In 2017, Shannon Ang, then a graduate student in sociology at the University of Michigan, sought access to the Retirement and Health Study (RHS) data from Singapore’s Central Provident Fund. The RHS, a longitudinal study of over 20,000 Singaporeans, was launched in 2014 partly to better understand the needs of a rapidly ageing population. Ang’s request would have been a humdrum procedure in many democracies. But in Singapore, it sparked a six-year journey through the Byzantine bureaucracy. 

Initially denied due to supposed data unavailability, he was later told in 2019 to collaborate with government agencies to obtain the data. So he partnered with the Ministry of Health (MOH), secured a grant, and completed all necessary administrative work. In 2021, MOH abruptly terminated the collaboration with Ang—by then in his current position as assistant professor at NTU—without an official explanation. Undeterred, Ang applied for access to the survey data again in 2022 through a Ministry of Education (MOE) pilot program. By 2023, MOE had selected his project for further review and discussed with him the variables he requested and the budget required for the project. Excited about the progress, and after incorporating feedback from the Ministry of Social and Family Development, Ang resubmitted his application. In October of 2023 Ang’s application was denied again, without a clear explanation.