Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore\u2019s social issues of the day with newsmakers.<\/p>\n
From April to June 2026, electricity and household tariffs will be higher. And we\u2019ve been warned to brace for even higher utility bills after this quarter, as the ongoing war in the Middle East squeezes global fuel supplies.<\/p>\n
But this always leads to a very common question from Singaporeans. To counter these exact types of supply shocks, does Singapore actually have enough national fuel reserves to last for months? If we have our own stockpiles, why do we still have to pay more?\u00a0<\/p>\n
In this episode, assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong unpacks the impact of the war on inflation with Dr David Broadstock, partner at energy consultancy The Lantau Group. He explains the stockpile paradox when global conflicts hit the cost of living at home.<\/p>\n
Apart from cost of living issues related to the rise in energy prices, the episode also discusses whether it\u2019s more cost-effective to buy an electric vehicle (EV) and the challenges to transition to decarbonised energy like nuclear and renewables.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Highlights (click\/tap above):\u00a0<\/p>\n
4:54 Survival vs. hedging: The two types of fuel reserves Singapore uses<\/p>\n
14:10 Will Open Electricity Market (OEM) retailers collapse again?<\/p>\n
20:35 When will energy inflation hit food and transport?<\/p>\n
25:52 Why the war, even if short-lived, will have long-term impact on high prices<\/p>\n
27:58 EV vs. petrol: Does switching to an electric vehicle actually save you money right now?<\/p>\n
30:59 Is nuclear energy the ultimate solution to Singapore\u2019s price shocks?<\/p>\n
Read ST\u2019s Opinion section: <\/a>https:\/\/str.sg\/w7sH<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Follow Lynda Hong on LinkedIn: https:\/\/str.sg\/Gm2v<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Host: Lynda Hong (lyndahong@sph.com.sg<\/a><\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim<\/p>\n Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong<\/p>\n Follow In Your Opinion Podcast here and get notified for new episode drops:<\/p>\n Channel: <\/a>https:\/\/str.sg\/w7Qt<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Apple Podcasts: <\/a>https:\/\/str.sg\/wukb<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Spotify: <\/a>https:\/\/str.sg\/w7sV<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n SPH Awedio app: https:\/\/www.awedio.sg<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Follow more ST podcast channels:<\/p>\n All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https:\/\/str.sg\/wvz7<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Get more updates: http:\/\/str.sg\/stpodcasts<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https:\/\/str.sg\/theusualplacepodcast<\/a><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:<\/p>\n The App Store: <\/a>https:\/\/str.sg\/icyB<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Google Play: <\/a>https:\/\/str.sg\/icyX<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore\u2019s social issues of the day with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-388204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}