1. What inspired you to pursue research in your field, and how has your career/research focus evolved over time?
My path into research was never really planned. It grew out of curiosity about people as I came from a psychology background. I was working in career services at a university before my PhD where I spoke with students about their career aspirations. A majority of the students would prefer pursuing a professional career path and very few were willing to consider entrepreneurship, even when they had the ideas and the passion. Something was holding them back. I wanted to understand what that something was. That forms the basis for my PhD research where I explored the concept of fear of failure and kiasuism and how these factors shaped entrepreneurial intention, particularly in Singapore.
After my PhD, I joined the Ministry of Home Affairs as a psychologist. It was a different world from academia. I was working alongside frontline leaders and translating research into training materials. Questions such as how leaders make decisions in high-stakes situations and what the psychological perspective is on understanding crises shaped my research into crisis leadership.
My research pivoted toward HR-related work when I worked at the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP). Currently, I’m looking into effective HR practices, workforce well-being and labour trends.
2. What is the focus of your research?
The underlying question I have in all my applied research is how can we better support people as they navigate uncertainty? This question runs through the research I do at SUSS, from studying mature workers, platform workers, and youths in the school-to-work transition to comparing family resilience indicators across ASEAN countries.
3. What excites you about your research?
There is something I find genuinely energising about sitting across from someone in an interview or a focus group. I have always believed that stories and perspectives are more than just context. Lived experience provides nuanced, important information. It tells us not just what is happening but why it matters to the individuals living it. When the research insights make their way into policy conversations or reshape how a programme is designed, it makes me feel the research effort is worthwhile.
AI-generated image. Source: Magnific
AI-generated image. Source: Magnific
4. How do you see the practical implications of your research affecting your field or society?
Some of my research is fed into training for different groups of audience. My current work on platform worker well-being is still unfolding, but the aim is the same: to make visible the experiences of a workforce segment that does not follow the traditional employment structures.
5. How does your research reflect SUSS' mission in achieving social good?
SUSS' mission genuinely resonates with me because I have never been interested in research as an end in itself. What drives me is relevance to Singapore, to the different groups of people, and to the people whose lives the research touches. How the research gives policymakers the evidence they need to respond meaningfully.
6. What are your future plans in your research?
I wish to deepen my work on workforce well-being and family resilience. These are close to my heart as Singapore navigates an ageing population and a rapidly changing labour market. I hope my applied research bridges lived experience and policy.