 15 per cent of the electorate, will be voting in the presidential election for the first time. In the lead up to Polling Day, in this mini-series, we speak to three first-time voters - all of whom are students - about their thoughts on the presidential candidates, the institution of the presidency, as well as the issues and considerations they are prioritising.
Today, in the second episode, we have 22-year-old Liang Weiting, a final-year student in the Nanyang Technological University. This was recorded on August 22, 2023.
Listen to the full mini-series:
- Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
- Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
- A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
Resources for information about presidency:
- The president's constitutional, ceremonial, and community duties, as described on its website.
- A primer by “The Straits Times” on the president’s role and powers.
- An explainer on Singapore’s elected presidency by CAPE.
- Resources and readings compiled by academia.sg, including “Why Singapore’s next elected President should be one of its last”.
- The Menon Commission Report.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Max Oh on Unsplash.
Singaporeans go to the polls on September 1, 2023 to elect our new president. We choose from three candidates: former senior minister and deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund GIC Ng Kok Song, and former CEO of NTUC Income Tan Kin Lian.
An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Singaporean youth, or about 15 per cent of the electorate, will be voting in the presidential election for the first time. In the lead up to Polling Day, in this mini-series, we speak to three first-time voters - all of whom are students - about their thoughts on the presidential candidates, the institution of the presidency, as well as the issues and considerations they are prioritising.
Today, in the first episode, we have 29-year-old Rosamund Lim, a postgraduate student in the Singapore Management University. This was recorded on August 21, 2023.
Listen to the full mini-series:
- Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
- Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
- A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
Resources for information about presidency:
- The president's constitutional, ceremonial, and community duties, as described on its website.
- A primer by “The Straits Times” on the president’s role and powers.
- An explainer on Singapore’s elected presidency by CAPE.
- Resources and readings compiled by academia.sg, including “Why Singapore’s next elected President should be one of its last”.
- The Menon Commission Report.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Max Oh on Unsplash.
We're trying something new today, and it's something we've wanted to do for some time. Together with a new co-host, Estella Ho, we've picked a book of interest to discuss and explore. For this episode, the book we've chosen is titled "Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It" by US journalist and scholar Richard V. Reeves. Estella and I first explain why and how we chose the book, share what we liked and didn't enjoy, and draw some Singaporean connections and personal reflections.
Resources referenced in the episode:
- "The men - and boys - are not alright" (The New York Times)
- "Living alone a risk factor for social isolation, especially for men: NUS study" (The Straits Times)
Singapore’s members of parliament receive an allowance to engage legislative assistants to help them with their parliamentary questions and speeches. Different members adopt different strategies and use the allowance differently. Some have larger teams who split the allowance, and in other instances volunteers may also be involved. Across two episodes, we learn more about the roles, responsibilities, and motivations of legislative assistants, the process behind drafting and re-drafting parliamentary questions and speeches, as well as how parliamentarians and their teams integrate feedback from walkabouts.
Today, in this first part, we hear from Louis Ng Kok Kwang, a member of the governing People's Action Party. He was previously on this podcast, highlighting his advocacy for social work and social workers in parliament.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by VENUS MAJOR on Unsplash.
On this podcast, we've moved away from direct features of charities and social service agencies, not only because there are so many with interesting stories, but also because a greater focus on systemic trends and structural solutions - involving multiple parties - feels more productive. Nevertheless, the story of Glyph Community (https://www.glyphcommunity.com/) and one of its founders, Lim Si Hui, was very compelling.
Glyph is a charity offering non-academic enrichment programmes to disadvantaged children, and 26-year-old Si Hui herself dropped out of university to work at and manage Glyph full-time. Given her young age, leading a direct-service charity, I was interested in how she managed staff and volunteers, challenges she's faced, and how she navigated the broader social work and social service space in Singapore as a young leader.
This episode is part of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Alaric Sim on Unsplash.
Today, we’ll pick up from where we left off previously, focused on the “Future of Asian Philanthropy” reports published by the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC). We focus on the second report, “Strategies for a Better Future”, in this episode, and we’ll also link our last episode covering the first report. You’ll again hear from Bradley Wo - previously Knowledge Resources Manager at the Asia Philanthropy Circle, or the APC - and APC’s COO, Stacey Choe.
Read the full “Future of Asian Philanthropy” reports. The first is titled “Scenarios for Asia in 2050”, and the second “Strategies for a Better Future”.
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Kelvin Zyteng on Unsplash.
Did you know that Asia is home to more billionaires than any other continent in the world? Wealth Report predicts that the region will see its fastest growth in ultra-high net-worth individuals between 2022 and 2026. The Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) recently released two reports focused on the Future of Asian Philanthropy. The first is titled “Scenarios for Asia in 2050”, and the second “Strategies for a Better Future”. “Scenarios for Asia in 2050” lays out a set of four imagined scenarios for an Asian society in the future, while the second report, “Strategies for a Better Future”, identifies strategies and recommendations for philanthropy today to shape how society will develop.
Today, we have invited two guests to tell us more about these reports. Bradley Wo and Stacey Choe will share more about the reports and how they have been using them to generate conversations towards crucial partnerships in achieving a better future. Today, we’ll focus on the first report.
Bradley was previously APC’s Knowledge Resources Manager. In addition to this report, he also worked on APC's book, “The Philanthropist’s Guide to Giving”, and other publications on cross-border giving. He previously studied Chinese high-net worth philanthropy at Peking University and is currently at New York University for his MBA. Stacey is APC’s COO. She served as the Membership Services Director at the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network for four years before her last role as Director of Policy Engagement. In her earlier life before the social sector, she specialised in marketing communications and market entry in corporate and government roles, and also worked in China for three years.
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Matt LaVasseur on Unsplash.
Centred on the Singapore government's plan to enact new legislation to prohibit workplace discrimination, the Association of Women for Action and Research, or AWARE, published a position paper with recommendations to address gaps in coverage and implementation related to the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. Today, we speak with two people who were part of the team behind the position paper, Apoorva Shukla and Daryl Yang, asking them about AWARE’s advocacy for anti-discrimination in the workplace, thoughts about the Tripartite Committee’s proposals, and various forms of workplace discrimination.
Apoorva is an Executive at AWARE's Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Advisory, or the WHDA, where she supports victim-survivors of workplace harassment and discrimination, and advocates for workers' rights in Singapore. A lawyer and activist, Daryl recently returned to Singapore after completing his Masters in Law on a Fulbright Scholarship at UC Berkeley, where he wrote his thesis on the evolution of Singapore’s approach to workplace discrimination.
Relatedly, in our last episode, we spoke to Max Soh from the Disabled People’s Association on related topics for people with disabilities, which you should check out if you’ve not already done so.
Here’s a link to AWARE’s position paper. If you have faced discrimination or harassment at your workplace, contact WHDA at 6777 0318 from Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm, or email them at whda@aware.org.sg. Follow AWARE on social media: @awaresingapore on Instagram, @awarenews on Twitter, and AWARE Singapore on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Here are some additional references: (a) A "Chicago Law Review" article; and (b) Consent as core to mediation.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in 2021 that the government would enshrine into law the current workplace anti-discrimination guidelines. Since then, the Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness, comprising the Ministry of Manpower, National Trades Union Congress, and the Singapore National Employers Federation, has been reviewing the current guidelines. The Tripartite Committee then released a report with 20 recommendations of what the anti-discrimination law should contain. The main recommendation was that the law should prohibit workplace discrimination in respect of (i) age, (ii) nationality, (iii) sex, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, (iv) race, religion, language, as well as (v) disability and mental health conditions.
After the report’s release, several organisations released their responses to the report with their own recommendations. Today, we speak to a representative from one of these organisations, Max Soh, who is the Research and Policy Manager for the Disabled People’s Association or DPA, Singapore’s only cross-disability non-profit organisation. Max joined DPA in 2021 and manages the organisation’s various research and policy related initiatives. In addition to being disabled himself (visually impaired since birth), he brings experience with disability and disability advocacy through his prior involvements with disability organisations especially internationally. In this episode, we talk about the work of DPA and what DPA feels should be included in the anti-discrimination law for people with disabilities.
You can read DPA’s response. A transcript of today’s episode is also available on our website.
GST hikes, inflation, and high HDB resale prices. Wherever you go in Singapore, you can’t miss the hottest topic nowadays: the rising cost of living. If you tak boleh tahan, that’s understandable. But what can Singaporeans do about it? Today, we’re joined by three organisers, Kokila from Workers Make Possible and the Transformative Justice Collective, Kumarr from Workers Make Possible, and Adi from Workers Make Possible and NTU Financial Aid Friends, to talk about how Singaporeans can make their voices heard on these issues.
The trio are part of Manifestival, a joint effort by various civil society organisations and independent media platforms to encourage democratic, public discussion on important issues that matter to all of us in Singapore. We ask them about how Manifestival came about, the three townhall series that Manifestival has organised in the past months, and their takeaways from having ordinary Singaporeans share their honest thoughts in such public spaces.
Here's the link to the Labour Day event.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Nicholas Chester-Adams on Unsplash.
With Samantha Lee, we preview the 2023 episodes for our "The Future of…" mini-series, where we chat big ideas with Singaporeans engaged in social initiatives in Asia and beyond. These are the episodes we referenced today:
- The future of… Water and water scarcity (with Wateroam’s Lim Chong Tee)
- The future of… Marrying purpose and profit (with StoneSoup Partner’s Samantha Lee)
- The future of… Eye-care and eye-health (with Eyeviser’s Chen Weiwen)
- The future of… Finance and leaving nobody behind (with Givfunds’ and Masref’s Edward Yee)
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Rayson Tan on Unsplash.
With Isaac James Neo, we preview the 2023 episodes for our "Civic Engagement and Action" mini-series, where we have conversations about expanding communities and spaces for sustained civic engagement and political participation. These are the episodes we referenced today:
- What’s next for youth climate change activism and action in Singapore?
- The potential and challenges of social media civic discussions in Singapore (with assistant professor Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah)
- Role-playing as a Singaporean civil servant in “What’s the Matter, Mr. Monster?” (with director Roshan Singh Sambhi)
- Sustaining migrant worker advocacy and volunteer involvement in Singapore (with HealthServe executive director Michael Cheah)
- Let’s talk about “Jom”: Singapore’s new digital magazine
And here is the article Isaac wrote for "Jom" (subscription needed): "Pragmatic resistance: adaptation or co-option?"
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Gregoire Jeanneau on Unsplash.
With assistant professor Tan Shin Bin (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore), we explore her latest journal article centred on Singapore's Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) as an ethnic desegregation policy. She shares about ethnic and socio-economic segregation as they relate to the EIP, their inverse relationship for majority public housing subzones, and future areas for study. We also chat briefly about research data and methodology at the end.
You can read the journal article (paywalled): Do ethnic integration policies also improve socio-economic integration? A study of residential segregation in Singapore.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's sixth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Shermin Ng on Unsplash.
Throughout the past three episodes, we’ve talked about community work and community development in the present. Today, we’ve gathered three guests - Ng Bee Leng (Director, Community Development), Chuah Xing Jun (Research Assistant), and Emeritus Professor Satvinder Singh (Research Consultant) - in a more open-ended conversation about the future. In particular, we zoom into measurement. That is, how do we know if we’re making progress? And how do we measure the effectiveness of our community-building efforts? We hear specifically about the TCI or the Thriving Community Index, which we previewed in the last episode.
This episode is part of “The Community” mini-series, co-produced with AMKFSC Community Services. Learn more about AMKFSC's community-driven initiatives and play a part in building thriving communities: https://bit.ly/amkfsc-tcf.
There is broad consensus that research, evaluation, and evidence-based practice are important. However, to what extent are they compatible with community work and community development, especially when data and knowledge are extracted from participants? Today, we explore both participatory research and practice research with Ng Bee Leng (Director, Community Development) and Woo Pei Yi (Senior Assistant Director, Community Development), specifically through the use of Photovoice. We learn about the methodology, findings, and future plans.
This episode is part of “The Community” mini-series, co-produced with AMKFSC Community Services. Learn more about AMKFSC's community-driven initiatives and play a part in building thriving communities: https://bit.ly/amkfsc-tcf.
What do community work and community development look like in practice? More specifically, what do they look like in social work practice? In this episode, I’ll first chat with Palvindran S/O Jayram (Manager, Community Hubs), who worked as a social worker before moving to community work. Next, Jermaine speaks with a resident, Lydia Susiyanti (Resident and Community Activator, 643 Community Hub), who first started as a community volunteer. A big theme you’ll hear from both conversations is that role demarcation and definitions, often framed through the lens of traditional social work practice, are not always clear or helpful. In fact, they could even stigmatise.
With Palvindran and Lydia, we also talk about community development’s challenges and their plans for the future.
This episode is part of “The Community” mini-series, co-produced with AMKFSC Community Services. Learn more about AMKFSC's community-driven initiatives and play a part in building thriving communities: https://bit.ly/amkfsc-tcf.
Before exploring the details of community work and community development, we ought to understand: What makes a community? More fundamentally, what is a community? Or the community? With Ng Bee Leng (Director, Community Development) and Muhammad Fazeli (Resident and Community Activator, 643 Community Hub), we learn how they describe the community, the Asset-Based Community Development approach, and an overview of AMKFSC’s community-driven initiatives.
This episode is part of “The Community” mini-series, co-produced with AMKFSC Community Services. Learn more about AMKFSC's community-driven initiatives and play a part in building thriving communities: https://bit.ly/amkfsc-tcf.
In this teaser episode, we introduce our four-episode mini-series titled “The Community”, co-produced with AMKFSC Community Services, focused on community work and community development in Singapore. We also meet our mini-series co-host, Jermaine Boh, and describe the content you can expect.
This episode is part of “The Community” mini-series, co-produced with AMKFSC Community Services. Learn more about AMKFSC's community-driven initiatives and play a part in building thriving communities: https://bit.ly/amkfsc-tcf.
On this podcast, I’ve traditionally featured the research and social work and projects of others. I make a small exception today, because I want to share about two recent research journal articles I’ve published, which, I think, in an interesting fashion, draws from earlier episodes I produced for past seasons of this socialservice.sg podcast. I’ve divided this episode into three parts.
In the first part, I explore the first paper, titled: “Youth civic and community engagement under Singapore’s COVID-19 lockdown: Motivations, online mobilisation, action, and future directions”. This paper draws directly from socialservice.sg’s first season, “COVID-19 Community Chronicles”. After Singapore announced the first circuit-breaker, from April 9 to June 24, 2020, we had guests running community initiatives, some of whom talked about structural or systemic issues.
In the second part, I feature the second paper. It’s titled, “‘Democracy and active citizenship are not just about the elections’: Youth civic and political participation during and beyond Singapore’s nine-day pandemic election (GE2020)”. “The Nine Days”, was socialservice.sg’s second season, and the season was titled as such because that was the length of the general election campaign period. From June 30 to July 11, 2020, we solicited youth views on election issues and candidates and their thoughts on the election.
And in the third and final part of this episode, very briefly, I summarise the key findings and reflect on the potential of podcasts – in Singapore and beyond – to bridging research, practice, education, and policy. Parts of this episode were adapted largely from a June 2022 seminar I delivered, as part of the AcademiaSG Junior Scholar Seminar.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
"Jom" (Malay for "let's"; jom.media) is Singapore's new weekly digital magazine covering the arts, culture, politics, business, technology, and more in the country. With co-founders Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh, Charmaine Poh, and Tsen-Waye Tay, we ask them about how they got started, their plans to cover civic issues that are somewhat controversial or contested in society, and navigating long-term journalistic integrity and financial sustainability.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
"Seeking Shelter: Homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore" is the country's second nationwide street count of its unhoused and homeless, conducted in 2021. With its authors Dr. Ng Kok Hoe and Jeyda Simren Sekhon Atac, we begin by reviewing the first street count and report in 2019. Thereafter, we dive deeper into their most recent report, to understand the state of homelessness during COVID-19, explore the role of social policy, and discuss volunteer engagement and ethical priorities.
Dr. Ng is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Social Inclusion Project and Case Study Unit at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), National University of Singapore. He previously shared about his other research projects and the Minimum Income Standard study on this podcast. Simren is a Research Assistant in the Social Inclusion Project at LKYSPP.
This episode is part of "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
With Edward Yee of Givfunds (https://www.givfunds.org/), a non-profit which lends low-cost funds at scale to South Asian social enterprises, and Masref (https://www.masref.ch/), a Swiss fintech which seeks to increase the accessibility of safe and secure saving accounts, we chat about his three big ideas on finance and leaving nobody behind. First, the removal of persistent biases; second, the reduction of servicing costs; and third, the incentives for impact in the financial sector.
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, the living conditions and well-being of migrant workers have received increased attention. At the same time, and consequently too, during the country’s first circuit-breaker in 2020, there was an intense flurry of volunteerism and donations among concerned Singaporeans. However, since then, over the past two years, public attention on both migrant workers and voluntary contributions has waxed and waned. With Michael Cheah, executive director of HealthServe, we discuss these phenomena and explore future advocacy and strategies.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
With producers of the Singapore-based “Social Work Made Accessible” podcast, Dominic Soh, Rachel Koh, and Cheong Ming Fang (https://www.instagram.com/swmadeaccessible/), we chat about how they got started, the different social work episodes and conversations they’ve had, and how they are planning for the future.
This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
With Chen Weiwen, the founder of Eyeviser (https://eyeviser.com/), which offers 360-degree eye-care to companies and the public*, we chat about the three big ideas on the future of eye-care and eye-health. First, the shift from treatment to prevention. Second, the role of tech-powered prescription checks. And third, the personalisation of eye-care.
(*This is corrected from an earlier version of the preamble.)
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
As part of Save.Me (https://www.screeningstatistics.com/saveme/), Prof. Rosie Ching and her students interviewed almost 3,000 folks in Singapore for the country’s first national survey on sucide. We ask her about the suicide stigma index, the key findings, as well as relevant policy and practice directions.
This episode is part of "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Today, as part of our “Civic Engagement and Action” mini-series, where we speak to folks about expanding communities and spaces for sustained civic engagement and political participation, I am joined by our co-host, Isaac Neo, a political and security risk analyst. We chat briefly about his GE2020 newsletter and his involvement in a number of other Singaporean initiatives and organisations before diving into his thesis, titled “Pragmatic resistance as counter-conduct: Civil society advocacy in Singapore”. He details how actors in the environmental and migrant worker sectors use non-confrontational and technocratic methods and shift between cooperation and contestation vis-à-vis the state.
Past episodes referenced in this episode include:
-
GE2020 Raising socio-political literacy and civic engagement in Singapore (CAPE’s Huang Runchen and Joel Yew)
- Intersectional climate justice, climate change and its unequal effects, and aspirations for a low-carbon Singapore
- The history of the making of youth – and the history of the present – in youth-conscious, youth-centred Singapore: PhD candidate Edgar Liao
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Today, as part of our “The Future Of…” mini-series, where we chat about big ideas with Singaporeans engaged in social initiatives in Asia and beyond, I am joined by our co-host, Samantha Lee. Samantha is the founder of StoneSoup Partners, an early-stage fund that invests in companies that do well by doing good in emerging markets in Africa and South East Asia. She shares her big ideas about the future of building truly scalable companies to solve the world’s biggest problems, through a marriage of purpose and profit.
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
“What is something that brought you joy today?” That’s the question one is encouraged to contemplate as one explores the website of HappyUrns (https://happyurns.org/), an initiative to help different groups of Singaporeans engage meaningfully with death and end-of-life topics with their loved ones. With team members Amanda Swee and Adya Sadanand, we have a thoughtful conversation about their three projects - "Residents' Urns", the "Celebration Kit"; and the "Life in a Year Book" - and for each project you’ll hear powerful stories and reflections of their design experiences and interpersonal interactions. This episode is a great complement to an earlier episode with representatives of “Both Sides, Now”, who work to normalise end-of-life conversations through artistic projects and public engagement.
HappyUrns is currently running a competition titled, "Reinterpreting the Urn: A Symbol of Celebration" (https://happyurns.org/a-happy-urns-competition/). Singaporeans of all ages and backgrounds are welcomed to create a design to give "new and personal meaning to the urn and transform it into a symbol that represents celebration and appreciation of life.”
This episode is part of "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Last year, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation published Singapore’s first nationally representative food insecurity study, finding that about 10 per cent of Singaporean households experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months. This year, the centre's updated, second part of "The Hunger Report" explored two related questions. First, what is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in Singapore? And second, how can the unique needs of food-insecure families be met? We take a deeper dive into the report with members of the report team, Dr. Dalvin Sidhu, Dr. Tania Nagpaul, and Ms. Ng Weng Lin.
This episode is part of "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Using two child cohorts, Dr. Jonathan Huang and his team at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research sought to understand - in a journal article - the lifestyle changes experienced by Singaporean children after the country's circuit-breaker as well as the potential long-term outcomes. In our conversation, we learn more about the research findings and methodology, future directions, and the potential practice and policy implications.
This episode is part of "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Inspired by the short story “SIN” in Singaporean writer Ng Yi-Sheng's collection “Lion City” (https://epigrambookshop.sg/products/lion-city), “What’s the Matter, Mr. Monster” (https://www.ministryofmonsters.sg/) is a dialogue-driven game where one role-plays as a civil servant settling complaints of otherworldly creatures settling into Singapore. With director Roshan Singh Sambhi, we dive into its genesis at Sing Lit Station's Sing Lit Blk Party, features of the game, and its potential for community and civic engagement.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Social enterprise Wateroam (https://www.wateroam.com) has been working to build a world without prolonged thirst, and today with one of its co-founders Lim Chong Tee we want to push the conversation a little further, by challenging him to share his big ideas about the future of water and water scarcity. After that, we talk about Wateroam’s plans in the next five years, and then the next 50 years, before rounding up with his personal development and his thoughts on the socio-political situation in Myanmar in relation to the work of the growing social enterprise.
This episode is part of "The Future of..." series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Since 2013, "Both Sides, Now" (https://www.bothsidesnow.sg/) has sought to normalise end-of-life conversations, by creating artistic projects and engaging Singaporeans at public locations such as hospitals, town centres, senior homes, and HDB void decks. Last year, in 2021, the project researched and engaged the Malay-Muslim community, culminating in the "Kata-Kata Kita" variety show (https://www.bothsidesnow.sg/programme).
And behind this endeavour was a multi-disciplinary team of creatives and researchers, four of whom are with us today. With artistic director Kok Heng Leun, lead artist Adib Kosnan, creative producer Ngiam Su-Lin, and research team member Siti Hazirah Bte Mohamad, we chat about the genesis of "Both Sides, Now", the experience of staging the "Kata-Kata Kita" variety show, and the project's upcoming public engagement programme in Bedok this year.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
With Norvin Chan, founder of the AI therapist chatbot fire.place (https://fire.place/) where folks can vent their feelings, we learn about how users can interact with the chatbot, tech development process, and how his growing-up experience has informed his work. We conclude with a discussion of positioning fire.place in a broader constellation of mental health and wellness support, from professional help to community initiatives.
This episode is part of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Today, we have assistant professor Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah from the School of Social Sciences in Nanyang Technological University, whose research focuses on religion and politics with a special focus on Singapore and Malaysia. On his Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/walidj.abdullah), he hosts “Teh Tarik With Walid” (TTWW), a series of live chats with prominent socio-political figures about their work and current affairs. In this episode, we ask him about his motivations for starting this series as well as the prospects of such a format in furthering civic engagement on social media.
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
"Beneath the Rug" (https://www.solvenplus.one/btr) is a Singaporean book compilation of 30 stories, written by 30 different individuals in the social service sector. Their honest sharing on the poor/marginalised/disadvantaged in Singapore was surprising, and in this episode with editor Lewin Low we discuss the project’s journey, the writers, and the plans of his social enterprise Solve n+1 (https://www.solvenplus.one/).
(Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of the book from the editors.)
This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
In November last year, the publication titled "Scaled, citizen-led, and public qualitative research: A framework for citizen social science" explored improvements to qualitative research and suggested methods for the conduct of citizen social science. Drawing from two cases - one involving state and civil society organisations and public policy students, and another centred on low-waged migrant workers and the system processing their salary and injury disputes - we dive into the open-access publication with its three author-researchers.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Co-operative A Good Space, a good friend to this podcast, ran two Listening Living Labs and produced two corresponding Listening Reports to document the experiences and insights of migrant worker communities and low-income communities in Singapore. With representative Nurulhuda Hassan today, we focus on low-income communities, focused on the three issues and recommendations revolving around lower-wage gig workers, customised digital guidance, as well as interim assistance.
- Listen to the preview;
- The episode on migrant worker communities; and
- On low-income communities (this episode).
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Co-operative A Good Space, a good friend to this podcast, ran two Listening Living Labs and produced two corresponding Listening Reports to document the experiences and insights of migrant worker communities and low-income communities in Singapore. With representative Vandhana Jeyaram today, we focus on migrant worker communities, focused on the four issues and recommendations on high recruitment debt, barriers of access to healthcare, struggles with dormitory experience, as well as social exclusion of migrant voices.
- Listen to the preview;
- The episode on migrant worker communities (this episode); and
- On low-income communities.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Co-operative A Good Space, a good friend to this podcast, ran two Listening Living Labs and produced two corresponding Listening Reports to document the experiences and insights of migrant worker communities and low-income communities in Singapore. Even though the issues and insights are not necessarily new, representatives Nurulhuda Hassan and Vandhana Jeyaram provide a preview in this first episode. In the next two episodes, we take deeper dives into each report.
- Listen to the preview (this episode);
- The episode on migrant worker communities; and
- On low-income communities.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Member of parliament Louis Ng has been a leading legislative voice on the work and welfare of the Singaporean social worker. We touch on four themes in this episode - pay and compensation, burnout and retention, case management and caseload ratio, as well as community work - before sharing his ongoing public consultation for social workers.
This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Two years ago, SG Climate Rally made headlines in September 2019 and created momentum for a range of activities and initiatives. Two years later in 2021, climate change activists in Singapore were frustrated by the lack of systemic or structural progress at COP26, or the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. The frustration is perhaps compounded by persistent apathy or lethargy among Singaporeans too. As such, is there a feeling of pessimism or even hopelessness, that institutional changes will be perpetually inadequate in terms of scale and timeliness?
With Woo Qiyun, a climate risk consultant and who does sustainability communications on Instagram @theweirdandwild, and Samantha Thian, founder of the marine conservation social enterprise Seastainable, a sustainability manager, and now currently running Stridy, a non-profit litter collection app, we ask them about what they are hearing from their communities of activists and advocates. They also share what they hear or sense from those who are not engaged in climate change activism or unbothered by the climate crisis.
Past episodes and posts of relevance:
- Intersectional climate justice, climate change and its unequal effects, and aspirations for a low-carbon Singapore
- Contested framings of climate change and climate governance in Singapore: PhD student Belicia Teo
- Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Michele Chong’s “Eating Chilli Crab in the Anthropocene: Environmental Perspectives on Life in Singapore” (Book Club, April 2021)
This episode is part of the "Civic Engagement and Action" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
The work and welfare of the Singaporean social worker are scrutinised every now and then, most recently when member of parliament Carrie Tan raised the question on who is allowed to be a social worker. Episodes like this do help increase public awareness, but such discourse should instead be sustained with greater consistency. In introducing the new "The Work of Social Work" podcast mini-series, as a small starting space, future episodes will be devoted to parliamentary questions and policy proposals raised in parliament, community-building, and practice research.
A transcript is also available.
This episode is part of the "The Work of Social Work" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
So much ink has been spilled on Singapore’s healthcare and public health response to the ongoing pandemic. Yet, there will be an end to COVID-19, and the start of 2022 feels like a good time to shift some of the public focus to our country’s long-term, pandemic-linked social challenges. In this short episode, I summarise the most urgent and obvious problems - migrant, healthcare, and economically disadvantaged essential workers - before detailing four challenges which have received less attention: First, the harm to children, adolescents, and youths; second, compounded socio-economic inequality; third, social isolation; and fourth, ambiguous loss and unresolved grief.
A transcript is also available.
This episode is part of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
How happy are Singaporeans? Or what makes a Singaporean happy? Local social enterprise the Happiness Initiative (happinessinitiative.sg) sought to answer these questions through its 2021 State of Happiness Study. Here's what they found. With psychological and social factors, Singaporeans who have purpose, grit, and social support are happier on average. And with socio-demographic factors, those with lower household income and those who identified as bisexual or homosexual report lower life evaluation. These findings may not be surprising to some, and so we put these questions to co-founder Simon Leow, who details the study methodology and the broader implications of the findings. We also discuss some limitations.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Since the publication of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) study (whatsenough.sg), which sought to establish what constituted basic needs in Singapore and the household budgets needed to meet those needs, public discussion has taken two related directions. First, focusing solely on the S$6,426 dollar figure needed per month for partnered parents with two children, and then extolling Singaporeans to “spend within their means”. And second, criticising the study’s methodology without, in my opinion, fully understanding it. Some said, for instance, that the MIS study was analogous to interviewing colleagues about daily budgets before asking bosses for a salary raise.
Every research study has its limitations. But a fair evaluation only follows if we know the research motivations and methodology. It is with that in mind that we host Drs. Ng Kok Hoe and Teo You Yenn, members of the MIS study, who explain a “basic standard of living”, detail the study methodology, and address five common responses and rebuttals to the study.
Dr. Ng was previously on the podcast: On homelessness and housing insecurity, income insecurity and minimum income standard, and bridging research, practice, and policy. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
This episode is part of the "Making Research Sense" series of the podcast's fifth season (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
SG Mental Health Matters is a community of mental health advocates and researchers, and in 2021 they ran the #AreWeOkay poll to better understand the issues of access, affordability, and quality of mental healthcare in Singapore. With two of its members today - former nominated member of parliament Anthea Ong and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Rayner Tan - we learn more about the community’s work, the poll’s findings, and their proposal for a Mental Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Office in Singapore.
Anthea (Mental health: Awareness, acceptance, and action and “Are we listening?”: Coalescing around downstream and upstream mental health action) and Rayner (On the researcher’s privileged position, community partnerships, data and research advocacy) were previously on the podcast. A previous feature on mental health at the workplace is also very relevant to our conversation.
(Content and trigger warning: This episode contains references to suicide.)
My conversation with Anthea and Rayner is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Stefan Spassov on Unsplash.
It's been more than 16 months since I first launched and produced this socialservice.sg podcast, and more than 80 episodes later I've been thinking a lot more about updating the format and perhaps reaching an even wider community of listeners and readers. The traditional interview format where I invite guests to speak to their initiatives, projects, or organisations still has some appeal, and I think there is some value in occasionally documenting important research reports or highlighting community endeavours. Get in touch with me on any of those three favours in the episode!
Also, I am currently working on a research survey involving low-income single-parent households with an adolescent aged 13 to 17. We want to better understand their social capital and well-being. The study is funded by the Ministry of Social and Family Development under the Social and Family Research Fund. If you know of single-parents with at least one 13- to 17-year-old adolescent who may be interested or if you know of agencies or organisations, please also get in touch with me!
This episode is the second of a two-part series covering ground-ups and their contributions in Singapore. If you’ve not heard the first part about the emergence and impact of ground-ups, be sure to listen to that before coming back to this. With Jen Goh of The Majurity Trust and Dr. Adrian Chan of Acerpacer Consulting, we previously discussed the value of start-ups, the emergence of new activators, and the challenges of funding, time, and contacts.
Today, we finish up our conversation on funding before exploring recommendations and the building of synchronicity among ground-ups and communities of ground-up communities. As a reminder, Jen is part of the philanthropy and community building team at The Majurity Trust. Dr. Chan is an independent scientist-practitioner and the director of Acerpacer Consulting.
My conversation with Jen and Adrian is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Rémi Walle on Unsplash.
Through this platform, in the past year, we’ve heard from ground-up initiatives, community movements, as well as aggregators and intermediaries. In this two-part series, with Jen Goh and Dr. Adrian Chan, we go further by taking a deeper dive into ground-ups and their contributions in Singapore, focusing in particular on a recent research report published by philanthropic organisation The Majurity Trust. Today, we discuss definitions and value of start-ups, the emergence of new activators in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally the challenges of funding, time, and contacts.
In the next episode, we will explore recommendations and the building of synchronicity among ground-ups and communities of ground-up communities.
Jen is part of the philanthropy and community building team at The Majurity Trust and is also co-founder of the ground-up Hopefull. Dr. Chan is an independent scientist-practitioner and the director of Acerpacer Consulting. He was part of the team for the research report.
My conversation with Jen and Adrian is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Rayson Tan on Unsplash.
One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Last year, Adriel Yong started a spreadsheet to collate opportunities for students looking for summer internships. We ask about what he’s learnt from the initiative and how he’s applied those lessons in his life.
You can also join his Telegram channel of internship opportunities.
We previously spoke to Adriel in April 2020. The feature photo is by bady abbas on Unsplash.
One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Today, we have Lim May-Ann, a volunteer with
Engineering Good’s Computers against COVID initiative. She shares how her work has evolved since the end of the circuit-breaker last year and evaluates Singapore’s progress in making sure that every student has a laptop.
Relatedly, in January this year, a group of researchers outlined the problem of digital exclusion and put forth recommendations on digital devices, expanded Internet access, and digital literacy.
We previously spoke to May-Ann in April 2020. The feature photo is by lucas law on Unsplash.
Informed by their interviews with individuals in Singapore who experienced online harassment, abuse, or harms, researchers Catherine Chang and Holly Apsley developed Solid Ground, at solidground.sg. Supported by the Association of Women for Action and Research and the National Youth Council, the Solid Ground project offers step-by-step guides and resources complemented by thoughtful aesthetics and illustrations. Today, they share more about technology-facilitated sexual violence or TFSV, their detailed and intricate process of building the website, and how they worked to bridge research and practice.
My conversation with Catherine and Holly is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Today, we have Mock Yi Jun, who leads the youth-led non-profit Advisory, dedicated to help young Singaporeans make informed career and further education choices. Last year, he shared how the non-profit worked to transition online, and now we learn more about how the transition has evolved.
We previously spoke to Yi Jun in April 2020. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Today, we have former nominated member of parliament Anthea Ong. Our conversation centres on mental and psychological health in Singapore as well as moving from awareness to acceptance to action. Anthea also shares the initiatives in which she’s been involved and her new podcast series, “Shades of Love”, set to launch on August 7 this year.
(Content and trigger warning: This episode contains references to suicide.)
We previously spoke to Anthea in April 2020. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
In 2020, Daryl Yang was named by The Straits Times as one of 30 young Singaporeans under the age of 30. He’s been involved in human rights and political education, specifically LGBT rights and disability rights in the country. Today, we discuss his work with the Universal Periodic Review or the UPR, the joint UPR submission on Singapore's LGBTQ+ community, as well as his thoughts on faith-based change efforts and issues for the community beyond 377A.
My conversation with Daryl is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Today, we have Vincent Ng, general manager of the co-operative A Good Space. We talk about his personal and professional development, including the co-operative’s work and his vision for active citizenry in the country.
Together with his partners, as you may have heard in our previous episode with Abhishek, Vincent is conducting a poll on the creation of structures to nourish changemakers and enable them to go the distance.
We spoke to Vincent in April 2020 on our very first episode. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
After three episodes of the "Thinking about futures" mini-series - with Dr. Adrian Kuah, Cheryl Chung, and Aaron Maniam - we chat again with research associate Eddie Choo about what stood out to him. We end on a listener question about how organisations "do" futures or how organisations should be structured to optimise futures thinking.
This is part of the "Thinking about futures" mini-series, on the application of futures thinking and futures studies in Singapore. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
One year ago, we documented community initiatives and discussed related structural challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. One year later, we are inviting the same guests back to talk about their work, how they are feeling, and what they think we have learnt or have yet to learn from the pandemic. Today, we have Abhishek Bajaj, who leads the volunteer-run initiative 6th Sense. He details the “muscle memory work” gained from the 2020 circuit-breaker, his work with the low-income and migrant-worker communities, and the endeavour to sustain an ecosystem of ground-ups and changemakers.
Together with his partners, Abhishek is conducting a poll on the creation of structures to nourish changemakers and enable them to go the distance.
We spoke to Abhishek in April 2020 on our very first episode. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
A year ago, with Singapore just coming out of its circuit breaker and the world still coming to grips with the COVID-19 virus, Aaron Maniam explained in a TED talk that the language we use to talk about the pandemic was shaping how we thought about it. Instead of using a "war" metaphor, for instance, he argued that characterising COVID-19 as an "ecology" would help us better understand the pandemic and our futures. Today, we chat about the influence of language and metaphors on futures thinking as well as the importance of citizen foresight work in Singapore.
Aaron is a poet and civil servant.
This is part of the "Thinking about futures" mini-series, on the application of futures thinking and futures studies in Singapore. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
As a strategic foresight practitioner, Cheryl Chung has led futures projects across different government ministries, within a public policy school, and in a number of community projects and initiatives. With her experience and expertise, we explore the application of futures and foresight in public policy, the public sector, and the community in Singapore.
Cheryl is programme director of executive education at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in the National University of Singapore.
This is part of the "Thinking about futures" mini-series, on the application of futures thinking and futures studies in Singapore. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
For students in Singapore, the notion of a “future” feels very well-defined: Do well in school, acquire the necessary skills and knowledge, and prepare for your job and career. But how do we prepare for an uncertain future if the present is precarious? And what if we’re wrong about trajectories of education and higher education in Singapore? With Dr. Adrian Kuah, we learn more about going beyond "the usual technocratic and prosaic fashion of future-proofing [university] graduates" and the changes we might want to see in the broader education sector.
Dr. Kuah is the founding director of the Futures Office in the National University of Singapore.
This is part of the "Thinking about futures" mini-series, on the application of futures thinking and futures studies in Singapore. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, how do we start thinking about the future? Or our futures? And how do we apply futures thinking and futures studies in Singapore? Co-designed with research associate Eddie Choo, "Thinking about futures" is a socialservice.sg mini-series featuring three guests, focused on education and higher education, the community, as well as public policy and the public sector.
This is part of the "Thinking about futures" mini-series, on the application of futures thinking and futures studies in Singapore. The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Feelings of burnout can be unsettling or even terrifying, and around the world social work burnout has been very well-documented. Over time, we hope to better understand the causes of burnout, including the structural causes, but for now, as a start, it feels important to normalise such discourse in Singapore. Therefore, in this episode, we speak to two young Singaporean social workers, “Jing” and John Lim (savethesocialworker.com) about their experiences of burnout and self-care.
My conversation with "Jing" and John is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
It has been more than 18 months since Singapore’s first climate rally at Hong Lim Park in September 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic, as we have documented time and time again in this podcast, has only highlighted and exacerbated existing socio-economic inequalities in the country. With one of SG Climate Rally’s founding members, Estella Ho, we talk about intersectional climate justice and the unequal effect of climate change. In addition, we also learn more about her activist and advocacy work with the movement, in terms of her experience working with government agencies, working with other groups and organisations in the same space, and dealing with burnout.
My conversation with Estella is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
In a commentary on climate governance for academia.sg, Belicia Teo made the case that the impact of climate change is not equal, and that, as a consequence, identifying and addressing these risks "should be up for debate and public scrutiny". This was important, she added, so as to address differences in norms and values in Singapore. Her research was based on 10 interviewees from six climate groups, and we invited her to elaborate how the Singaporean state and climate groups framed climate change, as well as the differences in these framings. In addition, what should we expect from the state and the climate groups in the future?
Belicia is a PhD student in sociology at New York University.
My conversation with Belicia is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
Ever since the paper was published in 2019, I was excited to speak with its authors about how they used quasi-experimentation to study the relationship between debt relief among low-income individuals and their psychological functioning and economic decision-making. In other words, what is the effect of debt reduction in low-income Singaporean households? With lead author Dr. Ong Qiyan, we also learn more about the concepts of scarcity and the bandwidth tax and their implications for the design of social policies and social services.
Dr. Ong is an adjunct senior research fellow at the Social Service Research Centre, in the National University of Singapore. She was previously on this podcast with Prof. Walter Theseira.
My conversation with Dr. Ong is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
We're running a research study to explore the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young Singaporeans between 13 and 21 years old. In particular, we are interested in their psychological well-being, employment and educational outlook, and civic engagement.
After the survey, there will be a random draw of $30 gift vouchers for 30 participants. We'll also look to involve some of them in the focus group discussions or interviews, and they will be compensated for their participation.
If you are between 13 and 21 years old, complete the survey at bit.ly/sgcovidyouth.
If you know of youths, students, family members, or friends who may be interested, share or forward this episode with them!
In 2019, Dr. Ng Kok Hoe was part of two important studies in Singapore. First, he led the first nationwide street count of homelessness in the country (read the full report here), and second, he was part of the Minimum Income Standard or MIS study, which in a participatory manner determined the household budgets necessary to meet the basic needs of ordinary Singaporeans. Starting with a discussion of his research interests in housing and income insecurity, we hear more about these two studies and the bridging of research, practice, and policy with regard to social work and social service.
Dr. Ng is senior research fellow and head of the Case Study Unit at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, at the National University of Singapore.
My conversation with Dr. Ng is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
With the aim of improving the way the National University of Singapore handles sexual misconduct through community-led efforts, Students for a Safer NUS - or safeNUS - was formed by a group of concerned students in 2019. With one of its co-founders, Carissa Cheow, we learn more about the initiative and its work to cultivate a safer and more inclusive campus, as well as the challenges the team faces, including coping with burnout and working with the university.
My conversation with Carissa is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
If you're not on the Telegram channel OpenJio, you might be missing out on the latest events and causes in Singapore's social sector. But in addition to learning more about the initiative, how do we sustain the interest of youths and young adults in these social events and causes? In our conversation with core team member Amos Liu, we also talk about his personal volunteerism journey and some challenges OpenJio faces.
Resources referenced in this episode: The NVPC Individual Giving Study 2018.
My conversation with Amos is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
The last time we discussed mental health on this platform was in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. With former nominated member of parliament Anthea Ong, we examined the levels of awareness, acceptance, and action. Today, with Chirag Agarwal, co-founder of Talk Your Heart Out, we focus on mental health at the workplace. In addition, we discuss the state of professional services and the structural, policy, and cultural changes for the future.
Talk Your Heart Out is an online counselling platform that aims to provide services that are private, convenient and of high quality.
My conversation with Chirag is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
While reports of food insecurity have previously featured in the media, Singapore's first nationally representative food insecurity study documented that about 10 per cent of Singaporean households experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months, and that only 22 per cent of these food-insecure households were receiving food support from an organisation. Published by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation and supported by The Food Bank Singapore, "The hunger report: An in-depth look at food insecurity in Singapore" also reports causes and consequences of food insecurity and offers recommendations.
With members of the report team, Dr. Tania Nagpaul, Dr. Dalvin Sidhu, and Ms. Chen Jinwen, we further explore how they defined and operationalised food insecurity and understand the headline figures in greater detail.
Previously, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation published a related study in 2019, titled "Hunger in a food lover's paradise: Understanding food insecurity in Singapore". The study was based on interviews with food support organisations and a survey with 236 respondents.
My conversation with Dr. Nagpaul, Dr. Sidhu, and Ms. Chen is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.
This month, in the same week that the Department of Statistics revealed that households in the bottom 10 per cent were the group hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, with their monthly total earnings from work falling by 6.1 per cent, Beyond Social Services published its "Mind the Chasm" report (https://beyondresearch.sg/mind-the-chasm-covid-19-deepening-inequalities-in-singapore/). Beyond documented deep decreases to household incomes from work among low-income families. Among the applicants to Beyond's COVID-19 Family Assistance Fund, they found that as a result of the pandemic:
- Median household income from work dropped by 69 per cent;
- Median per capita income dropped by 74 per cent; and
- 35 per cent of the applicants had their household incomes drop to nothing.
With the research team, we discuss how the report informs Singapore’s discourse on poverty and inequality, the plight of low-income families experiencing insecurities across multiple intersecting dimensions, as well as their three policy recommendations and proposed policy directions. Dr. Stephanie Chok is lead author and an independent researcher, and community worker Suraendher Kumarr provided research assistance to the report.
Resources referenced in the episode:
- The DBS report, "Same storm, different boat: Impact of COVID-19 on financial wellness in Singapore"
- Lien Centre for Social Innovation's study on food insecurity
- My review of Singapore's first nationwide street count on homelessness
My conversation with Dr. Chok and Kumarr is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
The Singaporean discourse on poverty and inequality is advancing, and while he argues that Singapore has done better than most under meritocratic systems, PhD candidate Nathan Peng Li also details both causes for hope and worry. He first explains that macro-level trends of inequality and mobility have been stable in Singapore. Next, we discuss concepts of “pragmatic meritocracy” and “time two meritocracy” and how they relate to “felt inequality”.
Finally, he makes the case for “a healthy degree of equality of outcomes”. That is achieved, in his telling, when “children of lower-income families can reasonably compete against their better-off peers without the same level of private resources at their disposal”. He adds: “Outcomes must be at least equal enough that children from different backgrounds can identify with each other as members of the same society”.
Nathan is a recipient of Singapore Management University’s overseas PhD scholarship and is currently a fourth-year graduate candidate at the University of British Columbia, in the political science department.
Resources referenced in the episode:
- Nathan’s paper, “Inequality and the social compact in Singapore: Macro trends versus lived realities”
- The Ministry of Finance occasional paper
- socialservice.sg’s January 2021 book club on Michael J. Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit”
- My review of the paper on how debt reduction improves psychological functioning and changes decision making in Singapore
My conversation with Nathan is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
What started as a published collection of stories to coincide with Singapore's National Day has now evolved into "The Birthday Collective" (https://thebirthdaycollective.org/), a not-for-profit that creates and holds space for conversations that matter to the country. With its editor Cherie Tseng, we discuss the collective’s initiatives beyond the “essay-writing crowd”, the value of giving conversational seats to children and centring their voices, and the importance of meeting communities and individuals where they are. We conclude on what she means by the “uncommon ground” and the collective’s plans for the future.
Cherie is chief operations officer at a local fintech company and a mother of three.
My conversation with Cherie is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
Final-year PhD candidate in the University of British Columbia’s Department of History Edgar Liao studies the history of youth in Singapore. His work is informed both by his archival work and his previous experience as a volunteer and youth leader in the youth work scene in the country. After helping us understand the theoretical (Foucauldian) concepts he employs, Edgar explains how Singapore’s youth policies as well as patterns of inclusion and exclusion inform the history of the present. He describes a dualistic discourse: Of the Singapore state empowering youths with resources for development, while scrutinising and policing their activity and activism at the same time.
Edgar specialises in the global history of childhood and youth and the history of the Cold War, imperialism, and decolonisation in twentieth-century South East Asia.
My conversation with Edgar is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
“Hard at Work: Life in Singapore” (https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/hard-at-work-life-in-singapore) is a collection of 60 stories, of people in contemporary Singapore talking about their work and life. With author Prof. Gerard Sasges, we discussed how he conceptualised the book and discussed the important elements of interviewing and ethnography. We also explored significant themes which emerged. "Hard at Work" was shortlisted for the 2020 Singapore Literature Prize and was a finalist for "Best Non-Fiction Title" at the 2020 Singapore Book Awards.
Prof. Sasges received a PhD from UC Berkeley in 2006. In 2012 he joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) where he is an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies. The book was co-authored with Ng Shi Wen, a photographer, educator, and chronicler of everyday life. She is the founder of Photo Rikiki and has taught at NUS and the School of the Arts, Singapore.
My conversation with Prof. Sasges is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
I am a huge fan of the “Saga” (https://aware.org.sg/saga/) podcast, which documents the saga surrounding gender-equality group AWARE, the Association of Women for Action and Research. Themes from the 2009 saga, poignantly highlighted across the 12 episodes, are still relevant in 2021 Singapore. Because I am a podcast junkie, speaking with Kelly Leow and Jasmine Ng, writers and producers of “Saga”, was my chance to learn about how they conceptualised and produced the podcast as well as the many challenges they faced.
My conversation with Kelly and Jasmine is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
With so many aid and assistance schemes scattered across organisations, ministries, and institutions, how should social workers and volunteers identify the most relevant ones for the individuals and communities with whom they work? In response, Tan Weilie created SchemesSG (https://schemes.sg/), a searchable, indexable directory of schemes in Singapore. We hear more about how he got started with a minimum viable product and his own list, before we appeal to you, our listeners, to contribute to his crowdsourcing request.
Weilie explained in his publicity Facebook post that the long-term vision is to have schemes curated and delivered conversationally, such that any user could type in “My client is a 45-year-old man with a 76-year-old chronically ill parent”, and relevant results would be generated.
My conversation with Weilie is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
Postdoctoral fellow Rayner Tan, at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in the National University of Singapore, studies substance use, recovery from addiction, and trauma as risk factors for substance use disorders in Singapore. Because his research projects involve and centre on the community groups with whom he works, we talk about his community partnerships and the structural challenges communities face when trying to do research. We conclude on the importance of data and research advocacy in the country.
My conversation with Rayner is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).
Gift for Good (giftforgood.io) is an online in-kind donations platform connecting non-profits to donors. Run by a team of students from the National University of Singapore Developer Student Club (previously featured on this podcast), it hopes to galvanise in-kind donations towards a more generous Singapore. Today, we speak to business head Yeo Qin-Liang and tech head Marcus Koh about Gift for Good and their plans for the future.
Today, we are joined by professors Cherian George and Donald Low, to talk about their bestselling book, "PAP v PAP: The Party's struggle to adapt to a changing Singapore" (purchase the book via Epigram bookstore or the audiobook via Storytel). We discussed the balance between elite governance and democratic deliberation, the phenomena of elite reproduction and overproduction, and how the book can be a starting point for political and policy conversations in Singapore.
Our episode with Prof. Kenneth Paul Tan, on neoliberal globalisation and political authoritarianism (as well as pragmatism and technocracy), was referenced in this episode.
Today, we are joined by journalist-turned-political commentator and professor Bertha Henson, to talk about her new book, "GE2020: Fair or Foul?" (purchase the book via Epigram Bookstore). We will first discuss her case for the People's Action Party (PAP) to level the electoral playing field and to increase the nine-day campaign period. She then evaluates the PAP backbenchers and the 4G leadership.
We previously interviewed her on this podcast, on election reporting and her assessment of the GE2020 campaign.
BeTheWire (https://www.facebook.com/BeTheWire/) is a ground-up initiative which produces accessible and guided bite-sized videos and posts so as to equip, educate, and empower persons of all abilities to bridge the digital divide. The topics include digital literacy, communication platforms, as well as e-shopping and e-payment. We speak with founder Bryan Neo, who wishes to spread the word to more social workers and friends, focused on equipping individuals with digital lifeskills for the long haul. In addition, he envisions partnerships with agencies to work with community members in the initial phases.
The National University of Singapore Developer Student Club, or the DSC (https://dsc.comp.nus.edu.sg/), is a community of university students focused on developing diverse solutions for non-profit organisations in Singapore. We ask Shawn Ten, a final year NUS undergraduate - who was co-founder and internal lead - about the beginnings of the club, its projects, and expectations for the future.
Today, we speak with two law students from the National University of Singapore, co-founders of the online resource platform, COV-AID (nus-covaid.com). Given the emergence of laws, regulations, and legal issues throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, COV-AID seeks to make the complex, simple, by offering information about government grants, legislation related to COVID-19, as well as frequently asked questions.
At COV-AID, co-founders Anders Seah and Mark Tang lead an executive committee and manage a larger team of volunteers. They share their motivations, the process of writing and editing to ensure both accuracy and comprehensibility, and the team's plans for the future.
Throughout GE2020 and in its aftermath, the minimum wage and the Progressive Wage Model - or the PWM - have emerged as key policy proposals, even if the discourse is not new. At least five opposition parties have proposed a minimum wage or a living wage, and in response the ruling party promised to extend the PWM to more industries, beyond the cleaning, security, and landscape sectors. A central concern, nevertheless, is the persistence of poor wages for low-income Singaporeans.
Today, we speak to economist Professor Linda Lim of the University of Michigan, understanding and comparing the minimum wage and Singapore's PWM (both described as "second-best policies"), addressing common objections to the minimum wage, as well as concluding on the challenge of low-wage labour. Prof. Lim's research focuses on the political economy of multinational and local business in South East Asia. She is also one of the editors of Academia.SG, a website maintained by a group of Singaporean academics to promote Singapore studies and to encourage critical debate about the state of intellectual life in Singapore.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
A day after Polling Day, this is a special episode of the five takeaways from GE2020, in five minutes and five words: Mandate, leader, consolidation, COVID-19, and weathering.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 9 of GE2020, the eve of Cooling-Off Day, Silver Linings in a Post-GE2020 Singapore.
In “What can we learn?”, we chat with academics and experts to understand the election through more analytical lenses.
Three weeks ago, I asked veteran journalist Bertha Henson about her experience of reporting an election and the election issues to which she is paying attention. Today, on the eve of Cooling-Off Day, we ask her how GE2020 compares to past general elections, how she’s been following the election, as well as what she thought of the overall campaign.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 8 of GE2020, The Sengkang Spotlight. In five minutes, hear about how Sengkang GRC is a microcosm of the GE2020 campaign.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 7 of GE2020, The Issues, Please?. In five minutes, hear about how Singaporeans are clamouring for the campaign to focus on more substantive issues, and the ruling PAP's continued campaign for a strong mandate.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
28-year-old Teo Yu Sheng is the founder of Heckin’ Unicorn, a Singapore-based queer brand. Before and during this general election, through its popular social media platforms, Yu Sheng and his brother have also published articles on the price of being queer in Singapore, the stance of political parties on LGBTQ+ issues, and how party manifestoes may impact the LGBTQ+ community in the country.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
Aljunied was the first GRC to be won by an opposition party in 2011, and 23-year-old Royston Long will vote in this constituency for the first time. He tells us how he has been following the election through the party manifestoes as well as the party and constituency broadcasts, paying particular attention to the contest between the People’s Action Party and the Workers’ Party.
In “What can we learn?”, we chat with academics and experts to understand the election through more analytical lenses.
A week before Nomination Day, we spoke to researchers Loke Hoe-Yeong and Dr. Elvin Ong on opposition “unity”, party credibility, and electoral strategies. More than halfway through the GE2020 campaign, we catch up with them to learn more about their assessments of the three main opposition parties, the divide between national and local or constituency hustings, as well as what we can expect in the final three days.
(And yes, some mention of predictions too.)
Hoe-Yeong is a political analyst, who authored the books “Let The People Have Him: Chiam See Tong, The Early Years” in 2014 and “The First Wave: JBJ, Chiam & the Opposition in Singapore” in 2019. Elvin is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, in the University of British Columbia. His primary research interests are the politics and policies of authoritarian regimes, with a specific focus on the dynamic formation of opposition coalitions.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
CAPE, or the Community for Advocacy and Political Education, is a student-run organisation based at Yale-NUS College. This independent, non-partisan community of students works to increase political literacy and consciousness, and it does so through different project-based initiatives. They include seminars, conferences, and workshops, as well as producing resources, infographics, and research. Today, I speak to coordinators Huang Runchen and Joel Yew, who share how they got started, their projects, and CAPE’s future aspirations.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 6 of GE2020, #IStandWithRaeesah. In five minutes, hear about the police reports made against WP's Raeesah Khan, the five correction directions issued by the Pofma office, and the persistence of the coronavirus in Singapore.
With growing national interest in the topics of poverty and inequality, we offer a brief sketch of social welfare policies and discourse between GE2015 and GE2020. We also look at the party manifestos and positions for the election this year.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 5 of GE2020, The Pofma Election. In five minutes, hear about the Pofma correction directions which have been issued thus far, as well as some glimmers of hope, through conversations with young Singaporean voters.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
Today, we speak to 21-year-old Nigel Li, who has been coordinating “Singapore Votes” (singaporevotes.com), a student-run elections resource. We ask him about how he got started as well as his plans for the website after GE2020, and Nigel also shares why the voting age should be lowered in Singapore.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
This will be the second time 28-year-old Klinsen Soh will vote in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, which saw one of the fiercest oratorical competition between the People’s Action Party and the Singapore Democratic Party in 2015. Today, we ask Klinsen about how he has been following the election and his thoughts on GE2020 thus far.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
Today, we speak to 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Hakim bin Dasuki, who has been following the election by reviewing party posters, press releases, and manifestoes, from a design perspective. Given the importance of the Internet and social media in GE2020, we chatted about how the different parties have been adapting, and – with the same focus on design – Hakim shares his thoughts on the parties which have done the best and the worst.
In “What can we learn?”, we chat with academics and experts to understand the election through more analytical lenses.
Today, we have two guests. We are halfway through GE2020, and we therefore have a conversation about Nomination Day, the televised English debate, as well as mid-campaign impressions. Dhevarajan Devadas is a public policy researcher and historian, and Mohamed Salihin Subhan is a political science PhD student in the University of British Columbia.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 4 of GE2020, Still a Pandemic Election. In five minutes, hear about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the timing of the election, as well as the NCMP scheme and the 10-million-dollar question.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
Today, we speak to young environmentalist Woo Qiyun, who recently graduated from the National University of Singapore. The 23-year-old shares more about how she’s been following the election – through reading manifestoes, watching speeches, and compiling her own resources – as well as her activism and interactions with family and friends.
In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations.
Today, we speak to two young voters who volunteer for the political parties. I speak first with 25-year-old Joel Sherard Chow, who volunteers with the Workers’ Party, and then with 26-year-old Clarence Ching, who volunteers with the People’s Action Party. We wanted to learn more about how they started and their experiences, walking the ground.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 3 of GE2020, A Muted, Rally-Less Campaign. In five minutes, hear about the party political broadcasts and the effects of the lack of physical rallies.
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 2 of GE2020, Debates Day. In five minutes, hear about the two televised debates - in English and in Mandarin - between the top four political parties with the highest number of candidates running in GE2020
The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts.
It’s Day 1 of GE2020, Nomination Day. In five minutes, hear about East and West Coast plans, other constituencies to watch, and the main campaign issues of GE2020.
With the general elections on the horizon, this is set to be Singapore’s first pandemic election, or the country’s first true “Internet election”. In the next few weeks leading up to Polling Day, we speak to voters, observers, and researchers, with the hope of better understanding what is at stake and making an informed decision.
What is “the Opposition” in Singapore? Today, we speak to Loke Hoe-Yeong and Dr. Elvin Ong, discussing opposition unity and coordination, opposition party credibility, as well as strategies associated with past electoral success.
Hoe-Yeong is a political analyst, who authored the books "Let The People Have Him: Chiam See Tong, The Early Years" in 2014 and "The First Wave: JBJ, Chiam & the Opposition in Singapore" in 2019. Elvin is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, in the University of British Columbia. His primary research interests are the politics and policies of authoritarian regimes, with a specific focus on the dynamic formation of opposition coalitions.
(Correction, June 25, 2020: The Workers' Party was not part of the 1976 Joint Opposition Council. The parties were the Barisan Socialis, the Justice Party, the PKMS, and United Front.)
With the general elections on the horizon, this is set to be Singapore’s first pandemic election, or the country’s first true “Internet election”. In the next few weeks leading up to Polling Day, we speak to voters, observers, and researchers, with the hope of better understanding what is at stake and making an informed decision.
Today, we focus on the historical roots of electioneering and campaigning in Singapore. Why is the election campaign period just nine days? What is the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee and how did it come about? And what is the role of the People's Association in grassroots and political work? We speak to Dhevarajan Devadas, a public policy researcher and historian, to learn more.
On June 15th, A Good Space - Singapore's first community-owned co-operative - organised a discussion involving speakers from four non-profit organisations: AWARE, or the Association of Women for Action and Research; Beyond Social Services; ReadAble; and SG Assist. The discussion, which I had the privilege of moderating, was titled, “Beyond COVID19: The future of social services for low-income youths and families”.
In this episode, we summarised three segments, featuring the work of the organisations, how research and advocacy feature in their work, as well as the future of social policies and social services in Singapore. The full two-hour discussion is available here (https://www.facebook.com/AGoodSpaceSG/).
This is a special series of episodes, created in collaboration with “Our Class Notes” (ourclassnotes.com), a website of both reporting and research on the electoral, parliamentary, and political scene in Singapore.
Today, we focus on how the public has assessed the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, Liang Lei and Sean Lim, both graduates of the National University of Singapore, share more about findings of public opinion polls or surveys published by firms such as Blackbox and Ipsos. What can we learn from these polls or surveys? How has the government responded to these different findings, if they have? And how has the government responded to critical commentaries published in the local and international media?
Relevant article: “First-time voters rate the Government’s response to Covid-19 outbreak” (https://www.ourclassnotes.com/post/first-time-voters-rate-the-governments-response-to-covid-19-outbreak).
This is a special series of episodes, created in collaboration with “Our Class Notes” (ourclassnotes.com), a website of both reporting and research on the electoral, parliamentary, and political scene in Singapore.
Today, we speak to veteran journalist Bertha Henson, currently an Associate Professor of Practice at the National University of Singapore and formerly with the Singapore Press Holdings stable of newspapers. She's covered seven general elections, four by-elections, and two contested presidential elections, and hence I asked her about her experience of reporting an election, the issues to which she is paying attention during the upcoming general election in Singapore, as well as how the ruling party would approach the election.
Relevant articles: "This GE: Let’s hear plans for a “new” Singapore" (https://berthahenson.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/this-ge-lets-hear-plans-for-a-new-singapore/) and "Give the PM a chance" (https://www.ourclassnotes.com/post/give-the-pm-a-chance).
This is a special series of episodes, created in collaboration with “Our Class Notes” (ourclassnotes.com), a website of both reporting and research on the electoral, parliamentary, and political scene in Singapore.
Today, we focus on the clarity of election and electoral regulations by speaking to Christalle Tay and Ethan Tay, both recent graduates of the National University of Singapore. They tell us more about the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee and the Parliamentary Elections (COVID-19 Special Arrangements) Bill, the discourse surrounding online and postal voting, as well as the election experience of Israel and South Korea. In terms of what else Singaporeans need to know about the elections, Christalle also makes the interesting observation that this will be the first time that parties will campaign in a Pofma environment.
Relevant articles: “No clarity on Covid-19 elections legislation” (https://www.ourclassnotes.com/post/no-clarity-on-covid-19-elections-legislation) and “Campaign rules need to be out way before writ of election” (https://www.ourclassnotes.com/post/campaign-rules-need-to-be-out-way-before-writ-of-election).
Community initiatives emerged spontaneously - even before the pandemic - to build connections among overseas Singaporeans. We hear from two overseas Singaporeans who have been running independent initiatives during the pandemic, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jasmin Young has been organising weekly community forums as part of the volunteer-run Singapore organisation, SingaporeConnect, while Wilson Khoo has been spearheading food delivery efforts to help F&B businesses in the area.
In the process of learning more about these different initiatives, we also gain awareness of overseas Singaporeans who have different needs, who require various forms of help, or who may have fallen through the cracks.
The coronavirus pandemic has been described by some as “the great equaliser”, yet we now know the disproportionate impact of the virus. Individuals from low-income households and communities of colour are at higher risk of infection, serious illness, and death. And in this vein, the pandemic has revealed the persistent inequalities in our societies, including in Singapore.
In one of the most insightful and powerful conversations of the podcast series thus far, we speak with Professor Mohan Dutta on marginalisation and the role of academia. He explains the "culture-centred approach", describes the prioritisation of those of the margins of the margins through sustained voice and communicative infrastructures, and draws from his centre's research in Singapore and beyond.
Then, we consider the role of academia. Are us academics and researchers too used to being in the limelight? What about the exclusionary effect of academia and jargon? And what does change look like, both politically and economically as well as, academically?
Before the pandemic, building communities was difficult. Maintaining and sustaining these communities, after they were built, was even more difficult. And now, with a pandemic and a circuit breaker in Singapore, community organisers who run social initiatives and programmes have had to adapt, so as to remain connected to and engaged with their communities.
We hear from three such organisers: Debra Lam, co-founder of the social enterprise Society Staples; as well as Grace Chua and Tham Jun Han, co-founders of the social organisation Friendzone. Through their experiences, we want to learn about how they have shifted their regular programmes and services - very much premised upon face-to-face interactions - to online platforms. How has the transition been? What were the challenges? And what have they learnt, through this COVID19 experience?
Amidst the pandemic and the ongoing circuit breaker in Singapore, the needs and concerns of foreign domestic workers deserve greater attention. Groups such as the Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics and A Good Space have highlighted these issues, yet many of these needs and concerns had surfaced even before this pandemic.
If “business-as-usual” was already problematic, what are the necessary policy and perception changes? How do we better the employment conditions of these workers? And more broadly, what is the complicity of Singaporeans, under these circumstances? Today, we speak to Nessa Swinn, who leads the youth advocacy group, MaidForMore (https://www.instagram.com/maidformoresg/), which aims to challenge dominant - and oftentimes problematic - cultural ideas and perceptions that Singaporeans hold about these workers.
Countries around the world have brought attention to domestic, family, or intimate partner violence in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, especially since rising unemployment is associated with a higher number of personal crises. In Singapore, cases of family violence, child abuse, spousal abuse, and elder abuse were documented even before the pandemic, and now - amidst a circuit breaker in Singapore - these worries deserve greater and continued attention.
On May 14, the Singapore Police Force said that police reports related to family violence increased by 22 per cent since the beginning of the circuit breaker period.
We focus on domestic, family, and intimate partner violence: Before, during, and after the pandemic. How should the public understand these forms of violence and abuse? What does help, support, and assistance look like? And more importantly, what are the important steps to make sure that policy recommendations and actions on this issue remain priorities, even after we emerge from the circuit breaker? For that, we turn to Chong Ning Qian, Senior Research Executive at the Association of Women for Action and Research.
The discourse surrounding the universal basic income (UBI) and its experiments has gained traction around the world, including in Finland, which just announced, last week, the findings of its two-year UBI evaluation study. And while Finland was preparing to launch its UBI experiment in 2016, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore cannot afford a basic income.
And yet, in April this year, in the midst of a pandemic and the circuit breaker, Dr. Ong Qiyan - deputy director of research at the National University of Singapore's Social Service Research Centre - and nominated member of parliament Walter Theseira proposed the Majulah UBI in parliament. Funded by a temporary personal income tax increase, the proposal will see all Singaporeans receiving $110 a week, for 12 weeks. While noting important design differences between the Majulah UBI and the general conception of a UBI, we were interested to learn more about their motivations, the state of UBI and its experiments around the world, as well as their thoughts on social welfare policies and interventions in Singapore.
Singapore faces a rapidly ageing population. And before the pandemic, social service interventions to address isolation and loneliness revolved around community befriending programmes, counselling services, as well as day activities and rehabilitation. However, what happens during a pandemic, especially with a virus most deadly to the most vulnerable?
How do we overcome the risks of social and emotional distancing, while maintaining physical distancing?
We speak to Justina Teo, Senior Manager at Lions Befrienders (https://www.lionsbefrienders.org.sg/). Since 1995, Lions Befrienders has been matching trained befrienders to seniors through weekly home visits, and we chat about the work of her agency, the needs of the elders they serve, as well as the future of befriending services in Singapore.
The late American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain described Singapore’s food scene as having: “More variety, more options, more specialties from many lands. And cheap”. Yet, since the first coronavirus case was announced in the country, F&B businesses have had to adjust. Through conversations with an F&B owner and a team which created a crowdsourced hawker directory, we want to understand both the problems as well as the ground-up solutions.
We speak to Chua Ee Chien (Jekyll & Hyde cocktail bar https://www.facebook.com/JekyllAndHyde.SG/ and bars.sg) as well as Lim Yi Fan (FoodLeh?: https://foodleh.web.app/). We also highlight the online gift-card initiative Chope & Save (chopeandsave.com), started by a team of five in their 20s.
The rapid spread of the coronavirus among migrant workers has reflected serious lapses in Singapore’s pandemic planning in the country, but it would be remiss to not discuss the policies surrounding migrant workers and immigration in a more systemic or structural manner. For this, we turn to Professor Kenneth Paul Tan of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, at the National University of Singapore, who is an expert on Singapore’s politics, society, and culture. He has written extensively and holistically on the tensions and contradictions around Singapore’s transition from a developmental state to a neoliberal global city.
On Labour Day, we focus on chapter 6, “Moral panic and the migrant worker folk devil”, of this 2017 book, titled, “Governing global-city Singapore: Legacies and futures after Lee Kuan Yew” (https://www.routledge.com/Governing-Global-City-Singapore-Legacies-and-Futures-After-Lee-Kuan-Yew/Tan/p/book/9781138344150). In the chapter, he discusses the effect of Singapore’s deeper participation in neoliberal globalisation and the tensions resulting from higher levels of immigration.
We first invite him to explain theories such as neoliberal globalisation and political authoritarianism (as well as pragmatism and technocracy), to set the context of our conversation. Next, we trace our growing reliance on migrant labour in neo-authoritarian Singapore, leading to an evaluation of the present migrant worker situation. We also cover events in 2013 - the Population White Paper, the protests, and the Little India riot - and the extent of continuity we might be experiencing. Finally, we think about how ideological shifts in the country might look like.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in Singapore, I’ve been closely following the Facebook updates of former colleague Brenda Tan, with whom I used to work at the former news site “The Middle Ground”. A few days ago, she posted a powerful reflection about her personal experience, which you will hear in this episode. Singaporean blogger mrbrown also shared Brenda’s post on Twitter.
On regular episodes, we document community initiatives and discuss structural challenges. Yet, inspired by her post - as well as a recent podcast by “The New York Times” titled “Voices of the pandemic” - we speak with Singaporeans about their daily lives, studying, working, and staying at home, and ask them how routines have been disrupted.
This week, we caught up with seven Singaporeans in their 20s: Undergraduate Jaime Han and working professional Estella Ho (10:31); First-time mother and social worker Nur Sakinah Rahmat (17:41); Working professional Lim RuiWen (22:00); Undergraduates Lee Gui An (26:25) and Amirul Hakim Bin Abdul Hamid (33:35); and Journalist Keshia Naurana Badalge (38:50).
In the context of the pandemic and the circuit breaker in Singapore, the designation of psychological treatments as a non-essential service is an obvious starting point. Yet, it also seems appropriate to both consider the state of mental health wellness and advocacy in the country before the pandemic, as well as our aspirations for where we want mental health wellness and advocacy to be.
Nominated member of parliament Anthea Ong has been an advocate for improved affordability, accessibility, and quality of mental health services, who started her advocacy even before her appointment in 2018. In addition to her motivations and perspectives, our conversation revolved around the evolution of her thinking, her concerns during this circuit breaker and pandemic, and her important calls to action.
Singapore is expected to enter a full-year recession, and the ripple effect of pay cuts and hiring freezes is just beginning. Even with the Unity, Resilience, and Solidarity Budgets, graduating students from the institutes of higher learning and the universities are justifiably anxious.
We focus on the internship and employment challenges faced by Singaporean students. We speak to Adriel Yong, who started a spreadsheet to collate opportunities for students looking for summer internships (tinyurl.com/summeropps2020), and Mock Yi Jun (Advisory Singapore: advisory.sg), who leads a non-profit dedicated to empowering young Singaporeans to make informed career and further education choices.
Not having a computer or an Internet connection, it might be argued, is symbolic of the many challenges faced by low-income Singaporean households (with school-going children). And even with government assistance - beyond the provision of such technological necessities - individuals and community groups have also stepped up, offering other forms of assistance to Singaporeans who may have fallen through the cracks.
We speak to Lim May-Ann (Engineering Good's Computers against COVID: https://engineeringgood.org/computers-against-covid/) as well as David Hoe (Project Stable Staples: projectstablestaples.sg).
Mutual aid initiatives - facilitating the exchange of resources and services for mutual benefit - started as Google spreadsheets, but could potentially evolve into virtual and ground communities which last beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
We speak to Rachel Ooi (Mutual Aid Hub: aidhubsg.com) as well as Abhishek Bajaj and Vincent Ng (A Good Space: agoodspace.org) to learn more about their work and motivations, the challenges, and the way forward.