Reflections

Dr Toh Tai Chong wears many hats. He is a marine biologist by training, a community leader by choice, and a senior lecturer with appointments across two departments in NUS. Across these different roles runs a common thread: a commitment to understanding how people and communities come together to care for the places they inhabit.

If you ask people at CTPCLC about their Centre Manager, Ms Elsie Lim, you’ll hear remarkably similar descriptions. Colleagues often describe Elsie as the person “who keeps the engines running” or simply as the most patient person they know.

Whenever one speaks of the concept of community, we tend to associate this with specific places where persons live, and they often call it home. However, this is not always the case, especially in a post-place world, where innumerable virtual communities now reside within digitized environments.

Carin and Mei Ting has completed their research project on “Familiar Strangers – Understanding the Singaporean Presence in Johor Bahru”. We invited the duo to share their experience and what they have enjoyed most in doing a practicum with CTPCLC.

For the most part, being a youth is both an exciting and equally terrifying time of one’s life. Armed with boundless energy and an infallible desire to make their mark in the world, youths are a bundle of untapped potential. Yet, the most arduous task of being a youth is often to figure out one’s identity, values and connections to others around them.

For most of us, International Women’s Day falls annually on the 8th of March, reminding us to celebrate and recognise the achievements of the women around us. Yet, for Alice, whose work often involves championing women’s empowerment, every day is International Women’s Day.

On 8th November 2022, Thai communities around the world celebrated Loy Krathong, a traditional festival that also takes place in other Southeast Asian societies like Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. For Thais, it usually occurs on a November evening during the full moon within the 12th month of the Thai Lunar Calendar

At its heart, diversity and inclusion is about creating a common ground for people of different backgrounds to have a conversation. Beyond that, it is also about understanding our own socio-cultural identities, and how these identities shape our interactions with others.

In Bangkok, just beyond the tourist belt of malls, historical sites, novel attractions and its colourful night life, what is sometimes less talked about are informal street-level markets that emerge within various neighbourhoods of the city’s urban landscape.