Deep Dive Podcast: Why incentives aren’t working for falling fertility rates

Singapore’s total fertility rate has fallen to a historic low of 0.97. Citizens aren’t having enough children to sustain population numbers and all the money spent to encourage procreation doesn’t seem to work. Steven Chia and Crispina Robert talk about what’s causing the decline with Dr Norman Li, psychology professor at the Singapore Management University, … Read more

Heart of the Matter Podcast: Would a ‘right to disconnect’ law work in Singapore?

Australia is the latest country to propose legislation around the right for workers to disconnect after office hours. Changing work patterns and 24/7 availability have produced issues like burnout. But would legislation create more problems for companies or could this effect an important shift in Singapore’s work culture? Steven Chia moderates the discussion with Raj … Read more

Heart of the Matter Podcast: Education and awareness matters more in dealing with casual racism

It was recently announced that casual racism allegations will be investigated as disciplinary breaches in the police force. But are guidelines always so clear cut? Where are the grey areas and how can organisations deal with it? Dr Mathew Mathews, head of the Institute of Policy Studies Social Lab, Aamir Bana, an undergraduate at Yale-NUS … Read more

Heart of the Matter Podcast: Singapore students rank top in math and science, but how useful is this in a changing world?

Out of 81 countries, 15-year-olds in Singapore topped the Pisa table in reading, math and science. But how important are these metrics in a world where social and creative skills have become critical and artificial intelligence is taking centre stage? Steven Chia gets answers from Liew Wei Li, director-general of education at the Ministry of … Read more