Independent researcher Dr Stephanie Chok asks: if gig work and other non-standard forms of employment are an integral and growing part of our economy, what are our shared political responsibilities in ensuring that it delivers fairer returns? Beyond Social Services’ February 2021 report, Mind the Chasm: COVID-19 and Deepening Inequalities in Singapore, reveals the pandemic’s […]
Terri-Anne Teo and Yasmine Wong (Research Fellow and Senior Analyst respectively at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU) consider how recent manifestations of pandemic-era xenophobia and social collaboration in Singapore can be understood in terms of ontological security. Singapore has settled into some semblance of a new normal amid the fight against COVID-19. […]
Teo You Yenn, Ng Kok Hoe, Neo Yu Wei, Ad Maulod and Stephanie Chok of the Minimum Income Standard research team suggest that security and independence need to be centred in the ongoing public conversation—boosted by the General Election—about basic needs. Political parties contesting in the 2020 General Election have pledged to address inequality and […]
Arthur Chia, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Adult Learning, Singapore University of Social Sciences, argues that a more worker-centric approach to skills development is needed in Singapore. The history of skills development in Singapore’s industrial planning In Singapore, public investment in education, training and lifelong learning initiatives have primarily sought to equip students and […]
Associate Professor Warren Chik (Deputy Director, Centre for AI and Data Governance at SMU School of Law) considers forthcoming changes to the Personal Data Protection Act, in light of pandemic control and containment measures. The recently issued Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2020 sets out proposed changes to the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), […]
Hallam Stevens (Associate Professor of History at NTU and Associate Director (Academic) of the NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity) and Monamie Bhadra Haines (Assistant Professor in Sociology at NTU) comment on the privacy implications of the proposed wearable device for COVID-19 contact tracing. On 5 June, the Singapore government announced that it […]
Economists Pang Eng Fong and Linda Lim (emeritus professors of strategy at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, respectively) discuss the implications of the COVID-19 crisis for the position of migrant labour in Singapore’s economic model. Samantha Teresa, SMU BBA […]
Ng Kok Hoe, Head of the Case Study Unit and Senior Research Fellow at the LKY School of Public Policy, spoke to Ng Bee Leng, a social worker and community worker with 30 years’ experience, about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on poverty—especially intergenerational poverty—in Singapore. Kok Hoe: Thank you for doing this interview, […]
Lim Wee Kiat holds a PhD in Sociology, specialising in sociology of disaster, from University of Colorado Boulder, where he was a graduate research assistant at the Natural Hazards Center. His research interests lie at the intersection of risk, disaster, and organisation, investigating how organisations make sense of, prepare for, and respond to sociotechnical disruptions. […]
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 […]
