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 […]
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 […]
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SINGAPORE STUDIES JUNIOR SCHOLAR SEMINAR SERIES: CALL FOR PROPOSALS AcademiaSG invites doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work in our new series of virtual seminars. The Singapore Studies Junior Scholar Seminars aim to provide a venue for geographically and disciplinarily dispersed new scholars to share their research on Singapore, and to connect with faculty […]
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Singaporean ‘Food Voices’ at the End of Life Paul Victor Patinadan, Doctoral Researcher, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University Monday, 22 February, 8–9pm Singapore time, via Zoom The formation of food preferences, rituals and habits over the developmental course colours one’s socio-cultural and psychological lives. This phenomenon is especially salient in Singapore, which enjoys […]
Academics are repeatedly encouraged to contribute to the scholarship and to make a wider social impact. Most of AcademiaSG’s efforts so far have focused on the latter, defending and growing the space for academics to play a more public role (see our year-end report card below). But interlocutors within the academy are important, too. The […]
by Cherian George Since 2000, laws against offensive expression have been among the most frequently triggered speech restrictions in Singapore. Most of these cases have been initiated by citizens taking offence at racially or religiously provocative online content. How to deal with such cases continues to be debated. Like in most societies, there’s growing alarm […]
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 […]
