Bangladesh
M Abul Kalam Azad. Senior Reporter, The Daily Star, Dhaka. A seasoned journalist who has been writing stories on the tough topic of rising Islamic extremism in Bangladesh. The recent arrest and deportation of more than two dozen radicalised Bangladeshis in Singapore makes his research proposal to examine the radicalisation of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore and Malaysia both timely and worthwhile.
China
Yan Dingfei (Hu Jianlong). Freelancer, Guangzhou. Jianlong has worked as a reporter in China for the Guangdong news organisation Southern Weekly, Caijing Magazine and the Beijing Bureau of Southern Daily. He wants to examine the significance of the China-Singapore Economic Corridor, gathering the views of experts and observers.
Li Jiajia. Producer and host, Guangdong Satellite TV, Guangzhou. Jiajia started out as a business reporter before she moved to TV and went on to host a TV show that delivered high-profile, impactful programmes including interviews with controversial personalities. She wants to research and write a policy paper on how the media, especially new media, can help improve human rights and democracy.
Indonesia
Abdul Malik. Editor, Economics and Business, Tempo, Jakarta. Malik has worked as a reporter and editor for 13 years. He wants to investigate the impact of a draft Indonesian law and its attempts to claw back Indonesian assets from overseas, including in Singapore. Apart from speaking to finance industry experts and observers, he hopes to interview wealthy Indonesians living in Singapore.
Mona Kriesdinar. Social Media Expert, Tribun Jogja Daily, Jogjakarta. Mona is very much a social media and tech guy, representing a new generation of journalists straddling news platforms comfortably. He wants to examine the latest ways mainstream media are using social media to retain and grow readership.
India
Sohini Chattopadhyay. Freelancer, Kolkata. Sohini is an award-winning writer of in-depth features and remains dedicated to long-form storytelling. While in Singapore she will examine various facets of an ageing society and is particularly interested in learning about the second careers and lives of Singaporeans past the official retirement age of 62.
Dipti Nagpaul-D’Souza. Special correspondent, Indian Express, Mumbai. Over a decade as a reporter and feature writer, Dipti has made her mark with strong, thoughtful people stories. She wants to take a close-up look at migrant worker living quarters in Singapore and how they compare with worker settlements in India.
Laos
Bounfaeng Phaymanivong. Journalist, Vientiane Times, Vientiane. Bounfaeng is a business reporter who wants to find out how his country can do more to attract visitors and expand jobs in tourism. He hopes to gain lessons and insights by speaking to tourism industry experts, observers and travellers in Singapore.
Malaysia
Patrick Christopher Lee. Journalist, The Star, Kuala Lumpur. Patrick covers transport and environment but has varied interests, from outdoors to writing comedy sketches, as well as a background in IT. His AJF project will focus on cyber security and the rise in cyber attacks in Asia.
Myanmar
Aye Sapay Phyu. Chief Sub-Editor, Myanmar Times, Yangon. Aye is a journalist who has risen through the ranks from reporting to supervising and mentoring younger colleagues. She is keen to focus on water resource management, water scarcity and how to avoid a water-related tragedy and will be speaking to Singapore’s water experts.
Pakistan
Moniza Inam. Senior Sub-Editor and Coordinator, Daily Dawn, Karachi. As a writer and editor Moniza has focused on tough issues concerning human rights, distributive justice and women’s equality. She wants to examine the issue of women and jobs, given their relatively low participation in Pakistan’s workforce. She hopes to draw insights from the experience of women in Singapore.
Philippines
Timothy James M. Dimacali. Science and Technology Editor, GMA News Online. A self-described and unabashed science geek, TJ reports on science and is a science fiction writer as well. He wants to identify best practices for science reporting, including weather and general science reporting in the Philippines. He aims to write a policy paper that would be useful to news organisations as well as government agencies.
Singapore
Toh Yong Chuan. Senior Correspondent, The Straits Times. Former civil servant Yong Chuan switched to journalism and quickly made his mark as an award-winning news reporter and feature writer. He will examine how NGOs help migrant workers who are injured, engaged in disputes with their employers or in distress. He hopes to produce a first-person account by spending two days a week as a volunteer case worker with an NGO.
Neo Chai Chin. Correspondent, Today. Chai Chin is an alumnus of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information and has been a journalist for nine years. She wants to develop a package of stories about Singaporeans involved in environmental conservation overseas and use that to discuss vulnerable ecosystems and wildlife in the region.
Sri Lanka
P. Mathanavasan. Editor, Tamil Mirror Daily, Colombo. Mathan made his mark online before becoming editor of the Wijeya group’s Tamil Mirror print edition. He is keen to understand Singapore’s ideas and plans to make the city-state lively and livable, and to identify policies and laws that could work in densely populated cities elsewhere.
Taiwan
Amanda Lu Tai. Beijing Correspondent, CTITV, New Taipei City. Amanda moves between Taipei and Beijing every three months, specialising in cross strait relations, among others. She wants to focus on young Taiwanese working in Singapore and find out why they chose Singapore instead of China, the top choice for their counterparts. She hopes to produce a series of news videos on her iPhone.
Elaine Huang. Senior writer, CommonWealth Magazine, Taipei. Elaine covered transportation and IT for CommonWealth magazine before moving on to regional economics, winning international awards along the way. She hopes to deepen her knowledge of the Asean Economic Community and India and assess how the region will be affected by increased growth in ASEAN and India vis a vis slower growth in China.
Vietnam
Le Nam. Senior Reporter, Tuoi Tre newspaper, Ho Chi Minh City. Le Nam was a tour guide and history teacher before switching to journalism 17 years ago and now wishes he had made the change sooner. He wants to find out why so many Vietnamese come to Singapore for medical treatment, and will be examining various aspects of medical tourism.