Your Way Home with Hongbin Jeong

From US Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns calling for China to be more honest about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky planning to meet China's leader Xi Jinping.  Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs shares an analysis of those headlines and more. 

Singapore shares fell today following losses in US and Europe markets.   The Straits Times Index was down 0.3 per cent to 3,272.89 points in early trade after 63.8 million securities changed hands.  In terms of companies to watch, Olam Group posted a fall in net profit for the second half year ended December, to S$200 million. That’s down 24.5 per cent from levels seen in H2 2021. What does this mean for the company especially with the planned IPO of Olam Agri in Singapore and Saudi Arabia?  Meanwhile, we’re also tracking electronics manufacturing services provider Venture Corporation, which had on Friday announced a 13.8 per cent increase in net profit for the second half ended December. But what’s the outlook for Singapore’s electronics manufacturing cluster ahead? On Market View, the Drive Time team got down to the details with David Kuo, Co-founder, The Smart Investor.

The inaugural Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) Bodybuilding Championship takes centre stage on this episode as we speak to Nakulan Tinagaran, Assistant Director, RC operations, Migrant Workers' Centre about the event organised to  promote bodybuilding and fitness to migrant workers. We also explore the duty of Sport to care for the under-represented segments of our population.

We’ll talk all about semiconductors manufacturers as the industry continues to face a number of headwinds including a pandemic induced supply shortage.  According to Auto Forecast Solutions, almost 18 million vehicles will have been removed from production plans by the end of 2023 since the chip shortage started. And with US-China’s geopolitical tensions at the top of minds of industry players, how would that reshape the global supply chain for semiconductor chips,as companies adopt more onshoring and friend-shoring of supply chains? What will this mean for Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and mainland China, which accounted for over 70% of global production in 2020, according to S&P Market Intelligence? What is the impact on Singapore’s semiconductor manufacturers then? On Under the Radar, Drive Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Tan Yew Kong, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Globalfoundries Singapore. 

From US President Joe Biden saying that he does not "anticipate a major initiative" from China to provide weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine to First lady Jill Biden giving a hint that her husband will be running for a second term.  Steve Okun, Senior Advisor, Mclarty Associates gives us an analysis of those headlines and more. 

Singapore shares rose in early trade today following gains in US and Europe markets.   Some notable names seeing new developments today include OCBC, after the bank reported a net profit of S$1.3 billion for the fourth quarter ended December 2022. But how did the bank fare against its peers? Meanwhile, defence and engineering group ST Engineering saw profits fall 7.1 per cent on-year to S$255 million for the second half ended December 2022. But to what extent is this a one-off occurrence contributed by a reduction of COVID-19 support and TransCore transaction and integrated expenses? On Market View, the Drive Time team unpacked the key market movements of the day with Benjamin Goh, Head of Research and Investor Education, SIAS.

We look ahead to the English League Cup final between Manchester United & Newcastle - and check in with fans from both camps ahead of Sunday's showpiece event.

ARTBOX, Singapore’s largest lifestyle event, is back after a three-year hiatus. Boasting almost 300 booths, including famous food kiosks from Thailand, the two weekend long fair will take place at Singapore Expo Hall 6. Kent Teo, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Invade shares more on ARTBOX's return. 

As Singaporeans, we all love durians in general.  But durians are considered “heaty” foods and excessive consumption can cause a tip on the body’s balance, resulting in ailments such as fever, throat pain and irritation, and mouth ulcers. So how can botanicals, such as olive leaf, combat the effects of heaty foods?  Matthew Koh, Director, Natura Biotechnologies shares more. 

As announced at Budget 2023, the Government will hand out a one-time ‘cost-of-living special payment’ and another S$300 in CDC vouchers to allay inflation concerns. The scheme has also be expanded recently and the vouchers can now be used at supermarkets as well. Denise Phua, Mayor of Central Singapore District shares more on this scheme and the spending rate of these CDC Vouchers since its inception.