Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

The memory of eagerly unwrapping a White Rabbit candy and munching on the edible rice paper before popping the sweet into our mouths is likely one that most of us can relate to. Hao Food SG is the exclusive importer of White Rabbit ice cream in Singapore and has worked with White Rabbit to bring us new food items and collaborations. Lydia Kuan, Director, Hao Food SG tells us more. 

As a dominant e-commerce player in Southeast Asia, Singapore has seen a significant transformation over recent years. The journey of the consumer has also now increasingly intertwined the online and offline, each providing unique benefits.  With Lunar New Year celebrations and shopping coming up, what are consumers’ retail pain points and preferred payment methods in recent times and how can retailers enhance their customers’ shopping experience?  Warren Hayashi, President of Asia-Pacific, Adyen shares more.

Former US President Donald Trump said he might impose a tariff on Chinese goods of more than 60 per cent if elected, signalling an increasingly hawkish tone against the top supplier of goods to the United States. Is Trump trying to start a trade war with China?  In other news, the US launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and militias it backs, reportedly killing nearly 40 people, in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops. Will the Biden administration face any criticism? What's next?  Trisha Craig, Vice President (Engagement) and Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences (Sociology and Political Science), Yale-NUS College weighs in.

Today we’re going to bring you an inside look into a pizza company that grew from a food truck from South Korea to a so-called ‘baby unicorn’ by South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups.  Founded in 2016, GOPIZZA is an AI powered single serve pizza brand that was known for the incorporation of technology in its operations.  For one thing, it developed a parbaked dough recipe and an oven called Goven that allows pizza dough to be pre-made in factories and heated up within a matter of minutes at outlets, allowing pizzas to be served at a fast pace – just like hamburgers. Aside from that, the startup also uses a smart AI topping table that guides employees on what toppings to put on their pizza and even has a camera that monitors and rates employees on how well they make their pizzas to ensure standardisation. The firm opened its first brick-and-mortar outlet in 2018 and has since expanded to some 200 stores across South Korea, Singapore, India and Indonesia as of the end of last year. But how profitable is it to operate such a tech-enabled pizza chain?  How does the firm position itself against traditional pizza chains, as well as newer entrants with similar propositions?  Meanwhile, GOPIZZA is also on the charm offensive to expand globally and in particular in Thailand and the US. But what opportunities does it see in the markets and how will its VC backers, the likes of Mirae Asset Securities and CJ Investments support the firm’s growing ambitions? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Jay Lim, Founder and CEO, GOPIZZA.

Unveiled as the new director for both Singapore’s senior and Under-22 men’s teams, Tsutoma Ogura will be looking to buck the trend of his two compatriots who last filled the hot seat. So why have FAS got down the Japanese route again? And what are the challenges that lie ahead for the 57-year old? Deepanraj Ganesan from The Straits Times weighs in! READ MORE: https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/lions-turn-to-japan-again-tsutomu-ogura-to-coach-singapore-national-football-team Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! edanker@sph.com.sg | raushan@sph.com.sg

When was the last time you had a hearty, honest-to-God home-cooked meal? For busy working professionals who are not living with their parents, home-cooked food can be a luxury.  Terence Ong, who was studying and running his own kaya business a few years back in Canada, experienced this firsthand. And that simple thought sparked his inspiration for BlockChef, a  local community marketplace that empowers independent home cooks. And it is already setting the stage with some of the best local home cooks and chefs. The launch lineup features a stunning list of 24 talented home-based food creators and 13 MasterChefs. Terence Ong, CEO and Co-Founder of BlockChef explains.

Malaysia's Pardons Board has announced that former Prime Minister Najib Razak's jail sentence for corruption has been reduced from 12 to six years. The fines imposed on him will also be reduced to RM50 million (S$14.2 million) from RM210 million. Nicholas Fang, Managing Director, Black Dot and Director for Security and Global Affairs, Singapore Institute of International Affairs discuss this headline with us. 

Singapore shares climbed at the market open today, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. In early trade, the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.5 per cent to reach 3,158.38 points after 48.1 million securities changed hands in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch today, we have DBS. The bank said it will merge its equity capital markets, brokerage DBS Vickers and DBS Digital Exchange with its treasury markets business from March.  Elsewhere from Meta announcing its first dividend to China’s central bank adding 150 billion yuan in cheap housing funds, more international headlines are in focus. On Market View, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments withSunny Soh, Lead Technical Analyst (Capital Markets & Investor Education), SIAS.

But while the existence of some AI platforms ChatGPT might have been beneficial to some organisations, what if they can build their own AI solution?  Google Cloud, along with The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), Smart Nation Group (SNG), and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) has recently launched a series of joint initiatives and updates aimed at advancing Singapore’s second National AI Strategy (NAIS 2.0). Caroline Yap, Managing Director, Global AI Business and Applied Engineering, Google Cloud tells us more about these initiatives. 

Retrenchments in Singapore more than doubled in 2023 from the previous year to 14,320, even as the overall unemployment rate fell slightly. Total employment growth for the full year of 2023 slowed amid weaker economic conditions, following a sharp post-pandemic rebound in 2022. So should we expect this trend to stay? Rahul Chawla, Partner & Head of Human Capital Solutions, Southeast Asia, Aon shares his views.