The Front Row Podcast

Episodi

• #88 : Why The US Chip Ban On China Backfired - Robert Wu 29.06.2026 53min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Robert Wu. You can check out his awesome Substack here! https://www.baiguan.news?r=8th0v Robert Wu is the CEO of BigOne Lab, China's leading alternative data and research company, backed by S&P Global and used by institutional investors and corporations around the world to track what is actually happening on the ground in China's economy and tech sector. He is also the founder and co-editor of Baiguan, a data-driven newsletter on Chinese business and markets, and writes China Translated, a personal newsletter offering a practitioner's review of the events shaping China's economy, society, and technology sectorWu's career path into China-watching was unconventional: before BigOne Lab, he worked across sourcing, travel, and corporate restructuring in Myanmar, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. He later joined BigOne Lab as an employee and partner before taking it over in a buyout and becoming its CEO. He also writes for the opinion section of The New York Times.Through Baiguan, Wu has organised on-the-ground tours for foreign investors into China's robotics and manufacturing sectors, giving institutional clients direct exposure to the country's AI, EV, and advanced manufacturing ecosystems. His work sits at the intersection of data and narrative: translating the granular, often-overlooked detail of China's industrial policy and technology development for an international audience that, in his own words, still has a shockingly low level of understanding of the country driving the most consequential geopolitical shift of the century.In this conversation, Wu draws on years of on-the-ground research to unpack why the US-China tech rivalry is structurally locked in rather than easing, why China's EV industry is the template for understanding its semiconductor and AI ambitions, and what the real bottlenecks are in robotics, chips, and AI monetisation as China's next phase of growth takes shape.This is the 88th episode Of The Front Row PodcastTIMESTAMPS:0:00 Introduction0:31 Has US-China Détente Actually Changed Anything4:15 Did Export Controls Backfire On The US5:25 The Bifurcation Of Tech Ecosystems11:34 The EV Playbook For Industrial Policy12:20 Why Beijing Let Tesla In18:16 The Real Meaning Of Technology Transfer21:03 China's War On Involution25:57 How Chinese Tech Is Going Global31:30 The Manus Deal And The Trust Breakdown32:23 Open Source As China's AI Weapon34:59 The Monetisation Problem36:50 Lessons From The Manus Fallout41:46 Inside China's Robotics Boom47:17 What Foreign Investors Miss About Manufacturing50:26 Advice For The Next Generation52:40 ClosingA huge thank you to our amazing Front Row Friends for supporting and advancing the podcast: @marinama2728@deborahchoi1455@annkowong@yewchoutan5876Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #87- Ex Straits Times Chief Editor on LKY's Ideas, Singapore's Literacy Paradox And Why You Must Read 13.06.2026 1h 2min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with former Chief Editor of Straits Times- Warren Fernandez. Warren Fernandez is a journalist, editor, and public intellectual whose career spans more than three decades at the centre of Singapore's media landscape. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Straits Times — Singapore's flagship English daily — and is perhaps best known beyond journalism as one of the principal collaborators on several of Lee Kuan Yew's landmark books, including The Man and His Ideas and The Singapore Story. His close working relationship with Mr. Lee gave him an unusually intimate vantage point on Singapore's founding generation and the ideas that shaped the nation's development.After leaving the Straits Times, he served as Edelman's APAC CEO from 2022 to 2025. Fernandez joined the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), where he is now engaged in research on world order and the shifting dynamics of great power competition. He is also the author of What We Read and Why, an anthology in which leaders, educators, and young people reflect on their relationship with books and reading, making the case for literacy as both a life skill and a civic responsibility.In this conversation, Fernandez draws together threads from an exceptionally varied career: the craft of communicating ideas, the media's role in a small state, the mechanics of world order, and why the capacity to read carefully and think critically has never mattered more.YOUTUBE TIMESTAMPS0:00 Trailer0:00 Introduction0:53 Working on Lee Kuan Yew's Books4:10 LKY as a Force of Nature5:56 The Statesman Behind the Politician6:11 LKY as Communicator6:56 Singapore's Media Model9:03 Journalists and Power10:02 How to Prepare Like a Journalist12:00 LKY's Enduring Ideas13:15 The Transition to Digital Media16:38 The Real Value of Reading18:47 Reading and the Average Citizen21:01 Singapore's Literacy Paradox23:48 Use It or Lose It25:24 Reading as a Life Skill27:32 How to Build a Reading Movement29:46 AI, Sam Bankman-Fried, and the Case for Deep Reading32:15 Reading and Civic Duty34:00 How Top Leaders Read36:57 Young People Do Read38:54 A Masterclass on How to Read Today42:46 Reading and Geopolitics48:01 What Comes Next?49:37 Singapore's Value Proposition52:49 The GX World53:48 Three Imbalances Nobody Is Fixing58:29 Three Books Every Singaporean Should ReadThis is the 87th episode Of The Front Row PodcastA huge thank you to our amazing Front Row Friends for supporting and advancing the podcast: @marinama2728@deborahchoi1455@annkowong@yewchoutan5876Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #86- Ha-Joon Chang : Why We Need A New Global Economic Order 03.06.2026 1h 6min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Hajoon Chang.Ha-Joon Chang is a South Korean economist and one of the most widely read critics of neoliberal orthodoxy working today. He is currently a professor of economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He is best known for his book 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, published in 2010, which challenged the foundational claims of free-market economics with rigorous historical and empirical argument. His earlier work, Kicking Away the Ladder, demonstrated how today's rich countries used protectionism and industrial policy to develop — before turning around and telling developing nations to liberalise.Chang's research spans developmental economics, the history of economic thought, and the political economy of globalisation. He has been a vocal proponent of what he calls "non-mainstream" economics: not a single doctrinal school, but a pluralist approach that draws on institutional, Keynesian, and developmentalist traditions to analyse how economies actually grow and change.In this conversation, Chang offers a sweeping critique of neoliberalism's track record on growth and inequality, a dispassionate assessment of Donald Trump's industrial policy ambitions, and a pointed analysis of the AI boom as a speculative bubble shaped by concentrated wealth rather than genuine demand.TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Trailer1:08 Introduction1:54 Growing Up in South Korea's Economic Miracle4:36 Why Ha-Joon Chang Is Not "Heterodox"4:58 The Gwangju Massacre and the Limits of Neoclassical Economics10:45 How the Neoliberal Turn Happened18:32 The Real Cost of the Free-Market Experiment25:20 Why Singapore Works29:58 Trump's Industrial Policy: Will It Work?37:50 The Three Elements of Good Industrial Policy40:54 The Right Lessons From China44:44 How Bad Is Inequality in the US?53:18 The AI Bubble58:36 AI as Public Infrastructure1:00:48 How to Build a More Just World1:06:14 Closing
• #85- GovTech CTO on The Secret Behind Singapore's World Class Digital Infrastructure 22.05.2026 34min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Chang Sau Sheong. Sau Sheong Chang is the Chief Technology Officer of GovTech Singapore, the government agency responsible for Singapore's national technology infrastructure and digital public services. In this role, he oversees the development and maintenance of platforms that underpin daily life for millions of Singaporeans — from SingPass, the national digital identity system, to Parents Gateway, CDC vouchers, and the Culture Pass.Sau Sheong brings an unusual combination of deep private-sector experience and long public-service commitment to his work. He began his technology career at the National Computer Board in 1997, left in 1999 to found his first startup, and spent the intervening decades in startups and large technology companies before returning to public service — first as one of the earliest Smart Nation Fellows, and subsequently as a full-time GovTechie.In this conversation, recorded at a community event co-organised by SuperAI, Carta, and Singapore Global Network, Sau Sheong speaks candidly about Singapore's 40-year arc of digital transformation, the buy-versus-build dilemma at the heart of government technology strategy, GovTech's adoption of AI tools including Claude Code for classified systems, and what the AI disruption actually looks like from inside one of the world's most advanced digital governments.TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Introduction1:58 Why Singapore's Digital Edge Isn't an Accident5:45 How GovTech Attracts World-Class Engineers6:33 From Startup Founder to CTO: Sau Sheong's Journey9:44 The Projects Behind Singapore's Digital Infrastructure12:32 Buy vs. Build: The Government's Hardest Dilemma18:39 How GovTech Is Adopting AI19:05 Claude Code for Classified Systems24:54 How GovTech Prioritises AI Deployment Across Agencies28:35 AI Anxiety: Advice for Young Professionals34:13 ClosingThis is the XX episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #84- Kishore Mahbubani: How The Future Of Global Order Will Look Like 20.05.2026 1h 14min

  Kishore Mahbubani is one of Asia's most prominent public intellectuals — a former diplomat, academic, and author whose career spans decades at the intersection of geopolitics, philosophy, and statecraft. He served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations on two occasions and as President of the UN Security Council, before becoming the founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS. He is the author of several widely read books on the shifting global order, most recently Has China Won?In this conversation — filmed live in front of an audience of young leaders curated with the National Youth Council — Mahbubani ranges across the Iran-Israel war and the misreading of Persian civilisational logic, the structural weaknesses of multilateral institutions and who is actually responsible for them, the enduring miracle of ASEAN in the world's most diverse region, and the iron law of geopolitics that makes the US-China contest essentially mechanical. He closes with a characteristically optimistic verdict on Singapore's place in history and what the next generation of leaders must understand to navigate the crossfire that is coming.Chapters0:00 Trailer1:08 Introduction1:42 Singapore's Sixty Years of Peace3:05 The MacDonald House Incident5:00 How Singapore Repaired Relations With Indonesia7:46 The Iran-Israel War8:48 How Israel Sold Trump a Quick War11:27 Why Iran Didn't Surrender12:26 The Strait of Hormuz as a Weapon14:38 Gaza and the Two-State Solution16:00 How Gaza Damaged the West's Standing18:26 Israel's Military Dominance Won't Last Forever21:09 How Young Singaporeans Should Read the Crisis21:42 Don't Get Emotional — Get Rational23:24 Who Actually Weakened the UN24:09 The Hypocrisy of Western Complaints About the UN29:30 How Singapore Can Use Multilateral Platforms31:56 The Iron Law of US-China Competition33:57 How China Found Its Weapon36:02 ASEAN's Imperfections — and Why That's Fine39:37 ASEAN Outgrew the EU42:09 Q&A43:17 The Case for the UN Veto45:15 Why the UK Should Give Its Seat to India47:30 Sunrise vs Sunset Organisations — BRICS and the G752:15 ASEAN's Limits — and Its Quiet Power56:02 The Long-Term Fallout From the Iran War58:20 Is International Law a Sunrise or Sunset Trend?1:02:46 Singapore's Founding Realist Principle1:04:32 The Malacca Toll, the UAE, and the GCC1:09:32 One Piece of Advice for Young Leaders1:10:04 The Singapore Miracle in World History1:13:00 Prepare for the Crossfire1:13:51 ClosingThis is Episode 84 of The Front Row Podcast. Full transcripts are at ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Join the conversation in the comments, or find us here:Instagram: instagram.com/frontrow.65LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keith-yapWebsite: ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co
• #83- Expert Investor : "This Is Southeast Asia's AI Endgame" (Dimitra Taslim) 12.05.2026 41min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Dimitra Taslim.Dimitra Taslim is seasoned tech investor and currently, serves as a Venture Partner at Granite Asia. Before Granite Asia’s spinout and rebrand from GGV Capital Asia, Dimitra was part of the investment team at GGV Capital, where he helped source and support investments across emerging Asian markets. His work at Granite Asia reflects the firm’s broader thesis of supporting ambitious Asian founders through long-term capital, operational support, and access to cross-border networks.Dimitra brings a blend of investor and operator experience. Prior to venture capital, he worked in private equity and growth investing in London, and also founded a digital wealth startup. His background gives him a strong focus on execution, operational scale, and founder-market fit — especially in businesses solving infrastructure and productivity challenges in Asia.This is the 83rd episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #82- NUS Longevity Expert : The AI Revolution in Healthcare Has Arrived 04.05.2026 30min

  Dr. Dean Ho is currently Provost’s Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Design and Engineering, Director of The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and Director of The N.1 Institute for Health (N.1) at the National University of Singapore.His central argument is that medicine has always been built on population averages — and that this is no longer sufficient. With AI and digital twins, he believes we now have the tools to treat every patient as a sample size of one.The conversation spans three registers: oncology (a blood cancer patient who entered the trial at eighty and is still thriving four and a half years later); commercialised drug combination design (Kyan's 91% predictivity vs a competitor's 52%); and personal healthspan (Dean ran an IRB-approved trial on himself tracking sleep, gut, metabolism, and supplementation).The through-line is a simple but radical idea: a single annual health snapshot tells you almost nothing. Dynamics — how your body changes hour to hour, day to day — is where the signal lives.TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Introduction1:31 We Are Stories, Not Snapshots4:10 Why Population-Level Medicine Falls Short6:00 The Cancer Patient Who Defied the Odds9:15 Why Lower Doses Can Work Better10:45 Becoming the Test Subject12:00 One Day of Metabolic Data12:40 Sleep, Gut Health & the Delta Trial13:25 Singapore's Edge in Medical Innovation15:23 AI Regulation: The FDA Paradox16:22 What's Broken About the Old System18:12 Scaling N=1: The Real Bottleneck19:48 Why Doctors Resist — and Why They Shouldn't20:40 The Economics of Personalised Treatment21:30 Drug Combinations: 91% Accuracy vs 52%23:20 Advice for Healthy People24:08 Resting Heart Rate as a Sleep Signal27:49 The One Habit Change That Moves the Needle30:00 ClosingFeel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co
• #81- Obama White House Fellow : America Must Rethink Its China Strategy Now. Here's How - Zhengyu Huang 20.04.2026 1h 13min

  In this episode, I sit down with Zheng Yu Huang — technology executive, White House Fellow, and author of Rethinking China — to examine what he argues are dangerously flawed assumptions driving US policy towards China, and what a more clear-eyed strategy would look like.Huang's career is unusually well-positioned for this conversation. After Stanford and Harvard Business School, he rose to Managing Director at Intel — one of the youngest to hold that title — where he negotiated directly with the Chinese government on IP frameworks. He then served as a White House Fellow under President Obama, becoming the first person of mainland Chinese origin to hold that distinction, and led an interagency task force to restore Haiti's telecommunications network following the 2010 earthquake. He later founded a financial services data firm that grew to 300 staff and a $100 million valuation, and served four years as President of the Committee of 100, the prominent Chinese American organisation co-founded by IM Pei and Yo-Yo Ma.In this conversation, we cover the $600 billion IP theft figure and where it actually comes from, the human cost of the China Initiative, the real lessons of the China shock, what war-game projections say about a Taiwan contingency, why the US is losing ground in Southeast Asia, and what a results-focused China strategy would look like.This is Episode 81 of The Front Row Podcast.Full transcripts: ykeith.com/tag/podcastInstagram: instagram.com/frontrow.65LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keith-yapWebsite: ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coTIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Trailer0:55 A Drive-By Shooting on My First Month in America5:29 Why America Is Still the Land of Opportunity9:24 Negotiating IP With Beijing at Intel16:27 What the White House Fellowship Taught Me About Power23:49 When US-China Relations Broke27:49 The Consequences of Getting Your Assumptions Wrong33:14 Why Southeast Asia Is America's Blind Spot34:41 The Real Reason the US Pivoted to Securitisation35:43 The China Shock Was Never Really About China41:15 The $600 Billion Number That Isn't Real46:26 How the China Initiative Destroyed Innocent Lives52:59 Compete or Cooperate? The AI Question58:03 What History Tells Us About US-China-Taiwan1:00:57 What China Gets Wrong About America1:06:10 Focus on Results: A New China Strategy1:08:32 America's Real Domestic Challenges1:11:59 One Final Piece of Advice
• #80- SMU President, Lily Kong: Why Singapore Must Reinvent Universities Now - 11.04.2026 54min

  Professor Lily Kong — President of Singapore Management University — is one of Singapore’s most distinguished geographers. Trained as an academic, she built her career studying the intersections of culture, religion, and urban space, producing work that bridges rigorous scholarship and real-world policy impact.In recent years, her focus has shifted toward the future of higher education. Through public lectures and her latest book, she argues for a reimagining of the university in an era shaped by rapid technological change and demographic shifts.At SMU, she leads a community of 13,000–14,000 students and has helped shape the university’s identity around entrepreneurship, interdisciplinarity, and applied learning. She is also a leading advocate of the “60-year university” — the idea that universities must evolve beyond four-year degrees into lifelong partners supporting individuals throughout their careers.In this conversation, she brings a geographer’s lens to some of Singapore’s most pressing questions:How geography and constraints have shaped Singapore’s education systemWhat universities must do as AI reshapes the labour marketWhy whole-person development — mind, body, and relationships — must take center stage⏱ TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Introduction00:26 – The Geographer’s Lens03:21 – Prisoners of Geography: Singapore’s Hard Truths07:29 – Smallness as Strength and Constraint08:52 – Eastern vs Western Universities: Singapore’s 50-Year Journey12:49 – Why Research and Innovation Are Under-Valued15:48 – Research That Changes Lives18:15 – Demographics Is Destiny: The Ageing Society19:41 – The 60-Year University23:17 – Rethinking How Universities Deliver28:08 – AI and the Accelerating Half-Life of Knowledge29:21 – What Universities Must Do in the Age of AI35:51 – Integrating Mind, Body, and Soul36:37 – Why Campus Life Matters More Than We Think39:53 – Reimagining the Humanities43:35 – Is the University a Scam?48:31 – SkillsFuture and the Lifelong Learning Challenge51:46 – What Lily Kong Is Telling Policymakers53:46 – Advice for Fresh GraduatesThis is the 80th episode of The Front Row Podcast.📄 Full transcripts:https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/📲 Connect with me:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co🎧 Subscribe for free:Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #79- Professor Selina Ho : ASEAN'S Playbook For An Evolving Global Order 02.04.2026 1h 3min

  Professor Selina Ho is Vice Dean (Research and Development), Dean’s Chair, and Associate Professor in International Affairs at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on Chinese politics and foreign policy, with a particular interest in how China wields power and influence through infrastructure and water disputes in Southeast Asia and South Asia.Her work sits at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations. Her book, Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia, is widely regarded as a definitive text on the Belt and Road Initiative in the region.TIMESTAMPS00:00 — Trailer00:52 — Introduction01:21 — Why Southeast Asia Matters to Both Superpowers04:25 — Will Trump Turn His Back on the Region?09:41 — The Fear of US Abandonment14:17 — How Southeast Asia Actually Sees China18:37 — Chinese Influence vs. Chinese Dominance21:37 — Wolf Warrior Diplomacy in China29:11 — The Belt and Road33:47 — When China Owns Your Power Grid: The Laotian Lesson37:44 — China Wants Regional Dominance40:16 — How ASEAN Elites Actually Respond to Chinese Influence43:06 — What Regional Decision-Makers Really Think47:31 — ASEAN Centrality51:52 — Why ASEAN Is Strong on Trade and Weak on Security55:15 — Building an ASEAN Identity01:00:19 — What Singapore Should Do With Its 2027 ASEAN Chairmanship01:01:46 — Advice for a Fresh Graduate Entering the Working WorldThis is the 80th episode of The Front Row Podcast.📄 Research Paper“Elite Perceptions of a China-Led Regional Order in Southeast Asia”https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/18681034241294093#table2-18681034241294093📜 Full Transcriptshttps://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Connect & FollowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co🎧 Listen & SubscribeSpotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #78- Prof. Michael O' Hanlon : 250 Years of America's Defense Policy 25.03.2026 59min

  Michael O'Hanlon is one of America's foremost defence policy scholars. He holds the Philip H. Knight Chair in Defence and Strategy and serves as Director of Research in the Foreign Policy programme at the Brookings Institution, where he specialises in US defence strategy, the use of military force, and American national security policy.O'Hanlon completed all his degrees at Princeton University — a bachelor's in physics, a master's, and a PhD in international affairs — and went on to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he taught physics in French. He later served as an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office and was a member of the Pentagon's Defence Policy Board.His newest book, timed to coincide with America's 250th anniversary, is To Dare Mighty Things: US Defence Strategy Since the Revolution, published by Yale Press in 2026. You can buy a copy of his book here - https://amzn.to/4bKPmaqHis previous works include The Art of War in an Age of Peace and Military History for the Modern Strategist, among more than a dozen books spanning NATO, nuclear arms, land warfare, and US-China relations.O'Hanlon has appeared on television or spoken on radio over 4,000 times since 9/11, and his writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among many others.This is the 78th episode Of The Front Row PodcastTIMESTAMPS:00:00 — Introduction01:37 — Grand Strategy vs. Defence Strategy: What's the Difference?06:50 — George Washington's Guerrilla Instinct: How the Revolutionary War Shaped America11:45 — The Founding Fathers Were Not Minimalists15:10 — The War of 1812: Punching Up at the World's Number One Power18:50 — Was America Ever Really Isolationist?21:10 — The Uncomfortable Ethics of American Expansion30:15 — How World War II Made America a Superpower32:55 — Three Wars That Built a Nation34:30 — The Cold War Was Scarier Than We Remember37:45 — Vietnam: America's Worst War — and Why Lee Kuan Yew Still Defended It40:20 — The Cold War Was About More Than Containing Communism42:30 — The End of the Cold War: Triumph or Anxiety?46:05 — 9/11, Fear, and the Road Into Iraq49:30 — The Paradox of American Power: Winning the Grand Game While Losing the Wars51:20 — Nixon's Art of Losing Without Admitting It53:35 — Iraq: What Went Wrong and What Didn't55:15 — Trump Through a Historical Lens: A 19th-Century President in the 21st Century56:40 — If You Had 15 Minutes With Trump, What Would You Say?Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #77- George Yeo : How To Survive In A New Age of Chaos 11.03.2026 1h 10min

  George Yeo is a former Singaporean Cabinet Minister whose distinguished career in public service spanned twenty-three years. Between 1988 and 2011, he held several senior portfolios in the Singapore Government, most notably serving as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2011, as well as the Minister for Trade and Industry and the Minister for Information and the Arts.After retiring from politics, he transitioned into the global business arena, where he served as the Chairman of Kerry Logistics Network for several years. Today, he continues to contribute his expertise as a Senior Adviser to both the Kuok Group and Kerry Logistics.Beyond his business interests, George Yeo is a prolific intellectual and a bridge-builder between civilizations. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and a member of the Board of Trustees of Berggruen Institute. His commitment to interreligious dialogue is reflected in his long-standing service to the Vatican, where he served a member of the Council for the Economy under Pope Francis.A widely respected voice on geopolitics and Asian history, he recently authored the acclaimed three-part series, George Yeo: Musings. He remains one of the most insightful commentators on the evolving relationship between the East and the West and the future of international cooperation in a multipolar world.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Trailer & Intro 01:13 Rome to Today: World Orders Explained03:30 Why Global Stability Is Gone05:45 The New Power Poles08:00 AI and the Fragmented World10:51 Making Decisions in Chaos13:00 How to Learn Today16:30 Why the West Sees Thucydides19:00 Understanding Other Civilisations22:00 How Trust Works25:41 How To Understand China 28:00 Trump as an Agent of History31:24 What Drove the MAGA Phenomenon34:00 Can America Heal Itself?39:23 The US Dollar's Uncertain Future43:00 Gold, Bitcoin & Fiat Money46:19 Gaza, Singapore & Staying Neutral49:40 The Diplomat's Deal 51:51 Why Long-Term Thinking Wins53:15 Taiwan: Will There Be War?57:00 Cross-Strait Politics & What's Shifting59:18 What Singapore Must Become01:02:30 Singapore's Lesson 01:04:42 Balancing Global and Local01:06:18 Lessons From Public Service01:08:18 The Taoist View of Existence01:09:02 One Piece of AdviceThis is the 77th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co
• #76- Professor Wang Gungwu : "This Is How You Learn From History" 01.03.2026 1h 11min

  Wang Gungwu is an internationally renowned historian famed for his scholarship on the history of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia, as well as the history and civilisation of China and Southeast Asia. In his illustrious academic career, Wang has held eminent appointments in various universities and organisations around the world. He was a history professor at the University of Malaya (1963–68) and the Australian National University (1968–86), and the vice-chancellor at the University of Hong Kong (1986–95). He is currently a professor emeritus at the Australian National University and a University Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the highest academic title conferred by NUS.This conversation was recorded at his recent book launch for his book : No Borders : Journeys Across Islands and Continents - at the National Library of Singapore.TIMESTAMPS:0:00 — Introduction0:13 — Prof Wang's Opening Speech 1:45 — "Home Is Where We Are" — Margaret's Wisdom3:15 — What Does "No Borders" Actually Mean?6:38 — How To Find Order in Chaos12:00 — Westphalia, the UN & Why Every World Order Eventually Fails19:30 — Two Ways of Writing History From The Ancients 28:00 — Why China Is Returning to Its Own Past 34:10 — Does Power Always Corrupt? The Chinese Answer35:15 — Confucius vs. the Rule of Law39:59 — Why Southeast Asia Has Stayed Surprisingly Peaceful46:52 — Wang Gungwu on His Own Craft51:09 — The Tang-Song Paradox: How China's Golden Age Planted the Seeds of Its Decline1:01:12 — Geography Shapes History, But Doesn't Determine It
• #75: Ho Kwon Ping - The Coming Civilizational Reset: US, China & Singapore's Future 20.02.2026 1h 40min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Ho Kwon Ping.Ho Kwon Ping is one of Singapore's most iconic entrepreneurs. He currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, the international spa and resort group he established in 1994. Under his leadership, Banyan Tree grew from a single resort in Phuket into a global luxury brand operating in over 30 countries. He runs the business alongside his wife and co-founder, Claire Chiang. Beyond the boardroom, Ho is known for his candid perspectives on Singaporean society, the changing global order and what he thinks Singapore needs to succeed in the coming years. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Introduction01:37 - Singaporeans And Cultural Intelligence 07:07 - Singapore's Strength 14:10 - Maintaining A Cultural Core in a Globalized World18:21 - Cultural Intelligence vs. Cultural Identity19:52 - Redefining Luxury: Aspirational vs. Exclusive26:30 - Status Obsession 30:03 - The Coming Civilizational Reset39:43 - US and China As Civilizations 40:57 - Clashing Reference Points In Political Discourse 50:07 - Implications for Singapore in a Post-Western World57:43 - Diversifying Knowledge: AI and Non-Western Civilizations59:06 - Communitarian Capitalism 1:03:11 - Mindset Shifts for Thriving in a Messy World1:12:36 - The Price of Sovereignty 1:13:27 - Avoiding Mediocrity 1:19:50 - Building World-Class Excellence1:25:05 - Difference Between Leadership vs. Management1:32:53 - Hope for Singapore 2056This is the 75th episode of The Front Row Podcast. Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #74- Mehran Gul : Why The Future of Technology is Global 09.02.2026 1h 14min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Mehran Gul. Mehran Gul is an author and researcher exploring the shifting geography of technological innovation and the rise of breakthrough companies beyond traditional Western hubs.He is the author of The New Geography of Innovation, published by Simon & Schuster (U.S.) and William Collins (U.K.), which charts the emergence of dynamic tech ecosystems across Asia, Latin America, Africa, and beyond. The book originated from an essay that won the Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize for the best business book proposal by an author under 35. It has since been translated and published in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro: The New Geography of Innovation00:35 Why The West Used To Dominate01:24 The Global Inflection Point in Tech01:54 3 Lenses to Map Modern Innovation04:46 Govtech Innovation in Singapore 06:05 Researching the Map: Lessons from 200 Interviews07:39 3 Through-Lines of Singapore’s Success09:37 Beyond the US-China Binary12:51 The ResNet Case: Why US-China Synthesis is Ending14:14 Debunking the Silicon Valley "Obituary"16:58 Why Some Hubs Die and Others Survive19:42 Talent Density vs. Relationship Density21:41 The Geopolitics of Capital & Reserve Currencies24:30 Can You Actually Replicate Silicon Valley?27:07 The London Paradox: Why UK Startups Exit Early31:20 Is Europe a Regulator or an Innovator?34:10 The Hidden Strengths of European Universities37:13 The Mittelstand: Germany’s Deep Tech Backbone41:10 China: The "Precocious Student" of Innovation43:47 Invention (USA) vs. Execution (China)49:03 Watching India 51:44 Singapore as an ASEAN Launchpad55:22 Solving the Exit Bottleneck in Singapore57:23 Switzerland vs. Singapore: Two Small State Models01:01:42 Why Innovation is a Biological System01:07:05 Advice for Policymakers: Diversifying the Horizon01:11:44 Advice for Graduates: Learning to Learn AIThis is the 74th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #73- Why Singapore Wasn't Kicked Out From Malaysia - Susan Sim 01.02.2026 1h 5min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Susan Sim. This is the second of a two-part series covering Singapore's merger and separation from Malaysia. Susan Sim is the editor of The Albatross Files- Inside Separation, a landmark publication that brings to light previously classified documents detailing Singapore's merger with and separation from Malaysia in the 1960s.For the first time, oral histories, cabinet memos that were previously secret are now declassified. This book brings into light the raw emotions and real struggles Singapore's first generation of leaders faced when contemplating seperation. She is also the author of The People's Minister, a biography of E.W. Barker, Singapore's longest-serving Law Minister and a key figure in the separation negotiations. In this conversation, we talk about her editorial approach, the last two months leading up to Separation and why more of us should care about EW Barker. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Trailer00:45 What Are The Albatross Files13:05 Understanding Separation28:15 The Emotional Weight of Separation34:24 Why The Hong Lim Election Mattered36:50 Why The British Was Excluded42:43 The Final Week Before Separation49:08 The Role of E.W. Barker in the Separation Process56:38 E.W. Barker: A Man of the People01:03:07 Lessons for Young Singaporeans from HistoryThis is the 73rd episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #72 - The True Story Of Singapore's Separation From Malaysia 23.01.2026 1h 19min

  Thank you for checking out my interview with Janadas Devan, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Deputy Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office of Singapore.Mr Devan coordinated The Albatross File: Inside Separation, the authoritative 488-page volume documenting Singapore's path to independence, co-published by Straits Times Press and the National Archives of Singapore.The troubled 1963 merger with Malaysia began with fundamental disagreements and was strained by the 1964 race riots. Finance Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee maintained a secret file code-named "Albatross"—referencing Coleridge's poem about burden and consequence—containing Cabinet memos, negotiation records, and his handwritten notes from meetings with Malaysian leaders.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Trailer00:51 Subscribe!01:19 Did We Take Merger For Granted?05:25 The 1945 Split: Singapore's First Separation09:44 Battle for Merger12:48 What Tunku Actually Wanted16:20 Ten Months: From Victory to Riots19:08 September 1963: PAP's Big Malay Win26:30 Misreading Malaysian Politics28:33 The Counter-Offensive Gamble38:29 LKY's Strategy Works Too Well42:35 The Idealists Who Opposed Separation46:30 Ideological Divide in Singapore's Cabinet49:49 How Real Was The Risk to Lee Kuan Yew?52:53 How LKY Rattled UMNO57:16 LKY's International Reputation59:16 Why Secrecy Was Essential01:04:21 Tunku's Decision: "Singapore as Gangrene"01:07:17 Dr Goh's Masterstroke01:11:28 Understanding Separation In Context01:15:30 Three Lessons for SingaporeThis is the 72nd episode of The Front Row Podcast.Full transcripts: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Connect with me:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #71- Why We Are Entering an Era of Global Disorder- Shaun Rein 16.01.2026 1h 16min

  Thank you for checking out my interview with Shaun Rein.Shaun Rein is the Founder and Managing Director of China Market Research Group (CMR), the world’s leading strategic market intelligence firm focused on China. He works closely with boards, billionaires, heads of state, CEOs, and senior executives of Fortune 500 and leading Chinese companies, as well as private equity firms, SMEs, and hedge funds, helping them navigate China growth, political, and investment strategies.This is Episode 71 of the Front Row Podcast.Timestamps00:00 Intro01:24 Did China Game the System?06:16 Governance: Serving the 90% vs. the 1%11:52 Corporate Influence Today16:34 The Age of Tech Oligarchs23:06 American Companies in China28:40 Weaponizing the Dollar & Sanctions33:42 The Resource War: Chips & Rare Earths37:56 China’s Drive for Self-Reliance41:36 Venezuela as a Sign of the Times45:12 What Happens to the BRI?47:22 Trump’s Greenland Ambitions50:50 The Leadership Vacuum in Europe55:22 Biden vs. Trump on China58:26 US and China’s Domestic Challenges01:05:51 What the US and China Can Learn From Each Other01:09:13 Shaun’s Core Insight01:13:04 Advice for Young ProfessionalsFeel free to share your thoughts in the comments or connect with me here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: https://www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co
• #70- Tommy Koh on The Art of Diplomacy, Negotiations and Balancing Great Powers 09.01.2026 1h 24min

  Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Professor Tommy Koh. Prof Koh is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he has held since 1990, and Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore. He is a veteran diplomat and negotiator recognised globally for his contributions to international law and diplomacy.Koh's distinguished career spans international law, diplomacy and education. He served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (1968–71; 1974–84) and Ambassador to the United States (1984–90).His most notable international contribution was serving as President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, where he successfully steered 119 countries to sign the convention in 1982—creating what he called "a constitution for the world's oceans." He was also a member and second chairman of the High-Level Task Force that drafted the ASEAN Charter, providing the institutional and legal framework for the organisation.Koh has represented Singapore in major legal disputes, including serving as chief negotiator in the reclamation works dispute with Malaysia over Tuas and Pulau Tekong (resolved in 2005), and as part of Singapore's legal team in the Pedra Branca cases before the International Court of Justice (2003 and 2017).At NUS, Koh was the founding Rector of Tembusu College and currently serves as Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Asia Research Institute and Special Adviser to the Institute of Policy Studies.TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Trailer0:42 Introduction1:18 Living Through Decolonisation6:27 Becoming The Youngest UN Ambassador12:13 Why International Law Cannot Protect Small States17:21 Condemning America in 198319:04 Creating the UN Constitution for the Oceans28:20 ASEAN's Peace Miracle29:51 Why LKY Was America's Friend37:51 What Singapore Should Not Import from America41:35 The Downside of CEO Worship52:08 Understanding China56:17 China's Return To A Tang Dynasty Vision?1:02:42 How to Engage an Assertive China1:07:14 Insights From Five Generations of Singapore's PM1:18:07 Tommy Koh's Hopes for Singapore1:21:48 Tommy Koh's Advice For Young SingaporeansThis is the 70th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
• #69- How Singapore Beat the Odds—and What We Must Do to Keep Winning - Lim Siong Guan 02.01.2026 1h 16min

  Lim Siong Guan is a Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, instructing on leadership and change management. Siong Guan was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service from September 1999 to March 2005. He has been the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (1981-1994), the Prime Minister’s Office (1994-1998), the Ministry of Education (1997-1999) and the Ministry of Finance (1998-2006).He worked directly with Singapore's founding fathers to help Singapore transform itself into a modern economic hub of Southeast Asia. He was also Lee Kuan Yew's first Principal Private Secretary. He has chaired the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (2004-2006), the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (2004-2006) and, the Central Provident Fund Board (1986-1994), and has been a board member of many companies including Temasek, the other sovereign wealth fund manager of Singapore. He is currently an Advisor to the Group Executive Committee of GIC. GIC is the fund manager for the foreign financial reserves of Singapore. He was the Group President of GIC from 2007 to 2016. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Senior Fellow of the Singapore Civil Service College. Siong Guan was Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board from October 2006 to June 2009. The Board is the Singapore government’s lead agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre. Much of its work is attracting international corporations to set up manufacturing and services activities in Singapore as critical links in the global supply chain. Siong Guan has co-authored with Joanne H. Lim two books. The first was “The Leader, The Teacher & You – Leadership Through the Third Generation,” a book on leadership and governance, which won the Singapore Literature Prize for non-fiction in 2014. The second was "Winning with Honour in Relationships, Family, Organisations, Leadership, and Life, a book on winning in life and work. He is the founder chairman of Honour (Singapore), a charity that seeks to promote the culture of honour and honouring in Singapore. He is a SwissRe Group Advisor and a member of the International Board of the Stars Foundation, a Swiss foundation that promotes leadership development for leaders of the next generation. This is the 69th episode of Front Row Podcast.CHAPTERS:00:00 Trailer00:46 Introduction & Early Public Works Experience04:09 The Road Roller Story: Learning Practical Governance08:41 Dr Goh Keng Swee's Leadership in MINDEF10:29 Building the Junior Flying Club & Early Lessons15:01 The Glider Experiment: Learning to Cut Losses18:50 Becoming Lee Kuan Yew's Principal Private Secretary22:27 Understanding Power: Service Before Self26:16 The Three Pillars of Trust: Care, Competence, Commitment29:39 Building Singapore's Defence Force from Zero35:42 Total Defence & the Philosophy of Deterrence40:29 Talent Management Across the Public Service46:51 Introduction to Scenario Planning49:37 Hotel Singapore & Home Divided: National Scenarios53:54 PS21: Transforming the Public Service57:45 The Innovator's Dilemma: From Copy-and-Improve to Indigenous Innovation01:04:56 The Unknown Unknowns: Planning for Uncertain Futures01:08:38 The Mother's Challenge: Cultural Barriers to Innovation01:12:41 Defining Success 30 Years Out01:14:50 Advice For Fresh Graduates Entering The Working World Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400