Category: socialservice.sg Podcast (2021/22)

"It's amazing how this project has unknowingly reunited our family in powerful ways": The HappyUrns initiative

“It’s amazing how this project has unknowingly reunited our family in powerful ways”: The HappyUrns initiative

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“What is something that brought you joy today?” That’s the question one is encouraged to contemplate as one explores the website of HappyUrns, an initiative to help different groups of Singaporeans engage meaningfully with death and end-of-life topics with their loved ones. With team members Amanda Swee and Adya Sadanand, we have a thoughtful conversation about their three projects – “Residents’ Urns”, the “Celebration Kit”; and the “Life in a Year Book” – and for each project you’ll hear powerful stories and reflections of their design experiences and interpersonal interactions. This episode is a great complement to an earlier episode with representatives of “Both Sides, Now”, who work to normalise end-of-life conversations through artistic projects and public engagement. 

"The hunger report, part two": COVID-19's impact on food-insecure Singaporean households

“The hunger report, part two”: COVID-19’s impact on food-insecure Singaporean households

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Last year, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation published Singapore’s first nationally representative food insecurity study, finding that about 10 per cent of Singaporean households experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months. This year, the centre’s updated, second part of “The Hunger Report” explored two related questions. First, what is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in Singapore? And second, how can the unique needs of food-insecure families be met? We take a deeper dive into the report with members of the report team, Dr. Dalvin Sidhu, Dr. Tania Nagpaul, and Ms. Ng Weng Lin.

COVID-19's effect on children's outdoor play and associations with family income (with Dr. Jonathan Huang)

COVID-19’s effect on children’s outdoor play and associations with family income (with Dr. Jonathan Huang)

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Using two child cohorts, Dr. Jonathan Huang and his team at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Studies at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research sought to understand – in a journal article – the lifestyle changes experienced by Singaporean children after the country’s circuit-breaker as well as the potential long-term outcomes. In our conversation, we learn more about the research findings and methodology, future directions, and the potential practice and policy implications.

Role-playing as a Singaporean civil servant in “What’s the Matter, Mr. Monster?” (with director Roshan Singh Sambhi)

Role-playing as a Singaporean civil servant in “What’s the Matter, Mr. Monster?” (with director Roshan Singh Sambhi)

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Inspired by the short story “SIN” in Singaporean writer Ng Yi-Sheng’s collection “Lion City”, “What’s the Matter, Mr. Monster” is a dialogue-driven game where one role-plays as a civil servant settling complaints of otherworldly creatures settling into Singapore. With director Roshan Singh Sambhi, we dive into its genesis at Sing Lit Station’s Sing Lit Blk Party, features of the game, and its potential for community and civic engagement.

The future of... Water and water scarcity (with Wateroam’s Lim Chong Tee)

The future of… Water and water scarcity (with Wateroam’s Lim Chong Tee)

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Social enterprise Wateroam has been working to build a world without prolonged thirst, and today with one of its co-founders Lim Chong Tee we want to push the conversation a little further, by challenging him to share his big ideas about the future of water and water scarcity. After that, we talk about Wateroam’s plans in the next five years, and then the next 50 years, before rounding up with his personal development and his thoughts on the socio-political situation in Myanmar in relation to the work of the growing social enterprise.