kirstenhandsome

I'm a freelance journalist and Editor-in-Chief of New Naratif, a platform for Southeast Asian journalism, research, art and community-building. I also curate We, The Citizens, a weekly email newsletter covering Singaporean politics, social justice and civil society.

Originally trained in film and video production, I got my introduction to journalism while working as an assistant producer on documentary projects. I began freelancing, mostly in print/online journalism, in 2012. Although largely focused on my hometown of Singapore, I’ve also covered stories from countries like Greece, Scotland and Malaysia.

I've covered a wide range of topics—from general news to business, and even architecture—but tend to gravitate towards the themes of social justice, civil movements, human rights and democracy. My features, reports, and op-eds have appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Asia Times. In 2019, my essay The Silhouette of Oppression was published by Epigram Books.

Outside of work, I’m a founding member of We Believe in Second Chances, a group advocating for the abolishment of the death penalty. As part of the campaign, I tell the stories of death row inmates and their families, and also volunteer my time as a case worker to work with the families of inmates.

In 2016 I was named the Advocate of the Year at the Singapore Advocacy Awards, both for my work as a journalist as well as my role in the anti-death penalty campaign. I was also named a Champion of Gender Justice and Equality at the AWARE Awards that year. In 2018, I received an Honourable Mention for the World Justice Project’s Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism. In 2019, I won a Human Rights Press Award for my commentaries on “fake news” and freedom of expression.