Hazeeq Sukri
Hazeeq Sukri is a journalist at CNA Lifestyle who covers travel, dining, pop culture and entertainment, with a strong through-line of music and K-pop fandom running across his work. He joined the lifestyle desk in 2023 and works across text and video, telling stories that link artists, fans and the wider cultural and commercial infrastructure around them. His coverage ranges from in-depth interviews with Asian pop stars to service pieces on concerts, cinema, food and major arts events.
K-pop fandom and concert infrastructure
A distinctive part of Hazeeq’s beat is how he follows K-pop and global pop acts through the lens of ticketing, logistics and fan behaviour. He explains the rise of Help-To-Buy services among BTS fans in Singapore, showing how dedicated supporters pay intermediaries to secure better seats as concert sales intensify. He also co-reports on delays at postal outlets and problems with Ticketmaster on Taylor Swift’s general ticket sales day, capturing both the operational issues and the frustration of fans affected by them. Beyond ticket counters, he covers how K-pop takes over large-scale events, such as the first night of the Singapore Grand Prix where performances by G-Dragon and CL turned the race weekend into a pop spectacle. Taken together, these stories show his interest in the systems that sit around live music – from resale and queueing services to venue management and crossover moments where music reshapes sports and city life.
Interviews with Asian music and pop culture figures
Hazeeq regularly writes artist-focused features that go beyond promotional talking points to explore creative decisions and personal influences. His interview with Thai K-pop star Ten digs into the singer’s solo career plans, his work with NCT and WayV, and the childhood inspirations, such as Doraemon, that shape his outlook on performance and storytelling. He extends this approach to hip-hop, as seen in his conversation with South Korean rapper Lee Young-ji for CNA Lifestyle, where he combines visual and audio elements to present her perspective to regional audiences. He also profiles veterans in the regional music scene, such as the rock band Sweet Charity, documenting how frontman Ramli Sarip and his bandmates reflect on an illustrious career ahead of a reunion concert. These interviews underline a consistent focus on artists as working professionals – situating their individual stories within the wider development of K-pop, rock and Asian pop culture.
Entertainment, cinema and streaming news
Beyond music, Hazeeq covers a broad slate of entertainment news for CNA Lifestyle, often with an emphasis on how global titles land in local markets. He reports on the hit Chinese film Dear You opening in Singapore, noting both the Mandarin-dubbed release and the limited screenings in the original Teochew dialect organised by a local cinema chain. He tracks developments in cinema infrastructure, including the closure of Golden Village’s Plaza Singapura outlet and the schedule for its final screenings. On the television side, he writes about casting and pilot orders for shows such as the Suits spin-off led by Arrow star Stephen Amell, summarising character arcs and official synopses for viewers following the franchise. His entertainment coverage also includes CNA’s own programming, such as a two-part documentary on the Singapore Turf Club that traces the institution’s history and role in professional horse racing. Across these pieces, he blends concise plot and production detail with information on dates, venues and viewing options that matter to audiences planning what to watch.
Dining, travel and culture experiences
Hazeeq’s lifestyle reporting often connects pop culture with everyday consumption, especially food and travel. On the dining beat, he writes about Krispy Kreme’s limited-edition Barbie doughnuts for the doll’s 65th anniversary, describing the themed flavours, visual design and price points that make the promotion notable for both fans and casual customers. He covers the return of Korean fast food chain Mom’s Touch to Singapore, highlighting its popularity and the brand’s renewed presence in the local market, which dovetails with his broader attention to Korean culture. In travel, he produces service pieces on airline promotions, including a Scoot sale on flights to destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Osaka, with clear fare starts and booking windows. His arts reporting includes large-scale events like the Singapore Biennale 2025, noting that the edition will feature over 100 artworks and experiences and provide free weekend shuttle buses, signalling both cultural breadth and practical accessibility. He also follows developments in the theatre sector, such as a Singapore Theatre Company undergoing another name change after feedback from peers, showing how institutions respond to industry discourse around identity and branding. This mix of food launches, budget travel, biennales and theatre reshuffles reflects a consistent interest in how culture is experienced day-to-day, from exhibition visits to themed snacks.
Regional K-pop and pop culture coverage across platforms
Hazeeq’s focus on K-pop and Korean entertainment extends across multiple CNA platforms and languages. On CNA’s Indonesian-language service, he writes about relationship news and industry scandals involving actors and idols, including headlines on Squid Game actor Park Sung-hoon’s withdrawn drama role after a scandal and his breakup with SNSD’s Sooyoung, as well as Giselle from aespa speaking frankly about the toughness of the K-pop industry. In video, he is credited on pieces that take viewers inside South Korea’s 1Million Dance Studio, whose choreographers work with acts such as Twice, Mamamoo and Itzy, illustrating the production side of K-pop performance. He appears in TikTok and Instagram content featuring Red Velvet’s Yeri and All Of Us Are Dead’s cast, as well as fan stories tied to BLACKPINK’s Rosé, reinforcing his role in visual coverage of the scene. Through this cross-platform work, he builds a beat that treats K-pop as an ecosystem spanning artists, choreographers, fans, venues and brands, rather than isolated music releases.
4 more music journalists.
Abby Webster
Abby Webster zeroes in on the storytelling side of contemporary pop, writing for Billboard about how songs build worlds around K-pop groups, fictional pop stars and ambitious soundtracks. She covers K-pop projects through close, song-by-song features, like her track-by-track piece with SEVENTEEN’s Vernon and The 8 on their EP ‘V8,’ and fan-centered lists such as “7 Best Moments from BTS’ Long-Awaited Return.” She treats soundtracks and fictional acts with the same rigor, mapping the inspirations behind “The Vampire Lestat” soundtrack and profiling in-universe groups like HUNTR/X and Saja Boys as if they were chart acts. Through Chart Beat stories on projects like “KPop Demon Hunters,” she connects these releases to industry strategy, global fandom, and the business systems that turn pop narratives into durable IP.
Alex Suskind
Alex Suskind is a freelance writer and editor who covers music with concise news stories and curated release lists. He focuses on new songs, album roundups, and archival access, from Carly Rae Jepsen’s “On Wires” to Neil Young opening his full catalog to residents of Greenland. His reporting stays close to the release cycle and foregrounds the core hook of each story. He has written for Pitchfork and has freelance work in Vulture, The Guardian, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic. He also covers broader arts and culture, but his music beat is built around what is newly out now or newly available.
Ali Shutler
Ali Shutler links chart pop, alternative music and fan culture with the ways songs move through festivals, streaming platforms and games. He is a freelance culture journalist specialising in music, writing news and features for NME and other music and culture titles. He covers breakout chart acts, legacy artists whose catalogues are resurfacing, and how audiences rediscover songs via TikTok, streaming or in‑game soundtracks. His reporting on streaming-era pop and live festival moments tracks virality, catalog access and fan behaviour as part of the story of a track. He also examines music, gaming and visual art crossovers, treating game soundtracks and artist-led campaigns as part of a wider cultural map. Alongside this, he profiles emerging chart artists for outlets including The Telegraph, Vice, The Independent, Dork and Upset, focusing on early-career trajectories and fan culture.
Annette Sharp
Annette Sharp is a veteran gossip and entertainment columnist known for direct, opinion-led coverage of celebrity power struggles and reputational crises across television and the music industry. She now writes high-profile columns for the masthead, after a decade on a well-read gossip column and a move to News Corp in 2008. Her real beat is the friction between public image and behind-the-scenes behaviour on flagship TV programs, including breakfast shows, reality formats and other long-running franchises. She focuses on who drives conflicts, who is exposed and who benefits, using ratings history, production decisions and industry mechanics as context. Sharp covers on-air personalities, executives, advisers and musicians, treating television and music as workplaces with competing egos, contracts and alliances, and blending reporting, media commentary and critique in a narrative column format.