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Welcome to Kawan—our vibrant community of data heads and storytellers. We’re all about improving data literacy and sharing nuanced stories about Asia. Come hang!
Rethinking design beyond the algorithm— issue #69
With AI and data analytics offering personalised experiences, it seems technology is now a few steps ahead of us. Machines are anticipating our needs and making people feel seen. Yet it cannot replace what makes us human. Can we design with this in mind?
Simulating what it feels to be a Kpop fan
Our latest story The Physical Phenomenon explores why physical albums remain so popular in the K-pop industry despite the rise of digital streaming. This behind-the-scenes looks at the motivations behind the writing, illustration style, and data visualisations created for the piece.
Growing Roots Through Our New Year’s Dinner Party
This past January, we hosted our new year’s dinner party, which has now become an annual tradition. When we organised the first one in 2023, we had wanted to gather our community in person for the first time at our office. As an organisation whose work—and, for that
silver linings — issue #61
A couple of weeks ago, I moved to Dunedin, New Zealand, or Aotearoa, as it is beloved in Māori, to pursue a Master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems. I had to transfer at the Auckland International Airport, where I went through a few rounds of biosecurity checks. Before you
Countering climate doom
When we decided on “silver lining” as the theme of our latest newsletter, I thought it apt to highlight positive stories about the environment to counter the deluge of bleak, and at times terrifying climate news. Yet, while I was keen to find data or visual stories on positive climate
My grandma does decolonial work — issue #60
What can we build with our real and righteous rage? — Pooja Nansi, The Feelings of Brown People: A Radio Dedication Show with a Forever Engaged Hotline In our October issue, Peiying wrote about how we formed a reading club around coloniality, knowledge, and being. In these sessions, we discussed the
How might we visualise the Ethnic Integration Policy quota in a HDB block to help people understand how it works?
Singapore’s Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) allocates quotas in public housing blocks based on ethnicity. In our final longform piece of 2024, we examined the EIP and its impact on homeowners, particularly those from minority ethnic groups. In this process, we created interactive visuals to help explain the EIP. In
Have you eaten yet? That is to say, how are you? — issue #59
Have you eaten yet? That is to say, how are you? In Thailand, you may hear people greet each other with “กินอะไรหรือยัง? (kin khao reu yang?)”, meaning “Have you eaten rice yet?” It demonstrates how essential rice is to life in Thai culture, where it is equated
Unlearning what we know — issue #58
“I have learned the names of all the bushes, but I have yet to learn their songs.” These past months, the Kontinentalist team has been deep in learning and reflection. We started our “Decolonial Reading Club”: bi-monthly sessions breaking down coloniality, knowledge, and being. This quote from Braiding Sweetgrass, recounting
On Palestine: Covering culture in a time of genocide
What does Gaza require from those who bear witness? The team behind our latest story on Palestine shares their process, thoughts, and feelings while highlighting the beauty of life in Gaza amid the profound loss of Palestinian heritage and cultural identity. Zafirah (Writer): I came across an Instagram post by
Don’t call us the underdogs — issue #57
2022, Doha Airport. I am catching a flight back to Singapore, but there are other pressing matters in the transit area. Morocco is playing Portugal for a spot in the World Cup semi-finals, and is one goal up at the 90th minute. Behind me, an Arab auntie is saying a
Sports is political: An analysis of power and bias in global sports
Munirah and Zafirah, who worked on the microstory Rise of the Underdogs: How Asia left its mark on the 2022 FIFA World Cup, reflect on how the Olympics is colonial by design. Beatrice Go, the writer behind SEA Games: A stage of unity or power play, joins them to take
My first time in Singapore: Seeing Asia anew
When I decided to move from China to the United States for college, I could never have guessed that I would end up working and living in Singapore for four months. For many Chinese international students in the US like me, our perception of the world is often limited to
The art of abundance — issue #56
I’ve been thinking a lot about what Pei Ying wrote in our last newsletter on refusal. These thoughts come on the back of growing research on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the environment: a search on ChatGPT consumes 25 times more energy than a Google search, and