Dear reader, Welcome to the second half of 2025. And remember to stay in your lanes. This week, Singapore began enforcing pedestrian-only paths, with errant cyclists and users of mobility devices liable for a fine or even jail. The trial began for three women who allegedly organised a procession outside...

Dear reader, It’s Saki, Jom’s head of research and social media. I’ve been working here for almost a year now and this is my first newsletter. Everyone at Jom is currently on our usual mid-year break which means that there will be no essay or “Singapore This...

Dear reader, First, congratulations to my co-founder, Charmaine Poh, for winning the Villa Romana Prize, just the latest accolade in an already decorated arts career. (How she finds time to also do all her great work here is beyond me.) Today we have a longish “build-in-public” newsletter, first reflecting on...

Dear reader, It’s the middle of June. Sweltering heat, parents and kids with time off, many on holiday, other people revelling in the gentler morning traffic, and lower ridesharing fares. Barrels of durians from across the border appear in our hoods, their familiar pungency now accompanied by eye-watering prices,...

Dear reader, Jom Cakap. 7-9pm, Tuesday, June 24th 2025. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong in conversation with Jom’s Corrie Tan about “Scam Inc”. We’re down to our last 30 tickets. Get yours now. For a taste of what to expect, check out our blurb below on money mules...

Dear reader, Hello from Kota Kinabalu. I’m working remotely in Sabah these next two weeks. It’s part of our Jom team’s post-GE downtime, our slow exhalation after being on hyperdrive for a month. But it’s also a chance for me, after being immersed in the navel-gazing...