Across the years, I’ve worked on some freelance writing and editing projects. I’ve worked with government agencies, PR firms, and magazines, both print and online. I’ve written about art, theatre, design, pop culture, and heritage and history. I’ve also worked on social issues such as gender, migration, climate change, and urban spaces. This page features a selection of my work.
I’m always interested in the opportunity to tell a story–if you’d like to work with me, please email me at kellynn dot wee at gmail dot com.
As is the nature of the internet, websites die all the time, so I’ve provided links to archived snapshots whenever necessary.
Editorial Work
The Design Society Journal
I was the contributing editor of the tenth issue of the Design Society Journal. In this issue, through the lens of emergence, we examined the process of design: seeing how the new comes into being without losing the muscle memory of what has been cast off. Purchase a copy here. Read one of my interview features with Chua Soo Bin, a photographer and gallerist who won the 1988 Cultural Medallion, here.
Chapalang Magazine
I was the founder and editor-in-chief of Chapalang Magazine, which featured creative non-fiction essays by Singaporeans, about Singapore. The magazine covered themes as wide-ranging as music, death, and food–all with a Singaporean twist.
On Society and Culture
Our Home: How HDB Shapes the Families it Wants
Our public housing policies reward cookie-cutter families. But what if you’re queer or uninterested in marriage? I speak to folks making their own homes. Published on The Home Ground Asia. See also my work on eugenicist policies in Singapore.
Neutral is the new future: How local firms strive towards achieving net-zero water
Featuring two of the tenants at Singapore Science Park, this article focuses on how developments in wastewater management and rainfall measurement technologies inches us towards a net-zero future.
“Covidiots” and caution tape: Care, surveillance, and the elderly in Singapore
Focusing on the height of COVID-19 in Singapore, I write about how elderly people disappeared from one of Singapore’s oldest housing estates during our circuit breaker.
Oral Histories and Heritage Stories
As Good As Gold
A wander through the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio might lead you to stumble upon one of Singapore’s last great jewellers. Published on iremembersg.
Bobby, King of Joo Avenue
As Singaporean homes downsized in the 1970s to HDB flats, so did dogs. Bobby, a handsome mixed mongrel, was the king of Joo Avenue — perhaps the last of a generation of pet dogs who had the freedom to roam. Published on iremembersg.
Child’s Play In The Dragon Kiln
One place in Singapore still tends to the flames that keep the art of wood-firing pottery alive. For the Tan family, it is not just business as usual: the Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle embodies their heritage, and is also their home. Published on iremembersg.
On Design, Theatre, Film and Art
Teh Ping With Felix Ng
A conversation with Felix Ng of multidisciplinary studio, Anonymous, about his advice on design: straight-up, no bullshit. Published in Poached Magazine.
Film Review: Menstrual Man
Mr. Muruganantham is on a mission to ensure that women living in rural parts of India have access to affordable sanitary pads, and Amit Virmani is out to document this in his film Menstrual Man. Published in Poached Magazine.
Theatre Review: Pangdemonium’s Fat Pig
Under the brash, brassy comedy of Neil LaBute’s play, characters wrestle bald little truths out of each other in screaming confrontations and needling conversations. Published in Poached Magazine. You can see the rest of my work at Poached Magazine here.
The Library of Selves
Did I read this world, or did I dream it? Has everything that happened to me truly happened to me? In 2015, local designer Yan Da curated a graphic design exhibition titled I Have A Room With Everything Too–allowing its participants to page through Yan Da’s collection of rare printed books. I wrote an essay (about books, of course) for his exhibition collateral.
First Look: Art Stage Singapore
Running from January 16-19 in 2014, Art Stage Singapore presents over 100 galleries in a spectacular bounty of work from the Asia Pacific region. Published in Poached Magazine.
Career, Development and Upskilling
Changing Tracks in the New Normal: Upskill to Remain Employable
For older mid-career professionals, the question is even more pressing. If there is a mismatch between your expertise and jobs-in-demand, how can you upskill yourself so that you can successfully change tracks in the face of the new normal? Published on SkillsFuture Singapore. See also this article on making career transitions in challenging times.
On Pop/Fan Culture
Now Kiss: What Virtue/Moir Tells Us About Fandom’s Love For Tropes
The reason I think Virtue and Moir are so compelling is because their narratives tap into an instantly recognisable symbolic index of shipping. Published on The Kaya Toast.
Research Communications
The Cost of Care
The Cost of Care is an intimate look into the maid agency business in Singapore.
The making(s) of a domestic worker
A half-hour bumpy car ride away from the dusty, gridlocked streets of central Jakarta lies the world of maid training centers–the places where Indonesian women wait for agents like Shirley to visit, and hope to be picked to become domestic workers in Singapore.
The electric charge of dreams in Bangladesh
Sumon, a 38-year-old father, is on the cusp of deciding if he wants to overturn his life by leaving Bangladesh to work. This five-part story tracks the journey of Bangladeshi construction workers to Singapore.
Kellynn Wee 