Ke Laut: Exploring Intercultural Connections

This panel will take place at the Main Lawn and is free and open to all. While registration is recommended to help us gauge attendance, it is not required. Walk-ins are highly welcome!

In the Nusantara, the sea is a highway – connecting people, places, and cultures. From the 1700s Teochew settlements in Riau to the Minangkabau tradition of merantau (travelling at sea), maritime movements have long shaped rich coastal cultures. The Orang Pulau, too, shared trade and cultural practices with other coastal communities. Tune in to explore the intercultural flows that continue to shape our shared islander identity.

Our Speakers:

Nabilah Said

Nabilah Said is a playwright, editor and arts practitioner in Singapore. She is the editorial lead of data storytelling studio Kontinentalist, which advocates for a more equitable world through fostering connections between Asia’s sources of knowledge. She was formerly the editor of ArtsEquator, working with creatives from Southeast Asia to produce original content about the arts, and covered Singapore’s cultural scene as an arts correspondent with The Straits Times. As a playwright, she has presented work with Teater Ekamatra, The Necessary Stage, Drama Box, The Theatre Practice, T:

Hafiz Rashid

Hafiz Rashid is an experienced museum docent, storyteller, and heritage advocate with a deep passion for the history, culture, folklore, and languages of the Malay Archipelago (Nusantara), with a special focus in textiles. A dedicated volunteer at the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) since 2013, he has conducted engaging tours for diverse audiences, earning praise for his ability to bring history to life through storytelling. Hafiz has performed at notable events such as Storyfest at The Arts House and Singapore HeritageFest, and regularly shares stories from the Nusantara at museums and libraries. Recognized for his contributions to the Malay arts and heritage sector, he was among the first recipients of the Teman Warisan award, presented by President Halimah Yacob. His passion extends to sub-ethnic languages and he is an avid collector of Malay textiles, actively deepening his knowledge through workshops and expert engagements

Charlene Tan

Charlene is actively involved in the documentation and preservation of the heritage of the Singapore Teochew community. Some activities included organizing the annual “Teochew Dialect Challenge” (2020-2024) and heritage trails on the Teochews in Singapore. She is also the author of "An Introduction to the Culture and History of the Teochews in Singapore”.

Piya Raj Sukhani

As a decolonial social scientist at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Piya's teaching and research examines how the impact of Western colonialism continues to permeate knowledge production, policy formulation, culture, and inter/intra-state/subjective relations within and between contemporary Asian societies. At NUS, she teaches the transdisciplinary course of Asian Interconnections and have been the recipient of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Engaging Instructor Award twice - an award that recognizes teaching excellence based on student feedback of over 400 students. Her pedagogical approach is informed by decolonial-multimodal strategies. Previously a policy analyst at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, she contributed research to peer-reviewed journals and provided political analysis on global media platforms including Bloomberg and Channel News Asia. She has also delivered presentations on Southeast Asian politics to government stakeholders as well as at international conferences, including at the University of Oxford and the IAFOR in Japan.