Author: guanyinmiao

A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting. Carlos Castaneda.
Four boys on bicycles (Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash)

The Book Club: “Of Boys and Men: Why the modern male is struggling, why it matters, and what to do about it” (Richard V. Reeves)

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We’re trying something new today, and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for some time. Together with a new co-host, Estella Ho, we’ve picked a book of interest to discuss and explore. For this episode, the book we’ve chosen is titled “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It” by US journalist and scholar Richard V. Reeves. Estella and I first explain why and how we chose the book, share what we liked and didn’t enjoy, and draw some Singaporean connections and personal reflections.

Parliament of Singapore (Photo by VENUS MAJOR on Unsplash)

Politically speaking: MP’s legislative assistants and parliamentary preparations (with MP Louis Ng)

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Singapore’s members of parliament receive an allowance to engage legislative assistants to help them with their parliamentary questions and speeches. Different members adopt different strategies and use the allowance differently. Some have larger teams who split the allowance, and in other instances volunteers may also be involved. Across two episodes, we learn more about the roles, responsibilities, and motivations of legislative assistants, the process behind drafting and re-drafting parliamentary questions and speeches, as well as how parliamentarians and their teams integrate feedback from walkabouts.

Today, in this first part, we hear from Louis Ng Kok Kwang, a member of the governing People’s Action Party. He was previously on this podcast, highlighting his advocacy for social work and social workers in parliament.

Children in Singapore (Photo by Alaric Sim on Unsplash)

Leading a young direct-service charity as a young leader (Glyph Community’s Lim Si Hui)

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On this podcast, we’ve moved away from direct features of charities and social service agencies, not only because there are so many with interesting stories, but also because a greater focus on systemic trends and structural solutions – involving multiple parties – feels more productive. Nevertheless, the story of Glyph Community and one of its founders, Lim Si Hui, was very compelling.

Glyph is a charity offering non-academic enrichment programmes to disadvantaged children, and 26-year-old Si Hui herself dropped out of university to work at and manage Glyph full-time. Given her young age, leading a direct-service charity, I was interested in how she managed staff and volunteers, challenges she’s faced, and how she navigated the broader social work and social service space in Singapore as a young leader.