I am an Associate Professor of Geography at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore. I received my B.A. (Hons., First Class) and M.A. in Geography from the National University of Singapore, and my Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Toronto. I was previously Head, Department of Geography (2004-2010) and Vice-Dean (Graduate Studies, FASS) (2011-2016).

My research focuses mainly on issues at the intersection of migration, gender and families (with a particular focus on care labour migration and transnational families within the Asia-Pacific region) as well as urbanisation and heritage conservation (particularly in Singapore). I am currently a Steering Committee member of the Migration Cluster, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. I sit on several editorial boards of journals including Gender, Place and Culture; Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography andSojourn as well as the book series Asian Cultural Studies: Transnational and Dialogic Approaches (by Rowman & Littlefield) and The Intimate and the Public in Asian and Global Perspectives (by Brill). I was Chair (2012-2016) of the Geography and Gender Commission of the International Geographical Union.

I have done consultation work for various ministries and organisations in Singapore, including the Ministry of Education, the Singapore Tourism Board, the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the National Heritage Board and the Lien Foundation. I have also served as a member of the Focus Group on Sustainability and Identity of URA’s Concept Plan Review 2011 and URA's Conservation Advisory Panel of URA (2011-2014).