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Government support measures such as CDC vouchers were meant to cushion soaring inflation. But are they fiscally sustainable?
Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Temporary government handouts like the CDC vouchers were meant to cushion the impact of Covid-19 and soaring inflation due to supply shocks that were caused by global events like the war in Ukraine.
But with inflation cooling to trend levels, can Singaporeans wean off the ‘free money’ reliance from CDC vouchers that were meant to be temporary?
In this episode - which comes out a day ahead of Budget 2026 - ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong speaks to independent economist Song Seng Wun; and sociologist Clara Lee, research fellow at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s Institute of Policy Studies.
Apart from how the CDC voucher scheme has since become a staple of the government’s support package, they delve into different forms of welfare Singaporeans now receive, and the impact on small businesses should the scheme be withdrawn.
Highlights (click/tap above):
4:11 Impact on heartland merchants should CDC vouchers be withdrawn
9:42 Why are we using 'emergency' vouchers in a recovering economy?
15:49 Exiting from the policy of handing out CDC vouchers
20:43 Digital infrastructure to distribute CDC vouchers are now well-established: Clara
22:45 Redefining welfare state?
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
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Are we using phones constructively to help kids to learn or assist adults in coping?
Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
One of the most fraught challenges of modern parenting is our love-hate relationship with screen time. From school bans on phones in school, to the everyday reality of dual-income working parents who just need their child to eat dinner in peace, how much is too much screentime and who should be responsible?
Are we using phones constructively to help kids to learn or assist adults in coping? And in a dopamine fuelled always-on world where we are expected to be 24/7 ready for work, are we asking our offspring to do something we ourselves fail at?
Opinion editor Lin Suling gets answers from Dr Becky, who’s been called the millennial parent whisperer by Time Magazine, on the sidelines of the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos in January.
With millions of followers on Instagram tuning into her snappy videos, Dr Rebecca Kennedy is also a bestselling author, a clinical psychologist, the CEO of Good Inside, and mother of three.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:59 Is there a place for phone bans in schools?
3:45 What’s wrong with kids watching videos during mealtimes?
5:10 Parents are always on their phones for work so why should kids listen?
8:06 Is society intolerant towards misbehaviour in restaurants, airplanes and public areas?
9:58 Might we be over-parenting?
11:23 Is there a minimum age when kids can sit by themselves?
12:40 Dr Becky’s message to people unsure about having kids
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lin Suling ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast
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A counsellor of a support group reveals why some men choose to tolerate physical, emotional and psychological abuse in their marriages.
Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Spousal abuse cases in Singapore rose significantly in 2024 to 2,136, up from 2,008 such cases in 2023, according to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
While official figures did not give a breakdown of these cases by gender, the defamation case of Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard and post-Covid-19 awareness have encouraged more men to step forward, said a counsellor who runs a specialised support group for battered husbands.
To find out more in this episode, assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong speaks with Josiah Yeo, a counsellor at Lutheran Community Care Services (LCCS), who started its support group for abused husbands in 2022.
Mr Yeo details how one of the abused husbands in the support group was beaten with golf clubs and made to slap himself in public. He was even locked out of the house and made to kowtow in front of the door 30 times, before he could get into his home.
Apart from abusive marriages, Mr Yeo also gives some pre-marital advice on what are some red flags to look out for, especially in the dating stage.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:49 Impact of Johnny Depp’s defamation suit on men in Singapore
9:31 When do abused husbands finally walk away from a marriage?
14:05 Why men don’t confide in their friends
18:40 Three reasons men stay in abusive marriage
19:11 Breaking the "bro code": How to check on a friend without making it awkward
32:39 Dating red flags - how to spot a potential abusive spouse
Read more on abused spouses: https://str.sg/aqjX
Helplines
Family violence
Mental well-being
Counselling
Online resources
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast
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Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:
The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB
Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
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As AI reshapes work and life, schools are changing too. But before we redesign education, should we ask what it’s really for?
Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Education is one of the few institutions almost every Singaporean passes through - and one of the most contested. From debates about declining attention spans to rising anxiety, we now wonder about the role of artificial intelligence in classrooms. Questions about standards, equity, excellence and inclusion continue to surface.
Schools are expected to prepare students not just for jobs, but for citizenship and for lives that feel meaningful. Sometimes these expectations are in tension with one another as we grapple with the AI revolution that’s underway.
In this episode, we ask a more fundamental question: What purpose does education serve in a world increasingly driven by technology and AI?
And how should our answers change when the world students are entering - shaped by AI and rapid technological change - may look radically different from the one schools were designed for?
Joining the discussion with Deputy Opinion Editor Mubin Saadat are Ms Elisha Tushara, The Straits Times education correspondent who spent a decade teaching before moving into journalism, and Dr Liu Woon Chia, Director and researcher at the National Institute of Education and co-founder of its Motivation in Educational Research Laboratory.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:30 AI impact on education
11:55 What do PISA and OECD studies tell us?
15: 03 Friction in learning
19:35 A focus on human qualities in learning
26:35 AI as a teacher’s tool
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Follow Mubin Saadat on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/4KZYq
Host: Mubin Saadat ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa
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The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB
Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
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New laws were passed to penalise littering, eating and drinking, as well as playing loud music or videos on public transport. Is legislation effective in regulating inconsiderate behaviour?
Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Behaviours of inconsiderate commuters on public transport and interchanges are set to be regulated under new laws passed in Parliament in Oct 2025.
Examples of inconsiderate behaviour include littering, eating and drinking, as well as playing loud music and videos on mobile phones.
The latest legislation follows a slew of laws that regulate behaviours in Singapore, raising the question if we can ever shake off Singapore’s reputation of being a ‘fine’ city.
To find out more, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong speaks to two sociologists.
They are Assistant Professor of Sociology (Education) at the School of Social Sciences at the Singapore Management University, George Wong; and Research Assistant Professor and head of the Urban Psychology Lab in the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, Samuel Chng.
Highlights (click/tap above):
11:24 How people demonstrated civic behaviour during the Covid pandemic
18:25 The technological reason for seniors blasting videos and music
22:28 Empowering bus drivers to deal with inconsiderate commuters
26:10 How other countries regulate civil behaviours in public transport
29:46 The lady commuter that ‘broke’ the system
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Chen Junyi
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast
---
Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:
The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB
Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
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Apart from their vocation, teachers also handle administrative work and counselling.
Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Teachers in Singapore work longer than their peers in other advanced economies. They spend less time teaching but more on planning, counselling and communicating with students’ parents, according to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis) released on Oct 7, 2025.
In total, the Talis survey polled 194,000 teachers in 55 education systems across Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
Teachers in Singapore work an average of 47.3 hours a week, higher than the overall average of 41 hours. Approximately 3,500 teachers and respective school principals across all 145 public secondary schools and 10 randomly selected private secondary schools participated in the survey from April to August 2024.
In this episode, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong examines why this is happening, and whether there is any way their workload and stress can be reduced.
In the studio with her is Ms Sarah Tan, a former secondary school teacher with 17 years of experience and taught till 2020, but now gives tuition. She is also a mother of two children aged 13 and 15.
Mr Manogaran Suppiah was formerly the principal of Anderson Serangoon Junior College. He first started out teaching for 16 years, before moving to different departments within the Ministry of Education, including becoming the founding executive director of Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST). In 2022, he retired from his career spanning over 40 years.
Highlights (click/tap above):
7:23 Teacher workload: Why it has gone up
11:08 How technology adds to and can also lighten workload
14:10 Learning to use AI tools?
18:18 Administrative duties, parents' expectations
23:20 On teachers having to 'parent' students?
28:43 Mid-career switches from other professions to teaching: Different perspectives
30:00 Why education leaders must find out from teachers what is meaningless
33:08 School leaders, heads of departments and teachers: What's lacking?
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast
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Buying new iPhones, wardrobe makeovers and single-use products have become social norms. But what happens to the old, replaced items?
Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Annual launches like Apple’s iPhone have spurred the desire to own the latest piece of technology, as consumers face up to marketing tactics from smartphones to fast fashion.
Usually, older items that are replaced are being tossed away to make way for the new.
What else can be done to the replaced items apart from sending them to the landfill?
In this episode, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong examines whether we have a throwaway culture that’s grown despite years of public education and outreach and whether we are too quick to chuck stuff to make way for new ones. She also explores if the iPhone 17 is worth the upgrade from the iPhone 16.
Her guests are Mr Tan Ching Hwee, founder of myhalo, a platform allowing users to trade-in, repair, sell, and buy used digital devices; and Mr Lionel Dorai, executive director of Zerowaste SG, an NGO that advocates for Singapore to go zero waste through public education.
Highlights (click/tap above):
9:03 Upgrading from iPhone 16 to 17
12:53 Batteries in phones can be replaced
17:03 Pairing earbuds from different sets - does it work?
23:44 The repairing culture in curbing throwaways in fast fashion
31:46 How to decipher green washing tactics
35:34 Would CDC vouchers to subsidise repair costs encourage more to repair?
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast
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Could less waiting time reduce stress on a marriage and how can couples strengthen their relationships in the face of life challenges?
Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
With HDB planning to introduce more Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, buyers can expect to collect keys in under three years, reducing the amount of stress on the couple relationship, say an economist and a counsellor.
How can young couples decide if they have found the right life partners to take on the wait for a BTO flat?
In this episode, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong hosts two guests.
The first is National University of Singapore's Professor of Real Estate and Economics Sumit Agarwal. He penned a study on the correlation between early marriages, a higher propensity for divorce and waiting times for a BTO, that was featured in the third book in a series - Kiasunomics 3: Economic Insights For Everyday Life. The book overall, analyses the influence and consequences of economic decisions in Singapore.
The second is Mr Neo Eng Chuan, Psychologist and founder of CaperSpring. He has 20 years of experience in helping couples.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:10 Post-Covid: BTO one of the few affordable options for young couples
4:00 The effect of BTO-waiting on marriage
14:11 Is it good to have 'effective fighting' between couples?
18:07 When is it time to cut short your losses?
24:15 Money matters in a marriage
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Natasha Liew and Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast
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We even invite ChatGPT to be a 'guest' in this episode with our host and two human guests.
Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Preliminary findings from a recent MIT study in June in the US, concluded that people using just generative AI (Gen AI) tools such as ChatGPT, became lazier with each subsequent essay they wrote.
The study, conducted in Boston, categorised three groups of test subjects aged 18 to 39 according to the tools that they used: ChatGPT, Google or no tools.
The brain activity of these writers were scanned across 32 regions of their brain. The result found that ChatGPT users had the lowest brain activity, and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels,” according to the study.
But the way ChatGPT is used was critical, as the study found that test subjects who used ChatGPT only after writing the essays on their own, had significant increases in brain connectivity.
Just how can ChatGPT be used to enhance productivity without making us lazy? In this episode, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong unpacks the issues and looks at how her human guests maintain the balance between optimising the use of ChatGPT and becoming over-reliant on it.
Her guests are Shahrman Nayan, creative director of OneDash22, a local video production company and an avid user of Gen AI for his work; and Cheryl Chia, founder of BrainFit, an education centre for children and young adults, building their cognitive, thinking, and study skills through programmes grounded in scientific approaches.
We also invite ChatGPT to be a 'guest' in this podcast discussion.
Highlights (click/tap above):
6:00 How can youths use ChatGPT without becoming lazy
13:14 "I can make people lazier if they use me to avoid thinking critically": ChatGPT
15:21 Cognitive functions like memory and concentration have been going down: Cheryl
29:04 How young people can use Gen AI to improve critical thinking
37:03 How Shahrman uses Gen AI like ChatGPT to get his colleagues to produce creative work
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim, Rebekah Chia and Natasha Liew
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa
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The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB
Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
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Gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity may point to body image issues in men.
Synopsis: Every second Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.
Outdated stereotypes of what a man should be like continue to exist today, with a new generation of social media influencers like Andrew Tate and Adin Ross producing content that posits to teach men how to be men.
But does it make someone any less of a man if they decide to speak up about the issues they face?
For years, ST journalist Aqil Hamzah, 28, has grappled with body image issues, but was too afraid to seek help, thinking it wouldn’t be the manly thing to do.
Years of skipping meals took a toll on his health, and it was only after losing clumps of hair that he decided to seek help for it.
In this episode, ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong unpacks the issues that have plagued her co-host Aqil alongside psychiatrist Adrian Loh, who specialises in child and adolescent psychiatry.
The trio then discuss if toxic masculinity has a role to play in men’s unwillingness to speak up about their issues.
Highlights (click/tap above):
00:56 Why Aqil chose to open up about his issues
03:27 Is BMI an accurate indication for weight management?
08:50 Obsessing over the scales
21:21 What is toxic masculinity and how should people deal with it?
24:51 How role models repeat a vicious cycle & the different reactions to therapy
33:35 The importance of feeling things
Read Aqil’s article on body image here: https://str.sg/kuf8
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
Follow Aqil Hamzah on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ttUo
Read his articles: https://str.sg/i5gS
Host: Lynda Hong ([email protected])
Produced and edited by: Natasha Liew
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong
Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wukb
Spotify: https://str.sg/w7sV
Feedback to: [email protected]
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg
---
Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa
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Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
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From the publisher's feed
Synopsis: Conversations and interviews that give you something to think about. Each Wednesday, In Your Opinion speaks to thinkers, leaders, and the people shaping our lives and the issues of the day.
Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Executive producers: Danson Cheong & Lynda Hong
A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media.