Case Studies

Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities (THKMC) is a large community care and social service agency that provides multiple services to diverse beneficiaries, including seniors, children with developmental needs, families in need and persons with disabilities. THKMC faces several challenges such as leading a large, diverse and geographically dispersed organisation; challenges in recruiting and retaining talent; and working with many stakeholders. This case study examines the challenges that THKMC faced and how it responded to them.

Lions Befrienders Service Association (Singapore) (hereon “LB”) is a social service agency that has embarked on a transformative journey in utilising technology to provide personalised and integrated eldercare services. This case study delves into the journey of LB as a trailblazer in closing the digital gap in Singapore’s community care sector, specifically in encouraging seniors to embrace the use of technology in their daily lives. It explores the motivation behind LB’s efforts to leverage technology in providing a comprehensive and personalised care ecosystem for seniors, the challenges and issues LB faced along the way, and how the organisation responded.

This case study explores the key components of Indonesia’s digital economy, beginning with the current state of its technological landscape. It then delves into the pivotal role of government policies, the challenges that must be overcome and the numerous opportunities available in this rapidly evolving sector. Through the success story of e-commerce giant, Tokopedia, the case study highlights Indonesia’s achievements and the promising trajectory of its digital future.

As a small urban island-state, Singapore relies on imports for most of its food needs. To enhance food security and resilience, the “30 by 30” plan – which aimed to build up the agri-food industry to supply 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030 – was announced in 2019. The government has since introduced policies to encourage agri-food production in Singapore. After four years, the results are mixed. What are the challenges of developing the agri-food industry in Singapore? What are the lessons that can be learnt from Singapore’s experience? What can Singapore do better in the promotion of agri-food industries?

This case summarises the key developments surrounding former Indonesian president Joko Widodo’s ambitious long-term plan to shift his country’s capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara, East Kalimantan. The project is expected to take 20-30 years to complete, which means that current President Prabowo Subianto and his successors would have to uphold the commitment to Nusantara’s construction for it to succeed. Balancing the environmental, societal and legal or policy / administrative impacts of the shift and governing the new capital city will be among the challenges facing the new Prabowo administration and those that follow. The case lists three policy options for students to consider.

This case study identifies critical minerals and describes their uses. More importantly, it explores the geopolitics behind the control of these minerals, tracing it to the imbalance in the global market in terms of countries’ limited abilities to mine, process and refine these minerals into commercially usable forms. It discusses the country coalitions emerging around the US-China rivalry over the control of minerals. It also examines how tumultuous political developments like the Taliban’s capture of power in Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine are impacting perspectives on control of minerals. The case study concludes by identifying scenarios that may emerge, as the geopolitics of access to minerals becomes more intense and complex.

This case study explores the organisational response of St. Andrew’s Community Hospital (SACH) to changes implemented by the Ministry of Health in four policy areas, namely: expansion of means testing; clustering and re-clustering health services in search of optimal organisational sizing; changes in funding and awarding of services; and changes in domain responsibilities. In each policy area, the case study looks at how the SACH management led their organisation, as well as the sector. From a similar perspective, the case study analyses the motivations and responses of other actors, and how these affected the choices of the SACH leadership in steering their staff and the organisation as a whole.

This case study focuses on Filipino migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Hong Kong and Singapore. It examines the similarities and differences in the rules and procedures that the two destination sites implement, especially concerning rights, benefits, restrictions and regulations. Further, it illustrates the challenges faced by Filipino MDWs and assesses which destination fares better.