News
Organised by the NUS Political Science Society (PSSOC), this year’s Singapore Forum (ISF) – themed “The Future of Singapore’s Total Defence” – presented students with the opportunity to engage in dialogue with Mr Chan Chun Sing, Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence.
The culture of startup entrepreneurship has surged in popularity in recent decades, attracting significant venture capital and fostering innovation. Singapore is no exception, ranking eighth in the latest global startup ecosystem rankings and serving as home to over 4,500 startups. Amidst this landscape, the term ‘zombie startups’ refers to firms that neither grow into high-value […]
‘Malayo-Islamic Aesthetics in Singapore: Continuation and Shifts through Place and Architectural Histories, Collections, and Curatorial Dimensions’ is a research project led by Assistant Professor Imran bin Tajudeen (NUS Malay Studies & NUS Architecture) and supported by the National Heritage Board’s Heritage Research Grant (2025-2027). The project examines the historical continuities and transformations of Malayo-Islamic aesthetics […]
In 2026, Singapore will cross a demographic threshold few countries have reached as quickly – becoming a super-aged society with at least 21 percent of its population aged 65 and above. The focus is no longer just on how long people live, but on how well they age and who will care for them and […]
As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes industries and classrooms in Singapore, the skills needed to navigate an increasingly automated world are rapidly evolving. Are the humanities and social sciences, long hallmarked by critical inquiry and ethical reflection, losing their relevance? To conclude the Ideas Festival Singapore 2026, NUS FASS hosted ‘Future Horizons: Envisioning the Humanities and […]
The rise of artificial intelligence has often been framed as a challenge to the humanities and social sciences. But speakers at “Future Horizons: Envisioning the Humanities and Social Sciences”, recently organised by the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) as part of the Ideas Festival Singapore 2026, argued the opposite: That a world transformed by AI will need these disciplines even more urgently than before.
Singapore, as a small city-state, adopts a deliberate hedging strategy in its foreign policy, maintaining strong ties with both the United States and China while avoiding alignment with either. This approach allows it to maximise economic and strategic benefits while mitigating risks in the context of intensifying US-China rivalry. Although this stance is often viewed […]
A simple habit many learners try to avoid, guessing, may actually be the key to learning languages more effectively. In ‘Duolingo-inspired pretesting with words and pictures improves vocabulary learning’ (Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 2026), Assistant Professor Steven Pan and Ms Tabitha Chua (both NUS Psychology) have found that attempting an answer before knowing it, […]
Discussions of diplomacy often assume that relationships between states begin with formal recognition and official channels. This assumption was directly challenged at the launch of Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia (Bloomsbury, 2026) on 8 April 2026, at The Pod, NLB. Edited by Associate Professor Jack Meng-Tat Chia (NUS History) and funded by Singapore’s Social Science Research […]
Historic mosque, Settlement heritage
By Dr Azhar Ibrahim Alwee (NUS Malay Studies).