Shamil Zainuddin is Research Associate at IPS Social Lab at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). He specialises in applied ethnography and holds qualifications in Sociology which he has taught as a Teaching Assistant while completing his Masters in the National University of Singapore. 

Prior to joining IPS in 2018, he was a Senior Design Ethnographer at NCR Corporation, a global enterprise technology company. There, he spent five years using qualitative methods researching human experiences to inform R&D, innovation and marketing. 

Shamil has received awards for applied ethnographic work and is the recipient of the Ministry of Home Affairs, National Day Award in 2005.

Above all, Shamil is most interested in carrying out the work to make the everyday easier for especially disadvantaged communities.

Research Interests

Inequality, Discrimination, Social Inclusion, Science Technology and Society, Deviance, Nation building, Service Design, Ethnographic Approaches

Publications

• Mathew. M., Zainuddin, S. (forthcoming book chapter) Including More on the Island of Singapore.
• Mathew, M., Thian, W. L., Lee, C., Zainuddin, S. and Chong, M. (2022). Current Realities, Social Protection And Future Needs of Platform Food Delivery Workers in Singapore. IPS Working Paper No. 47.
• Mathew, M., Zainuddin, S., Thian, W. L., Phoa, F. and Lee, C. (2022). Precarity in Platform Work: A Study of Private-Hire Car Drivers and Food Delivery Rider. IPS Working Paper No. 44.
• Pang. N., Zainuddin, S. (2021). Singapore Perspectives: Politics. Singapore: World Scientific for IPS.
  
• Lee, J., Alhadad, H., Lim, A., Zainnudin, S. and Devadas, D. (2020). The Unique Value of the Arts in Community Development: A Case Study of ArtsWok Collaborative. 
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Lee, J., Alhadad, H., Lim, A., Zainnudin, S. and Devadas, D. (2020). Nurturing Villages and Safeguarding Community: A Case Study of Beyond Social Services.
Sie, J., Koh, W., Zainuddin, S. and Johnson, G.I. (2016). “Understanding Banking via WeChat Diaries.” International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology, Vol 6, 982-989. DOI:10.18517/ijaseit.6.6.1356 

Op-eds/Commentaries

• Zainuddin, S. (2023, Jul 20). Folk Tradecrafts, Black Boxes and Caches: A Request for Algorithmic Legibility in Gig Work. The Karyawan.
• Mathew, M. & Zainuddin, S. (2023, Jul 22). A ‘union’ for gig workers will have its work cut out. The Straits Times.
• Mathew. M. & Zainuddin, S. (2021, Jun 23). Ride the wave of goodwill to further protect and recognise the dignity of migrant workers. TODAY.
• Mathew. M. & Zainuddin, S. (2021, May 3). Commentary: Worries over rising COVID-19 cases are fuelling racially charged comments. Channel NewsAsia.
• Mathew. M. & Zainuddin, S. (2020, May 8). The pandemic, moral panic and 'folk devils'. The Straits Times.

Conference Participation and Presentations/Speeches

• Sie, J., Johnson, G.I., Koh, W., & Zainuddin, S. (2017). Designing 'Little Red Sprite': Avatar as Researcher. Proceedings of CHIuXiD2017 – The 3rd International Conference in HCI and UX.
• Sie, J., Johnson, G.I., Koh, W., & Zainuddin, S. (2016). Documenting Consumer Banking Experience Research in China. DIS’16 Workshop: Documenting Design Research Processes.
• Sie, J., Koh, W., Zainuddin, S. and Johnson, G.I. (2016). WeChat as a remote research tool using WeChat to understand banking with Chinese consumers. Proceedings of 4th International Conference on User Science and Engineering (i-USEr).
• Zainuddin, S., Johnson, G.I., S., Sie, J (2015). Appearing out of line: Maintaining Varied Identities. Computer Human Interaction (CHI), 2015 Workshop: Between the Lines: Reevaluating the Online/Offline Binary.
• Zainuddin, S., Chiang, L., Johnson, G. I., Koh, W. E., and Goh, L. (2013). Understanding Money Transfer Matters: Using ethnography to inform initial remittance design ideas. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Applications of Anthropology in Business.
  

Awards

• Distinguished Research & Development Excellence Award (2013). Awarded by NCR Corporation for pioneering study on remittance using ethnographic methods.
• National Day Award (2005). Awarded by Ministry of Home Affairs.