I am a sociologist in education with a strong research focus on the lived experiences of children and young people in transnational contexts, including international students, refugee and migrant learners, and their families. In addition to my academic roles, I founded the International Student Wellbeing Network and the Asian Academic Research Team, both based in Adelaide.
Born and raised in Singapore, I completed my primary, secondary, and teacher training before teaching in Singapore schools for ten years. I later pursued a Bachelor of Education at the University of South Australia, graduating with First Class Honours. My subsequent academic appointments at the University of South Australia and the Adelaide University have enabled me to contribute to the teaching–research nexus by helping students be more globally minded and interculturally sensitive educators.
Across my roles as Course Coordinator, Research Supervisor, and Early Career Researcher (ECR) representative, I have adopted a solutions-focused approach grounded in analytical thinking and evidence-based decision-making: both underpinned by care ethics. For example, during COVID-19, as an ECR representative and mentor, I initiated monthly support meetings that fostered community and care among junior colleagues—work that culminated in a journal publication on collective care. These experiences strengthened my ability to identify underlying issues quickly and develop practical, sustainable responses that cultivate an inclusive academic environment.
As managerialism and performative pressures continue to reshape academia, keeping care ethics at the centre of our work has never been more important. Advocating for care is both an ethical responsibility and a vital challenge to institutional structures that disproportionately marginalise caregivers, many of whom are female academics. For me, working collectively to build a more humane and supportive academic culture is an essential and enduring goal.
This commitment to fostering care and inclusion also underpins my 2025 initiative, Empowering Asian Academics in Australian Universities: A Pilot Colloquium in South Australia—the first event of its kind in the State. The outcomes of the inaugural event highlighted its broader potential to contribute to long-term structural change within the higher education sector, representing a strategic effort to build academic communities where equity, care, and belonging can take root.