Deep Dive

Two weeks before Chinese New Year, what’s behind Singapore’s new restrictions? What is the outlook for the country’s COVID-19 fight amid a raging pandemic, new mutated variants and rising imported cases? And are there conditions under which the rules can be peeled back as mass testing and nation-wide vaccinations get underway? Lin Suling speaks to Professor Hsu Li Yang, Vice Dean (Global Health) at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and Professor of Health Services and Systems Research David B Matchar from the Duke-NUS Medical School.

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In recent months, Singapore’s forests have been in the public eye after stunning drone shots of Clementi Forest went viral. Now, Dover’s lush corridor has seen residents and green groups petition and appeal to authorities to keep it away from the bulldozers. This week, Lin Suling speaks to Ho Hua Chew of the Nature Society (Singapore), NTU Asian School of the Environment's Ngo Kang Min and Institute of Policy Studies' Woo Jun Jie on zoning, land-use planning and whether a middle ground can be found in space-starved Singapore.

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Singapore has been abuzz this week over updates to WhatsApp’s data policy with scores of users turning to alternatives like Telegram and Signal. What’s behind this change, how is it different from previous rounds and what does giving consent really mean in the broader Big Tech world? In this week’s episode, Lin Suling gets answers from Natalie Pang, Senior Lecturer at the NUS Department of Communications and New Media, and Rajesh Sreenivasan, Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Rajah and Tann.

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Developed and manufactured at an unprecedented pace, how did authorities in Singapore ensure safety isn’t compromised amid Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac’s differing practices and company cultures? How safe are they given news about side effects and anaphylactic reactions? Associate Professor Lim Poh Lian, member of the Expert Committee for COVID-19 Vaccination and Prof Teo Yik Ying, Dean of Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health discuss why choosing your vaccine is complicated, the considerations behind why it’s not mandatory and why you should get vaccinated.

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Every year, thousands of 12-year olds and their parents fret for days over a slip of paper they believe will seal their fate for the rest of their lives. But how much do Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scores and academic achievement matter in the long run? Where does all the stress from PSLE come from? Lin Suling has a no-holds barred conversation with Rae Fung, Marvin Kang and Jonathan Teo on how their results shaped their journeys in life.

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In October, private home sales fell by 50 per cent. What does that say about the health of the Singapore property market? Have government curbs and cooling measures since 2013 come home to roost? And what are the prospects for the long-term appreciation of property prices? PropNex Realty CEO Ismail Gafoor and NUS Professor of Real Estate Sing Tien Foo share their outlook for the housing market beyond 2020.

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