YouTube Transcript:
Bertha Henson on GE2025_ Middle Fingers & the State of Opposition Politics | #YLB 635
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
is a bit like the reverse of the presidency You know you want to stand for president you must take off at Sal I am nonpartisan And then this one is oh I better get out of parliament because I am going to be partisan I'm like okay P you know you don't want to paralyze the government But you also don't want one group of people able to push through everything I'm sure people will be very unhappy with me but I will say this I think the mosquito party should all just go away you know I mean some of them are it is already the case in the past few elections that you are not gaining traction you know so what are you trying to do so if you're into this podcast chances are you're all about those deep meaningful conversations but what if you could take that to the next level imagine a podcast that's super personal like all about someone special in your life their stories their memories their voice that's exactly what we do at Focaly here's the deal you tell us who the podcast is for and we set up a 30-inute call with someone who knows them best Maybe it's you a family member or a close friend We handle the interview and boom within a week you've got a studio quality podcast that's basically a time capsule of their life And believe me it hits different Just ask Brendan Lee who dropped this folklory on his wife for Valentine's Day His words she loved it Said it was the best gift ever and she has gotten some pretty good gifts before So if you'd like to create something special too check us out at folklery.com The links in the show notes and we'd love to chat Now on to the podcast What's up everybody welcome to another episode of Yala your thrice weekly podcast where we talk about the hottest news with a touch of what Terrence good old humor Good old humor man Yes Going to be talking about a lot of things in the news today Correct But with a special guest Yeah someone who's I mean she actually is like sometimes the the center of these news topics surprisingly like it just she just pulls these things out of her head that we never knew existed and then it becomes a huge story for everyone Yeah A story which we covered a lot Um so so I mean it's great to have for the second time back on Yalabad Uh Bertha Hansen welcome back Thank you Thank you But now must be the season that you're like you wake up every morning and you you can't wait to get out of bed right because not until like so much going on season I'm saying like your it's in your blood to one very exercised by it Yes Yeah Yeah Yeah But what's what difference is it from like normal you know normal periods without elections Peace time Peace time Peace timer No Well basically I mean I've always observed and covered politics such so much you know and I was just telling Harish that there's so much I want to say about it because I've covered it for so long So there's so much I know Yeah And when people say things and they don't remember this and don't remember that I get so you know I must tell you how this happened or you know this thing has happened and you don't remember and all that sort of things So it gets very irritating for me sometimes reading about political news and the GE reports like for example whenever I read the constituency reports you know the EBRC reports No the you know what's happening in SA you know now it's very vogue right you know the the mainstream media is doing I get so irritated oh really why because in the past we didn't do it like that because you know I mean we had a lot more facts like I mean it's not just tell you number of blocks not just that number of voters tells you things like you know how long the meet the people session how many people go there you know what the residents bring up we look at town council reports reports what the town council reports say how much do they charge SEC you know we we had this kind of more data polit political data and then we make sure we chat corner whoever it is down there So it's not just a swift 20man interview with men in the street and then we pull out everything that's been written on the internet and then we patch it together with a few quotes Oh come on It can't be it can't be like that You really need ground reporting and right now this reliance on internet by the way in my time I got no internet hope you need to go and jal do they go on the ground to these NPS sessions to actually I have no idea I don't know and no and no chat GBT also so you can't like just ask oh my god yeah I remember go down go back a few times to a certain place because I didn't get the property prices increase in property prices oh my god it was really supposed to be so deep yeah And you know what's the problem we didn't even get to run it because elections were called So in those days when it was swift you really are a lot of things you can't can't report cuz the rate of election is out and then you are busy the new cycle gets to you Yeah Now uh uh could be based on articles you actually wrote in in previous times you know which people might not be aware of Oh yeah yeah yeah I mean there was this crazy one when I think uh Hazel Hua you know the PSP was doing the election boundaries and they were they had a motion in parliament to discuss that and I remember after that the question about whether there's gerrymandering whether anything is politically motivated right and then somebody I saw online said that uh yeah yeah of course it is you know you don't remember uh go chukong carved out McFersonen for Junan and then you know the other side there no such thing Why your sources they said "Oh Wikipedia You trust Wikipedia I'm looking at it all." I get so fed up So I just responded and I said "Yes it's true." Then someone said "Who's your source?" I said "The source is me." And then of course all got a bit flabbergasted by it I said "Yeah I wrote the damn story I reported it I interviewed the prime minister then." You know so it was like You know sometimes you know you don't know things and you can go into the past a bit and you know dig some things out but then if you don't know what you don't know how you going to dig You know you get what I mean so is that a motivation that keeps you wanting to be vocal about things like this because you almost feel like um there is the the knowledge of the past is kind of lost Agree I think so Sometimes it's like why are we so ignorant about some things that have happened let me today you should read the mothership article on what's his name joshua right joshua Yeah Yeah I'm supposed to be writing about it this morning but I'm here with you Fantastic I know I mean a lot has been said about nominated MPs right i mean when they first resigned the two of them right but sorry just to clarify first it's uh the the whole story is about these uh two nominated uh MPs who now have resigned from their post before the end of their term Yes And there's there's word on the ground that they might be Oh no It's already out It's already out that they're running It's not out that they're running Ambiguous That is the problem right so basically it's like uh you know are you running for PAP well it all depends I mean to me it just shows you right It's so politician like or partisan position It depends on the prime minister and that's what he's saying And it says don't get fixated by Joshua Rush Yeah Yeah And I'm like "Hey can you you know be a just say yes or no?" But then you can't say yes or no because you're now part of a party Yeah So it just shows you right i mean if he were an independent neutral person probably can say yes or no But now depends on but but what do you think of the defense that he put out saying that um it made sense for him to retire as an NMP because he was no longer bipartisan He felt himself Okay I tell you my my take is a bit different Okay My take is what is the PAP thinking you know I mean I've been there since it inception That's how DN Yeah Way from the very beginning you know I mean what is the PAP thinking when he wanted to put it up the NMP uh they they face objections from their own MPs so much so that it wasn't even it was supposed to be a tentative institution you is something that every parliament had to decide whether I want an MPs in the house Then it became part of the system Then it became part of the constitution Yeah And then you expand expand make it or sectoral representation Right Uh and then you gave powers that are almost as close as an elected MP right over the years you keep drumming this thing about nonpartisan independent and then you know put it in the constitution you know the constitution on NMPs is actually a lot more info then on your elected MPs no the elected MPs one is in the parliamentary elections act not in the constitution but in the constitution it says uh how many NMPs I think nine and these are their powers in the constitution mm Okay So you go through all that trouble and then this year you're going to say "Ah welcome." Yeah You know you try to convince people about the the nonpartisan nature Welcome I'm so glad you have seen the light and come to me Yeah Yeah What are you doing you have un you know you undid so many years trying to convince people about this institution Yeah And you throw it away But you you mentioned that that is what is the PP doing but what about the I mean the individual himself choosing to do that What if he's the conviction is so strong that he feels like white I'm like I I believe everything I hear It's very simp then you have an institution All depends which one you think is more important to you Yeah How would you want to protect an institution that has been developed over the years through much trouble or do you think wow now I want to go and serve And hello excuse me you've been in an NMP for two terms No could always quit in the after first term Uh true but now you quit before budget Yeah Hello the most important debate in parliament and you quit before it and you say "Oh I can't uh see how I can know be nonpartisan." You suddenly became partisan Yeah You know this nonpartisan thing is really getting to me I mean you know it's a bit like the reverse of the presidency You know you want to stand for president you must take off I am nonpartisan And then I mean reverse Yeah Yeah And then this one is oh I better get out of parliament because I am going to be partisan I'm like okay you know I know the constitution doesn't say you need to be sure uh you know you you you you have to be nonpartisan It just says independent Okay So we all know what that means But but does does that mean that you're giving more grief to the PAP side of things or the individual NMP in in this i don't know I just don't think I just don't think you're doing any good anywhere Yeah I mean it creates it's almost a mockery of the the system when it becomes feels like it's a stepping stone to to I mean you know I I I don't know I I I just think the PP should just say can you guess stay put even if you if you if you end you know just stay put you know Yeah But would you say anything different if they were doing it to step down and then run for opposition in opposition party same thing So so I mean you know now that we are in the leadup to the next elections you also wrote a book about the GE 2020 election So given there was co but how what are the big differences you see in this stage of like leading up to the election oh I think this is uh far more exciting I mean that one was quite sudden I think and there was co you know can't go to rallies and you go look you know and I think the PB wasn't very prepared to be on social media uh so they so that their their their campaigning wasn't very g I mean now you see I'm I'm quite sure some of the the you know stuff on Tik Tok and you know Instagram they're all professionally done m you know so you can see that they're gearing up and so so that's good I mean that that to me is pretty good Uh and you know it looks like the forward Singapore report will be his manifesto Mhm You know whereas after co it seemed like they just wanted to quickly take advantage of co and just pop come out with something but now it looks like there's a gradual buildup So and of course most interestingly is this is a mandate for I mean for the prime minister the 4G so it will be looked at that way too Yeah And but what about uh media coverage side of things do you think feel the mainstream media has a different role in this G compared to I think they far more active or more active more active Yes Yes Yes I mean they're covering a lot more Uh but then you see the politicians are also speaking a lot more M yeah what I don't like is how more the lack of ground reporting you know as I mentioned earlier you know I mean you if you just report what every politician says what's the point I mean you know you I can get it on social media you know you want to to do Facebook reporting I I mean what what extra do you give me you know so the value added must be there you know what's the value added so so even like uh would the recent EBRC report be an example of where maybe the media could have dissected it a bit more as opposed to just talking about I tell you this uh I have a regret uh you know I mean I've covered plenty of EBRC reports and I don't see some of the things then that I didn't see some of things then that I see now maybe it's age we got wiser also because I think I've got more You know when you are a journalist you just get caught up with the news cycle another day another thing another thing you just want get out so you really don't look at it you know very closely now you got time I can superimpose polling this trick on top of polling this trick I can you know do all sorts of things and then I say ah like that so you know it's u it's I wish I was a lot more I mean more informed at that point when I was doing the writing Okay Yeah Well what was the what more have you seen now that you have time to really analyze it what is the the key points that you notice well you know the key point is how much how much it is really the prime minister's prerogative to to have to hold the election draw the boundaries put the people everywhere and all that And it's a bit disconcerting You know I was telling you just now how the NMP one was enshrined but not really the elected MPs right I mean I think I I don't know whether I'm correct so I'm not constitutional expert but I think yes we have to call elections uh and the constitution says something about GRC's that there must be GRC's and what what things are GRC's and then you got to go to parliamentary elections act and the thing about parliamentary elections act which I found So so strange is that you have a minimum of eight SCMC's SMC's SMC's okay uh minimum of eight and then okay so you know there will always be SMC's right and then you say that there must uh at least one quarter of your seats or your MPs must come from GRC's so you have a minimum eight and at least here you know that the variance is so wide because you didn't put a numerical figure to the number of seats anyway so you have an eight here and a one quarter there Yeah Yeah You know so I I I I I it's so you really you can actually do a lot in between I can have eight SMC's and 100 GRC's One GRC No one one huge GRC one you know So so things like that Then for example what is the MP to voter ratio one is to 28500 Yeah 28 who came out with that magic figure you know i I don't know No I mean so so basically when people say "Oh the EBRC left to do it own thing and all that but I don't even know the general points you know like how many MPs how do you come out with one MP to 28,000?" What is the standard deviation by the way the deviation is not in this GRC's report Yeah Yeah But I calculated I think it's about 20 over% Yeah So you don't tell me that And then we cling to this thing about population shifts right oh we have to redraw because population shift and estate Hey hello that's your job How is that an explanation for how you draw boundaries yeah You know so it's like if it you you shouldn't you be telling me some parameters like oh we will always you know uh have a deviation of how much we came out with 28,000 or whatever because uh uh we tried not to mess around with you know old boundaries or whatever you know you need some parameters so that people can have a grip on it you know you know one thing that we have never really found out and nothing's been said You know GRC's right is supposed to have Malay or Indian and others and they are specific No the constituencies this one must be M That one must be whatever You know specific it must be specific Yes Okay You know we never told how that came that comes about You realize it You don't know You know I didn't know it was meant to be specific I thought there were you go to one they will tell you this part is only for is it I thought I thought there was there was some requirement for Malay representation Indian representation but I didn't know it was at a constituency level yes it is you can't anyhow put Indian when there's supposed to be a Malay there okay yeah yeah okay so you see all these things not explained right we don't know I mean a big part of is how close the EBRC report is released to the election as well right that doesn't give a lot of time for even when journalists you know I think basically that only comes out I don't know when rate of election I think only when bit rate of election comes out then they tell you where oh okay okay okay this one I'm afraid I'm not sure the EBRC when it comes out no no the EPRC just gives you the boundaries they tell you which GRC but they don't tell you which GRC needs a meal they don't okay ah so the the so when it does happen I'm not sure when that is I think it is when the r of election comes up because then the parties who want to contest in GRC's also especially opposition parties must guess You need to hold your cards You need to guess guess a bit But SMC you can I mean you can declare that there's no problem there But you know there was uh what you heard some of the people from PB saying that this EBRC report is more transparent than ever You know we should be grateful It is right It is there are more explanations There are more words there are more words Okay So the the words uh distribution is uh uh population shifts which I tell you I don't need you to tell me that you have to redraw based on population shifts Yeah The second point is a prime minister saying please keep it about the same That is mainly the second point Hello So you tell me is that an explanation when I don't even know why the PM wants to keep it about the same M so you know and I was listen to Janu Pucherry he says what's so inappropriate we only we one SMC and we just did this hello I mean EBRC isn't just a numbers game of how many SMC's and GRC's is the way you chop it yeah yeah yeah not just the way you you know how many pieces you divide it's how you chop up the pieces as well so so it's a lot of words and I suppose we have to be grateful so s that there's a few more words uh and know they tell me this is ratio to this ratio and know this or whatever but no you're not going into the underpinnings of this thing in the first place I mean if the last EBRC explain why the the why how we drew then then maybe now I can say oh okay so they want the same thing but they didn't do that either do that but if I mean we would love for it to be super transparent and all the data and information out there but what is the most immediate thing that you would change if you could more what what detail would you want to see in the EBRC report that you feel like isn't too onirus too too difficult a change to make or just something that you can see in the EBRC report that would make it okay first of all I want you to state what is the deviation from the mean because that was something you did and now you don't the deviation of the 28,000 once 20,000 voters yeah I mean I mean I mean come on you know SMC like biggest 33,000 voters you know I think the smallest is 20 something I just imagine the poor bloody candidate running like a headless chicken to get 33,000 waters and then the other fellow having lack of draw you know and then you know and also uh the fact is some constituents are more compact than others so maybe not be 28,000 it could be 30,000 it's not as though you got to go far far to go and get your constituent you know so you could maybe handle more more people or maybe you should handle less but Somebody has to explain this you know so you know you so I there's no explanation for that uh for example if you say keep to the average size of GRC's is what prime minister said so it be four and five members hello uh so if he said something else please introduce three member GRC's you can also do that so it really depends on what he wants he never said increase the number of single seat WS but going by the trend is usual to give you one let's say watching grass grow one one this time one more yeah so so basically I actually don't think that uh it's a question of as you say what can be immediately done with the EBRC okay those little things deviation or that you know can explain a bit but I happen to think like Kevin Tan a constitutional lawyer that we do need an elections commission to redraw this whole thing Yeah He mentioned that in LinkedIn post right because this whole thing about equal representation is very important Yeah Yeah Equal representing because it it it means a lot you know I mean for example okay uh the courts have said it they said that you know if some member of a GRC quits Yeah the rest of them take over But SMC you must have a B like I I don't know very weird also Yeah You know so I'm like okay so you know shouldn't is that equal representation i'm not sure Correct Correct You know if you have four fellas in parliament representing you instead of five that is not equal representation And then you require all of them to vacate their seats so that you can have an election I so you see so some I some basic principles must be in place for everything else to follow Uh but so we're talking about the almost like the process the transparency of the EBRC report and all Um but in terms of how parties should think about it right I I've I've talked about this previously where Harsh we were talking about EBRC report I was like but if a you know opposition party is worth its salt and it's doing the leg work for 5 years right it shouldn't come as a big surprise that there will be changes within the boundaries and if they have a strategy of like working an area sort of like uh you know rather than just like okay I only carve out certain areas and I hope that they hold it for the election it I mean if they're worth their salt they should have already seen this coming right have you been able to see some of the boundaries coming I don't think so And in any case I mean that might work for for opposition party I mean parties who only want to contest SMC's but quite a lot of them were gunning for GRC's Yeah So you know so it's not as though they're looking at a small part of Singapore and then want to cultivate it So you look at it the other way around They have spent time cultivating a bigger area and then having a part of it sliced away M so you know I I'm not sure how prepared people can be for that now the only thing is whether or not between when what is the period between now EBRC report out and the rate of election being issued so this is the time right where you can go and you know do what you need to do you know those areas where you haven't canvas or whatever you know you you have to go and do that yeah yeah so so I I'm not so sure what you're getting at because uh you know I think if you ask PAP MPs they themselves probably are not too happy too ah you know I mean you know suddenly you you know get pulled out and all that hey you know this this now it's the other side yeah thank god middle finger show shown in the vicinity oh my god you know this middle finger thing the only only reason is caught on right is because we we don't see it but it does happen so you know what's the problem I What happens you mean people showing the message of course not Slam the door on your face tell you to please go away I mean this happens during campaigning not just now So you think we the message should be this is part for the cause you know Yes Exactly It's part for the cause It's just that you got caught on camera Yeah Correct It's part for the cause You know I don't want to if I don't want to open my door I don't open my door If I tell you I'm not interested in talking to you Yeah I tell you that So what's what's the big deal i I really saw no need for knowing multiple explanations and I really saw no need I mean did you expect that everybody will love you no So what's the big deal So to to find them getting all defensive to me is likeh what the hell and I did see that you know there was a PAP volunteer who was also embraed He said I was pointing to another table You haven't done I really I really don't think you know I mean what he should have said is that I wasn't pointing at you to put your camera down but he didn't say that either Yeah Notice Oh okay Okay Ah because the the impact was you are telling the guy who's videoing watching you right but you didn't say that too in your defense You instead put up another reason why you might be pointing a finger Yeah So I don't know a lot of finger pointing going on these days middle fingers and all and index finger and everything Yeah But um I mean you know that the the way the coms are being done cuz you know like that there's in my mind I would be like okay um there are many ways to to go through any story you know um be it the fingerpointing or be it some of the other sagas Uh do you think that I mean the PP is being a lot more savvy on social media but when you see politicians being too savvy on social media does it how do you feel about that h I tell you uh a long long time ago when the internet came into being and then uh the prime minister Menlong started going on it Mhm FB I really did not like it because I always would like my leaders to have a little mystery about them Oh really rather than be too open and I know your every secret know that kind of thing Yeah So now I mean I guess I'm getting used to it but I also think that I mean if you do an interview and it's a podcast like this it's perfectly fine I mean it's just an interview but if you have something that is done especially to show you off which is a political advertisement right it's a political advertisement then I don't know I this is the part where you tell me I don't want to be populist but you are looking for the popular vote right I mean you know so I mean you will go on these things to reach people popular vote isn't it yeah yeah so I don't know I I have mixed feelings but I do understand that young people lap it up Yeah And I don't lap it up But then how is that different from you being on Facebook cuz I mean you are a public figure right you I mean you you have been had a public role for a long time Couldn't the same be said about you you know I prefer Ber mysterious I don't need to but I don't I'm not a politician I have no figure I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose On Facebook it's not as though I mean you want to follow me you follow you don't follow done I mean it's not as though you are going to vote for me right I mean seriously I mean do whatever you want and I will do whatever I want I don't have uh I mean a commitment to my voters or whatever no so hello I'm afraid you can't quite equate me that way but but actually since the last time you came on so right there have been a couple of you know big things that have big pieces of news One was obviously NRC debacle but the other one also was uh Pritam Singh's conviction right I mean just just touching on the second one first we'll go back to NRC in a bit I'm sure but for Pittam Singh's side of things what's your take on all that has that damaged the workers party brand or or has it turned people against you know the the PAP or what what's your take on that you know I had expected the whole town council saga to affect the workers party brand that went on for two general elections and more and it didn't did it I think and that was something that is very should be close to the hearts of his voters because it is about their funds you know so if nothing happened there right and this is a case of she lie I lie do you lie do you not lie you really think that will have much impact I doubt but I mean now with uh over the past few years there has been a lot more how you say presence of social media you know snippets um and I think people's opinions of people are being formed more than ever by what they see on social media so so I think what happened with the town council thing that almost felt like it was only in the newspapers you know it never went into social media okay uh so with Britam now there's you know him walking to court being charged um and you know waiting for sentencing and all that feels a lot more public now and you still don't think there's any impact Well if it does then I'm I don't know I'll be a bit surprised or maybe even on him as an individual because of town council Exactly Yeah I mean basically I think social media can make you very popular or very unpopular Uh but whether or not uh that should shift the way you think about someone Yeah that's something I don't know I mean I can also say wow Pam he step up damn good caught on social media immediately I can I can say that too I can say that you know he looks very down walking to the courthouse and that these are impressions and I suppose impressions will count in a voters's mind I hope not I hope that won't be the case I mean definitely but in some ways there's has kind of neuted any kind of PR a lot of PR that he could have done the last few months answer I think he couldn't say uh he couldn't be as public about a lot of things because he was going through the court process and all that right no Why he could have said something Why maybe it's just sour brings that we didn't get pretend on the podcast by him I don't think there was no any constraint at all Oh really i mean don't talk about the case Yeah But it doesn't mean that you can't talk about something else Yeah I mean we did see him from state from the state court walk over to parliament join a parliament session then state very public So yeah I I I don't Okay I don't think he'll have much of a name I mean if anything I saw that Minister of State Alvin Tan he he did a he did a Liquanu tribute I didn't see it I mean it was just yesterday or something right and then he did some kind of he inserted video at the end when he was talking about I just wish they just leave the old man alone Seriously leave the old man alone Yo I mean you are 4G four No Yeah But how like if we the election is held every 5 years literally there'll be that 30th anniversary of the 5 years coincide with SG70 some then you know our founders memorial when it comes Oh my god I I don't know I've said be before that you know you know I mean the old man didn't like this in the first movie you know and basically if you want to learn from the old man go and read about him and read what he says uh but don't use him as a as a bargaining chip for or against you know now we're very used to pulling out his code and say see what he says he also said this he also said that oh my goodness I feel like I go to his the tree and then plant some flowers there and and 4D also come out What but but speaking of see what he said right you know that he had that famous quote about he will get out of his grave Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah This is it I mean there there are people online who are saying that the state Singapore is in now like he better get up He better do you really feel like we're at a stage where where we really should be calling for Lee Kuanu to come back from the grave or anything i think what I would like to see is something that Han Fukuang said too in his recent piece You know they must give me a new vision a collective vision I can get behind because right now your vulnerability narrative is being destroyed by your own bureaucratic way of putting things across I mean global uncertainties and political shifts and all that God knows man I mean Lie Kuwan you would have said it differently where we say you don't buck up you die so so I I I don't see and something strong coming out from the 4G in fact everything is so it's like so reassuring we have your back we will walk with you we won't leave you behind we will do what we can I mean you know it's like okay you know so you want more hard truth I want more I want something harder You know instead you're trying to tell me it's okay But you think people are ready to hear the the hard truth i think frankly even if they're not ready they should be hearing the hard truth because right now I'm getting a very soft music you know from them And I don't think we should have that You know I was reading uh yesterday you know like the Dutch for example cut one public holiday M we want to raise them Of course I also say who doesn't want public holidays but then the Dutch cut it to raise output you know because they have to think about defending themselves you know Ukraine and all that sort of things you know Yeah We don't think in those terms do we yeah So you think we are all still too much in a bubble we're too much in a bubble and we're getting very entitled You think you can run away uh from not giving CDC vouchers next time hello M uh and you think people will be happy it's only $800 Yeah When he started with what$100 $200 in $2 denominations people will get used to it That is the the thing that I worries me that's why I said some hard truths that better be So so you think generally the sentiment of like maybe that that worry like what you say you know not seeing a vision not seeing a strong um leadership almost you think it's more now than it was say in 2020 2020 well 2020 is co ah I think which is also could have been bleak a lot of bleak sentiments out there and all yeah so but they handled that okay I think everybody was going through co you know I mean almost I mean it's a it's a global phenomenon Right So I think we handle that well But now postco is even more low on you know so that's where I think you need to come up with your own idea so to speak you know I mean you can't always tell me to be nimble and agile and upgrade my skills Yeah I I I don't I I I I can't They don't have a a good story to tell about why you need me But but but isn't this line of like um you know hard truths strong men politics isn't that what the rest of the world is seeing more of with you know in the US with Trump and and even want that in Singapore really hey hello Trumpian And we must still have a bit of rule or law I mean that that still must be it No I want to see them do be harder and that is the ruling party But you know I also wouldn't want them to dominate all sectors of life You know I mean you know the I I will follow them if they can give me an idea where we are going how we're doing it instead of of of always being trying to molly coddle me I don't want I don't want that Maybe that's what other people want I mean I can imagine like um certain demographics preferring that but um you know like this air of like uncertainty I mean even we feel it right looking at the the global things but is it something that every generation faces cuz you've been covering politics for quite a while previous elections like in the '9s in the 80s was there that same element of like where is the world heading you know or you think now is more than ever now is more than ever I mean I mean you I mean don't talk about Indochina time that is quite whole different ball game really but I mean 80s and 90s were very good for us was great Yeah So know we were boom town economic growth double digit and all that you know so it was a comfortable period Yeah So then doesn't doesn't give that doesn't that justify the uncertainty that even for the for the leaders the ministers who say okay that that lack of a concerted vision right it is because it is more more uncertainty now I'm sorry man I elected you to come up with it you knowh you come up with it it's not a question I I need to think about your circumstances hello you're the politician no you tell me no I seriously this is how nice people like your you know uh you know no because we hear that um and I mean like after you hear it many many many times almost it's you're programmed to think that way and I think it's like you know whenever we keep hearing oh Singapore especially in the media scene like you know Singapore is a small country you know if you want to make movies you have to make it in mandrin because the Singapore market is too small I hate that kind of stuff but being in media for so long yeah and there's there's certain truth to it but also I think that is not a good rhetoric to have ingrained in us So politically I think now we hearing it so many times Every politician that goes on every podcast they're saying the same thing It's uncertain So it's almost I think people are getting used to it that oh it's uncertain That's why there's no concerted vision But what you're saying is that no like we need all the more we need Yeah Yeah That's what I'm saying I mean because things are uncertain we need to be more certain You don't come and tell me you're just riding the wave of uncertainty along with me It's a future compact you know Singapore we all so we're all uncertain they elect you for what I mean know I mean so so you know that sentiment like how much of it is kind of like um impacted also by now I mean let's go to the NRIC debacle you know which was kind of I mean when we were covering it it did feel like wow this is this is a screw up um does that affect this uh your perception that there's no concerted vision like or is that you think it's just a one-off A small part of government that Well I thought it was a one-off I mean I I thought it was a glitch I tried my level best to get them to fix the glitch Then I realized that it was maybe not a glitch Oh my god You know then you the only thing that made me think is that my god you must be quite out of touch Huh i mean if you don't think this is a glitch and it is actually something we wanted to do you know just you morons didn't realize that this is the way we should go you know I mean out of touch and for people who might still be unaware I I don't think so but uh it was your Facebook post that that kicked off everything Yeah So you broke in some way you broke the news Broke the news Yeah Yeah I guess I did but actually I wrote it after I got so angry with you know how how how the feedback was being treated you know and uh and then to have it like you know I remember the last line that was given to me uh in the letter was the this case is now closed I'm like I mean this is before you know the whole thing came out in the public eye you know we consider this case close I'm like what the you know so that's when I wrote it Yeah So you know some people say why can't you be a good citizen and don't say a word no because this is I said I was being a good citizen but apparently I'm wrong Yeah Yeah But were you surprised by the reaction which reaction as in how fast it spread oh yeah I was so wow It was mindboggling Totally I mean you know I was distributing my book around that period No where when fell What the number of people who came up to say thank you and thank you and thank I was like my god I didn't realize he had so much traction Yeah People actually came to thank me People came to talk to me about it They were giving their views on what the press conference said what the government said I didn't realize it was so big So so the press the there the different parts to it There was the press conference there was the clarification in parliament via speeches from the ministers like what I mean even through that whole process I felt uh not as consistent in terms of messaging that I felt that they were doing But how do you feel about watching the press conference seeing essentially two ministers uh and apologizing the three sitting there and apologizing right and and yeah I tell you right from the beginning I knew it had to do with the word mask Right from the beginning what is masking what is unmasking what is partially mask oh my goodness You know you your definition of terms already not not very good In fact after that press conference still not clear you know I mean I see Injani Raja stumbling over mass unmasked and partially mass and no whatever okay you know I what my impression sorry what's your what's your question uh what your what what do you feel about the press conference and how they handled the Well first of all their first press statement was really crappy the one where they say we were going to do it anyway That one really crappy People got really angry with that The press conference came I thought can be sooner but it came at least Uh so at least I mean people got a bit of p of flesh you know you have ministers apologizing here that uh and then uh after that came parliament questions and then the full report right Yeah My point about the full report is more a it's more political I mean sure it was a bureaucratic mix up miss coms and all that but to me the deeper point which the report did not go into and maybe it should not because it's a civil service report is how the political messaging was so bad That was to me the key thing you know when you say political meaning from the the office holders Yeah Yeah was so bad Yeah You know and what was what was bad about it from Well first of all you don't tell citizens this actually not so valuable h after years of saying that it is And do you have any idea how much pride people take in their ping IC you know I mean when you say are you a Singapore I hold pink IC I hold red passport That's true These are identifiers you know M so please don't uh cut out my perception of these identifiers Now of course you can say your IC is different from your number IC number Hello you want to split hairs about these things That's not how people see it These are things that sacred to me Yeah It was quite irritating also when some people spoke to us They're like telling us oh you know last time I joined lucky draw I just throw my icy into a bowl and everything That was like that's last time you know But now like you said pride like even uh when when you go NS and all they ask you to shout your N you know as a key identify who you are before you like jump off a cliff or absale down a cliff So it's a very big part of your identity Yeah it's a big deal you see So then of course if you try to explain it in terms of identification and authentication you know I'm like oh dear you know you cannot so so in your mind right because to me um the more years the government spends in you know comms and social media feels like yes I know there's a lot of new media but it feels like there coms sometimes it's it's mindboggling you know um and and why do you that is happening like the I can tell you the disconnect Yeah I Yeah I tell you Okay How to say this you know if they say things like that the normal way is for the media to enter the picture and they say but don't you think what is no and then you will start thinking again Yeah from the politicians perspective they will have to rethink they will no I mean sometimes right you say something and say are you sure is this what uh so you're telling me this right confirmh and then you start thinking right uh and then you will start modifying your your your statement or whatever on the spot right you don't uh give me a press release and I just bloody run it right uh and if I do ask you questions and then you may say okay can you please at this point okay I okay to answer this question you know so there will be changes so somebody is doing some filtering uh so maybe people will say well government screw up we should just show it in all this screwed upness you know but I don't I'm not social media is that way that means you know you parrot whatever is bad and you parrot whatever you think is good you you need to have some presence in it as well you know so if you think that hey this is not on you know uh what do you say to people who will say this but if you say run it and you run it and it's so screwed up and that's what you get I mean in some way what you're saying is like by pushing back and challenging it results in a better better coms yes it results in better coms you know so like I like sometimes I I ask yeah but you remember this or not that time this is oh yeah you know and then you know then the tone will change you it's like a bit of feedback mm M but okay if you want to like okay you just tell me what you want to say and I just run then you know parrot law just basically take recorder just put on and and that you think is your job yeah I mean I guess not so sure even between us if like I have an idea for a video in my mind it might be great but when I tell you you might say that's badpect and it makes me rethink the video idea which results in a better video so you know so if the whole government thinks one way but then the whole government wants to to somebody and there's some an interface of some sort so somebody is there to say oh maybe no I mean it's just like one party government right I mean you know now uh free elections all that people are saying will be freak election opposition wipe out and all that uh two party system or whatever it is you know I mean I was reading on Kang right I mean I lied the manuh he said about how pap you You don't want to paralyze the government Yeah You don't want the government to be paralyzed So you know okay So you think gridlock know like the US and like gridlock of some sort US through the previous administration So so you know but the thing is you also don't want you don't want paralysis but you also don't want one group of people able to push through everything you know So it cannot be between paralysis and between you know a go ahead everything goes kind of thing you know So so he's he's right to say there must be an equilibrium right I frankly think we need strong government Yeah So what is the concept of strong government I think a strong government means that you remain government with maybe 60 70% of the votes Yeah Or 60 70% of the seats But I would like uh you to have a s like us to have a substantial opposition for checks and balance because really you cannot check and balance yourself If you check and balance yourself uh you wouldn't have come out with that stable on ISIS Okay Yeah Somebody would have said uh you sure we should put it this way Uh somebody would have said something Yeah So you know so I I think we need we need some opposition to come out and saying some things M so so I mean on that note like what what do you think the opposition needs to do uh at this point to to be as successful as they can be cuz you know I mean EBRC report the electoral boundaries have been redrawn there's already a lot for them to do but in terms of storytelling coms presence okay I tell you what I'm sure people will be very unhappy with me but I will say this yes I think the mosquito party should all just go away mosquito party the smaller one smaller the smaller opposition you know I Some of them I have interviewed in my rookie days Okay You know how old that is Okay So they grow old with me I retire already I mean so no I mean I mean you're basically muddying the whole picture Uh if it's already the case in the past few elections that you are not gaining traction Yeah You know so what are you trying to do m uh al so so leave it to the bigger boys no or go and help the bigger boys do something or whatever or just stay out the fray or go be an NMP but you know like in the last election I think Red Dot United was formed because PSP it was from PSP Yeah Yeah Because they wanted to contest in an SMC that was going to go uncontested SMC or PSP against Starman Yeah In they formed three weeks before the election It was a new party Yeah But now now they're couple hundred couple hundred volunteers and all that Yeah Yeah They're still going So in that case do you think that's a benefit that if Tama was going to and his jersey were going to run uncontested at least having some opposition uh even if it's a new party formed 3 weeks before the election it's still better than so you want all seats contested You saying that all seats should be contested in some way like what you're saying uh for the coms or NRIC because there was no contest or push back It went out very like I see I see GC Yeah So would it would it force GRC's to sharpen their otherwise it's just a walkover it's a bit easier True True I mean I I think there should be contests everywhere because it will also keep incumbents on their toes Yeah Right But mosquitoes mosquitoes keep you on your toes But I tell you mosquitoes should get out when there are bigger fish I mean you know don't don't don't I mean frankly speaking okay I you can stay on It just makes it more exciting and livelier But you know I'm I'm I think you should consider what it means for you Basically you're not going to get very far But okay if you want to do this public service for me go ahead I mean I remember you talking about fight with Tan right I don't know whether you remember this Sorry This oldtime there was one time workers party sent the suicide squad to Angokio GRC Yeah Uh hey they didn't do badly you know I mean you know I think they didn't lose the election deposit They didn't Okay Yeah So sometimes you want you have to get 20% Is it no Oh no Less less Less less Yeah So you know so they didn't do too badly you know and people were quite surprised you know and I mean that must have given the prime minister a bit of a shock Daman was more popular than him you know So okay I think these things are all right And then you you have a contest it keeps you on your toes So yes good you contest every GRC Uh but also think about muddying the waters M So then what would be like uh things the bigger parties can do different from what the bigger parties can do You know actually I'm quite gratified that the workers party the PSP and even the STP even is not in not in parliament They do have some policy ideas Of course they always get shot downh they seem to be making an effort to think something true you know so that is a damn good start of course you know so in the past when the PB can say you got no idea now they have to tell you your ideas are bad you know but at least for me the voter I can compare ideas so it's still for me to to think through so I'm very gratified whe they should do more of that now whether or not this works with the vote voter the ordinary citizens I don't know uh so you know maybe you know that one you give a goody hand out be already can I don't know I mean even when when let's say coms like should they cuz right now the PP is going they're sending a lot of politicians out on media platforms and all do you think opposition should also take that approach as far as possible I don't know I mean look at how loy came in totally wow I mean I remember I was in the newsroom and were like who the hell is Huh So but that also shows like they're working the ground Go back Yeah But now with a GRC a bit harder I guess And now with Tik Tok and Instagram and the expectation almost maybe people don't want that mystery anymore They want to I mean people like me are dying out So okay But you look at even celebrity culture right last time I remember Michael Jackson was so popular but you didn't know much about it Now Taylor Swift right people know her relationship her ex-boyfriend Exactly Do you want that i don't want that But I think you imagine we always say that the politicians don't want to serve because they like some privacy right they will never get good people You want them to go that way and you probably get nobody Yeah I I don't like the idea also that there's too much of celebrities or politicians on social media But I think from their defense of people that we have spoken to and asked like "Oh why is your Tik Tok account so big?" For them it's getting a message across Yes of course You get one message across one two messages across and that's about it Yeah I mean okay Okay The other thing is you make yourself a bit more likable right uh at least somebody I I like I don't know Uh I judge them by what they say in parliament sometimes The trouble is not many people watch it I know I read what they say and all that to see and from that I can get a lot more things than from a Tik Tok video Yeah Yeah Do you get me first of all I know whether they got brains So you think there should be more public debates like Oh I Yeah You know you know the problem with Singapore is this The only way you get any debate is in parliament you know and for debate outside parliament is practically non-existent And what you have are forums and dialogues and closed door whatever whatever you know thing kind of thing You may call that debate but there's really no real room for anyone to say something that's absolutely different M so you know so and you know I'm getting tired of you know uh people saying that oh we have to wait till parliament then we find out we have to wait till parliament it's like what is this yeah even NRC saga right wait till parliament find out I'm like huh everything we must wait to is that the only place that anybody can say anything do anything then the rest of us just wait parliamentary privilege allows them to you know I don't care I okay fine I mean there is parliamentary privilege But I'm also thinking to myself first probably not urgent So you consider a lot of things not urgent No need to explain Hopefully you'll keep come carry on and everybody forget cuz I've seen I mean I think a lot of people have seen the clips of even Vivian Balaka Krishna as a student challenging Oh yeah A great debater my time And those sort of forums those were televised right yeah This was university debates University debates I mean I'm watching it I'm like "Oh [ __ ] that's cool that there was a tough question that was asked but that forum doesn't exist anymore." Yeah we don't We don't I So as I said we're all very nice people No Or very Okay Singapore is too nice Really yeah But I don't know I don't know whether it's being too nice or just wanting to be politically correct or simply got no bloody guts No more hard truth So we need No no guts Got no guts No guts We don't want to rock the boat Yeah But but so that's it about the NIC thing Do you think that that issue will figure in this election like will it be brought up as a as a big really that means you you started the ball rolling Please please I should I no I the only takeaway I have from that and I don't know how much you will figure in people's minds during election is the out of touch thing Okay like you know I okay maybe I'm killing myself here like it's just like the weekend when I saw what the Tanjung Paga GRC MPs did with the memorial tree okay I don't know how the rest on the ground thing but I felt it was out of touch and tone death uh you know I mean so I'm thinking to myself who is doing their coms for who is thinking it through is this how you want to reach your people and know how you want to know win friends influence people Hello So so that from the NRSC thing that is what I will take away the sense that you may not know what is happening Yeah And what people are saying what people are feeling the idea that your identity card is not so valuable Your IC number okay let's be technically correct Your IC just say IC is not important not so valuable I think it's really a bit way off you know Yeah To say something like that is way off No I mean for the impact for say someone like Jotio who was delivering those messages Yeah that poor woman Yeah that one doesn't look good on her You know that poor woman I know I know I know but you know but what to do uh you know you asked about the media budget debate had one query only from Pam who did not do much followup about the state of the media KPIs and all right ah you know and that was it and then she goes around saying oh we have different ones for different whatever and all that and nobody asks some very basic questions like how many years has it been right so you know uh the KPIs can tell me or not by now what they are know but so everything is just So so so vague I mean first of all you know hello they still don't have the articles of association They don't have a any kind of public access to anything even though they're taking taxpayers money to reporting to only to MDI M I think it was better in the past you know come under public listed then you know you know everybody's salary as well here we go gaga over pre Gupta salary or god knows who else salary right the OCBC guy and I god knows who else and then our ministers we don't know don't you think we are a weird country the the relationship between like the media and the government is very interesting so do you foresee yourself covering a lot of the elections in the runout I mean you recently cover how to cover but you recently launched the chin and chai chin and chai chin and chai Okay Oh chin and chai I've had them for a long time but it was text for right And and basically it was basically a take on the news of the day So it was written and only really only people who follow the news or follow me can get it M true sure So uh so you know I don't have to explain and go backgrounding so much and it's two characters having a conversation with two civil servants right yeah so you know so I thought hey maybe I can use them as a teaching tool uh and you know every year I want to do something different you know so last year I had my book for example and this year I said try to make these two fellas educate uh the population on some things keep them informed about some things So uh got it ready you know worked with Cheyenne uh got a couple of people interested in helping do some research and then we just put a domain name and just put it up there So it's all proono I I suppose you write the script and everything and then someone animates it and then they do the website and everything Yeah Yeah I just post on my FB on my Instagram you know you know and goes up Yeah And and they they um come out how often oh it's up to us Up to you all Okay Yeah So sometimes we want to do it very fast We can But the longer pieces uh that one takes time So actually have a backlog I have backlog But you see I'm a news person So I always try and have to recast you know recast the thing right cuz you have a lot of info but you have to recast to fit what is happening today So that's so I look at that Then some when you have to write about news you have to come on podcast So you got no time to write and all All right Yeah I should not come again No no no I think it's going to be very interesting the next few months I mean anything that you are you are looking forward to or hoping for that comes out in this election this election i don't know Uh I I would like to see workers party retain their seats Okay I think the PSB should get at least one seat Elected not not NCMP Uh and then then we'll see how they perform I mean right now we have what 10 10 10 MPs 10 opposition MPs in parliament So you know another 10 we can see how let's say you know 10 what is it five plus four plus two I can't remember but we say you got 15 people then you know we see whether or not they do a good job you know coming up policies and asking questions and all that then you know then we all can all stay back a bit and see is this good or not you know so I think right now it's a it's kind of a it's a watching stage you know for me at least I want to watch and see what what they up to what they're doing Then for voters like uh what would be one thing to like one or two things for people to think about as they think okay I have a template I put up which I'm going to put out again about the the questions you should ask your MP everybody has a sitting MP uh you know and basically you go and you ask your MP how many times you are in parliament what have you spoken out on what is the most thing that's happened here uh is there anything in the town council report that you know you think western should take note of probably not uh you know so what are the top issues in this constituency and then you ask them to fill it up yeah you see because I think at the end of the day people cannot may not be able to grapple the concept of great law and partisan partisanship and all that but people can grapple with who are you and what have you done for me lately and what will you do for me mm Mh So can we can get that who are you done and what have you done for me so you know I would say voters should just go uh oh go to MPS but don't don't don't disrupt just give it to the thing and say okay I hope you fill it up and then go off the but also since you brought it up also since you brought it up you know what you were saying is that sometimes people need to be have some push back to communicate their message So when you saw the MPS debacle happen uh because I mean on one hand you can understand these are passionate youth who care about something uh and like what you said there's no other forum outside parliament to have these debates Yeah But you know you I mean basically middle finger or not is it just cannot I mean they kill themselves with that M uh and basically you and you come with mask and you wear prayers you know why wouldn't anyone think you're up to no good M you don't even look as though you came to first of all do good you know you came like that you know so I don't know I mean if I I wanted to speak I mean I've gone to MPS sessions about that and sometimes even though I raise something a personal problem or whatever I do engage in a bit of chithat right you know aa because you know a big long queue so you can raise it there you can say hey by the way uh whatever whatever you You can do that You mean things like POFMA yeah Okay Yeah Cuz MP especially if you're a voter is actually obliged to talk Yeah So you you can get some views across and then if you say hey we should talk some more Okay What huh we should talk some more later you know Okay You fix a time a day We we talk somewhere I bring some friends Can what ah or you know you just say I tell you what what you are welcome to come to my house I'll get all my neighbors in Why don't people do that they can do that right what's what's the problem so so there other ways other ways to do these things But do you see that as a wave of of um people who want to go zero to 100 and they Yeah Yeah Yeah I know So yeah So it's it's because there's a lack of what you call civic participation Uh I mean what do we have our workers are represented by the NTU our grassroots by the P you know and then uh even consumer groups is case headed by an MP So you know a lot of big avenues are closed off already Yeah Yeah So you know you talk about civil civic rights then you have okay aware uh maybe one uh Singapore the the Cas the Cas people uh for investors and then beyond that death penalty groups hello already almost like that already you know they so what what what other real platforms do you have so they tell you political parties so again now you keep everything within have to wait for parliament Yeah Wait for elections for volunteer and everything which is dangerous But but I I did just also following up on that like what do you hope that journalists will do more of this general election what should they be looking to cover that you feel that is not adequately covered frankly over the past two three years what has not been adequately covered is cost of living Cost of living Yes Mhm Because when you read about cost of living it's always about your CPI household expenditure right it's all the stats that's part that's officially produced Yeah Right Uh and then beyond that you really don't have any ground reporting Like for example you know GST was raised twice right tell me have you seen reports on the impact of GST after they raised it first time and second time nothing H nothing So so now suddenly everybody knows it's cost but really what has been reported on it nothing you know so but instead we are they're waiting for people to say ah here economy rice store budget meals here got vending machine for food hello that's not reporting so so you're saying that the reporters should should kind of ask questions related to cost of living in the leadup to election or you think just in general generally generally there's a lack of this reporting so they report what is easiest You know like $1 million HB flat Of course you you report because somebody told you the real estate agent is the one who gives you the press release you write So I mean but I don't see them going to that $1 million flat Even if the fellow doesn't want to talk talk to the neighbors talk upstairs talk downstairs and say "Are you also going to sell what do you think?" Yeah I don't get it So you know so it's there's no not much value M uh you get what I mean but then the during the election itself like you said you said that it wasn't a lot of on the ground reporting uh at least too difficult you know the thing is you must you want to do on the ground reporting you got to do it now cuz once reorgation comes out the new cycle will be too hectic Yeah yeah yeah the new cycle will be too hectic So in fact actually if you want to do polling you better poll now because once real election comes out you cannot do polling Yeah Uh so is anybody doing it you mean the indicative polling you do now because it hasn't come out yet You can still do got chance Yeah So the rule is they can't they can't touch it if once a rid of election of course Yeah That's against the law Yeah I can middle ground I go and do warning And what what did you do exactly we went and asked people in I don't know which war after the rate of election Yeah I tell you I totally forgot Yeah About what sort of MP or something It's not even a yes no but it was in a sense a poll of some sort right stern warning Yeah We had we we had the stern warning from police We framed it up and put it in the office But I mean you yourself definitely going to be keeping tabs on the election and sharing your thoughts on on Yeah Yeah Yeah I I will I can't help it you know And uh yeah I wish I was still in the newsroom now I would love to go running Yeah But but if people wanted to find out I mean if they are not already following you on Facebook your Facebook page now Chin and Chai which is his own website and on social media also So it's on Instagram and Tik Tok and all Tik Tok Instagram No I tell you what I'm hoping maybe you help me is I want to tell all the politicians uh out there if you like me to cover come and tell me can I'll go and cover yeah I will I have no problem or opposition anybody you send me to me get in touch with me I will go and do so go and do meaning what on the ground reporting or I mean I go and talk to you because you see the trouble is I can't do on the ground reporting on my own I mean that's why you have resourcees in news rooms which can you know so a bit h fict take that's why I say if I'm in a newsroom it' be quite different I would say go and get this get this get this and then you know a lot of bodies who can go and collect stuff yeah but you'll call out to anyone any politician any candidate who's running they want to talk to you yeah get in touch with me I I will talk to you okay I'll write the full interview okay great and best way to get in touch with you Facebook any yeah they they should know how to get in touch with me I I mean as you say you know your salt If you feel you're worth your salt you should know how to get in touch with me Yeah Okay Awesome Uh okay cool And I mean we have that one segment at the end of every podcast which is the show thing Yeah So I was like thinking jinging right then you want us to go first or you got ready oh you all go first I go first Okay Okay Okay You have yours yeah Mine is a Netflix documentary I watched recently It was called American Murder Gabby Gabby Patito So there was a case I think in 2021 of two hikers or two uh people who were living the van life like driving cross country in the US and then they went to I think uh the Grand Tetan National Park and then suddenly they lost contact with the family and then I think like 10 days later suddenly the boyfriend was back home with his parents with the van the girl was nowhere to be found So so her name is Gabby Patito and this was I think I followed the case very closely in 2021 Uh but yeah this documentary uh is interesting because they managed to get footage that the girl was shooting of themselves Yeah they got the footage They interviewed like her ex-boyfriend who was she was in touch with and various people that were on the periphery that I didn't know were part of the the whole thing And uh yeah it's interesting because it was you really see how as a parent you know like when your child is in trouble or does something wrong there's two approaches you can take you know like you do all your best to protect them or you you know help them cover up the mistakes that they made And you know as a parent it's it made me just think of it in a very different way like oh yeah I know I know my son maybe committed a crime but what do I do from there you know so it's a very interesting explore They explore They talk to the parents and explore It's just like adolesence [Music] 13y old parents look at the parents the grief of the parents and anger Exactly Yes So so there's a lot of that in this documentary that I found because I followed the news a lot but I didn't see these aspects of things Is it a docu series or documentary like three episodes Three episodes Yeah Very easy watch Yeah Easy I mean but not like like I mean it's very sad when you watch it is very sad Yeah But but because I was following so closely I was very interested in it Yeah Okay Uh cool Man my one shook thing is I mean it's a piece of news but it's almost so ridiculous that you can't believe it's news It's that thing that we were talking about before the podcast about uh the Trump administration accidentally texting the war plans to a journalist And if if I were to tell anyone that there was this chat group on a Signal app which is something like WhatsApp but a lot more secure apparently that this person got added to like you know all of us have gotten added to stupid WhatsApp groups at some point but turns out it was a WhatsApp group with uh JD Vance the VP of uh the US the secretary of defense um the I think like some very high officials talking about the bombing of the Houthis in Yemen and it was an actual group and it was the and it's operational details in his operational details and it was the editor of the Atlantic Atlantic manly yeah and he got added to the group and it is ridiculous and I I think there were certain quotes even JD Vance said something like you know I I'm sick and tired of being the apologize what for Europe is it for Europe you know not doing your part and the Pete uh was like you know I completely agree I'm sick of this Europe and it just felt like a group with friends and a lot of emojis thumbs up thumbs down whatever yeah and all that yeah and the the reporter just say at first he thought it was just a so he left um 2 hours later the bombs actually hit and you realize that and now the White House has admitted that yeah it was but they playing it off So that is the second thing that is ridiculously fascinating that they almost saying this is not a security ble uh breach um there was no confidential info this being blown out of proportion Oh my god that sounds familiar It sounds yeah similar so hasn't been an article written about it on the Atlantic only Yeah Yeah So that's how it broke Okay Crazy And it over the past few days and you watch it you look at it you're like "Oh my god." Um and you hear Trump talking about it He's siding with his stuff like saying it's a small it's a glitch It's a glitch So it's it's it's like a TV episode of a TV series about uh comedy administration like on V or something like that It's ridiculous It's ridiculous Crazy It's a bit like you a journalist who found herself you know in the center Okay Okay Enough Enough Enough Yeah but that that's my wardrobe Oh Iard you know I almost wanted to pull that as well but then Okay I go back to something more evergreen I recommend this book I'm I have been on a horror book binge for some time Horror book Yeah So to me the most horrific of horror books is Tender is the flesh Augustina Aberate I I don't know is a very weird name but really that book will keep your eyes open until the end It is so really the worst most horrible horror book ever What's the premise what's the what's the premise gender is the flesh Yeah But what what what's the setting flesh Flesh Flesh Flesh So what uh murder or cannibalism Cannibalism Oh my god And it's tender is the flesh the medium well whatever no so it's I don't I don't know it just has when anybody asks me which one I always bring out this one is it inspired by a true story or anything no but I think he has shades of you know sorian green shades of that inside it I see so I'm sorry it's to me I know it's nine I'm sorry about the example I g but I tell you you want to be short go and read how how long do it take you to read it very you will not put it down That's take only good Wow Tender is the flesh Tender flesh And I'm not the only one You go online other people is also thought of Awesome Uh okay cool Uh thank you so much Bera So we'll put the links in the show notes Um always good to have you back and the next few months are going to be very exciting Yeah Yeah it will be I guess we can always have another sit down again Can can All right And uh thank you so much for inviting me Well welcome Thank you so much I hope you watch you see Chin and Chai Yeah Our about us video is I saw I saw us we are featured Yeah Yeah we are featured We'll put a link to that in the cool and thanks everyone for listening and we'll talk to you all soon
Share:
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
How It Works
Copy YouTube Link
Grab any YouTube video URL from your browser
Paste & Extract
Paste the URL and we'll fetch the transcript
Use the Text
Search, copy, or save the transcript
Why you need YouTube Transcript?
Extract value from videos without watching every second - save time and work smarter
YouTube videos contain valuable information for learning and entertainment, but watching entire videos is time-consuming. This transcript tool helps you quickly access, search, and repurpose video content in text format.
For Note Takers
- Copy text directly into your study notes
- Get podcast transcripts for better retention
- Translate content to your native language
For Content Creators
- Create blog posts from video content
- Extract quotes for social media posts
- Add SEO-rich descriptions to videos
With AI Tools
- Generate concise summaries instantly
- Create quiz questions from content
- Extract key information automatically
Creative Ways to Use YouTube Transcripts
For Learning & Research
- Generate study guides from educational videos
- Extract key points from lectures and tutorials
- Ask AI tools specific questions about video content
For Content Creation
- Create engaging infographics from video content
- Extract quotes for newsletters and email campaigns
- Create shareable memes using memorable quotes
Power Up with AI Integration
Combine YouTube transcripts with AI tools like ChatGPT for powerful content analysis and creation:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this tool really free?
Yes! YouTubeToText is completely free. No hidden fees, no registration needed, and no credit card required.
Can I translate the transcript to other languages?
Absolutely! You can translate subtitles to over 125 languages. After generating the transcript, simply select your desired language from the options.
Is there a limit to video length?
Nope, you can transcribe videos of any length - from short clips to multi-hour lectures.
How do I use the transcript with AI tools?
Simply use the one-click copy button to copy the transcript, then paste it into ChatGPT or your favorite AI tool. Ask the AI to summarize content, extract key points, or create notes.
Timestamp Navigation
Soon you'll be able to click any part of the transcript to jump to that exact moment in the video.
Have a feature suggestion? Let me know!Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.