Food security, which refers to the access to sufficient, nutritious food needed for a healthy life, has become an increasing concern in Singapore. There are different factors causing food insecurity, such as financial constraints and the lack of knowledge regarding a nutritious diet. Singapore’s dependence on food imports from diverse sources is also another significant aspect, following the COVID-19 pandemic’s global supply chain disruption.
On the afternoon of 21 September 2021, the Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre hosted "Hungry no More: Community approaches in food insecurity in Singapore", a roundtable discussion where we aim to raise awareness about food insecurity in Singapore and ignite conversations on how different sectors within our community can be mobilized to tackle this challenge. We were pleased to have Professor Bernard Tan, Senior Vice Provost (Undergrad Education), NUS, as our Guest of Honor for this event.
Find out what went down during the event here:
Moderator
Professor Albert Teo
Acting Dean, School of Management, Tung Wah College, Hong Kong
Professor Albert Teo is the Acting Dean in the School of Management, Tung Wah College, Hong Kong. He is active in community engagement, and his academic interests include social entrepreneurship, community development, social impact measurement, organisational ecology, institutional theory, and social networks. Prior to his relocation to Hong Kong, Albert was an associate professor in the School of Business, National University of Singapore. He also held various leadership roles while in NUS: founding director of Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre as well as Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy; and Deputy Director of the University Scholars Programme.
Panellists
Mr Gerard Ee
Executive Director, Beyond Social Services
Mr Gerard Ee spearheads Beyond Social Services, which rallies different segments of our society to look at our social challenges, especially those found in Singapore’s public rental housing estates. Beyond Social Services facilitates community-building in low-income neighbourhoods to create a nurturing environment for children and youth to grow into confident, caring people who have the opportunity to pursue their aspirations and give back to their community. After 30 years of service as a youth worker, family therapist and community-builder, he is a firm believer that social work is a peace-building process that engages people to be a little kinder, fairer and more cooperative.
Dr Satveer Kaur-Gill
Instructor, Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre
Dr Satveer Kaur-Gill teaches at the Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre, NUS. She is a critical health communication scholar with a research focus on the health meanings, health experiences, and health inequalities faced by impoverished communities. Satveer's research primarily examines how culture and structure intersect to tell us about the health fragilities experienced by disenfranchised, marginalized, and minoritized populations.
Mr Bjorn Low
Co-founder, Edible Garden City
Mr Bjorn Low is a practicing urban farmer and a social changemaker. He is an Ashoka fellow, a young leader of the World Cities Summit and the co-founder of Edible Garden City, an urban farming social enterprise. Bjorn’s practice and research focuses on identifying the value that urban agriculture brings to the communities of highly dense and food import dependent cities such as Singapore. He has a keen interest on social ecology and how the rapidly aging population present a new opportunity for urban care farms to play a bigger role in the rejuvenation of cities.
Mr Ng Aik Yang
Co-founder, The Maju Collective
Mr Ng Aik Yang is a CTPCLC fellow (Class of 2022) and the co-founder of The Maju Collective, an education collective that was targeted at building connections between food and education. Through the initiative, his team sought to ask: how might young people contribute to creating collaborative community across the food ecosystem? What might youth ownership look like amidst the multi-faceted challenges in food security?
Ms Sim Bee Hia
CEO, Food from the Heart
Ms Sim Bee Hia is the Chief Executive Officer at Food from the Heart, a food charity that serves the needy in Singapore. She has rich experience in non-profit and government organisations, having served as the Secretary-General at Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, and as an Assistant Director at the People’s Association. Beyond work, Ms Sim continues to give her time in community service. She also gives back to her alma mater Chung Cheng High School (Main) and is currently a member of its School Management Committee. For her dedication, she was conferred the Public Service Star (BBM) in 2019 and the Public Service Medal (PBM) in 2010 by the President of Singapore.