Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

A US military MQ-9 surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets, in the first such incident since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. What ramifications will that have for already tense Russia-US relations? In the UK, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his first Budget on Wednesday, vowing a US$114 billion in cost-of-living support for this year and next, as it forecast the UK to stay out of recession and inflation to slow sharply. As strikes continue to rage on, will we see more being done to alleviate this issue? On Euro Watch, Drive Time's Elliot Danker speaks with Dr Samir Puri, Visiting Lecturer in War Studies at King's College London and author of 'Russia's Road to War with Ukraine' for more insights. 

With Singapore set to host the Olympic Esports Week between 22 to 25 June 2023 - we speak to Mark Chay, co-chair of the Singapore Organising Committee of the Olympic Esports Week.  Find out more here: https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-confirms-singapore-as-host-of-first-olympic-esports-week-in-june-2023

Singapore shares began the day on a healthy footing, as banking stocks swung back into the green after yesterday’s declines. The Straits Times Index gained 1.3 per cent to 3,169.99 points in early trade after 54.4 million securities changed hands. Some notable names seeing new developments include real estate company Ho Bee Land, which is selling two of its industrial properties to an unrelated third party for S$115 million.  Elsewhere, the global tech sector continues to make the headlines for a number of reasons.  Tech giant Meta is cutting 10,000 jobs in its second round of layoffs, TikTok is discussing the possibility of separating from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, while OpenAi unveiled GPT-4, that can perform well on a range of standardised tests. On Market View, the Drive Time team unpacked the developments with Toby Gresham , Investment Counselor Team Lead, Citi Private Bank.

The word ‘sue’ has grown to become a catch-all term that represents legal recourse colloquially. However, litigation, which is more formally known, has the potential to deal significant disruptions and distractions to both the plaintiff and the defendant. So how can alternative dispute resolution perhaps be the better choice to resolve disputes?  Colin Millward, COO & Co-Founder, ResoX shares his views. 

From Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim sticking to his decision to reinstate the country’s GST anytime soon to Indonesia's court controversial court ruling to delay the 2024 presidential and general elections until 2025. Dr. Felix Tan, Political Observer, Nanyang Technological University gives us an analysis of those headlines and more. 

Could AI have a hand in equipping healthcare professionals with people management and communication skills? Well according to the founders of Singapore-based AI Startup MediVR, it can!  MediVR is apparently creating generative AI virtual humans that can perceive, talk and respond with human-like training behaviour, allowing professions to practise their people management and communication skills in a safe environment and with greater efficiency. Aside from doctors, MediVR said its virtual humans have also been used to train Teachers, Social Workers and Financial Advisors.  But how much money is the market for virtual humans worth? And what are the intricacies involved for a company making money out of virtual humans?  On Under the Radar, Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Jeremy Ong, COO and Co-founder, MediVR.

The most precious diamonds and the rarest of them all: red and pink diamonds.  If you’re looking to invest in these rare gems, you’ll want to know that a Fortune Pink diamond sold last year for more than US$28.5 million at a Christie’s auction in Geneva. Now, Singapore's gem collectors recently got their chance this week to get their hands on extremely rare pink diamonds from the now-defunct Argyle Pink Diamond Mine. On Culture Club, Drive Time's Elliot Danker speaks with Esther Ho, Founder, MUS Zenith Affair to find out more. 

Should one's social media be policed? If yes, by who? If no, why not? Elliott and Raushan discuss the pros and cons of the Social Media space

Singapore shares slipped in the first few minutes of trade today, extending the previous day’s losses. The Straits Times Index headed down 0.6 per cent to 3,112.54 points in early trade after 176.7 million securities changed hands. Some notable names seeing new developments include Sembcorp Industries, with its 80 per cent-owned joint venture clinching a contract to build, own and operate a 500 megawatt solar power plant in Oman.  Meanwhile, global bank stocks continued to take a beating around the world amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank even as US President Joe Biden declared that the US banking system was safe and vowed stiffer bank regulations.  On Market View, the Drive Time team unpacked these developments with Robert St Clair, Managing Director and Strategist at Fullerton Fund Management.

From China’s two sessions wrapping up plus China’s President Xi Jinping’s plans to visit Russia as soon as next week.  Dr Bates Gill, Executive Director of the Center for China Analysis, Asia Society Policy Institute gives us an analysis of those headlines and more.