Digital literacy, esports, and DIY culture: Top-down and bottom-up approaches to twenty-first century competencies in Singapore.

This article examines how digital literacy is conceptualized and practiced in Singapore through three interconnected spheres: government-led initiatives, grassroots esports organizations, and individual esports players' do-it-yourself (DIY) practices. Government programs, primarily led by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), emphasize functional technical skills and protectionist competencies such as computational thinking, cybersecurity, and safe digital use, reflecting Singapore's economic pragmatism and meritocratic culture. In contrast, grassroots esports groups like the Singapore Cybersports & Online Gaming Association (SCOGA) and the Singapore Esports Association (SGEA) foster broader digital competencies, including critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and ethical awareness, through community-based training and career development programs. Individual esports players develop a wide range of digital literacies organically via self-directed learning and social participation, acquiring technical, analytical, communicative, creative, and productive skills beyond the scope of formal education. The study highlights the importance of informal, participatory digital cultures in cultivating diverse twenty-first century competencies that complement and sometimes challenge top-down governmental frameworks in a digitally evolving society.