Dear reader,

Today we’ve published:

This week, Singaporeans celebrated a historic, come-from-behind 2-1 victory by our national football team over Hong Kong’s, to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, which’ll be held in Saudi Arabia. We’ve participated in the tournament since its inception in 1956, but this is the first time we’ve qualified for the knockout stage (aside from 1984, when we were granted entry as hosts). Those who don’t follow football might have heard about the match because David Neo, minister for culture, community and youth, had to apologise after he was caught on camera, all fired up in the locker room of a hostile Hong Kong stadium, calling Hong Kong’s fans and players “idiots”.

I loved the post-match interview on the field with the two Fandi brothers. “We told you we’ll never give up. This is the Lions of Singapore,” said Ikhsan. “I have one thing to say: Alhamdulillah! Alhamdulillah!” yelled match-winner Ilhan. I was reminded of all those times in the early 90s when I watched their illustrious father, perhaps our greatest ever player, at the old Kallang Stadium: the procession from Kallang MRT to the stadium; the massive, triangular, flaky curry puffs; and the wooden benches from which we’d stomp our feet together, filling the arena with a thunderous communality. Like many others of my generation, I’ve been a somewhat recalcitrant Lions fan, losing interest after we left the Malaysia Cup in 1995. The current team’s performance is, joyfully, reviving it. This week, coincidentally, also saw Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island with a population smaller than Ang Mo Kio’s, become the smallest country ever to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. So, Fandi-brothers-led Lions, time to revive that old dream?

Below are the issues we chose to explore in more depth.

“Singapore This Week”.

  • Should we cheer performative charity, like nasi lemak giveaways on TikTok?
  • How can we help our elderly eat more nutritious food?
  • Kids in robotics, and what it reveals about privilege
  • Sexual prowlers, featuring Ken Lim and Achraf Arjaouy
  • Sari Kartina Abdul Karim, and Islam’s condoning of gender-affirming surgery
  • Intimacy coordinators, featuring Rayann Condy
  • Stunt performers, featuring Peps Goh 

Read it now.

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Essay: “Winged woes: a historical look at birds in Singapore”, by Xiaoyun Neo, with illustrations by Jay Wong

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the incredible sighting of a Rhinoceros Hornbill, believed to be extinct here, in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. More devoted readers of Jom might recall the first time this creature—its huge orange bill crowned with a magnificent, scarcely credible red horn—first appeared in our pages. It was more in memoriam, in a piece in last year’s print issue, which we’ve today republished online.

“Colonisation drove rapid deforestation and clearance for agriculture, urbanisation and infrastructure projects. By 1900, 90 percent of Singapore’s primary forests had been cleared; and they continued to be felled at a rapid pace after independence…The impact on rainforest avifauna has been profound. Of the over 70 native species recorded in Farquhar’s collection, 16 are now extirpated. Singapore’s forests, once alive with dazzling colours and bewitching sounds, have been emptied of 58 bird species, out of 195 ever recorded here. That’s a third of all avifauna lost,” writes Xiaoyun.

Much more than an elegy, this is a call to resist the attention economy and embrace the natural world around us. “By rerouting our frazzled, digitally stimulated attention, we can acknowledge the biodiversity around us, and slowly welcome more and more nonhuman actors into our reality.”

Take your time with the piece, partly so you can savour the gorgeous illustrations by Jay Wong, our previous social media manager, one of which leads this newsletter. Much more so than many of our pieces, this is one where the textual and visual alignment and collaboration are vital in the storytelling. It’s a week, I guess, to celebrate Singaporean teamwork.

Jom buat,
Sudhir Vadaketh, editor-in-chief
Jom

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