socialservice.sg presents: "Before the Ballot"

Today, we are joined by journalist-turned-political commentator and professor Bertha Henson , to talk about her new book, "GE2020: Fair or Foul?" (purchase the book via Epigram Bookstore ). We will first discuss her case for the People's Action Party (PAP) to level the electoral playing field and to increase the nine-day campaign period. She then evaluates the PAP backbenchers and the 4G leadershi...

BeTheWire ( https://www.facebook.com/BeTheWire/ ) is a ground-up initiative which produces accessible and guided bite-sized videos and posts so as to equip, educate, and empower persons of all abilities to bridge the digital divide. The topics include digital literacy, communication platforms, as well as e-shopping and e-payment. We speak with founder Bryan Neo , who wishes to spread the word to m...

The National University of Singapore Developer Student Club , or the DSC ( https://dsc.comp.nus.edu.sg/ ), is a community of university students focused on developing diverse solutions for non-profit organisations in Singapore. We ask Shawn Ten , a final year NUS undergraduate - who was co-founder and internal lead - about the beginnings of the club, its projects, and expectations for the future.

Today, we speak with two law students from the National University of Singapore, co-founders of the online resource platform, COV-AID ( nus-covaid.com ). Given the emergence of laws, regulations, and legal issues throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, COV-AID seeks to make the complex, simple, by offering information about government grants, legislation related to COVID-19, as well as freque...

Throughout GE2020 and in its aftermath, the minimum wage and the Progressive Wage Model - or the PWM - have emerged as key policy proposals, even if the discourse is not new. At least five opposition parties have proposed a minimum wage or a living wage, and in response the ruling party promised to extend the PWM to more industries, beyond the cleaning, security, and landscape sectors. A central c...

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. A day after Polling Day, this is a special episode of the five takeaways from GE2020, in five minutes and five words: Mandate, leader, consolidation, COVID-19, and weathering.

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 9 of GE2020, the eve of Cooling-Off Day, Silver Linings in a Post-GE2020 Singapore.

In “What can we learn?”, we chat with academics and experts to understand the election through more analytical lenses. Three weeks ago , I asked veteran journalist Bertha Henson about her experience of reporting an election and the election issues to which she is paying attention. Today, on the eve of Cooling-Off Day, we ask her how GE2020 compares to past general elections, how she’s been followi...

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 8 of GE2020, The Sengkang Spotlight. In five minutes, hear about how Sengkang GRC is a microcosm of the GE2020 campaign.

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 7 of GE2020, The Issues, Please?. In five minutes, hear about how Singaporeans are clamouring for the campaign to focus on more substantive issues, and the ruling PAP's c...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. 28-year-old Teo Yu Sheng is the founder of Heckin’ Unicorn, a Singapore-based queer brand. Before and during this general election, through its popular social media platforms, Yu Sheng and his brother have also published articles on the price of being que...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. Aljunied was the first GRC to be won by an opposition party in 2011, and 23-year-old Royston Long will vote in this constituency for the first time. He tells us how he has been following the election through the party manifestoes as well as the party and...

In “What can we learn?”, we chat with academics and experts to understand the election through more analytical lenses. A week before Nomination Day, we spoke to researchers Loke Hoe-Yeong and Dr. Elvin Ong on opposition “unity”, party credibility, and electoral strategies . More than halfway through the GE2020 campaign, we catch up with them to learn more about their assessments of the three main...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. CAPE, or the Community for Advocacy and Political Education , is a student-run organisation based at Yale-NUS College. This independent, non-partisan community of students works to increase political literacy and consciousness, and it does so through diff...

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 6 of GE2020, #IStandWithRaeesah. In five minutes, hear about the police reports made against WP's Raeesah Khan, the five correction directions issued by the Pofma office,...

With growing national interest in the topics of poverty and inequality, we offer a brief sketch of social welfare policies and discourse between GE2015 and GE2020. We also look at the party manifestos and positions for the election this year.

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 5 of GE2020, The Pofma Election. In five minutes, hear about the Pofma correction directions which have been issued thus far, as well as some glimmers of hope, through co...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. Today, we speak to 21-year-old Nigel Li , who has been coordinating “Singapore Votes” ( singaporevotes.com ), a student-run elections resource. We ask him about how he got started as well as his plans for the website after GE2020, and Nigel also shares wh...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. This will be the second time 28-year-old Klinsen Soh will vote in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, which saw one of the fiercest oratorical competition between the People’s Action Party and the Singapore Democratic Party in 2015. Today, we ask Klinsen about how h...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. Today, we speak to 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Hakim bin Dasuki , who has been following the election by reviewing party posters, press releases, and manifestoes, from a design perspective. Given the importance of the Internet and social media in GE2020, we c...

In “What can we learn?”, we chat with academics and experts to understand the election through more analytical lenses. Today, we have two guests. We are halfway through GE2020, and we therefore have a conversation about Nomination Day, the televised English debate, as well as mid-campaign impressions. Dhevarajan Devadas is a public policy researcher and historian, and Mohamed Salihin Subhan is a p...

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 4 of GE2020, Still a Pandemic Election. In five minutes, hear about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the timing of the election, as well as the NCMP scheme and the 10...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. Today, we speak to young environmentalist Woo Qiyun , who recently graduated from the National University of Singapore. The 23-year-old shares more about how she’s been following the election – through reading manifestoes, watching speeches, and compiling...

In "What’s going on with young voters?”, we chat with young Singaporean voters on their perspectives as well as their constituency observations. Today, we speak to two young voters who volunteer for the political parties. I speak first with 25-year-old Joel Sherard Chow , who volunteers with the Workers’ Party, and then with 26-year-old Clarence Ching , who volunteers with the People’s Action Part...

The Nine Days is a socialservice.sg podcast covering the 2020 general election in Singapore (#GE2020), through daily five-minute news summaries, conversations with young voters, and interviews with academics and experts. It’s Day 3 of GE2020, A Muted, Rally-Less Campaign. In five minutes, hear about the party political broadcasts and the effects of the lack of physical rallies.