Your Way Home with Hongbin Jeong

Singapore shares started the week lower today after a mixed end to the week in global markets.  In early trade, the Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.4 per cent to 3,247.59 points after 42 million securities changed hands in the broader market.  In terms of companies to watch for today, we have Amara. That’s after the company announced yesterday that two major shareholders and executive directors of the property developer and hotel group are engaged in confidential discussions with a third party about a possible transaction involving the company. Meanwhile, from Barclays ramping up lending to hedge funds and rich investors in Asia to AstraZeneca reportedly planning a China spinoff, and to Jack Ma reappearing in HangZhou, regional news continue to make the headlines today. On Market View, the Drive Time team unpacked these developments with David Kuo, Co-founder, The Smart Investor.

To showcase a new form of 'art' brought forward by NFT artists, Bored Island Group, has recently opened the world’s first public, physical profile picture NFT gallery, BIGHAUS. Collaborating with AI is pivotal in establishing a dedicated platform for showcasing digital art. We speak to Jaye Foo, Founder, The Parlour & Co-Founder, Bored Island Group more about this.

In order to prevent rash decisions on both parties, China and US must continue their attempts at dialogue. India as well, another country with strained relations with China is in discussions with the US with China's increasing global influence in focus. In other news, Joe Biden made his 2024 re-election pitch to union members in Philadelphia on Saturday in his first political rally since launching his campaign in April. We discuss these headlines with Pushan Dutt, Professor of Economics,INSEAD.

Imagine building a platform where you can search, book and meet mentors from around the world to seek career advice.  That’s what our guest for today did during the pandemic to make mentorship accessible for everyone.  Founded in 2020, ADPList is a global community of mentors and learners, and so far, the community has grown to over 14,000 people with over 15 million minutes mentored in about 140 countries. But how does ADPList monetise the platform and position itself against other membership networks? Does the company see potential to work with corporations to develop tailored mentorship programmes, and craft out a B2B vertical for itself?  Separately, the company had in 2021 raised US$1.3 million in funding led by Seqoia’s Capital India’s accelerator programme Surge, as well as angel investors such as Carousell’s co-founder Quek Siu Rui, but what are ADPList’s future plans as far as capital raise is concerned? On Under the Radar, Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian sat down with Felix Lee, Co-founder and CEO, ADPList for more.

In this post-pandemic period, collecting important data and making data based decisions is vital in creating an effective marketing strategy. Brands have to keep up with the various avenues through which they can advertise to consumers while still keeping to their respective budgets. We speak to Jasper Knoben,CEO, Intrepid more about this.

Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Napoli & PSG may have all conquered their respectively domestic leagues, but how will the aim to strengthen from a position of power heading into next season?  Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! edanker@sph.com.sg | raushan@sph.com.sg

Singapore shares opened higher today, following strong overnight gains on Wall Street.  The Straits Times Index (STI) notched up 0.3 per cent to 3,252.18 points in early trade as 54.9 million securities changed hands in the broader market.  In terms of companies to watch today, we have Singapore Airlines. The national carrier and its budget counterpart Scoot served 2.8 million passengers in May, a year-on-year increase of 65.8 per cent.  Meanwhile, from Singapore’s key exports showing a larger-than-expected drop to the Bank of Japan keeping ultra-low interest rates, major economic developments continue to make the headlines.  Corporate developments continue to be in focus as well with Micron saying that it's committed in China, while Tesla’s China expansions hit the speed bump. On Market View, the Drive Time team unpacked the developments with Benjamin Goh, Head of Research and Investor Education, SIAS.

AI now has even evolved to aid us in social situations by adjusting how you interact with a particular person based on their personality profile. This type of AI is trained under human supervision by inputting relevant data into the system. It could also have a significant impact on the sales industry by changing how they pitch their products to their consumers. We speak to Ethan Lin, Founder, MindReader more about this. 

A battle of CV’s? On what basis are we looking at to elect our next president? Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Mr George Goh look like the two most promising candidates for the upcoming election. However, without a savvy media team Mr Goh would have trouble putting his name forward and ensuring eligibility for running. Moreover, should we keep an eye on ‘hopefuls’ such as former secondary school teacher Seng Soon Kia as potential contenders? We speak to  Eugene Tan, Associate Professor of Law, Singapore Management University more about this.

Heightening seamlessness and efficiency in the food value chain by forming closer connections between farmers, distributors and wholesalers, is the approach that Farmbyte is taking to tackle food security in Malaysia. Digitalisation of the farming industry and maintaining its sustainability by reducing wastage are the top priorities in this process. We speak to Aiman Syed Jaafar, CEO, FarmByte more about this.