Over the weekend Singapore held its general elections, concluding with a decisive win for the People’s Action Party (PAP). Held against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty, this win marks a strong debut for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. We are joined by Chong Ja Ian, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to talk about this.

Other stories we covered:

• Malaysia moving up in global press freedom ranking: In the annual Reporters Without Borders survey, Malaysia has now climbed 19 spots from our previous 107th in terms of global press freedom. While this is a massive jump and represents our progress, Malaysia still only sits in the “problematic” category rather than “difficult.” We talk to Benjamin Loh, Director for the Bachelor of Digital Media and Communication Programme at Monash University Malaysia to find out the challenges in our media landscape.
• 20th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards: Last night the 20th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards, otherwise known as the Cammies, marked two decades of recognising Malaysian arts and the communities that bring all of these creative expressions to life. We first hear from Professor Dr. Tan Sooi Beng, ethno-musicologist and recipient of last night’s Lifetime Achievement Award as well. Then, Low Ngai Yuen, President of Kakiseni and organizer of the awards talks about the event and the role of performing arts in Malaysia’s cultural identity.
• Big win for Australia's Labour Party: Two days ago, Australia held its federal elections, bringing the incumbent Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, back into power. In the aftermath, we dive into what lessons can be learned from this election, Peter Dutton’s loss, and more with Kean Wong, journalist and an associate with the Malaysian Institute at the Australian National University.
• Trump as the next pope?: Just a week after President Donald Trump attended the funeral of Pope Francis, he made several jokes about taking up the vacant position himself. On Friday he posted an AI image of himself wearing a papal headdress and a white cassock, receiving quite a bit of backlash from Catholics around the world. We discuss this.

Image Credit: Lawrence Wong Official Facebook

Produced by: Sudais Ferhard, Alia Zefri, Julian Yap, Sharaad Kuttan

Presented by: Sharaad Kuttan, Lim Sue Ann

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Categories:  technology,  economy,  managing,  politics,  government,  environment,  corruption,  Law/Activism,  education,  controversies,  History/Heritage,  visual arts,  Literature/Philosophy,  culture

Tags:  pope,  peter dutton,  lawrence wong,  pap,  singapore election,  trump,  catholic,  australian election,  labour party,  anthony albanese,  boh cameronian arts award,  Cammies,  press freedom,  reporters without borders,