This year - 2024 - was a big year. Personally, for many, but economically and politically for just about everyone. Professor Danny Quah, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), put it best: "The world is fraught, geopolitically, not just in the region, but the entire world.”
From day to day worries of rising costs and global layoffs, to mounting geopolitical tensions and surprise election outcomes, it was a turbulent year by many standards. Nonetheless, we must view the glass as half full and strive to prepare for a new year ripe with new hopes and opportunities.
We look back at Global-is-Asian’s five most-read articles of 2024 to see what takeaways, indications and inspirations they offer for a bigger and brighter 2025.
In no particular order, here they are:
ASEAN’s Challenges in an Increasingly Fragmented World
ASEAN was established in 1967. Nearly six decades later, its 10 member countries continue to face a host of issues and hurdles. However, the belief that the benefits of working together continue to outweigh facing these challenges independently is what holds the consortium together.
In today’s highly fragmented landscape, ASEAN’s intention to maintain peaceful relations with major superpowers and allies has given it a unique standing in a world of divisions, breakups and outright conflict. This delicate balancing act is neither simple nor naïve, but key to achieving its goals.
Explore how ASEAN upholds peace with China, the US, other major powers, and among its members— perhaps a lesson for other regions as we navigate the new year.
Decoding Singapore’s digital economy
With an internet penetration rate of 96.9 per cent, Singapore is among the most connected countries in the world. In the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking, Singapore was placed 27th for competitiveness and 26th for future readiness, which includes organisational agility and the ability to tackle future hurdles.
To gain a more objective view of Singapore’s actual performance, LKYSPP jointly published a report with IMDA to accurately gauge the size of Singapore’s digital economy. The ‘Singapore Digital Economy 2023’ report was a critical exercise that set a baseline and helped map out next steps to ensure growth and enhance preparedness and competitiveness against other countries.
Not only should other countries consider embarking on baseline-setting initiatives, but organisations and individuals should as well. Without taking stock of where we are, how do we know where we are going — or whether we are moving forward at all?
Read more here on how Singapore approached the assessment of its digital economy.
Riding the BNPL wave in Southeast Asia: Buy Now, Pay Later or Pain later
Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) mechanisms offer numerous advantages. People can take short-term loans and invest the money or use it for other more immediate needs, usually at zero per cent interest. However, with so many defaulting on their payments, it has become evident that unbanked users — the largest segment of BNPL users — might not always be savvy or prudent when it comes to timely repayments.
While learning new tools and platforms is beneficial, it is always advisable to understand them and weigh their costs and benefits. This applies to BNPL services as much as it does to AI or even news consumption nowadays. Using AI to write emails or schedule appointments can be incredibly handy, but they may also expose us to privacy loss, for instance.
Find out more about the cost and benefits BNPL services have stirred for users and society.
Sleep deprivation in Singapore: a public health crisis
Just about everyone knows that getting more sleep and maintaining better sleep habits is beneficial. So why aren’t Singaporeans making it a point to catch enough rest? Some blame long work hours, the desire to reclaim precious ‘me-time’ or early school start times. Whatever the reason, Singapore has earned a lowly #3 on a ranking of the world’s most sleep-deprived city.
As we head into 2025, perhaps this is the year Singaporeans need to eliminate late-night noise and light pollution, reduce pre-bedtime screen time and avoid children’s bedtimes that stretch for “just five more minutes”.
Read the full article here and consider what better sleep habits you can adopt for yourself and your family.
Special mention — Meritocracy in Singapore: Solution or Problem?
This article might have been published in 2018, but it remains one of the most-read pieces of 2024. Its popularity is well-merited (pun intended!), as it takes an honest look at the role meritocracy has played in Singapore’s economic success, particularly in the early years of nation-building. It also delves into the education system as a key example of how meritocracy plays out and how it might have created an opening for inequality.
Perhaps what has ma this piece an ‘oldie but a goodie’ is the call for constant reevaluation of whether a belief system or set of processes are still applicable to current circumstances. As the pace of change accelerates globally, this will become increasingly central to all systems.
Explore how Singapore’s meritocratic system — effective as it is — requires constant reassessment and adaptation to meet people’s needs.