Surrounded by guns: ST journalist recalls nerve-racking time, at final What’s The News? school programme
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ST senior crime correspondent Zaihan Mohamed Yusof telling students at St Gabriel's Secondary School about the time he was mistaken for a spy, during a What’s The News? assembly programme on Aug 28.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Maryam Munshi
SINGAPORE – When he was just a five-month-old rookie reporter in 1999, The Straits Times’ senior crime correspondent Zaihan Mohamed Yusof came face to face with the leader of Acehnese rebels who were in conflict with the Indonesian military.
He was covering the conflict when he found himself surrounded by firearms and suspected of being a Javanese spy.
After Zaihan quickly clarified that he was Singaporean and Malay, the rebel leader, Teungku Abdullah Syafi’i, burst out laughing.
“Syafi’i said, ‘Welcome back to your homeland’, while hugging me. I was sure the back of my T-shirt was drenched with sweat,” the reporter recalled.
He was sharing his adventures in journalism at the What’s The News? (WTN) assembly programme on Aug 28 at St Gabriel’s Secondary School.
Caffrey Luah Jun Yu, 15, a Secondary 3 student at the school, said: “I left the programme with a greater appreciation of the time and effort journalists devote to their work. Most importantly, I learnt that reading the news regularly helps us become more informed about the world around us.”
The assembly programme, organised to get youth engaging with the news, took its final bow in 2026 at St Gabriel’s Secondary, the WTN26 Quiz champion.
WTN, launched in 2025 as part of The Straits Times’ 180th anniversary celebrations, is an interactive current affairs quiz for young people. It encourages them to stay informed about issues that shape their lives and the world around them, while helping them learn to read the news with a critical eye.
Beyond the current affairs competition – which is supported by the Ministry of Education and held in partnership with the Central Narcotics Bureau – the initiative includes assembly programmes in selected schools and a travelling showcase.
A mini news quiz, hosted by WTN26 quizmaster Rishi Budhrani, is held during the assembly programme, along with a talk by a journalist or editor from ST.
WTN26 quizmaster Rishi Budhrani hosting a mini news quiz during the What’s The News? assembly programme at St Gabriel's Secondary School on Aug 28.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
In 2026, six schools hosted the assembly programme from June to August: St Gabriel’s, East Spring Secondary School, Swiss Cottage Secondary School, School of Science and Technology, Evergreen Secondary School and Nanyang Girls’ High School, where Straits Times editor Jaime Ho shared his experience in the field of journalism.
ST editor Jaime Ho with students at Nanyang Girls’ High School during a What’s The News? assembly programme on Aug 26.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
WTN’s travelling showcase poses the question: “Is AI changing the way you think?”
Comprising interactive segments, informative panels and videos, it prompts young people to consider how artificial intelligence is shaping information that reaches them online, and how it influences their interactions with the real world.
After viewing the showcase, St Gabriel’s Secondary 2 student Conrad Phang Jun Hao, 13, said: “The showcase showed me how artificial intelligence is used in everyday life and how we can identify AI-generated text. I left feeling more aware of what is happening around the world and more conscious of the need to examine the information I encounter carefully.”
The travelling showcase will make its final appearance at Jurong Library, from Sept 4 to 15.
