Publications
Journal Articles
- Adverse childhood experiences and the well-being of young workers: Exploring the longitudinal impact on health and work-related functioning
Community, Work & Family.
Chan, X. W., Chung, G. S. K., Tan, Z. H., & Ng, I. Y. H. (2026). - “Sticky, Yet Precarious”—An Ethnographic Insight of F&B Workers in Singapore
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.
Pereira, S., Mathew, M., & Ng, I. Y. H. (2025). - Time poverty among the young working poor: A pathway from low wage to psychological well-being through work-to-family-conflict
Journal of Family and Economic Issues.
Ng, I. Y. H., Tan, Z. H., & Chung, G. (2024). - Separate lives, uncertain futures: Does Covid-19 align or differentiate the lives of low- and higher-wage young workers?
Applied Research in Quality of Life.
Ng, I. Y. H., Tan, Z. H., Chua, V., & Cheong, A. (2022).
- Disruptive behaviors, antisocial attitudes, and aggression in young offenders: Comparison of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) typologies
Child Abuse & Neglect, 141.
Oei, A., Li., D., Chu, C.M., Ng, I., Hoo, E., & Ruby, K. (2023). - Child maltreatment and protective assets in the development of internalising and eternalising problems: A study of youth offenders
Journal of Adolescence, 91, 35-47.
Li, D., Ng, N., Chu, C.M., Oei, A. Chng, G., & Ruby, K. (2021). - Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and substance use in youth offenders in Singapore
Child Abuse & Neglect, 117.
Oei., A., Chu, C.M., Li, D., Ng, N., Yeo, C., & Ruby, K. (2021).
- Social safety net features in East Asia: A comparative analysis using the model family approach
International Journal of Social Welfare
Wang JSH, Abe A, Kang JY, Ku I, Irene Y.H. Ng, Peng C, Zhao X (2024). - Campaigning for digital equality: the role of digital access attitudes in neoliberal context
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development
Irene Y.H. Ng, Arthur Soh, Natalie Pang, Santosh Kumar & Bee Leng Ng (2024). - Making universal access universal: lessons from COVID-19 in Singapore
Universal Access in the Information Society
Ng, I.Y.H., Lim, S.S. & Pang, N. (2022).
- PNAS: Debt reduction improves psychological and cognitive function, enabling better decision-making
Qiyan Ong, Walter Theseira and Irene Y. H. Ng
- Examining primary school students’ perceptions of language used in science classrooms
Language & Education
Seah, L. H., Tay, P. L. L. & Chia, T. T. (in press) - Assessing science teachers’ adaptive expertise in teaching disciplinary literacy using the AEDLi Framework
Teaching and Teacher Education, 159, 104999
Tay, P. L. L., Seah, L. H., & Chia, T. T. (2025) - An exploratory study of teachers’ metalanguage use to support student writing in science: Foregrounding the science-language connections
Lay Hoon Seah. (2023)
- Hidden pandemic in the field of family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-method study of the practice experiences of family services’ social workers in Singapore
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development
Kuah, N., Chuah, X. J., Lee, J., Yum, S. T., Ong, P. N., Phua, C. Y., & Dhaliwal, S. S. (2025) - A scoping review of theatre of the oppressed as an empowering prevention strategy against LGBTQ-based aggression
Sexuality & Culture
Puvaneyshwaran, D., Lee, J., & Tan, R. K. J. (2025) - The impacts of forum theatre in social work practice: A scoping review
The British Journal of Social Work.
Puvaneyshwaran, D., Liang, P., & Lee, J. (2025). Advance online publication on 23 Mar 2025. - Programmatic Impact Guide For Non-Profits
White Paper
Low, G., & Lee, J. (2026). Lumina and NUS Social Service Research Centre (SSR).
- Fostering Critical Consciousness Through Theater of the Oppressed: A Mixed-Methods Study with Gay, Bisexual, Queer, and Transgender Men in Singapore
Journal of Community Psychology.
Puvaneyshwaran, D., Low, A. J., Chong, S. Y., Wee, Y. X., Lee, J., & Liang, P. (2026). Advance online publication on 15 Jun 2026. - "They keep thinking I'm bad, so I look at my strengths": Navigating bullying as young persons with disabilities in Singapore
Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma.
Puvaneyshwaran, D., Tan, A., Wah, T., & Lee, J. (2026). Advance online publication on 6 Apr 2026. - Cyberbullying victimization and eating disorders in university sample in Singapore: A moderated mediation model of deviant peer association and self-esteem
BMC Public Health, 25, 3250.
Lee, J., Kim, J., & Lee, J. (2025). - ‘When everything goes online, it’s never really gone’: Understanding technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) in Singapore
Journal of Gender Studies.
Ho, M. H. S., Ng, W. E., Rosario, A. L. C., Lee, J., Wadhwa, B., Choy, O., & Tandoc Jr., E. C. (2025). - Typologies of childhood maltreatment and associations with internalizing symptoms among university students in Singapore: A latent class analysis
PLOS ONE.
Lee, J., Munisamy, Y., Tan, A., Yoon, S., Kim, J., & Pon, A. (2025). - The impacts of forum theatre in social work practice: A scoping review
The British Journal of Social Work.
Puvaneyshwaran, D., Liang, P., & Lee, J. (2025). Advance online publication on 23 Mar 2025 - Relationship of smartphone addiction with cyberbullying, alcohol use, depression and anxiety among university students
Social Work in Public Health.
Lee, J., Kim, J., & Cheung, H. S. (2025). Advance online publication on 2 Apr 2025. - Cyberbullying victimization and mental health symptoms among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies
Trauma, Violence, and Abuse.
Lee, J., Choo, H., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Q., Cheung, H. S., & Ang, R. P. (2025). Advance online publication on 19 January 2025. - Secure base script knowledge and friendship quality as protective factors for bullying and victimization in elementary school
Attachment and Human Development.
Cheung, H. S., Khong, J. Z. N., Lee, J., Liu, D., & Ang, R. P. (2024). Advance online publication on 17 Dec 2024. - Young adults, mental health and help-seeking: What difficulties do they face? A Singapore-based study.
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development.
Chua, Y. Z., & Lee, J. (2024). - Mixed evidence concerning the effects of the hopeful mindset among mother and child in low-income families in Singapore.
Applied Developmental Science.
Tong, E. M. W., Lee, J., Goh, E. C. L. (2024). - Umbrella review of meta-analyses on the risk factors, protective factors, consequences, and interventions of cyberbullying victimisation.
Nature Human Behavior.
TKasturiratna, S. K. T. A., Hartanto, A, Chen, C. H. Y., Tong, E. M. W., & Majeed, N. M. (2024). - Associations of childhood adversity with emotional well-being and educational achievement: A review and meta-analysis
Journal of Affective Disorders.
G. H. Yeo, J. E. Lansford, M. J. Hirshberg, E. M. W. Tong. (2023).
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| • The Social Capital and Familial Well-being of Low-Income Single-Parent Families in Singapore: Preliminary Research Report
• The Call for Trauma-Informed Community Development: Becoming Human, Building Healthier Communities – Why a Trauma-Informed Community Development is What We Need Right Now • Trauma-Informed Research Framework: A Research Guide |
• “Hello, can you hear me?” Understanding Clients’ Experience with Phone/video Counselling in the COVID-19 Pandemic • Is Ethnography Still Relevant Today? • What Makes an Ethnographer? Reflections from a Participant Observer in Singapore |
• A Summary of the 'Mind the Gap' Initiative • MTG – An Imaginative and Progressive Opportunity to Support Families • Collaboration, Co-creation and Collective Impact in a Crisis • Responding to Scarcity as We ‘Mind the Gap’ |
• Summary of Event: ‘Powerty’, In Commemoration of the International Day of Eradication of Poverty
• Does Information Affect Singaporeans’ Views on Inequality and Policy Preferences? Evidence from a Randomised Survey Experiment |
| • Definitions and Measurements of Poverty 2020 Note: The updated appendix can be viewed via this link. • Will Poor Work Get Poorer after the Pandemic? |
• Implementation Study for a Pilot Training-coaching Job Support Programme for Ex-offenders
• Mixed Methods Research: An Introduction |
• Planning and Evaluating Youth Programmes in Singapore: Practitioner’s Experience Using the ACT!SG Framework and a Review of the Strategies Proposed
• Health Knowledge or Affordability: Can Low-income Households Adopt Healthy Diets? |
• Why do We Need Realist Evaluation?
• What are Systematic Reviews and How are They Useful? |
| • In-work Poverty and Challenges of the Young in Getting By
• Learning about Workers’ Learning: Insights from an Ethnographic Study of the Blue-Collar Working Class in Singapore |
• The Trajectories of the Life-Course
• Framing the Dominant Discourses on Poverty and Inequalities • Income Insecurity and Healthcare Affordability among the Elderly • Between Community Development and Social Policy Reform in Singapore |
• FSC Senior Social Workers’ Perceptions of Roles in Financial Assistance Decision-Making Process – A Qualitative Exploratory Study
• Youth Drug Situation in Singapore – Insights from the EPYC Longitudinal Study |
• Five Minutes Can Change Your Understanding of Nudges
• Disability-led Norms: How We Can Help Build Inclusive Societies as Individuals |
| • A Symposium on Low-income Families in Singapore
• What Did You Do on National Day and over the Golden Jubilee Weekend? A Comparison of Low and High Income Singaporeans |
• Definitions and Measurements of Poverty
• Theory? Research? Science? But I am a Social Worker |
• Contesting Meanings of the “Unemployed” in Singapore
• Local Social Service Research & Its Challenges: SSR Dialogue |
Research Guide
- Conducting Semi-Structured Interviews in Social Service Research: A Practical Guide
Xu Jianbin - A Guide to Using Observation Rubrics for Evaluating Group Work Programmes
Seah Lay Hoon, Lui Hui Min Fionn and Ang Jingyou Ben
- A Research Guide to Doing Systematic Review for Social Service Professionals and Researchers: Practical Steps and Resources
Gerard Chung Siew Keong, Aloysius Chan and Lim Wei Loong
Featured Commentaries / News Articles
- The Singaporean workers who feel AI has nothing to do with them
Irene Y.H. Ng, Tan Zhi Han, V Deepa, & Aaron Lim
- Flexible work arrangements can't be for just well-paid professionals
Irene Y.H. Ng, Tan Zhi Han, Nurul Fadiah Johari, Gerard Chung - Reimagining Workfare to uplift low-wage families
Ong EeCheng, Irene Y.H. Ng, Michael Lien
- New Approach Needed to Protect Young Workers from Exploitation
Ong, Q., Kok, E., Ng, I. Y. H., & Chen, S.
- Becoming Digitally Connected: What Holds People Back?
Lim Sun Sun, Natalie Pang, Irene Y.H. Ng - Drop middle-class judgement of low-income parenting
Irene Y.H. Ng, Nicole Ng, Joshua Khoo - Public donated over $1 million to Mind The Gap Fund for poor families hit by pandemic
SSR provided an independent documentation on the fund disbursement processes and the learning experiences among the member agencies
- Ask NUS economists - Inequality: How you view it depends on what you're told
Ong Ee Cheng, Evelyn Kok - Commentary: Singapore’s poorest earners will benefit from expansion of Progressive Wage Model but some conditions must be met
Linda Y.C. Lim and Irene Y.H. Ng - When a disease uncovers digital divides
Irene Y.H. Ng and Lim Sun Sun
- Security and independence are basic needs
Teo You Yenn, Ng Kok Hoe, Neo Yu Wei, Ad Maulod and Stephanie Chok - Commentary: The case for universal digital access, as home-based computing becomes a post-pandemic norm
Irene Y.H. Ng and Lim Sun Sun - Committing to supporting low-income workers
Irene Y.H. Ng - Gaps in retirement income system cannot be fixed with small tweaks
Ng Kok Hoe - Low-wage workers at greater risk in times of public health crisis
Qiyan Ong and Walter Theseira
- How to nudge better in public policy
Qiyan Ong
- Phasing out streaming: First step to decreasing educational inequality
Irene Y. H. Ng and Nursila Senin
- HDB should apply its own occupancy rules to rental housing
Neo Yu Wei and Ng Kok Hoe
- The hidden costs of behavioural interventions
Qiyan Ong and Walter Theseira
- Getting to the nub of homelessness
Neo Yu Wei and Ng Kok Hoe
Book Manuscripts / Chapters
- Proceedings of the SSR-TOUCH Conference 2025 on Sustained Well-Being in Future-Ready Communities
Tan, Z. H., Koh, J., & Loh, A. (2026) - Bullying: Global Case Studies in Policy and Prevention for Young People
Singapore.
Lee, J., Zhang, Q., Cheung, H. S., & Ang, R. P. (2026)
- Proceedings of the 2025 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Deconstructing depression stigma: Integrating AI-driven data collection and analysis with causal knowledge graphs
Meng, H., Zhang, R., Wang, G., Yang, Y., Qin, P., Lee, J., & Lee, Y-C. (2025) - Proceedings of the Extended Abstract of the 2025 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Empowering social service with AI: Insights from a participatory design study with practitioners
Tan, Y., Soh, K. X., Zhang, R., Lee, J., Meng, H., Sen, B., & Lee, Y-C. (2025)
- Educational Pathways, Youth Wellbeing & Outlook
Irene Y. H. Ng and Nursila Senin
Reports
- Technological Attitudes, Devices, and Skills at Work and at Home
In-Work Poverty and the Challenges of Getting By Among the Young: Report
Tan Zhi Han, V Deepa, Irene Y.H. Ng, Mohammed Zuhair Bin Yusof, Gerard Chung. - Hunger Report III: Landscape Study of Local Food Support
Seah Lay Hoon, Tay Poh Ling Linda.
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- Work-Family Interface, Family Aspirations, and Cost of Living among Young Workers
In-Work Poverty and the Challenges of Getting By Among the Young: Report
Tan Zhi Han, Tao Yu Cheng (Benson), Nguyen Duc Thinh, Irene Y.H. Ng. - Employment, Wages, Job Quality, and Well-Being among Young Workers
In-Work Poverty and the Challenges of Getting By Among the Young: Report 2
Irene Y.H. Ng, Tan Zhi Han, Asher Goh, Mathew Mathews, Gerard Chung, Vincent Chua, Xi Wen (Carys) Chan.
- Work-Family Interface, Family Aspirations, and Cost of Living among Young Workers
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- Minimum Income Standard 2023: Household budgets in a time of rising costs
Ng Kok Hoe, Wong Yee Lok, Teo You Yenn, Neo Yu Wei, Ad Maulod, Stephanie Chok - Report on the Workfare Income Supplement Reimagined
Irene Y. H. Ng, Ee Cheng Ong, Zhi Han Tan - SSR Spotlight: Community Involvement in Casework Interventions: The Boons & The Banes - A Qualitative Study
Pek Jie Hui, Denise Liu, Tan Kwan Boon - SSR Spotlight: Current Realities, Social Protection and Future Needs of Platform Food Delivery Workers in Singapore
Mathew Mathews, Thian Wen Li, Clara Lee, Shamil Zainuddin, Mindy Chong
- Minimum Income Standard 2023: Household budgets in a time of rising costs
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- SSR Spotlight: Why Stable Housing Matters: Outcomes of the S.H.E Project for Single-Mother Families
AWARE - SSR Spotlight: Wages, Jobs, Work Conditions, and Well-Being among Young Workers - In-work Poverty and the Challenges of Getting By Among the Young: Wave 1 Report
Irene Y.H. Ng, Tan Zhi Han, Asher Goh, Ong Qiyan, Evelyn Kok, Charmaine Lee, Mathew Mathews, Caroline Lim and Ho Kong Chong - Wages, Jobs, Work Conditions, and Well-Being among Young Workers
In-Work Poverty and the Challenges of Getting By Among the Young Wave 1 Report
Irene Y. H. Ng, Tan Zhi Han, Asher Goh, Ong Qiyan, Evelyn Kok, Charmaine Lee, Mathew Mathews, Caroline Lim, Ho Kong Chong
- SSR Spotlight: Seeking shelter: Homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
Ng Kok Hoe and Jeyda Simren Sekhon Atac - SSR Spotlight: IPS Working Paper 44: Precarity in Platform Work: A Study of Private-hire Car Drivers and Food Delivery Riders
Mathew Mathews, Shamil Zainuddin, Thian Wen Li, Fiona Phua, Clara Lee
- SSR Spotlight: Why Stable Housing Matters: Outcomes of the S.H.E Project for Single-Mother Families
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- Findings from a Poll on Digital Access
Co-organised by AMKFSC Community Services - SSR Spotlight: What People Need in Singapore: A Household Budgets Study
Ng Kok Hoe, Teo You Yenn, Neo Yu Wei, Ad Maulod, Stephanie Chok, Wong Yee Lok - SSR Spotlight: People Give, Just Take And Eat": Food Insecurity and Food Aid in a Public Rental Neighbourhood in Singapore
Stephanie Chok - SSR Spotlight: Access to Resources and Support for Singaporean Citizens and Permanent Residents during the COVID-19 Circuit Breaker
Patrick Daly, Caroline Brassard, Reuben Ng, Jamie McCaughey, Laavanya Kathiravelu, Benjamin Horton - SSR Spotlight: Report on Mind the Gap
Asher Goh, Nurul Fadiah Johari, Ong Qiyan, Neo Yu Wei - Report on Mind the Gap
Asher Goh, Nurul Fadiah Johari, Ong Qiyan, Neo Yu Wei - SSR Spotlight: From Digital Exclusion to Universal Digital Access
Ng, I. Y. H., Lim, S. S., Pang, N., Lim, D., Soh, G., Pakianathan, P. V.S., & Ang, B. - SSR Spotlight: Nurturing Villages and Safeguarding Communities: A Case Study of Beyond Social Services
Lee, J., Lim, A., Sim, J.L., Zainuddin, S., Devadas, D., and Alhadad, H. - SSR Spotlight: The Hunger Report: An In-Depth Look at Food Insecurity in Singapore
Nagpaul, T., Sidhu, D., Chen, J. - From Digital Exclusion to Universal Digital Access in Singapore
Irene Y.H. Ng, Lim Sun Sun, Natalie Pang, Daphne Lim, Gena Soh, Pavithren V S Pakianathan and Benjamin Ang
- Findings from a Poll on Digital Access
- SSR COVID-19 Social Data Bank Infographic Series: Impact of COVID-19 and the Circuit Breaker on Social Service Users and Professionals
Qiyan Ong, Timothy Teoh, Ho Zhi Wei and Jeanette A. J. Renema - Policy Paper on the Majulah Universal Basic Income Scheme (MUBI)
Qiyan Ong and Walter Theseira
Research Mentoring Programmes
Spotlight Articles
- SSR Spotlight: A review of the need for a systemic approach towards community social work and implications for social work practice in Singapore.
R. Jai Prakash - SSR Spotlight: Young adults, mental health, and help-seeking: what difficulties do they face? A Singapore-based study.
Chua Yun Ze & Lee Jungup
- SSR Spotlight: Curative Platforms: Disability, Access and Food Delivery Work in Singapore
Hong, R. - SSR Spotlight: Food Insufficiency, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Health: Results of the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016
Subramaniam, M., Koh, Y. S., Vaingankar, J. A., Abidin, E., Shafie, S., Chang, S., Kwok, K.W., Chow, W.L. & Chong, S. A. - SSR Spotlight: Reaching Hidden Youth in Singapore through the Hidden Youth Intervention Program: A biopsychosocial approach integrating mental health and social work interventions
Khiatani, S., Liu, D., Yeo, B.S., Wong, J.
- SSR Spotlight: Lived experiences of the adjustment of older employees to re-employment in Singapore: A Bourdieusian perspective
Xu, J., Mehta, K.K., and Wan, D. - SSR Spotlight: Inequalities, Barriers, Intersectionality, and Facilitators of Careers of Women with Disabilities: Themes and Future Research Agenda from a Scoping Review
Chan, C. and Hutchings, K. - SSR Spotlight: The Meanings of Heart Health among Low-income Malay Women in Singapore: Narratives of Food Insecurity, Caregiving Stressors, and Shame
Kaur-Gill, S. - SSR Spotlight: A Study of Caregiver Support Services: Perspectives of Family Caregivers of Persons With Intellectual Disabilities in Singapore
Riches, V.C, O’Brien, P., Manokara, V., Mueller, A. - SSR Spotlight: Social support and health among older adults – the Singapore Chinese Health Study
Barrenetxea, J., Yang, Y., Markides, K. S., Pan, A., Koh, W.-P., & Feng, Q. - SSR Spotlight: Everybody needs to be on board’: Individual and organisational youth worker experiences of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy training and implementation in a multicultural Singaporean context
Ho, L., Goh, T., Kwan, J. Y., Lim, J., Khor, J. - SSR Spotlight: Financial capability training for social workers in Singapore: Towards more effective practice
V. Deepa, Ghoh, C., Sherraden, M. - SSR Spotlight: Ethics of Participation and Social Inclusion of Older Persons in Research: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
Ad Maulod,, Rouse, S., Lee, A., Ravindran, M., Hazirah Mohamad., Goh, V., Nur Diyana Binte Azman, Low, L.B., Malhotra, R. and Chan, A.
- SSR Spotlight: COVID-19 pandemic: Impact of changes experienced on social workers’ professional quality of life in Singapore
Goh, S.N., Fan, G., Cheng, S., Nang Ei Ei Khaing - SSR Spotlight: An exploratory study on the challenges faced by social workers working with transnational families in Singapore
Tan, E., and Choo, H. - SSR Spotlight: How Community-Based Eldercare Services Adapt in Response to Covid-19 Restrictions: Evidence from Singapore
Cheng, C., and Jiang, N. - SSR Spotlight: Separate Lives, Uncertain Futures: Does Covid 19 Align or Differentiate the Lives of Low and Higher Wage Young Workers?
Ng, I. Y. H., Tan, Z. H., Chua, V., & Cheong, A. - SSR Spotlight: Child maltreatment and protective assets in the development of internalising and externalising problems: A study of youth offenders
Li, D.D., Ng, N., Chu, C.M., Oei, A., Chng, G., Ruby, K. - SSR Spotlight: Education as care labor: Expanding our lens on the work-life balance problem
Teo, Y. Y. - SSR Spotlight: Resilience and stress in frontline social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
Seng, B.K., Subramaniam, M., Chung, Y.J., Syed Ahmad, S.A.M., Chong, S.A.
- SSR Spotlight: Growing up poor(ly): Intergenerational Class-based Parenting Logic in Singapore
Ng, I.Y.H., Khoo, J., Ng, N. - SSR Spotlight: Parental Involvement and Adolescents’ Academic Achievement: Latent Profiles of Mother and Father Warmth as a Moderating Influence
Chung, G., Phillips, J., Jensen, T. M., and Lanier, P. - SSR Spotlight: Relational Dimensions in Poor Children’s Decisions to Obtain a Mobile Phone – The Case of Singapore
Goh, E. and Kuczynski, L. - SSR Spotlight: Family Structure, the Quality of Family Ties, and the Positive Development of Adolescents: The Family Social Capital of Grandparents in Low-Income Singaporean Families
Kwan, J.Y.
- SSR Spotlight: Parental Education and Youth Educational Aspiration in Singapore: A Path Analysis in Institutional and Psychological Context
Ng, I.Y.H., & Choo, H. - Migrants’ and Natives’ Attitudes toward Public Healthcare Provision in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands
Seibel, V. and Renema, J.A.J. - SSR Spotlight: How Children's Education Affects Caregiving: Evidence from Parent's Last Years of Life
Jiang, N. and Kaushal, N.
- SSR Spotlight: Mediating Effects of Parental Stress on Harsh Parenting and Parent-Child Relationship during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Singapore
Chung, G. and Lanier, P.