Repoliticizing the mental health landscape through life writing
In our next Junior Scholar Seminar, Chan Li Shan explains the value of life writing to legitimise lived experience and challenge dominant biomedical frameworks.
Louis Ng and Louis Ng Kok Kwang: The complicated relationship between civil society and mainstream politics
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 […]
Panel discussion: What Singaporeans should expect from the 15th Parliament
The Republic’s 15th Parliament opens on Friday 5 September. Our panelists share their independent perspectives.
Ow Yeong Wai Kit: ‘A.I. can memorise poems, so why should I?’
Monday, 22 September 2025, 8:00 PM SGT, via Zoom In an age of AI and digital devices, why would students bother memorising poems? This seminar will examine a pedagogical intervention in a Singapore neighbourhood secondary school where students practised learning poetry by heart. Findings show how memorisation, framed through Judith Langer’s envisionment-building theory, can enrich […]
The electoral system
There is growing public interest in Singapore’s electoral system. AcademiaSG presents here scholarly articles and videos as resources for these discussions. VIDEOS In this AcademiaSG Lecture before the 2025 General Election, Constitutional law professor Kevin YL Tan (National University of Singapore) pointed out that the way electoral boundaries should be drawn is left to the […]
Being responsive to our times requires asking ourselves what it means to be human
KWOK KIAN WOON (University of the Arts) was the guest speaker at the Class of 2025 Convocation ceremony of Nanyang Technological University’s School of Humanities on 28 July 2025. This is the text of his speech. I am privileged to join you on this very special day for our graduands, and certainly also for your […]
Misbehaving men in power: the story behind 377A
Sociologist JACK JIN GARY LEE (New School for Social Research) traces the double standards embedded in the colonial criminalisation of gay sex. Reflecting on the recent repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code, Russell Heng, playwright, activist, and pioneering scholar of postcolonial Singapore’s queer history, recounted a past troubling encounter with the police at […]
Singapore’s external relations: Does past performance guarantee future return?
Singaporeans voted for familiarity in May’s general election, expressing their confidence in a new Lawrence Wong Government that promises continuity on many fronts. However, the republic’s formula for managing its external environment was based on conditions that no longer apply, warns CHONG JA IAN (National University of Singapore).
Why India’s war should not be Singapore’s
An Indian diplomatic offensive aims to rally international support for its chosen strategy to combat terrorism. But Singapore’s approach to counter-terrorism is quite different.
Inequality as analytical lens: Beyond “outcomes” and toward “context”
Inequality needs to be understood as a shared, uneasy experience, even if different groups use different strategies to deal with it, argues TEO YOU YENN (Nanyang Technological University).