Deep Dive

The scourge of scams continues unabated in Singapore with nearly 23,000 people falling victim in the first six months of this year. 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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Videos of Kinderland teachers allegedly mistreating their young charges went viral last year. What are the challenges teachers face in classroom management? How are rules and guidelines applied on the ground? Steven Chia puts these questions to Caroline Seng, director of professional development and standards at the Early Childhood Development Agency, Cara Lee, deputy director at the Anglican Preschool Services and Fiona Cher, a mother of two preschool children.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam ended his presidential race with a landslide victory of 70.4 per cent, political analysts expressed their surprise, calling the win "unthinkable" and "remarkable". What do the results say about how the Singaporean voter thinks? And what lessons can political parties draw from Mr Tharman's win as they look ahead to the next General Election? Steven Chia breaks it down with Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, Assistant Professor at the Nanyang Technological University and Eugene Tan, Associate Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since news broke on the billion-dollar money laundering case in Singapore, there have been questions on how bad actors operate. 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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New HDB flats will be classified under Standard, Plus or Prime from next year - dropping the decades-long mature and non-mature categorisation. With increased subsidies and tighter restrictions, what will be the impact on the property market? Will home ownership aspirations change with what is affordable? Steven Chia chats with Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at real estate platform MOGUL.sg, and Sarah Lin, a 27-year-old who successfully balloted for her flat after seven tries.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The attrition rate for nurses has stabilised post-COVID but with a fast greying population, the hunt for a solid pipeline of nursing talent continues. Aside from better salaries, can concerns over high home rentals and allowing foreign nurses to bring their families here be addressed? Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mdm Rahayu Mahzam, group chief nurse of the National Healthcare Group Yong Keng Kwang and CEO of recruitment agency People360 Services Jordache Keith share their thoughts with Steven Chia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been described as an “intractable” problem: The transportation of migrant workers to and from their worksites. Why is this issue so complex? How can safety and business realities find common ground? Steven Chia breaks it down with Debbie Fordyce president of migrant rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) and Associate Professor Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The annual Primary 1 registration season is back and parents are strategising how to get their children into choice schools. Despite tweaks done to the system, brand name schools are still being oversubscribed. Why are parental attitudes so hard to shift? And can the system meet everyone's needs? Steven Chia speaks to Ong Junda, father and founder of SGschooling.com, Associate Professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education and Tan Hui Min, a mother of two.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When global music acts arrive in small Singapore, there's a mad scramble for tickets. Should seats be reserved for residents? Can resellers who charge exorbitant prices be taken to task? How does the ticketing system work? Heart of the Matter podcast host Steven Chia gets answers from Joe Ow, CEO of SISTIC Singapore, economist Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences and Adelyn Aidzil, a Taylor Swift fan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cancelled contracts, a critical lack of drivers and spiralling costs. Parents, schools and bus companies are now caught in a jam, with questions on how to ferry our primary school children. How will the challenges in the school bus system play out? Steven Chia sits down with Adrian Yeap, CEO of bus company Yeap Transport , Alvina Chin, from MUMs for Life and Darry Lim, spokesman from the Singapore School Transport Association.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.