Liew Kai Khiun

Assistant Professor Dr. Liew Kai Khiun obtained his B.A (Hons 2nd Upper) and M.A. at the National University of Singapore and was awarded his doctorate from the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London in 2007. Prior to his graduate training, Kai Khiun worked as a civilian officer at the Ministry of Defense (Singapore) as well as the Singapore International Foundation (an NGO) between 1997 and 2000. Upon completing his doctorate, he served in the National University of Singapore between 2007 and 2009 as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cultural Studies Cluster of the Asia Research Institute, and a Visiting Fellow teaching Popular Culture at the Department of Sociology. His research interests includes: Transnational Asian popular Culture, Medical Humanities, Singapore Studies, Heritage and Social Media.

STATEMENT

From cemeteries to shopping centers, Chinese languages to punk cultures, I have been involved in the conservation of Singapore’s cultural and natural heritage for close to two decades. Entailing a more holistic approach of raising critical awareness of heritage and culture through academic documentation, participatory tours and talks as well as public advocacy, I am keen in enlivening the histories and memories of Singapore’s geographical and cultural landscapes. Over the years, my scholarly research on heritage studies are focused on exploring the role of social media in archiving, exhibiting and also socially networking otherwise private and disparate fragments of the country’s collective pasts.