Deep Dive

There’s been a worrying rise in the number of young people arrested for drug abuse, with the youngest just 14 years old, says the Central Narcotics Bureau. Despite Singapore’s zero tolerance on drugs and years of intensive messaging, liberal attitudes among young people appear to be stubbornly sticky, with cannabis the choice of drug. How should anti-drug messaging be tailored better to suit a generation that’s consuming a largely social media diet? Otelli Edwards finds out from Dr Lambert Low, deputy chief of the department of addiction medicine in the Institute of Mental Health, Ravindran Nagalingam, board member at the National Council Against Drug Abuse and Tham Yuen Han, clinical director at WE CARE Community Services.

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From significant top-ups to SkillsFuture credits to ITE students getting incentives to upskill, Budget 2024 is a shift in the kind of society the new fourth generation, or 4G, leadership wants to shape. Steven Chia gets views from Terence Ho, associate professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Professor Lawrence Loh, director of Centre for Governance and Sustainability, National University of Singapore.

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The number of retrenchments went up in 2023 and workers are facing the brunt of a more volatile business environment. What kind of help do workers need? And what's on their Budget 2024 wishlist? Steven Chia speaks to Cheng Hing-Nan, lead coach at Workforce Singapore, Gerald Tan, projects director at Avodah Solutions and Lai Yong Liang, an urban farmer with Grobrix.

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Out of 81 countries, 15-year-olds in Singapore topped the Pisa table in reading, math and science. But how important are these metrics in a world where social and creative skills have become critical and artificial intelligence is taking centre stage?

Steven Chia gets answers from Liew Wei Li, director-general of education at the Ministry of Education, associate professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education, and parent of two and lecturer, Ian Tan. 

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E-commerce giant Lazada’s retrenchment exercise resulted in criticism of how it was handled, including its lack of consultation with the union. But what role can unions play when companies need to let employees go and what happens when employers don’t fulfill their tripartite obligations? Steven Chia sits down with Patrick Tay, assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress and Sim Gim Guan, executive director of the Singapore National Employers Federation. 

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Commuters have expressed frustration since the Land Transport Authority announced that EZ-Link and NETS FlashPay cards cannot be used on buses and trains from June. Why is there a shift to the SimplyGo system? What is the difference in payment types? And what could the authorities do better to communicate the change? Steven Chia gets answers from Sumit Agarwal, professor at the School of Business at the National University of Singapore and Walter Theseira, who heads the urban transportation programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

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Patients have reported waiting for days to get a bed at a public hospital. Health experts say the biggest reason is that there are issues transiting to proper care after discharge. Otelli Edwards speaks to public health specialist Dr Jeremy Lim, Duke-NUS Medical School's Dr David Matchar and Jeremy Lee, assistant chief operating officer at the National University Hospital.

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In the last of our top three episodes from the archives, we look at the scourge of scams in Singapore. With increasing sophistication from the fraudsters, is public education enough? Should banks pay for some of the losses? If so, how can liability be fairly decided? Steven Chia speaks to Jansen Chow, co-head of fraud, asset recovery and investigations practice at Rajah & Tann law firm, Assistant Professor Nydia Remolina, from the Singapore Management University’s Yong Pung How School of Law and Ho Geer How, whose mother lost over S$190,000 to a scam.

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In the second of our top three episodes from the archives, we explore how bad actors operate in money laundering crimes. How do property agents and bank staff separate a legitimate transaction from a shady one? And what makes this type of crime especially tough to crack down on? Steven Chia speaks to Adam Maniam, director of dispute resolution at law firm Drew and Napier, Associate Professor Soh Kee Hean from the Singapore University of Social Sciences and former director of the CPIB, and Fabrizio Fioroni, adviser on anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

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In the first of our top three episodes from the archives, we ask - why are teenagers as young as 14 interested in extremist religious content? What do online games have to do with this trend and how can family members spot the red flags? Steven Chia speaks to Dr Omer Ali Saifudeen from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, Dr Mohamed Ali, co-chairman and counsellor with the Religious Rehabilitation Group and Nicholas Khoo, co-founder and former chairman of the Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association. 

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