PE2023, our podcast mini-series, and two recent publications (August 2023)
“Why are we doing this in the first place?” and “We didn’t want it to be a touch-and-go thing”
Singaporeans go to the polls on September 1, 2023 to elect our new president. We choose from three candidates: former senior minister and deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund GIC Ng Kok Song, and former CEO of NTUC Income Tan Kin Lian.
An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Singaporean youth, or about 15 per cent of the electorate, will be voting in the presidential election for the first time. In the lead up to Polling Day, in this podcast mini-series, we speak to three first-time voters – all of whom are students – about their thoughts on the presidential candidates, the institution of the presidency, as well as the issues and considerations they are prioritising.
#01: Our PE2023 young voters mini-series
Listen to the full mini-series:
Much ado about “independence”, PE2023’s young voters (with Rosamund Lim)
Constitution? Ceremonial? Community?, PE2023’s young voters (with Liang Weiting)
A “GE2020 Jamus Lim debate moment”?, PE2023’s young voters (with Aamir Bana)
Like the entire PE2023 campaign thus far, the presidential forum offered little beyond scripted platitudes and vague generalities. Be that as it may, Isaac Neo and I sat down after the forum to chat about our general impressions, and how the limits of the forum modality perhaps reflected the limits and ambiguities associated with Singapore’s elected presidency.
Separately, earlier this month, together with new co-host Estella Ho, we picked a book of interest to discuss and explore. We chose “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. In the episode, we first explained why and how we chose the book, shared what we liked and didn’t enjoy, and drew some Singaporean connections and personal reflections.
#02: Two recent publications
I recently published two articles about compulsory school-based CIP/VIA and voluntourism in Singapore. I'm especially interested in how to better tailor and deliver community service, so as to improve youth civic engagement and political participation. There are free e-prints linked here, but feel free to let me know if you’d like PDF copies.
"Why are we doing this in the first place?": Youth motivations, school environments, and volunteer experiences in a system of compulsory school-based volunteerism
We studied interactions between youth motivations and school environments in Singapore's system of compulsory school-based volunteerism, highlighting the importance of schools with a strong intrinsic culture of volunteerism and high-quality volunteer experiences.
"We didn’t want it to be a touch-and-go thing": Exploring shifts across short-term youth voluntourism outputs and long-term outcomes and impact
I've been thinking about the short-term outputs as well as long-term outcomes and impact associated with youth voluntourism, particularly (and methodologically) when young adults look back to evaluate their past overseas experiences as adolescents.
#03: Global news roundup
There were deadly floods in China, mudslides in India, and wildfires in the United States, including in Hawaii, the deadliest in the country in more than a century. Also in the US, in Montana, a judge ruled in favour of 16 children and young adults who said that their constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment" was violated by state agencies. The move which establishes government duty to protect individuals from climate change.
Also read about the following in this month’s roundup:
Geopolitical tensions and breakthroughs;
Electoral developments; as well as
Political incarceration.