S1E31: Why 'youth vote' in Presidential Election could be quite diverse

Our guests on how youth in Singapore, aged 18 to 35, can be quite diverse in opinions.

Synopsis: Every second and fourth Monday of the month, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.

In this episode, we look at how social media and podcasts have helped presidential candidates win hearts and minds before Singaporeans go to the polls on Sept 1, 2023, this coming Friday. 

ST's Jean Iau and Natasha Ann Zachariah - who cover Singapore politics - host two youths in the studio to discuss how well each candidate has used social media and why it matters to young people.

Their first guest is Mr Joel Lim, 30, managing director of Zyrup Media and host of Political Prude: The Podcast, a show catered towards young adults. He has hosted all three presidential candidates on his show recently.

Their second guest is Mr Maximilian Oh, a 23-year-old third-year undergraduate from the National University of Singapore pursuing a degree in political science and philosophy. He is a keen follower of politics and current affairs.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:50 Joel Lim recounts personal highlights of each candidate after he hosted them on his podcast

8:55 What is an assumption about the 'youth vote' that may not be true? Maximilian Oh on why it's not a "cohesive" voting block

11:20 Some of their peers tell them they're even considering who would make a "good presidential couple" visually in portraits

12:30 Do the personal lives of the candidates matter to young voters?

18:20 Why the WhatsApp strategy of Mr Ng Kok Song and Mr Tan Kin Lian "speaks" to older generations, in the same way youths engage with the candidates on Instagram or TikTok

26:00 On how youth view non-partisanship, discerning what each candidate means by their own independence

Discover Joel Lim's Political Prude: The Podcast: https://str.sg/iSBT

Produced by: Jean Iau (jeaniau@sph.com.sg), Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim & Paxton Pang

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

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