The Big Story: Japan PM Shinzo Abe resigns; How can MICE sector survive Covid-19?

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SINGAPORE - Catch up on the hottest topics on The Straits Times' weekday talk show.

The Big Story, broadcast every weekday at 5.30pm on Facebook and YouTube, has reporters and senior editors discussing the top stories of the day.

The show is helmed by multimedia correspondent Hairianto Diman and assistant video editor Olivia Quay, and airs live from ST's digital studio.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced that he will resign, after he discovered that an underlying chronic condition relapsed in June.

The 65-year-old said his condition - ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease - has become a situation, in which he does not know if he can live up to the confidence and expectations of the citizens.

Nearly half of the employees of Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre (Suntec Singapore) have been retrenched amid the ongoing decimation of the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry.

We will speak to Mr Aloysius Arlando, president of the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers, on the continued survival of the MICE industry.

We will round up the episode with an interview with Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong on the new avenues that will be created for Singaporeans to engage in respectful dialogue on sensitive issues of race and religion.

Topics covered in previous episodes of The Big Story include the future of nightlife in Singapore, and the rights of a retrenched worker.

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