Hosted by the dynamic duo behind Ministry of Funny and Yah Lah But... - Haresh Tilani & Terence Chia - "Tell You First" is an edutainment podcast that aims to dive into a fascinating array of topics you never knew you needed to know. And the fun doesn't stop there—sometimes, we bring in special guests to join the laughter! Tune in for a one-of-a-kind blend of comedy and knowledge, and uncover a world of captivating insights that will leave you both enlightened and entertained. Produced by Ministry of Funny, and brought to you by Mediacorp The views and opinions shared du...
Latest episodes
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31 min
The Great Singapore Workout: From Cringe Campaign to a Guinness World Record
Before TikTok dances and viral fitness challenges, Singapore was Making Workouts Great Again. The Great Singapore Workout campaign encouraged everyone to don bright yellow T-shirts…
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44 min
How The Noose Got Away with 10 Years of Mocking Singapore
The Noose was Singapore’s first and only parody show that poked fun at public office holders, accents, condo names and even why noodle stalls only serve five fishballs. But not eve…
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46 min
How China Wine Precipitated One of Singapore’s Biggest Scandals
What happens when a Singapore megachurch decides to push its beloved pastor's wife to become an international pop star? In the 2000s, City Harvest Church backed Sun Ho's "Crossover…
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50 min
The AWARE Saga: How We Didn't Shut Up and Sit Down (w Jasmine Ng)
Everyone who lived through the 2009 AWARE Saga remembered it, but nobody wanted to talk about it. Not the 3,000 people who queued four hours to vote at Suntec. Not the bank that pu…
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31 min
The Nicoll Highway Collapse: How Four Deaths Rewrote Singapore's Construction Rules
On 20 April 2004, 100 metres of Nicoll Highway suddenly collapsed into a 30-metre-deep hole, killing four people and injuring three. The disaster exposed serious failures in the de…
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34 min
The Coffee Shop That’s Hiding Singapore’s Biggest Sex Forum
Sam's Alfresco Coffee Shop sounds like somewhere you'd order a flat white. But it's actually the innocent-looking front door to the Sammyboy forum, sharing commercial sex reviews,…
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56 min
The Beyoncé Concert Malaysia Didn't Want You to See
In the 2000s, Malaysia became known for a very different kind of concert run. The Pussycat Dolls' outfits led to a fine against their organisers, Gwen Stefani changed costumes for…
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52 min
How a 28-Year-Old In Singapore Killed Britain’s Oldest Merchant Bank
Barings Bank was founded in 1762 and was Britain's oldest merchant bank, trusted even by Queen Elizabeth herself. But in 1995, a 28-year-old trader in Singapore brought the whole 2…
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39 min
That Time Indonesia Bombed Singapore, And How Lee Kuan Yew Brought Peace Back
On 10 March 1965, two Indonesian Marine Commandos walked into MacDonald House and planted a bomb that killed three people and injured 33 others. But MacDonald House wasn't even the…
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58 min
The OG Singapore Idol Finally Reveals Why Singapore Idol Ended (w Dick Lee)
Singapore Idol premiered in 2004 to a reported 1.2 million viewers, skyrocketing a local talent show into a national obsession. Dick Lee, sidelined into a desk job, found the show…
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35 min
Why Nobody Knows The USB ThumbDrive Was Invented in Singapore
Today, the USB thumbdrive is one of those bits of tech we use without a second thought. But before 2000, the best way to store digital files was a floppy disk holding 1.44 MB, bare…
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1 h 03
Should Only Singaporeans Write National Day Songs? (w Ben Kheng)
Singer-songwriter Benjamin Kheng knows exactly how hard it is to write a song for an entire country, he did it himself with 2024's Not Alone. But long before him, the identities of…
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32 min
The Singaporean Artist Who Had to Sue to Prove She Was Original
A Luxembourg art student copied Singaporean fashion photographer Zhang Jingna's photograph by flipping it, changing the colours, adding earrings and a sword, before calling it his…
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40 min
The Nude Sports Games That Shocked Malaysia and Singapore
In 2014, fifteen people, mostly Malaysian and Singaporean, spent a day painting body art on each other, running relay races, and doing kettlebell exercises by a campfire, all while…
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37 min
Was Modern Singapore Built on Drug Money?
For 120 years, the British colonial government was Singapore's largest licensed drug dealer. Opium was processed on a hill in Pasir Panjang, that is known today as Opium Hill. By t…
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39 min
The NParks Brompton Scandal: Why Singapore Lost Its Mind Over 26 Bicycles
Twenty-six Brompton bicycles, a $57,200 government purchase, and a tender that drew just one bid. Sounds suspicious? HardwareZone users thought so. By tracing Facebook friend lists…
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35 min
The Surprising Story of Annabel Chong: The Girl Who Rejected The Singapore Dream
Her name was a punchline in Singapore. A warning to others. She went from Singapore’s gifted education fast track to global infamy as a record-breaking porn star. But behind the 19…
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29 min
Why the Strait of Malacca Keeps China Awake at Night
In 2003, Chinese President Hu Jintao coined a phrase that still shapes Beijing's strategic thinking: the Malacca Dilemma. Most of China's imported oil passes through the Strait of…
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50 min
Sarong Party Girls: “Ang Moh Better?” A History of the Stereotype
From British colonial parties to bestselling books and internet scandals, few Singaporean stereotypes have had the staying power of the "Sarong Party Girl". Originally used to mock…
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55 min
The Year Singapore Football Became A Joke
In 1992, Singapore was relegated to Division 2 of the Malaysian football, and publicly humiliated. The Kallang Roar was fading as fans stopped showing up, and the once-dominant tea…