Elvin Ong, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for Southeast Asia Research at the University of British Columbia and Overseas Postdoctoral Fellow at the National University of Singapore, argues that reform of the economy—including to reduce dependency on low-waged migrant labour—should be done on a progressive basis. Over the past few weeks, Singaporeans have been actively […]
Monamie Bhadra Haines (Assistant Professor in Sociology at NTU) and Hallam Stevens (Associate Professor of History at NTU and Associate Director (Academic) of the NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity) argue against using mandatory contact tracing apps in the effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many governments around the world are now […]
Philip Holden, formerly Professor at the National University of Singapore, interviewed Debbie Fordyce—President of NGO Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)—to discuss the work of TWC2 and structural issues facing migrant workers. Philip: It’s a pleasure to interview Debbie Fordyce, president of TWC2. Some academics work directly on issues of migrant labour; many do not, and […]
Kamalini Ramdas and David Taylor of the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore argue that pandemic response should include haptic as well as optic approaches to space—paying attention to how humans experience space, rather than taking only a ‘bird’s-eye’ view. Geographers have long been interested in how viruses and diseases travel, and […]
Andy Hau Yan Ho, Associate Professor of Psychology at Nanyang Technological University and Joint Honorary Associate Professor at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, considers the impact of social distancing on the psychological well-being and development of youths in Singapore. One of the strongest measures put in place throughout the world to protect people […]
Shona Loong, DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, describes how the state has made employers responsible for migrant workers, to dire effect, and examines the implications for state-society relations and the role of NGOs. The COVID-19 cases among Singapore’s migrant worker population skyrocketed in mere weeks. On 1 April, they accounted for just ten […]
Manu Bhaskaran (CEO of Centennial Asia Advisors) and Linda Lim (Professor Emerita at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan) argue that Singapore would benefit from a slower pace of reserve accumulation. Many Singaporeans think that the government can engage in massive, even “generous”, deficit spending to rescue citizens, businesses and the […]
Edited transcript of Academia.SG Webinar, 1 May 2020 Teo You Yenn (Nanyang Technological University) This is an event both ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary, because this is the type of event the speakers have each been doing for years — we have all presented our research at roundtables, and we have each spoken at events that […]
LINDA LIM Further readings on Singapore’s development strategy, and how the economy will be affected by the pandemic, issues raised in the “Beyond the pandemic” webinar on 1 May 2020. On the global limits to Singapore’s development strategy I mentioned that economists have for some time noted that Singapore’s state-directed, multinational-led, export-oriented, import-intensive economic development […]
DONALD LOW An annotated bibliography for readers who want to go deeper into these public policy issues, discussed at the webinar on “Beyond the Pandemic”, 1 May 2020. I spoke about the importance of resilience in an interconnected, interdependent world that will face more collective action problems, how we have become market societies that valorise […]
