Gaza through diverse Singaporean eyes


Academic Views

Faizah Zakaria, Assistant Professor at the NTU School of Humanities with a focus on environmental and religious histories, considers Singaporean discourse on the recent Israel-Palestine crisis, and questions the notion of ‘objective’ and pragmatic ‘views from nowhere’. Views expressed here are her own. Singaporeans tend to pride ourselves on pragmatism, including in our relationships with […]

June 11, 2021

How the drawing of electoral boundaries challenges the principle of equality


Academic Views

Constitutional law professor Kevin YL Tan delves into history to show how once-honoured principles for delineating constituency boundaries have been compromised since the 1990s. To ensure that executive discretion does not exceed legal bounds, Singapore should revisit the all-party boundaries committee’s recommendation ahead of the 1959 general election: Singapore should create an independent and permanent […]

May 26, 2021

Lucky in a meritocracy? Examining conceptualisations of luck and academic success in Singapore


Academic Views

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 […]

May 6, 2021

Science-based does not mean value-neutral: Making the case for broader public participation in climate governance


Academic Views

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 […]

March 25, 2021

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. […]

October 26, 2020

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 […]

September 12, 2020