The Usual Place

The Straits Times
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Synopsis: Join host and correspondent Natasha Ann Zachariah every Thursday, as she unpacks the latest current affairs with guests.  Podcaster: Natasha Ann Zachariah Executive producer: Danson Cheong A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media

  1. 5d ago

    Ex-RI teacher and sociologist unpack Singapore’s primary school race

    Parents have long complained that the education system in Singapore is too stressful for children. To address their concerns, the Ministry of Education has made policy changes over the years, including scrapping PSLE T-scores and removing weighted assessments and examinations at certain levels. But have these measures worked? A recent survey by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) showed that parents are more stressed than 10 years ago, and they are spending more on tuition and enrichment classes. The Straits Times also reported that some property agents now explicitly market themselves as Primary 1 strategists or consultants, and advise their clients to plan ahead so their children can get into the school of their choice. If the system has been easing up, what’s driving parents to continue taking part in the education “arms race”? And are the tuition and property industries capitalising on their anxiety? In this episode, Natasha chats with: • Jacqueline Ho, assistant professor of sociology at the Singapore Management University, who researches the Singaporean education system, and • Prab Nathan, a property agent and former school teacher, and a father of two. His eldest daughter will be in Primary One next year. Highlights (click/tap above): 3:46 Are property agents feeding parents’ anxiety? 9:18 Is it smart to move for a school? 11:45 School status should not be a priority: Prab 25:42 Why parents get FOMO over extra tuition 28:30 Are parents who send their kids for tuition really kiasu? 34:00 Is being a “relaxed parent” a luxury? 43:39 What’s wrong with having a shadow education system? 49:50 Parents strategise to cope with inequality Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Ex-RI teacher and sociologist unpack Singapore’s primary school race

  2. Sep 24

    Something bigger will have to happen before people take AI safety seriously: AI safety researcher

    Will AI eventually be able to kill us, or are AI doomsayers being alarmist? Recently, employees at AI frontier companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have voiced serious concerns - and made doomsday predictions - about the technology getting out of control. What made people pay attention: Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon publicly quit the AI giant in September, writing on X that “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade”. His warning comes after the high-profile OpenAI-Hugging Face incident: OpenAI models broke out of an isolated testing sandbox and hacked into Hugging Face, an AI model repository. In this episode, Natasha speaks with Clement Neo, a research advisor at SASH, a non-profit organisation that looks at policy-relevant governance work. He also founded Neo Research, an independent AI safety evaluation lab, and was previously a research engineer with the Singapore AI Safety Institute under NTU Digital Trust Centre, which looks at AI models and figures out how to reduce the risks they pose. We talk about why AI models are being trained to be relentlessly “persistent”, if we should stop assigning human-like qualities to a software programme, and what’s the worst that could happen? Highlights (click/tap above): 1:36 How Clement got into AI safety research 6:34 AI feels helpful, so how is it dangerous? 10:14 How could AI kill us? 11:48 Why it’s difficult to rein in the AI agents 16:23 Why not limit the models’ capabilities to avoid risk? 22:12 Why the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident rattled the industry 25:36 What does ‘aligning’ the AI models mean? 29:40 Does projecting human intent onto AI make the issue worse? 33:57 Are we close to recursive self-improvement? 39:10 What would it take for an industry-wide AI slowdown? 45:28 Are AI companies being self-serving about the AI risks? Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh & Amirul Karim Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Something bigger will have to happen before people take AI safety seriously: AI safety researcher

  3. Sep 17

    True Fitness closure: Why most members will get $0 back

    If you’re a customer with a pre-paid package with a business and it closes, will you ever get your money back? True Fitness and True Yoga customers and employees were left in the lurch last week after the businesses shuttered. Many have unused memberships, packages and services, and members have reported losses of more than $609,000. And it’s not just gyms. Prepayment packages are common at nail salons, spas, interior design and renovation firms, and bridal studios. When these businesses close, what happens to consumers’ money, and are there ways consumers can be better protected? In this episode of The Usual Place, Natasha chats with: • Jeremy Ko, a fitness entrepreneur who has opened 25 fitness gyms and three climbing gyms, and had to close three of them, and • Debby Lim, a senior partner in Dentons Rodyk’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. She was also affected by the recent closure of True Fitness, having been a member since June 2025. Highlights (click/tap above): 2:08 What’s happening with the fitness industry? 6:44 Red flags that customers could possibly look out for 10:17 Is this the end of the “mega-gym” concept? 14:11 Why are True Fitness and True Yoga under “provisional liquidation”? 18:25 Why Jeremy’s gyms don’t offer prepayment packages 21:15 The hard-selling vs just saying no 26:08 Law reform needed to “save us from ourselves”? 30:10 Why aren’t more businesses signing up for CaseTrust accreditation? 34:39 Is consumer protection anti-business? Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh & Hadyu Rahim Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    True Fitness closure: Why most members will get $0 back

  4. Sep 11

    Singapore ministerial pay debate: Paying top talent competitive salaries is in the ‘soul of the PAP’

    Will the increase in ministerial salaries cost the People’s Action Party (PAP) votes at the next General Election? On Sept 8, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that political office-holders will get a one-off pay increase of up to 9 per cent. This will take effect from Oct 15 - an entry-level grade MR4 minister getting the full adjustment will see his annual pay rise from $1.1 million to $1.2 million. The changes to salaries come after the Government accepted the recommendations of a committee convened to review political salaries. One of its recommendations is that the MR4 benchmark will also be updated from $1.1 million to $1.8 million. Existing ministers’ salaries will continue to be adjusted based on performance, and PM Wong expects most MR4 ministers to earn about $1.35 million – the lower end of the new salary range – by the end of this term of government. In this episode of The Usual Place, Natasha speaks with Straits Times’ senior columnist Bhavan Jaipragas, and Rebecca Grace Tan, a senior lecturer in Political Science at the National University of Singapore. We discuss whether there is the “right” formula to calculating ministers’ salaries, and whether alternative performance reviews of ministers’ and MPs work is now necessary to account to the public for the pay raises. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:24 How did PM Wong fare in explaining the salary increases? 5:38 Was the debate “subdued” as compared to 2012? 8:44 Have S’poreans come to accept the million-dollar salaries? 13:45 Why didn’t the Workers’ Party oppose more strongly? 18:00 Growing divide between political elites and the rest of us? 21:09 Is the top 1,000 earners benchmark still fair? 26:20 Money, motive and minimising opportunity costs 32:15 How can we assess ministers’ performance? 41:44 Has public office become unattractive? 47:22 Is S’pore just another corporation? Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh, Hadyu Rahim & Teo Tong Kai Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Singapore ministerial pay debate: Paying top talent competitive salaries is in the ‘soul of the PAP’

  5. Sep 3

    Lifting of wait out period for private home owners could flood HDB market with cash-rich buyers

    If you own a private condominium unit and are looking to downgrade, or a family considering buying a BTO flat, the two recent housing policy changes would have brought some relief. In July, the 15-month wait-out period for private residential property owners who want to buy a non-subsidised HDB resale flat was lifted. In his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that the income ceiling for BTO flats and new executive condominiums will be raised, and more ballot chances for first-timers with children. How will these moves affect housing prices, and will there be more million-dollar flats as demand goes up? Also, with more people qualifying for a BTO, will it be harder to get a flat? Chief researcher and strategist at Realion (Orange Tee & ETC) Group Christine Sun, and chief research officer at Mogul.sg Nicholas Mak, share their views on what moves we could possibly see in the property market. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:55 Three groups who will benefit 6:40 Will BTO application rates surge? 9:00 Why million-dollar flats still sell 12:55 Did the income ceiling for ECs need to be raised? 17:14 Should the Govt claw back EC subsidies? 25:48 Will BTOs get more expensive? 30:35 Why Nicholas doesn’t see the singles eligibility age dropping 37:36 Will there be an oversupply in ‘ulu’ areas? 41:32 Why so many 2-room flats? 44:53 No 3-room flats is ‘a bit too extreme’: Nicholas Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Lifting of wait out period for private home owners could flood HDB market with cash-rich buyers

  6. Aug 24

    Can cash, childcare leave and BTO priority get Singaporeans to have kids? | National Day Rally 2026

    If you’ve been thinking about having kids, last night’s National Day Rally might have given you something to rally about. Parents - and those who are considering having children - were the focus of PM Wong’s address on August 23. In a nutshell, parents will get more help: more childcare leave and financial support, along with lower pre-school fees and more ballot chances when buying their first BTO flat. But will this move the needle on our Total Fertility Rate, which now stands at 0.87? Natasha asks Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh Hanyan from the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth why the Government shifted its stance to consider every child equally. Dr Reuben Ng, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and a father of four, shared his thoughts on when the Government needs to roll out more measures for this reset to count. Highlights (click/tap above): 2:17 Were the parenthood measures good enough? 6:56 Why tackle the cost concerns first? 12:15 Should mothers get medals for having more kids? 17:24 Why not taking leave is sometimes seen as a “badge of honour” 20:41 Hanyan’s experience juggling political office and being a mother-of-three 25:14 What about colleagues who cover parents on leave? 28:20 Are singles getting the short end of the stick? 33:41 Politically risky to invest so much public funds into parenting? 38:21 How fast does the Government need to roll out the measures? Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh & Natasha Liew Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Can cash, childcare leave and BTO priority get Singaporeans to have kids? | National Day Rally 2026

  7. Aug 20

    What the Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks debate showed about policy making and consultation

    What kind of involvement do Singaporeans want in policymaking? The Maju Forest-Gillman Barracks issue has seen Singaporeans making their voices heard, offering counter-proposals, and demanding more transparency from the Government. This isn’t the first time Singaporeans have made their views known - remember issues including the Dear You bilingual policy debate, the SimplyGo roll out, and the scrapped NTUC Income-Allianz deal. Are we in a new era of civic participation, and does the way the Government engages Singaporeans need to change? Also, would too much consultation hamper policymaking? In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with: Assistant Professor of Sociology George Wong, who researches grassroots organisations in urban governance and politics in Asia at Singapore Management University, and Jonathan Ng, an independent consultant with more than 20 years of experience in policy advocacy and regulation, and a former civil servant. He also creates social media content about how government and businesses work. Highlights (click/tap above): 2:17 Reactions to S’poreans speaking up about Maju Forest 6:33 Has the Government responded well? 9:38 Citizens must trust that their voices matter: Jonathan 11:00 S’poreans want to “see how the sausage is being made”: George 13:54 Should policies satisfy every stakeholder? 16:18 Presenting trade-offs without being defensive 18:54 No more “Trust me bro!” 24:09 How does the Government choose whom to listen to? 28:18 Is active citizenry fuelled by social media? 31:43 Do name-calling, political labels hurt engagement? 34:34 Can S’poreans disagree agreeably? 36:19 Is another iteration of Our Singapore Conversation needed? 39:46 Why you shouldn’t scream to be heard Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Eden Soh & Natasha Liew Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    What the Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks debate showed about policy making and consultation

  8. Aug 13

    Will the new National Library Board campaign get more people to read books?

    Would you read regularly if you were paid to do so? The National Library Board (NLB) is hoping that people will develop a consistent reading habit by giving readers virtual coins that can eventually be exchanged for cash. They need to spend at least 15 minutes on the activity each day. But why does the library have to incentivise us to read for fun? What do we lose when we no longer read, especially if we’re choosing to doomscroll instead? In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with: Associate Professor Loh Chin Ee from the National Institute of Education, who researches people’s reading habits, and Chris Koh, the programme director of the National Reading Movement Highlights (click/tap above): 1:47 How was ReadSG conceptualised 3:41 Why do we have to be paid to read? 7:41 Is reading for 15 mins actually realistic? 10:45 Does reading daily create a habit? 19:16 Why we should stop calling kids “non-readers” 21:10 Will book clubs get people reading? 27:39 What do we lose when we don’t read? 32:19 S’pore’s most borrowed library book? 33:34 Book recommendations from Chris, Chin Ee and Natasha Books recommended in this episode: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Bang My Car by Ann Ang Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koe Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg) Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm Follow The Usual Place podcast on IG: https://str.sg/8KNT Follow Natasha on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/v6DN Filmed by: Studio+65 Edited by: Teo Tong Kai & Hadyu Rahim Executive producer: Danson Cheong Producers: Natasha Ann Zachariah, Elizabeth Law & Zachary Lim Follow The Usual Place Podcast and get notified for new episode drops every Thursday: Channel: https://str.sg/5nfm Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/9ijX Spotify: https://str.sg/cd2P YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX -- #tup #tuptrf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Will the new National Library Board campaign get more people to read books?
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About

Synopsis: Join host and correspondent Natasha Ann Zachariah every Thursday, as she unpacks the latest current affairs with guests.  Podcaster: Natasha Ann Zachariah Executive producer: Danson Cheong A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media

Information

  • Creator
    The Straits Times
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    119
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Straits Times
  • Show Website
    The Usual Place

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