Louis Ng and Louis Ng Kok Kwang: The complicated relationship between civil society and mainstream politics

Academic Views

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 […]

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Two faces of ontological (in)security: Xenophobia and cooperation in Singapore


Academic Views, Coronavirus

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. […]

2020-10-26

Addressing sexual violence on university campuses: Structure, culture and agency


Academic Views

Mohan J Dutta (Dean’s Chair Professor of Communication and Director of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) at Massey University) discusses strategies for improving universities’ responses to sexual violence on their campuses. Between 2018 and 2020, at least five publicly circulated cases of sexual violence on university campuses in Singapore have […]

2020-10-20

Governed by tech: Citizens and the making of the Smart Nation


Academic Views

In light of Singapore’s burgeoning data collection systems, Monamie Bhadra Haines (Assistant Professor of 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 that citizen technology assessments should be integrated into building the Smart Nation. On 25 […]

2020-10-14

Special Topics: A sociology of gender


Special Topics

by Teo You Yenn Gender issues are not just women’s issues. Inequality—between people who are categorized as women and those who are categorized as men, as well as between people whose categorizations are generally recognized and those whose categorizations are contested—is central to understanding the significance of gender in contemporary societies.  The scholarship on gender […]

2020-10-01

Special Topics: a new series


Editorials

Academics often bear bad tidings. Our critical analyses focus on the problematic. Yet we are often deeply idealistic about the potential for ameliorative change offered up by the systematic and sustained pursuit of knowledge. Knowledge can improve lives, enhance wellbeing and expand freedoms. The standard model requires those who want to learn to come to […]

2020-09-18

Special Topics: A minimum wage


Special Topics

In this module of the AcademiaSG Special Topics series, we present a carefully curated selection of the key research and analysis relevant to the concept of a minimum wage in Singapore. Most of these articles can be accessed for free, but we have indicated where a few are behind paywalls. What economists think about a […]

2020-09-18

Parti v party: Inequalities and the justice system


Academic Views

Donald Low, Professor of Practice in Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, reflects on inequalities pertinent to how the criminal justice system handled the case of the Liew family and Parti Liyani. The High Court acquittal of Ms Parti Liyani, an Indonesian domestic worker previously sentenced to 26 months’ jail by […]

2020-09-12

Teh Tarik with Walid: the series


Academic Views, Interviews

In July and August 2020, Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Abdullah of NTU hosted a series of interesting interviews with politicians over Instagram TV—in-depth and candid conversations in which individuals who have occupied various parts of the political landscape shared their thoughts about GE2020, Singapore’s electoral system, political discourse in our society and the way ahead. […]

2020-09-05

Teh Tarik with Walid, episode 3: Kuik Shiao-Yin


GE2020, Interviews

Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Abdullah of Nanyang Technological University spoke to former NMP Kuik Shiao-Yin on 12 August 2020, a few weeks after GE2020, as part of his ‘Teh Tarik with Walid’ interview series. The video and transcript are found below. Walid Abdullah: So for everybody, thanks for joining us. So Miss Kuik was a […]

2020-09-05