Foreseeable: A Podcast Series by Global-is-Asian

2.1 children per woman. That is roughly considered replacement level fertility for a given population.  These days, most advanced economies have total fertility rates lower than that. And some of the lowest fertility rates can be observed in Asia. Like in Japan, South Korea  and Singapore where the rate was 1.14 in 2019.  Assistant Professor Tan Poh Lin from the Lee Kuan Yew School...

“Homelessness exists in Singapore.” That’s the first thing that Senior Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Dr Ng Kok Hoe told me when we had a chance to discuss the topic. And it’s true. They are just less visible. It’s often difficult to distinguish a homeless person from any other member of the public, for a variety of reasons that we’l...

Recycled drinking water is not a new concept.  In Singapore, it has been around for two decades, but if you talk to people about it, there's still a certain "yuck factor" that surrounds the idea. Leong Ching, Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, dedicates a lot of time studying why people behave the way they do when it comes to the environment. She jokes, sometimes...

In light of the COVID-19 virus that continues to plague China and other countries, we caught up with Tikki Pangestu, Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Professor Pangestu spent 13 years at the World Health Organization in Geneva as Director of Research Policy and Cooperation Department. He shares his insider's view of the global health response. This podcast episode wa...

In this episode, we will be speaking to Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's Minister for Education. He's been a Member of Parliament since 2015. And he has held a wide range of government positions, including Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress - NTUC, Chief Executive of Singapore Workforce Development Agency - WDA, and Deputy Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreem...

Thomas Friedman, noted author and foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, believes the world is being reshaped today by three simultaneous accelerations: in technology, globalisation and climate change. He likes to call the accelerations hockey sticks, referring to the steep angle they represent on a graph. Friedman travelled to Singapore recently to take part in the Lee Kuan Yew School...

The idea of racial harmony is deeply ingrained in Singapore's national identity. The national pledge recited daily by school children states, "regardless of race, language or religion" - yet discussing racial integration remains a touchy subject. Dr. Mathew Mathews is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Social Lab at the Institute of Policy Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy where, a...

Danny Quah is a noted economist, teacher and writer. He has a long list of qualifications and accomplishments, and currently he's Dean and Li Ka Shing professor in economics at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. His work focuses on income inequality, economic growth, and international economic relations. Lately he's been studying the global power shift and the rise of the East and alternati...