It isn’t easy to imagine modern life without smartphones. For many of us, particularly young people, these devices are almost always within arm’s reach, with messages and updates that seem impossible to ignore. They have changed how we talk to friends, learn, and even spend idle moments like waiting in queue for coffee. In many ways, smartphones behave like a “hedonic treadmill” for the digital age. Each ping provides a brief jolt of novelty or validation, yet that feeling fades swiftly and leaves us wanting the next notification. Jonathan Haidt, […]
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What Does a Piece of Fabric Tell You About a People?
In the Malay Peninsula, fabrics hold the essence of a people’s identity, linking the present to a rich past. Batik, songket, and Peranakan embroidery carry stories of culture, tradition, and the endurance of communities. These materials serve as vessels of cultural memory, preserving and conveying the identity, power, and resistance that have shaped the region. Culture and Identity Fabrics reflect the deep connection to nature and the unique cultural heritage of the Malay peninsula.
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Book Review: Alfian Sa’at’s Corridor
“Behind these fantastic stories however, was the faint hope that somehow, I had found someone who shared something in common with me.” (Duel in Corridor) The elusive human pursuit – or rather, yearning – for happiness has long occupied the literary imagination. From Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye to Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, existential anxieties plague individuals across the societal spectrum.
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Ageing with Agency: A Guide to Thriving in Your Golden Years
The idea of a centenarian – a person who has reached (or even surpassed) the age of 100 – once seemed improbable, like something out of a science fiction movie, where technology could attain feats beyond the human imagination. However, in 2020, the number of centenarians in Singapore doubled from 700 in 2010 to 1500[1]. This remarkable growth challenged our preconceived ideas about longevity and raised hopes that we might significantly extend human life expectancy. Building on this optimism, Laura Carstensen of Stanford University suggested that half of the five-year-olds […]
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