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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!
the power of play— issue #64
My childhood was distinctly marked by improvisation. In the days before screens and social media, we played masak-masak and make-believe, using the everyday things around us to bring our imaginary worlds to life. The corridors of our HDB block became a makeshift supermarket aisle, a blanket transformed into a fort,
Bite-sized indulgences
There's something magical about childhood snacks. They're time machines wrapped in crinkly packages, portals to simpler days when 20 cents could buy happiness and sticky fingers were badges of honour, rather than inconveniences to be sanitised away. When I think about my own skittish excitement licking
How does land shape us? — issue #40
I was having dinner with my family one day when the topic of ghosts came up. By then, it had been almost two years since I migrated to Dubai to be with my parents. My uncle and aunt were visiting from Singapore, and my dad and his brother found themselves
How has your community helped you in 2022? — issue #39
As we enter December, it’s a good time to reflect on the past year. Kontinentalist has grown a lot in 2022, and our progress was highlighted by a busy November—winning two awards, receiving invitations to DataFest Tbilisi and other summits, and hosting workshops at major events such as
Meet the Community! Julia Janicki, data visualisation designer/ developer and data journalist
Julia Janicki is an award-winning data visualisation developer and data journalist currently based in Paris, where she works at the Agence…
How do we learn? When will we learn? — issue #38
Recently, I travelled to Christmas Island to learn more about the Malay community there. I spoke to islanders whose ancestors hailed from all over the Malay archipelago—people whose culture, language, and traditions are an amalgamation of their diverse roots. I left feeling more informed, my insights both supplementing and
Humans of Kontinentalist: Nabilah Said
Nabilah joined Kontinentalist in June 2022 as our new Editorial Lead. Over the past few months, she’s written a micro-story on Mystical…
What are the spaces where you feel safest? — issue #37
In school, I was always considered the smart kid who could do no wrong. While this sounds like a cliché, the cardinal rule at my all-girls Catholic high school was to never stray from this label assigned to me. “Stick to the status quo”, as dictated by one of the
The silent crises in our hands —issue #36
To me, it is a country whose brilliance sometimes casts a shadow on its untold stories. We may be attractive and glamorous from the outside à la Crazy Rich Asians, but what’s less talked about is how our society and its systems can often, intentionally or not, overlook the
Meet the Community! Daisy Chung, visual communicator and illustrator
Daisy Chung is an award-winning science visual communicator and illustrator based in California and originally from Taiwan.
The stories we tell of ourselves — issue #35
Writing stories as a child, I was always tempted to inhabit the bodies and worlds of others. My characters ate treacle pudding and scones with clotted cream, bursting through attics and chimneys, generally being up to no good in locales vastly different from my own. No surprise, as the books
Humans of Kontinentalist: Qijin Tay
Qijin first joined as a web development intern before becoming a full-time member of Kontinentalist. We interviewed her twice, once in each…
Meet the Community! Wendy Wang Shijia, data viz designer, Tableau Public Ambassador and Visionary
Wendy Wang Shijia is a Shanghai-based data visualization designer, Tableau Public Ambassador and Tableau Visionary. Drawing on her decade…
Of things that flow and connect— issue #34
How does our built infrastructure affect our lives and our identities? What do these indelible marks on our landscapes mean? These are some of the questions asked at a new exhibition opened by the Singapore Art Museum, titled Lonely Vectors, where a map of ours is on display. While I’