articles catalogue
Unfiltered – The Family on Trial 2025: “Singapore Awakened: How Success and the Alternative of Flourishing Shape Family”, Keynote Address by Assoc. Prof. (Dr.) Tan Seow Hon
Assoc. Prof. (Dr.) Tan Seow Hon delivered the keynote address at Cultivate SG's second annual conference, "Unfiltered - The Family on Trial", on 17 November 2025. In her speech titled "Singapore Awakened: How Success - and the Alternative of Flourishing - Shape Family", Dr Tan reflects on the "Singapore Dream", the narrow mindset of success in contrast with the concept of flourishing, and how these impact marriage and family. She concludes by offering some thoughts on how to move from success to flourishing.
- 5 December 2025
Unfiltered – The Family on Trial 2025
Cultivate SG's second annual conference, "Unfiltered - The Family on Trial" took place on 17 November 2025. Held at the Lifelong Learning Institute, the conference drew together expert voices, research, and real-life stories. The central theme was to redefine notions of “success” in Singapore, and how these challenge and reshape the Singaporean family.
- December 4 2025
Liberal, Conservative, Or…? (Part 2 of 2): Where do Singaporeans stand?
In this second article of our two-part series on liberalism and conservatism, we look more closely at where Singaporeans stand. Attitudes seem to vary across topics such as economics, COVID-19, marriage and sex. In the end, it might really depend on the issue and circumstances that one is looking at, and a nuanced understanding is necessary.
- November 10 2025
Liberal, Conservative, Or…? (Part 1 of 2): A look at concepts
This is the first of a two-part series on liberalism and conservatism. In this first article, we tap on the analysis of some experts to help unpack the concepts of liberalism and conservatism. While liberal traditions generally endorse the idea that people should be free to do what they want as long as they do not harm others, conservative traditions are broadly inclined towards stability.
- November 5 2025
More For You
Budget 2025 (Part 1 of 3): From “Stop at Two” to Large Families Scheme
This is the first in a three-part series on the Large Families Scheme announced in Budget 2025. In this article, we take a quick trip through history, tracing Singapore’s family planning policies from the well-known “Stop At Two” campaign, to “Have Three or More, If You Can Afford It”, and finally to the Large Families Scheme announced recently.
- 25 February 2025
“Concerted Cultivation” on Steroids? How Singaporeans’ ‘kiasu’ parenting arises from our notions of success
In child-rearing styles, sociologist Annette Lareau observed that middle-class families engage in “concerted cultivation” to develop children through organised activities, while working-class and poor families use the “accomplishment of natural growth” where children are typically free to go out and play. As Singapore progressed from Third World to First, has our society adopted a “pressure-cooker” attitude towards child-raising?
- 11 February 2025
Online Sexual Harms: Why We Urgently Need More Protections
With our high digital connectivity, the lines between public and private life are often blurred or breached. This is especially serious in the context of online sexual harms, which disproportionately affect women, children and lower-income groups. More needs to be urgently done to combat online harms and protect the common good
- 20 January 2025