The Straits Times carried a book review on Lala-land: Singapore’s Seafood Heritage, a collection of essays edited by Yale-NUS Assistant Professor of Social Sciences (Environmental Studies) Anthony Medrano. Part ecological textbook, part historical survey and part recipe book, it includes contributions from Yale-NUS undergraduates and alumni.
This article was republished by Head Topics and Red Hot Singapore.
TODAY carried an article featuring the local literary scene, which noted that while some authors secure book deals through traditional channels, an alternative path to publication involves winning competitions that offer publishing contracts as prizes. The article featured Yale-NUS alumnus Max Pasakorn (Class of 2024), whose debut chapbook, A Study In Our Selves, was published in 2023 via this route by Neon Hemlock Press, a small, independent press based in the United States. In the article, Mr Pasakorn shared that “It (the chapbook) is a great representation of the voice that I was capable of in 2022. Now, I’m writing a full-length memoir, and it’s going to take me maybe one or two more years.”
This was republished by CNA, Head Topics and redhot.sg.
The Washington Examiner carried an article on the record-high prices in commodities and suggested that this might be a sign that the Federal Reserve is not succeeding in its efforts to drive down inflation. The article cited David Jacks, J.Y. Pillay Professor of Social Sciences (Economics) at Yale-NUS College who said that the activity in commodities markets reflects “remarkably loose fiscal policy.” Prof Jacks noted that the US government is running large fiscal deficits, meaning that it is spending more money than it is taking in, putting upward pressure on inflation. “The fact that the US is running a deficit in excess of 5% outside of a recession is without recent historical precedent and has natural spillover effects in asset markets and expectations of inflation,” he said.
The article was republished in The Denver Gazette.
The Straits Times published an article about the addition of up to 20,000 new public homes that will be built in Turf City, the first Bukit Timah HDB flats in almost 40 years. In the article, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Sim Ann noted that it may take some time for residents around Turf City to grapple with the addition of public housing and to digest this announcement. Yale-NUS Associate Professor of Social Sciences (Sociology, Urban Studies) and Head of Studies for Urban Studies Ho Kong Chong shared that with Singapore’s fourth-generation leaders pushing for the process of greater inclusivity in society, this process must work at the level of housing. Given Bukit Timah’s size and its high concentration of private residences, the area is prime for greater social diversity to be introduced.
CNA carried a commentary by Yale-NUS Adjunct Assistant Professor Jean Liu and Nanyang Business School Associate Professor and Assistant Dean Georgios Christopoulos on how the hotter weather in Singapore will change how we work and live.
The authors noted that understanding how people perceive temperature in a subjective manner and how they behave to minimise heat stress in hot weather can provide city planners with new tools to regulate the heat. If the full suite of factors that influence heat perception are considered, we can regulate the comfort of our environments without adding stress to global warming.
The Straits Times carried a book review on Singaporean Creatures: Histories Of Humans And Other Animals In The Garden City, a new volume of essays on environmental history. The book was edited by Timothy P. Barnard, associate professor in the department of history at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and includes an essay by Yale-NUS Assistant Professor of Social Sciences (Environmental Studies) Anthony Medrano.
The article noted that Asst Prof Medrano makes the case for the common tilapia as a “diasporic fish”, a non-native species which came to Singapore through imperial Japan’s colonial network in Indonesia. This eventually became a forgotten chapter of Singapore’s role in the expansion of global aquaculture.
International Higher Education published an article on the mental health crisis in Singapore’s higher education sector, co-written by former Yale-NUS Vice President (Student Affairs) and Dean of Students Dave Stanfield and Dr Andrew Tay, Chief Wellbeing Officer at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The writers noted that distributing the responsibility for mental health support across an institution can reduce the burden on a university counselling centre. It cited examples from Yale-NUS College which utilised trained student affairs staff and academic advisors to manage lower-level mental health issues including mild forms of academic stress. The College also introduced a for-credit “Resilience and Success in College” elective course for first-year students in order to equip them with strategies to respond to the challenges and adversity that they might face during college. The course was later adapted for graduating seniors to help support them through the possibly stressful phase of transitioning out of college.
The Monocle Minute, a daily newsletter by Monocle magazine, quoted Yale-NUS Vice President (Engagement) Trisha Craig in its Politics section on Lee Hsien Loong stepping down as Singapore’s prime minister, with Lawrence Wong succeeding him on 15 May this year. Dr Craig noted that Singapore’s transitions leave nothing to chance, with Mr Wong already tapped to succeed Mr Lee in 2022. She shared, “He [Mr Wong] has been in training to take over the top position and, having deemed him ready, [Mr] Lee is now stepping down.”
The Straits Times interviewed Yale-NUS alumna Loh Wen Qi (Class of 2023) who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Digital and Tech Policy at Sciences Po university in Paris. Wen Qi attended a reception on 11 April where about 200 overseas Singaporeans met Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Lawrence Wong. DPM Wong said that the relations between Singapore and France, which go back a long way, are in excellent shape and on an upward trajectory. Wen Qi, an urban studies graduate, said, “The EU has very interesting and forward-looking Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance policies. I wish to share with DPM Wong on how Singapore and EU can collaborate on AI governance.”
Berita Harian also carried the article.
MoneyFM89.3 featured Yale-NUS Vice President (Engagement) and Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences (Sociology and Political Science) Trisha Craig on the Washington Report segment of their show “The Evening Runway”. Dr Craig spoke about the first United States (US)-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit of its kind, specifically how it would address issues like the South China Sea dispute and what message the trilateral event conveyed to China. She also delved into Janet Yellen’s second visit to China as US Treasury secretary, the renaming of a US airport after former President Donald Trump, and funding of the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
