2023 wrap-up: CNA Insider’s top 9 videos for the year

This year, viewers spent a whopping 12.7 million hours with CNA Insider on YouTube, chalking up nearly 88 million views for our videos.

The videos people were most interested in included our coverage of Asia's stuck generation - young people particularly hard-hit by the rising cost of living, and a millennial's quest to find her first boyfriend, in the show Shermin's March. Viewers were also charmed by the creative cooks feeding people in India's poorest neighbourhoods.
 
Read on to find out CNA Insider’s Top 9 videos of 2023.

1. Stuck With Low Pay, How Taiwan’s Young Graduates Cope With High Costs | Asia’s Stuck Generation 

This year, we got up close and personal with young people throughout Asia, who are facing rapidly rising costs of living, stagnating wages, and tougher competition for jobs. An episode on Taiwan's new graduates, searching for ways to make ends meet was top-watched, with nearly 1.5 million views.  

We followed them as they hunted for bargain furniture, explored cheaper housing options, and even delivered food in the rain in this intimate portrait of Asia’s stuck youth.

Also watch:

• No Sleep, 2 Jobs: Can Young South Koreans Escape Hell Joseon Rat Race?
• China's Youth Unemployment At Record Highs: Meet The Jobless Graduates
• Millennials & Gen Z: Young And In Debt. Why?

2. She's Over 30 And Never Had A Boyfriend, So Shermin Tries To Hack Online Dating | Shermin's March

Millions of people are on online dating apps, but such convenience doesn’t mean dating has gotten any easier. Enter Shermin, a 30-something-year-old Singaporean who's never had a boyfriend. This two-part series follows her on an eight-month journey to find one, but after 49 dates, is she any closer to finding a partner?

Shermin’s journey resonated with viewers, prompting many people to share deeply personal stories about their struggles with dating in the comments.

Also watch: 

• After 8 Months, Will Shermin Find The Boyfriend She's Been Looking For? - Part 2
• ‘Are You Still With Jay?’ Shermin’s March Host Answers Your Burning Questions

3. Singapore Reserves: The Untold Story - Ep 1/2 | Singapore Reserves Revealed

What assets make up Singapore’s reserves? How does Singapore control the value of its dollar? And why is the amount in Singapore’s reserves such a huge secret? In this two-part documentary, CNA gets unprecedented access into one of Singapore’s gold vaults, and interviews some of the few people who know the full value of all of Singapore’s assets.

Viewers said the series had "easy to understand" explanations of a very complex issue.

Also watch: 

• Singapore Reserves: The Untold Story - Ep 2/2 | Singapore Reserves Revealed 
• The Story Of Our Childhood In 1930s Singapore | Let Me Tell You A Story - Part 1/2
• A History of Singapore Broadcasting: Behind The Scenes Of 80 Years At Caldecott

4. Inside China’s People’s Liberation Army | Preparing For Dangerous Storms

This year, we took deep dives into post-COVID China, from competition with the US to its attempt to address a rapidly falling birthrate.

This video analyses China’s response to President Xi Jinping’s warning that China should prepare for “dangerous storms”. With over two million soldiers and the largest number of warships by country, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is already the world’s largest army. Yet, China continues to increase its defence budget. Are increasing geopolitical tensions the reason for this growth?

Also watch: 

• China's Betting Big On Artificial Intelligence. Could The US Lose The AI Race? | Insight
• Can Anyone Challenge China's Near Monopoly On Metals Powering Our Tech? | Power Scramble
• China: War Movies, Censorship & Patriotism | Preparing For Dangerous Storms

5. Southeast Asia's Booming Vaping Industry: Should We Be Worried? | Undercover Asia

With more than 2.2 million views on YouTube since its debut in April 2023, this episode of Undercover Asia is our top viewed video of the year. 

This inside look at Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing vape industry takes us from large-scale vape expos, into vape stores, and behind the scenes of vape factories. Why is vaping gaining popularity among youths? What aren’t vape companies telling us? And could vaping - especially among those under 19 - become a new public health crisis? 

Also watch these clips from Talking Point: 

• We Got Hooked On Vaping In School - It Was Too Easy: Teen Vapers Tell All
• ‘Are You Enticing Teens To Vape?’ Malaysia Vape Chains’ Founder Answers Hard Questions

6. The Highs And Lows Of Thailand's Cannabis Rush | Undercover Asia

This Undercover Asia episode looks at the impact of cannabis use in Thailand, and how the country became the first in Asia to legalise the recreational use of marijuana in June 2022. Featuring interviews with dealers and even underaged users of the drug, look behind the curtain at what is driving Thailand’s growing cannabis trade.

Also watch these Talking Point videos:

• Why Are Youths Getting Hooked On Cannabis? | Talking Point
• Curious About Cannabis? Dos & Don'ts For Singaporeans In Thailand | Talking Point

7. A Million Cuts: India’s C-Section Epidemic | Undercover Asia

In India’s private hospitals, 47.4 per cent of mothers have C-sections when delivering their babies - far more than WHO’s recommended 15 per cent threshold. Why is this the case? Undercover Asia goes into the operating theatre during a C-section and sits down with families who have had challenging childbirth experiences in these hospitals.

From non-consensual early inductions to the negligent doctors, this episode reveals the questionable ethics driving decisions in their maternity wards, leading to health complications for mother and baby, and sometimes even deaths. 

Also watch:

• My Stolen Chinese Father: Victims Of UK's Racist Past | The Exiles - Part 1/2
• What Pakistan’s Debt Dilemma Reveals About Looming Global Default Crisis | Debt Bomb
• Love(less) In China: Why Aren’t Young Chinese Getting Married? | Insight

8. Vegetable Fritters & Yellow Pea Curry In Kolkata, West Bengal | Slumfood Millionaire | India

Crushed digestive biscuits in vegetable fritters? And the secret to a delicious yellow pea curry is … Goat fat? Step into the kitchens of creative cooks that help feed thousands in the tightly packed neighbourhoods of Kolkata, India, in this episode of Slumfood Millionaire. 

This episode garnered nearly 1 million views on YouTube, with some people praising it as a “soulful video” that is a great depiction of “real Kolkata”. 

Also watch:

• Chicken Head & Crispy Chicken Feet At Kali Code, Yogyakarta | Slumfood Millionaire | Indonesia
• Fermented Fish Hotpot & Neem Salad In Vietnam’s Floating Slum | Slumfood Millionaire | Long Xuyen

9. Grenade-Wielding Former Security Guard Takes Over 50 Hostages In Manila Mall | The Negotiators

Witness a hostage crisis unfold in Metro Manila, Philippines, in this episode of The Negotiators, which has notched 700,000 views in just 2 weeks on YouTube.

A fired security guard with a gun and three hand grenades shoots a colleague and takes 55 people hostage. How can negotiators get him to release them all without any further injuries? Step into the minds of the men tasked with this difficult job and listen to their firsthand accounts of the emergency.