Ideas Festival 2026

What does it look like when a population health approach is adopted on campus? At the Singapore Management University, the SMU Resilience Framework has been adopted to promote students’ holistic wellbeing. Resilience has been shown to be positively correlated with positive indicators of mental health, such as life satisfaction and subjective well-being. 

The SMU Resilience Framework redefines the landscape of student wellbeing. By shifting upstream from intervention to cultivation, SMU equips students with life-skills that empower them to take ownership of their holistic and life-long wellbeing. This session unpacks how the framework has been implemented by integrating purposeful outreach, innovative programming, and collaborative partnerships both within and beyond campus. 

Join us to discover how a culture of care is embedded into campus life, where we help students find their footing to succeed, engendering pathways to a life of flourishing. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the movement toward holistic student wellbeing!

Presenter:
Mr Alvin Sim, Head, Co-Curriculum Development and Student Care & Support Services, SMU

Speculative Future Frames Workshop

AI is a mirror and amplifier of our assumptions. If we do not stop to question the ideas we bring into how we design and use AI, we risk carrying forward the same problems from old education systems into the future. 

"Speculative Future Frames" creates a space for experimentation and conversation. It invites participants to go beyond optimisation and improvement of existing systems, and instead engage in radical imagination to rethink teaching and learning at the level of our assumptions. What if education was fundamentally reconfigured? What would learning feel like, look like, and ask of us in such a future? 

Be part of this 2-hour in-person workshop that brings together cross-disciplinary groups of participants to examine and deconstruct current assumptions about higher education (such as grading, credentials, institutional structures, and linear curriculum) and to prototype future frames through speculative design.

Speakers:
Chair: Dr Tamas Makany, Associate Provost (Teaching & Learning Innovation), Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence; Associate Professor of Communication Management (Education), SMU  
Co-Facilitators: 
• Dr Jacinth Tan, Associate Professor of Psychology, SMU 
• Dr Jawn Lim, Associate Professor of Design Innovation, SIT 
 

Building Resilient Legal Systems in the AI Age

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global environment in which legal systems operate—not only by transforming how individuals, firms, and governments act, but also by reconfiguring the broader political economy that sustains them. Resilience in this context means ensuring that legal systems can anticipate, absorb, and adapt to technological disruption while continuing to deliver justice, maintain legitimacy, and safeguard rights. Without deliberate strategies for resilience, legal systems risk narrowing into brittle, tech-dominated structures: constrained in their options, vulnerable to capture, and unable to fulfil their core functions. 

Engage with this panel that convenes experts across academia, government, and industry to explore how law can remain a stabilising force in the age of AI and to identify practical strategies for embedding resilience “by design” into legal institutions.

*Chatham House Rules applies

Speakers:
Chair: Dr Jason Grant, Director, Centre for Digital Law; Associate Professor of Law, SMU
Panellists:
• Dr Han-Wei Liu, Associate Professor of Law; Lee Kong Chian Fellow Deputy Director; Centre for Digital Law
• Dr Rachel Phang, Assistant Professor of Law, SMU
 

Resilient Singapore: Reimagining the Civic Core through Environmental History

The history of Singapore’s urban centre is a showcase for resilience in the island city. Its changing landscape is a direct reflection of the things that have made Singapore, from the early port to the agricultural areas, military and civic development, to the reclamation projects. Their development has been the cornerstone of, and reflected, social and economic growth, as Singapore moved through good times, and bad. Each of these socio-economic shifts has left its memory inscribed into the landscape and with them, a story.

Starting from Armenian Street at the front of SMU’s Yong Pung How School of Law, this tour delves into the landscape under our feet, imagining a Singapore as it was at different points in its chronology, from the agricultural development of the nineteenth century, to the technological innovations of the early twentieth century, to the Japanese occupation, and beyond. This will be a predominantly social and environmental history, as opposed to a classic national history, one which will tell lesser-known stories from Singapore’s past and highlight parts of our history and landscape that might be commonly overlooked. All these stories point toward one thing however: resilience. Collectively they demonstrate that change can be viewed in a positive light, even if it might not have seemed that way once.  

Facilitator: Yong, The Urbanist Singapore

Managing Technology and Trade Disruptions:
Building Resilience in a Shifting International Landscape

We are entering a new era of global trade (dis)order, shaped by powerful waves of technological and economic disruption. From generative AI transforming production and services, to tariff escalations redrawing trade routes, these shifts are reconfiguring the foundations of international commerce. They bring real opportunities—efficiency gains from emerging technologies, new markets, and innovative business models—but also serious challenges, including fragmentation, heightened uncertainty, and systemic complexity. Together, these dynamics underscore the urgent need for resilience.

Bringing together diverse perspectives, this event will explore how businesses and other actors in the region can adapt to and navigate this fast-changing landscape. Key questions include: How can we better understand and prepare for emerging trends? Do these disruptions challenge our long-held assumptions? And how can actors remain resilient and agile in the face of volatility? Join us to exchange insights, build partnerships, and shape resilient strategies for a more inclusive and adaptive global economy. Joint efforts among businesses, policymakers, innovators, consumers, NGOs, and the broader community are essential to build resilience and drive sustained and inclusive growth.

*Chatham House Rules applies

Speakers:
Chair: Dr Pasha L. Hsieh, Lee Kong Chian Professor of Law, Jean Monnet Chair in EU-ASEAN Law and Relations, SMU 
Panellists:
• Mr Chris Humphrey, Executive Director, EU-ASEAN Business Council
• Dr Heng Wang, Professor of Law, SMU 
• Ms Maha El Dimachki, Singapore Centre Head Author Fintech Regulation in Practice, BIS Innovation Hub
• Dr Sarah Chan, Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute (EAI), NUS

Navigating the World of Social Science Careers

Social sciences is known to open doors to diverse and meaningful career paths—from shaping public policy to driving corporate culture, building community awareness, and understanding human behaviour. In a rapidly changing and technologically evolving world, how can Social Sciences careers continue to maintain their relevance and importance?  

“Navigating the World of Social Science Careers” is an interactive session which will include a brief overview of SMU’s Social sciences programmes followed by a panel discussion with industry representatives who will share their personal experiences and insights designed to help students explore the wide spectrum of opportunities available in this field. They will offer their views on the top skills and competencies expected of graduates training in social sciences to ensure they can meaningfully contribute to both public and private sectors. 

Come and find out how your personal interests and values combined with a robust academic training in Social Sciences can make for an impactful career!

Speakers:
Moderator: Ms Prasanthi Guda, Head - UG Careers, Dato' Kho Hui Meng Career Centre, SMU 
Panellists:
• Ms Karen Wong, Director of Talent Acquisition, BlackRock
• Dr Laetitia Yim, Director (Business Partnership Teams, People & Culture Group), Public Service Division
• Mr Lim Shung Yar, Chief Executive Officer (Designate), NCSS 
• Mr Nesan Govender, Managing Director (Talent and Organization), Accenture South East Asia
 

Still Worth Doing? A Public Conversation on the Future of Work

Perhaps the only thing clear about the future of work is its own uncertainty. Yet, amid economic disruption and the rise of AI, public discussion has mostly been limited to predicting available jobs and “employable” degrees. This panel shifts our attention back to the question of work and its role in social life. What will change in the everyday tasks we fulfil as workers, and what meaning should we give to such efforts? What sort of career is still worthy of human skill and emotion? How do we review a performance when labor is partly outsourced to technology? Featuring researchers from across Singapore’s universities, this panel will discuss the changes and challenges in three major aspects of work: care, creativity, and communications. In looking ahead, this panel explores not only what jobs will likely persist, but how work must and should evolve. Join us to reimagine the future of work!

Speakers:
Chair: Dr Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Associate Professor of Sociology, SMU 
Discussants:
• Dr Cheng Chi-Ying, Associate Professor of Psychology, SMU
• Dr Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho, Provost’s Chair Professor at the Department of Geography, NUS
• Dr Laurel Teo , Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies, NUS 
• Dr Pei Sze Chow, Assistant Professor of Digital Culture and New Media, 
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, NTU