The rise of slow living in Singapore

It’s 7.43am on a Tuesday and the MRT is already at capacity. Everyone is looking at their phone, a podcast in one ear, a Slack notification pinging every thirty seconds, a wellness app reminding someone to breathe.

This is Singapore’s default setting. It’s a city built on efficiency, forward momentum and the collective anxiety of what happens if you stop. There’s a word for it in Hokkien – kiasu – or “fear of losing out.” It starts in primary school, with school timetables that would exhaust the most hardy of adults, and it doesn’t really let up after that.

According to Ministry of Manpower data from 2025, one in three workers on the red dot faces work-related stress, while a January 2026 report noted that 72% of respondents recently felt burned out from long hours and job uncertainty.

Sadly, switching off can be hard to achieve here, but that’s not for want of trying. As the ambient pressure to keep up, stay relevant and strive forward continues to intensify, the desire for a more gentle pace of life has started to form not just in Singapore, but globally.

Peace over pressure

The Offline Club takes place in cities around the world

Enter the slow living movement. At its core, it’s a philosophy built around choosing peace over pressure, and rejecting the idea that living a good and successful life has to come with constant exhaustion. Slow living offers an antidote to “always-on” culture, with people seeking new ways to manage their time, set stronger work boundaries and prioritise more meaningful out-of-hours activities.

Its most visible expression right now is what’s being called the analogue shift: a broad turn away from screens towards out-of-office pursuits that focus on things you can hold, make, learn and experience without a notification attached. Vinyl is back. Film cameras have waiting lists. Bathing houses where tech can’t be accessed are all the rage. Hobbies and pastimes that require patience rather than a password are gaining traction, acting as pushback against a life that constantly demands more.

The scene has been bubbling under for a while, especially post Covid when we were forced to embrace a world without the constant on-switch. From Amsterdam’s The Offline Club (theoffline-club.com), where people gather in public spaces, hand over their phones and spend a few hours reading, sketching, doing puzzles and talking to strangers; to Australia’s cooking circles, birding walks and chess nights, people are finding new ways to step away from the algorithm, connect with others and be more present.

Here & now

Above: ANZA Singing

Closer to home, ANZA offers myriad offline activities that embrace slow living – from our ANZA Singing and ANZA Mahjong group to book club and casual coffee meet-ups, there’s plenty to draw members into something unhurried. According to psychologists who study burnout, these kinds of analogue activities work precisely because they introduce friction: they cannot be rushed, optimised or multitasked.

The turn towards slow living may be a sign of the times, yet it isn’t a rejection of progress. The MRT will still be packed tomorrow and notifications will still ping. But in small pockets across Singapore, people are starting to make different choices about what their time means to them, minus the kiasu mentality.

Slow down, Singapore

Take a breather and explore the places in Singapore pushing back against the hustle.

Left: Stranger Conversations.. Right: New Bahru

Stranger Conversations
At Pearl’s Hill Terrace, Stranger Conversations is an unpretentious neighbourhood hangout where regulars have gradually formed their own informal support network. People come together to step away from the rat race and engage more meaningfully. Journalling sessions, social mixers, workshops and intentional gatherings are designed around genuine discussion rather than surface-level interaction.
strangerconvos

New Bahru
New Bahru, a former school in River Valley, has been transformed into a soulful lifestyle hub. From social table tennis to culinary and pottery workshops, community and togetherness lead the way.
newbahru.com

Left: Silk Tea Bar. Right: Playces

Silk Tea Bar
In Chinatown, Silk Tea Bar is a quiet space dedicated to tea and conversation. Co-owners Melody Teo and Xian Tan created the almost-hidden spot as an antidote to the daily grind – somewhere to pause, stay present and feel at ease. From brewing to drinking, the ritual of tea invites patience and precision, turning each cup into a calm, restful experience.
silk.teabar

Playces
Playces turn Singapore’s underutilised public places into third spaces for community-led events and social impact. So far they’ve collaborated with local partners to host a rave in a climbing gym, a ballroom dancing session, an amateur theatre group, a bad-ideas hackathon and an eczema festival.
ourplayces.com

Left: Community events with Remedial Kids. Right: The Living Room

Remedial Kids
Remedial Kids welcomes the culturally curious into a cosy bar setting where the focus is less on drinking and more on discovery. Through playful, accessible lectures, the collective brings together professors, poets, specialists and passionate enthusiasts to share their knowledge on an eclectic range of subjects. Past talks have explored everything from the history of dogs in Singapore and the local punk scene of the 1990s, to bridal fashion and Muslim identity in China.
remedialkids

The Living Room
At Phoenix Park, The Living Room is a wellness space built around personal reflection and authentic expression. Founded by Gayle Nerva, former Singapore Idol contestant turned yoga practitioner and Katie Jonzen, a recruitment consultant and inner peace mentor, it launched in August 2025. Yoga, sound baths, dance sessions, music jams and women’s circles are all on the programme.
thelivingroomsg.com