Singapore is a highly developed and prosperous country with a high standard of living. According to World Happiness Report 2022, Singapore arguably had an environment well set up for happiness, with strong economy, low level of crime and corruptions, well-supported and developed healthcare as well as education system. Average over 2019 to 2021, Singapore was ranked as the 2nd Asia’s happiest nation just behind Taiwan, while ranking as the 27th happiest nation in the list of World’s Happiest Countries. However, are Singaporeans really happy? Why, then, do they still have more negative sentiments (worry, sadness, anger) than the positive ones (laughter, enjoyment, and doing or learning something interesting), based on both the result of the World Happiness Report 2022 and at personal level?
Jubiland: Rework Happiness is a research-based design project and thought-provoking initiative that invites audiences to rethink what really matters in cultivating happiness through play and activities in an exhibition setting. The project intends to address the challenges of finding happiness, raising awareness in the value of qualitative relationships, the importance of pursuing meaningful goals, as well as re-evaluate how to consistently nurture and sustain happiness.
Mai Kiasu Lah!! is a semi-fictional graphic novel told through the perspective of the author, an adult who is reflecting on her experiences with Singapore’s kiasu education culture and performance-centric society. The author characterises her fear of losing out as an imaginary monster. Through a series of short stories, the author explores her relationship with this kiasu mentality and academic validation growing up in Singapore’s education system. This collection of stories hopes to challenge the performance-centred nature of Singaporean society, and question the effectiveness of a meritocratic education system on nurturing young creatives in Singapore. This project therefore aims to shed some light on this issue and not to solve it entirely, but to provide a sense of solace to those who feel the same way.
This project aims to tackle the issue of paper waste created by National Technological University (NTU) School of Art Design and Media (ADM) Visual Communication (VC) students by implementing a circular system of management within the department. By creatively repurposing the design waste generated by design students, this project hopes to reduce the amount of paper waste that ends up in landfills and encourage more sustainable practices within the design community. The goal is to start small and create a possible model that can be replicated in other departments and institutions that have paper waste, and contribute towards a more sustainable and environmentally conscious society.
Mother Knows…Best? is a semi-fictional and semi-autobiographical illustrated publication based on a series of conversations with my family and close friends. The publication explores stories of emotional inheritance in Singapore from a Generation-Z perspective and serves as a means of self-reflection of my own experience.
Emotional inheritance is the transmission of emotions from generation to generation. In studying the intergenerational transmission of trauma, also known as generational trauma, where the effects of a traumatic incident get passed down from those who directly experienced the incident to subsequent generations, we investigate how our ancestors’ unprocessed emotions, especially trauma, are passed down as an emotional inheritance, leaving a trace in our minds and in those of future generations.
Through storytelling, the publication will allow greater awareness and understanding of this phenomenon, and educate the various nuanced and layered ways in which emotional inheritance manifests in family units and their dynamics. This will encourage readers to make sense of their own experience, as well as provide them with a culturally appropriate, pragmatic and accessible means for retrospection.
