Deep Dive

On Tuesday (Sep 10), Singapore passed the Platform Workers Bill, which legislates stronger protections for delivery riders, private-hire car and taxi drivers. Why was legislation needed and what does this mean for customers of platforms offering services like food delivery and transportation?

Yeo Wan Ling, assistant secretary-general of NTUC and Associate Professor Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences speak to Crispina Robert.

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Personal Mobility Aids (PMAs) are meant for those with medical conditions or who have mobility issues. But some able-bodied people use them. How much of an issue is this?

PMA user Michael Kuan, founder and CEO of Project Elev8, and Florence Cheong, an Active Mobility Advisory Panel member weigh in.

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Since the announcement that Singapore's Gifted Education Programme (GEP) will be revamped to cater to more students, questions about equal distribution of resources and the added burden on teachers have come up. Steven Chia and Crispina Robert put these questions to Education Minister Chan Chun Sing and Ong Kong Hong, divisional director of curriculum planning and development at the ministry.

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Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sketched out his government's priorities in his first National Rally address, with a focus on parents, education and housing. Do the announcements show a significant shift towards a different kind of Singapore? SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan and Assistant Professor Elvin Ong from the political science department at NUS give their assessment.

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A global cybersecurity breach involving the Mobile Guardian app affected about 13,000 students from 26 secondary schools in Singapore, 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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Nothing gets Singaporeans more united or emotionally riled up than our hawker food and prices. To help alleviate cost of living pressures, all coffee shops leased from the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will need to offer budget meal options by 2026. But how do such meals affect hawkers? Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Dr Teo Kay Key, research fellow at IPS Social Lab, and Fabian Lim, co-owner of JOFA Meepok, JOFA Grill and JOFA-Oji Donburi.

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News that German insurance company Allianz is planning to buy a majority stake in Income Insurance has led to sharp criticism. Questions are being asked - is Income Insurance, formerly an NTUC co-operative, prioritising profit over people? Or is it moving as all corporations do? Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Professor Lawrence Loh, director of Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the NUS Business School and Eddy Cheong, CEO of Havend Pte Ltd, an insurance advisory firm.

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Health Minister Ong Ye Kung recently said that rising medical claims enabled by insurance policies are leading to an unhealthy "buffet syndrome", which in turn increases costs. Steven Chia and Crispina Robert sit down with Liaw Yit Ming, CEO of Foundation Healthcare Holdings and Christopher Tan, CEO of Providend, to break it down.

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One bad software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike unleashed global chaos last week with flights cancelled, hospital systems down and banking applications going offline. How did a routine update become a full-blown crisis, and will we see more in future? Steven Chia and Crispina Robert ask Gaurav Keerthi, head of advisory and emerging business at Ensign InfoSecurity and Benjamin Ang, head of Digital Impact Research at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

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A mural of a young samsui woman smoking led to weeks of discussion about the artwork and the approval process. When it comes to public art, how can artists balance creativity and regulation? Steven Chia and Crispina Robert chat with Audrey Wong, a programme leader at LASALLE College of the Arts, and artist Belinda Low.

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