Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

Omakase, seafood buffet, beef steaks and warm bowls of ramen or perhaps delicious bowls of bak chor mee, or minced meat noodles topped with a dash of tangy black vinegar. You might have seen countless videos of people recommending restaurants and eateries serving delectable meals on social media, but have you ever how many of them do you end up remembering and trying out?  Well, that’s the problem that our guest for today, Drigmo, aims to solve. Founded by ex-Googlers in 2022, Drigmo aims to be a Spotify playlist, but for food.  Put simply, it is a social app where users create their own restaurant lists, organise the places on a map, and bring the list to life by adding notes, pictures and videos. Users can also see what their friends have on their lists and save discoveries from them.  The app was first announced in Singapore via TikTok in March this year. Since then, users have saved over 45,000 places and created over 15,000 tags on the platform. According to a DealStreetAsia article, the firm hopes to disrupt Google’s restaurant reviews.  So how does the firm define the industry it operates in and its positioning strategy?  More importantly, how much money is in the restaurant review business and what does Drigmo’s growth trajectory look like in the near future? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Pieter Walraven, Co-founder, Drigmo.

From China’s Communist Party signaling further delay to third plenum to China Evergrande Group granted an adjournment of a court hearing into a liquidation petition to January 29.  Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs gives us an analysis of those headlines and more. 

If money and accolades bring many of the finer things in life, why are "successful" Singaporeans still unhappy, unfulfilled, and dissatisfied? In fact, today 80 percent of senior executive leaders and C-suites in Singapore are on the verge of quitting, with Singapore losing S$16 billion a year because of crippling mental health conditions that lead to high absenteeism and low productivity.  Kellyjo Coney-Khan, Founder and Psychotherapist, Tidylodge shares with us stubborn barriers to achieving better mental health in Singapore, especially for C-Suites and high-net-worth working professionals. 

There is no better time to shop in a year with the upcoming year-end sales fast approaching. Shopping has become increasingly convenient and exciting with the rise of e-commerce and alluring sales, both offline and online. In tandem with this evolving retail landscape, how can retailers meet consumer demands and maximize profitability?  George Pepes, APAC Vertical Solutions Lead, Healthcare and Retail, Zebra Technologies explains the approaches retailers must take to satisfy shoppers’ needs for this upcoming holiday season as well as the key ingredients needed to successfully operate a modern store.

Singapore stocks were pulled into positive territory at the open after stocks on Wall Street and Europe closed the previous week higher. In early trade, the Straits Times Index headed up 0.2 per cent after 64.8 million securities changed hands in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch for today, we have Singtel. The telecommunications provider has secured its first green loan, amounting to S$535 million over a five-year tenure, from Singapore’s trio of local banks and Standard Chartered.  Elsewhere from Singapore getting ready to list active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to China Evergrande granted an adjournment of a court hearing, more local and international headlines remain in focus. On Market View, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with David Kuo, Co-founder, The Smart Investor.

Today we’re going to talk about a company formed from the merger of one of the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance & taste companies, Firmenich, as well as, DSM, a company who’s touted as a global, purpose-led leader in nutrition, health and well-being.  Formed in May 2023, the combined entity DSM-firmenich defines itself as an innovator in nutrition, health and beauty, with over 150 years of R&D experience.  The firm boasts a team of close to 30,000 employees across four main business areas, namely: (a) Perfumery and beauty, (b) Taste, Texture and Health, (c) Health, Nutrition and Care and (d) Animal Nutrition and Health.  In particular, the former Firmenich brought in over 4 million consumers it serves in over 100 markets several times a day in the fragrances and flavour markets through items like shampoo, shower gel and fine fragrance, including Ariana Grande’s R.E.M and Calvin Klein's CK One. But how important will the perfumery business be in the newly merged company financially, and how will this influence the strategy ahead for the perfumery business?  Meanwhile, DSM-firmenich remains big on innovation on the perfume side of things. It had in October unveiled five new natural extracts from its Firgood Technology, but what does this mean for the firm where top and bottom lines are concerned?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Levenza Toh, VP, Perfumery, SEA, Japan & Korea at DSM-Firmenich.

Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser died on November 29 at the age of 100. While he was an influential member of the US government under two Presidents, Kissinger was also seen as a controversial figure in global politics. In fact, his legacy in Asia has been much debated.  How will Henry Kissinger be remembered in Southeast Asia? And what impact will he have on world politics for decades to come? Pushan Dutt, Professor of Economics, INSEAD explains. 

Did you know Singaporeans generated more than 740 million kilograms of food waste in 2019? That’s equivalent to the weight of 51,000 double-decker buses! With more than 20% of people in Singapore still facing food insecurity issues, how can we change the conversation surrounding food to reduce waste? Nicol Ng, CEO, X-Inc & Founder, The Foodbank Singapore and YPO member shares how her organization is looking to play a bigger role in the reduction of food wastage and food insecurity. 

Singapore stocks were pulled into positive territory today after stock markets in the US and Europe ended mostly higher overnight. In early trade, the Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent after 54.7 million securities changed hands in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch today, we have IHH Healthcare. The mainboard-listed company reported earnings of RM532.1 million (S$152.7 million) for its third fiscal quarter ended September. That’s more than double the earnings in the corresponding year-ago period. Meanwhile from CapitaLand Ascott Trust, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Golden Agri-Resources, Keppel DC Reit and Suntec Reit added to the STI reserve list, to more on Sheng Siong and Cordlife Group, more local headlines remain 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.

In this digital age, people are heavily reliant on online payments and new payment technologies for transactions. Keeping up with the trend, fraudsters are continuously finding creative ways to perpetuate their scams.  What role can data analytics plays in financial fraud detection, and what are the best strategies that regulators can implement to prevent financial crimes? Ian Holmes, Global Lead for Enterprise Fraud Solutions, Director at SAS explains.