#865: Study Accuses SG Civil Servants Of ‘Informed Trading’ & Soiled Hyrox Athlete Sparks Global Outrage

Haresh (0:00)

As a Yah Lah But listener, we know you want to stay ahead on the curve. So just listen up. We talk a lot about China on the podcast, how it's shaping societies, businesses and tech everywhere, including here. And the key voices who will have a say in that conversation? Well, a lot of them are speaking at one event this September. And that is the Future China Global Forum, happening 24th and 25th September at MBS. There's a dedicated AI track where leaders from Nvidia, Lark and other tech companies, big and small, break down how China's AI bool works. Plus a panel with Tencent and AWS on what it takes for companies to succeed alongside it. There's also a panel on China's shifting consumer habits, with the people behind Hisense and CharG, sharing how they want to work with the rest of the world to shape what's coming to our shelves next. So if you want the real picture directly from the people building it, this is the place to be. Just head to the link in the show notes to find out more. And now, on to the podcast.

What's up everybody? Welcome to another episode of Yah Lah.

Terence (1:05)

Ba ba ba ba.

Haresh (1:07)

The Othrais Weekly Podcast, where we talk about the hottest news with a touch of what? Terence.

Terence (1:12)

Good old humor.

Haresh (1:13)

Good old humor, man.

Terence (1:14)

Yeah.

Haresh (1:15)

It's been a while since we recorded one of these, you know, episodes dissecting the news.

Terence (1:21)

I mean, last week, we did, right?

Haresh (1:22)

Still a while. I mean, Monday was an episode with the US Ambassador to ASEAN, Kevin Kim. Interesting episode. Yeah, interesting episode, interesting reactions.

But how was the weekend, man?

Terence (1:35)

It was all good. I think last week was just the buzz about the ministerial salaries. It was quite tiring to dissect everything, right? And just going about my day, peppering in questions about ministerial salaries to people.

Haresh (1:51)

In your social circles?

Terence (1:52)

Social circles that I met over the weekend and all.

Haresh (1:55)

What the fly you are.

Terence (1:56)

But true to what I expected, more people than not either didn't care about it or they actually felt it's all good, it's all justified.

Haresh (2:07)

Yeah. I mean, I'm a bit surprised by how...

Okay, I'm not surprised by people saying they are okay with it. Because even during our podcast, I said the amount is less of an issue for me as opposed to the way it gets there. But a lot of people are also okay with that. It makes me think like, are we just being picky and complainy, Terence?

Terence (2:27)

Maybe, maybe we are. But that's our purpose here, right?

Haresh (2:31)

That is our purpose.

Terence (2:32)

Provided a but, right?

Haresh (2:33)

If everyone is Yah Lah, there needs to be a but somewhere.

Terence (2:36)

Correct, correct.

Haresh (2:37)

Yeah.

Terence (2:37)

But I mean, Yah Lah, that's what price do you pay on good governance? That's the big question. And I realize how people come from different, very, very different perspectives because of their own life experiences, right?

I think same for you also, you know, you got a lot of friends in high finance and all that who might be very offended by you talking about them as finance bros and all that, right?

Haresh (3:01)

I mean, that really simplifies everything I said, Terence. But go on.

Terence (3:07)

Yeah. So they will have a very different interpretation of things. Just as I also simplified my friend's experience. Oh, my friend in Sentosa Cove. That's basically how I label him.

Haresh (3:15)

That's true. That's true.

My friend in Sentosa Cove. But I mean, like, I mean, interesting when we are talking about people where people live, because the first topic has a lot to do with that.

Terence (3:26)

Yeah. And that's why I thought the timing was so interesting. Even last week, we were discussing ministerial salaries and the difficulty of getting top civil servants, you know, the best civil servants that we have. Even they didn't want to become ministers because of salaries and things like that. Oh, not just salaries. They didn't want to become for various reasons and they didn't want salaries to be part of those reasons.

So this thing popping up was like, oh, the timing is fantastic. It's just like, it's almost prescient that they knew that, you know, ministerial salaries was such a big issue, such that talking about our civil service also seems like, wow, very related as well.

Haresh (4:06)

Yes, because there was a paper that, I mean, started making some rounds just over WhatsApp groups and all that, about the, basically, it alleges, so this study is done, is a U.S.-based National Bureau of Economic Research. And it is a study alleging that civil servants in Singapore, disproportionately, and I say disproportionately in air quotes, bought homes near unannounced MRT stations.