This week on Viewpoint Friday, Lynlee Foo takes a step back to connect the dots behind some of Singapore’s biggest stories — from AI investment and booming tech sectors to rising business costs, restructuring and growing pressure on workers.

In Part 1, Song Seng Wun, economic advisor at fintech firm SDAX shares his “bellynomics” perspective on what businesses and consumers are experiencing on the ground, as stories like Gardenia shifting production to Malaysia, rising COE prices and global layoffs raise questions about whether different parts of Singapore’s economy are moving at different speeds.

In Part 2, Ian Tan, generative AI coach and lecturer at Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information — discusses how AI is rapidly entering everyday working life, why companies and workers are feeling pressure to adapt, and how people can approach AI without getting overwhelmed.