Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

With Singapore's Covid-19 rules being simplified, some restrictions will be lifted in the coming weeks. Safe management measures will be streamlined to focus on five areas; group sizes, mask-wearing, workplace rules, safe distancing and capacity limits. Dr Asok Kurup, Infectious Disease Expert, Mount Elizabeth Hospital shares where Singapore is at right now in its journey towards endemic and wtih children being more susceptible to the Omicron variant, what do these new relaxed measures mean for them. 

In this morning's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss the effect of the intensifying geopolitical risks with the Ukraine situation on Wall Street and what is expected to feature in Singapore's upcoming budget 2022. 

Synopsis: On the third Friday of every month, The Straits Times examines various facets of the US-China rivalry and its implications for Asia.  Eileen Gu, an 18-year-old San Francisco-born skier, known in China by her Chinese name Ailing, has won hearts with her Beijing-accented Mandarin. Eileen had competed for the United States team when she was younger but switched to compete for China in 2019. At the time of recording, she has won two medals for China in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, one gold, one silver. Join Charissa Yong and Danson Cheong - ST’s US and China correspondents respectively based in Washington DC and Beijing - as they chat about the following: Highlights (click/tap above): 01:37 Perception of Eileen Gu, a freestyle skier trained in America, competing for China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics 04:07 18-year old Eileen Gu has to defend her identity as being equally Chinese and American 06:29 Athletes who hold dual-nationality, face issues regardless of whether in the US or in China 08:24 Many foreign-born athletes, specifically of Chinese descent, represent China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Produced by: Charissa Yong (charyong@sph.com.sg), Danson Cheong (dansonc@sph.com.sg), Fa'izah Sani and Teo Tong Kai Edited by: Teo Tong Kai & Fa'izah Sani Follow our Asian Insider Podcast channel every week here and rate us: 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 Charissa Yong's stories: https://str.sg/3xRa Read Danson Cheong's stories: https://str.sg/3xR2 Follow Danson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dansoncj Read ST's Power Play articles: https://str.sg/3xRE Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters --- Discover ST's special edition podcasts: The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2 Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa 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

Abhilash Narayan, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Private Bank discusses what to read into the latest January FOMC meeting minutes, and how recent data points since then around inflation and jobs data are likely to add more pressure on the Fed.

Looks like Singapore is taking the next step in reopening its borders slowly once again. Announced recently, from February 25, vaccinated travellers will be able to fly into Singapore from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE without quarantine, following an expansion in the VTL scheme. Robert Martin, Managing Director and CEO, BOC Aviation shares the kind of opportunities that will be presented for the aviation sector with more VTLs being created and how BOC Aviation is preparing itself to take advantage of these opportunities. 

In this morning's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss some of the highlights coming out of the FOMC meeting, effects of the tensions between Russia and US over Ukraine on energy and oil prices, OCBC's new kill switch measure implemented to protect customers from scams, and more. 

According to an annual report by Heidrick & Struggles ‘Route to The Top Report’, while companies fought for survival in 2020 and mostly sought leaders with prior experience and proven track records, priorities have changed in 2021. The study found that the recent leadership pipelines include more women and individuals from different backgrounds. Jiat-Hui Wu, Partner-in-Charge, Heidrick & Struggles Singapore shares how Covid-19 has influenced the selection of leaders and what we can do to encourage the habit of diverse hiring even further in the future. 

After a long-running bidding war, it seems like the SPH acquisition saga is finally moving into the voting stage! Terence Chua, Senior Research Analyst, Phillip Securities discuss SPH's rationale in exercising its right to terminate bidder Keppel Corp’s offer while making preparations for shareholders to vote on Cuscaden Peak’s rival offer, and Keppel Pegasus' push for the arbitration proceedings in an effort to enforce its rights and seek various reliefs against SPH. 

Synopsis: The Straits Times analyses South-east Asia's top news developments in this weekly podcast. The Straits Times' regional correspondent Leslie Lopez chats with Money FM's Elliot Danker and Bharati Jagdish. Highlights (click/tap above): 01:04 Malaysia's Prime Minister made his first official visit to Brunei for a proposal to establish VTL (Vaccinated Travel Lane) between Brunei and Malaysia 02:37 Deadlock between Malaysia's PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) and MUDA (Malaysia United Democratic Alliance) 04:25 Ferdinand Marcos Jr. skipping yet another gathering of presidential candidates 07:17 Myanmar's junta not attending the upcoming ASEAN summit in Cambodia 08:38 Vietnam expects to continue factory production despite rapid COVID-19 infections Produced by: Leslie Lopez (ljlopez@sph.com.sg), The Breakfast Huddle, Money FM 89.3, Hadyu Rahim Edited by: Dan Koh Subscribe to our Asian Insider Podcast channel to follow our various shows each week and rate us on your favourite audio apps: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB  Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Leslie Lopez's stories: https://str.sg/3xRX Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters --- Discover more ST podcast series: Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE #PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ Discover BT Podcasts:  http://bt.sg/podcasts Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

In UOB's fourth quarter earnings, it reported a net profit growth of 48 per cent from the previous year on higher net interest income (NII) on the back of strong loan growth. Yeap Junrong, Market Strategist, IG tells us how they have managed to improve from the previous quarter, some potential headwinds to expect, and his opinions on current banks valuations trading at near record highs,