YLB #128 - Should Singapore companies withdraw from Myanmar & the man who scammed $1m by impersonating Ho Ching
Feb. 12, 2021
A week after the coup d’etat by Myanmar’s military on 1 Feb 2021, SG businessman and Razer co-founder Lim Kaling cut his minority shareholding of a Burmese tobacco company. But should all Singaporean companies cut ties? Are …
YLB #127 - Sexual harassment, patriarchy in Singapore, & Viswa Sadasivan vs Sharul Channa (Feat. AWARE Singapore)
Feb. 11, 2021
We talk to Margaret Thomas, founder member & current president of AWARE Singapore, and Jasmine Ng, board member of AWARE & producer of their acclaimed podcast, SAGA, which documents the dramatic events of 2009. We talk about…
YLB #126 - Ex-NMP Viswa Sadasivan accused of sexual harassment & SG Condo forbids maids from using facilities
Feb. 9, 2021
On 4 Feb, ex-NMP Viswa Sadasivan after he was accused of sexual harassment by Sharul Channa, a famous local comedienne whom he interviewed for his TV show. Since then, at least one other woman has shared a similar experience…
YLB #125 - Backlash against Dover Forest development & does MOE want to track our kids’ web history?
Feb. 2, 2021
A viral video of Clementi forest in 2020 shone light on development plans for the Clementi and Dover forests. But do we always have to choose between nature and development? Elsewhere, a petition was started to lobby against…
YLB #124 - US travellers get deported from Bali after tweeting & fake news about CNY safety ambassadors
Feb. 1, 2021
On 17 Jan 2021, Kristen Gray, a US “digital nomad” living in Bali for the past year, posted a Twitter thread proclaiming her “elevated lifestyle” that went viral and pissed off Indonesians. 10 days later, she and her partner…
YLB #123 - Sec 4 student detained for terrorist attack plans & Redditors take on Wall Street with GameStop stock
Jan. 29, 2021
On Jan 27, the ISD issued a press release with details on a 16-year-old Singaporean boy who was detained in Dec 2020 for planning terrorist attacks on 2 mosques in SG. How worried should we be? Elsewhere, the Redditors vs Wa…
YLB #122 - A mother gets pissed at SAF for making her wait & ALL bicycles in SG now need brakes (feat. Rishi Budhrani)
Jan. 26, 2021
On Jan 23, a mother posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page about how frustrated she was at having to wait 2 hours for her son to book out of camp. The internet was divided, but does she have a point? Elsewhere, the …
YLB Week in History #2 - 18 years after GLADIATOR, Russell Crowe says kids these days have “no focus”
Jan. 25, 2021
In Jan 2003, Russell Crowe became famous for “Gladiator”. 18 years later in Jan 2021, he became infamous for getting pissed at a tweet that called "Master and Commander", his other movie, “sleep-inducing”. He said kids have …
YLB #121 - The pride flag controversy at SMOL eatery & tighter COVID rules for CNY?
Jan. 22, 2021
On 18 Jan, the owner of SMOL eatery, a local F&B establishment, uploaded a CCTV video of a random man who ripped off a pride flag on display and hurled abuse at the staff. People pissed and an outpouring of support came, but…
YLB #120 - MOE gets backlash after rant by transgender student & Boris Johnson wants UK to be “like Singapore”
Jan. 19, 2021
A transgender student recently ranted on Reddit about MOE blocking her hormone therapy. The post went viral, and MOE responded with a post of their own. It got backlash, but was it fair? Elsewhere, the British PM Boris Johns…
YLB #119 - Trump’s social media ban & Uncle Roger gets backlash about China
Jan. 15, 2021
President Trump’s ban from Big Tech platforms has been lauded by loads of people, but is it a good thing? Closer to home, Malaysian comedian Uncle Roger got backlash for taking down a video collab with Mike Chen (Strictly Du…
YLB Week in History #1: 2017 Australian Open & the birth of Wikipedia
Jan. 14, 2021
It’s our new “3rd EPISODE”, where we look at 2 interesting things that happened this week in any past year. Today, it’s the epic tennis final between Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal (2017) and the birth of Wikipedia (2001). We …
YLB #118 - Backlash against TraceTogether’s data use & PM Lee listed on Carousell for $5m
Jan. 11, 2021
On 4 Jan 2021, the Govt revealed that data from the TraceTogether app could be used by the police for investigation of crimes, which prompted a LOT of debate. WTF or fair compromise? Elsewhere, troll accounts have started li…
YLB #117 - Rioters run wild on Capitol Hill & the 3 women accused of whitewashing Mahjong
Jan. 8, 2021
Trump supporters went apeshit and stormed Capitol Hill to protest the 2020 US Election results, but why is that being referred to as a catastrophe of epic proportions? Elsewhere, 3 Texas-based Caucasian women who started a c…
YLB #116 - KL-Singapore High Speed Rail gets #Cancelled & Man Utd’s Cavani gets banned for a “racial slur”
Jan. 3, 2021
On 1 Jan 2021, the plans for the KL-SG HSR was scrapped after SG & M’sia couldn’t agree on a way forward. But after all the work since 2013, why did this happen? Elsewhere, Uruguayan soccer player Edinson Cavani received a 3…
YLB #115 - News in 2020 we wanted to talk about but DIDN’T
Dec. 31, 2020
2020 has been _______ . We’ll leave that to you to fill up. Amidst the craziness, that are stories we didn’t cover on YLB for whatever reason. From UFOs to naked people in Bedok to BREXIT and Singapore having the biggest “ma…
YLB #114 - Ah Boys to Men actor and other celebs flout COVID Rules & the influencers selling “pre-loved” pillows
Dec. 25, 2020
Maxi Lim, the Ah Boys to Men actor, is being investigated for flouting COVID19 rules at his recent wedding, while Sonia Chew and 12 other local celebs did the same at a gathering back in Oct 2020. Why do celebs keep doing th…
YLB #113 - Singapore moves into Phase 3 & hotel staycations cause 7-hour queues
Dec. 15, 2020
On 14 Dec 2020, Singapore stopped again to watch PM Lee announce Phase 3 starting on 28 Dec 2020. But why that date, and what does it mean for Singaporeans? On a different note, this past weekend saw check-in queues of up to…
YLB #112 - Is Warners Bros killing the cinema industry? Feat Antti Toivonen, co-writer of Tiong Bahru Social Club
Dec. 12, 2020
Warner Bros announced that they’ll be releasing their entire 2021 slate of movies (17 of them) simultaneously on their streaming platform AND cinemas. Lots of Hollywood big guns have fired back and slammed them, but is that …
YLB #111 - MP Shanmugam is unhappy with UN’s decision on cannabis & Yeezy release draws huge crowds in Orchard
Dec. 7, 2020
On 2 Dec 2020, the UN reclassified Cannabis and no longer considers it a risky narcotic. But MP Shan was unhappy and said it’s because of “money”. Does he have a point? Back home, the latest release of the Yeezy Bred 350 Sne…
YLB #110 - Singapore becomes the 1st country to approve lab-grown meat & SAF NSFs get new army vests
Dec. 3, 2020
Food tech startup Eat Just got the go-ahead to sell their lab-grown meat in Singapore, which will be a world’s FIRST. But would you want to eat lab-grown meat? Or should we wait for more testing? Elsewhere, the SAF announced…
YLB #109 - A child rapist gets whipped 146 times in Aceh & the horse-petting event that got backlash
Nov. 30, 2020
The public flogging took place in the conservative province of Aceh, which is ruled under Sharia Law. Human rights organisations want caning to be abolished but what about caning in Singapore? Elsewhere, fashion label In Goo…
YLB #108 - Will a UNESCO listing actually be good for “hawker culture” and the breast cancer ad that went wrong
Nov. 24, 2020
Come Dec 2020, we’ll find out if our “hawker culture” is officially listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But will it actually do anything to preserve hawking, or is it just lip service? Elsewhere, a b…
YLB #107 - A widow gets rejected as a foster parent by the authorities & George Clooney gives his friends $1 million each
Nov. 20, 2020
First, a widow gets rejected as a foster parent by the Ministry of Social & Family Development (MSF) BECAUSE she’s a single parent. Then, her daughter posts about it on Facebook and it goes viral. Then NUS Prof rebutts her p…