A recent survey showed that teachers in Singapore work longer hours and grapple with more stress than their global peers. Besides teaching, they also plan learning journeys and school events, break up arguments and counsel students, and sometimes field after-hours messages from parents. Steven Chia speaks to former teacher Heidi Tan and Associate Professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education to find out what can be done to ease our educators' workloads.

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Insurance riders that cover nearly all private hospital bills have created a situation where patients go for tests they may not need, insurers lose money and premiums spiral upward. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung tells Steven Chia how the government is looking into setting benchmarks for private hospital charges - similar to what has been done for surgeon fees.

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Thirteen primary and secondary schools will adopt a central kitchen model from January 2026, in a move aimed at addressing a shortage of canteen stall operators. What does this mean for students? And what parts of the traditional recess experience might get left behind? Steven Chia speaks to school canteen stall owner Rayner Tan and Ben Airey of Victus Catering.

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In just the last few months, Singapore has seen at least 15 disruptions to the rail network. At the same time, rail reliability according to a key measure is at its lowest point since 2020. Is it time for the authorities to rethink the way they measure our network's reliability and find new connectivity solutions when the when train services are down? In this week’s Deep Dive, Steven Chia speaks with transport economist Walter Theseira and Tin Pei Ling, chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, on what needs to be done to get our trains back on track.

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A 14-year-old student was recently issued a restriction order after being self-radicalised by a “salad bar” of extremist ideologies. The boy also identified as an incel, short for "involuntary celibate" - a subculture of mostly men who believe that they are unable to find a romantic partner. How did the incel culture take root and what conversations should we have with youths before they turn to extremist ideologies? Steven Chia and Otelli Edwards discuss with Yasmine Wong, associate research fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Devendra Bisaria, counsellor from Incontact Counselling.

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Pickleball is catching on fast in Singapore, but complaints over noise and space are growing just as quickly. In land-scarce Singapore, how much room is there for a new sport? Steven Chia and Otelli Edwards speak to Ganesh Ramalingam, founder of the Pickleball Social Crew and Assistant Professor Tan Shin Bin from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

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US comedian Sammy Obeid says his show in Singapore was cancelled because of censorship. Authorities say it was because of a late licence application. How does arts entertainment licensing really work, especially for unscripted formats like stand-up comedy? Steven Chia and Otelli Edwards speak with local veteran entertainer Kumar and Heazry Salim, co-founder of The Comedy Club Asia, about the rules, the risks and how much freedom performers actually have on stage.

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With authorities cracking down on vaping and drug-laced Kpods, parents are struggling to have conversations with children who may think that vaping is not a big deal. How can families navigate this when young people are coping with message fatigue and peer pressure? Steven Chia and Otelli Edwards get insights from Cherie Tseng, a mother of three, and Alvin Seng, a counsellor from We Care.

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In his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called on parents to be more mindful about their children's screen use and online behaviour. But with no clear playbook for parents on how to raise kids to thrive in an age of AI, how can the government and society step in to help? Steven Chia speaks with Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo and mother-of-two Jane Foo.

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BlueSG’s abrupt decision to suspend its car-sharing service has surprised both customers and industry experts. What does this mean for Singapore’s car-lite ambitions? Steven Chia and Otelli Edwards speak with GetGo co-founder Toh Ting Feng and Dr Samuel Chng from the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

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