Hearing the Unspoken: Euphemism, Musical Expression and Risk Communication
Euphemisms may appear to obscure meaning. However, for topics associated with stigma, shame, strong social norms, or questions of identity, as well as contexts where expression is directly blocked through censorship, indirect expression may serve important functions. It can create emotional distance, preserve dignity, test whether another person can be trusted, or make it possible to share an otherwise unspeakable attitude or experience.
Risk communication on difficult topics like sexual health, drug use, bullying, teenage pregnancy, cognitive difficulties in the young and old, is therefore often not about experts crafting clearer messages so that individuals ‘understand’ an externally defined ‘objective’ risk. Risk communication in these cases involves supporting individuals to express themselves and professionals in the domain developing the capacity to listen to them in and on their own terms.
Drawing on academic literature and original music composition 3uph3n1sm by Chan Xin Tong, this presentation examines the role of indirect expression in risk communication and illustrates how music and other art forms can embody the relational dynamics of communication, providing a medium to navigate ambiguity and foster mutual understanding. The performance of 3uph3n1sm will feature Ryan Lim on the erhu and the composer herself on the guzheng.
Chan Xin Tong
Chan Xin Tong is a versatile musician specialising in cross-genre and intercultural collaboration. An alumna of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, she also spent a year at the Sibelius Academy (Finland) under the Global Music Programme, collaborating with musicians from around the world. In Singapore, she performs with ensembles such as Artusik, Brahmastra Multi-Ethnic Ensemble, Swarhythm, and The Straits Collective as a guzheng player. As a composer, she has written for The Straits Ensemble through the New Sights Fellowship Programme (2023) and was commissioned by the School of the Arts Singapore (SOTA) for the “Silk Road Rhapsodies” concert (2025).
YST Conservatory of Music
Dr Olivia Jensen
Olivia is Deputy Director and Lead Scientist at the LRF Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk, National University of Singapore. She is an economist and public policy scholar specialising in climate, water, and environmental risks. Her recent work focuses on the perception of risks and protective responses by decision-makers and the general public, with specific applications to flood risk, individual climate action, and evaluating risk communications. Olivia leads interdisciplinary projects with engineering, environmental science, and urban planning scholars and collaborates with government agencies, including national water agency PUB and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore, multilateral organisations, and civil society to help people make better decisions in the face of uncertainty.
National University of Singapore
Ryan Lim
Ryan Lim is an undergraduate at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Music, Collaboration and Production. He began piano at six before discovering the erhu and studying under renowned educator Zhang Yu Ming. Ryan is an active performer in Singapore’s Chinese music scene and served as Concertmaster of the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra. Since joining The TENG Ensemble in 2021, he has performed extensively and received the Mapletree–TENG Academy Scholarship in 2019 and 2021. As an arranger and collaborator, he creates works combining Chinese and Western instruments and explores interdisciplinary artistic collaborations.
YST Conservatory of Music