Zixian Chen | Public-Sector Tech by Day, Questionable Side Projects by Night

Interests

Stack: Go, TypeScript, and a bit of Zig.
Since: 2000 on/off. Back in the Frontpage, XHTML, PHP days.
Now: Building a home admin app. Trying to write organic, free-range code by hand. It's tempting to let Claude Code and OpenCode do it automatically but it doesn't feel the same.
Offline: Building PCs (love bargains, hate cable management). Learning about product design, business, and entrepreneurship.

Day

Public sector tech, policy, comms, and service delivery roles.

2023

Deputy Director, Service Delivery Digitalization

Build, run stuff for citizens + employees services. Also dismantle what doesn't work.

2021

Deputy Director, Policy & Governance Directorate

Policies & funding for Govt cloud, on-prem hosting, SG Tech Stack, endpoint devices, dev toolchains.

2018

Assistant Director, Communications Technology

Developed & bought media analytic products. Led investments in NLP & CV research.

2017

Communications Strategist

Developed comms campaigns and strategies.

2015

Media Relations Officer

Did public relations work. Got earned media. Managed crisis comms.

2013

NS Policy Executive

Led NS policies for sportsmen, leave, citizenship, exit control.

Night

Personal tools, experiments, and small products built outside the day job.

GitHub

Cubby

A personal ERP for the household

Go · SvelteKit · Postgres · Grafana Cloud

Status: Active household app
Problem: Daily routines scattered across memory, chat, and calendars
Outcome: One dashboard for tasks, limits, bills, health, travel, and home logs

cubby.devRead case study

Lingo

The language of Singapore’s Public Service, explained

Go · htmx · Meilisearch · Grafana Cloud

Status: Live glossary and Public Service newbie guide
Problem: New officers encounter abbreviations and workplace language before they have the context to understand them
Scope: 4,000+ entries across abbreviations, branded terms and workplace phrases; 222 newbie terms, 51 essentials and quiz practice

lingo.zixian.devRead case study

Apptitude

Structured technology learning and decision support

SvelteKit · PostgreSQL · Meilisearch · Axiom

Status: Live learning and decision-support platform
Problem: People need different support when building technical knowledge and when accountable for a live decision
Outcome: Guided learning paths for foundations; Consults for live decisions

titude.appRead case study

BTOnomics

Home renovation blog for budget folks

Astro · Pagefind

Status: Static blog rebuild
Problem: WordPress overhead for a focused renovation archive
Outcome: Fast searchable HDB renovation notes by topic

btonomics.comRead case study

Graveyard

Retired projects, prototypes, and older builds that fed into current ones.

Cancel Ninja: SaaS & Dark Pattern trackerSvelteKit, Drizzle, Postgres; Folded into Cubby
Roamichi: Trip management & travel plannerSvelteKit, Go, Postgres, Stytch; Folded into Cubby
Eat Your Medicine!: Medicine dose trackerDjango, htmx, SQLite; Folded into Cubby

ShowHide 7 more retired builds

Rank-a-Mate: Drag & drop ranking v0.1Django, htmx, SQLite; Became Appraize
BTOnomics (Wordpress): Home renovation blog for budget folksWordPress; Became BTOnomics
Appraize: Drag & Drop RankingSvelteKit, SortableJS, Drizzle, Postgres, Clerk
Grumplr: Reddit-lite style bulletin boardGo, htmx, Templ, Postgres, Keycloak
Meetrics: Meeting cost calculatorSvelteKit
Rinku: URL shortenerGo
Wronged: Products, Problems, UX ChatbotGo, htmx, Postgres, OpenRouter

Musings

Recent writing from the blog.

24 Aug 2026Cloudflare's Proxy Slowed My Sites at NightCloudflare/Networking/Coolify 18 Aug 2026So You Want a Bigger JobCareer/Management/Promotions 7 Aug 2026Apologize Only If You Actually Did Something WrongCommunication All musings