Browse

• Bone up for Budget Debate 20262026-02-14
  What are challenges to Singapore’s economy in the contemporary world? What are the challenges people face — from work to care, housing to retirement? How should public policy address the needs of the people, both in the near and the long term? – A reading list.
• What makes a public health crisis? The War on Diabetes through a sociological lens2026-02-05
  Ten years ago, Singapore declared War on Diabetes. MOHAMMAD KHAMSYA BIN KHIDZER (King’s College London) examines the logics behind the campaign and finds that one under-appreciated rationale is economic.   
• Singapore must shift from state-led expansion to productivity-led growth2026-01-12
  The “Singapore model” of a market economy under heavy government direction has led to strong headline numbers that obscure signs of significant stress. High land and housing costs, extreme inequality, and a very low fertility rate suggest that everyday life feels precarious for many in one of the world’s richest cities. Singapore needs a new playbook, argues LINDA LIM in this article originally published by the Atlantic Council.
• Another Singapore Stone: Straits Chinese Philosophy in Singapore2025-12-21
  Historian of Philosophy LILITH LEE reflects on the value of reconstructing Straits Chinese philosophy for the history of world philosophies and for Singaporean self-understanding.  
• Repoliticizing the mental health landscape through life writing2025-11-08
  On 7 December, Chan Li Shan explains the value of life writing to legitimise lived experience and challenge dominant biomedical frameworks.
• Louis Ng and Louis Ng Kok Kwang: The complicated relationship between civil society and mainstream politics2025-08-31
  Twenty years ago, Louis Ng was known as the passionate animal rights activist who personified the spirit of independent advocacy in Singapore’s civil society. Ten years ago, Louis Ng Kok Kwang was officially announced a ruling party candidate for the 2015 General Election. This year, he quit electoral politics. LIEW KAI KHIUN, an independent scholar… Read more: Louis Ng and Louis Ng Kok Kwang: The complicated relationship between civil society and mainstream politics
• Panel discussion: What Singaporeans should expect from the 15th Parliament2025-08-24
  The Republic’s 15th Parliament opens on Friday 5 September. Our panelists share their independent perspectives.
• Ow Yeong Wai Kit: ‘A.I. can memorise poems, so why should I?’2025-08-23
  Monday, 22 September 2025, 8:00 PM SGT, via Zoom In an age of AI and digital devices, why would students bother memorising poems? This seminar will examine a pedagogical intervention in a Singapore neighbourhood secondary school where students practised learning poetry by heart. Findings show how memorisation, framed through Judith Langer’s envisionment-building theory, can enrich… Read more: Ow Yeong Wai Kit: ‘A.I. can memorise poems, so why should I?’
• The electoral system2025-08-23
  There is growing public interest in Singapore’s electoral system. AcademiaSG presents here scholarly articles and videos as resources for these discussions. VIDEOS In this AcademiaSG Lecture before the 2025 General Election, Constitutional law professor Kevin YL Tan (National University of Singapore) pointed out that the way electoral boundaries should be drawn is left to the… Read more: The electoral system
• Being responsive to our times requires asking ourselves what it means to be human2025-08-05
  KWOK KIAN WOON (University of the Arts) was the guest speaker at the Class of 2025 Convocation ceremony of Nanyang Technological University’s School of Humanities on 28 July 2025. This is the text of his speech. I am privileged to join you on this very special day for our graduands, and certainly also for your… Read more: Being responsive to our times requires asking ourselves what it means to be human
• Misbehaving men in power: the story behind 377A2025-07-04
  Sociologist JACK JIN GARY LEE (New School for Social Research) traces the double standards embedded in the colonial criminalisation of gay sex. Reflecting on the recent repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code, Russell Heng, playwright, activist, and pioneering scholar of postcolonial Singapore’s queer history, recounted a past troubling encounter with the police at… Read more: Misbehaving men in power: the story behind 377A
• Singapore’s external relations: Does past performance guarantee future return?2025-07-03
  Singaporeans voted for familiarity in May’s general election, expressing their confidence in a new Lawrence Wong Government that promises continuity on many fronts. However, the republic’s formula for managing its external environment was based on conditions that no longer apply, warns CHONG JA IAN (National University of Singapore).
• Why India’s war should not be Singapore’s2025-05-26
  An Indian diplomatic offensive aims to rally international support for its chosen strategy to combat terrorism. But Singapore’s approach to counter-terrorism is quite different.
• Inequality as analytical lens: Beyond “outcomes” and toward “context”2025-05-20
  Inequality needs to be understood as a shared, uneasy experience, even if different groups use different strategies to deal with it, argues TEO YOU YENN (Nanyang Technological University).
• Building a democratic society: A role for many helping hands2025-05-15
  CHERIAN GEORGE (Hong Kong Baptist University) takes stock after a General Election in which the People’s Action Party successfully checked the opposition’s momentum.