I am a PhD candidate at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with an interest in contributing to applied understandings of linguistics, such as in empirically driven sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. Carving my own areas of research that I want to develop is essential for me to become an independent investigator. Thus, the research that I have embarked on – from my PhD project to the current paper "Perception of Language Variation in the Speech of Political Leaders: Evidence from Singapore" – have stemmed from my own interests. I am passionate about issues of language policy and planning, as well as how language mediates power and trust. I hope that disseminating my and my co-author's research outcomes would contribute to the understanding of political language perception, a context loaded with hierarchical differentials in power between interlocutors and language varieties, especially that of varieties of English that are marginalised by language policies and some parts of the local community.