Highlights

SINGAPORE: Across the Asia Pacific, governments are tightening the rules around who gets to use social media. In Vietnam, users must now verify their accounts with a national ID or local phone number under Decree 147. Malaysia in January began requiring social media platforms to obtain operating licences. Indonesia is considering a minimum age of […]

IN A HIGHLY interdependent world, where countries are connected through intricate networks of trade and finance, economic decisions in one capital can ripple across continents. The recent wave of US tariffs, designed to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing and protect domestic industries, sent shockwaves through this global system. What began as a strategic trade standoff […]

SINGAPORE: Child sexual exploitation is one of the most universally reviled crimes in society. While governments are implementing regulations to stem this abuse, the problem is a transnational one. A recent regional cross-border operation which led to over 400 arrests – including 21 men in Singapore – laid bare this disturbing reality. This is not […]

A recent article by psychologist Amy Lim suggests that if you’re in pursuit of social status, then you are more inclined to put off having children. But is that really the case for you? And if it is, are there better reasons to not have children, or alternatively, to change your mind about not having […]

Inaugural S R Nathan Fellowship Young Leaders Seminar At the inaugural S R Nathan Fellowship Young Leaders Seminar held on 24 February 2025, Ms Melissa Low, Research Fellow at the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, delivered a keynote speech titled “Shaping Singapore’s Climate Future: Achieving NDCs with the Use of Carbon Markets”. The address […]

Mr Philip Yeo, whose name is practically a synonym for the Economic Development Board that he led for decades, delivered his first lecture in this series on March 6, 2025. “Charting Singapore’s Economic Transformation” is the title of the first of three lectures by Mr Yeo, whose curriculum vitae also included the chairmanship of the […]

SINGAPORE: The die has been cast. We now know what the electoral boundaries will look like for Singapore’s upcoming General Election, which has to be held by the end of November. The report released on Tuesday (Mar 11) surprised many, with the redrawing of boundaries more extensive than expected. The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) […]

My friend Bilahari Kausikan is a brilliant man and one of Singapore’s public intellectuals.  I respect his views even when they are provocative and revisionist.  I would, however, like to challenge some of the views in his Opinion piece “Facing up to the realities of Trump 2.0” (March 3). According to Mr Kausikan, the concept […]

With each Singaporean household receiving S$800 (US$600) in Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers – an increase from S$600 last year but without accompanying cash payments – Budget 2025 suggests a stronger government preference for this mode of social support. The SG60 vouchers, offering S$600 for Singaporeans aged 21 to 59 and S$800 for seniors aged […]

Some of us are old enough to remember when the internet was a space of boundless discovery, connection and knowledge-sharing. Today, it is just as often a place of polarisation, performative outrage and misinformation. What went wrong? And more importantly – how do we fix it? As technology theorist Marshall McLuhan observed: “We become what […]