Yah Lah But

Acting Minister for MCCY, David Neo, wants to fix the problem of 1 in 10 Singaporeans have zero close friends. How? Through Arts & Sports. Meanwhile MOS Dinesh Vasu Dash unveils the “EP Journey”, a cultural sensitivity training for Employment Pass Holders. 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧: 𝙇𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘊𝘉𝘊 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬, 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥...

Most of us just want banking to be simple: salary comes in, bills go out, and the rest… hopefully grows a bit. But banking has changed so quickly that a lot of people are using new tools without really knowing what’s happening underneath. We talk to MariBank CEO Natalia Goh about how digital banks work, what’s driving renewed interest in gold, and why our money habits in Singapore are shifting in...

Jamus Lim calls class-size relief a straightforward fix; Desmond Lee says teacher recruitment isn’t trivial in a tight labour market. Meanwhile influencer Novita Lam’s “Iran this, Israel that” caption backfires online and forces an apology. UPDATE: Since recording this episode, we've learnt that we missed out some important details relating to the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) discussed here. We ex...

TFR crashes to 0.87 and DPM Gan Kim Yong calls it existential as Indranee Rajah leads a marriage-and-parenthood workgroup. Meanwhile, an AMK lion dance troupe steps on hawker tables and Singapore argues about hygiene, rules and culture. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 If you’re looking for a meaningful gift, we’d love to help you create a personal podcast for a loved one. Get started at Folklory.com 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 Hare...

Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Mdm Rahayu Mahzam breaks down how the new Online Safety (Relief & Accountability) Act is designed to provide victims with timely and effective relief from online harms while enhancing accountability for perpetrators. She also shares how users, tech companies, and the community, all have a role in shaping the next phase of online safety....

The Budget 2026 debates opens with a $15.1b surplus and Pritam Singh demanding a public “report card” while also questioning Ministerial Salaries. Meanwhile PAP MP Henry Kwek lobbies for 'adequate' funds for public media to combat AI misinformation. 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟮 Check out the second season of our edutainment podcast that dives into a fascinating array of topics you never knew you needed...

DPM Gan Kim Yong warns Singapore to brace for Trump’s 15% tariff after the US Supreme Court kills “Liberation Day” duties. Meanwhile ex-Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin’s “accidental” Instagram deletion gets shredded by marathoner Soh Rui Yong. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 If you’re looking for a meaningful gift, we’d love to help you create a personal podcast for a loved one. Get started at Folklory.com 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗸...

What if a job most people wouldn’t think twice about became a seven-figure business? Zames Chew, Co-Founder of Repair.sg , comes into the studio to share how hands-on trade skills, not pitch decks, became his biggest competitive edge. From learning repairs on the ground to building a culture of trust, he is removing the stigma around blue-collar trades one customer at a time. We also go deep on wh...

PM Lawrence Wong unveils Budget 2026 and signals Singapore’s next economic and AI push, while NTU faces backlash after students were filmed throwing lo hei on campus. 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧: 𝙇𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘶𝘰, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴.. 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦...

Selena Ling, Chief Economist of OCBC, joins us in our studio to answer the burning question on our minds: What does a Chief Economist actually do? In this wide-ranging conversation, Selena breaks down how she views the volatility in the markets today, why gold has regained relevance to investors, and why Singapore’s neutrality is more important than ever. This episode isn’t just for those interest...

The latest paper from the Ministry of Finance shows Singapore’s wealth inequality exceeds income inequality, while median household incomes continue to rise. Elsewhere, a cleaner was dismissed by BreadTalk after a viral video showed them cleaning store shelves with a broom. 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟮 Check out the second season of our edutainment podcast that dives into a fascinating array of topics...

We get Singapore’s favourite funnyman, comedian Rishi Budhrani as a guest host on this episode! You’ll be surprised where we go, as we start with 2 everyday news topics, but end up going deep into what it means to lead a life of meaning. In the first topic, Singapore’s plastic bag charge has raised millions of dollars, but how supermarket chains use the proceeds is drawing scrutiny after they all...

Mark Tan of Rice Media joins us in the YLB studio to debate retrenchment benefits, after SMS Koh Poh Koon defended keeping retrenchment payouts non-mandatory, while WP’s Pritam Singh suggested differentiated rules for bigger firms. We also cross the line to talk about Amos Yee’s letter to the Singapore government to oppose his impending deportation back to Singapore, and public reactions to his po...

There’s been a lot of renewed interest in gold, so we got Allen Kuo, Chief Investment Officer of Singlife, to walk us through everything we need to know about the asset. He goes deep into the philosophy and history of gold, explaining its value as a riskless benchmark, and more poignantly, what its price can tell us about geopolitics today. We also make a detour into 90s nostalgia and shared cultu...

Half a year into her sojourn into politics, MP Jasmin Lau joins YLB to discuss parenting tradeoffs, tuition culture, and why policy change is hard in Singapore. She also addresses educational reform, and how online clips can distort public perception - in particular, her recent exchange in Parliament with an opposition MP about the characterization of TraceTogether as a “fiasco”. Find Jasmin Lau h...

Scams are getting increasingly common, and we are all at risk. In this episode, we chat with Aaron Chiew, Group Head of Digital Channels, Institutional Banking Group at DBS Bank, who explains why modern scams are less about hacking and more about manipulating trust and routine processes, powered by AI and better “research” on targets. We also explore practical countermeasures companies and employe...

Kian Boon from Red Dot Perspective steps in as a guest host to discuss the spiciest topics of the week! First, we break down Gan Kim Yong’s comments at an IPS’ Singapore Perspectives 2026 conference that our “We First” motto could include foreigners. Elsewhere, we cut through the noise of the PropertyLimBrothers alleged cheating scandal that has been living rent-free in Singaporeans’ minds for the...

Childhood myopia is rising at an alarming rate in Singapore. The good news is it is not inevitable. We sit down with Dr Au Eong Kah Guan to unpack why myopia is so common, why it matters to slow it down early and how parents can take practical, science-backed steps to delay its onset and progression. Dr Au Eong also explains why myopia is increasingly seen as a preventable condition, not just a ge...

WP rejects PM Wong’s request to nominate a new Leader of the Opposition, and PMO says the LO office will stay vacant. Elsewhere, there’s huge backlash over 3 polytechnics using AI-generated open house posters, similar to what PUB did for a campaign poster at Chinatown MRT. 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟮 Check out the second season of our edutainment podcast that dives into a fascinating array of topics y...

Note: This was recorded at 11am on Wed, 21 Jan 2026, before WP’s statement rejecting the LO nomination. As the Workers’ Party weighs who should replace Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition, Singapore also responds to a surprising US invitation to join Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace”. 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧: 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 (𝙎𝙄𝙁) 𝘚𝘐𝘍 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘪𝘥𝘦...

Ruth Saw, an adult professional trainer, reflects on her personal journey of confidence and growth, and how lived experience shaped her approach to learning and leadership. She also discusses why SkillsFuture often faces scepticism, how her own perspective on SkillsFuture changed, and what accredited trainers have to go through that helps separate real capability from just certification. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙨...

Tensions were rife as Parliament backed a motion expressing regret over Pritam Singh’s conduct, deeming him unfit to continue as Leader of the Opposition. Elsewhere, Bayfront MRT frosts mirrors at a popular dance spot. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 If you’re looking for a meaningful gift, we’d love to help you create a personal podcast for a loved one. Get started at Folklory.com 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 Terence: Jay Chou brin...

MOS Jasmin Lau and WP MP Kenneth Tiong spar in Parliament over an amendment that will allow public sector data to be shared with trusted external partners. Elsewhere, a Singaporean F&B solopreneur in London faces a trademark dispute with Warner Bros over “Crazy Rich” branding. 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟮 Check out the second season of our edutainment podcast that dives into a fascinating array of...

Leader of the House, Indranee Rajah, files a motion to consider Pritam Singh’s suitability as Leader of the Opposition, while Hwa Chong addresses claims surrounding student meals and disciplinary action over the recent food controversy. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 If you’re looking for a meaningful gift, we’d love to help you create a personal podcast for a loved one. Get started at Folklory.com 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 Tere...

Amalina Nasir, a youth leader and advocate for interfaith work in Singapore, shares her work bridging young Singaporeans with global communities. Drawing on her professional experience in big tech and her time as a former member of the Board of Governors of the Singapore International Foundation (SIF), she reflects on online discourse, youth engagement, and how perspectives shaped through regional...