Tell You First

What happens when a Singapore megachurch decides to push its beloved pastor's wife to become an international pop star? In the 2000s, City Harvest Church backed Sun Ho's "Crossover Project", an ambitious endeavour that sent her across Asia to perform Mandopop, then subsequently to the US, where she worked with the biggest names in music, like David Foster and Diane Warren. Then came the capstone of the project, the China Wine music video with Wyclef Jean, which lives in infamy to this day. However, behind the backlash was a much bigger story: prosecutors alleged that $24 million from the church's building fund was funnelled into sham bond investments connected to the project, with another $26 million allegedly used to cover the tracks. We trace how a church's mission to reach the world through pop music culminated in one of Singapore's biggest scandals.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone who lived through the 2009 AWARE Saga remembered it, but nobody wanted to talk about it. Not the 3,000 people who queued four hours to vote at Suntec. Not the bank that publicly disowned its own VP. Not the "feminist mentor" who compared homosexuality to bestiality on live TV. It took filmmaker Jasmine Ng and journalist Kelly Leow two years, 50 interviews, and a lot of "no's" to finally get people to open up. Their efforts resulted in Saga, Singapore's first long-form narrative podcast. Jasmine joins us to talk about the six weeks that gripped the nation, and why it took over a decade for anyone to properly tell the story.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Guest - Jasmine Nga (@ngkinkiajasmine)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 20 April 2004, 100 metres of Nicoll Highway suddenly collapsed into a 30-metre-deep hole, killing four people and injuring three. The disaster exposed serious failures in the design and construction of the Circle Line, and also changed how Singapore approaches construction safety. We trace what went wrong, from flawed calculations and buckling steel supports to warnings that were raised before the collapse, and how four deaths eventually led to new rules governing deep excavations across Singapore.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam's Alfresco Coffee Shop sounds like somewhere you'd order a flat white. But it's actually the innocent-looking front door to the Sammyboy forum, sharing commercial sex reviews, explicit erotica, and lewd photos. Click one link deeper, and you’ll enter the “Asian Commercial Sex Scene” forum, Sammyboy’s sex-focused arm with almost 250,000 members. It was allegedly founded in 1997 by a Singaporean man known only as Samuel Leong, whose real identity has never been confirmed. We trace how a list of brothel recommendations on Sammyboy curdled into a cesspool of hidden camera footage, incest-themed erotica, and an escort business run entirely off the forum's advice, before spilling over into a real-life wife-sharing ring.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 2000s, Malaysia became known for a very different kind of concert run. The Pussycat Dolls' outfits led to a fine against their organisers, Gwen Stefani changed costumes for every song just to stay covered up, Avril Lavigne was warned over her punk image despite barely showing skin, and Beyoncé cancelled her show rather than follow the guidelines. So what exactly were artists allowed to do on stage? As a radio DJ with her finger on the pulse of the region's pop scene, Sonia Chew joins us to unpack the strange history of concert censorship in Malaysia.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Guest - Sonia Chew (@soniachew)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barings Bank was founded in 1762 and was Britain's oldest merchant bank, trusted even by Queen Elizabeth herself. But in 1995, a 28-year-old trader in Singapore brought the whole 233-year-old institution to its knees via a mysterious account numbered 88888, buried deep inside the bank's paperwork. Nick Leeson’s actions triggered a global manhunt, and brought forth a sweeping wave of regulatory changes in Singapore’s financial system. We trace how the rogue trader hid billions in losses from the financial and regulatory institutions that were supposed to spot the warning signs.

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)

Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)

Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)

Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 10 March 1965, two Indonesian Marine Commandos walked into MacDonald House and planted a bomb that killed three people and injured 33 others. But MacDonald House wasn't even their original target. What followed was a dramatic manhunt, a controversial trial, and an execution that nearly pushed Singapore and Indonesia back into conflict. We trace how it took eight years, and a Prime Minister scattering flowers over the graves of the men he'd ordered hanged, to bring the two countries back from the brink.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore Idol premiered in 2004 to a reported 1.2 million viewers, skyrocketing a local talent show into a national obsession. Dick Lee, sidelined into a desk job, found the show reigniting something he'd lost. He judged all three seasons, and watched Singaporeans become fiercely split over their favourite contestants. He also takes us behind the auditions, the infamous judging moments and the finale that saw 1.1 million votes cast. As one of the few Singaporean artists to break out of the Singapore market, he shares what it actually takes to become a Singapore Idol, and why there was never a Season 4.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Guest - Dick Lee (@dickleeparadise)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, the USB thumbdrive is one of those bits of tech we use without a second thought. But before 2000, the best way to store digital files was a floppy disk holding 1.44 MB, barely one song. Then Trek 2000 International walked into a German trade fair with one cardboard sign reading “The World’s Smallest Drive,” an 8 MB device the size of a thumb. Buyers swarmed the booth within hours. That tiny invention would cement Singapore’s place in tech history, but also trigger a global fight over who invented it, leading to billions of dollars in lawsuits that no court could fully settle.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singer-songwriter Benjamin Kheng knows exactly how hard it is to write a song for an entire country, he did it himself with 2024's Not Alone. But long before him, the identities of the people behind some of Singapore's most beloved anthems were kept secret for almost twenty years. In this episode, Ben Kheng joins us to trace the evolution of National Day songs, and reveal what it was like turning a one-word prompt into a song that millions of people could call their own.

 

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

 

Credits:

 

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Guest - Benjamin Kheng (@benjaminkheng)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

 

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

 

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.