Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

Ever wished you could be a professional gamer? Team Flash's Khevind Awat Ranai aka Buzzinho, who will be representing the nation at the FIFAe World Cup 2023 tells us just how! Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! edanker@sph.com.sg | raushan@sph.com.sg

Brand strength encompasses factors such as customer loyalty, brand recognition, and market share. It also indicates how well a brand is known and trusted by customers. Measuring brand strength on a regular basis is vital to planning strategies to grow the company. Depending on the size or type of company, however, what to focus on when measuring brand strength can differ. We speak to Uri Snyder, Senior Vice President, APAC, Similarweb more about this.

Classic cars – or those that are at least 35-years-old from their original registration date - that’s on our agenda today.  Such vehicles have gained increased popularity in recent years. According to Forbes citing collectible car website Classic.com, a sizable list of desirable up-and-comers have appreciated in value by as much as 88%. But really, what is driving the market?  Also – with Statista expecting the global classic car market to grow from US$24.5 billion in 2019 to around US$35.5 billion in 2023, we want to find out what this means for classic car dealers and workshops.  Our guest for today is from Classic Motorworks. The company, which was founded in 2016 as a 2-man workshop in Tuas, has since grown to become one of the more established classic car workshops in Singapore. It also ventured into the trading business over this time as a full-fledged classic car dealership in Singapore.  On Under the Radar, Tan Lu Han, Director, Classic Motorworks joins Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian in-studio for more. They also talked about the electrification of the automotive industry and whether classical cars can be electrified.

Three men serving at the very top of the US government, Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Mike Pence appear to be guilty of mishandling of confidential documents, so what does this mean for the upcoming US presidential election? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to be in China on June 18 as the attempts at dialogue between the two countries continues. Lastly, Rishi Sunak's visiting Biden in Washington looks to strengthen an already solid US-UK relationship. We speak to Steve Okun, Senior Advisor, Mclarty Associatesmore about these headlines.

Singapore shares opened lower today after Wall Street booked overnight gains on improving sentiment.   The Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.1 per cent to 3,183.55 points in early trade after 92.4 million securities changed hands in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch today, we have Thomson Medical Group after the Singapore-based healthcare company was reported by Bloomberg to be in advanced talks to purchase a controlling stake in Vietnam’s FV Hospital.  Elsewhere, investors continue to keep their eyes on the US market after a forecast busting jump in jobless claims figures cemented beliefs that Federal Reserve officials would pause interest rate hikes this month.  Also worthy of note is the broad based S&P 500 entering a bull market after rising over 20 per cent from its October low. On Market View, the Drive Time team unpacked the developments with Benjamin Goh, Head of Research and Investor Education, SIAS.

Generation is a global non-profit organisation that has a very unique mission which is to provide underserved individuals with job opportunities that would otherwise be inaccessible.  And since 2014, they have been closing the skills gap and creating career pathways, with a key focus on empowering women, especially mothers, to break barriers and become leaders in their communities. Nadirah Mohamed Rifaat, Generation Singapore’s Patient Service Associate Programme Graduate shares her experience with making a mid life career switch and how Generation was part of it. 

We’re going to talk all about succession and business leadership development today.  While departments such as human resources may be labelled as cost centres, effective talent development and management can reap tangible outcomes for businesses when it comes to the dollars and cents.  According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group in 2015,” talent magnets” – or companies that rated themselves strongest on 20 leadership and talent management capabilities – have increased their revenues 2.2 times faster and profits 1.5 times faster than their peers with weak practices.  On this front, the Singapore Business Federation’s Alliance for Action on Business Leadership has released a report to call out opportunities in the local talent development landscape and put forth recommendations on what key stakeholders can do to help Singaporeans earn their place at the corporate leadership table on a global stage.  But really, what is in it for businesses to train locals for leadership positions? How will local leaders make strategic decisions differently given their understanding of the local market, and how will training local leaders position firms for longer-term growth? On Under the Radar, Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian spoke with  Frank Koo, Head of Asia - Talent and Learning Solutions at LinkedIn and  Albert Tsui, Executive Director, Advocacy and Policy at the Singapore Business Federation for more. 

A recent scam saw a visitor visited a bubble tea shop and saw a sticker pasted on its glass door, encouraging customers to do an online survey to get a free cup of milk tea. The victim scanned the QR code and downloaded a third-party app onto phone. Scammers later via the app, took over her device and moved $20,000 from her bank account. Hwei Qiang Tan, Fraud Protection Solution Engineer, Group-IB helps us understand QR Code scams better using the bubble tea QR scam case as an example. 

Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has offered himself as a candidate in the upcoming Presidential Election. This will also mean he will stand down from his government positions including Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore on July 7. But with a political heavyweight like Mr Tharman running for the presidential election, will it deter others from contesting now? Dr. Felix Tan, Political Observer, Nanyang Technological University shares his views. 

Research has shown that in 2018 and 2019, it was found that two out of three persons with disabilities, aged between 15 and 65, were unemployed with disability and poor health were the most common reasons for not working. Aaron Yeoh, Director, Fortitude Culina shares with us on how his social enterprise aims to offer fair employment opportunities and career advancement for the visually-impaired.