Podcast Picks: Riding out road rage, being a two-year intern

From the Olympics to Singapore’s road culture, our latest five podcast episodes span the globe as we discuss climate driven migration, Putin’s latest Asia tour, the merits of extended internships, and more.

In Your Opinion: Singapore’s worsening road culture: What’s behind it and what can be done?

Fatal traffic accidents are on the rise in Singapore.

Within the first four months of 2024, 54 people lost their lives to road accidents. In 2023, the Traffic Police (TP) annual statistics report indicated that the number of traffic-related fatalities had hit their highest since 2016. These figures are indicative of the increasing danger that both pedestrians and motorists face while using the road.

Besides the danger, the growing aggression and hostility between drivers and motorcyclists, and the pressures involved in plying Singapore roads, all contribute to the negative perception of Singapore’s road culture.

But what – or who – is to blame for our worsening road culture? And what can be done about it?

These are the questions ST assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong and STNow reporter Christie Chiu aim to answer in the latest episode of the In Your O pinion podcast. Joining them are two experienced motorists – Aman Aljunied, a motorbike and car instructor with nearly 40 years of experience, and Dennis Quah, the head of the Singapore chapter of the Harley Davidson Owners’ Group, which is known for safe riding practices.

Career Talk: Would you be an intern for 2 years?

What matters to you when job-searching?

For students, entering the workforce has become an increasingly daunting and complex task, thanks to intensifying competition, and the ever-widening range of options.

For employers, their considerations are going beyond filling desks with bodies, as talent development increasingly becomes a key consideration.

In this episode of Career Talk, host Tay Hong Yi sits down with his guests – senior vice-president and head of Asean at Adecco Betul Genc, Student Training and Rotation (Star) programme manager at SAP, Jean Ooi, and recent Star alum and business development executive at SAP Choy Zhan Hao, to discuss the talent schemes that companies have been developing to fill their talent needs.

Amongst the schemes discussed is a two-year rotational internship programme at SAP, a German software enterprise, which Mr Choy underwent as a university student.

Hard Tackle: Why are the Olympics so special?

Nothing quite compares to the Olympics.

Perhaps it is the spectacle of the whole affair – the theatrics, the history, the stakes at play. The sheer drama of having the world’s finest athletes across multiple sports come together in competition, representing their nations, aiming to be, for this brief moment in time, at the pinnacle of a sport they have dedicated their life to. Something about the Olympics captures the imagination in a way that no other world championship is able to replicate.

For athletes though, the significance is much higher, and much more personal.

“To be near, in the same room, breathing the same air as these people,” recalls former national shooter Lee Wung Yew, recounting his first Olympics and the overwhelming awe he felt when he realised he was in the same room as the “gods of shooting”, “it was truly inspiring.”

He joins assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath, former national sprinter C. Kunalan, and current Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen in this latest episode of Hard Tackle, hosted by sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan, to discuss what exactly makes the Olympics so distinctively special.

(This episode was recorded before it was confirmed on July 8 that Ting Wen will not compete in the Paris Olympics)

Green Pulse: Managing climate driven migration demands a new paradigm

We’re used to thinking about climate issues in terms of environmental impact – deforestation, the greenhouse effect, and other ways that climate change has affected the natural world.

But people with little means to adapt their homes would be forced to migrate to escape the harsh impacts of climate change. Such climate driven migration could be another dangerous undertaking, just like current migration that are illegal as the displaced usually move due to violence, disaster and other push factors at home. 

And if the migrants survive the journey, they usually face ethnonationalism, a form of nationalism defined by ethnicity, that is becoming an increasingly politically divisive issue around the world. 

In this episode of Green Pulse, host Nirmal Ghosh and his guest, award-winning science writer Gaia Vince, dissect the topic of climate driven migration and the ethnonationalist stance against it. 

Ethnonationalism, a form of nationalism defined by ethnicity, is becoming an increasingly politically divisive issue around the world. 

Ms Vince also called for better management of the immigration. “Human mobility is something that needs to be managed globally” she told Green Pulse. “We have to accept that we are one species living on the planet and that people will move to safer places and nobody has more right to the safe places on our globe than anyone else.”

“We need to find a way of making this work to the best of our ability,” she said. “And that means helping areas adapt... and protect themselves against the climate crisis, but also helping people move to safer locations, whether that’s within their country where most people want to move to, or whether, sadly, that is no longer possible and they are forced to move to other places.”

Speaking of Asia: ‘Judo, botox and yoga’ – what’s Putin up to in Asia?

He went driving with Kim Jong Un, received a 21-gun salute in Vietnam, and declared a “new era of partnership” with China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have embarked on a tour of Asia of sorts, as he even recently referred to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “my dearest friend” while the latter was on a state visit in Russia. But what message lies between his diplomatic outreach, and what does this tell us about Russia’s approach towards Asia?

The Straits Times’ associate editor and senior Asia columnist Ravi Velloor discusses this with his guest, the eminent Australian diplomat Peter Tesch, a former ambassador to Russia and Germany for his country as well as policy strategist for the Australian defence ministry, in this episode of Speaking of Asia.

Together, they delve into the topic of Mr Putin’s recent visits to North Korea and Vietnam, his message and approach towards China and the rest of Asia, as well as comment on the Quad, the security dialogue that groups the US with Australia, Japan and India.

Discover our ST podcast channels:

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The Usual Place: 

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In Your Opinion: 

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COE Watch: 

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Asian Insider: 

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Health Check: 

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Green Pulse: 

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Your Money & Career: 

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Hard Tackle: 

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#PopVultures: 

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Music Lab: 

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ST Podcast website: 

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ST Podcasts YouTube: 

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Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): 

https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): 

https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): 

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Stop Scams (10 eps): 

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Singapore’s War On Covid (5 eps): 

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