News
At a time when public life around the world is increasingly shaped by division, speed, and polarisation, a quiet act of walking across the United States has prompted wider reflection on peace, community, and social cohesion. In “Peace in Motion: A Buddhist Journey for Social Cohesion in a Divided World” (RSIS Commentary, 20 April 2026), […]
Southeast Asia, a major global agricultural hub, stands at a critical crossroads as it confronts food insecurity, environmental degradation, climate change, and growing socio-economic inequalities. ‘Southeast Asia Innovation Alliance for a Global Model of Future Agri-food Systems (SIGMA)’, an NUS Sustainable Futures Seed grant funded from 2025 to 2028, and led by Assistant Professor Xiangzhong […]
Few genres in Singapore’s cultural history are remembered as warmly as xinyao, a uniquely Singaporean genre of Mandarin songs that emerged among students in the late 1970s and 1980s. Often associated with campus life, youth, friendship, and simple guitar melodies, xinyao is frequently treated as a musical expression of ‘small sentiments’. Yet behind these intimate […]
In 2023, the National Environment Agency (NEA) reported that Singapore generated a staggering 211,000 tonnes of textile waste, with a mere 2% being recycled. Blended textiles that combine natural and synthetic fibres are notoriously difficult to process and recycle (Damayanti et al., 2021). Additionally, the viability of textile recycling is mostly limited to 100% natural […]
What does a city sound like, and what does it smell like when no one is paying attention? Beyond skylines and infrastructure, urban life is saturated with sensory encounters that quietly shape how we live together. In Sensory Contact Zones in the City (Cambridge University Press, 2026), Professor Kelvin E. Y. Low (NUS Sociology and […]
When oil prices rise, the first signs may not always appear at the petrol station. They may show up in a school bus fee, a ferry surcharge, a grocery bill, a courier charge, or the cost of a home renovation. For Singapore, where much of daily life depends on imported energy, distant geopolitical conflict can […]
Singapore’s transformation into the metropolis it is today has drastically reduced its forest cover. Despite this, migrant and indigenous songbirds have adapted to Singapore’s environment since the 1950s, cementing their ecological role as a lasting feature of the island. In ‘Songbirds in a Garden City’, the sixth chapter of Singaporean Creatures: Histories of Humans and […]
As Singapore continues adapting to post-COVID workplace norms, flexible work arrangements (FWAs) have emerged as both a normalised workforce expectation and a source of tension within organisations. Although tripartite guidelines introduced in December 2024 require employers to formally consider employees’ requests for FWAs, ‘Why the stigma over flexible work persists in Singapore’ (Channel NewsAsia, May […]
Contemporary workers are facing a tougher reality than previous generations, and the picture is getting grimmer across several fronts. In ‘The modern worker in trouble’ (The Business Times, May 2026), Dr Georgios Georgiou (NUS Economics) argues that difficulties which plague the current generation span across job security, work-life balance, and housing affordability. Workplace hardship begins […]
A key member of the Culicidae family, mosquitoes have evolved from being a minor nuisance to a formidable public health threat as carriers of deadly diseases, particularly in tropical Singapore. Associate Professor Timothy Barnard (NUS History) delves into the historical efforts to monitor, regulate, and eradicate these insects in the context of Singapore’s transformation into […]