Having a smartphone just for work could potentially increase your productivity and your response times to clients. It also helps in some ways to separate your work responsibilities with your social and personal life.

However, having a business line and an office phone would also lead to additional expenses on your part. Not everyone has the luxury of buying 2 smartphones, but what if you could get a smartphone for free?

With the new Celcom 100,000 free phones campaign, you can get your very own smartphone just for work, with at least 40GB of mobile internet and unlimited calls to all networks with just 1 monthly payment plan.

Offering New Smartphones To Business Plan Users

Although it’s called the Celcom MEGAImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. for Business, the plan isn’t actually just for business owners. Anyone can sign up for this particular plan and grab yourself a brand new smartphone for free.

Talking to the representative from Celcom, they said that anyone could easily sign up for the Business package and pay for it themselves.

Tip: Even better if you can convince your boss to let you include this plan’s cost into your monthly claims. After all, it’s only RM98 a month and your increased productivity will reap long term benefits for the company.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an existing or a new Celcom Business customer, you are eligible to join this promotion as long as you have the right company paperwork for it.

According to Celcom, the most important document you’ll need is the Business Registration Number (BRN) and Company Address.

And if you’re under a different provider but have Mobile Number Portability (MNP), you’ll have to port into Celcom first before signing up.

Please do take note that when you’re taking on the Celcom MEGAImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. for Business plan, the subscription will bind you to a 24-month contract, and as per usual, early termination will incur additional charges.

With that said, you have a variety of phones to choose from.

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Clik here to view.

Take the Celcom MEGAImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Lightning M plan for example. 

At just RM98 per month, you can get yourself a free smartphone just for work, in either an Oppo A12 or a Samsung A11, 40GB of internet data and unlimited calls to all networks.

With 40GB of data a month, you can send large file attachments, work on-the-go and still have enough data left for your client calls and messages.

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Bonus Promotion For All Celcom Business Customers

Other than the 100,000 free phone promotion, Celcom Business is also offering its customers a chance to win 1-years’ worth of free groceries via Boost. 

Well, if you are one of the 20 Main Prize winners, Celcom will deposit RM1,000 into your Boost account every month for the next 12 months. Boost can be used to pay for groceries from merchants such as Giant, Mydin, Tesco and MBG.

If you’re tired of cooking home-cooked meals after the MCO, you can also use the money in Boost to pay for food deliveries from dahmakan, DeliverEat, and eatigo.

There’s a few terms and conditions, but two of the major ones is that you’ll need to be subscribed to Celcom via Postpaid (Corporate employees plans included) and you’ll need to have a Boost account.

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Note: If you’ve won but don’t have a Boost account, Celcom will automatically void your draw. 

In their T&C, they said all customers are treated equally, and the more entries you have, the more chances you have of winning.

Example: As a new user to Celcom, you signed up for their RM80 MEGA plan, which’ll net you 5 entries into the contest. But two days later, you realise you need more data, so you upgrade your plan with Lightning L Pass for RM68, netting you an additional 5 entries, bringing your total entries to 10. 

You can also check your number of entries on the Celcom Life app. Entries will only be counted a day after the transaction date too.

They do have a few limitations on what counts as an entry. For example, downgrading your plan will not get you any entries, nor reconnecting your old Celcom number.

If you don’t win the main prize, Celcom also has a weekly prize giveaway, giving users RM100 added into their Boost accounts for food and groceries.

Note: Winners will be notified via SMS or push notifications on the Celcom Life app.

• For more info on the Celcom 100,000 Free Phones Campaign, click here and read the T&Cs here.
• For more info on the 1-Year Free Groceries Promotion, click here and read the T&Cs here.
• Both promotions end on the 31st of July.

Featured Image Credit: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplashed

Campaigning on Cooling Off Day and Polling Day is prohibited for 24 hours, according to electoral guidelines.

Starting tomorrow, the islandwide shutdown on electoral advertising is implemented to give voters a short breather as they carefully weigh their options.

Happily, it’s also 10 July will also be a public holiday as voters head out to polling stations.

Termed Cooling Off Day in Singapore, the ban on political speech coming on 9 July is called “electoral silence“, a mechanism practiced by democracies around the world.

While Singapore’s Cooling Off Day lasts a single day, other countries like Japan have electoral blackouts that last up to 10 days.

Although critics argue that electoral silence may constitute unfair restraints on free speech, proponents state that electoral silences are essential to allow voters to make decisions free of bias.

Several of Singapore’s electoral campaigning guidelines are specifically created to prevent prejudice at the ballot box, including restrictions on campaigning material set up within the radius of polling stations.

Political candidates must refrain from visiting electors or attending public events in their electoral divisions.

According to electoral guidelines, candidates should not:

• Publish new electoral advertising, including online material;
• Canvass for votes in walkabouts or house visits;
• Wear badges/symbols or displaying campaign propaganda except for the party symbol;
• Hold e-rally livestreams.

However, the law allows:

• Party political broadcasts to air on television;
• Reports on newspaper, radio, television relating to election matters to be published;
• Books scheduled for publication to be released on-time;
• And private expressions of political views to be aired among members of the public.

Ready to make your vote count?

Featured Image Credit: The Independent via YouTube screengrab

Check out our GE 2020 microsite for the latest election-related news, find out which constituency you belong to, and who’s running where on the election battleground here.

Since end-June, the different political parties in Singapore have been pushing out their manifestos.

If you don’t know what a manifesto is, it’s essentially a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.

In their manifestos, the parties outlined their political beliefs and proposed some key policies. (We also did a breakdown on their respective manifestos here if you’re looking for an executive summary)

Based on their manifestos, it’s clear to see that bread-and-butter issues like CPF, jobs and housing matters remain a centrepiece beyond tackling the COVID-19 crisis.

Here’s an overview of where the different political parties stand on these issues:

1. Jobs And Workforce

2. GST

3. Cost Of Living

4. CPF

5. Housing

6. Healthcare

Check out our GE 2020 microsite for the latest election-related news, find out which constituency you belong to, and who’s running where on the election battleground here: https://vulcanpost.com/ge2020/

Featured Image Credit: HR in Asia / The Sun Daily / The Online Citizen / Ministry of Communications and Information

Here is a quick reminder of what parties can and cannot do to get your vote— and a roundup of the times when candidates crossed the line during GE 2020.

The Basics of Campaigning

Politicians typically campaign by:

• Canvassing (physical walkabouts, house-to-house visits)
• Distributing pamphlets, handouts, newsletters etc.
• Displaying posters and banners
• Advertising on the Internet
• Advertising on vehicles.

Each candidate can open one election office per polling district within a radius of 200m from any polling station.

Decorative items bearing plagues such as clothing, buttons, and umbrellas are not considered election advertising.

Ethical Guidelines

Electoral ethics advises against:

• Negative campaigning, which includes denigrating opposing candidates.
• False statements.
• Allegations of corruption or criminality.
• Statements that incite racial and religious discord or social divisiveness.

While it is unclear what words or actions constitute a violation of electoral ethics, several incidents held during GE 2020 may have flouted these guidelines.

Raeesah Khan, the Workers Party (WP) candidate for Sengkang GRC submitted a public apology after two police reports were filed against her for inciting racial and religious discord in old Facebook posts.

The People’s Action Party (PAP) has been reported on the same charges after it published a blog post calling for Raeesah’s candidature to be revoked.

The report stated that the PAP had falsely accused her of making “highly derogatory statements about Chinese and Christians.”

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has also been issued a Corrections Notice for making false claims under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

The order was issued after SDP accused the PAP of making plans to increase Singapore’s population to 10 million.

The SDP maintains that its statements are credible and has announced that it will be applying for a cancellation of the Correction Order.

On July 6, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated that opposition parties “have been completely silent on how to tackle Covid-19 during the last six months, and in this election campaign.”

In response, several parties have countered with reiterations of the policies set forth to ameliorate medical and socio-economic problems created by Covid-19 stated in their manifestos.

This selection of incidents number among the many which seem to have flouted ethical guidelines this electoral season.

It remains unknown whether mechanisms to investigate unethical campaigning will be activated once Polling Day is over.

Posters and Banners

Should:

• Bear an official stamp identifying the material as electoral advertising
• Conspicuously display the symbol of the candidate/party
• Hung on streetlamps and trees, abiding by traffic safety guidelines
• Limited to the maximum number of about 2500 for GRCs and 500 in SMCs.

Should not:

• Obscure the view of other posters and banners
• Be removed or defaced by competing candidates
• Be displayed within 50-metres of a polling station
• Display illegal material, like seditious content

On 2 July, the People’s Solidarity Party (PSP) took down over 50 posters along Clementi West which infringed on public safety.

Contesting in the same district, the PAP was ordered to take down posters which violated the same guidelines as well.

Singapore People’s Party (SPP) Williamson Lee pointed out PAP posters which had been put up without the official stamp in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC on 1 July in a Facebook post. The PAP later rectified the issue.

Persons Prohibited from Conducting Election Activities

• Students attending primary or secondary school
• Persons with an order of supervision under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provision) Act
• Undischarged bankrupts
• Foreigners.

On 2 July, People’s Action Party (PAP) Ong Ye Kung uploaded a video on Facebook discussing life in Sembawang GRC with a 13-year-old boy, Jony.

The video has since been taken down for violating electoral guidelines, and an apology was issued.

COVID-19

Physical rallies are banned and replaced by increased airtime on national television. E-rally livestreams are encouraged and candidates who go canvassing are required to maintain social distancing measures.

Film Campaigns

Only “factual and objective” films approved by the Information Media Development Authority (IMDA) can be used for electoral advertising. This includes:

• Recordings of live events
• Commemorative videos
• Factual documentaries
• Manifestos
• Declarations of policies and ideology
• News reports by licensed broadcasting agencies

Films that are “directed towards any political end in Singapore,” and “affect voting in any election” are classified as Party Political Films (PPF) and prohibited.

Film posted online do not require authorization but must comply with the Internet Code of Practice. This prohibits material that includes, among others, homosexuality and endorsements of racial and religious hatred.

Online Campaigns

Termed Internet Election Advertising (IEA), candidates can publish IEA on social media, websites, and blogs, etc. However, they are prohibited from publishing:

• Results of an election survey
• Results of an exit poll prior to the closure of polling stations
• Appeals for donations
• Facilities enabling the public to search for prohibited advertising
• PPF and other prohibited films.

All IEA must conspicuously display the particulars of the publisher, the person(s) responsible for ordering the IEA, and payment for the IEA, where applicable.

All candidates managing chat rooms or forums must ensure that there is a moderator who manages and records all messages sent during the electoral period.

Print Campaign Material

All print advertising must conspicuously display the particulars of the printer, publisher and person(s) responsible for ordering publication on the first or last page of the document.

Privacy

Candidates who obtain personal data of the electorate must comply with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).

Candidates must:

• Inform individuals whose personal data they wish to use (e.g. the use of photographs for election campaigning)
• Take security measures to prevent unauthorized access to personal data (e.g. slotting mailers into letterboxes/under doors to prevent private information from being stolen.)
• Shred personal data if there is no reason to retain it
• Purchase the Register of Electors and contact electors only for the purpose of campaigning.

Financing

The maximum a candidate can spend on election expenses is $4 per elector in an SMC and $4 per elector in a GRC, divided by the number of candidates in the group.

In GE 2015, the People’s Action Party spent over S$5.3 million in campaign monies.

The Political Donations Act (PDA) restricts the donations candidates receive.

Candidates can only receive donations from permissible donors, and anonymous donations are restricted to less than S$5,000.

Political associations, candidates and donors who have made more than S$10,000 per year must submit periodic reports to the Registrar of Political Donations.

Check out our GE 2020 microsite for the latest election-related news, find out which constituency you belong to, and who’s running where on the election battleground here: https://vulcanpost.com/ge2020/

Featured Image Credit: ICJ.org

It was good news for most Singaporeans when the government announced that the economy was set to reopen on 19 June.

However, the announcement presented a fresh problem for business owners.

They had to ensure that their employees comply with safe management measures or risk being closed. Some of these measures include implementing the national digital check-in system SafeEntry, temperature screening and split team arrangements to minimise contact.

Essentially, this also meant that employees would have to juggle different systems — SafeEntry, their company’s attendance tracking system, a temperature screening log and several other tracking systems. These, more often than not, are inherently troublesome for the worker.

If there is an all-encompassing system that can do all that, wouldn’t that be ideal?

This is where the idea of an app, called CICO, struck local human resources startup StaffAny.

Who Is StaffAny And What Does The CICO App Do?

In 2014, one of StaffAny’s co-founders, Janson Seah worked as the manager of a bar while he was studying for his degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

During his time there, he realised that the tools available to manage shift workers were ineffective and this prompted him to co-find a team of fellow NUS students and develop StaffAny while they were at Silicon Valley under the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.

Backed by NUS Enterprise, StaffAny specialises in enterprise software that helps businesses schedule staff, lets staff apply for leave easily, provides an on-site clock, smart timesheets and helps managers generate reports in real-time.

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Their clientele ranges from big chains such as Ippudo Ramen, Pezzo Group and Pandora to multi-outlet concepts such as Foreword Coffee and Tadcaster Hospitality, to fast-growing companies such as Wafuken and Populous Cafe.

After COVID-19 struck Singapore, the entire nation had to go into a semi-lockdown and only essential services were allowed to continue their operations.

Some of their clients brought up their pain points regarding the safe management measures.

“This came about through customer conversations, when we realised how worrying it is for business owners who are unsure if staff have clocked-in with SafeEntry and logged their temperatures,” said co-founder Eugene Ng.

They then requested the StaffAny team to build a solution to alleviate their concerns.

The StaffAny team thought of a contactless way to allow employees to clock in and out, record their temperatures and make health declarations while minimising physical contact: a mobile app.

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The team spent about four weeks developing the app and pushed out an initial version about one and a half weeks after the SafeEntry requirements came into force.

Called CICO (short for Clock-In, Clock-Out), the app combines elements of the StaffAny workforce management solution, which digitalises attendance process and other key information records for hourly workers into remotely accessible dashboards, with the government’s SafeEntry digital check-in system.

The app automatically redirects users to the SafeEntry website to input the required contact tracing information and sends them reminder notifications if they have not done so.

To support Singapore in its reopening, we have extended our offerings to include keying-in of temperatures and health declaration forms.

– Eugene Ng, co-founder and Head of Growth of StaffAny

For companies that have employees working from home, they also make use of the CICO app as a means to keep track of their employees’ working hours.

150 Sign-Ups In Less Than Three Weeks

They pushed out the full version shortly after and to date, more than 30 per cent of StaffAny’s 100 over clients have been using CICO at about 400 locations around Singapore.

For one of their clients, baking products supplier Phoon Huat, they started using StaffAny’s enterprise software in August 2019 and decided to roll it out to their headquarters in February this year.

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Clik here to view.

“Due to COVID-19, they wanted to switch to a contactless attendance system to minimise physical contact of their staff members,” said Eugene.

“They then implemented CICO and switched out of biometric systems quickly so that they can eliminate the need for employees to touch common surfaces on punch-card machines and biometric systems.”

Cedele, Ippudo Ramen, Pandora and other firms have also implemented the CICO app.

We’ve had more than 150 sign ups in less than three weeks and we are still seeing continuous growth so far.

– Eugene Ng, co-founder and Head of Growth of StaffAny

By developing CICO, it eliminates the hassle of having to log-in multiple times to declare health status and attendance.

In addition to the convenience of the single log-in feature, CICO provides reminders to employees, providing businesses a peace of mind that staff are complying with necessary measures. This sets it apart from any other regular HR software.

With the overwhelming response from SMEs, they have even provided free usage of CICO for companies for the year of 2020, if they sign up before 31 July.

When asked about business challenges, Eugene said that most clients have the impression that such software is complex to set up.

To resolve this, the team has been conducting group webinars on a weekly basis to educate them on how the app works — which could be easily set up within 20 minutes.

Working With GovTech To Join The SafeEntry Programme

StaffAny is currently working with GovTech to join the SafeEntry programme, and this partnership will hopefully help them develop deeper integrations of the CICO software.

The pandemic serves as a catalyst for digital transformation for many SMEs, starting with small steps like adopting the use of workforce management solutions like CICO.

“We are [in talks with GovTech] and awaiting our entry to the SafeEntry Beta programme,” said Eugene.

StaffAny will also keep in close contact with its clients, to ensure the app meets their needs while keeping up with changes to processes or regulations.

Additionally, they had plans for overseas expansion last year but it had to be halted when the pandemic hit. As a result, they refocused their efforts on developing CICO to help local SMEs.

As the COVID-19 situation [eases] in certain countries, we are looking to kickstart and enter the international market again.

Given [CICO’s] traction in Singapore, we hope to [launch in the rest of] Asia such as Malaysia and Hong Kong.

– Eugene Ng, co-founder and Head of Growth of StaffAny

Identifying Gaps In The Existing HR Landscape

This COVID-19 crisis has surfaced weaknesses in the existing digital HR landscape (e.g. lack of integration between systems) but it also offers an opportunity for HR to relook more digital ways of working in a continuously disrupted environment.

At the same time, this pandemic brings a new reality: a high demand for virtual working, with easy, intuitive and ‘pandemic-proof’ systems, accessible at any time from any location.

This is essential in maintaining the continuity of work, as almost every employee is being forced to work from home, or work remotely. Digital HR solutions come in place to help stay connected to employees.

In a bid to keep up with the digital HR landscape, HR solutions companies should increasingly be looking at new offerings that cater to work-from-home arrangements.

In turn, HR departments should continuously identify gaps in their infrastructure and make adjustments in order to thrive.

Organisations that have invested in a flexible and robust HR Technology landscape, were — and still are — able to easily and quickly respond when COVID-19 started impacting their businesses.

Featured Image Credit: StaffAny

Homegrown sports retail chain Sportslink has gone into liquidation after facing some financial woes.

This news came as quite a shock, since the store recently announced its reopening in a Facebook post on June 22 following the shift to Phase 2 of circuit breaker on June 19.

According to its liquidator, Sportslink owes a number of creditors as well as a month’s salary to employees. In total, its debts amounted to at least S$3.4 million.

One of its creditors was Adidas Singapore, which was its supplier.

A month ago on June 9, Adidas Singapore had filed an application to the High Court for the winding up of Sportslink. The latter had owed Adidas Singapore S$1.3 million in overdue trade payables since April 2018.

According to an affidavit by an Adidas Singapore director, Sportslink has partially repaid the debt and previously agreed to a repayment plan, but did not follow through with it.

By November last year, Sportslink owed Adidas about S$991,000.

The biggest creditor however, is a Malaysian sports vendor for Brooks products, who is owed S$1.2 million.

Sportslink: The ‘OG’ Sports Store

Sportslink first started out as Sports Interlink as a single store in Queensway Shopping Centre.

It was founded in 1983 by the late Lim Kau Tee, and was only registered as Sportslink four years later. Sports Link Pte Ltd (SLH) was later registered in 1994.

It started extending its reach to suburban malls in 1995 and rapidly grew in Singapore. At its peak in 2015, it had 35 outlets islandwide.

However, its Facebook post on January 22 only listed nine outlets, including a factory outlet.

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Two brands under SLH — basketball specialty store Hoops Factory and Intersports — have also shut both their stores at Queensway Shopping Centre.

Featured Image Credit: Nestia

Author’s Blurb: To many, including me, safety in our neighbourhood is a top priority. None of us wants to return home to our house burgled or worse, but in areas where communities are less tight-knit, it’s a big problem.

These sorts of issues, discussed over a regular meetup over mamak food and drinks, got the gears of ex-colleagues David and Ignatius turning.

They’d experienced or seen these in their own neighbourhoods, after all.

“It got us thinking, there must be a better way for improving communication, convenience and security in the neighbourhood,” David explained.

“We felt that it is our calling to do something about it, so we started JaGaApp.”

Covering All Bases

“When we first started JaGaApp the main challenge was educating our customers and the public in general about the need for a system,” said Ignatius. 

“We were lucky to find that the market in general was crying out for one singular platform that will enable the management of a building or neighbourhood well.”

JaGaApp is their flagship product and a mobile app designed to enhance communications between the residents, management offices, and security guards—the 3 main groups of people who comprise a neighbourhood.

It’s equipped with features such as Emergency Assist, Intercom Call, Facility Booking, Bill Payment, and more. 

Despite not being the only neighbourhood community and security app on the market, David said, “We pride ourselves in the focus we have towards our business, unlike our competition who entered the community app space from either hardware, accounting or IT-based businesses to simply complement their existing business.”

He’s also proud of the ability of their system to cope with the many customer demands, especially when they have to cater to a variety of neighbourhoods with different circumstances and SOPs.

We have quite a number of customers that are moving from a competitor’s product over to ours as the circumstances of their facilities as well as the rules and regulations imposed are simply not able to be set up due to competitor’s system limitations.

David, co-founder of JaGaApp

“To build JaGaApp to be able to cater to every eventuality without needing to resort to ‘re-coding’ for each and every site shows a maturity in the system,” he added.

In order for JaGaApp to be used effectively, all residents of the neighbourhood are required to sign up.

If there are people within the community who neglect doing so, the effectiveness of the app would be diminished as its system wouldn’t have all the necessary data. 

“Let me give you an example,” Ignatius explained. “If a resident does not sign-up, when his/her visitor arrives at the guard house, the guards on duty will not have a resident to call to verify the legitimacy of the said visitor.”

“In this instance, the SOP for the guards is to deny all visitors to that unregistered unit.”

JaGaApp charges a monthly subscription fee based on how many control points (guardhouses) there are in a neighbourhood, at a cost of RM600/month per control point.

The cost is borne by the neighbourhood’s owners association, whether it’s a Joint Management Body, Management Corporation, or Resident Association.

Saving Lives & Discovering “Perpetrators”

Emblazoned in red, the JaGaApp website proudly announces the number of neighbourhoods who’ve come to use their services (over 400 in Malaysia).

“We have a healthy mix of all sorts of neighbourhoods,” Ignatius told us. “In terms of level of affluence, we have a good mix of high-end, mid and lower-end properties.”

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As they serve quite a number of communities, they had to have some interesting stories to share about how JaGaApp has been used, which we asked them to share.

Ignatius obliged and told us, “There was a case in a neighbourhood where a resident activated the Emergency Assist function as he heard a loud commotion and suspected a case of domestic violence in a unit nearby.”

“Guards were dispatched immediately to find that, true enough, it was as suspected but unlike conventional expectations, it was the girlfriend of the tenant that was found to be attacking her boyfriend with a knife.”

Another case Ignatius shared with us was how the Facility Booking feature was able to trace the perpetrator in a rather odd and surprising case.

A group of residents who wanted to play badminton hadn’t been able to book the courts on Tuesdays at 8PM for 5 weeks straight.

Thus, they accused the management office of accepting bribes from another group and carried out an investigation.

Surprisingly, they discovered that it was actually because a member of another badminton-playing group would purposely stay up and book the slot in a “record time of 15 seconds”.

Even more surprising was that doing as such was actually still in full accordance with the house rules.

Plans For The Future

This month, they’ll be launching JaGaApp 2.0 which will be open for public download, meaning that members of the public can use the app when visiting JaGaApp neighbourhoods.

Alongside that, there’s also a new feature called JaGaID that takes inspiration from the verification process in e-wallets.

“JaGaID will play a big part in reducing the registration waiting time at guardhouses, as verified JaGaID users are no longer required to present their photo ID,” Ignatius explained. 

“We have always believed that the most important thing in business is to provide true value to our customers.”

Bottom Line: As someone who worries about safety quite a bit, I’d say that this app sounds pretty useful, although it might prove a problem to get everyone willing to download the app, especially when it comes to bigger neighbourhoods.

• You can read about other Malaysian startups we’ve written about here.

Featured Image Credit: JaGaApp

Business Innovations Generator (BIG) — the incubator managed by the Singapore Management University (SMU) — has unveiled 19 new startups accepted into the programme. This is its largest cohort yet.

The programme began in 2009, and accepts three cohorts of pre-seed and seed stage startups each year.

Early-stage startups and student founders can expect opportunities to validate their business plans and gain access to mentors and grant opportunities during this equity-free programme.

Meet the 19 startups in this cohort which span diverse sectors, from e-commerce to financial services to sustainability.

Atsell

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Atsell is an e-commerce enabler that helps merchants and brands supercharge their online sales.

The startup helps its merchants understand which marketplaces are the best for their business, boosting their success. Their team of 30 spans across two cities in the region.

Beauty Undercover

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Beauty Undercover matches discerning customers to quality salons by providing relevant information for them to make better salon decisions.

It is a platform where everyone can share their experiences, and help others discover great salons.

Captive Interactive – Live

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Captive Live+ is a digital content production and integrated digital marketing agency. The startup is focused on focused on e-commerce livestreaming and e-commerce marketing.

The team has an experience of more than 18 years in China, and is well-poised to help Singaporean brands with their e-commerce expansion plans in China.

Feige

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Feige is a digital identity and credit line marketplace for gig workers and freelancers.

According to the startup, freelancers do not fit the mould of traditional banking. It aims to solve the problem of its target customers being rejected from loan applications, under-insured, and excluded from financial advice.

Fluidlytix Asia

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Fluidlytix Asia is a water intelligent management technology that helps reduce water bills by up to 30 per cent and water consumption by six per cent.

The team has developed various valves such as the Compressible Flow Valve and Pressure-Reducing Valve, which can be installed in pipes and aids in lowering water wastage and preserving resources.

Ion Mobilility

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Ion Mobility is a tech-driven all-electric mobility company tackling a challenging and complex space.

The team is designing, developing and selling all-electric motorcycles, with a focus on Southeast Asia.

Kalpha

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Kalpha is a peer-to-peer mobile platform where individuals can discover, connect and meet up to learn and share any skills, knowledge and experiences on a one-to-one basis.

The Kalpha team believes that everyone has something to share, and thus a lot of focus is placed on the quality of the sharing session, rather than the qualifications of the Sharer.

Mantheos

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Mantheos provides data intelligence and lead generation services that supports its clients with targeted data aggregation, processing and delivery on demand.

The startup helps businesses make data-driven decisions and prevents the proliferation of outdated and inaccurate data.

ØRBIT-animal

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ØRBIT-animal offers an innovative smart device that is able to detect vital health signals of animals by leveraging acoustic signals.

It is also centered around a community of caretakers and vets, which helps to monitor animal health, and educate caretakers on how to better manage their pets’ health.

Paladium Technologies

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Paladium seeks to help business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses earn up to 35 per cent more revenue by using machine learning.

The startup matches merchants’ products and promotions to relevant potential new customers based on the consumer’s preferences and purchase history on various platforms. This helps to drive higher conversions for merchants.

Pogmothoine

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Pogmothoine is an online shop and platform serving a community of vintage-lovers. Its vision is to “make vintage clothing affordable, while creating an inclusive community run by youths, for the youths.”

The startup specialises in the procurement and sale of hand curated vintage designer and streetwear apparel. 

QuikChef

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QuikChef started with the idea of bringing convenient, quality, and storable hawker food to one’s doorstep.

Delivery costs often outweigh food prices, and the startup aims to solve this problem by serving Singaporeans with affordable, vacuum packed food that just need to be reheated before consumption.

Ridr

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Ridr is a delivery aggregator. It is an all-in-one online parcel and food delivery search engine that comprises data from food services companies, SMEs and online sellers.

It began as Hop Express in 2018, and is headquartered in Thailand. The startup’s Singapore operations is supported by partners with a strong expertise in IT and blockchain.

Sealed

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Sealed is the first Southeast Asia-focused expert network. It is tech-enabled, and connects organisations with expert insights to plug knowledge gaps.

The startup is currently serving investment funds, management consultants, corporations, and more.

Sekoni Original

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Sekoni Original creates beautiful and quality watches that inspire a better appreciation of time. 

The startup was born from an identified gap in the watch industry — the lack of a product that sat perfectly in the overlap between design, quality and price.

Twimbit

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Twimbit aims to create exponential impact for every business and individual through the power of research.

It is a tech-based knowledge firm which provides information and advisory to individuals and companies. The team aspires to change the way research is produced and consumed.

Unistop Tech

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UniStop Tech provides an automation vending store system that is based on robotic technology and information technology.

It allows for easy maintenance on store owners, hassle-free transactions for customers and helps the retail industry save rental and manpower cost.

Version22

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Version22 is an automation consultancy that helps forward-thinking businesses strategise, craft and maintain automation solutions

It helps companies get started with their digital transformation journey by automating repetitive, mundane and inefficient business processes through software.

Vita

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Vita is a platform that allows a retrenched worker to objectively prove their resume claims through ex-employer feedback.

It is designed to help great workers shine and seen for their actual work contributions, and performance, throughout their career.

Starting Up In A Crisis

Due to COVID-19, the entire incubation programme for the 19 startups will be conducted virtually, which is a first for BIG.

The COVID-19 pandemic and global economic uncertainty have not stopped these startup founders from pursuing innovation and entrepreneurship.

In fact, some of the most iconic global startups today such as Slack and Airbnb, were all created during the last Great Financial Crisis, said Hau Koh Foo, director of SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE).

Despite the economic uncertainty, the BIG programme has continued to receive a high volume of applications on the back of a vibrant local startup community.

At IIE, we encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to leverage on our strong in-house expertise, network of partners, as well as the strong government support during this unprecedented period to build companies of tomorrow.

– Hau Koh Foo, Director of SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE)

Featured Image Credit: Justina Lim via Linkedin / Sekoni Original / Jacob Chee / Kalpha

Everyone has aspirations — it could be as simple as studying overseas, to living in a swanky penthouse.

Regardless of what your dreams are, they all have one thing in common: they cost money. With the high cost of living in Singapore, the price tags of these life milestones are also set to increase.

Here’s when financial planning comes into play. It involves defining our goals and priorities, allowing us to understand how much each goal costs so we can better budget and manage our cash flow.

With that, we deep-dived into how much each major milestone of a typical Singaporean costs so that you can have an idea of how much money you will need and start your financial planning early.

1. Getting A Degree

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Since young, we have been instilled with the ritual of studying hard, doing well in exams, getting a degree and scoring a well-paid job. It almost sounds formulaic but this has been the norm for many Singaporeans.

While having a degree doesn’t necessarily mean job stability, it can help pave the way for a comfortable life.

With Singapore’s strong focus on sophisticated skill sets to drive the economy, a degree may simply serve as an added protection against competition in an increasingly globalised world.

In fact, according to data from SingStat, Singapore residents aged 25 years and above with a university education consists of 23.7 per cent of the entire local population in 2010, and that figure has increased to 31.6 per cent in 2018.

If you are thinking of getting a degree, the estimated course fees at the local universities (both public and private institutions) range between S$24,600 and S$39,600 for Singaporeans if we look at the latest numbers from the 2020 intake.

These are estimations based on three-year general courses, and exclude the more expensive courses like medicine, dentistry and music.

If you are thinking of studying overseas however, the tuition fees are generally more costly and you will also have to consider accommodation and other living expenses.

At this point, you may want to consider getting an Education Loan at a low interest rate of 4.5 per cent and with flexible repayment options, whether you would like to study at a local private institution or overseas institution.

How much you would need to get a degree: At least S$25,000

2. Starting A Business

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Instead of being a salaried employee, there are some Singaporeans who yearn to start their own business and be their own boss.

The basics of starting a business is to first identify a consumer pain point before coming up with a product or service that helps to resolve it and meet their needs.

Let’s say you are planning to set up an IT software startup. You may need to hire a developer to create the software, a salesperson to sell your software, and a part-time accountant for the company’s finances for a start. Depending on their work experience, salaries may work up to between S$132,000 and S$195,000 a year, using the EDB calculator.

In the first year of operation, you may be looking at renting a co-working space or hot desk (as we ease back to the ‘new normal’ of work) since the company size will be small. With the same calculator, office space costs alone will come up to between S$14,400 and S$25,200.

There are also services that are typically required when setting up a company in Singapore such as incorporation and company secretarial services, which cost from S$1,000 to S$2,000.

The total first-year expenses would come up to between S$167,100 and S$252,000. Of course, you can choose to do away with some of these costs such as opting for remote working to save on office costs, or undertake some of the paperwork yourself to reduce expenses.

This calculator from the Economic Development Board (EDB) is a helpful tool that lets you have a rough idea of what you need to consider before setting up your company.

How much you would need to start a business: Up to S$252,000

3. Getting Married

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A wedding in Singapore typically costs somewhere between S$30,000 and S$50,000, though extravagant weddings can cost significantly more (i.e. more than S$100,000).

The biggest components are the wedding banquet, bridal package and honeymoon. There are also other costs to consider such as wedding rings, dowry, solemnisation and wedding photography.

Wedding banquets form the biggest bulk of the costs, averaging about S$30,000, while the bridal package can cost up to S$6,000 and the honeymoon up to S$8,000.

How much you would need to get married: S$50,000

4. Renovating A House

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Buying a house is a huge investment and you may find your savings exhausted after paying for the down payment and fees.

Receiving the keys to your new home doesn’t mean that you can move in right away. You would still have to spend on renovation and furnishing before you can move in, which typically averages $46,806, unless you buy a furnished condo which can lower down the costs.

There are also maintenance costs, property taxes and other miscellaneous fees to add to the final figure.

How much you would need to renovate a house: S$48,806

5. Raising A Kid

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Having a child is not just an emotional commitment; it’s a financial one as well. Parents have to provide for their children until they are old enough to care for themselves financially.

This usually amounts to about 20 years of financial responsibility for your child. What does that mean in dollars?

There is no universal standard cost for raising a child but it is possible to crunch some figures and get a rough estimate of what it would cost to have a child.

Parenting magazine SmartParents came up with a summary of the costs associated with each stage of a child’s life:

The grand total cost of raising a child in Singapore easily totals to more than half a million dollars — and that’s not even taking inflation into account.

How much you would need to raise a kid: at least S$670,000

Achieve Your Life Goals With A Personal Loan

It’s clear that the different life stages cost substantial money and you may be cash-strapped to achieve these milestones, especially when you are still in the early years of your career and have not accumulated much savings.

That doesn’t mean that it’s not possible for us to achieve these life goals. To lessen the financial burden, you can consider getting some financial help from the bank instead.

There is nothing wrong with taking a personal loan. It does not mean that you have a cash flow problem — in fact, it helps you to have better cash flow management so that you wouldn’t find your savings depleted suddenly.

Many might not know this, but the cost of borrowing via a personal loan is lower than a credit card interest charge (typically 25 per cent per annum). This means that borrowers can stand to enjoy interest savings and a higher loan balance.

The cost of taking a personal loan is also typically lower than that of an SME loan (typically 7 to 13 per cent). That said, taking a personal loan is a worthy consideration for entrepreneurs to fund their business.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the different personal loans from OCBC Bank:

If you would like to find out how much you have to repay monthly based on the amount you would like to borrow, you can use the online loan calculator which can be found on the personal loan pages. From there, you can decide which loan is ideal for you. It’s really easy and convenient!

For more information on personal loans from OCBC Bank or to apply for one, you can check out its website here.

This article was written in collaboration with OCBC Bank.

Featured Image Credit: First Cry Parenting / TWENTY20 / GettyImages / Property Guru / Patkoproperty

In the span of the past 4 months, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) had launched 6 alternative funding initiatives for companies seeking financial relief during the MCO.

Their sixth and latest one is called Founders Grindstone. It’s positioned to elevate the proficiency of startup founders to navigate the complexities of fundraising and fulfil demands by potential investors.

As neither the press release nor the webpage on Malaysia Digital Hub was able to fully answer our questions about Founders Grindstone, we brought them to MDEC’s funding team instead.

Here’s everything that we managed to learn and confirm so far about the initiative.

1. What’s The Main Objective Of Founders Grindstone?

MDEC’s funding team told us that the main objective of Founders Grindstone is not to obtain funds, but to enhance founders’ capabilities, skills and knowledge in the areas of fundraising (including legal obligations and corporate structure).

In turn, this will hopefully increase their chances of fundraising, whether through subsequent engagements post-Founders Grindstone workshops or independently.

2. How Long Will This Initiative Last?

Founders Grindstone is a 6-month programme that consists of 3 batches of intensive workshops, with 2 workshops being held per batch.

3. What Workshops Are There?

The workshops will be conducted by global partners from venture capital firms, equity crowdfunding operators, startup-centric media and the legal practice.

The first batch of workshops will be conducted virtually by MDEC and Draper Startup House Ventures (DSH) on July 15, 2020 where participants will be guided on creating effective pitch decks and persuasive storytelling.

Once that’s over, startups can submit their pitch decks on DSH’s platform and 20 chosen ones will be invited to pitch in the coming weeks.

The top 10 startups will be initiated to the Draper Ventures Network and get access to 23 global funds.

The timeline for DSH’s workshop is as follows:

• Registration Deadline: July 12, 2020
• Workshop Deadline: July 15, 2020
• Pitch Deck Submission Deadline: July 12-24, 2020

Another workshop will be held on July 29, 2020 by Izwan & Partners to provide knowledge on the legalities involved in the funding process.

The type of knowledge shared will include the statutory requirements of fundraising, insights on venture capital financing and exposure to terms sheets, investment instruments, cap tables, valuation, and other compliance matters.

• Registration Deadline: July 24, 2020
• Workshop Deadline: July 29, 2020

You can register for this first batch of workshops here.

4. Do These Workshops Cost Anything?

According to MDEC’s funding team, there is no monetary cost for the Founders Grindstone workshops that startup founders will have to bear.

“However, depending on any subsequent engagements with partners post-Founders Grindstone workshops, there might be costs involved depending on our partners’ requirements,” they added.

5. Who Will These Workshops Be Open To?

All tech startups (whether B2B, B2C, or B2B2C) at any funding stage (from bootstrap and pre-series all the way up to Series D and above) are welcome to join.

Do note though that if a startup is looking to have subsequent special engagements with the workshop partners (if any), their eligibility to do so might depend on certain requirements set by that specific partner on a case by case basis.

6. How Can I Stay Up To Date With These Workshops?

Startups can stay up to date with everything about Founders Grindstone on either Malaysia Digital Hub’s (MDH) website, or the MDH Facebook group.

• You can read more about what we’ve written on MDEC here.

Featured Image Credit: MDEC

Here are our top picks of the best free book and comic apps and websites on the Internet! If you’re sick of hitting a paywall every time you get to the best part of a novel–trust us, we are too.

That’s why we made it our personal mission to find 100% free apps and websites to read books, comics and manga on the interweb. That means total, unlimited access to content, not just free-to-download.

Whether you’re sitting at a desktop or on-the-go, you’ll always have a novel in your back pocket.

Libby

The Libby app serves over 50,000 libraries in 78 countries around the world and turns borrowing digital. It is a favourite app for serious bookworms, and offers its users thousands of e-books and audio books curated by your local library.

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If you have a Singaporean National Library Board (NLB) account, you can download the app and sign up for a Libby account. You can then start downloading e-books and read offline for free for a borrowing period of between 14 and 30 days.

Singapore’s NLB offers titles from acclaimed authors like Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, and Agatha Christie on Libby. Curated collections of novella, including Singaporean Literature, Mysteries and more are also available.

Libby is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Inkitt

The world’s first reader-powered publishing platform, Inkitt contains over 236,000 free-to-read stories written by 75,000 authors.

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An algorithm calculates the best-seller potential of a novel on Inkitt based on reader engagement. Inkitt then chooses content with the highest potential and publishes it.

To date, the app has published 46 bestsellers since its inception. That includes novels like The Millenium Wolves, Just Juliet, Esper Files and Caged.

Inkitt is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Galatea

The sister app to Inkitt, Galatea publishes Inkitt originals as interactive, immersive short-form content. Galatea works with over 20 Hollywood screenwriters and professional writing team to hook its readers.

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This new form of storytelling uses vibrations, as well as video and sound effects, to engage the next generation of readers. All content on Galatea is free, but be warned — the app is still a little clunky.

Galatea is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Wattpad

The world’s largest repository of web novels, fan-fiction and Hollywood gems, Wattpad remains the world leader in free digital fiction with over 80 million readers worldwide.

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Stories from Wattpad have been adapted into movies, including the Kissing Booth and after on Netflix, and Light as a Feather on Hulu. Novels are available in over 50 languages.

Wattpad is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Webtoon

The undisputed king of web comics, Webtoon last recorded over 50 million monthly users on its platform in 2018. The app has spring boarded the careers of many an aspiring artist, while keeping its content 100% free.

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Readers can view Webtoon originals: sponsored and curated content, or opt for Webtoon canvas: organically submitted content. Hidden gems exist in all categories.

Users also have the option of paying extra for early access to the next episode. Our top titles on the app include Darbi, Sword Interval, My Giant Nerd Boyfriend and Space Boy.

Webtoon is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Honorable Mentions:

Kindle

While most books exist behind a paywall, many remain free-to-read on the Kindle store.

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Our top titles include classics like The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations.

Kindle is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Shonen Jump

While paid membership is needed to access all the titles available on the platform, the first and latest three chapters of the titles on Shounen Jump are free-to-read.

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If your goal is to keep up with award-winning titles like One-Punch Man, My Hero Academia and Chainsaw Man, Shonen Jump is perfect!

Shonen Jump is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

Marvel Comics

This pop culture megalith releases free chapters and series on the Marvel Comics App every week.

It’s a great way to gauge which titles you’d be willing to purchase or borrow, though the rest of the series are hidden behind a paywall.

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However, with immediate-release titles like Ms Marvel, The Amazing Spiderman and All New X-Men available on the platform, the price to pay sure is worth it.

Marvel Comics is available for download on the Google Play and the App Store.

And that sums up the Vulcan Post’s pick of the litter! Do you agree that these are the best free apps and websites for books, comics and manga online? Let us know if we missed anything out in the comments below. Have fun reading!

Featured Image Credits: The Sweet Setup

This year’s general election (GE) has been a rollercoaster ride for both Sinagaporeans and the various political parties from the start till the end.

The events that happened this election season, from Ivan Lim’s hasty exit from the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP), to Worker’s Party’s (WP) Raeesah Khan being under police investigation for posts discussing race and religion, are certainly ones that Singaporeans will remember for a long time.

As GE 2020 is coming to an end soon, let’s revisit some of the most memorable quotes of this election by the various political candidates:

1. Ivan Lim On The Social Media Backlash He Received

Ivan Lim was announced as a PAP candidate for Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) on June 24. He received huge backlash online by former classmates and colleagues for his alleged bad character and poor conduct.

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In response, he released a press statement on June 27 declaring that he was “determined” to stay in the running.

When I agreed to enter politics, I expected that it would be tough. The test has come sooner than expected.

– Ivan Lim, ex-PAP candidate

On the same day, he announced his withdrawal from GE 2020 and the PAP.

2. Lee Hsien Yang On Voting The PAP

This election, Lee Hsien Yang — estranged brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong — formally joined the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP).

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Though the move was shocking, it was likely expected by Singaporeans as Lee Hsien Yang has publicly challenged the PAP time and again. Last July, he said he “wholeheartedly” supported the newly-formed opposition party.

It is possible to be loyal Singaporeans… To recite with pride ‘We the citizens of Singapore’, to love Singapore, and yet not vote the PAP.

– Lee Hsien Yang, PSP member, in a live video message on June 24

Though Lee is not contesting in GE 2020, he has officially joined the battle with the opposition against the incumbent PAP.

3. Jamus Lim On A PAP Mandate

The WP candidate captured the hearts of Singaporeans during a live political debate with his eloquence and collected demeanour.

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He reportedly won the approval of Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who even asked for his opinion at one point in time.

What we are trying to deny the PAP is not a mandate. What we’re trying to deny them is a blank cheque.

– Jamus Lim, WP candidate, during a live political debate

PAP candidates Chan Chun Sing and Indranee Rajah fired back the next day, saying that the PAP would never have a blank cheque due to its accountability to Singaporeans.

Nevertheless, many will agree that this is possibly one of the winning quotes of GE 2020.

4. Vivian Balakrishnan On Singapore’s Projected Population

Foreign Minister and PAP candidate Vivian Balakrishnan traded blows with Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan in a live political debate on July 1.

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On the topic of Singapore’s growing population, Balakrishnan crushed the claim that the government had set a target population of 10 million for Singapore.

Let me state, for the record. We will never have 10 million. We won’t even have 6.9 million.

Vivian Balakrishnan, Foreign Minister and PAP Candidate, during a live political debate

Chee had cited a Straits Times report of a dialogue Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat had had last year.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) later released a statement saying that the government had no intention to increase the country’s population to 10 million.

It has since been noted that the number was not cited by Heng, though there has been a lot of confusion over the source of the number.

5. Pritam Singh On Ownself Check Ownself

In a party broadcast on July 2, WP Secretary-General Pritam Singh warned against the possibility of power falling into the wrong hands.

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PAP self-checking can fail. If the wrong people show their true colours only after reaching our highest offices, Singapore is finished.

– Pritam Singh, WP Secretary-General, in a party broadcast

He was referring to a statement by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong from 2015 when he said the incumbent PAP were “our (their) own checks”.

6. Michael Fang Amin On Ministers’ High Paycheques

Michael Fang Amin from the Peoples Voice Party (PV) represented the party during a political broadcast on July 2.

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Besides calling the income disparity “obscene”, he also said the PAP’s policies regarding immigration, housing and healthcare were “disastrous”.

The Prime Minister earns $2.2 million a year whilst a cleaner may earn only slightly in excess of $14,000. In other words, the Prime Minister earns almost 152 times than that of a cleaner.

– Michael Fang Amin, PV candidate, during a party political broadcast

However, PV’s manifesto is all about making “Singapore our home again,” and Fang’s speech puts into perspective the income inequality between the elite and lower income groups in Singapore.

7. Victor Lye On Aljunied GRC

The PAP candidate argued during the Aljunied constituency political broadcast that the residents and community should come before politics.

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His comment was addressed to the residents of Aljunied, where he is contesting. The PAP team questioned if Aljunied was merely the check and balance system for the country, denying a blank cheque to the PAP.

Aljunied is yours – not someone’s political hostage. It should be about your lives, your jobs and our future. It’s time. Bring us home.

Victor Lye, PAP candidate, during a constituency political broadcast

Wrapping up, Mr Lye said that the PAP team “can do better” for Aljunied residents. Since 2011, Aljunied has been the only opposition-held GRC in Singapore.

8. Raeesah Khan On Race And Religion

Police reports were filed against Workers’ Party’s Raeesah Khan concerning comments she had made online in 2018 on race and religion.

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She made an apology to the public together with WP leaders and her team running for Sengkang GRC. She added that she would fully cooperate with police investigations.

I apologise to any racial group or community who have been hurt by my comments. My remarks were insensitive, and I regret making them.

I feel passionate about minority issues, regardless of race, and in my passion, I made improper remarks, and I have to be accountable for them.

– Raeesah Khan, WP candidate, in an apology to the public

Many netizens commended her for her sincerity, and was quick to compare her to former PAP would-be-candidate Ivan Lim who dropped out of the race without a similar apology.

9. Heng Sweet Keat On The East Coast Plan

Last but not least, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat’s speech on Nomination Day at East Coast GRC caused a stir amongst Singaporeans islandwide.

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Within a few hours, memes were already appearing all over the Internet. Some companies even came up with merchandise for the East Coast Plan.

We also have a plan for the East Coast. We have a East Coast Singapore… We have a together at East Coast Plan. We care at East Coast.

– Heng Swee Kiat, Deputy Prime Minister and PAP candidate, during his speech on Nomination Day

Though everyone might support different political parties, most can come to the consensus that this is the winning quote of GE 2020.

If you would like to relive these quotes in action, we’ve also made a video compiling our favourite moments of the election. Which is your favourite?

Check out our GE 2020 microsite for the latest election-related news, find out which constituency you belong to, and who’s running where on the election battleground here.

Featured Image Credits: Raeesah Khan via Facebook / Mothership / Reuters Allsingaporestuff / AsiaOne / People’s Action Party

Author’s Blurb: It’s safe to say Malaysians are quite spoilt for choice when it comes to food deliveries. We have so many apps to choose from that we probably have several of them downloaded to cross-check prices for the best deal in terms of overall meal cost.

Packed, a food delivery and pickup service, was created to make things easier for street food vendors when it came to food deliveries. 

The idea for Packed was conceived during a casual Saturday meetup over burgers. Cha En and Amirrul noticed that food vendors faced some problems when it came to food deliveries.

“We noticed that most street food vendors manage their orders via Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger (which is cumbersome) and made payment via cash, and sometimes customers might not show up at the end and the merchants need to bear the loss,” said Cha En, the co-founder of Packed. 

“We believe that we have a responsibility to provide a working solution that can support the business of small and micro food vendors.”

Exclusivity Isn’t Welcome Here

When you think “street food”, you think hawker stalls that sell homely dishes such as kuey teow and chicken rice, or roadside stalls that serve local favourites such as cendol, apam balik, or Ramly burgers. 

Scrolling through the mobile app, however, I got the impression that a number of these restaurants didn’t fall under the category of what you’d normally consider street food. 

The array of restaurants that Packed showcases include places like small cafes, boba tea shops, Western-style steakhouses, and burger joints.

“To us, we try not to limit or gatekeep the definition of street food vendors,” Cha En explained. 

“They could be a home based seller that sells Grilled Chicken Pasta from her home, a street burger vendor, or a startup small cafe owner. The rough idea is their operations are small and can benefit from Packed.”

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In order to be part of Packed’s delivery services, restaurants are first required to undergo a registration process, which will confirm important things such as their business verification, whether they’ve gone through training in food handling, and if they’ve been medically examined. 

There are around 120 vendors working with Packed, and the team has plans to get more on board by spreading awareness through social media and one-on-one interactions.

Obstacles To Tackle

“But aren’t there already established food delivery services such as foodpanda and GrabFood?” you might ask. “What’s special about Packed?”

Indeed, the food delivery service industry in Malaysia is pretty saturated, and the players mentioned are also able to cater to street food cravings.

Furthermore, loads of new players are making their way into the market, with logistics and car-sharing startups wanting a piece of the pie too.

Cha En, however, believes that the uniqueness of Packed comes from the benefits that their vendors enjoy.

“Packed allows vendors to take charge of their food business; edit menu from their smartphone, open or close their operation temporarily, enable call reminder notification,” he explained.

This means vendors aren’t dependant on the platform itself to update necessary details, and any updates can be reflected immediately without delay.

Unlike the 30% sales commission fees larger platforms may charge, Packed charges a 5% sales commission fee plus a 3% online payment processing fee.

For new merchants registering during the RMCO, Packed is offering a 0% sales commission (excluding the online payment processing fee).

Packed does not operate its own fleet of delivery riders, and instead outsources deliveries to third-party logistics startups like MrSpeedy and, soon, BungkusIt.

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Thus for customers, the delivery fees may be slightly higher than what you’re used to on foodpanda or GrabFood.

We foresee that this might actually be a big problem for Packed when it comes to customer acquisition, particularly for their target market of Malaysians who want cheap street food.

If I were to use the app to order food that’s under RM10 and I get hit by a delivery fee that’s equivalent to, or higher than, the cost of my meal, you can bet that I wouldn’t make the purchase.

Based on what we can observe thus far, Packed offers vendors an attractive proposition, but not every customer may be able to benefit from Packed’s services.

In the end, if Packed is unable to acquire customers, the vendors won’t get anything out of it either.

Better Deals For Vendors & Customers

Packed is currently focusing on converting its user base (situated mainly around Klang Valley) into beta testers, who can provide feedback on how they want to use Packed. 

Hopefully, this will give the team more insight on how to better the customer experience.

Despite the challenges that Packed has faced due to the saturated market, Cha En also expressed firm plans on pushing forward. 

“Packed is also emphasising on helping local F&B merchants to increase dine-in/walk-in sales by launching a discount listing feature called Packed Promo%,” Cha En stated. 

“Business merchants can list their dine in discount with us for free of charge, while users can search nearby deals and get discounts when dining in.”

Bottom Line: While Packed’s motive is good, I believe that they’ll need to put in lots of effort and work to rise above the other food delivery businesses. As a customer, being spoilt for choice is good, but it can also be overwhelming, and I might just resort to using a service that I’m already familiar with.

• You can read more about other Malaysian startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Packed

Nazreen is a software engineer who’s currently in London doing his Masters in Political Philosophy.

During the early stages of lockdown, he wanted to watch something on Netflix with his friend, but since they couldn’t meet, they needed a way to watch it online together, in sync.

A quick search led Nazreen to Netflix Party, a popular Chrome extension which had seemed promising at first.

“We tried to use it but somehow for my friend, it didn’t work. It was also quite confusing with regards to how to get it started because you had to wait for the icon to turn red and if you weren’t on the right page, clicking the icon does nothing,” he recalled.

“Going to the comments section of Netflix Party’s Chrome Web Store page made it obvious that it wasn’t just my friend who has issues using it.”

They ended up being unable to watch Netflix together, as some other solutions they came across didn’t work either.

Disappointed, Nazreen toyed with the idea of building an alternative the next day and pitched his idea to his flatmate and friend, Kumbirai. Over the weekend, they created the first prototype of Watch Netflix Together.

“We knew we wanted to make this as simple as possible, so that was probably the biggest challenge—to come up with a design that would be friendly to users,” Nazreen said.

The Same Concept, But Made Better

When it comes to accessing entertainment, convenience is key. Netflix Party doesn’t address this demand well enough.

Firstly, you had to learn how to use the extension on the Netflix Party website, and then teach your guests how to use it too.

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Out of the 5+ times I’ve tried to use Netflix Party, it has either been a hit or a miss. Sometimes it will simply tell me “Invalid Session ID” and I can’t even start the watch party, and the other times I can get it to work will be after some wrestling with the extension (refreshing, refreshing, and refreshing).

I had someone else try to host a party for me too just to see if it was a “me” problem, but he couldn’t get it to work well, or at all, either.

As it wouldn’t be fair to compare the two without trying them both out, I had downloaded Watch Netflix Together too.

While Watch Netflix Together is almost perfect for the lazy consumer because instructions are given each time the extension is in use, we did have a little trouble on our first try.

However, once we learnt to give it a second or two for the extension to activate, getting it to work each time was easy, and guests literally have to do nothing more after clicking the link you give.

Emojis are an important part of chatting nowadays, and on Netflix Party’s Patreon (donation) page, they’ve said that they’re working on implementing emoji support, but it’s been months without any progress update.

Meanwhile, Watch Netflix Together already has a few emojis such as the “heart eyes” and “surprised face” ones.

The only real complaint I had about Watch Netflix Together was that there would be a bit of a delay or lag on guests’ screen when the host skips around to different durations of a show.

This was the only advantage I saw Netflix Party having over Watch Netflix Together, and I asked Nazreen if he would be addressing it.

“Yes! We’ve identified the reason for this and will be rolling out an update to make the syncing less delayed,” Nazreen promptly replied.

“The priority up until now was to just make sure first that the sync was working. Now that it’s been validated (we even had 400+ users in a single session late June, working fine), we’ll be optimising it.”

Aside from improving the syncing algorithm, he revealed that they don’t want to add too much to the extension.

“The main point is to enable people to watch things together on Netflix. We’ll be monitoring the usage and making sure that our servers can support the incoming sessions.”

The version you’d see now has been updated from what it looked like in its earlier prototype days, as Nazreen and Kumbirai got the help of a UI/UX designer friend, Ali.

Netflix Parties For (Almost) Everyone

At the moment, they’ve attracted over 1,000 users, with about 20+ new users a day.

“Funnily enough, we have most of our users from Latin America, with the rest coming from the US and Malaysia. The Malaysian share of users is around 30%,” he added.

Just like for Netflix Party, all guests who wish to join must have a Netflix account of their own as well, as you need to sign in to access the watch party.

Unfortunately, Watch Netflix Together also isn’t a way to access content that your region’s Netflix doesn’t carry.

For example, The Office is available in the US but not in Malaysia, so you wouldn’t be able to watch it in a watch party hosted by your friend in the US anyway.

“This is because we are not circumventing any restrictions set by Netflix. We don’t want to get into trouble for violating any of the streaming arrangements they’ve made,” Nazreen explained.

To keep Watch Netflix Together running, there are server costs that Nazreen and Kumbirai need to cover. However, they refuse to charge users for its use.

We don’t want to set a paywall for this because we love making cool things that are useful to people. We set up the Patreon to give people the option to chip in for server costs and also ‘tip’ us if they feel like the extension is of value to them.

Nazreen, developer of Watch Netflix Together

As our interview came to an end, he told us that Watch Netflix Together was actually microproduct number one of many more to come.

“I’ve convinced Kumbirai to embark on this microproducts journey where we’ll build a lot of tiny apps that will be of value to people, but we’ll go about it in a very rapid prototyping sort of way.”

“Our next microproduct is based around the idea of getting things done. It’s when you’re all alone at home and want to get things done, but lack that tiny push to get started,” Nazreen teased, adding, “I already know that a lot of people will love it.”

To that, I’d say sign me up, because that sure sounds like something I need.

• You can check out the Watch Netflix Together Chrome extension here.

Throughout the MCO, popular escape room operator Breakout was unable to open, so the team decided they needed to momentarily pivot.

They came up with personalised gift puzzle boxes called The Enigma, and during our interview about that, they also shared something else they’d been working on which was in the final stages at the time.

It was Breakout’s live online escape room. Ka Wai, co-founder of Superdough, the company behind Breakout and Hauntu, had told us that it would differ from other online escape room experiences in one major way: it involved live actors.

On June 26, Breakout launched it, and we at Vulcan Post later got the exciting chance to review it.

A 2-Way Act

The only other online escape room experience I’d had was a card game version, digitised and put on Tabletopia.

It was called Escape Tales: The Awakening, was free and quite fun to play with friends, but it lacked immersion.

On the other hand, without giving too much away, Breakout’s online escape room experience utilises a live actor, online and offline puzzles (that you help the live actor solve), CCTVs, virtual meeting tools, and even social media.

Where you’d usually have a physical room for immersion, here it comes from the integration of social media platforms as part of gameplay, where you trawl forums and profiles for clues.

To really enjoy the experience, you have to play along and tamper any initial awkwardness you might feel about acting your role.

The first and only storyline for now is called Finding Chris, and you play as a group of hackers hacking your way through the internet to find someone named Chris, with a few initial clues to get you started.

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5 people max with their own devices are allowed to play per 60-minute session. Trying to host more than 5 people could destabilise the overall connection and affect the experience, hence Breakout’s limitation.

Superdough’s Head of Operations and Experience Design, Johnny told us that the inspiration for Finding Chris came from a movie called Searching, which he highly recommends watching.

The puzzles for Finding Chris revolve around decoding and finding patterns and clues in materials, and actually weren’t too difficult.

As proof, our very capable team managed to solve them all in the nick of time and complete the game.

Halfway through it, we actually thought we were running out of time fast, but I came away surprised by how the puzzles were just the right levels of difficulty to be solved in 60 minutes, no more and no less, for us at least.

Different From What We’re Used To

Crafting the right puzzles starts with the storyline, Johnny said.

“With a good storyline, I will be able to picture the most suitable interiors for the escape game theme. Then I will use whatever props that make sense to the interiors and use it as puzzles.”

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However, creating the puzzles was also one of the biggest challenges they faced. The initial puzzles were first tested by their colleagues, and the average time they took to solve it was within Johnny’s expectations.

But testing it with actual players online revealed that they took much longer, so he quickly amended the puzzles for better player experience.

They tested at least 8 groups before settling on the final version of the puzzles, and Johnny shared that the flaws they experienced in the beginning was thanks to how different the flow of the game is.

“One of the examples is players were not reading our pre-game instruction and failed to prepare the things needed before the game started, hence it delays the game starting time.”

“The solution we have for this is to shorten the instruction and only mention the important ones, then we ask them to start the session earlier in order to have some setup time if required, if everything goes well, we will just start the game earlier for them,” he added.

Just follow the instructions given, and as long as nothing unexpected happens like your virtual meeting tool not working properly or your connection dropping, the game should begin and run smoothly.

Throughout the game, you’re able to ask for clues from someone who acts as the game master, as they help you start the game and will check on your progress at intervals, which was reassuring.

To date, about 200 people have tried Finding Chris, and they hail from countries all around the world like the US, Saudi Arabia, London, Australia, Singapore, and more.

From Meeting Room To Live Set

Interestingly, the live CCTV recordings of a room you’ll see during Finding Chris is actually a meeting room at Superdough that was transformed.

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One funny titbit that was also shared was that their neighbours would sometimes get scared due to the live actor shouting during their performance.

As they had limited budget due to the pandemic, they had to brainstorm on how to be resourceful in creating a quality product.

“Then one of my partners triggered me that why don’t we utilise some of the props that we have created before MCO for our new room,” Johnny added. “That is where my ideas started to be flowing in my mind.”

He couldn’t have done it alone, and took this opportunity to thank his team for pushing past their comfort zones in coming up with great ideas.

As Breakout has no live actors, the team recruited their Hauntu actors for Finding Chris instead, and those of us who had played Hauntu before definitely saw a familiar face or two.

At RM238 per session, it’s pricier than the RM190 for 5 people in a physical Breakout game, but I believe that it’s because the setup is more complex, and there are the salaries of the live actors to consider.

I can confidently say that being the first live online escape room experience that Breakout has created, it’s as flawless as can be.

“Right now, with a more stable operation and first continuing to reach a larger market worldwide, I believe this is a business model we can further explore,” Johnny shared.

This model is also a permanent feature of Breakout now, as it caters to those who are still more paranoid about physical escape rooms during the pandemic.

If Finding Chris’ story isn’t your thing, then rest assured, as Johnny said that they will definitely build more themes for their online live experience.

• You can read more on what we’ve written about Breakout here.

Hotel guests everywhere face a common predicament: long waiting lines to check-in.

In fact, a study from Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality found that just a five-minute wait at check-in causes guest satisfaction to drop by 50 per cent.

But what if there was a way to make the process quicker, easier, and leaner?

This is where GTRIIP comes in. It’s a local startup that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically verify photo IDs and owners, thereby significantly reducing the time taken to check in a guest by 70 per cent.

We speak to GTRIIP’s founder, Maxim Tint, on what inspired him to design a digital solution to eliminate time-consuming check-in processes and facilitate contactless check-ins during Covid-19.

How A Frequent Traveller Reinvented The Check-In Process

It was during his frequent work and leisure trips that sparked Maxim to develop a document-less check in system to get into places like hotels, offices and member clubs.

The self check-in process eliminates the need for paperwork at the hotel’s front desk and helps to reduce the check-in time to less than five minutes.

The Stanford University’s School of Business graduate shared that whenever he took a flight, he had a particular pain point: filling up the immigration form.

And when he arrived at his hotel, he had to go through the same process of filling in registration forms. Vexed with these manual processes, it prompted him to do something about it.

When we started, the problem we were trying to solve was very broad. We were fed up with paper forms and registration cards, and believed humans should be able to travel without physical documents.

– Maxim Tint, CEO and founder of GTRIIP

In fact, at that time, digital identity solutions were still new and unprecedented.

Fast forward six years later, GTRIIP is a leader in contactless check-in procedures for hotels.

With just a smartphone, a hotel guest can easily book a room, check in remotely and verify their identity with a selfie — matched against their passport image — upon arrival.

The app serves as a “pocket concierge” by allowing guests to skip the process of queuing and waiting at the hotel lobby to be issued physical key cards to their rooms.

A digital key will be presented to the guest through their phone, which they can immediately use to access the lift lobby and their respective room.

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Calling themselves a “digital identity platform for global citizens”, he added, “This was our vision while I was travelling and staying in hotels. This was also our inspiration to create a digital identity solution.”

GTRIIP does not provide a hotel with a property management system (PMS), but we complement how guests’ information is being populated from their smartphones into a PMS.

All the necessary information is sent directly from the guests’ smartphones to the hotel’s PMS, eliminating the need for any paperwork.

– Maxim Tint, CEO and founder of GTRIIP

As this no longer presents the need for the physical exchange of documents, this technology was especially essential when social distancing measures have to be observed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Clearly, this product comes at an opportune time given that the world is lifting travel restrictions.

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Once inside the room, GTRIIP yet again provides digital smartphone access to a wide array of features.

Too cold? Adjust the temperature on your screen. Feeling hungry? Open the digital menu to order. Need more pillows? Tap on the e-concierge button. Have a burning question you need answered? Contact a staff member using GTRIIP’s chatbot function.

Decreases Check-In Time By 70 Per Cent

According to The Singapore Tourism Board, it takes around 10 minutes to complete a typical check-in — two minutes to verify the guest’s profile, three minutes to record the profile, two minutes to process payment, two minutes to assign a room, and one minute to issue a room key. And this is assuming there’s no check-in queue.

GTRIIP allows a check-in to happen in less than five minutes, without compromising on security, said Maxim.

“It is challenging for hotel front desk staff to tell the difference with good accuracy between people who look alike with their own naked eyes, or reject a check-in because of this uncertainty.”

“Having technology such as computer vision to consistently provide this level of accurate verification of guests in real time allows the hotels to automatically detect if a person attempts to check-in with a fraudulent passport,” he added.

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Maxim added that he views companies which provide physical kiosks as competition. However, he emphasises that the key differentiation that GTRIIP offers is affordability, sustainability and scalability.

“When we are rolling out the software that runs on your existing smartphone that you already own, it’s a much more affordable and sustainable solution, while at the same time being more easily scalable.

“That’s the reason we can roll out to 13,000 rooms in such a short time. It would have been an uphill battle if we were trying to do that with a physical kiosk,” he said.

Additionally, in a post Covid-19 world, physical kiosks are not practical and a contactless check-in process would be something that travellers will consider before they book a hotel room.

Facilitated Over 1 Million Check-Ins

GTRIIP has completed over 1 million check-ins globally, and currently serves over 13,000 hotel rooms and office access points.

It counts Park Hotel Group, Amara Holdings Limited, Top Hotel Casino Group in Macau among their clientele.

For conglomerate Park Hotel Group, they had done a test drive of GTRIIP at its Singapore’s Grand Park City Hall Hotel. Following that, the Group has already started discussions about rolling out GTRIIP’s contactless check-in solution to the rest of the group.

Another hotel chain Amara Singapore, is already using the GTRIIP solution at Tanjong Pagar. Currently, the group is also implementing this solution at Amara Sanctuary located in Sentosa island.

A major hotel casino group in Macau, Top Hotel Casino Group, has implemented GTRIIP solution in all of their five properties.

Before employing the GTRIIP solution, guests used to take more than an hour to check-in at their properties. This has since been shortened to less than 10 minutes with GTRIIP’s contactless software.

Our hotel customers have chosen to adopt our contactless check-in software because it cuts down guest check-in time from an average of 10 minutes to two minutes.

With the optional mobile key feature for some hotels with smart locks, it could become as fast as 30 seconds, because we could even send their room key to the guest’s phone, even before arrival at the hotel. 

– Maxim Tint, CEO and founder of GTRIIP

The hotel casino group is also in the process of extending the contracts for all properties for the next five years.

Working With Government Agencies

As the technology and the very concept of binding biometrics to a human identity was still new when they first started, they had to work together with relevant parties — often government agencies — to ensure that this (GTRIIP’s digital solution) is safer, and more secure than paper documents, and make it fully compliant with regulatory frameworks.

This is a typical example of an innovation, just like ride-sharing or accommodation-sharing, that is ahead of regulations that are currently in place at the time. It took us two years to get to this stage.

– Maxim Tint, CEO and founder of GTRIIP

Fortunately, in Singapore, organisations like Singapore Hotel Association and Singapore Tourism Board were very supportive of innovations like this.

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Through them, GTRIIP was able to further their conversations with Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration Checkpoint Authority to ensure that their biometrics-based digital identity technology is secure and compliant with all the regulatory frameworks.

Taking initiative to engage with authorities early from research and prototyping stages of our product features was important, added Maxim.

Raised S$2.1 Million To Date

The company has raised a total of US$1.5 million (S$2.1 million) in funding over three rounds.

In 2018, GTRIIP raised US$1 million in their Series A funding from connectivity solutions provider M1.

In early 2020, they secured their Series B funding round for an undisclosed amount. The latest investors to come onboard include Japanese VC firm Global Brain, through the KDDI Open Innovation Fund No. 3 (KOIF), which manages the investment portfolios of the major Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI Corporation.

Other investors include Kepventure Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, a Singaporean multi-business company focused on sustainable urbanisation and Accord Ventures, a Japanese VC firm.

GTRIIP projects that its revenue for 2019 will hit about US$2 million, and triple to US$6 million in 2020.

They are planning to raise their next round of funding potentially in 2021.

Implementing Contactless Check-Ins To More Hotels

With Covid-19, hotels across Europe reported single-digit occupancy rates in April. Singapore has also been hit, with occupancy rates plummeting by around 30 per cent in February.

In Singapore, GTRIIP’s customer hotels are enabled with the Singapore Tourism Board’s E-Visitor Authentication (EVA) system, reducing guest check-in time at the front desk by 70 percent.

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Currently, with countries starting to lift travel restrictions, more hospitality providers are looking to reopen safely and win back consumers.

To make this possible, hotels are turning to contactless check-in technology to reduce direct contact between guests and staff. Due to this trend, there has been an increased demand for GTRIIP’s “contactless” check-in solution.

We are currently talking to five international hotel chains to roll out the GTRIIP contactless solution to all their properties. We have engaged them for more than one year and discussions are at an advanced stage.

We receive an average of 10 inquiries per week from the hotels that are looking to provide a “contactless solution” to their guests.

– Maxim Tint, CEO and founder of GTRIIP

Besides that, GTRIIP has also embarked on a robust Value-Added Reseller (VAR) program globally. The resellers are essentially GTRIIP’s extended teams in key markets. They will represent GTRIIP to sell and provide first level support to the hotel clients.

It also has plans to diversify its product lines into new verticals and launch specialised products for other commercial properties, such as tenant access and visitor access.

The company is set to onboard more developers, engineers, researchers, client success specialists and sales team members.

Currently, they are focused in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka markets.

Why Were Contactless Check-In Systems Not Widely In Place?

This COVID-19 crisis has forced the hospitality industry to recognise the challenges in this environment and relook into their ways of doing business.

As we gear up for country borders to reopen and travel to resume soon, travellers will still be very cautious about international travel.

Hoteliers have realised that they must implement a contactless check-in solution like GTRIIP immediately to welcome guests whilst adhering to social-distancing guidelines.

This also begs the question: Contactless check-in systems have been present before pandemic days, but why were many hotels still using physical check-in counters, kiosks and issuing physical room cards?

Authorities worldwide should enable the feasibility to relax existing rules and allow all hotels to adopt the facial recognition system as a means for guests to check-in.

This will ensure that they can continue to be in business as people seek to maintain social distancing from other people. One of the travel trends set to emerge after the Covid-19 pandemic is a shift towards private rental properties over crowded hotels.

In order to get guests to patronise them, hotels need to ensure that they take full responsibility for their guests’ safety.

Additionally, a digital check-in solution would also shorten the time taken for guests to check-in and allow hotel employees to “focus on higher value-added tasks”.

Featured Image Credit: GTRIIP

On July 11, Singaporeans woke up to a new reality. The watershed general election (GE) of 2020 had come and gone, and major shifts seem to have happened in Parliament.

With 83 out of 93 seats, the People’s Action Party (PAP) — also Singapore’s incumbent government since independence in 1965 — managed to achieve the “strong mandate” that it asked for.

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Though they managed to retain their supermajority in parliament, the PAP lost a significant amount of political ground.

The incumbent party relinquished two Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) — Aljunied and Sengkang — and Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC) to the Workers’ Party (WP).

The party’s 61.24 per cent of the popular vote was also the second lowest percentage since independence.

We have a clear mandate, but the percentage of the popular vote is not as high as I had hoped for.

– PAP’s Secretary-General Lee Hsien Loong.

It is clear that Singaporean voters are trying to send a strong message to the government and the nation — what is it, and what can we take away from the GE 2020 results?

Singaporeans (Not Just WP Supporters) Want Change

This year, with the exception of MacPherson and Mountbatten SMCs, the PAP had a reduction of votes in all the constituencies it ran for (except the new ones).

How did this happen? The opposition had the odds stacked against them.

Elections held during periods of crises tend to correlate to a vote swing in favour of the PAP, due to the flight to safety mentality. In the GE 2001, the PAP received a handsome 75 per cent vote share when voters decided to opt for stability.

Furthermore, physical rallies which opposition parties tend to rely on heavily to reach out to voters were disallowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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According to Eugene Tan, a law professor and former independent MP, most Singaporeans believe in checks and balances.

This is exactly what the opposition parties capitalised on this election to rally Singaporeans. For example, the WP’s campaign slogan was “Make Your Vote Count” and denying the PAP a “blank cheque” was a point that resurfaced during many speeches.

Furthermore, these points are further supplemented by the electorate’s bid to reject “gutter politics”.

Besides WP, which is arguably the strongest opposition party in Singapore, other parties also made significant inroads into many wards during the GE 2020.

The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) narrowly lost West Coast GRC with about 48 per cent of the popular vote.

In addition, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) also had its best showing since the 1990s. Its Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan scored 45.2 per cent against PAP’s S. Murali in Bukit Batok, while SDP chairman Paul Tambyah won 46.26 per cent of votes in Bukit Panjang

This points to a strong possibility that Singaporeans islandwide are ready to embrace alternative voices in parliament and accept a variety of different parties into parliament.

Personality Politics: The Jamus Effect?

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The personality of politicians could be a key factor in determining the votes of the electorate.

Though the PAP’s vote share fell significantly in nearly all wards, some opposition teams fared better than others.

Noticeably, Sengkang GRC was won over by WP’s young four-man team. Besides He Ting Ru who had previously run in GE 2015, all members were new faces.

However, the presence of Harvard-educated Jamus Lim in the team could have been a strong selling point for the Sengkang electorate.

The WP candidate stood out in this year’s election. He emerged as a rising star during a televised political debate, which saw him capturing the hearts and minds of Singaporeans.

Other candidates with a strong showing such as Chee Soon Juan of SDP or Tan Cheng Bock of PSP had already managed to build up their personal brand name through years of being in the political scene.

Social Media Is Important, Even In Politics

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This year, many young millennials and even members of Generation Z cast their votes for the first time. People in these age groups are typically fervent social media users, and spend more time on social media than traditional media.

Most opposition parties made good use of social media and networking sites to reach out to young voters.

80-year-old PSP chief Tan Cheng Bock became an internet sensation with his attempts to incorporate millennial and Gen Z lingo such as “hypebeast” and “woke” into his social media postings.

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According to Tan, this is was a way for him to reach out and better connect to the younger electorate.

You know how much time I spent learning all these new words, my friend? I earn my votes, I never expect them.

– PSP Chief Tan Cheng Bock via TodayOnline

The WP also put up an impressive online campaign, which many netizens lauded. The party’s introduction video spread like wildfire on the Internet, garnering more than 15,000 likes on Facebook.

Becoming A Post-Materialist Society

A materialist society concerns itself with material needs, bread-and-butter issues, physical and economic security.

In contrast to this, post-materialists strive for self-actualisation and values like liberalism.

In the e-rallies of WP’s Sengkang candidates, issues such as social inequality and climate change were highlighted. This seemed to resonate with the younger voters.

According to sociologist Tan Ern Ser of the National University of Singapore, Singaporeans might be adopting “higher-order, post-materialist” values.

This year’s unique elections has laid the foundation for opposition parties to gain a foothold in their various wards.

Though it remains to be observed if the rejuvenation of opposition parties has created a new dawn for Singapore, the years leading up to the next elections will be some interesting ones to watch.

Featured Image Credit: EPA-EFE / Roslan Rahman via AFP

Homegrown snack brand Irvins has become a household name in Singapore.

It’s well-known for its salted egg snacks and many tourists have been spotted lugging several bags of it back home, making it a quintessential Singapore souvenir.

Founded in 2015, Irvins was started by serial entrepreneur Irvin Gunawan.

The Indonesia-born first moved to Singapore with his family back in 1998, and has dabbled in various F&B ventures over the years.

His first company was Cocoba, which is a wordplay on chocolate bar.

“The first project I wanted to [embark on] was a chocolate cake café, inspired by the many I found in Tokyo,” explained the 34-year-old.

“Unfortunately, for one reason or another, it never got launched so I went back to the drawing board and found that my family had a few recipes of Indonesian food.”

This led to the opening of his first restaurant Chilikong in Tanjong Pagar in 2007. It never broke even, and shut down in a span of two years.

The closure wasn’t surprising since rental is more expensive in the central business district and footfall isn’t the best on weekends.

Despite the failure, Irvin went on to open a few more restaurants, namely Irvin’s Seafood Cze Char in 2008, Irvin’s Live Seafood House in 2011 and Leban HK Café in 2012.

The zi char restaurant at River Valley did well, until they were forced to move out at the end of their contract.

“The landlord increased the rental by almost 50 per cent, so we had to start from zero again,” lamented Irvin.

Business unfortunately didn’t do well after the relocation. The seafood house was “deep in the red every month” so they had to find a way to boost sales.

The answer to this was salted egg snacks.

Striking Gold With Salted Egg Snacks

Irvin first sold salted egg potato chips and fish skin as a side dish on the menu, before offering it as a packaged snack that customers could buy over the cashier counter.

During that time, salted egg crab was clearly the number one signature dish, so we thought, what other things can we put in the menu with salted egg?

We created about 10 or so dishes, of which the potato chips and fish skin were the most popular. The other dishes were salted egg chicken, salted egg tofu, salted egg enoki mushroom and salted egg vegetables tempura, just to name a few.

– Irvin Gunawan, founder of Irvins Salted Egg

The salted egg snacks were a hit — sales multiplied by five or six times, and surged during festive seasons.

He had a “good feeling” that people would love the salted egg snacks, he never dreamt in a million years that it would take them this far.

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They did it with a blank canvas and experimented till they stumbled upon the final recipe, which turns out to be a goldmine. What was initially created as an added revenue stream eventually became his main revenue stream.

Although the restaurants are no longer around today (he shut them down to focus on Irvins), they served as an “important” foundation in building the business.

“It wasn’t rocket science,” he said nonchalantly in a separate interview with The Straits Times.

He recounted that their chef used to spend about six hours in the kitchen with two or three helpers, frying potato chips and fish skins before coating them with their signature salted egg sauce.

They couldn’t make enough back then because it’s all home-made. Now that they’ve gotten the process, recipe and consistency down, they can finally produce more.

“The way we hand cook and the ingredients we use have not changed — we just do it in a larger scale,” said Irvin.

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Its packaging however, has seen a revamp from a plastic bottled container to the current snack pouch, which was crucial in extending its shelf life to one year.

When it was bottled, it had a shelf life of only three weeks, making it nearly impossible to export the snacks.

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Irvins has also innovated beyond just salted egg potato chips and fish skin — it has since released different salted egg variations, from cassava chips to popiah skin to pineapple tarts.

“Most of our products are received positively, as we are very strict in what we release to the world,” said Irvin.

They Grew The Business With No Advertising

The growth in the early days however, was very slow.

They didn’t have any marketing budget to advertise their business; people knew about their brand purely from word-of-mouth.

Word [traveled] from one customer to another, so from the inside, I saw a slow incremental growth month-to-month.

My brother Ircahn was really engaged with Facebook and Instagram, and handled the social media platforms, answering every one of customers’ queries. We served with our heart and really took care of each and every customer — I think this was really important in building the brand in the early days.

– Irvin Gunawan, founder of Irvins Salted Egg

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Irvin’s brothers — Ircahn (COO) and Ivan (CFO) — joined the business in 2015 and are now helping him to manage the business.

Due to shortage of funds, they also had to undertake many hats in the early days. “We simply didn’t have the money to hire specialists,” said Irvin.

For example, Ircahn and his wife Keshia, hand-drew the first two factory layout themselves. They didn’t have any expertise or knowledge in industrial designing — Ircahn was a movie graduate, and Keshia was fashion designer.

“This is the sort of can-do spirit that pushed our brand forward. We didn’t complain, we just did it,” he said.

Stepping Out Of The Snack Zone

Irvin started out with restaurants and later focused on the salted egg business. Now, he has come full circle and ventured back into the F&B space.

He wanted to literally “shake things up” by letting customers shake their own zi char-inspired takeaway bowls.

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Called Messy Kitchen, it is his latest two-in-one concept at Wisma Atria that sells Irvins’ regular snack offerings as well as their new range of bowls, sides and desserts.

Beyond salted egg flavours, they also have other offerings like truffle rice or noodle bowls.

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They are taking their move into hot food so seriously that they’ve brought in the ex-head chef of Irvins Seafood to create the bowls.

“My personal favourite is the spicy truffle noodle with lala. We have a great team led by chef Heng Yong Chua who played a key role in my previous restaurants. I wanted to showcase his talent and the team’s creativity [with Messy Kitchen],” said Irvin.

‘Could the new offerings potentially hint at a new truffle-flavoured snack from Irvins?’ I probed.

“Unlikely, as truffle-flavoured snacks are not new in the market,” said Irvin, adding that they are looking to continue to introduce other new flavours to the Messy Kitchen.

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When it comes to the snack, Irvins has launched its first non-salted egg flavour — fish head curry fish skin — which is a nod to Irvins’ zi char roots.

In fact, chef Heng was the one who came up with the snack’s recipe after being inspired by the claypot fish head curry served at Irvin’s restaurant.

Conquering The Global Snack Market

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Irvins has enjoyed steady popularity not just in Singapore, but also overseas.

Today, they are available in nine countries, including Dubai, United States, China, Japan and Taiwan.

In Singapore, they have 12 outlets and booths, and are also available in 7-Eleven convenience stores and Cold Storage outlets islandwide.

It’s not uncommon to see snaking long queues at its stores, to the extent that certain outlets have had to impose purchase limits to each customer.

When asked about their business expansion strategy, Irvin said that they have been “courageous.”

We are not afraid to give something a try even if that means failing and making mistakes all the time. But we are also careful when it comes to choosing who we partner.

– Irvin Gunawan, founder of Irvins Salted Egg

“Finding good suppliers who want to grow and be your partner long-term, whose focus is on quality, not short-term money-making, (is a challenge),” he said.

In a previous interview with Nikkei Asian Review, Irvin also said that they are not looking to open tens of stores in each country.

While physical stores might work as marketing tools, majority of customers will get its products through online resellers. The growth of e-commerce in Southeast Asia means that Irvins does not have to expand its physical footprint to grow its business, he added.

It’s not like 30 years ago, people can always buy online. You need to have a good distribution hub, but nowadays you only need a few stores and then the rest [of the customers] you can reach online.

– Irvin Gunawan, founder of Irvin’s Salted Egg in an interview with Nikkei Asian Review

Irvin acknowledged that the snack market is very saturated and competitive. To stand out from the crowd and last in the game, achieving and maintaining “quality” is key.

This is why when Irvins faced a PR storm early last year involving a dead lizard found in a snack packet, they knew there was only one way to go about it: they apologised to the affected customer, and offered refunds for batches of its snack.

While the incident did affect sales, it also garnered respect from customers who lauded the way they handled the issue. Rather than avoiding it or giving excuses, Irvins tackled the situation head-on and learnt from its mistake to provide a better experience to its customers.

Moving forward, Irvin said that they have “stepped up [its] very stringent control [and] will continue to uphold the high standards of ‘made in Singapore’.

It’s clear to see that Irvin holds its homegrown status in very high regard. Sharing more about his future business plans, he said that they will continue to “create many more exciting, innovative products” so more people in the world can get to know Singapore food.

Wrapping up the interview with a piece of business advice for fellow entrepreneurs, he stressed that it’s important to adopt a can-do spirit.

Don’t keep on practicing in your room, you have to put yourself on the stage and perform. There will be days when you fall, but you have to get back up and persevere.

– Irvin Gunawan, founder of Irvins Salted Egg

Featured Image Credit: Peter Guest via Nikkei Asian Review

Since the start of the Circuit Breaker this April, most Singaporeans have been denied the opportunity to travel abroad. Many have cancelled their vacation plans and are pining for their next holiday.

It is uncertain when leisure travel will be resumed. So for now, the travel-starved have to content themselves with having staycations instead.

Luckily, hotels have been applying to accept staycation bookings, and there are now 18 hotels approved by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) which can accept staycation guests again.

Hotels Approved For Staycations

The STB has released the following list of hotels that are available to take staycation bookings with immediate effect:

• Capella Hotel, Singapore
• Crockfords Tower
• Hotel NuVe
• Hotel YAN
• lyf Funan Singapore
• Marina Bay Sands Singapore
• Oasia Hotel Downtown
• ONE15 Marina Club
• Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road
• PARKROYAL On Beach Road
• Raffles Hotel Singapore
• Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel
• Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa
• The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore
• The Fullerton Hotel Singapore
• The St. Regis Singapore
• The Warehouse Hotel
• W Singapore Sentosa Cove Hotel

A Different Staycation Experience

Having a staycation in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic will surely be a different experience from what we are used to. The STB has also issued a circular on the rules and regulations that hotels and guests have to follow.

Check-In Process

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Every guest has to have their temperature taken before entering the hotel. Guests will also be visually screened to ensure they are not unwell and exhibiting symptoms such as sneezing or coughing.

The total occupancy in the lobby is limited to no more than 1 individual per 10 sqm of space, so do expect staggered check-in and out timings. Social distancing rules also have to be adhered to.

Every individual has to wear a mask within the hotel, except in their rooms, when engaging in strenuous activity or when eating or drinking.

STB also recommends implementing online check-ins, suspending valet services, and serving welcome drinks in guest rooms instead of the lobby.

Guest Rooms

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No more than five individuals are allowed to gather in any room, so large parties are definitely out of the question.

To minimise human interaction, hotels have been recommended to serve in-room dining via autonomous delivery technology, or simply leaving the food outside guest rooms. STB has also recommended hotels to provide mini-bar items on request only.

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Strict cleaning and disinfection measures have also been put in place to ensure a high level of hygiene in each room.

Those concerned about cleanliness will be pleased to know that carpets and upholstery will be deep cleaned in between guests, bed linen will be washed at high temperatures, and hospital-grade disinfectants will be used, amongst other measures.

Sports and Recreational Facilities

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Hotels are required to follow the measures set by Sports Singapore with regard to sports and recreational facilities.

In swimming pools, a three-meter distance must be maintained between groups and groups cannot have more than five people. Booking systems for facilities might be implemented to deal with capacity constraints.

Food And Beverage Establishments

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Many can agree that a breakfast buffet spread is the highlight of every hotel stay. Unfortunately, self-service buffets will be suspended for now.

Hotel restaurants and bars also have to comply with safe distancing measures and contact tracing rules.

Staycation or Vacation?

There’s no telling when we will be allowed on a flight out of Singapore. For those with a bad case of wanderlust or desperately in need of a break, a staycation might just be the next best alternative.

It might not be all bad — with the safe distancing measures in place, hotel patrons can expect smaller crowds and more peace and quiet.

Featured Image Credits: Capella Hotel Singapore

Looking at SEA Gamer Mall now, it’s hard to believe it began in a small bedroom.

An engineering graduate and avid gamer, Wong Ong Hua began SEA Gamer Mall in 2008, after being introduced to the in-game virtual goods secondary market by an online friend from China. 

When co-founder Tommy Chieng applied for a job there in 2010, Wong was still running the startup from his home, with 12-13 staff helping him out. 

“Mr. Wong wanted to hire someone to manage in-game virtual goods inventory,” Tommy recalled. 

“I remember that during the interview, after the formality of getting to know my background and experience, Mr Wong asked if I played any games. I said ‘no’ and told Mr Wong that his website sucks.”

A move like that might get you booted from the office, but Tommy had his backup. He’d done research on the company’s online presence, as well as the structure of SEA Gamer Mall’s website. 

Using what he knew, he told Wong about the shortcomings of the website and how it could be improved. 

Impressed, Wong hired Tommy as a supervisor instead.

From Room To “Mall”

About half a year later, Wong and Tommy had a talk about growing the company. 

“During the conversation, he told me about how he wanted to share the company with his staff, including me,” Tommy remembered. “I was shocked and surprised because I was very new in the company.”

Wong also had a new proposal: for Tommy to work alongside him in growing the company. Accepting the challenge, Tommy worked 12 to 14 hours a day to improve.

Finally, in 2012, the two co-founders officially established SEA Gamer Mall, after a buy-in from an external investor. 

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Making Real $$ From Game $$

SEA Gamer Mall is a company that distributes global goods and services for gamers, game devs, and publishers. 

The things they sell mainly revolve around digital prepaid codes and gift cards that gamers can redeem to get in-game currency or items.

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There’s a huge market for these types of goods in Malaysia and even overseas, and SEA Gamer Mall’s customer base is proof of that. 

“We have more than 2.4 million users and the majority of them are from Malaysia,” Tommy revealed. “In terms of the largest region, we have more than 1.2 million users in the SEA region.”

Other countries include China, Thailand, India, and Indonesia.

Despite having such a huge customer base, SEA Gamer Mall’s headquarters have steadfastly remained in Sitiawan, Perak.

According to Tommy, this was because Wong dislikes the city life, and therefore has elected to stay in his hometown. 

Benefitting From The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many businesses to its knees, but SEA Gamer Mall has safely evaded its clutches.

In fact, their business has gotten better during the pandemic. 

“We’ve definitely benefited from COVID-19 due to the lockdown in most countries,” Tommy said. “More people are playing games for longer periods of time, and that translates into more spending by gamers.”

With the pandemic accelerating their revenue, they’ve already achieved 65% of their projected revenue of RM500 million for 2020.

“Based on the current run rate, it’s on track to hit and break above that figure,” Tommy added. 

He predicts that they would achieve the revenue amount by September or October 2020. In 2019, they netted RM386 million in total revenue.

Some of their strategies to hit their target is to:

• Create more videos and articles to increase engagement with the gaming community,
• Run more targeted promotions in line with game releases and other publisher events,
• Increase overall brand awareness.

“Although we are a well known brand among gamers, there are still a lot more of them we could reach out and convert them into paying customers,” Tommy said.

“In Malaysia alone there are more than 20 million gamers. We want to capture a bigger market share in Malaysia and grow other markets along, especially SEA region.”

They’ve partnered Touch ‘n Go eWallet, Boost, GrabPay and Paypal to run campaigns, and have also sponsored prominent gaming influencers and eSports teams to expose SEA Gamer Mall to the gaming communities.

Change From The Inside

SEA Gamer Mall has had its fair share of problems, especially in the beginning phase.

These problems included high staff turnover, malicious attacks on their site by third parties, and payment fraud, which is a pretty serious problem.

“A fraudulent transaction is a double whammy loss—loss of payment to chargeback as well as the delivered goods,” Tommy stated.

They used to have an average fraud rate of 4-6% in the past, but since automating and improving their fraud management capability, it’s dropped to an average of 0.5%.

To overcome the high turnover rate, they focused on restructuring the organisation and its working hours, and implementing better staff benefits.

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The latter includes paid-for gym and swimming pool memberships and badminton court bookings. So far, these have worked out well.

In order to achieve their 5-year vision, Tommy shared that they’re identifying more talents to grow their organisational capabilities, and are making investments in the local startup ecosystem too.

“We have allocated some funds to invest in startups in the payments, gaming/entertainment related platform and eSports organisations.”

“If successfully executed, I believe the investment would help further diversify and grow our business,” he concluded.

• You can read about other Malaysian startups we’ve written about here.

Featured Image Credit: SEA Gamer Mall