Your Way Home with Hongbin Jeong

Air travel across the Middle East has been thrown into turmoil as escalating hostilities between the United States, Israel, and Iran lead to widespread airspace restrictions, flight cancellations, and rerouting. Thousands of passengers are being affected, including Singaporeans caught in the region, facing delays, uncertainty, and difficult decisions about when they can return home. On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong hears from Annabelle Siena Lim, a Singaporean entrepreneur currently in Dubai, about her experience navigating sudden flight disruptions and the challenges of rebooking amid rapidly changing schedules. We also speak with William Huang, Vice President at Super Travel Groups and Outbound Committee Member at NATAS, on how Singapore travel agencies are supporting anxious customers and responding in real time to the crisis. Finally, independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie from Sobie Aviation breaks down the broader impact on global aviation, including how Middle East airspace closures are affecting long-haul routes between Asia and Europe, potential fare increases, and how long the disruptions could last.

2025 tested investors with geopolitical uncertainty, shifting interest rate expectations, elections across major economies, and uneven global growth. Yet despite the volatility, Asian assets demonstrated surprising resilience, with fixed income delivering strong gains and equities across parts of Asia staging a constructive recovery. So what does this mean for 2026 and beyond? On Wealth Tracker, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Hock Fai Chan, Head of Equities, Singapore, Manulife Investment Management, to unpack the outlook for Asian equities, the key themes shaping portfolio positioning, and whether the region is at the start of a sustained multi-year opportunity.

Would you call your spouse your “teammate” instead of “baby”? And would you believe that your old laptop might be a better investment than gold? On today’s episode of What’s Trending, Hongbin Jeong and Alexandra Parada dive into two unexpected trends shaking up the internet: married couples in China ditching lovey-dovey pet names in favour of practical titles like “teammate” or “roommate,” sparking debate over whether modern relationships are becoming more like partnerships than romance. And the surprising tech gold rush is happening at Sim Lim Square, where used laptops are being stripped for valuable RAM and SSD parts amid an AI-driven chip shortage that’s sending prices soaring.

Singapore shares rose today to buck regional losses as the Middle East conflict remains on top of investors’ minds. The Straits Times Index was up 0.86% at 4,932.73 points at 2.27pm Singapore time, with a value turnover of S$1.81B seen in the broader market. In terms of counters to watch, we have Olam Group, after the agri-business company announced yesterday that its food, feed and fibre operating business, Olam Agri, secured a seven-year US$100 million financing facility, which will initially be guaranteed by the group.  Elsewhere, from how a flurry of stock market listings by Chinese artificial intelligence companies opened up a gap in analyst coverage, to how US and Chinese trade negotiators are reportedly slated to meet in mid-March, more corporate and international headlines remained in focus. On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with Kelvin Wong, Senior Analyst, OANDA.

Iran’s confrontation with Israel and the United States has escalated into one of the most dangerous crises the Middle East has seen in decades. A joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign aimed at crippling Tehran’s leadership has triggered retaliatory strikes across the region from missile barrages on Israeli cities to attacks on Gulf states. On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Dr Leon Goldsmith, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Otago, to examine how this conflict reached this point, what the death of Iran’s supreme leader means for Tehran’s next moves, and whether diplomacy is still possible.

Brent crude has spiked sharply after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, with disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz raising fears over a major supply shock. Some analysts say this is just a temporary risk premium. Others warn oil could surge past US$100 a barrel. So, are we looking at a short-term geopolitical spike… or the start of a much bigger energy crisis? On Wealth Tracker, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Priyanka Sachdeva, Senior Market Analyst, Phillip Nova, to find out more.

On What’s Trending, Hongbin Jeong and Nadiah Koh dive into the biggest buzz online, from Singapore’s move to regulate trading card booster packs under new blind box rules, to the growing debate over chance-based collectibles, rare card hype, and whether nostalgia is turning into speculation. Then, we shift gears to tech with Samsung’s latest privacy screen feature that blocks side-angle peeks and even auto-detects when someone is trying to look at your display. Is this the future of public phone use? Would a built-in anti-kaypoh screen change the way you scroll, text, and bank on the go, or even make you switch phones?  

Singapore shares slid today as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighed on global markets. The Straits Times Index was down 1.77% at 4,906.86 points at 12.56pm Singapore time, with a value turnover of S$2.01B seen in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch, shares of Singapore Airlines and Sats fell this morning as the US-Israeli war against Iran led to flight cancellations over the weekend.  Meanwhile, from how the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that it is closely monitoring developments arising from the ongoing situation in the Middle East, to how oil surged by the most in four years, more economic and international headlines remained in focus. On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with David Kuo, Co-founder, The Smart Investor.

History was made this past weekend as a goalkeeper scored for the first time in the Singapore Premier League - rescuing a late point for the league-leading Lion City Sailors. But beyond history, there was yet more refereeing calls that had implications on results and outcomes that had ramifications on the title race. Sports Minutes unpacks it all, in the company of Deepanraj Ganesan of The Straits Times. Got a story to tell? Get in touch! raushan@sph.com.sg

Today we’re going to take you through the ins and outs of a leading independent digital wealth platform in Asia that provides bespoke investment solutions for personal savings, private wealth and even public pension (say in the case of CPF and SRS in Singapore).  Founded in 2017, our guest for today Endowus operates out of both Singapore and Hong Kong with a vision to help investors grow their wealth holistically and offer what it describes as conflict-free advice and access to institutional financial solutions, through a personalised digital wealth experience.  Fast forward to today, the firm works with over 80 global fund managers to provide access to investment strategies across public and private markets, hedge funds and alternatives.  The digital wealth platform had also in October 2025 crossed US$10 billion in assets under management after seeing record inflows and assets from Hong Kong customers tripling. The firm also noted that its alternative business surged to over US$500 million.  So what’s driving the numbers and what are the growth trends for the firm with Federal Reserve interest rates set to fall further this year? At the same time, Endowus also raised over US$70 million that same month, in a funding round led by Illuminate Financial and joined by existing investors including Citi Ventures and various Asian family offices.  According to Tech Node Global, the firm said at the time that funds raised will be used to help the firm scale further, and to zoom in on creating retirement solutions and pension platforms in Singapore and Hong Kong. Resources will also be channelled to AI innovation, new B2B solutions for financial advisers and further geographic expansion.  But how far are we seeing that play out? Where is Endowus moving into next and how will the role of its Singapore operations evolve?   Meanwhile, robo-advisory AutoWealth had in January 2026 become the second digital adviser for the CPF Investment Scheme after Endowus. So what does the move mean for Endowus then and will it double down on efforts to grow its market share right here in the Lion City? On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Samuel Rhee, Co-founder, Chairman and Group CIO, Endowus.