26 Jul (Tue), 8-10pm
Loft, Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Civil Society Participation in the Control of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam

This talk by Dr Alfred Montoya will briefly recount a short history of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam, and a shift from a "social evils"-based intervention strategy to a contemporary strategy based on civil society participation and human rights, supported by the global American HIV/AIDS program PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

Drawing on fieldwork experiences with US and Vietnamese government and non-government personnel, programme designers and implementers, as well as programme constituents and "most at risk populations", Dr Montoya will show how this shift represents a significant positive adjustment in the prevention and control of the epidemic, but also the promotion and implementation of a new and perhaps more intrusive regime of biopolitical intervention.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Alfred Montoya received his PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. His work is on shifts in modes of governance around HIV/AIDS epidemic prevention and control in Southeast Asia. In 2007-2008, as a Ford Fellow, he conducted fieldwork in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Cambodia. He also worked as a consultant for local NGOs and the USAID Health Policy Initiative.

29 Jul (Fri), 7.30-9pm
Loft, Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Some Comparative Thoughts on Heritage Activism in Hong Kong, Penang and Singapore

The three ex-British port cities have seen extensive urbanization and reurbanization in the past few decades. How have the government, businesses, civil society, local communities, and foreign stakeholders negotiated the conservation of heritage in very different postcolonial contexts? How is history deployed and contested over in the making of heritage? What kind of heterotopias are heritage places in the globalizing Asian postcolonies?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Daniel PS Goh is Assistant Professor at NUS Sociology. He studies colonialism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, urbanization, and Christianities, all centered around his obession with the question, "what is the state?" He co-runs the e-journal s/pores (http://s-pores.com/).

29 Jul (Fri), 9-10.30pm
Loft, Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Cats - Winning the battle for public opinion

We have science, research &, statistics on our side. Now we also have the government on our side. But can we win the heart of the man on the street?

Cats - Winning the battle for public opinion is a talk by Veron Lau, Vice-President of Cat Welfare Society, a registered charity that aims to promote a humane, responsible and informed society where cats are cared for responsibly as pets and treated with kindness as community cats.

The Society actively promotes sterilisation as a vital personal responsibility of a cat owner and an effective means to control our community cat population, instead of destruction. Veron oversees the education and community outreach arm of the Cat Welfare Society. Part of that role is being a mediator, bridging the disparate expectations of complainants, cat caregivers, Town Council officers and government agencies.

30 Jul (Sat), 4.30-6.30pm
Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Activism in Singapore: A Roundtable Discussion

This session features Derrick Lim, Balakrishnan Matchap, Sha Najak, Irene Oh, Ong Xiao Yun and Treewizard who will be talking about their chosen causes and sharing their experiences, thoughts and insights on their activism work in Singapore.

30 Jul (Sat), 7.30-9pm
Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Social Entrepreneurship: A Misunderstood Concept in Singapore

Come join us for an interactive dialogue on social entrepreneurship and what it truly means for Singapore and the region.

Grace Sai, a serial social entrepreneur has just returned from an MBA in Oxford University, focusing on social entrepreneurship. The founder of Books for Hope, a Skoll Scholar and co-founder of two upcoming startups, she shares the true meaning of social entrepreneurship drawing from both scholarly theory and successful examples worldwide.

30 Jul (Sat), 9-10.30pm
Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Green Volunteering and Other Actions in Singapore and the Region

Grant Pereira has been actively involved in environmental and social issues for more than 30 years. 12 years ago, he founded The Green Volunteers [http://www.thegreenvolunte​ers.blogspot.com/] with less than 50 volunteers. Today, it has more than 5,000 volunteers and they have planted more than 250,000 trees in the ASEAN region.

Pereira is also actively involved in the conservation of the Asian elephants and the highly endangered orangutans. He brings both volunteers and schools on working and learning trips to Thailand and they help hilltribes in northern Thailand by building schools, libraries and water tanks on a regular basis. On the social front, he has an on-going Free Burma campaign (free posters will be available at the talk).

This talk offers a rare chance to hear Pereira share his countless experiences and insights regarding the activism work he has done over the years.

2 Aug (Tue), 8-10pm
Entry by donation to Post-Museum Fund (suggested $10)

Inspired into Action: 12 Years of Civil Society Activism

Sustained civil society activism requires creativity, innovation and evolution. This sums up the experiences of Dr James Gomez who has been involved in initiatives such as The Working Committee (TWC) and is the founding Executive-Director of two political associations the Think Centre (1999) and Singaporeans For Democracy (2010) (SFD). He has also been a front runner of internet activism in Singapore and contested in two general elections in 2006 (Workers Party) and in 2011 (Singapore Democratic Party). Dr Gomez will talk about his latest initiative - The GOMEZ Centre (www.thegomezcentre.com) as well as highlight ideas from his work, civil society and politics. He will share what are the things that inspired him to action in the last 12 years and in doing so he hopes he can inspire others into action!