# #799: WP's Eileen Chong on Leaving MFA for the Opposition & the Hidden Cost of Singapore’s Success Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/yah-lah-but-1019349/799-wp-s-eileen-chong-on-leaving-mfa-for-the-opposition-the-hidden-cost-of-singapore-s-success Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/yah-lah-but-1019349/799-wp-s-eileen-chong-on-leaving-mfa-for-the-opposition-the-hidden-cost-of-singapore-s-success.md Podcast: [Yah Lah But](https://stenobird.com/podcast/yah-lah-but-1019349) Published: 2026-04-03T06:54:16+00:00 Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/8da16d43 Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/8da16d43/aab40a2f.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/yah-lah-but-1019349/episodes/799-wp-s-eileen-chong-on-leaving-mfa-for-the-opposition-the-hidden-cost-of-singapore-s-success Duration seconds: 4495 ## Resource From MFA diplomat to Workers' Party NCMP in five months, Eileen Chong is asking Parliament the questions most leave untouched - about Singapore's loneliness epidemic, arts funding gaps, AI's real costs, and the price of one generation's relentless success. 𝗒𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗡𝗢𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗡𝗢𝗻𝗴 Terence: Full interview: Anthropic CEO responds to Trump order, Pentagon clash Haresh: The Boys – Final Season Trailer Eileen: Reasons to be Cheerful π—ͺ𝗼𝗿𝗸 π˜„π—Άπ˜π—΅ π˜‚π˜€! We’re looking for people to join our team! Click on the links below to find out more about the roles. If you’re interested, send your CV & cover letter to contact@ministryoffunny.com! Creative Producer Folklory Growth Hacking Internship π—¦π˜‚π—―π˜€π—°π—Ώπ—Άπ—―π—² π˜π—Ό π—Όπ˜‚π—Ώ π˜„π—²π—²π—Έπ—Ήπ˜† π—»π—²π˜„π˜€π—Ήπ—²π˜π˜π—²π—Ώ – "π—¬π—Όπ˜‚π—Ώ π—Ÿπ—Άπ˜π˜π—Ήπ—² π—•π—Άπ˜β€ Get a roundup of our One Shiok Things & first dibs on our latest launches delivered straight to your inbox! Subscribe Here (00:00) Intro (00:00:22) Introducing Eileen Chong, WP NCMP (00:02:09) From Spotlight To Short Runway: Joining WP Before GE2025 (00:03:42) Was Politics Always On Her Radar? (00:04:52) Scholar, Diplomat, Then Opposition: The Reasoning (00:07:10) Singapore's Treadmill Culture And The Hidden Wellbeing Cost (00:09:20) What She Observed In The Diplomatic Corps: Beijing And Seoul (00:12:25) Does She Even Have Time To Disconnect Now? (00:13:54) Her Parliament Speech: Time, Presence And Space (00:16:01) Singapore Exceptionalism: Why Self-Defeating Thinking Holds Us Back (00:18:33) TFR At 0.87 And What Korea's Reversal Means For S'pore (00:20:39) How Singapore Is Perceived In Diplomatic Circles (00:23:35) Why She Pushed For IR Education In Schools (00:25:02) What Diplomats Actually Do (00:27:49) S'poreans Spend $1.8B On Tuition: Can The Mindset Change? (00:32:04) The Culinary School Dream She Never Pursued (00:33:44) Speaking Up For Sm… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/yah-lah-but-1019349/episodes/799-wp-s-eileen-chong-on-leaving-mfa-for-the-opposition-the-hidden-cost-of-singapore-s-success/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/yah-lah-but-1019349/799-wp-s-eileen-chong-on-leaving-mfa-for-the-opposition-the-hidden-cost-of-singapore-s-success.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.