Singapore This Week
Professor Wong lectures on AI; the erstwhile "nothingness" of Punggol; more youths opting for plastic surgery; our vaping policy; cooking oil in the skies; memories of Alhambra, classic theater of yore; and more| Jom
Dear reader, Among other stories in “Singapore This Week”, our weekly digest, are mini profiles of four men: two politicians, the WP’s Pritam Singh and the PAP’s Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim; and two champs, pool player Aloysius Yapp and Wikimedian of the Year Robert Sim.| Jom
In the 1970s, as female flight attendants in the West were fighting gender discrimination, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways were building brands around their sexualised female icons. Are we willing to accept sexism when it subsidises “the nation”?| Jom
Aloysisus Yapp, pool maestro; Pritam, Zhul, and political ambition; peering behind the Global Peace Index rankings; a novel co-living pilot to reduce senior loneliness; Robert Sim, Wikimedian of the Year; and a new CNA miniseries on the separation based on freshly declassified documents.| Jom
Dear reader, Mainstream news has been dominated by Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally and vapes; and subaltern headlines by The Projector’s closure. We cover those extensively in “Singapore This Week”, our weekly digest. Other stories that caught our eye but didn’t make| Jom
The practice of farming in Singapore has gone through several waves of transformation. What are today’s urban farmers trying to achieve?| Jom
Professor Wong lectures on AI; the erstwhile "nothingness" of Punggol; more youths opting for plastic surgery; our vaping policy; cooking oil in the skies; memories of Alhambra, classic theater of yore; and more| Jom
Dear reader, Listen. Last week, to commemorate Singapore’s 60th birthday, I drowned you in words. This week, I leave you with music, specifically a playlist of the golden era of Malay music, from around the time of independence. It’s been curated by Khir Johari, food historian| Jom
The traditional Malay music produced by a British company in the 1960s and 1970s is an aural guide to history, tradition and the meaning of change.| Jom
Local firms give workers day off to watch Tamil superstar’s latest release; the art of (really) listening; Malay representation at NDP; hawker woes in the news, again; Singaporeans besotted with Chinese brands; Prabowo government mangles history; things going swimmingly for Sea; and more.| Jom
Dear reader, “Singapore This Week”. Khairy Jamaluddin calls out the PAP for double-standards on campur tangan Lawrence’s new wonks face their first macro test Why is public transport ridership declining even as our population rises? Jom visits “Once Upon a Tide: Singapore’s Journey| Jom
Like Singapore, Zhoushan is slowly becoming unmoored from its archipelagic past, losing the gentle rhythms of its sea-bound worlds to the cacophony of capitalism.| Jom
PAP draws Khairy’s ire; new parliamentarians sit for economics exam; public transport losing steam?; solving childhood education a group project; Singapore’s many pasts and futures; The Projector on the move, again; BlueSG’s shocking suspension; and more.| Jom
Dear reader, Jom’s reader survey next week. Should Jom start a podcast talk show? How can we improve “Singapore This Week”? What technology upgrades should we invest our limited funds in? Soon you’ll get a chance to tell us how we can serve you| Jom
Migrant domestic workers who’re trapped in debt-bondage—because of unscrupulous recruitment agencies—are sometimes unwittingly hired by foreign finance executives. The writer urges financial firms and their institutional investors to address this form of modern-day slavery.| Jom
Lui Hock Seng, photographer extraordinaire; Singapore fetes sinkhole heroes; AI, friend or foe?; latest IPS survey a window into minority and elderly lives; the newly opened Bidadari Park; Carousell’s bid for reinvention; and more.| Jom
Our cyber sentinels; a potential new vaccine for dengue; recycling woes; the scourge of teenage vaping; the other Padang; some good news for bookworms; academic institutions trying to prop up sagging venture funding; and more.| Jom
Marina Bay Sands and the amorality of capital; ST’s past and future; mental health among primary schoolers; preserving animal species through cryo-conservation; unboxing 19th century Malaya; Amanda Heng in Venice; the rise of eSIMs; and more.| Jom
Singapore criticises Israel; the lowly cogs propelling the global scam juggernaut; a promising clinical trial for a cure for Parkinson’s disease; ASEAN powers up; mermaids, sirens, and Terumbu Pandan; local theatre interrogates masculinity; Circles targets ambitious double listing; and more.| Jom
Amid the fusillade of dings, buzzes and pings; and the quick dopamine hits fed to us by social media, reading has almost become a rebellion against technology and biology. This is an invitation to rediscover its joys.| Jom
Debates about Singapore’s pre-1819 significance, sparked by Ho Ching, offer us a chance to question the very notion of a national history| Jom
Dear reader, Jom Cakap. 7-9pm, Tuesday, June 24th 2025. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong in conversation with Jom’s Corrie Tan about “Scam Inc”. We’re down to our last 30 tickets. Get yours now. For a taste of what to expect, check out our blurb below on money mules| Jom
Israel at the Singapore Airshow, PAP’s control of the PA, incoming career bureaucrat to head SPH Media, potential new law to help curb food waste, works in progress at Singapore International Festival of Arts, Singapore brand Allies of Skin adds glow to lucrative US skincare market, and more.| Jom
