In this episode of The Rishi Report, I sit down with Professor Cherian George—one of the sharpest minds on media and politics—to talk about the mystery and the magic of elections, Singapore-style. We get into how the role of the media has shifted over the years during General Elections, why campaign strategies look the way they do, and what it means when parties choose different tones: polished messaging, ground sentiment, big ideas, or pure survival mode. It’s the kind of conversation where you start off thinking it’s “just politics”… then realise it’s actually about how we’re being spoken to, and what we’re not being told. We also zoom out and ask what voters should be doing beyond just reacting to slogans and soundbites—what questions are worth asking, what signals matter, and how to separate performance from substance. And because we’re adults here, there’s a clarification to note: at around 16:23, Professor George misspoke when he said “Singapore’s daily mainstream media are 100% government funded.” What he meant was: “100% of Singapore’s daily mainstream media are government funded.” If you care about Singapore politics, media, and how elections are shaped, this one’s for you—serious insights, but still in the TRR vibe.