Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

Brand impersonation is an increasingly common problem on social media that thousands of brands are forced to deal with each day. Facebook’s annual report in 2014 revealed that fake accounts make up 5.5 to 11.2 percent of its monthly active users. So how exactly does a brand impersonation work and how bad is the situation here in APAC? Ilia Rozhnov, Head of Digital Risk Protection, Asia-Pacific, Group-IB provides us with insights on this matter.

Renewable energy may be all the rage these days, but there is a lot more to it than spinning wind turbines and fancy-looking solar panels. And Singapore based G8 is helping to accelerate the world’s low-carbon transition by developing renewable energy projects powered by innovative offshore wind and floating solar technologies. Gerald Tan, Founder and Managing Director, G8 Energy shares with us in depth details of the renewable energy industry and the company's ambition to list on the NASDAQ. 

In today's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss the S&P 500's worst first half since 1970 as it falls yet again while chinese equities continue may show growth as the housing slump eased in June for the first time in 2022. Also, China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI for June came in at 54.7 up from 47.8 in May. In Thailand, all Covid-19 entry requirements for vaccinated travelers will be lifted.  While in Singapore, both SP Group and City Energy make hike electricity and gas prices due to higher fuel costs. 

This entrepreneur has observed a huge gap in consumer knowledge and realised that the majority of consumers were often clouded by various marketing tactics and sleep myths that do more harm than good, misperceiving that as long as mattresses were sold by big corporations, they were of good quality. Elvin Chong, Founder, Luxury Mattress Gallery (LMG) shares his experiences diving into the luxury bedding scene in Singapore.  

Vijay Natarajan, Analyst, RHB Group shares his second half outlook, as Singapore marks 20 years since the first REIT was listed. He discusses the trends that are playing out in the sector, as well as REITs that are looking attractive in the current backdrop of rising rates and recession talk.

David Kuo, Co-Founder, The Smart Investor, discusses why the coming months will be tough, and whether Chinese stocks may be a more attractive investment instead, as well as reviews the first half of the year for the Straits Times Index, which finished little changed year-to-date.

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 China correspondent Elizabeth Law.  China, which has maintained some of the world's strictest entry requirements, eased its quarantine policy for international arrivals in late June, 2022.  It was the most significant relaxation of curbs since the Covid-19 pandemic began, but does it mean Beijing is ready to be more tolerant of the virus? Highlights (click/tap above): 2:15 Elizabeth Law on recovering from Covid in a Shanghai hospital 4:13 Motivation behind China's decision to cut quarantine for international travellers; a big change from China’s Covid-zero approach? 9:17 Does living with the virus mean “lying flat”, the translation of the Chinese phrase "tang ping"? 12:59 What is “strategic disobedience”? 16:23 In a politically important year, will the Shanghai and Beijing leaders be impacted by the way they handled the Covid outbreak? Read Elizabeth Law’s article here: https://str.sg/wL8G Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai Edited by: Teo Tong Kai  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 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Websites:  https://www.moneyfm893.sg/ http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo Read Elizabeth Law’s articles: https://str.sg/wL8c Follow Elizabeth Law on Twitter: https://str.sg/wL8p 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 SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR #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

Duty free and travel retail is a global industry that has generated annual retail sales of US$68.6 bn in 2017. And with the travel and tourism industry on track to make a gradual comeback, players in the space, particularly in the travel retail space are anticipating a new way of travel amongst consumers, with events over the past two years shaping their leisure and spending intentions. Chris Pok, Chief Executive Officer, KrisShop shares with us how his company is evolving to meet the post Covid-19 consumer demands. 

In today's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss Spirit Airlines delaying their proposed merger with Frontier Airlines for the second time, Walt Disney Co introducing their first new cruise ship in a decade, what to expect from the upcoming US core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index and China’s NBS manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI numbers.