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CHAIRPERSON

Dr Theodora Lam, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Singapore is a global city-state with a diverse demography and a multicultural social fabric. The bedrock for Singapore’s stability is built on the unwavering emphasis for social interactions between people of different ethnic identities, country of origins, and socio-economic backgrounds. This is especially so in the case of residential neighbourhoods, where there is a set of ethnic and immigrant quota in place to mitigate the formation of social enclaves. In-spite of these housing policies, recent housing data have revealed a strong proclivity towards racial and class segregations at the regional level. With this emerging schism in mind, how does the social and built environment shape diversity inclusion, and other socio-psychological experience in Singapore? What are the cultural processes, individual or sociological forces that underpin these effects? This study combines survey data and geographic information to produce a comprehensive overview on how the lived environment shapes multicultural inclusion and subjective wellbeing. In line with other empirical evidence, locations with concomitantly higher concentration of ethnic minorities and immigrant households demonstrated greater diversity exclusion, lower social trust, and quality of life, but proximity to shared spaces such as community clubs mitigated the impact of diversity. These environmental factors help predicted the outcome beyond the respondents’ socio-demographic conditions. The findings are discussed in the context on how spatial big data can be harnessed to enhance reliable social sensemaking – particularly in urban planning and estate management – to help foster a more collegial, caring, and resilient community.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Leong Chan-Hoong is Associate Professor at the Centre for Applied Research, Singapore University of Social Sciences. He is the Singapore national representative for the World Association for Public Opinion Research, and a Fellow and Elected Board member of the International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR), where he chairs the Rae and Dan Landis Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award Committee. Formerly a board member of the National Council of Social Service’s Advocacy and Research Team, Chan-Hoong presently serves in the National Integration Workgroup on Community, an advisory board in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth that promotes foreigner-local relations. A prolific writer and editor, Chan-Hoong has served as Consultant Editor for the International Journal of Intercultural Relations (IJIR) and Asian Journal of Social Psychology. He was guest editor for the IJIR’s 2013 and 2020 Special Issues “Multiculturalism: Beyond ethnocultural diversity and contestations” and “Viewing intercultural adaptation and social inclusion through constructs of national identity”, respectively. An avid life-long learner, he read a PhD Psychology (2006) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and MSc’s in Statistics (2011) and Applied Geographic Information Systems (2019) from the National University of Singapore. He is now setting up a non-profit organisation that promotes spatial wellness.

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this webinar has been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to aritm@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the webinar.