Your Way Home with Hongbin Jeong

There is a growing need for alternative sources of capital for businesses that either cannot obtain, or do not want, traditional loans or private equity investments. One expanding alternative is revenue-based financing. Revenue-based financing as a type of additional capital will allow businesses to access capital without diluting their ownership, increasing their profitability and attracting new...

Shoppers looking to stretch their dollar amid the rising cost of living were out in force on Black Friday, with long queues spotted outside malls along Orchard Road. In The Straits Times’ The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue-Ann spoke with Senior Correspondent Chantal Sajan to discuss shopping deals being offered during one of the biggest retail weekends of the year. See omnystudio.co...

We’re going to wrap up the week by talking about China. Investors have been keeping a close eye on China’s reopening as the country reported its highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic this week.  While China has all along stuck to its zero-Covid policy,  what’s more tricky this time round is that the development came after China recently dialled back on some of its...

The pandemic has shown that through the acceleration of delivery speeds via technological innovation, customer expectations of the retail experience have grown. How do retailers adapt to the changing consumer demand? In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish speaks with Clement Yew, Director of Business Development, Southeast Asia, AutoStore on how automation can strengthen the retail indust...

As Singapore continues to grow, so too will the challenge of managing the social, ecological, and physical aspects of our densely populated city and infrastructure. Global events in the recent few years have brought the importance of building city resilience to the forefront – and particularly so for a small country with limited land and resources. Prime Time’s Bharati Jagdish finds out from Argoo...

Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister yesterday, ending a 24-year wait to lead the country. In The Straits Times’ The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue-Ann spoke with Malaysia bureau chief Shannon Teoh on his views on this development. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

VC investments into the tech industry is on our agenda amid massive layoffs by a number of big names such as GoTo, Meta and Twitter, as well as the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.  With valuations for startups dropping by some 30 to 50 per cent in some cases, VCs at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum held last week warned that the tech industry is seeing a fundamental overhaul going forwar...

The 1872 Clipper Tea is Singapore’s oldest tea producer, blender and retailer. The heritage brand, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, is renowned for its commitment to delivering the finest teas from all corners of the world. In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish speaks with its fifth gen leader, Rehan Amarasuriya, Director of The 1872 Clipper Tea Co. and Executive Directo...

Manchester United said on Tuesday that it was commencing a process to explore “strategic alternatives”, including a new investment or a potential sale -  17 years after the American Glazer family bought the English Premier League football club. In The Straits Times’ The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue- Ann spoke with Sports Correspondent David Lee for more on these developments.  See...

Leadership competencies are being increasingly challenged by changing workforce engagement and talent availability, with only 30% of Singapore’s leaders saying they are prepared to face them. On Career 360, Prime Time’s Bharati Jagdish speaks with Ulrike Wieduwilt, Russell Reynolds Associates’ Singapore Managing Director to find out how leaders can invest in talent development and bring on a trans...

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but some trading firms are hoping that diamonds can become all investors’ best friend. According to Investment & Pensions Europe or IPE, there have been attempts over the past 30 years to commoditise the good via a futures exchange or a fund, but each has been met with their fair share of problems.  The main issue lies in the fact that each diamond is unique...

Is jade a girl’s new best friend? Is the green gemstone becoming a strong contender for that title? In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish speaks with Genevie Yeo, Founder and CEO of Gen. K Jewelry and her younger sister Kayde Yeo, Chief Designer of Gen. K Jewelry on their love for the stone and how their jewellery brand just wants to make jade cool again. Produced and edited by Anthea Ng...

The US economy and stock market are in focus as investors mull mixed signals coming out in recent days. Earlier, consumer prices in the country jumped 7.7% on-year in October, the smallest yearly increase since January. Similarly, producer prices also increased less than expected at 8% for October, providing more evidence that inflation was starting to subside.  While investors took that as sign f...

The UK economy is at the heart of our discussion today after UK’s finance minister Jeremy Hunt last week unveiled a budget plan to save 55 billion pounds a year to fix the country’s public finances.  With almost half of the belt-tightening due to come from tax hikes, to what extent can households withstand such measures as surging inflation continues to erode incomes? Back in Asia, Japan saw its c...

In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Melissa Hyak speaks with Eleanor Smallwood, Host/Producer, Partner Hub, BBC World Service for the biggest stories they’re tracking in the week ahead, including Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to the ex-Soviet state of Armenia this week for talks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Covid-19 related dining restrictions easing, one might think the demand for food delivery may wane. Yet, it seems that the two years of the pandemic has built up a reliance, if not an appreciation for the convenience of food at our doorsteps.  On Prime Time, Melissa Hyak speaks with Jason Parke, General Manager, Deliveroo Singapore to find out why food delivery services will play a more impor...

Malaysia’s Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah has given party leaders and heads of coalitions a one-day extension of the deadline to propose their prime minister candidate. They have until 2pm on Tuesday to do so. This comes after Saturday’s general election threw up the country’s first-ever hung Parliament. In The Straits Times' The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue-Ann speaks with Malaysia b...

With travel restrictions lifted and borders reopening after more than two years, a surge in demand for travel along with the change in travel trends is inevitable. In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish speaks with Nicola Eliot, Vice President, BBC StoryWorks and John Fitzgerald, CEO of Tourism Tasmania on the latest travel trends ahead of the year end travel season as well as for 2023. P...

Singaporean investors are the biggest overseas commercial real estate investors in Asia. In 2021, a total of US$32 billion was deployed by investors in Singapore, marking a 164% rebound from 2020. As 90% of us in Singapore already own the home we are living – how can investing in overseas property allow us to build a more diversified portfolio of assets? And how can you get better data to help you...

In Bali, analysts and campaigners welcomed the final communiqué from the G20 which urged all parties to “make progress on loss and damage at the COP27” in Egypt. While that may breathe new life into UN climate talks, countries seem to struggle to find a common ground on a number of key issues, including limiting the average rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So what can we expect out of...

Malaysia's parties battle on social media to woo young voters One trend that has emerged in the leadup to Malaysia's 15th General Election on November 19 is that parties took their battle on social media in a bid to woo young voters. How much will their social media presence swing the outcome? This election will also be the first where voters have three main coalitions to choose from – Barisan Nas...

Malaysia’s election on Saturday is likely to be close, with nearly a thousand candidates from dozens of parties vying for the hearts and minds of a record 21 million voters.  Parties are expected to campaign all night till cut off at midnight. On the eve of Malaysia's polling day, Prime Time's Bharati Jagdish speaks Shannon Teoh , Malaysia Bureau Chief at the Straits Times , to get a sense of the...

Food sustainability has made its way into discussions at the COP 27 meeting as the world battles the effects of climate change, and supply chain disruptions brought about by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.  At the COP 27 climate conference, the European Investment Fund, also Europe’s largest venture capital and private equity financier, signed investments totalling some 247 million Euros to e...

At the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, global property companies and asset managers have gathered at a purpose-built pavilion to discuss how to make buildings more efficient and use materials that are less carbon-intensive to make. Taking on authentic decarbonisation efforts - How? And what's needed? In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish speaks with Zheng Wanshi, Group Chief Strategy &...

2022 was a record-breaking year for cybercrime with the average cost of a cyber breach reaching a high of $4.35 million. Prime Time’s Bharati Jagdish speaks with Kevin Shepherdson, CEO and founder of Straits Interactive about the biggest data dramas of 2022 and what businesses can do to better future-proof themselves against unknown threats. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.