Deep Dive

The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone will sit on an area four times the size of Singapore, with nine zones covering everything from manufacturing to financial services. What are the opportunities and challenges of this ambitious agreement? Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Thilan Wickramasinghe, head of research in Singapore and regional head of financials at Maybank Investment Banking Group and Serina Rahman, lecturer at the department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. 

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 Australia passed a law last year banning children under 16 from accessing social media, a move seen as challenging to implement. Singapore is also considering ways to protect children from harms of excessive use on social media platforms. But how realistic is this?  Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Nikki Yeo, a Gen Z and CNA TODAY journalist, and Alvin Seng, an addictions counsellor at We Care.

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In December 2024, SingPost dismissed three top executives for mishandling internal investigations into a whistleblower report. What protections do whistleblowers have, and how can companies provide transparency and independence in investigating complaints?

Steven Chia and Crispina Robert break it down with NUS Professor Mak Yuen Teen and Celeste Ang from Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow.

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In a recent viral video, a Qihua primary school student was seen being repeatedly attacked. Is bullying getting worse in Singapore? What are the causes and why are perpetrators filming their deeds?

Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Dr Cheung Hoi Shan, assistant professor at the National Institute of Education, MOE master school counsellor Sean Ng and Beyond the Label ambassador Cindy Chu to understand the complex issue of bullying.

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A global cybersecurity breach involving the Mobile Guardian app affected about 13,000 students from 26 secondary schools in Singapore in August, with devices being wiped remotely by the hacker. How are IT vendors assessed and who is responsible for ensuring backups are done? Steven Chia and Crispina Robert chat with May Chng, chief operating officer and co-founder of Flexxon, and Ken Soh, chair of SGTech Cyber Security Chapter and CEO of Athena Dynamics.

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The recent accident in Tampines which killed two people has raised questions about Singapore's driving culture. Speeding, beating red lights and drink driving are still stubborn issues. Bernard Tay, chairman of the Singapore Road Safety Council and Julian Kho, general manager at Sgcarmart tell Steven Chia and Crispina Robert what needs to change.

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After privacy concerns were raised over ACRA's new Bizfile portal showing full NRIC numbers in search results, the Singapore government announced it intends to stop masking the numbers. How will this change the way such information is used and how can people and organisations continue to protect themselves from cybersecurity attacks? Crispina Robert speaks to Steve Tan, deputy head of technology, media and telecommunications from Rajah & Tann Singapore and Aaron Ang, chief information security officer at Singapore-based IT services company Wissen International.

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The Ministry of Health is looking to curb the "excessive issuance" of medical certificates (MCs), especially by telemedicine doctors, following feedback from employers and government agencies. But is there a deeper issue with an outdated system of needing proof of illness? Would a system of trust work better?

Steven Chia and Crispina Robert chat with Dr Shravan Verma, co-founder & CEO of Speedoc and Christine Chan, Senior Professional at Institute for Human Resource Professionals and Chief Human Resource Officer of Nudgyt.

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Some passengers of SQ321 were given cash advances in light of injuries when the aircraft experienced severe turbulence. Are all airlines obliged to compensate? How are amounts decided and could you later sue for more?

Lawyers Paul Ng, head of aviation at Rajah and Tann Singapore LLP, and Chooi Jing Yen from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP are guests.

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To combat the scourge of scams in Singapore, the Protection from Scams Bill was recently introduced in Parliament. If it is passed, the police will have powers to control the bank accounts of people who insist on transferring their money to potential scammers. But is this a necessary step?

Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Mark Yeo, director at Fortress Law Corporation and Dr Annabelle Chow, principal clinical psychologist at Annabelle Psychology. 

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