News

Commentary: Why Singapore needs to move towards a meritocracy of skills and contributions

April 21, 2023

A major talking point in refreshing Singapore’s governance and social compact is the shape and form of the meritocracy prized as the enabler of social mobility in the nation-state. In ‘Commentary: Why Singapore needs to move towards a meritocracy of skills and contributions’ (TODAY, April 2023), Associate Professor Vincent Chua (NUS Sociology and Anthropology) argues […]

Commentary: Singapore will finally charge for plastic bags. What’s next?

April 21, 2023

Environmental sustainability is a major issue of public concern, and policymakers are increasingly interested in ways to nudge public behaviour in more environmentally sustainable directions. In ‘Commentary: Singapore will finally charge for plastic bags. What’s next?’ (Channel NewsAsia, March 2023), Professor Sumit Agarwal (NUS Finance, Real Estate, and Economics) raises proposals that go beyond charging […]

Singapore Ageing: Issues and Challenges Ahead

April 20, 2023

Two years in the making, Singapore Ageing: Issues and Challenges Ahead (World Scientific, 2023) was launched at the National University of Singapore on 11 April. The book, co-edited by Emeritus Professor S. Vasoo (NUS Social Work), Associate Professor Srinivasan Chokkanathan (NUS Social Work), and Associate Professor Bilveer Singh (NUS Political Science), explores the contemporary issues […]

Generative spaces of gender and feminist geography in Singapore: entanglements of the personal and political

April 17, 2023

Associate Professor Shirlena Huang and Dr Kamalini Ramdas (both from NUS Geography) explain how Singapore has become the beacon, within an otherwise Anglo-American dominated Southeast Asia, in ‘Generative spaces of gender and feminist geography in Singapore: entanglements of the personal and political’ (A Journal of Feminist Geography, 2019). Feminist geography, standing apart from the more […]

What Does it Mean to be Ethnically Chinese in Singapore?

April 13, 2023

Speaking at a recent talk co-organised by Yale-NUS College and the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, Professor Wang Gungwu (NUS History) gave a lecture titled “What Does it Mean to be Ethnically Chinese in Singapore?”. In attempting to answer this question, Professor Wang explores the historical context of Singapore’s relationship with China, the significance of the […]

Philanthropic Collaboration in Practice Research: The Mrs Lee Choon Guan Endowed Research Fund Model, Singapore

April 9, 2023

The Mrs Lee Choon Guan Endowed Research Fund (LCG ERF) was launched officially on 10 April 2017. It is the first endowment made in Singapore to establish a research fund specifically for practice research in social work that would impact the development and delivery of social services. The LCG ERF is one of the philanthropic […]

‘Keep calm, stay safe, and drink bubble tea’: Commodifying the crisis of Covid-19 in Singapore advertising

April 8, 2023

  The Singapore government started the Circuit Breaker on 7th April, 2020, which significantly disrupted many businesses’ daily operations. But before a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in April, the country experienced a relatively lengthy period during which daily activities were not severely affected by the virus. Businesses were still open and attempting to attract […]

Making universal digital access universal: lessons from COVID-19 in Singapore

April 7, 2023

The global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital adoption with lockdowns and work from home arrangements leading to a surge in online meetings, online education, and online shopping. However, digitalisation has by no means been a straightforward process, with gaps emerging in many societies, including even in digitally connected countries such as Singapore, which underwent a […]

Beyond child’s play: heritage as process in Singapore’s playgrounds

April 6, 2023

On 6 April 2018, the Dragon playground at Toa Payoh was featured during the 15th edition of the Singapore Heritage Festival. In ‘Beyond child’s play: heritage as process in Singapore’s playgrounds’ (International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2020), Associate Professor Chang Tou Chuang (NUS Department of Geography) and Mr Osten Mah Bang Ping (University of Cambridge […]

Commentary: When shopping giant Mustafa meets retail paradise Johor Bahru

April 5, 2023

Retail giant Mustafa, which runs the well-known budget mall Mustafa Centre in Singapore, has recently announced plans to set up shop in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. In ‘Commentary: When shopping giant Mustafa meets retail paradise Johor Bahru’ (Channel NewsAsia, March 2023), Dr Serina Rahman (NUS Southeast Asian Studies and ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute) contemplates how such an […]