January 24, 2022

On 23 January 2020, Singapore recorded its first-ever case of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, on the anniversary of the first-recorded case of COVID-19, the effects of the pandemic still live on in the lives of those whom it has disturbed. In light of this, additional studies need to be conducted on more than just the medical and scientific remedies possible to combat the virus, but also on understanding the social and familial fallout of the virus.

Singapore Families and Residents Living In/Through the COVID-19 Pandemic, a Reimagine Research Scheme (Type 1) Seed Grant project led by Professor Vineeta Sinha and Associate Professor Daniel Goh (NUS Sociology) focuses on shifting discourse surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic from the fields of medicine, science, and economics to its sociocultural and political effects.

Since the advent of the pandemic, societies and nations all around the world have been thrown into chaos, with many countries severely limiting daily social interactions as well as various physical and social infrastructure that we previously took for granted. These restrictions were imposed (sometimes to the extent of a lockdown) in an effort to constrain the spread of the virus and limit infection rates and loss of lives. Despite this, an overwhelming number of deaths have still resulted, with the impoverished being disproportionately affected while the wealthy have undoubtedly remained at the forefront of being both physically and socially shielded from the virus. As society has remained focused on combating the pandemic practically, less focus has been placed on alleviating and questioning the fallout of the pandemic on social groups and ties, so as to discover areas for improvement (and fundamental flaws) within both our local society and the larger, global one.

Prof Sinha and A/P Goh’s study aims to depict the lives of everyday individuals and families in Singapore, investigating how the relationship between their daily interactions and social factors such as class, age, gender, and so on, has been impacted by the pandemic in Singapore. The project is also part of a wider collaboration with University College London involving eight other countries with similar research goals. The larger project also aims to uncover how individuals and families have managed their COVID-caused challenges, which may have been either aided or exacerbated by government measures.