Nicholas is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, where he leads the research programme on deliberation and public participation. His research takes an interdisciplinary approach examining how deliberative processes build bonding, bridging and linking social capital among citizens and between citizens and institutions to improve public policy and programme design.
He has almost two decades of experience in government and civic engagement, including key roles in national exercises such as Forward Singapore, Emerging Stronger Conversations and Our Singapore Conversation. He previously served as Deputy Director at the Singapore Government Partnerships Office in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and helped to establish the engagement unit at the Ministry of Health, contributing to initiatives in healthcare financing, ageing policy and caregiver support.
He is currently reading for a PhD in Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore and serves as a member of the School Advisory Committee of Northland Secondary School.
Research Interests
Deliberative Theory; Public Participation; Social Capital; Citizen–Citizen and Citizen–State relations; Participatory Governance and Policymaking
Publications
- Thomas, N., Lee, J., Goh, W., Najib, A., Wong, K. L., (2025). Building Bridges Across Differences: Piloting a Consensus Conference on Local-Foreign Integration in Singapore. Project Report.
Op-eds/Commentaries
- Thomas, N., Wong, K. L., & Goh, W. (2026, July 22). Commentary: The other recession risk that Singapore should be wary of. CNA.
- Thomas, N. (2026, July 10). The education arms race cannot be solved by MOE alone. The Straits Times.
- Thomas, N., Lee, J., Goh, W., Najib, A., Kuek, C. (2026, Apr 21). CNA. Commentary: What happened when a group of locals and foreigners spoke bluntly about living together in Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2026, Feb 9). Budget 2026 should make it easier to book void deck spaces and rebuild social capital. The Straits Times.
- Chia, S., & Ang, T. (Hosts). (2026, January 30). Living next door to conflict: Finding a way out of neighbour disputes (with Melvin Loh and Nicholas Thomas) [Audio podcast episode]. In Deep Dive. CNA.
- Thomas, N. (2025, Oct 13). Neighbour disputes: What more can we do for parties to come to the table?. The Straits Times.
- Thomas, N. & Lee, J. (2025, Sep 4). Want a ‘we first’ society? Members of Parliament are vital to the effort. The Straits Times.
- Thomas, N. & Lee, J. (2025, Aug 8). At SG60, it's time to move from a ‘me’ to ‘we’ society. CNA.
Conferences / Presentations
- Thomas, N. (2026, June 28–July 2). Building bridges across difference: Communication, Harmony Norms, and Bridging Social Capital in Singapore [Conference presentation]. International Association for Media and Communication Research Annual Conference: Peripheries and Connections—Media, Communication, and Transformation, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.
- Thomas, N. (2026, June 28–July 2). Deliberative communication for democracy: Politics, media and publics [Panel chair]. International Association for Media and Communication Research Annual Conference: Peripheries and Connections—Media, Communication, and Transformation, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.
- Thomas, N. (2026, June 26). New neighbours, shared futures: On immigration, integration, and identity in Singapore [Panel moderator]. NUS Social Policy Forum 2026, NUS Students’ Political Association, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2026, June 17). Young, restless and ready—How can Singapore harness youth civic power? [Panelist]. Singapore Futures Youth Competition 2026, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2026, May 13). Youth voice and civic engagement [Panelist]. SGLaw200 Youth Forum, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2026, May 6–8). Rights-based and adaptive platform governance [Workshop facilitator]. Internet for Trust Digital Platform Governance Regional Workshop: Capacity Building for Regulators, Digital Platforms, and Civil Society in Southeast Asia, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia.
- Thomas, N. (2026, April 20). “We First” in an increasingly diverse Singapore [Invited speaker]. NHB Jom! x Awards, National Heritage Board, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2026, February 19). REACH Budget 2026 Conversation—English session [Panel moderator]. REACH, Lifelong Learning Institute, Singapore.
- Moderator (24 October 2025). IPS Policy Lab Learning Webinar: “Citizens’ Parliament: Lessons in Public Participation”, Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2025, August 26). Conversation on National Day Rally 2025—English session [Panel moderator]. REACH, Civil Service Club @ Tessensohn, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (2025). "Has Asia Found a Better Path in Deliberation Practices? A West vs. East Analysis". International Association for Media and Communication Research Annual Conference. Nanyang Technological University, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Singapore.
- Thomas, N. (18-19 Apr 2025). "How Does Deliberation Work in ASEAN? Cases from Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia". Inaugural SJTU-IAMCR Emerging Media Forum. School of Media and Communication (SMC), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai.