Social isolation is especially acute in the capital city of Seoul—and it’s not just among the elderly.
Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in.
South Korea correspondent Wendy Teo, who has lived in South Korea for six years, describes what life in Seoul can be like, and explains why loneliness is a looming epidemic not just for the aged but for young people there as well.
Steps are being taken to address the challenge, with local authorities rolling out measures ranging from cafes where anyone can drop by for a steaming hot bowl of ramyeon to 24-hour call centres.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:12 All alone in Seoul
4:59 Intense competition in exams and for jobs
6:41 A district in southern Seoul City
11:47 Tackling the problem before depression sets in
Ultimately, the outcome might depend on both sides’ threshold for pain.
Synopsis: Every fourth Friday of the month, The Straits Times will now analyse the hottest political and trending talking points, alternating between its Malaysia and China bureaus.
For July, host and deputy foreign editor Albert Wai connects with senior China correspondent Yew Lun Tian.
They take stock of the twists and turns in the tariff negotiations between Washington and Beijing.
Both sides have weaponised access to rare earths and advanced chips as well as the potential sale of short video app TikTok, among other issues, in a bid to gain leverage.
Ultimately, how the negotiations pan out may depend on how much pain both sides are prepared to endure.
On the horizon is talk about a possible visit by President Donald Trump to China and how this might play a decisive role for some sort of deal.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:28 The twists and turns of US-China tariff negotiations
3:24 How Beijing has weaponised the access to rare earths
5:40 China can now buy Nvidia H20 AI chips again. What are the implications?
7:49 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang makes waves in China
9:54 Can Americans be happy without Chinese goods?
12:41 How the sale of TikTok might be a bargaining chip
13:56 Transhipment taxes add a layer of uncertainty
S2E29: A view of the cemetery: Why house-hunting in Jakarta is a challenge
Season 2 · Episode 29
Thursday, May 1, 2025 • Duration 16:17
Indonesia’s capital, one of South-east Asia’s most crowded cities, contains 12 million people in a land area of 660 sq km.
Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in.
The Straits Times’ Indonesia bureau chief Arlina Arshad has lived in Jakarta for 16 years - and moved five times. What are the lessons that she’s picked up in searching for the right apartment in Indonesia’s capital city?
In this city of contrasts, private-sector developers are on a tearing streak to build high-end condominiums for an expanding middle class. At the same time, graveyards and slums are just round the block from these homes.
And for decades now, the government has strove to resolve the housing and urban development challenge in Jakarta. What plans does the Prabowo administration now have?
S1E2: Thailand: Thousands of foetuses hidden in a Bangkok temple
Season 1 · Episode 2
Friday, June 9, 2023 • Duration 28:15
This is the 2010 case that became a turning point in Thailand's debate over abortion.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
Warning: This podcast is an audio documentary of a real crime case which may be troubling and upsetting to certain listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
Be transported back to the events of 2010, when the discovery of thousands of rotting foetuses, hidden in a Bangkok temple - led to more awareness and debate over illegal abortions in Buddhist-majority Thailand.
The grisly remains at Wat Phai Ngern were traced to a network of clinics. The case uncovered the scale of the illegal abortion industry at a time when the procedure was still largely illegal and heavily stigmatised.
ST's Thailand correspondent Tan Tam Mei interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:03 A dog chews on something in the middle of a Bangkok temple; long-time temple worker Supote Leangbamrong recalls the stench and discovery by authorities in 2010
5:52 Shockwaves throughout Thailand; abortion hardly discussed and was largely illegal and taboo back then
08:57 Nursing assistant Lanchakorn Janthamanas's underground operation; roping in two temple undertakers to dispose of the bodies
11:40 Abortion activist Supeecha Baotip on how voices of women were missing in the discussion on abortion, her own story and how much has changed since the crime case
17:44 Restrictions against abortion relaxed in 2021, sweeping legal changes in Thailand
20:00 Cultural beliefs: Why some doctors don't perform abortions because they are afraid of karma
23:09 Expanding availability of legal abortions and to change mindsets; abortion offered as a tele-health service in Thailand
S1E97: Why Asean has opportunities in middle of global power rivalry: Asian Insider
Season 1 · Episode 97
Thursday, May 25, 2023 • Duration 15:51
Asean also needs long-term low carbon vision to reinforce supply chain security and competitiveness.
Synopsis: Each fourth Friday of the month, The Straits Times' US bureau chief Nirmal Ghosh presents an Asian perspective of the biggest global talking points with expert guests.
Asean recently held a summit in Indonesia, which in 2023, holds the rotating chair of the 10-member grouping. Indonesia has a key role to play at a critical juncture in global geopolitics.
Former Indonesian Cabinet minister and outgoing managing director of Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank in Washington DC - Dr Mari Elka Pangestu - is an avowed “Aseanist”.
In this episode, she tells host Nirmal Ghosh why she urges Asean leaders to take charge and strengthen open regionalism, as a collective "middle power" which can use its agency and benefit from opportunities in the midst of uncertainty.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:05 Why the need for a counter-narrative from "middle powers" such as Asean, to navigate great global power competition
3:43 Reinforcing Asean principles such as non-interference, non-alignment; more "open regionalism" meaning not being exclusive to major global powers
4:40 New economy in electric vehicles, climate goals, Asean Digital Economy Framework: Is Asean in the right direction and the critical reforms needed
10:40 Is Asean in a "sweet spot" with US-China rivalry? Data shows relocation of trade and investment
Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Eden Soh and Fa’izah Sani
Edited by: Fa’izah Sani
Follow Asian Insider with Nirmal Ghosh every fourth Friday of the month:
S1E20: Nato's future role in Asia and June Shangri-La Dialogue expectations: Speaking of Asia
Season 1 · Episode 20
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 • Duration 31:14
Find out what our guest expert says about Nato planning to open a liaison office in Japan, its first in Asia, to facilitate consultations in the region.
Synopsis: Every second Friday of the month, join The Straits Times' associate editor & Senior Asia columnist Ravi Velloor, as he distills his experience from four decades of covering the continent.
In this episode, he chats with Mr James Crabtree, the Singapore-based executive director for Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Mr Crabtree is a former journalist and policy analyst whose previous job was an Associate Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
The podcast was conducted against the backdrop of Asia’s worsening security situation, and weeks ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue that brings together security leaders of Asia and counterparts from major global powers.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:05 Asia’s deteriorating security situation; a confident Chinese President Xi Jinping
9:40 What Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Albanese might say in Singapore
14:40 Overlaying of Euro Atlantic issues with Indo Pacific
19:15 Nato in Asia; it will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from June 2-4, 2023
23:00 On the China-India spat, and the Quad
26:35 Artificial Intelligence as a national security issue
Produced by: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim and Fa’izah Sani
Edited by: Fa’izah Sani
Follow Speaking Of Asia Podcast every second Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here:
Channel:
S1E1: South Korea: Cybersex criminals trapping girls in a digital prison
Season 1 · Episode 1
Saturday, April 29, 2023 • Duration 27:13
Find out about the insidious 'Nth room' crimes in one of Asia's most highly-wired countries.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
Warning: This podcast is an audio documentary of a real crime case which may be troubling and upsetting to certain listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
Digital sex crimes have become so common in highly-wired South Korea, leading to several copycat versions of what have become known as the 'Nth room' crimes.
Why does this keep happening, and what are the underlying causes of these cases? Despite government efforts to crack down on these cases, they return again and again.
This is the side of South Korean society that the world may not know as well, away from the global appeal of its K-drama series and glamour of its K-pop music.
ST's South Korea correspondent Chang May Choon interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:00 The year was 2019; blackmail and even making victims engrave their names or IDs on their bodies, using knives
5:15 Student journalist Park Ji-hyun and college friend aiming to "pull out the roots of evil", expose published in September 2019; hear the actual voice of the ringleader Cho Ju-bin
10:00 Activist Summer Cha (her voice in Korean is digitally altered to protect her identity) on why digital sex crimes are trending upwards
13:38 Lewd and disgusting reactions in male-only sites towards victims in the recent Itaewon crush incident
14:38 Big cities such as Seoul, Busan and Incheon have now set up their own digital sex crime centres to provide support for victims; Seoul centre director Lee Eun-jeong explains SOPs
S1E96: India has remarkably saved the tiger but deeper issues remain: Asian Insider
Season 1 · Episode 96
Thursday, April 27, 2023 • Duration 34:16
India's experience offers lessons for other countries in wildlife conservation, and one of the keys is having local communities on board.
Synopsis: Each fourth Friday of the month, The Straits Times' US bureau chief Nirmal Ghosh presents an Asian perspective of the biggest global talking points with expert guests.
India very recently marked the fifth anniversary of Project Tiger. India has saved the tiger. Bringing a predator like the tiger, back from the brink of extinction, in a country of now over a billion people, is a remarkable feat.
India now has something like 70-75 per cent of all tigers in the wild. The tiger is functionally extinct in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. There has been a small comeback in Thailand, but its status in Myanmar is unknown and most likely very tenuous.
But species conservation is a complex issue with many moving parts, with both people and wildlife having agency - so it never really ends and old challenges remain and new challenges emerge.
In this episode, to discuss what worked and what did not - and the consequential challenges that remain - Nirmal Ghosh hosts renowned wildlife conservationist Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI); and the publisher and editor of Sanctuary Asia Magazine and Kids for Tigers, Bittu Sahgal.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:55 Best practices: What worked for the tiger, what did not work
11:15 On managing wildlife-human conflicts, statistics, and why it's "not rocket science"
14:40 Is there a strategy for the next 50 years, after 50 years of Project Tiger? Why economists need to be educated on the biosphere
17:10 It was found that among villagers who were attacked by a tiger, almost all had been out in the forest collecting fuelwood
18:32 Do grasslands and wetlands get adequate protection?
28:51 Why India has a convincing asset now that few other countries have; why Asia can show the world how to survive the climate crisis, and the tiger is metaphor
Follow our new audio documentary series True Crimes Of Asia
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 • Duration 02:05
Headphones are recommended for this series.
Synopsis: A 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
From April till September 2023, listen to the events surrounding a spine-chilling find in a Bangkok temple. Or the gruesome death of a domestic helper in Singapore.
But for the first episode dropping on April 25, you will discover a 21st-century crime that could well happen in more countries in an increasingly interconnected world.
This was the insidious cybersex underbelly in South Korean society that trapped girls in a digital prison in 2019.
We at The Straits Times, investigate how these tragedies left their mark on victims and communities, and also exposed the dark side of societies.
Get notifications of new episodes on your favourite audio apps - Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts - when you follow ST’s True Crimes Of Asia.
S1E19: Australia’s Bob Carr says cool the ‘China panic’: Speaking of Asia
Season 1 · Episode 19
Thursday, April 13, 2023 • Duration 29:10
A cautionary word on China.
Synopsis: Every second Friday of the month, join The Straits Times' associate editor & Senior Asia columnist Ravi Velloor, as he distills his experience from four decades of covering the continent.
In this episode, he chats with the Australian statesman Bob Carr, a long-serving Premier of New South Wales, Australia’s most prosperous state, and foreign minister to then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The podcast was conducted against the backdrop of Australia’s soured ties with China, the surprise decision to form Aukus (which groups Australia with the United Kingdom and the United States) and the deteriorating situation in East Asia centred over Taiwan.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:24 Resolving the US for security, China for prosperity dilemma
9:00 Need to be restrained on Taiwan
12:00 The worries about Aukus
20:00 Is conflict with China looming?
23:15 Why Kevin Rudd is being sent to the US
25:10 Message to China: Correct your diplomacy
Produced by: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai and Fa’izah Sani
Edited by: Teo Tong Kai and Fa’izah Sani
Follow Speaking Of Asia Podcast every second Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here:
17:22 New 'anti-Nth Room Bill' was passed in Korean parliament and went into effect in December 2021; why encrypted messaging app Telegram has slipped through the net
22:17 Park Ji-hyun now a young politician; more Nth room copycats still emerging
25:18 ST correspondent Chang May Choon wraps up, having lived and worked as a Singaporean woman in South Korea for the past eight years
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