While reports of food insecurity have previously featured in the media, Singapore's first nationally representative food insecurity study documented that about 10 per cent of Singaporean households experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months, and that only 22 per cent of these food-insecure households were receiving food support from an organisation. Published by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation and supported by The Food Bank Singapore, "The hunger report: An in-depth look at food insecurity in Singapore" also reports causes and consequences of food insecurity and offers recommendations. With members of the report team, Dr. Tania Nagpaul, Dr. Dalvin Sidhu, and Ms. Chen Jinwen, we further explore how they defined and operationalised food insecurity and understand the headline figures in greater detail. Previously, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation published a related study in 2019, titled "Hunger in a food lover's paradise: Understanding food insecurity in Singapore". The study was based on interviews with food support organisations and a survey with 236 respondents. My conversation with Dr. Nagpaul, Dr. Sidhu, and Ms. Chen is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). The feature photo is by Ng Shi Wen.

This month, in the same week that the Department of Statistics revealed that households in the bottom 10 per cent were the group hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, with their monthly total earnings from work falling by 6.1 per cent, Beyond Social Services published its "Mind the Chasm" report (https://beyondresearch.sg/mind-the-chasm-covid-19-deepening-inequalities-in-singapore/). Beyond documented deep decreases to household incomes from work among low-income families. Among the applicants to Beyond's COVID-19 Family Assistance Fund, they found that as a result of the pandemic: Median household income from work dropped by 69 per cent; Median per capita income dropped by 74 per cent; and 35 per cent of the applicants had their household incomes drop to nothing. With the research team, we discuss how the report informs Singapore’s discourse on poverty and inequality, the plight of low-income families experiencing insecurities across multiple intersecting dimensions, as well as their three policy recommendations and proposed policy directions. Dr. Stephanie Chok is lead author and an independent researcher, and community worker Suraendher Kumarr provided research assistance to the report. Resources referenced in the episode: The DBS report, "Same storm, different boat: Impact of COVID-19 on financial wellness in Singapore" Lien Centre for Social Innovation's study on food insecurity My review of Singapore's first nationwide street count on homelessness My conversation with Dr. Chok and Kumarr is part of our joint 2021 focus on researchers as well as on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

The Singaporean discourse on poverty and inequality is advancing, and while he argues that Singapore has done better than most under meritocratic systems, PhD candidate Nathan Peng Li also details both causes for hope and worry. He first explains that macro-level trends of inequality and mobility have been stable in Singapore. Next, we discuss concepts of “pragmatic meritocracy” and “time two meritocracy” and how they relate to “felt inequality”. Finally, he makes the case for “a healthy degree of equality of outcomes”. That is achieved, in his telling, when “children of lower-income families can reasonably compete against their better-off peers without the same level of private resources at their disposal”. He adds: “Outcomes must be at least equal enough that children from different backgrounds can identify with each other as members of the same society”. Nathan is a recipient of Singapore Management University’s overseas PhD scholarship and is currently a fourth-year graduate candidate at the University of British Columbia, in the political science department. Resources referenced in the episode: Nathan’s paper, “Inequality and the social compact in Singapore: Macro trends versus lived realities” The Ministry of Finance occasional paper socialservice.sg’s January 2021 book club on Michael J. Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit” My review of the paper on how debt reduction improves psychological functioning and changes decision making in Singapore My conversation with Nathan is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

What started as a published collection of stories to coincide with Singapore's National Day has now evolved into "The Birthday Collective" (https://thebirthdaycollective.org/), a not-for-profit that creates and holds space for conversations that matter to the country. With its editor Cherie Tseng, we discuss the collective’s initiatives beyond the “essay-writing crowd”, the value of giving conversational seats to children and centring their voices, and the importance of meeting communities and individuals where they are. We conclude on what she means by the “uncommon ground” and the collective’s plans for the future. Cherie is chief operations officer at a local fintech company and a mother of three. My conversation with Cherie is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

Final-year PhD candidate in the University of British Columbia’s Department of History Edgar Liao studies the history of youth in Singapore. His work is informed both by his archival work and his previous experience as a volunteer and youth leader in the youth work scene in the country. After helping us understand the theoretical (Foucauldian) concepts he employs, Edgar explains how Singapore’s youth policies as well as patterns of inclusion and exclusion inform the history of the present. He describes a dualistic discourse: Of the Singapore state empowering youths with resources for development, while scrutinising and policing their activity and activism at the same time. Edgar specialises in the global history of childhood and youth and the history of the Cold War, imperialism, and decolonisation in twentieth-century South East Asia. My conversation with Edgar is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

“Hard at Work: Life in Singapore” (https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/hard-at-work-life-in-singapore) is a collection of 60 stories, of people in contemporary Singapore talking about their work and life. With author Prof. Gerard Sasges, we discussed how he conceptualised the book and discussed the important elements of interviewing and ethnography. We also explored significant themes which emerged. "Hard at Work" was shortlisted for the 2020 Singapore Literature Prize and was a finalist for "Best Non-Fiction Title" at the 2020 Singapore Book Awards. Prof. Sasges received a PhD from UC Berkeley in 2006. In 2012 he joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) where he is an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies. The book was co-authored with Ng Shi Wen, a photographer, educator, and chronicler of everyday life. She is the founder of Photo Rikiki and has taught at NUS and the School of the Arts, Singapore. My conversation with Prof. Sasges is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

I am a huge fan of the “Saga” (https://aware.org.sg/saga/) podcast, which documents the saga surrounding gender-equality group AWARE, the Association of Women for Action and Research. Themes from the 2009 saga, poignantly highlighted across the 12 episodes, are still relevant in 2021 Singapore. Because I am a podcast junkie, speaking with Kelly Leow and Jasmine Ng, writers and producers of “Saga”, was my chance to learn about how they conceptualised and produced the podcast as well as the many challenges they faced. My conversation with Kelly and Jasmine is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

With so many aid and assistance schemes scattered across organisations, ministries, and institutions, how should social workers and volunteers identify the most relevant ones for the individuals and communities with whom they work? In response, Tan Weilie created SchemesSG (https://schemes.sg/), a searchable, indexable directory of schemes in Singapore. We hear more about how he got started with a minimum viable product and his own list, before we appeal to you, our listeners, to contribute to his crowdsourcing request. Weilie explained in his publicity Facebook post that the long-term vision is to have schemes curated and delivered conversationally, such that any user could type in “My client is a 45-year-old man with a 76-year-old chronically ill parent”, and relevant results would be generated. My conversation with Weilie is part of our 2021 focus on civil society groups, efforts, and issues in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

Postdoctoral fellow Rayner Tan, at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in the National University of Singapore, studies substance use, recovery from addiction, and trauma as risk factors for substance use disorders in Singapore. Because his research projects involve and centre on the community groups with whom he works, we talk about his community partnerships and the structural challenges communities face when trying to do research. We conclude on the importance of data and research advocacy in the country. My conversation with Rayner is part of our 2021 focus on researchers in Singapore (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/).

Gift for Good (giftforgood.io) is an online in-kind donations platform connecting non-profits to donors. Run by a team of students from the National University of Singapore Developer Student Club (previously featured on this podcast), it hopes to galvanise in-kind donations towards a more generous Singapore. Today, we speak to business head Yeo Qin-Liang and tech head Marcus Koh about Gift for Good and their plans for the future.