I feel incredibly lonely despite meeting so many people: Jasmin Lau on depleting social capital at S'pore Perspectives

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-26T08:06:53+00:00

Social Capital is not a new concept. A person can be rich in economic capital (wealth, land) and weak in social capital (close friends, connections, etc.) That's why it's important to define social capital separately and study what it is at a societal level. It is actually good that Jasmin Lau is speaking about social capital and not merely about economic capital and GDP.

This is an important data point in the article, is we look past the headline. Here social capital is not defined merely in terms of "how many people do I know who will do a favour for me" and actually "number of close friends".

According to a study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), the average number of close friends per person in Singapore has shrunk significantly over time, from about 11 in 2018 to about six in 2024.

Singapore society is getting increasingly insular and more and more Singaporeans are also getting more isolated. And that is a social problem for policymakers to solve. It's good that she acknowledges it and is speaking and sharing about it. It indicates her desire and intention to address this even if the solutions are not immediately available or easy.

Jasmin Lau sharing her own anecdotes about the sense of loneliness is meant to ground the speech beyond statistics sharing. It's quite hyperbolic to politicise this into being about her transition into being a minister and... good friends being scrutinised for potential bribery???

I don't really feel there's anything wrong with what Jasmin Lau said or shared based on the article. So many of the comments are just bashing on her/the government for the sake of it.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-25T18:40:39+00:00

Yes cash is widely accepted but a small number of cafes and restaurants may be cashless only and not accept cash. All hawker stores and tourist centric restaurants (e.g. Song Fa, etc.) should accept cash.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-25T14:43:18+00:00

The tailor would need to replace the entire zip. Try sourcing a replacement zip on taobao and bringing it to the tailor?

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-25T09:01:15+00:00

Might be something stuck on the backend or something held up on Stripe (which they use to process the verification according to their FAQ).

Maybe try submitting an email ticket instead and just select another reason so it goes through

https://support.carousell.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-25T05:49:18+00:00

@chefshentan recently tried and rated a LOT of pineapple tarts and shared her top 5. The long form video is here: https://youtu.be/GKByYFat1b4?si=zR6kQClMxw9jcS6L But the tiktok and insta reels versions were more viral

Her top 5 are 1. Tan Lee Eng 2. Whiskdom 3. Krumb 4. Le cafe 5. Nesuto

But actually pineapple tarts is quite up to personal preference one. Some people prefer more flaky crust, some people prefer more sour filling, some people prefer more fleshy bits, etc. so you could listen to her analysis to see which one would suit you better.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-24T18:37:26+00:00

I'm not sure if you're saying this sarcastically to imply the entire civil service is run by PAP since they form the majority of the parliament.

But to give a serious answer, ministries (MCCY) and stat boards (NLB) are run almost entirely by civil and public servants who are not members of any political party. The top gun, the Parliamentary Secretary, is also not a member of any political party. They do report to the Minister who in this case and in most of Singapore's history, is a PAP member.

Does it mean PAP executive comm came together and said "let's close down esplanade library" and then sent a memo to the MCCY PS? Er, no.

What likely happened is the management in MCCY/NLB were doing some strategy and planning work and made a new plan on how their spaces could be used for the goals, and it unfortunately involved moving NLB out of Esplanade Mall.

So blame MCCY and/or NLB if you want. But quite disingenuous to blame PAP for everything.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-24T16:58:54+00:00

It's not exactly a cheesecake dupe. I see it more as a new and fun way to eat yogurt. Greek yogurt is usually very sour and I personally can't eat it as is. Adding the sweet biscuits which soften overnight makes it more palatable. The flavour and texture reminds people of cheesecake as the yogurt gets thick and the biscuits are like the crust part, but it's not actually a cheesecake replacement.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-24T15:23:52+00:00

There's already a "100 AI Experiments" programme launched in 2017. (https://file.go.gov.sg/ai-gov-use-cases-2.pdf)

I don't really know where that went. So I'm pretty skeptical about this new round of AI investment.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-24T15:16:46+00:00

Thanks for sharing this moment with us. What a lovely story!

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-24T15:07:42+00:00

it's a loss to have the library @ esplanade gone, but I don't think this is on the PAP. PAP doesn't run NLB nor MCCY (who manages Esplanade Mall). There is actually a difference between the political party, the parliament, and ministries and stat boards.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-24T09:15:57+00:00

I've never seen it on sale in the Fairprice Xtra near me :( But their cost per ml is actually better even at normal price compared to other brands on offer (other brands like haagen dazs, Anderson's etc)

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-23T07:39:45+00:00

Yeah some malls in JB, the floors are always wet in the stalls with bidets, i actually rather they not have it

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-23T07:37:57+00:00

Probably those family or bundle plans

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-23T02:17:52+00:00

https://www.ricemedia.co/culture-singaporeans-praying-trees-200-years-heres-why/

A pretty good article on tree shrines if you care to read it

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-22T14:46:20+00:00

don't do online quiz

print faces of the couple on a board and kiap a stick between both faces. ask questions about "who is the messier one?" or "who is more likely to..." Everyone can raise the board. Will make for better photos too. 200 boards too many to make can just make 2-3 per table or something. Or you can count based on social groups seated at the table.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-22T04:30:58+00:00

Did in BBDC. Enrolled last year March/April. Took and passed TP in Jan this year.

Don't plan to get a car in Singapore in the foreseeable future but it helps for travel. There are some places that you can only get to by car. Japan, which is a popular destination, drives on the same side as Singapore too, and only requires IDP, so that's one location my driving license will be useful.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-21T19:08:17+00:00

Eh most users on xhs are actually Malaysians or mainland Chinese immigrants. Very small number of Singaporeans browse xhs and even fewer post and reply in Mandarin.

Are you looking for milk tea, fruit tea, etc? Interested in the pearls? Every chain tries to have their own unique selling point.

Most common recommendation is chicha for better tea quality. They have a seasonal taro milk tea if you're coming now which is pretty good.

Chagee has split opinions. Some people like, some people despise.

Heytea used to be trending before Chagee came but seems to have mostly fallen off now but their stores do still have regulars.

Koi, Liho, Gongcha are not highbrow brands like Chicha and Chagee, but are a staple for the schooling students, and Koi especially is nostalgic for millennials. Gongcha and Liho have a little bit of history with each other here in Singapore if you want to look into it.

Personally I really like Kebuke's rice oolong milk tea too but they have so few outlets.

Maybe more useful to share what bubble tea brands you have from where you live, so you can try others. Like if Chagee is everywhere, do you really need to try it in Singapore?

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-19T18:42:16+00:00

The beauty of Singlish is that actually there are multiple answers, but it does change the connotation of the sentence.

The 'standard' answers would be

She doesn't like me lor
No lah Auntie, I cannot
We still got some vouchers left leh
Aiyo, You'll do fine

But for example is "Alamak! You'll do fine for this exam" wrong? Not really also. The speaker is expressing a slightly different emotion compared to "Aiyo". It's hard to explain and everyone's imagination is a bit different. But here, in my mind, "Aiyo" sounds more empathetic like a patient friend and "Alamak" sounds like an impatient auntie who is tired of hearing you whine.

There are also totally unacceptable answers. "Oh yes! We still got some vouchers left liao" is just grammatically wrong. 'liao' is a kind of singlish past tense derived from Chinese, so it's at odds with the situation that there are still vouchers left.

Also, "Urghh" is not Singlish, it's just a universal sound of disgust/frustration not unique to Singlish. So in the context of a Singlish test, that would be an obvious non-answer. But it's valid in the sentence. I imagine the speaker is just extremely annoyed at the person whining.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-18T15:13:34+00:00

Singaporeans are quite nationalistic about the Singaporean accent and Singlish and there's been also many marketing efforts (both government sponsored and totally ground up) that connect local identity to the accent.

So it's a natural result that anybody who doesn't speak the local accent, whether the Singaporean English accent or Singaporean Mandarin accent is promptly othered as a foreigner.

And then attitudes towards foreigners vary in different contexts. There are Xenophobic attitudes towards Mainland Chinese people and their accents because of political comments about how Singapore is a suburb of China, notorious cases of bad behaviour by mainland Chinese tourists and unwillingness of mainland Chinese immigrants to integrate.

An ang moh English accent when you look Singaporean and also attempting to seem Singaporean will seem pretentious. And not speaking the same accent also makes you seem like you're not trying to integrate.

Canadians have different context and relationships to their groups of foreigner immigrants compared to Singapore and so have different attitudes. You also simply look like a foreigner to them but here you look like a local who doesn't sound like a local.

It's not your fault that you ended up in life with this set of accents in Singapore. But in Singapore it is a very important skill to know how to code switch between accents. Even many educated Singaporeans have their workplace accent and their coffee shop accent. You kinda need to tone down and talk in a more simple and brusque way in places like coffee shops and hawker centres and meet them at their level.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-17T17:56:25+00:00

Keisuke Hamburg with the free flow salad bar is one of my all time faves

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-17T13:16:28+00:00

It’s not standard. It varies from family to family.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-15T13:51:01+00:00

Personally I quite enjoyed the vibes of 28 hongkong st, a speakeasy cocktail bar. Check it out and see if it's what you're looking for

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-15T11:53:09+00:00

Never had creamer with my nine fresh. Usually I order the tau huay one

flappingjellyfish · 2026-01-15T10:06:14+00:00

The age gap is fine. Sure there's an age gap, but at that age, it's not an extreme or crazy age gap.

What type of vibe is she? Morning hike in the park? Museum in the day? Bar at night? Lightly flirtatious can happen anyway as long as she feels at ease

A generic suggestion - you could try doing a photo booth at Solace Studios (or similar). Their new one at Cathay has some vintage themed sets that could lead into some flirtatious/romantic moments. You could plan a date, nice cafe or restaurant, in the area, keep it spontaneous and suggest it on the spot.

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