General

S$104 billion Singaporean dollars - that’s the ticket price of the 2023 Singapore Budget aimed at positioning the city state in an era of great competition. There were several initiatives to alleviate near-term cost-of-living pressures such as an increase subsidies by 3 billion dollars to lower-income households. It also aims to narrow the budget deficit to 0.1% of GDP, from a revised 0.3% gap this year. Will the measures announced be effective in addressing Singapore’s economy and the cost of living issues faced by its people? For answers, we speak to Lee Ju Ye, Economist, Maybank Investment Bank.

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The Lynas rare-earth processing plant in Kuantan has had its license renewed for another 3 years, subject to conditions including relocating the “cracking and leaching” facility, which produces radioactive residue out of Malaysia before July 2023.  Do these conditions adequately address concerns over health and environmental safety? Mageswari Sangaralingam of Sahabat Alam Malaysia breaks down the Lynas controversy for us.

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US CPI rose by 0.5%, highest in 3 months. Will this change the pace of hikes by the Federal Reserve? Carlos Casanova, Senior Economist at UBP tells us his view whilst commenting on the incoming Bank of Japan Governor.

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Lagu-Lagu Dulu-Dulu returns for Season Two! A music programme focusing on vintage big band and classic swing sounds from the yesteryears. Hosted by the dynamic duo Sean Ghazi & Ida Mariana. Enjoy our Valentine's Day playlist, set to get you in the mood for love.

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Tracklist:

Sheila Majid - Getaran Jiwa

Bob Tutupoli - Widuri

Broery Marantika - Kasih

Carefree - Belaian Jiwa

Man Bai - Kau Ilhamku

M. Nasir - Srikandi Cintaku

Jon Bon Jovi - The Moon Represents My Heart

Alleycats - Sampaikan Salam

Sistipsi - Juwita Malam

Bill Sarangih - Selendang Sutera

For the upcoming season of local football, the MFL has teamed up with Astro as they return to be the official broadcaster of MFL’s Liga Malaysia six competitions - which includes the big three, Liga Super, Piala FA, and Piala Malaysia. Also included in the wide-ranging three-year deal is the curtain raiser in the Piala Sumbangsih, MFL Challenge Cup, and MFL Cup. With this comes a large sum of TV money pouring back into the top tier of local football, with clubs getting an injection of funds from this deal - which could mean that long-standing issues like unpaid wages could be eradicated. Joining us to dissect this partnership is twentytwo13's Haresh Deol.

Historical figures have always offered many storytelling avenues, allowing writers to explore not only major events, settings and societies in the past, but also to explore human emotions and fallacies - ultimately, bringing us closer to people from history, who can otherwise feel remote or unrelatable. In this episode, we discuss some of our favourite books about people from history, and also some of the problems of fictionalising troubled, or dark figures like serial killers.

Looking past the blonde bombshell persona, Pamela, A Love Story re-examines and reframes Pamela Anderson's legacy, starting from her beginnings as a small-town girl all the way to her ascent into becoming an international sex symbol. Along the way, the documentary also asks complex questions about fame and how women, in particular, are viewed by the public eye. We review the film and talk about all the praise it's been garnering.

On our Valentine's Day special, we look at some new data that has emerged, which suggested that Malaysians are, in general, pretty satisfied with their relationships. First we look at the survey and discuss what keeps people happy in their relationships. Then, we talk about how the notion of happiness has shifted over the years, and whether there is a generational difference, especially with technology.

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On our Valentine's Day special, we look at some new data that has emerged, which suggested that Malaysians are, in general, pretty satisfied with their relationships. First we look at the survey and discuss what keeps people happy in their relationships. Then, we talk about how the notion of happiness has shifted over the years, and whether there is a generational difference, especially with technology.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The Pentagon made a statement informing the public that US military fighter jets had shot down an octagonal object over Lake Huron. This comes after an incident where a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down by US military forces, putting North America security forces on high alert. We get into what Twitter had to say about it.

Image Credit: Daniel Gay, Shutterstock