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Singaporeans Still Delay End-of-Life Plans

Posted on by Rosie Ching

Death has never been rated more important in the circle of life of by Singaporeans, and yet it remains the least acted upon. That is the powerful paradox laid bare in a landmark national survey conducted by Singapore Management University (SMU), led by Principal Lecturer of Statistics Rosie Ching, whose project Hatch.Match.Despatch. entered its third and most formidable chapter in 2025.

 

Across three months, Rosie and her 101 undergraduates criss-crossed the nation, collecting 2,187 anonymised responses through face-to-face, online, telephone and remote interviews. Their goal was to unearth how Singaporeans really perceive and plan for the three great life events of birth, marriage and death, and why the last is most often left unspoken. Supported by the National Environment Agency and Direct Funeral Services Pte. Ltd., the survey marked the crescendo of a trilogy that began in 2018.

 

In this 2025 edition, the numbers speak as much as the silence. While a record 81% of citizens say they are moderately to highly open to discussing death, only 12.9% have both spoken and written their end-of-life wishes. More than half, 52%, have done neither. Just 15.8% have bought any form of end-of-life insurance. Fewer than 4 in 10 have written a will. Barely 1 in 10 has completed legal instruments like the lasting powers of attorney or advanced medical directives.

 

In a nation renowned for meticulous planning, baby bonuses, BTO queues, wedding planners, death remains unscripted.

 

“A few months after this survey ended,” Rosie shared, “my doctor told me how helpless she and her siblings felt when their father passed without a single arrangement in place. As a teenager, I saw many of my friends die in hospital. I’ve stood by their coffins. I am still in touch with their parents. Death is a door we will all walk through one day.”

 

Her conviction, shared with unflinching purpose with her students, transformed classrooms into training laboratories. Before hitting the field, everyone was trained by the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) on how to navigate conversations on death with care and confidence.

 

Through statistical rigour and unfiltered fieldwork, her students analysed Rosie’s signature creation, the End-of-Life Index (ELI), a statistically weighted score from 0 to 100 measuring openness and preparedness across gender, race, religion, education and age. Women surpass the 50-point barrier for the first time, with 50.93 compared to men’s 48.5. Eurasians lead in openness at 57.18, a surge from 43.85 in 2018. Postgraduates score 53.6 versus 37.6 for the primary-educated. Age reveals a harsh reality where openness peaks at 40–49, then declines sharply (correlation: –0.6932) Just 2% are moved by public campaigns, with the rest in quiet inertia.

 

Yet, 69% of Singaporeans say death should be “very to completely commemorated”, more than birth or marriage. Digital traditions are rising, with 72% now accepting of e-angpows for funerals, up from 26% in 2018. But when asked when they would start planning for death, one-third still say only after illness.

 

“Death is not a spreadsheet,” Rosie said. “It’s a mother praying her kids will be okay, a son wishing he knew what his father wanted. If we can plan first-month birthdays, why not the final goodbye?”

 

Hatch.Match.Despatch. is not merely survey work, but a national conversation choreographed through Statistics, staged with empathy, and led by Rosie’s statistics for social impact where they travelled to Assisi Hospice, Garden of Peace, Singapore’s only land ash-scattering garden, and funeral parlours, witnessing firsthand what most Singaporeans have not.

 

Students’ testimonials overflow with meaning and poignancy:

 

Kim Sung Hoon: “I learnt more life lessons than in all my classes combined. Ms Ching went above and beyond.”

 

Kishore Kirubakaran: “This was real-life learning I needed, the perfect chance to study Statistics with the best professor at SMU.”

 

Lim Heng Rong: “I never imagined becoming so open to talking about death. One of the greatest impacts is making my family aware of end-of-life arrangements they were previously unaware of.”

 

Students in 7Alpha, 9Tau and 7Chi: “End-of-Life planning became the most unexpectedly fascinating topic of our university careers. We were not just taught statistics, but also empathy, responsibility, and the courage to speak where others go silent.”

 

Aurelia Cheng: “I wouldn’t trade this for anything. What Ms Ching taught us will stay with me for life.”

 

Hatch.Match.Despatch is continuing education in mortality and meaning, a call to everyone to embrace end-of-life planning with openness and love.

 

Full results are available at www.screeningstatistics.com/despatch.

Strategies for Acing Life

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

From taking our first steps to upskilling during our careers, learning is a lifelong endeavour. Our experiences and brains’ neural networks shape how we perceive and process information.

In a shifting social, digital and professional landscape, learning effectively and continuously is essential.

Drawing on research into brain networks, social interactions and learning techniques, NTU’s researchers offer tips to help us – and our children – unlock potential at every age.

Provide a positive and warm environment for your baby

Children learn by observing how adults behave and react, especially when they are unsure of what to do. Caregivers also facilitate learning by directing the child’s attention to information that is important, providing timely cues and responses to ensure the child stays engaged when learning.

“Caregivers can scaffold their child’s learning by using social cues such as making eye contact, calling the child’s name and using ‘infant-directed speech’ with the child,” says Prof Victoria Leong, who examines the neural processes between parents and infants that support learning through observation and interaction.

“These cues help the child pay attention to information that is relevant and prioritise learning it.” However, if a caregiver often reacts negatively, a child might copy those behaviours and learn to respond negatively too.

“Over time, these ‘negative biases’ in understanding and reacting to events in life can seed vulnerabilities for poor mental health. That’s why providing a positive, warm and responsive environment early in life is so important,” says Prof Leong, Director of the Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research Centre.

Get involved in your child’s developmental needs early

Neurodevelopmental conditions in children, such as autism spectrum disorder, can hamper the development of higher order mental skills, such as those needed to focus and plan.

To reduce the lifelong impact of such conditions, it’s important for parents to recognise and address them early, says Prof Leong, who is also Deputy Director of the Cambridge-NTU Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition.

Most clinical screening tools can only be applied for children aged two and older, which misses a crucial window for early detection and intervention. So, Prof Leong’s team is developing an infant screening tool and a play-based programme that parents can use at home to help babies with mild to moderate neurodevelopmental risk improve their developing cognition.

The programme uses “smart toys” with sensors to record a child’s interactions during play. Algorithms analyse the data to recommend play activities that support a child’s development. 

Give students space to be creative and learn from one another

A growing child’s learning is further shaped in school. When given space to be curious and draw their own conclusions with the support of adults, children learn to build their own understanding of the world around them, a skill they can continue using throughout life.

Instead of focusing on getting the correct answer, parents and teachers can encourage students to independently explore and make sense of new ideas.

“Sometimes, with good intentions, we as adults intervene too much and we hinder children’s natural curiosity,” says Dr Teo Chew Lee, who is Deputy Centre Director at the National Institute of Education’s Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice.

A knowledge-building and learning-analytics expert, Dr Teo is behind the student Knowledge Building Design Studio, where students of different ages and from different schools come together to explore sustainability issues, investigate problems and co-create solutions.

“For example, we can engage students in discussion using sentence starters, such as ‘This idea doesn’t quite explain…’,” says Dr Teo. “That way, they will learn to appreciate different ideas, voice disagreements and build on one another’s ideas.”

Challenge students to work beyond their abilities

Teachers tend to over-structure classroom activities and minimise uncertainties, out of concern that students – especially lower-achieving ones – cannot follow through.

This strategy may aid procedural learning to some extent, but will limit the students’ potential in the long run, as it does not foster the students’ ability to think critically or challenge them to stretch their limits.

Instead, Dr Teo encourages educators to recognise students’ ability to learn and grow through trial and error. Rather than stepping in to help once students get frustrated and stuck, it may be more beneficial to support them from the sidelines and let them solve problems independently.

“In a positive sense, frustration and inquiry are actually what’s required for them to be creative,” she says.

Overcoming challenges also builds growth mindsets. Dr Teo says: “Seeing yourself achieving something you previously thought impossible can encourage you to keep learning.”

Instil a learning and development work culture

Learning continues into adulthood and companies should create an environment conducive to learning so employees can keep up with rapidly changing developments.

Assoc Prof Trevor Yu and Principal Research Fellow Dr Vijayan Munusamy from the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE) suggest that since formal training can be costly, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can implement alternative methods like on-the-job training and informal learning, creating spaces for employees to learn from one another.

Assoc Prof Yu specialises in helping organisations design and implement practices that attract, engage and retain their best talent, while Dr Munusamy’s research focuses on learning and development, human capital and intercultural leadership.

Involving employees in decision-making can also promote a sense of ownership in their learning journey.

Resource-constrained employers like SMEs can still cultivate a learning culture that supports employee development. The key is to be resourceful, leverage available support and integrate learning into daily work, say the researchers.

Move and interact more as you age

While some brain functions decline with age, the brain remains remarkably adaptable. It can build scaffolds, which are alternative neural pathways, to accomplish tasks in new ways. 

Engaging in physical activity and social interaction helps keep these diverse neural pathways active, enabling older adults to continue learning effectively.

“So interventions that combine exercise with cognitive engagement have been shown to enhance executive function and processing speed, which are the core abilities that support ongoing learning,” says Prof Annabel Chen, Director of CRADLE.

Prof Chen, a clinical neuropsychologist who studies how brain networks influence thinking and behaviour, adds: “We also observed that older adults relied more on movement-related and deeper brain areas when faced with challenging tasks, suggesting they were finding new ways to compensate. These scaffolds help people stay mentally active and support learning well into later life.”

Lessons from a pandemic

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Five years ago, COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the globe. Most countries enacted months-long lockdowns or implemented extensive movement restrictions and testing. Planes were grounded, businesses were shuttered and healthcare systems were stretched to their limits.

Today, we continue to grapple with outbreaks of different types of infectious diseases, many of which are zoonotic and spread from animals to humans, such as mpox, the H5N1 bird flu and ebola. These diseases have been met with varying responses.

“Society’s response to COVID-19 and other infectious disease outbreaks has been a complex mix of successes and failures,” says Professor of Infectious Diseases Laurent Renia at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in NTU.

“The speeds at which diagnostic tools and vaccines were developed and deployed demonstrated the power of collaborative science,” he adds. “But the combination of misinformation, the politicisation of public health and, in some instances, ineffective and poorly explained state responses generated deep societal divisions that severely hampered any chance of an effective overall response.”

Additionally, as healthcare systems dealt with the pandemic, and investors and governments came together in an urgent rush to address COVID-19, deaths from one of the world’s most fatal diseases, tuberculosis (TB), rose.

According to expert estimates, a diversion of resources to COVID-19 from TB efforts could have resulted in 1.4 million additional deaths from the disease between 2020 and 2025.

TB expert Prof Gerhard Grüber from NTU’s School of Biological Sciences believes that TB research has been set back by several years as well.

“Because we are less aware of TB, we are also not so careful anymore,” he adds. 

Building resilience

The impact of COVID-19 underscores the need to develop resilient global health systems that can effectively respond to immediate crises without neglecting long-term health priorities. Beyond the immediate demands of crisis response, we must consider the broader context of industrialisation, climate change and globalisation.

Many pathogens originate from animals, before making the jump to humans. As a result, activities that bring people in close contact with animals may facilitate the transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans.

“Deforestation and climate change have increased human-animal contact, and this raises the risk of new outbreaks,” explains Prof Renia. “Mitigating climate change by reducing emissions, protecting biodiversity and promoting sustainable land use is crucial to minimising these environmental drivers.”

Currently, Prof Renia and his team are investigating the molecular mechanisms behind the spillover of monkey parasites into humans to further mitigate some of these zoonotic risks.

The interconnectedness of human society has also accelerated the spread of infectious diseases, and there is a need for additional measures to complement existing border screening procedures to contain outbreaks.

At the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Asst Prof Keisuke Ejima uses mathematical models to understand the transmission of infectious diseases. One of his recent studies demonstrated that border screening for mpox may not be effective on its own to prevent the virus’ entry into a country due to the disease’s long incubation period and limitations in viral detectability during the pre-symptomatic phase.

While his study highlights the need for science-backed policymaking, Asst Prof Ejima notes that scientific research to inform policy is time-sensitive. But during global health emergencies, sufficient data may not be available to promptly develop, evaluate and implement effective measures. In such cases, a robust global health surveillance system that enables early collection of key clinical and epidemiological data is crucial.

“This includes real-time data sharing between countries, genomic sequencing of viruses and the integration of artificial intelligence-driven predictions with public health decision-making,” he adds.

Innovative treatments

Beyond immediate surveillance and containment, research into the human immune response is also necessary for developing effective long-term interventions against infectious diseases.

Asst Prof Loh Jia Tong from the School of Biological Sciences, who investigates the immune responses of children during illness, believes that a better understanding of their immune systems could go a long way in protecting them from infections.

“Recurrent and severe infections in early life have been shown to impact the lifelong health of individuals,” she explains. “By understanding how the immune system is shaped by early life factors – such as nutrition, antibiotics treatment and infections passed from mother to child during pregnancy – we can help set a child’s immune development on the right trajectory.”

Aside from our bodies’ natural immune systems, pharmaceuticals play a vital role in combating infections. According to Prof Grüber, effective drug development hinges on cultivating a deep understanding of the pathogen before translating that knowledge into novel therapeutic applications.

This translation often requires interdisciplinary collaboration, especially when tackling drug resistance in tricky pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which he studies. M. tuberculosis, the cause of TB, results in almost two million deaths worldwide each year. Working with collaborators, he has identified potential drug candidates that inhibit the energy generation pathway in M. tuberculosis, offering a new approach to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis.

However, Prof Grüber acknowledges a major hurdle: access to pharmaceuticals. “There are huge inequalities in terms of access to pharmaceuticals between the rich and the poor,” he says. Addressing this will require coordinated action from multiple stakeholders, including governments and pharmaceutical companies, to drive systemic change in healthcare systems.

Infectious disease outbreaks over the past decade, like COVID-19, have exposed weaknesses in global pandemic preparedness. But they have also provided invaluable lessons. Improvements can be made across infrastructure, education, investment and policy for a more effective response that protects everyone.

“Ultimately, preparing for the next pandemic requires a proactive, science-driven and globally coordinated approach –along with cultivating the next generation of talent to carry this work forward,” says Asst Prof Ejima.

A new laser that minimises light loss

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

An international team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new type of ultracompact laser that is more energy efficient and consumes less power.

Smaller than a grain of sand, the micrometre-sized laser incorporates a special design that reduces light leakage. Minimising light loss means less energy is required to operate the laser compared to other highly compact lasers.

The laser emits light in the terahertz region (30 μm – 3 mm), a 6G communications frequency, and could pave the way for high-speed wireless communication of the future.

The research was published in Nature Photonics in April 2025.

Why lasers lose light

Ultracompact lasers have a wide range of applications across various industries, particularly in small devices. They are also essential for next-generation technologies such as optical computing, data centres, high-speed communication, medical imaging and advanced sensors.

However, the performance of these miniature lasers is hampered by the loss of light.

Some of this loss occurs due to side leakage from the laser cavity – a major component of lasers that confines and amplifies light to produce the laser beam.

Light is also lost by radiation and when it is scattered by imperfections in the photonic crystal, which is constructed from semiconductor materials to control the propagation of light.

These loss-inducing effects are more significant in ultracompact lasers than larger lasers. In some cases, the loss of light is so severe that it prevents tiny lasers from emitting sufficient light for practical purposes.

Reducing light loss in all directions

To prevent light loss, the new NTU laser harnesses flat bands and a phenomenon known as multi bound states in the continuum (BIC).

Flat bands are energy bands in the photonic crystal where light waves have near-zero group velocity – a measure of how fast energy carried by light moves. At near-zero group velocity, the energy carried by light waves does not travel out of the laser cavity.

Similarly, multi BIC confines light in the laser cavity and prevents it from escaping in various directions while still allowing the laser to emit sufficient light for practical use. As with noise-cancelling earphones, specific wave patterns in light cancel out the parts that would usually escape. The design of the cavity also makes it difficult for light to get out.

To reduce light loss due to leakage, scattering and radiation, the researchers designed a laser cavity that combines concepts from both flat bands and multi BIC.

They created a periodic arrangement of daisy-shaped holes in a photonic crystal consisting of a semiconductor material sandwiched between two gold layers.

According to the researchers, this could potentially be the “ultimate” solution to suppress light leakage from a laser cavity in three dimensions.

The laser also produces a highly focused beam with minimal divergence, making it useful for precise optical applications.

By scaling the size of the airholes and the lattice constant – the spacing between atoms in the photonic crystal – the design can be extended to create lasers that emit other wavelengths, such as near-infrared and visible light.

“Drawing on our more than fifteen years of experience in photonic band structure engineering, we recognised that combining flat-band concepts with BIC could effectively trap light and reduce losses,” says Prof Wang Qijie of NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) and School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, who was the lead investigator of the study.

“Our laser overcomes the drawbacks of existing miniature lasers, opening the door to applications ranging from next-generation wearable technology to optical computing,” says Dr Cui Jieyuan, research fellow at NTU’s EEE, who was first author of the paper.

“The innovation is a breakthrough in topological photonics and opens a new pathway for compact, robust and scalable light sources in integrated photonic systems,” says photonics expert Assoc Prof Zhen Bo from the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the research.

The researchers are now working to enhance the power of the laser and integrate it into optoelectronic devices. They have also filed a technical disclosure for the innovation and are looking for industry collaborators to bring the technology to market.

Butterflies benefit from roadside greenery

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Plants, especially flowering ones, are often grown along roads to beautify cities. Now, a new Singapore study has found that such small artificial green spaces beside busy roads are also beneficial to butterflies, which are important pollinators in urban ecosystems.

The research findings could aid urban planners in developing strategies to build more sustainable cities, where roadside greenery with flowers improves the aesthetics and biodiversity of highly urbanised environments.

The study, led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), revealed that road verges in Singapore – strips of vegetation planted along roads – can improve butterfly numbers and their diversity. This positive effect is especially true for verges with various flowering plants that are cut less frequently or selectively pruned. The greenery surrounding the verges has a positive impact on butterflies, suggesting that road verges can act as corridors linking the insects to other green spaces.

The researchers also discovered that busy roads negatively affect butterflies. However, the benefits of road verges could offset this effect if traffic speeds are moderate.

These results, published in Landscape and Urban Planning, were derived from extensive field surveys of 101 road verges across Singapore, each at least 30 m long and located along major roads with speed limits of 50 km/h to 70 km/h. These verges are artificially constructed and mainly planted with shrubs that are not native to the country.

The effects of road verges on butterflies have not been well studied in tropical countries like Singapore until now. Earlier studies mainly concentrated on road verges in temperate climates, focusing on naturally occurring plants in less urbanised areas such as the countryside. But, the latest research examines cultivated vegetation along major roads in a highly urbanised tropical city-state.

The findings of how road verges can improve butterfly biodiversity support Singapore’s long-term urban greening efforts since the 1960s. These efforts have evolved from the “Garden City” vision to today’s “City in Nature” approach. It includes plans to turn more roads into nature ways, where trees and shrubs are planted along roads to mimic the natural structure of forests and help wildlife move between green spaces.

Blossom boost

The researchers studied butterflies because they adapt to new habitats like road verges and are important pollinators in urban ecosystems. Butterflies’ sensitivity to environmental changes makes them valuable indicators of the health of ecosystems, and the insects are useful for highlighting conservation and biodiversity issues since they are easily recognised by the public.The Singapore study established that road verges with a mix of different flowering plant species directly increase both the total number of butterflies and the number of butterfly species in the verges.

Butterflies indirectly benefit from verges that are larger and have a variety of plants, too, including flowering and non-flowering ones. This is because these factors boost the verges’ diversity of flowering plants, which could then provide a steady supply of nectar for butterflies throughout the year since different plants bloom at different times.

“A greater diversity of flowering plants offers a variety of nectar sources for butterflies. This can attract more species of butterflies, especially those that prefer a broad range of nectar from different flowers,” explained Associate Professor Eleanor Slade from NTU’s Asian School of the Environment (ASE), the senior author of the study. She collaborated with Associate Professor Janice Lee, also from ASE, who is a co-author of the research.

“While road verges provide nectar sources for butterflies, green spaces away from busy roads may offer better conditions for butterflies to lay their eggs and rest,” said Dr Tharaka S. Priyadarshana, a Research Associate from ASE and the study’s first author. He added that butterflies were rarely observed laying eggs or basking in verges.

Gentle grooming

Another key finding of the study was that butterfly numbers, and species diversity improve when plants in road verges grow to different heights, such as when they are allowed to grow naturally and unevenly with less frequent pruning.

This might be because a mix of taller and shorter plants creates different micro-climatic conditions – such as variations in temperature, humidity and light intensity – within road verges that appeal to different butterflies, said Dr Priyadarshana.

A greater variety of plant heights might also offer better protection for the insects. Taller plants could provide cover from predators like birds and act as wind barriers that shield butterflies from turbulence caused by passing vehicles.

Such wind turbulence can disrupt butterflies’ ability to forage for nectar within road verges, making it harder for them to reach flowers and fly across roads to find other nectar sources or resting spots.

On the other hand, having more uniform plant heights, such as from frequently cutting verge plants, reduces butterfly abundance and species richness. These results could arise from regular pruning that hinders the plants’ ability to flower. Similar plant heights are likely less suitable for butterflies and offer less protection.

For road traffic, the study found that road verges have fewer butterflies and butterfly species when traffic density is higher. Traffic density increases when road speed limits are higher, and vehicles can travel faster.

Besides wind turbulence, fast-moving traffic increases the likelihood that butterflies collide with vehicles and die. Roads with dense traffic tend to have worse vehicle pollution as well, and this has been shown in previous studies to affect both plants and butterflies adversely. For example, exhaust fumes can change floral scents, which makes it harder for butterflies to find flowers.

Where nature meets the city

However, the researchers demonstrated that for roads with speed limits of up to 70 km/h, the adverse effects of traffic on butterflies could be partially reduced by small changes made to road verges. In cities with limited space, these adjustments could be made without widening the verges.

The changes include increasing the variety of flowering plants in road verges and allowing verge vegetation to grow to varying heights, such as by cutting only selected plants and trimming them less frequently. Selective or less regular pruning could also lower maintenance costs for road verges. However, such adjustments need to be balanced with safety needs, as verges with tall plants could obstruct motorists’ view.

Even so, the researchers believe that for roads with higher speed limits, the adverse effect of dense traffic could be too strong for verges to compensate.

The study’s findings thus offer valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers to design cities that are practical and more conducive to nature.

Paper titled “The direct and indirect effects of road verges and urban greening on butterflies in a tropical city-state”, published in Landscape and Urban Planning, 28 February 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105335

Singapore coffeeshop public toilets worse than in 2023: Survey

Posted on by Rosie Ching

Singapore, often described as one of the cleanest in the world, has just emerged more than scathed from the Year of Public Hygiene in 2024. This was the result of Waterloo run by SMU Principal Lecturer of Statistics Rosie Ching and her 222 SMU undergraduates. Together in just five weeks, they performed comprehensive and detailed on-site surveys of more than 2,600 public toilets across 1,428 coffeeshops, hawker centres, train stations and shopping malls, whilst interviewing a total of 4,905 people, comprising 510 employees and 4,395 customers, on the state of public toilets. A staggering 98 percent national coverage was an unprecedented level, smashing records across the eight years of this national survey of public toilets in coffeeshops and hawker centres.

Hundreds more toilets in shopping centres and train stations were visited and given the same survey treatment as those in coffeeshops and hawker centres. In 2024, shopping centre toilets ranked far and away significantly superior to those in coffeeshops and hawker centres where 90 percent of toilet attributes were rated dirtier than reasonable in the latter, with wet floors, absent, dirty or overflowing rubbish bins, unclean toilet bowls and seats, choked urinals, filthy squat pans, inadequate or absent toilet paper, stained mirrors and doors, absent to insufficient ventilation, with more than 8 in 10 cleaning schedules either absent or not updated, some dating back to 2020. The only attributes rated reasonable were taps and soap. The smell of coffeeshop toilets presented a significantly worse assault on the olfactory glands compared to that in hawker centres, both lying in the “breathe lightly” category.

The closer cooking facilities were to the toilets in coffeeshops and hawker centres, the significantly dirtier the toilets. This was also observed in 2016, 2020 and 2023, with the correlation extremely strong in 2024, a significant cause of concern in public health because of all the citizens interviewed, 94 percent of food-handling workers identified themselves as using the toilets at their working premises. Voluminous photographic and video evidence also paid abundant testimony to the filth in these toilets and presence of raw food placed or handled near these toilets.

With more than 100 variables of cleanliness of toilet bowls, taps, mirrors, floors, ventilation, toilet dispensers, paper and more, Waterloo found coffeeshop toilets dirtier than in 2023 on the Toilet Cleanliness Index (TCI). The sole silver lining were hawker centre toilets on the uptick in cleanliness in 2024. Unisex toilets remained statistically the filthiest, hardly moving in the Year of Public Hygiene and woefully stuck at the lowest levels in 2024, with the large majority located in coffeeshops.

The overarching public perception of these coffeeshop and hawker centre toilets was that of “Dirty”. Four years ago, 30.22 percent thought these toilets were at least “Clean”, but this took a jaw-dropping beating to 8.5% in 2024. Over the four years since human interviews in Waterloo began, 8,367 have said such toilets are “Very dirty” to “Dirty”, making up almost 6 in every 10 citizens interviewed. As of late 2024, the modal response remained “Just as dirty” by more than 50 percent of the 14,316 citizens interviewed since.

A staggering 92 percent believed efforts to clean up toilets were “completely not” or “only somewhat” effective. Of these, 60 percent explicitly rated these efforts as “mostly ineffective” or worse. With a measly 8 percent optimistic about Singapore’s Keep Toilets Clean campaigns, the voice of the masses has rung clearly that much more needs to be done to improve the sorry state of public toilets that serve as daily essentials for so many citizens in these popular food centres.

In excess of nine in ten of customers declared public toilets in need of major overhauling, rating them as “dirty”. Although 81 percent now use these toilets for a small call of nature, almost 70 percent would shun them for a big call of nature, the highest avoidance rate in nine years of study. The majority also thought current enforcement of cleanliness standards in public toilets at coffeeshops and hawker centres is too lax and recommended heavier fines and more monitoring, with 78.2 percent saying coffeeshop operators do not clean their toilets according to advisories by the Minister for Sustainability and Environment in Singapore.

Ms. Ching’s work has elevated public awareness of sanitation and enforced accountability. Waterloo’s findings have been shared widely through media coverage reaching every corner of Singapore, on primetime TV, radio, and the leading newspapers across all national languages. The force of Waterloo has inspired government initiatives like the Toilet Improvement Program, fines for non-compliance, with future plans focused on tracking and ensuring exemplary cleanliness standards, showing firm and uncompromising societal impact, historically unparalleled for any undergraduate teaching project.

Behind all these movements, Waterloo is an educational juggernaut to be reckoned with, where Ms. Ching’s students wield their statistical training and drill through volumes of data, unwrapping messages behind the numbers to paint the landscape with never-before-had statistics, to drive societal change in Singapore. They experience how such a national-scale project drives action and accountability. They witness the Waterloo’s influence on the country and experience education that transcends the four walls of the classroom. Student feedback consistently and overwhelmingly testify to the transformative nature of this experience when Ms. Ching adroitly connects their learning to society’s problems.

Waterloo has engaged Members of Parliament, mayors, policymakers, leaders, and industry leaders, driving momentum for change on a national level. Ms. Ching’s teaching and long-term vision have smashed through traditional barriers by combining rigorous data science with effective dissemination, advocacy, and partnerships, relentlessly demonstrating education as a formidable force for social change, policy impact and sustained community engagement.

The ten-year-long and ongoing Waterloo owes its monumental success to Ms. Ching and her students as comrades-in-arms, who have nurtured it into an unstoppable force as a precedent for impactful and sustainable educational initiatives worldwide.

Ms. Rosie Ching (centre in red), a.k.a. the Chief Sitting Plumber leading her Waterloo students, with Aditya Rahman (with microphone) in a rallying cry.

Said Waterloo student Aditya Rahman, “Mathematics and me have always had a rocky relationship. I dreaded and feared it, praying I did not have to study it again. But when I enrolled in university, lo and behold, statistics was a must. I shoved it to Year 2 but eventually had to face my fears and take the leap into the unknown. Which is when I entered Ms. Ching’s classes and Waterloo! My entire Waterloo journey of surveying toilets in hawker centres, coffeeshops and human stakeholders has been one indescribably unique experience, a far cry from everything I have studied to date. If I had told my younger self that surveying toilets would form one of my most memorable moments in SMU, I am confident that he would have laughed in my face. However, I now understand the application of statistics in the real world and why it matters. Waterloo has genuinely given me a deep perspective on the impact statistics has on the world. Ms. Ching has inspired me significantly to be a better man in all things. I am thankful for this and am truly grateful to have spent the last 3 months in the presence of Ms. Ching.”

Says Ms. Ching, “To my incredible comrades in this mission, my students, I pay especial tribute. I struck uncountable matches many times before Waterloo caught fire, nurtured those sparks and flames into a healthy bonfire, one that now roars with voices, numbers, and an unwavering resolve to change the world. This isn’t just research collecting dust on some shelf; it’s a movement, powered by thousands of voices that matter, our people, our families, our elderly, our young, our cleaners, our workers. This is for Singapore.”

For her trailblazing teaching and impactful work, Ms. Ching was Highly Commended in the Financial Times’ Responsible Business Education Awards 2025 for Waterloo, the only honoree for South-East Asia amongst global entries. She was also inducted into the inaugural SMU Teaching Excellence Hall of Fame Award in 2024, was the QS Reimagine Education Gold Winner for Blended and Presence Learning in 2023, and was bestowed the World Toilet Organization Hall of Fame Award that same year. For two years running, both Ms. Ching and her students also received Singapore’s national LOO (Let’s Observe Ourselves) Award for public sanitation in the Individual and Community categories respectively, for nine years of pro-bono and outstanding contributions to public sanitation.

‘Fearful’ self-driving cars are safer on the road

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Autonomous vehicles powered by artificial intelligence have many advantages, but ensuring that they make safe decisions in risky scenarios remains a challenge.

Mimicking the workings of the amygdala, a part of the brain that processes emotions, NTU researchers have developed a machine learning model that can “feel” fear. This enables autonomous vehicles to learn defensive driving behaviours and take safer actions.

Humans feel fear when faced with unpleasant events or uncertain situations and learn to avoid them. The researchers programmed fear into the model by incorporating anticipated negative stimuli and uncertainties in its decision-making process.

Their experiments found that the model had a lower collision and traffic violation rate in ambiguous road situations than other autonomous driving programmes. The model also outperformed human drivers in avoiding collision when a vehicle suddenly cut into its lane.

“By helping autonomous vehicles make the correct decisions while on the road, our model could make transportation safer,” says Assoc Prof Lyu Chen of NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, who codeveloped the model with his team.

Singapore Management University announces appointment of new Provost

Posted on by peiling

Singapore Management University (SMU) recently announced the appointment of Professor Alan Chan as its new Provost, effective 1 April 2025. Professor Chan will succeed Professor Timothy Clark, who will complete his term as Provost on 31 March 2025, after six years of service.

“We are excited to welcome Professor Alan Chan to SMU and look forward to the wealth of knowledge and experience he will bring,” said SMU President, Professor Lily Kong. “His deep commitment to academic excellence and collaborative leadership will help further elevate SMU’s standing as a global city university. His breadth of international experience, coupled by his deep understanding of the Singapore higher education landscape, stands him in very good stead in his role as Provost of SMU.”

Educated in Canada, Professor Chan began his academic career there but moved to Singapore to join the National University of Singapore. He played various leadership roles in education and research before joining Nanyang Technological University, where he took on other leadership roles at both college and university levels. The breadth of experience in both these institutions positioned him well for the Provost role at Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), a role he has held for five years. In total, Professor Chan brings with him more than 25 years of leadership experience from some of Asia’s top universities.

As Provost at CUHK, Professor Chan has played a key role in driving the university’s strategic plan, increasing enrolment, and improving student quality, and managing operations through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-COVID, he led the university to grow faculty numbers and quality significantly. He has a proven track record in academic leadership, university governance, and fostering international collaborations. His extensive experience in academic planning, research development, and student experience aligns well with SMU’s vision for the future.

SMU also extends its gratitude to outgoing Provost, Professor Clark, for his dedicated service over the past six years. During his tenure, Professor Clark made significant contributions to SMU’s academic progress, leading initiatives in undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as in professional and continuing education. His leadership was instrumental in navigating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring continued academic and research excellence.

Professor Clark will remain with SMU as a Professor at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business on a fractional basis. “Professor Clark’s contributions have been invaluable, and we are grateful for his commitment and leadership,” said Professor Kong. “We are glad that he will continue to be a part of the SMU family, in contributing his teaching and research.”

– End –

Singapore Management University jumps from #4 to #2 in Software Engineering for 2023 in CSRankings

Posted on by Singapore Management University

Singapore Management University (SMU) has risen to #2 in Software Engineering for 2023 –up two places from the previous year in the influential CSRankings. CSRankings is a metrics-based ranking of top Computer Science (CS) institutions around the world, which evaluates academics by their publications at top research conferences in a CS field. It is a key resource for graduate students globally to evaluate schools and find active researchers in Computer Science.

SMU is the only university from Singapore to be ranked among the top 10 in CSRankings 2023 list, and it is home to the country’s only research centre dedicated to Software Engineering: the Centre for Research in Intelligent Software Engineering (RISE). This
achievement reflects SMU’s world-class research capabilities in Software
Engineering.

Nanjing University holds the top spot in the CSRankings 2023 list, followed by other notable institutions, including Sun Yat-Sen University (#3), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (#4), the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (both tied at #5), Carnegie Mellon University (#7), Fudan University and Peking University (tied at #7), and Concordia University (#10).

This latest ranking reinforces many past rankings that put SMU on the world map for software engineering research. For example, the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) study, ‘A bibliometric assessment of software engineering themes, scholars and institutions (2013–2020)’ (Volume 180, Oct 2021), which considered publications in high-quality journals and conferences, puts SMU #5 worldwide in the league of the University of California (#1), Carnegie Mellon University (#2), Nanjing University (#3) and Microsoft Research (#4).

Significance of CSRankings

CSRankings stands out among popular rankings as it focuses on specialised fields within Computer Science. It is regularly updated and based on publications in top-tier conferences, with metrics weighted by the number of authors. This transparency ensures that the rankings reflect the real impact of research within each field. In Computer
Science, top-tier conferences are highly competitive, with low acceptancerates, and the full research papers presented are often of similar length to journal publications.

SMU Software Engineering faculty members published many highly innovative works at the 45th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2023) and 31st
ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE 2023) – which are the two key software Engineering conferences tracked by CSRankings. Their papers report novel automated solutions and deep insights realised from software engineering research at SMU. The research covers many topics ranging from software development, software testing, software security, software architecture, and developer collaboration. The solutions addressed different kinds of software systems ranging from conventional software to industrial control systems, video games, and deep learning systems.

Engaging in world-class research

Professor David Lo, the OUB Chair Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Centre of Research in Intelligent Software Engineering (RISE) said: “We are very happy to contribute to the advancement of software engineering research and practice, and excited to share our findings with the world via our research papers and presentations at key conferences. This excellent ranking outcome is only possible with the hard work of everyone at RISE, the strong support from SMU and its School of Computing and Information Systems, and the collaborations with our partners from universities and companies in Singapore, China, Japan, Australia, Luxembourg, the United States, and Canada.”

SMU’s Vice Provost (Research) Prof Archan Misra said that this improved ranking shows “the rigour, relevance and global reputation of our research across a wide range of software engineering topics.”

“My software engineering colleagues, as part of RISE,” he noted, “have engaged in world-class academic research with excellent publication records, resulting in several distinguished influential paper awards and recognised through many leadership roles in the software engineering academic community.”

“Equally importantly, via translational projects executed in partnership with public agencies, this research generates significant societal impact and contributes to the security of Singapore’s digital applications and services,” he added. “Their work is instrumental in establishing the university’s research strengths at the intersection of social sciences, management and computing.”

8 in 10 falsely believe talking about suicide can make a person take his life: Singapore survey

Posted on by Rosie Ching

When the news broke in July 2023 of the highest number of suicides in Singapore in twenty years, the call to action took on a greater urgency. It was thus a few months later in January 2024 that the second nationwide survey in as many years, Save.Me.Too., was created and run by Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Principal Lecturer of Statistics Rosie Ching. In just three weeks, Rosie and her 140 SMU undergraduates surveyed a whopping 5,274 local citizens around Singapore through face-to-face, telephone or digital interviews, on sensitive questions ranging from connections to suicide, perceptions, personal help-seeking preferences, support efficacy by local organisations, suicide predictability and prevention, with more than 47 variables including knowledge levels for helping a person in a crisis and myths about suicide.

With their results serving the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), Singapore’s umbrella outfit for crisis help and suicide prevention, the most alarming finding was that together among the majority who believe the myth that raising the subject of suicide could cause a person to think about it, 8 in 10 think that when someone does talk about suicide, that person could take their life. There was an actual rise in those who believe that most suicides happen suddenly without warning and that a person dying by suicide was one who was unwilling to seek help. The silver lining came in the 90 percent who believe that suicide can be prevented. However, every two in three persons would not support someone in a crisis, with 71 percent pinning the blame on their own fear of making the suicidal person feel worse, their inadequate knowledge and consequent inability to do anything. More years of education with higher educational qualifications also exert little effect, and in fact, possess negligible correlation with greater knowledge of suicide. From 2022 to 2024, half still think the effectiveness of support in Singapore for a person facing a crisis and thinking about suicide is “not effective at all” to “lower than average”. In fact, the closer one’s association to suicide, the more ineffective they think the support is.

The results also unwrapped a very powerful sentiment amongst the thousands of respondents, representative of the Singapore population, about the need for a national suicide prevention strategy in fast-paced and achievement-oriented Singapore. When asked if Singapore needs a suicide prevention strategy, the answer was “strongly”, the Gen Z leading the pack with almost 95 percent of them agreeing. Though tainted by stigma and shame associated with suicide as pointed out by 81 percent of respondents, Save.Me.Too. brought these statistics to life to shatter the taboo of suicide and open up more mental health conversations to pave the way for action in help and intervention.

With suicide the leading cause for deaths among those in the 10-29 age group in Singapore, Save.Me.Too. resonated powerfully with Ms. Ching’s students, many of whom participated enthusiastically and even shared openly with her about their feelings and mental health challenges throughout the project which lasted three months.

Said student Claudia Chen, “The surveying experience of Save.Me.Too was unique: one of my most memorable conversations was with a cab driver, who shared how he, when working as a nurse, once persuaded a patient to get off the building parapet and brought him back to safety. Save.Me.Too has definitely encouraged discussions on suicide, which are important to reduce stigma. Wth my close and personal connections to suicide, Save.Me.Too has allowed me to meaningfully contribute in every possible way to this issue I care deeply about, and it has given me hope to play a more active role in suicide prevention in the future.”

The massive collective body of work culminated in a uniquely interactive Exhibition and Finalé of national statistical results, with a poignant three-act play following up from 2022’s Save.Me. The Save.Me.Too. Exhibition at SMU was a one-of-a-kind, decide-and choose-your-path showcase, where every guest encountered a “live” person in a crisis and responded accordingly, ultimately landing the guest in four possible scenarios, from the most dire in the tent of darkness with words of dismissal, mockery or rejection, to the most optimistic with empathy, help and hope for the person’s future. It drew SOS, SMU’s faculty and staff who brought their children, statistics students both current and senior, friends and even more guests, including mental health partners keen to learn from Save.Me.Too. The Exhibition summary video can be viewed here.

With staunch support from SMU’s Associate Provost and Director of Centre For Teaching Excellence, Professor Lieven Demeester, SOS CEO Mr Gasper Tan, and Senior Parliamentary Secretary and Member of Parliament Mr. Eric Chua, Save.Me.Too. has drawn national media coverage across all four national languages in Singapore.

Said Ms. Ching, “Save.Me.Too. has been as dark as 2022’s Save.Me. The depth of misunderstanding from many quarters has repeated itself. What we don’t measure, we can’t manage. The thick blanket of silence can asphyxiate and kill. If we continue allowing fear or stigma as our excuse, then we will never succeed in stemming the tide of suicides. And if not enough will speak to break the stigma, allowing the silence surrounding suicide to continue, the numbers will.

I dedicate this project and future runs of it to my beautiful students and the souls departed through suicide, who like us, would want anyone in crisis to be pulled from the brink. And saved.”