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Disability is all around us—among people we meet, the media, sports, our own family and friends. Undeniably, all of us have or will one day come to experience or encounter disability. But how can we reckon with the realities of those who live with disability, or its reality in our own lives? In a city-state slowly moving towards inclusion, how do those meant to be 'included' feel about such efforts? Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore is a groundbreaking collection of essays that takes a creative and critical disability studies approach to centre disability, and rethink the ways in which we research, analyse, think and know about disability in our lives. Across multiple domains and perspectives, the writings in this volume consider what it means to live with disability in a purportedly inclusive and accessible Singapore.
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“This is a pathbreaking book. Not Without Us weaves together a rich fabric of voices exploring the politics and poetics of disability in Singapore. Moving between lived reality, representation and struggles for social transformation, the collection excavates hidden or forgotten pasts, documents struggles and community formation in the present, and hints at possible futures. The essay collection challenges contemporary discourses of and scholarship on disability in Singapore by centring disabled subjectivities. In the process, it opens up new spaces of empathy, praxis and critique.”
—Philip Holden, Independent Scholar and Counsellor
“Even as we build smart cities that are highly connected and intelligently managed through harnessing big data generated by the Internet of Things, we must ask whether these cities are inclusive too. In particular, how can we ensure that future directions in urban planning fully cater to people with disabilities so that their needs are well met? After all, can cities be smart if they are not also caring? This excellent volume brings together a powerful medley of voices that illuminates what it means to be disabled in Singapore and offers viable ideas for engaging with—rather than invisibilising—disability.”
—Professor Lim Sun Sun, Vice President, Partnerships & Engagement,
Professor of Communication & Technology, Singapore Management University
“In much of public discourse, many of us hold firm to our own lived realities and views. This is expected; and not unlike the proverbial blind men describing the elephant only by the parts they can feel. Where perspectives can be shared and aggregated, therein stands a chance of a clearer larger picture to develop more effective actions for better life outcomes.
Not Without Us provides one cluster of perspectives of individuals wanting to see the disabled amongst us better included and embraced. It is valuable insight to further clarify the larger picture of what Singapore aspires to and can become. Added to perspectives of stakeholders not included here, it is great fodder for deeper dialogues across the public, private and people sectors. I am eager to see how the outcomes of these crucial dialogues can be validated, aggregated and then translated to a better life for the disabled and the rest of Singapore.”
—Denise Phua, Chair, Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) and Autism
Association Singapore; Member of Parliament and Mayor of
Central Singapore District
“This book is an eye-opener for anyone in the disability sector in Singapore. A fresh breath, a playful twist, a heart-wrenching memory, a resolution…many discoveries in one unique Singaporean collection. Amazing work! Reading this reframed how I look at myself, my children and the world around me. After so many years of living with it, as a developmental paediatrician, a caregiver and lately as founder of CaringSG, I thought I knew enough. But now I realise it is still a mystery. There is so much more to understand, to learn, to accept, to imagine, and to love. Thank you Not Without Us for being a special song that I will hold dear for years to come, for reminding me why I started, and for the reasons to press on in this adventure.”
—Dr Lim Hong Huay, Developmental Paediatrician; Caregiver;
Board Chair and Founder of CaringSG
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Kuansong Victor, Zhuang is Fung Global Fellow at the Princeton Institute of International and Regional Studies, Princeton University, and International Postdoctoral Scholar at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. His research lies at the intersections of communications, media, and cultural studies, and disability studies, especially as it pertains to the workings of technology and inclusion. He hopes to use his research to contribute to current debates about how inclusion happens both in Singapore and around the world.
Meng Ee Wong is Associate Professor at the Psychology and Child & Human Development academic group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. He researches and teaches in special and inclusive education, assistive technology, disability studies and teacher education across diploma and postgraduate courses. He has published in international journals, including Asia Pacific Journal of Education, British Journal of Visual Impairment, International Journal of Inclusive Education, Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, and Support for Learning. He has also published book chapters with Lexington Books, McGraw Hill, Springer and Routledge. His most recent co-edited book with A/Prof Levan Lim, Special Needs in Singapore: Trends and Issues was published by World Scientific in July 2021. He currently serves on several non-profit and charity organizations, including SG Enable, iC2 PrepHouse serving individuals with disabilities. In 2019, he was appointed Chairman of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund.
Dan Goodley is Professor of Disability Studies and Education at the University of Sheffield and a prominent scholar in the field of disability studies. He is also co-director of iHuman: the interdisciplinary research institute for the study of the human at the University of Sheffield. He has published extensively on disability, as well as participated in research spanning diverse fields over the past 30 years.
