iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kai @kaixiang.info · 21/05/2026

Every day is the end of an era in Singapore. I write about how Singapore's nostalgia media is really disempowerment media here: www.singapore-samizdat.com/p/every-day-...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 11/05/2026

This is a little late, but my second peer-reviewed journal article was published (open access) earlier this year, and looks at how civil society experiences censorship and control over data in Singapore. Read it on the International Journal of Communication: ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 19/02/2026

I've always believed that all good journalism is good gossip, and this is living proof of it:

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 21/01/2026

It's sad but unsurprising to me that all the controversy surrounding x/twitter and grok have only made them more popular in Singapore - not less.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 22/12/2025

I've started blogging again - this time about why bad food reviews are so rare in Singapore (and the country's last honest food reviewer). Read it here: www.singapore-samizdat.com/p/the-most-s...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 04/09/2025

Just got my hands on the latest issue of meantime magazine and I am in awe of the design

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 17/08/2025

Find it fascinating how filmmakers see Asian cities as a visual shorthand for vaguely dystopian sci-fi futuristic modernity

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 04/05/2025

In today's edition of the straits times, I write about what it's like to be diagnosed with ADHD later in life - and why it made me so so angry at our schools and attitudes towards mental health: www.straitstimes.com/life/hear-me...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 30/04/2025

Who made this BL edit for the PAP??! Identify yourself!

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 21/04/2025

More questions asked, more ministerial statements: Inside S’pore Parliament’s record-setting 14th term: www.straitstimes.com/singapore/po...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 01/04/2025

Because of the popularity of Netflix's Adolescence in Singapore, many are wondering what the manosphere even is and how to recognise it. To help readers understand, I put together this glossary of manosphere and incel terminology for The Straits Times: www.straitstimes.com/life/red-pil...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 02/02/2025

Will there ever be a better explanation of what the Public Domain is than this? I don't think so. scp-wiki.wikidot.com/pdcontest2025

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 31/01/2025

I just published my first ever piece of travel journalism, and what better place for it to be about than Sri Lanka, probably my favourite country I visited in 2024! Read about the island's dramatic ascent as the next big tourism destination here: www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 31/01/2025

In other news, elon/twitter's war on bots is going really well...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 21/01/2025

So I broke my twitter/x hiatus to put out this call for interviewees, and the results were... unsurprising.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 23/12/2024

OMG! For the first time ever, I just came across the book with my first (and only) published short story in a store! 😁 It's such an insane feeling to see your words on a shelf.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 18/12/2024

Sigh, my partner received this after emailing a hotel to ask if their restaurant could accommodate his deadly food allergy. Tell me again about how AI is going to change the world for the better... because it sure seems like the new go-to tool for demonstrating that you just don't give a shit.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 08/12/2024

Okay, am I the only one that feels like this is hilariously subtle next level writing: www.straitstimes.com/singapore/fa...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 06/12/2024

What on earth... Does Singapore really account for over 6% of total traffic on BlueSky? It certainly doesn't feel like it yet. Where are all the Singapore people on here? www.creatosaurus.io/blog/bluesky...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 03/12/2024

Don't you love how someone being laid off is framed by the Financial Times as a PR problem for the company, as opposed to being a major life crisis for the person being fired? This call for you to stay an obedient little worker bee to the company that just let you go is 🤮

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 23/11/2024

Twitter has started giving me Elon Musk notifications because of how little I use it. That's unbearably cringe...

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

And sometimes, the merits are only apparent in hindsight. “In fact, now, some old Toa Payoh HDB blocks are one of the areas being looked into for conservation..." "Who would ever consider keeping Toa Payoh as it was in the past? But given time, you start to see its uniqueness.”

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

Says one architect I interviewed: “When carbon emission becomes an issue, should we be pulling down buildings before their carbon lifespan is over?" "In other words, even with buildings without heritage value, should we still demolish them when they’re still young?”

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

Experts I spoke to say that the climate stakes of our skyscraper demolition spree are significant. The built environment is currently responsible for 39 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions, and SG has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

There is also a regulatory dimension. Heritage impact assessments (common in other parts of the world) are neither mandatory nor widely practiced here. And policies like the CBD incentive scheme spur the redevelopment of office blocks into mixed-use developments, a laudable goal.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

But, these tear-downs can be hard to pass up. One expert says that faced with limited land, our choices are either taking from our green areas or intensifying existing buildings. For example: the former UIC building was torn down to create a building with 60% more floor space.

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

The architect of the iconic Pearl Bank Apartments (before it was demolished in 2019) previously said this: "The redevelopment formula does not have to comprise only tearing down a structure, especially if the original building has high architectural and heritage value."

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Kai @kaixiang.info · 13/11/2024

Did you know that #Singapore has the second-tallest building ever demolished in the world? (after the World Trade Centre) What's behind 🇸🇬's sky-high demolition spree? My latest story for The Straits Times unpacks the reasons behind our skyscraper tear-downs: www.straitstimes.com/life/sky-hig...

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