SINGAPORE: Diversity is both our heritage and strength in multicultural Singapore. Yet, while we pride ourselves on our ability to foster harmony amid adversity, instances of discrimination and racial insensitivity are bound to surface. Earlier this month, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam delivered a statement in parliament in relation to the late Sergeant […]

After about 10 hours of debate over two days, Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 29) passed legislation to decriminalise gay sex and protect the definition of marriage from legal challenges. The repeal of Section 377A has been lauded as a milestone both to democracy and to inclusion in Singapore. The uneasy compromise made in 2007 for […]

At the 2022 National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that one, the Government will repeal the colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men and two, amend the Constitution so that the heterosexual definition of marriage as stipulated in the Women’s Charter and Interpretation Act cannot be challenged in a court of law. […]

As a multiracial society, racial harmony is a crucial aspect we need to work on. However, according to findings from the recent CNA-IPS Survey on Race Relations, many Chinese Singaporeans do not seem very enthusiastic about the issue. The 2021 survey found that Chinese respondents were more optimistic compared to minority race respondents about the […]

Technology has threaded its way through all spheres of life today, transforming the way we live, work and play. The advent of social media has influenced activism in the 21st century, creating meaningful change by lending a voice to the voiceless. Whilst terms like “performative activism” and “slacktivism” have also emerged to describe such digital […]

In 2021, the Year of Celebrating SG Women, it is time we take a stronger hand in reshaping men and women’s traditional roles in the family. At the IPS-Nathan Lecture Series this year, 8th S R Nathan Fellow and Executive Director of AWARE, Corinna Lim, shared that Singapore’s current parental leave policies contribute to gender inequality […]

2021 has been declared by the Ministry of Social and Family development as the Year of Celebrating SG Women, placing emphasis on how women in Singapore have contributed to the nation’s growth in all aspects of society. With the spotlight on gender equality, and the first ever White Paper on the topic coming up this year, it is a […]

Excellencies and distinguished guests Ladies and gentlemen 1. I am very happy to join you for this seminar today. 2. Lately, several worrying incidents have given us pause to consider the state of our racial harmony. a. In May, a Chinese man kicked an Indian woman in the chest while uttering racial slurs. b. Earlier […]

A moving article by the Indian writer Aman Sethi appeared in The New York Times recently. It spoke of a priest who, while walking among corpses gathered at Delhi’s Ghazipur crematory, proclaimed that death is the only truth. Unmasked, the priest was unafraid of his own death even amidst the fatal evidence of the second wave of…..

SINGAPORE: Throughout the battle with COVID-19, community leaders, intellectuals and government officials have warned of the other invisible plague which must be contained for us to effectively come out of this pandemic healthier and with higher social solidarity. That other invisible virus is bigotry. Xenophobic comments most recently have been rife on local social media…..

As Singapore attempts to move past COVID-19 and into the “new normal”, support for new forms of employment will be needed. The “new normal” will see a permanent formation of digital workers such as remote employees, streamers, new media content creators, and even VTubers who use virtual avatars to represent themselves in their videos. However,…..

The launch of a workgroup to improve the health of ethnic minorities was announced by the Ministry of Health in Parliament last week. We are pleased that steps are being taken towards addressing issues of health equity in Singapore, as it acknowledges, and brings to light key disparities in physical health across different segments of […]