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Big Read

Big Read
For young couples, major life goals are often intertwined and a delay in one step of their journey can sometimes have a cascading effect on other future plans.

The Big Read: Young couples delaying plans to marry, buy property or have kids amid red-hot inflation, but at what cost?

By Daryl Choo

26/11/2022
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As the new normal sets in, several pandemic-inspired changes have become a habit for some Singaporeans, even as other acquired habits are starting to be discarded.

The Big Read: Post-pandemic, life isn't as different as predicted but some changes — big and small — have stuck

By Loraine Lee

19/11/2022
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Ms Namirah Awang and her fiancée Helmy Rahman is seen in this photo taken on Nov 25, 2022. For young couples like themselves, major life goals are often intertwined and a delay in one step of their journey can sometimes have a cascading effect on other future plans. Raj Nadarajan/TODAY

The Big Read in short: How inflation is taking a toll on young Singaporeans' life plans

SINGAPORE — Like her sister, Ms Namirah Awang, 26, had planned to invite 1,000 relatives and friends to her own wedding next year.  

By Daryl Choo

26/11/2022
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Like a bolt from the blue, Covid-19’s arrival two years ago upended life as we knew it, as infections spread like wildfire, forcing people to curtail social activities and grinding economic activities to a halt.

The Big Read in short: Months after Covid-19 crisis, how has life changed — or not?

By Loraine Lee

19/11/2022
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Despite the various national efforts major to improve employment prospects for non-university students, many Singaporeans still have a low regard for those in technical and community care jobs.

The Big Read: Undervalued, underpaid, disrespected — for some, a decent day's work just isn't treated the same by society

By Nabilah Awang

12/11/2022
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Rope access technician Muhammad Safiuddin Abdul Rahman, 29, has been in the job for a year. The work involves various tasks including maintenance work, inspections and cleaning while his workplaces range from deep waters to the top of buildings.

The Big Read in short: S'pore society's low regard for vocational and social work

By Nabilah Awang

12/11/2022
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The Big Read: In a distressed world, the pursuit of both profit and purpose is mission possible for startups

By Justin Ong

05/11/2022
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The Big Read in short: Doing good and making money while at it

By Justin Ong

05/11/2022
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It may have been a slow start for Singapore but within a decade, what had seemed like an innovation desert is now looking like a flourishing oasis — so much so that Singapore is being dubbed the "Silicon Valley of Asia". 

The Big Read: Defying doubters, S'pore built a flourishing startup scene within a decade. Can it take the next step up?

By Taufiq Zalizan

29/10/2022
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Workers at LaunchPad @ one-north on October 27, 2022. It may have been a slow start for Singapore but within a decade, what had seemed like an innovation desert is now looking like a flourishing oasis — so much so that Singapore is being dubbed the "Silicon Valley of Asia".

The Big Read in short: Having overcome naysayers, S'pore's startup scene needs to raise its game once more

By Taufiq Zalizan

29/10/2022
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Long waits to secure BTO flats — where the suggestion by one’s partner to jointly apply for a unit has become a proxy for a uniquely Singapore marriage proposal — and higher prices in the property market have thrown the whole system under the spotlight recently.

The Big Read: Too choosy? Why young buyers won't compromise on dream BTO home despite long waits, rising prices

By Navene Elangovan

22/10/2022
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When it comes to buying their first dream home, some young Singaporeans told TODAY that they have had to lower their expectations after realising that they face stiff competition for BTO flats.

The Big Read in short: Yes, young couples are picky in choosing BTO flats — but for good reasons

By Navene Elangovan

22/10/2022
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The shift in consumer behaviour since the pandemic has given further impetus for “experiential retail”, a strategy of giving a customer a full experience of a product — in some cases, both in-store and online.

The Big Read: Crowds are back at shopping malls, but are happy days here again for brick-and-mortar retailers?

By Low Youjin

15/10/2022
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An indoor rock climbing wall at Funan mall, which shed its identity as an IT haven and took on a new persona after a S$560 million revamp in 2019.

The Big Read in short: Post-pandemic, shoppers are looking for that little something extra

By Low Youjin

15/10/2022
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The Big Read in short: Are S'poreans eating healthily enough? Illustration: Anam Musta'ein

The Big Read in short: Are S'poreans eating healthily enough?

By Charlene Goh, Taufiq Zalizan

08/10/2022
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The latest nutrition survey in 2018 by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) found that despite an improvement in Singaporeans’ diet quality, high amounts of salt and sugar intake still remain a problem.

The Big Read: As health consciousness rises, can a nation of foodies live with less sugar, salt and all things nice?

By Charlene Goh, Taufiq Zalizan

08/10/2022
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In what has been dubbed as the "TikTokification" of social media, platforms are for example deprioritising news and more serious content on users' feeds, which observers say will have ramifications for the news media and the proper functioning of society.

The Big Read: TikTok, TikTok... is time running out for informed societies as social media platforms shun hard news?

By Navene Elangovan

01/10/2022
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In what has been dubbed as the "TikTokification" of social media, platforms are for example deprioritising news and more serious content on users' feeds, which observers say will have ramifications for the news media and the proper functioning of society.

The Big Read in short: You're seeing less news on social media because they don't 'bring joy' — now, that's bad news

By Navene Elangovan

01/10/2022
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What has been labelled as the "global war for talent" has seen many countries — Singapore included — to step up their game to court skilled labour from around the globe, especially the crème de la crème.

The Big Read: Amid intensifying global talent war, Singapore faces juggling act in hunt for world's best and brightest

By Taufiq Zalizan

24/09/2022
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The Big Read in short: Can Singapore's bid to woo elite global talents succeed?

By Taufiq Zalizan

24/09/2022
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The Big Read: Fans, businesses primed and eager for F1’s post-pandemic comeback — what’s at stake for Singapore?

By Janarthanan Krishnasamy

17/09/2022
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The Big Read in short: What F1's return heralds for fans, businesses and Singapore

By Janarthanan Krishnasamy

17/09/2022
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The Big Read in short: The pressures and temptations that S'pore athletes face
The Big Read in short: The pressures and temptations that S'pore athletes face

By Justin Ong

10/09/2022
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The Big Read: Pressures and temptations aplenty in sporting world, only a rare few can scale the peak and stay there
The Big Read: Pressures and temptations aplenty in sporting world, only a rare few can scale the peak and stay there

By Justin Ong

10/09/2022
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Teachers feeling overworked and facing burn-out is a perennial issue in Singapore, where there are high public expectations of the role that schools and teachers play in a child's life. 
The Big Read: What can make our teachers happier and less overworked? Here's looking at you, parents

By Loraine Lee

03/09/2022
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The Ministry of Education said that it has taken steps to help lighten teachers' workloads, such as technology to streamline administrative processes and providing additional funding for schools to hire additional staff for administrative duties.
The Big Read in short: A teacher's job just keeps getting tougher — no thanks to parents

By Loraine Lee

03/09/2022
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The “wellness space” at DBS Bank’s office in Marina Bay Financial Centre houses, among other things, sleep pods where workers can take a short nap. As Singapore settles into endemicity, many workers across the island have returned to their offices in recent months. And for many companies, there is greater impetus to provide their employees with a space that offers some creature comforts and helps them feel more at home. 
The Big Read: Beyond redesigned office spaces, the future of work requires big changes in both heartware and hardware

By Justin Ong

27/08/2022
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Beyond flexible work arrangements and redesigned office spaces, what does it truly entail, now that Covid-19 has upended traditional work structures and arrangements?
The Big Read in short: The future of work has arrived early — are we ready?

By Justin Ong

27/08/2022
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While younger taxi drivers are generally more willing to adapt to new technology such as ride-hailing applications or are willing to accept customers on multiple ride-hailing platforms, older drivers — those aged 60 and above — are generally more accustomed to “old-school” methods such as accepting flagdown rides, or bidding for jobs on their taxi terminals.
The Big Read: As the sun goes down on the taxi industry, some adapt while others risk being left behind

By Justin Ong

20/08/2022
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As taxi drivers continue to grapple with falling incomes — amid ever-rising overhead costs, neverending competition from private-hire car services and lingering effects of the pandemic — the future of Singapore’s taxi industry has once again come under the spotlight. 
The Big Read in short: What a rapidly shrinking taxi industry means for older drivers, commuters

By Justin Ong

20/08/2022
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(L-R) TikTokers Tristan Peh, Ian Jeevan Prasad Arumugam and Nicole Liel.
The Big Read in short: The rise of TikTok and its profound impact on society

By Navene Elangovan

13/08/2022
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Social media experts told TODAY that while TikTok was already gaining traction when it launched internationally in 2017, it was boredom and isolation at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that boosted the take-up rate of the Chinese mobile app around the world.
The Big Read: Watch out Facebook (and the world), as pandemic-fuelled TikTok boom unleashes the good, bad and ugly

By Navene Elangovan

13/08/2022
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The attitudes of millennials and Gen Zers workers have emerged as an employer’s bugbear in recent years, with words such as “entitled”, “picky” and “watch-the-clock” being bandied around to describe the younger generations' approach to work.
The Big Read: Understanding why millennials and Gen Zers feel the way they do about work

By Justin Ong

30/07/2022
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Human resource experts and sociologists told TODAY that the apparent negative impressions that some employers may have of younger workers can be explained by the different circumstances that the millennials and Gen Zers grew up in.
The Big Read in short: Are millennials, Gen Zers maligned and misunderstood at work?

By Justin Ong

30/07/2022
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