Professional journalism in Singapore is beset by financial pressures and excessive state control. Reform is needed so that it can play its critical role in the nation’s information ecosystem, says Cherian George, professor of media studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. This is an excerpt from the volume he co-authored with Donald Low, PAP v […]
Assistant Professor Rebecca Ye (a sociologist of education and work at Stockholm University and former visiting fellow in Sociology at the Nanyang Technological University) discusses how ‘luck’ is understood in trajectories of academic success in Singapore and what this reveals about meritocracy. Debates on the relationship between luck, success, merit and inequality have intensified in […]
Following the announced closure of arts and cultural institution the Substation, independent Transnational Cultural Studies scholar Liew Kai Khiun recalls his own memories of the premise and its connections to research. The author has also been actively involved in Singapore’s civil society for the past two decades, in areas such as conservation, animal welfare, and […]
Belicia Teo, a PhD student at NYU’s Department of Sociology whose research focuses on climate change and social movements, argues that climate policy requires more than “listening to the science” — it also requires broader deliberation to address differences in norms and values. The rhetoric of “listening to the science” has gained prominence recently, thanks […]
Professor Cherian George explains why he welcomes establishment voices’ complaints about social justice activists’ attempts to boycott offensive speech. I have been glancing occasionally at Singapore’s debate on “cancel culture” with a mix of bemusement and satisfaction at how some conservatives have been rising to the defence of open discussion. For the uninitiated (lucky you), […]
Associate Professor Teo You Yenn discusses how children’s education becomes parental care labour, with differing impacts on parents across class and gender lines. Contemporary Singapore appears to be a great place to raise children—safe, clean, with good care infrastructure and a world-class education system. Singaporean adults also appear to be exactly the right people to […]
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 […]
Oliver Sng, Assistant Professor of Psychological Science at UC Irvine, examines the implications of a MSF report widely understood to be showing a “divorce penalty” for the children of divorcees. According to a recent study by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), children of divorcees face what they called a “divorce penalty”—being less […]
Steve Ferzacca, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Lethbridge, discusses the emergence of community through music-making in Singapore. I arrived in Singapore in 2011 to take up an appointment as a Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute for a year. My plan was to complete a manuscript of […]
Private sector economists Manu Bhaskaran and Nigel Chiang argue that in both labour and total factor productivity, Singapore is under-performing relative to trading partners, peers and OECD countries, reflecting deep and systemic issues in the economy, especially in sectors where an over-reliance on labour force growth through migrant labour has affected incentives to invest. This is […]
