About Us

 
 

The Association for Public Affairs was founded by Founding President Mr Charles Phua in Sep 2014 as a student club in the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and was officially registered as a society on 24 February 2020 under the Singapore’s Societies Act.

 
 
 

Our Vision & Mission

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Our members

 
 

Charles Phua Chao Rong - Founding President

Dr Charles Phua is CEO and Strategist-General of Solaris Strategies Singapore, and Chairman of Solaris Consortium of Management Consultancies. He leads the Solaris Consortium which specializes in complex problem-solving involving government, corporates and nonprofits. Solaris jointly developed the inaugural Spark the Next: Singapore Youth Action Plan/Challenge with MCCY, a nationwide youth outreach, national policy and project incubator, supporting DPM’s Singapore Together movement. Solaris now designs and runs Model Parliament for MCI. Charles previously spent 18 years in Government, including 5 years as founding Head Research Trainer in MINDEF coaching Commissioned Officers in strategic analysis and 6 years serving as President’s Honorary Aide-de-Camp.

Charles has a PhD in Public Policy, second DBA in strategy (submitted), degrees in international relations, education, accounting, and (soon) law and organisational psychology. He is the rare few to be appointed adjunct faculty to National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, St Gallen and Civil Service College for applied problem solving practicums in trisector, policy, business, urban-tech, and social-tech. As a researcher, he was a Fulbright Fellow with resident fellowships at Columbia, Johns Hopkins and Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at East West Institute (New York), WSD-Handa Fellow at CSIS PacForum (Hawaii). He won 13 essay awards (including first prize Chief of Defence Force essay competition) and 44 (including 4 forthcoming) publications including co-editing Understanding Cities in Asian Century (Routledge). Charles was Assistant Editor for Comparative Public Policy Series (Cambridge University Press), Immediate Past Editor-in-Chief of Asian Journal of Public Affairs and is on editorial boards of POINTER (Journal of Singapore Armed Forces), and International Relations and Diplomacy. He is founding editor for the Routledge series on strategy, wisdom and skills.

 
 
 
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Tey Shou Heng Jason - Vice President

Jason Tey holds a BSocSci (Highest Distinction) in Economics from the National University of Singapore, graduating with a double minor in Political Science and Philosophy. He is an Economics Society of Singapore Medalist for being the best graduate with the highest CAP in the Applied and Policy Economics Specialisation. He is also an MND EDGE scholar and is currently working as a policy officer with the HDB. Jason is concurrently pursuing a Masters in IT for Business in the Singapore Management University.

Jason is the current Vice President of the Association for Public Affairs. As the Vice-President, Jason coordinated the LKYSPP Singapore Experience Fireside Chat 2017, assisted with the Singapore Model Cabinet 2017, 2018, and 2019 as facilitator/judge, and was involved in the Youth Action Challenge 2019. Outside of work, Jason is involved in pro-bono research work for social causes and enjoys torturing his body in the outdoors and mind fighting snakes.

 
 
 
 
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George Wong Boon Keng - Organising Secretary - NTU Chapter Head

George Wong is a PhD candidate at the Sociology Department, Nanyang Technological University. He previously received his Masters Degree in Sociology from the same institution, and his B.SocSc in Political Science and Sociology from the Singapore Management University. His research endeavours stand at the intersection of political sociology and urban politics, with an emphasis on contemporary political experiences mediating political legitimacy in Asian political regimes. His current PhD dissertation is a political ethnography of grassroots leaders in local grassroots organisations in Singapore, and the significance of their lived experiences towards shaping the city-state’s political cultures and vice versa. Beyond academia, George also serves as a town councillor and community organizer.

 
 
 
 
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Cheng Lu - Exco Member - Auditor

Cheng Lu graduated from the National University of Singapore with an Accounting degree and a Masters in Public Policy. He first joined APA in 2015 as a participant in the SG100 ThinkFuture Forum. Cheng Lu was co-opted into the Exco member in 2018.

As a key member of APA, Cheng Lu helmed the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Chapter in its final year and assisted with the Singapore Model Cabinet 2019 as a facilitator. He currently works in the public sector and served as the Internal Auditor for the Association.

 
 
 
 
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Gwendolyn Thong Bai Wen - Exco Member

Ms Gwendolyn Thong is a Li Ka Shing Scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (2019-2021) pursuing a Masters in Public Policy.

She has served at the Singapore Model Parliament 2019 as a facilitator and emcee and as a mentor for the Youth Action Challenge 2019 in the social issues category. In 2020, She founded Chatty Caterpillar, a non-profit organisation to advocate for mental wellness in Singapore. She is a facilitator in the Youth Mental Wellness Network formed in 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social and Family Development. She currently volunteers at Cornerstone Senior Centre and Care Corner Senior Services to serve the elderly in Singapore.

Gwendolyn obtained a Bachelor in Arts (Honours) from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore in 2010 where she majored in European Studies and minored in History. During her time at NUS, she represented the university at the Asia-Europe Foundation University Programme where she was elected overall head of the Asian delegates. She was subsequently elected into the executive committee of the then 600 strong alumni network where she served for a year as its internal affairs executive.

In 2010 upon graduation, Gwendolyn was appointed as a class ambassador of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science and continued to serve her alma mater, the National University of Singapore as a Day of Service Ambassador in 2017 and 2018 where she championed the cause of providing more support to teenagers who are caught in teenage pregnancies. During this period, she volunteered at Kreta Ayer Senior Activities Centre, Babes: the teenage pregnancy helpline, at the social enterprises: New Rasa Singapura and Iron Supper Club at the Safe Place, a shelter for distressed mothers and at REACH community services.

Professionally, Gwendolyn has also obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education Singapore and worked as a history teacher from 2013 to 2019. During her time as a history and social studies teacher, she has mentored students under the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Programme and organized a trip for Singaporeans teachers to visit South Korea under the History Association of Singapore. This was when she was teaching at Dunman High School. Subsequently, when she was teaching at Changkat Changi Secondary School, she also won two Outstanding Contribution Awards (team category) in 2017 and 2018 in her work in the Student Leadership Committee and the Education and Career Guidance Committee. She started the Changkat’s Got Talent Programme at Changkat Changi Secondary School which allowed children from the school to receive dance and vocal training from industry professionals which propelled their music and dance careers.

Gwendolyn is also actively involved in the arts scene in Singapore and has performed with the VOCO Singapore Ladies Choir, Cappella Martialis and as a soloist at the Voices of Singapore event, founded by Mr Darius Lim.During her university days, Gwendolyn served as the treasurer of the NUS Taekwondo club and won several gold and silver medals in both the sparring and pattern team categories. She currently holds a black belt in Taekwondo.

 
 
 
 
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Wang Lingjie - Exco Member - NUS Chapter Head

Lingjie is an economics and statistics undergraduate in the National University of Singapore, specialising in quantitative economics. His interest revolves around applying data techniques in social science field, ranging from exploratory data analysis on social issues to forecasting macroeconomic indicators. NUS chapter will focus on bringing together a group of like-minded people in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS to explore data driven analysis in social sciences.

 
 
 
 
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Michelle Ng - Exco Member - SMU Chapter Head

Michelle NG is a student at the Singapore Management University, pursuing a Bachelor of Social Science (Political Science) and a Bachelor of Business Management (Strategic Management). She is especially interested in sustainability, social, and technological issues. Her previous internships with IBM, Temasek, and the Public Service Division have allowed her to explore these areas and hone her skills in design thinking, stakeholder communications and management, and corporate communications, among others. She has also been a Research Assistant at SMU, where she focused on projects studying food insecurity and poverty in Singapore, inequality, and development in rural China.

 
 
 
 
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Al-Hakim - Exco Member - Webmaster

Al-Hakim is a Graphic Communications diploma graduate from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. As a member of the Arts community, he is passionate about social and political issues and how the arts can be part of the conversation. He has been assisting APA since 2018 and events such as Model Parliament 2019 and the Youth Action Challenge 2019.