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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!
Power in pettiness— issue #75
In the past year, it feels like Asia has bubbled over. News of major protests and uprisings came in waves, and disobedience takes different shapes. While the constraints across the region are not shared, the wit of protestors endures, like a cockroach that cannot be stamped out.
Exploring Desire Paths in Singapore
The team behind ‘A line of our own drawing’ shares deeper about their ideas, process, and experiences researching desire paths in Singapore.
What is the point of education if it cannot stop suffering? — issue #55
Apologies: We accidentally sent a test version of our latest issue. Please ignore the previous email and continue reading to enjoy this month's reads! It’s the end of May and spring is in full swing. I’ve just completed my second term at the University of Edinburgh,
Small but Mighty: Behind the Scenes
Our latest microstory Small But Mighty: Conservation lessons from a community in Kinabatangan began with a visit to the headquarters of Our Better World, a local non-profit digital storytelling studio started by the Singapore International Foundation, which highlights stories of global communities doing good. There, they introduced us to
Data is just texture
How can we develop a more intentional approach, methodology, or manifesto around our perspectives towards data? Particularly, how do we think of it ethically, countering eurocentrism whilst applying a feminist and decolonial approach?
Dataviz in Asia (May 23')
I always joke that working in the field of data storytelling is like attending an eternal university—the learning (and unlearning) never really stops. At Kontinentalist, we're constantly rethinking our approaches to data storytelling, grounding them in lived experiences and contextual understandings. We strive to learn from different
seasons are changing — issue #54
Coming from tropical Singapore, where it’s pretty much hot all year round, spring was never something I resonated with. It didn’t rouse in me feelings people associate with the end of winter: hope, joy, and revival. At most, I’d think of the fleeting beauty of Japanese sakura,
Dataviz in Asia (April 24')
Spring is finally here! As my colleagues Zafirah, Munirah, Michael, and I brainstormed the theme for this issue, we found ourselves drawn to the transient essence of the season in April. It's a time marked by various new beginnings, with festivals such as Ponggal and Songkran happening, and
What’s in an Asian year? Deconstructing how we think about time
Working on a story about different Asian new years made our Editorial Lead Nabilah reconsider her ideas about time. In this article, she shares how her research made her question our reliance on the Gregorian calendar and what we can learn from the various Asian calendar systems
Bringing Lapis to life: How we built a storytelling platform from scratch
After more than two years of hard work, our data storytelling platform Lapis is finally out in the wild! Building our platform as a small team has been a largely iterative process, one that underscores the value of collaboration in our craft and requires us to learn (and unlearn!) as
The colours of girlhood — issue #53
Back in primary school, girls in my class used to circulate a dog-eared paperback copy of Judy Blume’s “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret”, giggling excitedly to the next person in line. I have fond memories of reading about 12-year-old Margaret’s adolescent adventures:
How media workers can be more gender-sensitive
In October 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in a gender-sensitive reporting workshop with some amazing journalists, media workers, and NGO representatives from five Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines). It was organised by Public Media Alliance (PMA), a global association of public service
Dataviz in Asia (March 24')
For this month’s Dataviz in Asia, we’re highlighting works by two of our favourite female data viz practitioners. Shirley Wu and Gurman Bhatia both use data to amplify the contributions of women in the arts and entertainment industries. We’re self-professed patrons of the arts here at
Applying visual metaphors: How we visualised period poverty in Asia
This microstory came about when Singaporean period care company Blood launched its “Period-Positive Workplaces” movement in 2022. A communications agency had sent over a press release of the initiative, which included survey findings on period shaming at work. Having never experienced bullying or pressure of any kind related to