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 Malacca, a chokepoint so important that it helps determine the maximum size of many of the world's largest ships, a standard known as Malaccamax.

Decades of pipelines, rail links, and new ports have failed to reduce that dependence. In this episode, we trace how Singapore transformed a narrow, piracy-plagued strait into the backbone of global trade, from the ancient empires that controlled it by force to a modern city-state that controls it through law, infrastructure, and carefully maintained neutrality.

Tell You First is an original podcast produced by Mediacorp and Ministry of Funny (@ministryoffunny).

Credits:

Hosted and Produced by Terence Chia (@tchia) and Haresh Tilani (@hareshtilani)
Sound Engineering - Tristen Yeak (@yeakstreet)
Production Manager - Z’en Peck (@peck.takes.photos)
Commissioning Editor - Danny Koordi

If you're a fan of our work, you can follow the podcast on the meLISTEN app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. You can also watch selected video episodes of the podcast on YouTube through the Mediacorp Entertainment channel. Also, catch Tell You First Shorts on Mediacorp's socials.

Podcast artwork by Denise Nicole Yap, you can reach her on Instagram @deniseardenise