Asia Journalism Fellowship
The Asia Journalism Fellowship is a Temasek Foundation (TF) programme hosted by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). Since 2009, it has been bringing about 15 journalists from across Asia to Singapore each year. The Fellowship is a highly regarded mid-career programme for journalists, valued as time out from the newsroom for Fellows to recharge, learn, understand more about one another’s countries and get to know Singapore. The programme complements IPS’ research on media developments.
The AJF was initiated by TF to build bridges between Asian journalists, and was hosted by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University from 2009 until 2016, after which it moved to IPS.
The programme is led by director Alan John, who has been with the AJF since 2015. A journalist and editorial trainer, he spent 35 years at The Straits Times and was deputy editor when he retired in September 2015. Dr Carol Soon of IPS is associate director.
The AJF was a three-month programme held in Singapore from its start until 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the 2020 programme to be cancelled and in 2021, it resumed as a six-week fellowship run online only. With the easing of travel restrictions, the 2022 fellowship was conducted online for four weeks, followed by two weeks in Singapore. The Fellows from 2021 joined the 2022 Fellows for the fortnight in Singapore.
In 2024, the AJF will remain a hybrid programme with four weeks online and four weeks in Singapore. It will run from 8 July to 30 August 2024, www.ajf.sg.
So far, 220 journalists from 20 Asian countries and territories have taken part, creating a strong network of alumni who keep in touch.
Please visit the AJF website for more information.