Music Cities Convention (MCC) is the biggest global musical event that explores the use and importance of music in the development of cities all around the world, featuring talks and presentations on topics such as global music city policies, economic development, health, technology, education and so on. The first Canadian and 10th global edition of MCC was livestreamed from Calgary and Edmonton, Canada, with international speakers joining remotely from over 15 countries in six continents, including Singapore. This year was themed “Scaling Up Music Cities: Cultivating the Future of Alberta”.

Ms Eileen Chai (Science ’01), co-founder of 3AM Music Collective (3amMC) and Strings For Kindness (SFK), was invited to speak at the convention. Her presentation on “Empowering the Youth and Promoting Mental Health with Music", highlighted the role of music in spreading awareness and acceptance of mental health conditions. Through music, 3amMC was able to raise awareness and remove stigmas attached to mental health conditions. She also shared the importance of having an empathetic ear. When speaking to members of the public, 3amMC members, who are not professionally-trained counsellors, encourage without dishing out advices. Her initiatives have also helped empower youths and educate listeners on what someone with depression and anxiety experiences, as they transit during the healing process. With more confidence, the young musician could now make her own creative choices on how she uses music, to give back or pass forward this new strength of empowerment, to other people.

Virtual attendees appreciated Ms Chai’s illuminating sharing session, which concluded with a pre-recorded performance by the SFK and The Violin Travels, where Ms Chai’s original composition, "Everything Is Possible".

Submitted by Ms Eileen Chai (Science ’01).

If you are keen to find out more about the Chai360 Music Ecosystem or to collaborate, please reach out to Ms Eileen Chai at Chai360sg@gmail.com.

In the heart of South-East Asia’s leading university, a new home for tech-driven healthcare is taking shape. Opening in early 2021, E7 is a state-of-the-art building in the centre of the NUS campus and will become a world-leading hub for the development of affordable and accessible medical technology.

Spread across 8 storeys and more than 16,000 square metres, E7 will bridge the fields of engineering and medicine. Combining technology and innovation, it will be a hub for high impact collaboration between top researchers and industry. It will also drive the invention of pioneering healthcare technology from early concept ideas through incubation and on to commercialization. Students, researchers, scientists, and engineers will be working in what will be some of the most technologically advanced labs in the world.

“In E7, we are bringing together the expertise of NUS faculties from the schools of Engineering, Medicine and Business. With this diversity of expertise, we are not only making cutting edge technologies of today; we are also empowering patient care for tomorrow.” – Assistant Professor Shao Huilin, Biomedical Engineering.

“For me, innovation in healthcare is more than just creating ideas. We have to talk to patients and understand their concerns, and work with stakeholders like policymakers, regulators and clinicians. So, getting an innovation all the way to the finish line involves everything from behavioral sciences to healthcare economics, and Singapore is the ideal ecosystem to facilitate these interactions.” – Professor Dean Ho, Head of Department, Biomedical Engineering.

“The key mission of E7 is to drive a paradigm shift in healthcare, from a focus on symptom-based treatment to one that encompasses disease prediction, early diagnosis, and intervention. To achieve this, we will place tremendous focus in key technology areas such as digital medicine, theranostics, and robotics. With this deeper connection with our clinical partners, we will look at their pain points across multiple levels, develop and translate needs-driven holistic innovations that can advance the healthcare sector both locally and globally.” – Associate Professor Raye Yeow, Biomedical Engineering.

Here in E7, NUS will be bringing together a formidable team, ready to take on the world’s biggest healthcare challenges.

Submitted by Ms Ellen Poh.