My Dream-Come-True Work Trip to Singapore
My work trip to Singapore (29 Sept - 5 Oct 2024) was extremely unique, spanning a huge scope of topics and activities, including: (1) Planning and co-hosting a Forum on Regulating AI in Mental Health with IEEE Standards Association, (2) Giving an invited presentation to the Ministry of Health (MOH) Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) on the importance of evidence-based creativity in digital mental health, (3) Real-time brain wave scanning at the Mind Arts Experiential Lab while people engaged in fascinating and highly personal activities such as speaking and singing in tongues, (4) Learning through first-hand experiences of intergenerational art forms that support mental health and wellbeing such as (4a) Drumming with elderly people in a clinical study in low income housing settings and (4b) Exploring street culture and dance hot spots of Singapore to learn about how important these spaces are for young people’s self-expression and their wellbeing, (5) Seeing beautiful and very emotional artwork made by vulnerable young people as part of an Exhibition curated by Singapore Association of Mental Health and witnessing surrounding low income areas and engaging in discussions on how best to serve such communities.
Below, I share more details about these 5 different activities that I did with my time in Singapore. I was truly amazed by the generosity of those I interacted with and for the time they took to involve me in these very impactful experiences!
One
Co-hosting a Forum on Regulating AI in Mental Health with IEEE Standards Association
As Co-Chair of the IEEE Standards Association Program on Ethical Assurance of Data-Driven Technologies for Mental Healthcare, I helped to co-host a Forum on Regulating AI in Mental Health with Maria Palombini, MBA from IEEE Standards Association. This event had incredible speakers, panellists, roundtable moderators, note takers, and delegates:
More Details including Agenda, Speakers & Roundtable Moderators: https://events.bizzabo.com/616221/home
Our Forum was extremely timely for many reasons, including the publication of recent academic paper in Lancet Digital Health by Nan Liu and colleagues, entitled: “Generative artificial intelligence and ethical considerations in health care: a scoping review and ethics checklist." - A Must Read! Furthermore, our Forum followed the recent launch of The Centre of AI in Medicine (C-AIM), which is a partnership between Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), and the National Healthcare Group (NHG). This Centre was launched to ‘…bridge the gap between cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and practical applications in healthcare. C-AIM is spearheading research and development to revolutionise patient care and inform public health policies.” (find out more).
Two
Giving a presentation to the Ministry Of Health (MOH) Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT)
My presentation was on: “The Role of Creativity in Understanding and Treating Mental Health Issues: Findings and Case Studies”, which was hosted by Weng Mooi Tan and colleagues with many attendees doing great work in so many important areas. I spoke for an hour and a half, which I was very conscious of, but I had great feedback from one person who said they “…didn’t even look at their phone once” - so I will take that as a win! Before my talk I had a fantastic tour of this new building that they recently moved in to. After my presentation, I was very fortunate to connect with many of the attendees and exchange thoughts and made new great connections, which I look forward to following up on soon!
Three
Giving a presentation to the Mind Arts Experiential (Mae) Lab hosted by Prof John Wong at the National University of Singapore followed by The Lαβ’s first ever international real-time brain scanning pop-up!
This was such a fun day reuniting with Prof John Wong (who I have known for many years now) and to meet so many people who are a part of his team! I had a really nice tour of the MaeLab and I learned a lot about the various projects and exhibitions they have curated so far.
As Co-Founder of The Lαβ, I also had the extreme privilege to brain scan multiple people in real-time as they engaged in their chosen moment in the Mindfulness in Action section of the MaeLab (see images below). The participants chose unique and personally meaningful ‘moments’ for me to scan them during, including:
Speaking in tongues followed by singing in tongues
Imagining that the person was with their overseas partner and planning their future together (meeting her parents, New Years Eve) and then imagining what it would be like to hug her overseas partner by simulating a real hug with a friend she brought with her
Attempting to complete a medium-level Sudoku and when getting stuck asking for their friend to help them to see if they can solve it together
Singing in different music genre styles
Scrolling through different social media platforms and emotional responses.
Four
Learning through first-hand experiences of intergenerational art forms that support mental health and wellbeing. it was especially important for me to Visit low socioeconomic status (ses) areas to discover how the arts, culture, and community are supporting mental health & wellbeing.
Four A: Elderly Communities
actively participating in a Drumming group session with elderly people in a clinical study in low income housing settings
Dr Ang Seng Bin kindly invited me to join in a group drumming session at Clementi and he shared information about his research into mental health and physical health to support this vulnerable demographic using community drumming programmes associated with Institute of Technical Education (ITE) such as “Many Beats, One Heart”, which fosters social bonding and confidence, building across socio-economic status and backgrounds (find out more).
Four B: Street Culture & Youth
4b: exploring street culture and the hot spots of street dance in singapore. i learned about how important these spaces are for young people’s self-expression and their wellbeing.
This was a true highlight for me, especially given how much I love hip-hop music and culture! I was so fortunate to connect with 3 incredible people who showed me around loads of different places where people practice street dance, compete in street dance competitions, like at Scape (see images below). The maze below was so fascinating to walk through and go up and down stairs to find a great location to collect the brain wave activity and videos! It was a striking contrast to the fancy hotel and shiny buildings in the backdrop. It was certainly a popular hot spot in that maze for street dance!
Five
Visiting the Singapore Association of Mental Health (SAMH) Space2Connect
I loved my time spent at the Singapore Association of Mental Health (SAMH) Space2Connect. A sincere thank you to Deborah Chen and her wonderful colleagues for walking me through the Exhibition in such great detail. Every single piece that I looked at was filled with real narratives and ground truths created by vulnerable young people. I was also able to look at some artwork that was co-designed by people with lived mental health experiences and using AI. The combination really worked for the images and words that were woven together!
I also got to see my Nature Springer Editor in person for a commissioned book I am co-writing with Dr Gerry Craigen, entitled: “The Ethics of Global Digital Mental Health”.
Overall, this was a truly spectacular and productive trip, one that was always centred around human connection, creativity, and measured optimism on ethically and culturally-sensitive uses of AI and technology in mental health.
I hope to return July 2025! Fingers crossed.