Merely avoiding competition is not enough. What’s needed is active pursuit of win-win solutions and outcomes to achieve a positive-sum society. Singapore’s hypercompetitive society underpinned by zero-sum thinking (your gain is necessarily my loss) cannot be overcome by the government, or policies. A quick recall of our nation’s short history already shows that opportunities have […]

On 2 July 2024, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong embarked on his first youth-centric dialogue since his inauguration as Prime Minister. Jointly organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Varsity Voices (VV) and the Singapore Management University (SMU), the event was attended by close to 900 students from various Institutes of […]

From 1984, to 1990, I was based in Washington DC, as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States.  Soon after my arrival, someone from Gallaudet University contacted me. I must confess that I had never heard of the university. Gallaudet University is a private, federally chartered university, founded in 1864 for students who are deaf or […]

Bloodshed upon bloodshed. It has been six weeks since the brutal attacks by Hamas left over 1,200 people dead in Israel. The fate of more than 200 hostages remains unknown. Since then, around two-thirds of the population of Gaza Strip have been rendered homeless by the Israeli response to the Oct 7 terrorist attack. More […]

Marital status has long been a key factor in determining eligibility for Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats. But jokes about Singaporeans proposing marriage with a Build-to-Order (BTO) flat application aside, rules for singles have been eased over the years, from housing grants to resale flat sizes. Soon, location will no longer be a restriction. […]

Neil, a private hire platform driver, shared the above ‘secret’ to getting more jobs during an interview with me. Another ‘secret’ shared by another driver was having multiple phones, each with a particular gig work app on, instead of having all the apps switched on the same smartphone. As he says, “If one phone, they […]

A new wave of fresh graduates entering the workforce this hiring season should be pleased that Singapore may soon be implementing laws to counter workplace discrimination. The interim report on Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL), released in February 2023, puts forward recommendations that are a much-needed bolster to existing measures for fair and merit-based employment covered […]

The rich scent of Ramly burgers, kebabs and otah. Colourful fabrics of traditional clothing, stalls with interesting decorative posters, and Henna artists creating art on their customers’ hands. Vendors and shoppers chattering cheerfully. At last count, a week before the Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar wrapped up on Saturday (Apr 22), more than 3 million people […]

More support will be given to Malay/Muslim families living in public rental flats through the expansion of Project Dian@M3.This was announced during the debate on the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s budget in March this year. Launched in 2021, Project Dian@M3 aims to support families in public rental flats by connecting them to a […]

Self-employed persons who include freelancers and independent contractors enjoy the freedom of working without a boss breathing down their necks. But with great freedom, comes the lack of organisational support for training and career guidance. Budget 2023 introduced several initiatives such as the Workplace Skills Recognition programme and Jobs-Skills Integrators to close existing gaps between […]

Fathers of Singaporean children will from next year be able to take four weeks of government-paid paternity leave, doubled from the existing two weeks. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Tuesday (Feb 14) in his Budget 2023 speech that this will begin with employers having the option to voluntarily grant the […]

In trying to be ‘inclusive’, are we actually helping or harming? ‘Inclusion’, like its polar opposite ‘discrimination’, is notoriously difficult to define because it encompasses many possible dimensions and contestable meanings. At first glance, it seems straightforward because it is easy to identify obviously bad behaviour against people with disabilities (PWDs). A participatory research project […]