In the fourth and last session of the online workshop on Managing Demographic Change in Southeast Asia, Professor Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit, Dr June Tay, and Associate Professor Calvin C L Chan discuss how we can better manage demographic change in terms of technology advancements and the environment.
REGIONAL SOCIAL AND CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAMME
Managing Demographic Change in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Issues Amidst the ‘New Normal’
Friday, 20 November 2020 – This final session of the online workshop on ‘Managing Demographic Change in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Issues Amidst the ‘New Normal’ discussed how advancements and transformations in digital technology and environment intersect, influence and transform the well-being of communities and individuals across Southeast Asia. The webinar is part of an online workshop supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) on ‘Managing Demographic Change in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Issues Amidst the ‘New Normal’.
Moderated by Dr Kevin S Y Tan (ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute), the webinar featured the insights of Professor Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit (Thammasat University), Dr June Tay (Singapore University of Social Sciences), and Associate Professor Calvin C L Chan (Singapore University of Social Sciences). The speakers discussed how the recent transformations in digital technology and environment intersect, influence and transform the well-being of communities and individuals across Southeast Asia.
Professor Prapaporn’s presentation on “Social Protection in Managing Disaster Risk in Climate Change” examined the importance of well-designed social protection policies for children, who are the greatest risk in suffering during disasters that include natural disasters and the current COVID-19 pandemic. She argued that well-designed social protection policies will play a key role in enabling households to avoid negative coping strategies and mitigate disaster impact. Drawing from examples in Thailand and the Philippines, she highlighted the effectiveness of existing social protection programmes in these two countries at managing and reducing disaster risk. However, she also noted that existing social protection policies in these countries could be further improved by enhancing greater recognition of disaster risk in the case of Thailand, and by integrating social protection in existing proactive approaches to reducing disaster risk in the case of the Philippines. In closing, Professor Prapaporn emphasised the importance of having realistic expectations about effectiveness and limitations of social protection programmes in building social resilience; the multidimensionality of vulnerability; and the need to adopt a more comprehensive approach in reducing multi-dimensional risks across social, economic and health realms.
In her presentation titled “Development of the Digital Economy in an Evolving Pandemic Environment”, Dr June Tay discussed the opportunities and challenges brought about by greater technology adoption among the resident populations in various Southeast Asian countries amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the adverse impacts on meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions and the travel sector, Dr Tay noted that digital economy across Southeast Asia has been experiencing an unprecedented growth during this pandemic era. The growth of the digital economy has been in part propelled by the expansion of e-commerce sectors, rising demand for digital economy-related jobs, skills and talents such as data analysts and content strategists. Dr Tay also spoke about how recent advancements in Southeast Asia’s digital economy landscape have opened up new opportunities and challenges. On one hand, these opportunities include the growing presence of digital marketing and influencer marketing largely driven by more tech-savvy young consumers, the increased adoption of virtual reality technologies, and fintech technologies across the society including the elderly population. On the other hand, there have also been rising concerns over cybersecurity and data privacy. In closing, Dr Tay emphasised the importance of fostering greater collaboration between individuals, companies and countries for the betterment of the society amidst the growth of the digital economy in Southeast Asia.
A/P Calvin M L Chan presented his session on “Digitally Transforming an Ageing Population”. In this session, he discussed the issues and challenges that the elderly in Singapore face in light of the rapid digital transformations, and proposed recommendations developing a more age-friendly digitalised society. A/P Chan explained that the adoption of technology among the elderly is affected by a confluence of factors that include, but not limited to, social factors (social norms of social media, level of familial support), cultural factors (language barriers, content genre), and economic factors. To this end, there have been growing efforts and measures aimed at bridging digital divides between generations and to assist seniors in adapting to digital transformation in Singapore. Dr Chan said that these measures range from the implementation of physical “TraceTogether” tokens, financial assistance schemes, and mental health support. Dr Chan emphasised that the development of a more age-friendly digitalised society requires ongoing ground-up collaboration with seniors from all walks of life.
The webinar concluded with a Question and Answer session. The online audience engaged the speakers on a variety of issues which include the current infrastructural and development capacity for virtual reality technologies in Singapore; the importance of reskilling of workers; bridging the divide between a booming digital economy and declining traditional employment; the role of grassroots efforts to enable protection for the vulnerable in disasters like global pandemics; and the need to broaden social and economic concerns and protections over digital transformations across Southeast Asia involving both young and old. The session ended with each speaker sharing their personal views on what they perceived to be the greatest immediate challenges facing the region for the young and old in the midst of the current pandemic.