In Conversation with Tammy Gan

The Singaporean writer on being an “activist-in-progress” and the pros and cons of digital media and social media advocacy

I’ve suddenly been struck by how absurd technology is. Something I regularly take for granted now seems too miraculous to even exist in the first place. The catalyst for these feelings is the subject of this profile, writer Tammy Gan, whose work I have discovered and solely interacted with over Internet spaces, and who I am now speaking with over Zoom — yet another Internet space — via the liquid crystal, polarized glass, plastic, pixels, or whatever elixir computer screens are made of. 

Gan has embraced her online existence — her Instagram bears the username @tammy__online — and much of her work within the climate movement involves writing articles for digital publications like Green Is The New Black, consolidating information in Instagram posts as a member of the Bad Activist Collective, and helping produce the Green Dreamer podcast. In every blurb that accompanies her work, Gan describes herself as an “activist-in-progress.”

“The reason why I have always identified as an activist in progress is because I think that the term “activist” is so heavily loaded with so many things that I don’t necessarily identify with. For one, the meaning of activist is so different across cultural contexts and I see that very clearly in the [fact that the] American or white, Western definition of activism is very different from activism that occurs in Asia: The tactics that you have to use as an activist are so different among cultural contexts.”

Gan is based in Singapore, a significant time difference away from the U.S. and U.K.-based activists that she often works with. Singapore occupies a very unique environmental position on an international stage, one which Gan argues calls for the country to better acknowledge its outsized role in the global effort against climate change. Although Singapore is a part of the generally poor region of Southeast Asia that has been historically subjected  to the brunt of capitalist-driven colonialism, the country is undeniably rich and thus, powerful.

Much of Singapore’s wealth comes from the fossil fuel industry. Companies like Shell and Exxon have had a strong role in Singapore's nation building process; the fossil fuel industry is part of why Singapore was put on the map in the first place, setting a standard for the interests of this small nation to be inextricably tied with those of the fossil fuel industry.

Singapore has undoubtedly obtained for itself a favorable “foreign reputation” for being a “forward looking” and supposedly democratic country. Yet behind this facade of progressive technology and gleaming skyscrapers are blatantly regressive free speech laws: Singaporeans will get arrested if they protest on the streets — an example of the differing activism tactics that must be used depending on one’s cultural circumstances, a fact that fuels Gan’s usage of the term “activist-in-progress.”

“Being from Singapore really shows me all of these different realities that exist in different countries and reminds me that the “one-size fits all” climate justice approach doesn’t work for every single country. It’s really important that when we think about showing solidarity that we can’t just implement our visions on other countries. We really need to pay attention to differences among countries in order to really show solidarity. Inclusivity is not as easy as just having people from different parts of the world represented, it’s genuinely trying to understand the context behind who they are and where they come from.”

The term “activist-in-progress'' also serves the purpose of holding space for imperfection in activism, a philosophy at the core of the Bad Activist Collective’s manifesto, of which Gan is a member. The manifesto emphasizes the fact that perfectionism is part of the reason why we are in the climate crisis to begin with, and that it would be much healthier for both our movements and for us, if we would make space for mistakes, accountability, and the fact that people are always learning and growing.

“To be honest, I don't think I’ll ever be comfortable using the word “activist” also because I think that really puts in people’s heads the kind of person that you are. I think it’s a lot more useful to talk about the actual things that I do, for example I do a lot of communicating, consolidating information, and researching, all of which is not typically associated with “activism” but it is part of the work that activists have to do. There are so many parts to activism. My journey has been trying to figure out how best can I use my skills to service the greater movement to liberate the people around me; people in the margins, the fringes, and it’s taken a long-ish time but I’ve realized that I don’t have to be a specific kind of person to contribute.”

What struck me most about Gan’s writing is the extent to which it is rooted in radical ideology. The articles she has written for the Green Is The New Black platform are explicitly anti-capitalist; The Bad Activist Collective manifesto describes the Collective as “grounded in a foundation that is anti-colonial, anti-imperial, pro-Black, pro-queer, anti-ableist, anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchy, against antisemitism and anti-oppression.”

She credits college as being the starting point to her radical ideology. Gan attended Yale-NUS College, Singapore’s first liberal arts college in collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore — until it was scrapped by the Singaporean government (currently phasing out and set to officially close in 2025). Rumor has it that it’s because the school provided a liberal arts education, which naturally due to the breadth of literature consumed, led many to adopt radical ideologies that the country does not want. College is widely regarded as the place where educated people adopt increasingly liberal viewpoints. A 2016 report from the Pew Research Center found that based on a policy questionnaire, 31 percent of people who receive a post-graduate education are “consistently liberal,” compared to only 5 percent of people with a high school education or less. 

“I received radical education — or at least I got started through college — which is not to say that the institution is great (because it’s not), but I was able to get a radical education out of it. I didn’t embody the texts at the time, it was just something that I read and talked about in class. But I do think that it sowed seeds in my head that would eventually sprout [with the help of] other people and [new experiences].”

Prior to college, Gan wasn’t interested in studying climate change, let alone dedicate much of her labor to climate activism. When she had to declare a major her sophomore year, she was still dabbling in the idea of studying literature or psychology, but after taking some classes, realized that these courses weren't for her. 

“And then my friend told me about the environmental movement — he was individual-action focused, which now I know can be a problematic approach — but at the time it shifted things for me in that it made me curious. I also watched The True Cost, the documentary about sustainable fashion and the exploitative nature of supply chains behind the fashion industry. That also informed my perspective. It made me think, “Wow, everything I know is a construct.”’

She recalls that uncovering the realities of the climate crisis aligned well with the radical readings she had consumed earlier but not embodied quite yet.

“I just went with my gut and chose Environmental Studies as my major. But what really opened my eyes to a climate justice framework [was] not my [formal education]. My education led me there, but honestly, I think social media was the reason why I started looking into things from a justice and power lens. I was learning about these things in the classroom, but hearing people talk about it online really deepened my perspective. Also, there were so many things that happened in 2020 that also influenced me to decolonize my environmentalism. It’s definitely still a process.”

Social media is an entity that is difficult for many activists to grapple with. It is simultaneously a near-universally used platform with great potential to educate and mobilize people, like Gan. Yet social media is also incredibly corrupt, known to spread misinformation and bear addictive qualities. Platforms are constantly under fire from an exploited public, who still just cannot remove itself from the stronghold that the technology has on society.

“Instagram is so messed up: Facebook, Instagram, the whole thing — these are all platforms that are coming from Silicon Valley and they all have their own agendas and their agenda is to make us buy things and prop up capitalism. We’re on these platforms not because we want to be, but because they are the only mediums and tools we have right now. And unfortunately these tools are not geared towards liberation or political education, but we’re trying to use them for these things.

The question for me then becomes “How do we then use these platforms for our own purposes, while pushing for these platforms to cease to exist in some way.” How do you work within a system, while trying to dismantle it at the same time? That’s my guiding question when it comes to work on social media. I do hope to see a realization that these platforms don’t have our interests in mind. [People need to stop pretending] that these platforms are going to be our future, because [as many radicals have always said] “the revolution is not going to be televised.” It’s not going to be digital; it’s not going to be online. [Social media] is simply a tool and we have to have more than one tool in our toolbox. We are ultimately using these platforms to drive people to do change offline, because that’s where it really matters.”

A more specific intersection between activism and social media is that of the “activist-influencer,” a controversial method of advocacy, with leanings towards individualism and commodification that Gan finds troublesome when applied to movement-building.

“It’s so problematic because all influencers do is amass social capital and then use it to further profits into companies and into themselves. It’s all a performance at the end of the day. We need to start moving away from having climate influencers. When you think about having “influential figures” in the climate space, that always detracts from the movement. In the end, you can’t pin your hopes on one person, and also the people that we uphold as influencers in the climate space are not usually people who are oppressed. People who we actually do need to hear from aren’t “social media-friendly.” And I say this while having friends who are climate influences. They are also having to grapple with these questions. It’s important for us as a movement to move away from trying to leverage social capital to do things.

It’s also thinking about how we can rally in movements and decentralize power social capital, rather than accumulate it within a few people who are “prominent within the movement.” And I also say this with awareness that this is kind of ironic: Like right now we’re doing a profile of me, right? So, yeah, this is not to say that I am above any of these people. I’m also asking myself these questions. It’s an ongoing process, but I do think that we need to be a lot more aware about taking up space in movements and sucking up all the oxygen from the room.”

I ask Gan about another controversial intersection between social media and activism: Infographics.

“I have created, will be creating, am always involved in infographics in some way. I think that they can be useful to convey important information. But at the same time, because of these platforms that we’re on, these infographics are sandwiched between selfies or photo dumps, [which can] unnecessarily diminish the importance and severity of the issues that we’re talking about. [However, this] doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t make infographics, but that we have to be aware of the fact that we are competing for attention in this digital online space.”

In addition, Gan stresses that we should never treat infographics as a way to only “condense important information into consumable chunks,” saying that this approach causes harm by conditioning the public to grow accustomed to spoon-fed information. Instead, infographics should serve the goal of engaging the public in an issue, with tools for them to conduct their own research and take action on their own.

“It’s also not like we have all the answers. We have to realize that people who make these infographics, like myself; just because we have put things into an aesthetic Instagram post, doesn’t mean that we are any sort of authoritative source on the issue. It just means that we’ve generated something into a post. And so we’re all learning together.”

Beyond creating infographics and articles, Gan also helps produce the Green Dreamer podcast, an entirely listener-funded project, dedicated to regenerative wellness, healing, and ideas.

“The space right now is being taken over by dominant narratives of green capitalism, incremental environmentalism. and “quick climate fixes” to problems that run much deeper than that. What we need to do in this space is to listen to wisdom from the fringes and people who are thinking very radically about these issues, who are not willing to be co-opted by capitalist interests: That’s what Green Dreamer is doing. It’s listening being true to those visions that will really get us out of where we are now, because at the end of the day it's not about like raising funds, reducing our emissions, or even including alternative voices in the movement: These are still operating at a superficial level of what we need to do. What we’re looking for is found in deeper reflection and a complete cultural re-analysis of our world.”

Gan credits the work she has been able to do within the climate movement so far to pure luck, a factor she wishes more people would acknowledge. She had things to say and — by luck — was given platforms, whether that be Green Is The New Black, the Bad Activist Collective, VICE, and much more. The space within the climate movement which Gan has come to inhabit at this point in time is that of a writer, a position she stresses is a privilege to have in activist movements. With writing, Gan stays constantly questioning herself:

“It’s hard to figure out how to take up space in the movement and how to have my words best serve the movement, because I’m not speaking from experience. What we need to be doing is listening to those who have lived experiences and have them guide our path forward.

My relationship with writing is always changing and I appreciate the space I’ve been given. It’s really important that we have more writers within the movement, because we do need to rewrite the narrative. So much of the media is co-opted: [It’s] saying things, but not the right things. As writers, we need to be moving in this space with integrity, guided by what needs to be said.”

She stays grounded in community and also momentary realizations of how absurd this world that we all share truly is. 

“Knowing that we are all living in the same reality and thinking the same things helps me remind myself that there are things worth fighting for, people worth fighting for. I also think that constantly being reminded of our place in the world is very grounding as well. We are humans in an ecosystem. Especially in online work it’s really easy to get caught up thinking that we exist in isolation. [But being] online is absurd. It’s a concept. As someone who works online, a daily reminder that this work is just “not real” is important.”

Gan doesn’t really know what’s next: “Career and ambitions aren’t real, anyway. What does that even mean at this point, you know?”  — but she encourages people to listen to the Green Dreamer podcast and support the Bad Activist Collective. 

But if push comes to shove, people can always find Tammy Gan online. 

Image: Tammy Gan