Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe. They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises. In this episode, she chats with ST's Japan correspondent Walter Sim.  Ahead of, ironically, the World Horticultural Exposition in 2027, a row of 280 sakura trees in Yokohama are due to be chopped down for roads to be widened  Across Japan, trees - some of which are more than a century old - will be felled in urban areas and public parks to make way for gleaming sports complexes, glamping sites, shopping malls and office buildings - not to mention the large plots of forests that have been levelled to place solar panels. Tree huggers nationwide claim that the authorities are paying lip service to the United Nations' sustainable development goals. Highlights (click/tap above): 2:05 Growing pushback against plans across Japan to chop trees down 5:35 How Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Gaien area is in itself, a tourist attraction with its 1,000 century-old trees 7:10 How tree lovers are arguing their case 9:25 Are Japanese politicians reacting at the national level? Read Walter Sim’s article here: https://str.sg/wHYB Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim & Eden Soh Edited by: Hadyu Rahim Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo Read Walter Sim's articles: https://str.sg/wHY2 Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters --- Discover ST's special edition podcasts: Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2 Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn --- Discover more ST podcast series: Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #STAsianInsider

Market has come down, S&P 500 down 19 percent, NASDAQ down 25 percent since the start of this year. Chong Ser Jing, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager, Compounder Fund discusses how one can invest in this volatile market. 

Events are back and our MICE industry is set to make a comeback in the next few months or so. Just recently, the transport logistics and air cargo Southeast Asia (tlac SEA) was also officially inaugurated at an event at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre Michael Wilton, CEO & Managing Director, MMI Asia shares more about the event and how it will bring value to the logistics industry. 

Powered by technologies such as blockchain, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), the metaverse is an immersive 3D world where people can spend time to work, learn and engage. Shobhit Choubey, Head of Investor Client Solutions & Experience Consulting, Asia Pacific, CBRE shares his views on how the metaverse could potentially impact the future of work. 

From the UK government making a dramatic u-turn and reversing plans to cut the country’s highest rate of income tax to EU's finance ministers agreeing to integrate their support payments to Ukraine into its 2023 budget. Trisha Craig, Vice President (Engagement) and Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences (Sociology and Political Science), Yale-NUS College shares her analysis on these headlines and more. 

In today's Breakfast Brief we discuss how markets are driven by strong jobs data on Wednesday and investors’ uncertainty toward the health of US companies is rising. 

Suresh Tantia, Senior Investment Strategist, Credit Suisse discusses stock market surging for the second day straight, driven by energy stocks, tech and auto stocks, treasury yield tightening and how this comeback is coming from the latest jobless data.

PropertyLimBrothers has become a trusted household name for media content-driven property sales. In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, PLB has grown 221 percent in strength, and 150 percent in revenue from 2020 to 2021, and is now an undisputed leader in the local property space.  Melvin Lim, CEO and Co-Founder, PropertyLimBrothers shares more on their business growth and their decision to go independent. 

Food waste is one of the key focuses of Singapore’s Zero Waste Masterplan. Active steps taken to mitigate food waste so far include legislation mandating new developments which are expected to be large food waste generators.  To implementing on-site food waste treatment from 2024 and bringing food waste digester machines right amongst the local heartlands in Tampines. Kelly Grace Chua, VP, International Market, Biomax Green shares more on how green tech companies like themselves are gearing up to support our Zero Waste Masterplan. 

From what to expect from Malaysia’s expansionary budget that is set to be announced at the end of the week to updates on Indonesia’s stadium stampede disaster.  Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs gives us an analysis of those headlines and more.