Gillian Koh

Deputy Director (Research) and Senior Research Fellow (1996 – present)

Dr Gillian Koh began her journey at IPS as a Research Fellow in 1996 and continued to serve as IPS’ Deputy Director of Research as of 2021. After doing her doctoral thesis on the Asian Tigers as developmental states, she was keen to continue research on politics and governance in Singapore. She was interviewed by then Director Professor Tommy Koh and Deputy Director Dr Lee Tsao Yuan. Senior figures at IPS were generous in sharing contacts and having younger staff join meetings and lunches where interesting discussions often took place. 

Dr Koh was involved in organising the first Conference on Civil Society in 1998, the National Orientations of Singaporeans Survey, and surveys on parliamentary and presidential elections. She also described keynote conferences such as the flagship Singapore Perspectives (previously known as Year in Review) and the Young Singaporeans Conference, as well as IPS’ first scenario-planning exercise, Singapore Futures in 2007 and 2008. Various Directors brought their own personalities and strengths to the job, influencing the Institute’s events and research focus. As a civil society expert, Dr Koh described IPS’ extensive work with activists and provision of a platform to bring together various stakeholders, who would otherwise rarely interact. In her view, IPS was special as it bridged scholarship and policy work in the Singapore context, especially its status as a globalised city that is also a sovereign country.


This interview was conducted on 9 Jul 2019. Click here to listen to the full interview.