Plenty of companies have been making true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds within the past years, so it’s rare to see wireless earbuds with a neckband.

When the Sudio Elva came my way, I thought it looked outdated.

They’re designed for the active lifestyle, so even if they fell out of your ears while jogging, you have the neckband that keeps them from falling to the ground.

That was helpful in my case, especially when tucking my hair behind my ears.

TWS earbuds would always fall to the ground from that motion, but with the neckband, they didn’t fall far and I could just pick them back up and stuff them into my ears.

The last time we saw a design like this was in Sudio’s Tre line from 3 years ago.

It didn’t come with a neckband, just a tangle-free wire to drape around the neck and hold the two earbuds together. 

However, you’ll see me using Sudio Fem and Sudio Ett as a point of comparison in this piece, as these were their latest models this year and also what I had access to in terms of their wireless earbuds.

Plenty To Unpack

It came in a compact box packed with plenty:

• Sudio Elva neckband earphones
• Sudio Flyg Bluetooth flight adaptor
• USB-A male to female adaptor (for Sudio Elva)
• USB-C to USB-A (for Sudio Flyg)
• 5 additional pairs of ear tips
• Owner’s guide for Sudio Elva
• Owner’s guide for Sudio Flyg
• Warranty card and information

The Sudio Elva has an interesting way of charging. Its left earbud has to be detached from its cable with the three-button controller.

Hence, it’s impossible to use them while charging, but that’s not something I would usually do anyway.

Rated IPX5, it’s splash, rain, and sweat proof so it’s suitable for workouts.

There are little magnetic rubber nodes that clip the earbud cables together. It’s adjustable along the length of its tangle-free wires to ensure that you have the option to secure them together in different ways.

A control panel is placed on the left side with 3 buttons. The middle button is to turn the earphones on and off, play-pause and answer calls.

Double-click will change the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) mode. Press-and-hold for 5 seconds during power-up will set up Bluetooth pairing.

Sudio Flyg comes along with these earphones.

It’s a device that lets you plug into any headphone jack, whether on your phone, computer, or TV to give it Bluetooth capabilities.

That allows you to pair not just the Sudio Elva, but any wireless earbuds to them, which makes this package an attractive deal.

It has 2 foldable connectors meant for plugging into an in-flight entertainment system, and a stereo plug to use for normal audio devices with a 3.5mm jack.

It’s unlikely that people will be using this much on flights given the current situation, so it might not be very useful to have until travel becomes safe again. Not to mention that most devices nowadays already have Bluetooth functions. 

I tested the stereo jack with my computer and it worked as it should. To pair, I had to hold down the Sudio Flyg’s only button and place the Elva close to it.

How Did They Sound?

Based on my brief tests with Sudio Fem, it seemed to lack definition in every area.

Sudio Ett, however, had a more well-rounded balance between higher and lower tones.

Bear in mind that my taste in music mostly consists of pop and musicals. Much to my surprise, the Elva performed well for both.

You can choose between 2 modes, ANC-off and ANC-on. I used them in the office throughout the work day.

The noise cancellation was able to drown out the sounds of my colleagues’ loud clicky mechanical keyboards, as well as the hum of the air conditioner.

Using the ANC-off mode, the best way for me to describe how my music sounded was as if I was standing outside a concert hall with the door closed.

It sounded similar to the Sudio Fem. Its treble was metallic, and lacked definition. The bass sounded ever so slightly better than the higher pitches.

Once I switched to ANC-on though, the tables were turned. Mid-tones and trebles sounded much fuller, better balanced, but the bass became “tinny”. 

Its overall volume got louder, which feels as if I finally walked into the concert hall where the music was actually playing.

When it came to calls, I could hear the other person clearly, and I was told that I sounded clear, albeit a tiny bit muffled.

Verdict

In terms of audio quality, Sudio Elva are a good pair of earphones for me. Especially with the ANC-on putting emphasis on the trebles of the music I frequently listen to.

Comfort-wise, once I changed the bud tips to the XS size, it fit snug and didn’t fall out of my ears even during my jog.

Its neckband grew on me. Being someone who finds in-ear earbuds tiring to wear all day, I liked that I could drape it around my neck when I didn’t want them in my ears. 

Unfortunately, the neckband made it a hassle to keep in my bag. I couldn’t just wind them up like a regular pair of wired headphones due to its stiffness. 

For battery life, Sudio claims it has a 15-minute quick charge for 1-hour listening.

With a full battery, it’s supposed to get you 11 hours of playtime for music and 10 hours with the ANC-on mode.

It’s worth noting that Elva can pair with multiple devices at a time, like I did with my laptop and phone.

When turned on, it will automatically connect to the device most recently connected.

In order to switch devices though, you would have to first disconnect Elva from the device you are currently using and repair with the next device you want to pair to. 

When you purchase a pair, you get free worldwide shipping as well as a 12-month international warranty.

• The Sudio Elva earphones + Sudio Flyg will launch on September 14, 2020, and will be priced at RM599, according to a Sudio representative.
• Each purchase of the buds online at the official Sudio website will come with a free card holder.
• For a 15% discount, enter the code WIRELESS15 at checkout.

VP Verdict is a series where we personally try and test out products, services, fads, and apps. Want to suggest something else for us to try? Leave a comment here or send the suggestion into our Facebook page.

Waze, the Google-owned navigation and mapping service, will lay off 5 per cent of its global workforce, said its CEO Noam Bardin in an email announcement to employees.

This equates to about 30 people out of its 555-strong global workforce. It did not mention how many of its Singapore staff are affected.

All affected employees will receive a severance package that includes career transition opportunities within Google, outplacement services, financial help and eligibility for year-end bonuses, and healthcare benefits.

Waze said the retrenchment was partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw its users driving less or stopped driving altogether, resulting in them using Waze less for their daily navigation needs.

Fewer eyeballs on the app resulted in decreased advertising revenue for the company.

Acquired by Google in 2013 for a reported US$1.1 billion (S$1.4 billion), Waze has seen a plunge in both monthly active users and driven kilometers, the metric by which the company measures how far its customers drive while using Waze.

Global Weekly Driven Distance Decreased By 70%

In April, Waze laid out in a blog post that its customers drove 60 per cent fewer miles in March, when lockdowns started going into effect, as compared to February.

Those figures worsened as the pandemic stretched on. Waze says that at one point during the lockdown, global weekly driven kilometers were down 70 per cent.

Since June, Waze has begun to see a recovery of driving as people returned to work in countries where restrictions have been lifted. Globally, the company says it’s back to pre-COVID driving levels.

“This has forced us to rethink priorities and we have decided to focus our resources on product improvements for our users, accelerate our investments in technical infrastructure, and refocus our sales and marketing efforts on a small number of high-value countries,” said CEO Noam.

Closing Its S’pore And APAC Offices

His note added that Waze’s advertising sales team will “pare back and focus on the key markets that drive 93 per cent of revenue and carry 95 per cent of kilometres driven we sell in”.

This means the company will close its sales offices in the Asia-Pacific — in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia — as well as in its smaller Latin America markets of Colombia, Argentina and Chile.

It will continue servicing these countries through increased investments in Waze Local Starter — a self-service advertising solution that businesses can use to promote their physical stores via a pin on the Waze map.

Previously, ride-hailing apps Grab and Gojek had also cut jobs to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak as people stay home and avoid going outdoors, leading to a drop in demand for transportation services.

Last Friday (4 September), Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament that all 356 bus services in Singapore are in the red with commuter numbers plunging due to Covid-19.

Before Covid-19, only 11 bus services, or three per cent of all bus services here, were profitable, according to Minister Ong.

Pandemic-related layoffs continue to happen, with the recent case of Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group’s retrenchment exercise — cutting about 4,300 positions across its three airlines — as Covid-19 batters the aviation industry.

Featured Image Credit: Bloomberg

The global pandemic has grounded planes and will potentially cost the global travel industry US$2.1 trillion (S$2.87 trillion).

Airlines around the world are reeling and things haven’t been going well for Singapore Airlines (SIA) as well.

Last month, SIA announced that it had burned through at least half of the S$8.8 billion it raised through share sales in less than two months.

Yesterday, SIA also announced that over 2,400 positions may be cut across all three of its airlines — SIA, Silkair and Scoot. That’s almost 9 per cent of its total headcount.

Fail-safe measures are unlikely to pull the industry back from the brink.

However, “Flights to nowhere”, like Royal Brunei’s in-flight dining experiences and Eva Air’s “Hello Kitty plane” have been remarkably popular, selling out seats and gaining waiting lists for their next round of flights.

Clearly, there’s a travel itch that’s waiting to be scratched. Flycations may become the next-best thing to flying overseas, and potentially a new source of the travel dollar.

There are rumors flying about how the “flycation” trend is going to hit Singapore soon.

A “Flycation SG” Survey Making Its Round Online

A “Flycation SG” survey has been circulating the internet, launched by a local aircraft charter firm called Singapore Air Charter (SAC), according to popular flying miles site, Mile Lion.

The SAC specialises in renting of entire flights for high-income, high-profile individuals and groups.

In the “Flycation SG” survey, the SAC is gauging market attitudes towards fly-eat-drink packages that will probably comprise of a luxury hotel stay and “flight to nowhere” from Changi Airport.

It looks like SAC will be chartering and “subletting” flycations to customers. According to the site, SAC has partnered with independent and national airlines, and chartered “no-name” planes in prior business ventures.

As the main airline still authorised to fly green lanes, could there be a possibility that SIA may be involved in SAC’s new “Flycation” project?

A Website Selling “Flycation” Tickets

“Flycation SG” already has a site of its own–though it’s still under construction.

Currently, there are only two products listed: a “Flycation Ticket To Singapore Launch Special” priced at S$288 and a Business Class package priced at S$688. Both tickets have been discounted at about 25 per cent.

For the Flycation Ticket, all seats been sold out. The tickets also come packaged with an optional staycation at “Shagri-La” hotel (which seems like a misspelling of Shangri La Hotel.)

The Business Class package is also out of stock, and unlike the Flycation Ticket, lacks an option to book a staycation.

There’s not a lot of information on the duration, payment options, and flight details of bookings on the site, which is rather concerning given that you may be handing over hundreds of dollars via the Internet.

In summary, the Flycation SG site looks very shady at the moment. But if the site is still under construction as it claims, the webpage may one day be the go-to place for booking flycations in Singapore.

Flycations Will Be Off The Table For SIA

Given that the Flycation site and survey are both far from completed, it’s unlikely that a reliable platform for “flycations” will pop up anytime soon.

Will SIA be on that platform? That’s unlikely, says Mile Lion. Flights to nowhere are a trend and SIA is an “ultra-conservative” airline that has a “notorious obsession with protecting the brand.”

Moreover, SIA and prestige of the Singaporean government are also deeply interconnected. Recently, Liew Mun Leong stepped down from his position as Chairman of the Changi Airport Group after his exploitation and bullying of a domestic worker shook the nation.

Given the scandal, it’s unlikely that SIA will be willing to risk more public outcry over “unnecessary spending” and the environmental impact of basically non-essential leisure flights.

Featured Image Credit: Escape

Singapore is possibly in the height of its recession, with the economy contracting by 13.2 per cent year on year in the second quarter.

The unemployment rate is also at a 10-year high, and it seems like many Singaporeans — both fresh graduates and mid-career — are scrambling for jobs.

This is coupled with the emergence of an online debate about young jobseekers being too “entitled” after a social enterprise co-founder recently posted his hiring experience on Facebook.

It seems that both jobseekers and hirers are faced with countless problems in the hiring process, from battling stereotypes to an overwhelming number of applications.

Singapore-based startup impress.ai aims to provide the best of both worlds with their solution — an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot software for recruiting and human resource (HR).

Creating A Fair Hiring Process

Too often, candidates are rejected due to biases such as “gender, race, or name”.

On the other hand, “many recruiters and hiring managers face similar challenges,” said Sudhanshu Ahuja, CEO and co-founder of impress.ai.

These challenges include recruiting talents in areas where they had limited knowledge, receiving a high volume of applications whilst managing many roles, and an unstructured methodology for decision making like “gut feel”.

The idea for impress.ai was conceived when its three co-founders were working on another platform back in 2013, which helped enterprise companies hire data scientists.

In 2016, the founders came up with the idea of structured interviews with machines to solve the problems that HR professionals and jobseekers faced.

The product went through countless iterations, and was eventually launched in 2017.

Every Applicant Gets A Chance To Impress

Impress’ chatbot is said to help recruiters at every stage of the talent acquisition process.

To ensure that every applicant gets a fair chance to impress the recruiter, the platform actively fights human bias by “hiding biasing information from human reviewers”.

To ensure that the recruitment remains unbiased, the chatbot conducts “competency-based structured interviews”, using techniques from Industrial-Organisational Psychology.

Sudhanshu told Vulcan Post that the chatbot delivers a 75 per cent improvement in hiring efficiency.

Since its launch in 2017, impress.ai has gotten many big names on board, including Accenture, DBS Bank and Singtel.

In 2018, impress.ai and the DBS Talent Acquisition team created Jim, a virtual recruiter to support its “rapidly growing” wealth management business.

According to DBS, the move allows it to save 40 man-hours a month.

Later that year, the startup closed a US$1.2 million (S$1.62 million) seed round led by venture builder Reapra.

More recently, Sudhanshu shared that the first and second quarter of 2020 were the best in the history of the company, in terms of number of deals closed.

The startup has managed to onboard clients with HQs based in Australia, China and the US. It has also since onboarded 30 government clients in the past 12 months.

Does This Make HR Obsolete?

Even though impress.ai is not the first to create an automated hiring process, Sudhanshu said that the company’s biggest competitors hail from the United States.

The startup specialises in the Asia Pacific market, and even supports various Asian languages.

What will then happen to the professional recruiters?

There has been a lot of talk that AI will replace HR, but Sudhanshu holds a different belief.

“The future will see AI supporting recruiters in delivering better in their roles,” he said.

In fact, currently, over 60 per cent of candidates do not receive a response from the recruiter.

Impress.ai ensures that every candidate gets a personalised structured interview with its conversational platform, and the founders aim to bring this service to at least 15 countries in the next five years.

This is ironically made easier by the Covid-19 spread around the world, which sees companies shifting faster towards digital transformation.

Sudhanshu believes that the digital transformation of any company begins from its people, and the HR function is the best place to start.

Instead of rendering HR obsolete, impress.ai allows recruiters to shift their focus to the more strategic aspects of their jobs, such as “predicting the skill gaps and engaging candidates”.

“Besides, machines and technology can never replace human emotions such as creativity and empathy,” said Sudhanshu.

Featured Image Credit: Impress.Ai, Inc

Singaporean dancer Mohammad Alif Bin Rais (Alif “Aircho”) made a splash last year when TXT, Big Hit Entertainment’s latest newbie group, performed his dance choreography on a live show.

Big Hit Entertainment, the record label behind worldwide superstars BTS, reached out to Alif for a partnership in 2019.

Alif’s work for TXT is the first time a Singaporean artist is working with a major K-pop label.

So far, global demand for K-pop generated at least US$564.2 million in export value for South Korea, and the industry is worth an estimated US$5 billion dollars. BTS alone is worth over US$3.6 billion a year for South Korea’s economy.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Big Hit Entertainment is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) for the BTS brand in October, allegedly worth US$3.9 billion upon release.

So how did Alif clinch the opportunity to work with one of the K-pop’s industry biggest players?

A Big Opportunity Out Of The Blue

“If you ask me, I also don’t know,” Alif admits.”

“They liked what they saw, and that was it. It went from 0 to 100 real quick.”

In 2018, the K-pop label saw Alif’s dance portfolio on Instagram, and reached out to ask about his interest in choreographing for TXT. Alif promptly accepted, and the rest is history.

Opportunities to work with major K-pop entertainment labels come in far and few between.

K-pop labels source for talent worldwide, but choreographers and dancers typically find their way to the big leagues through personal connections, says Alif.

Alif, however, had no connections to Korea whatsoever. Neither has he received any formal training from international dance schools like Julliard.

In fact, Alif’s interest in dance started only when he pioneered a hip hop dance crew in Juying Secondary school.

Since then, he’s been pursuing dance professionally, ditching a career in Audio Visual Technology to do so. Currently, the dancer is a co-director at a local studio and teaches regularly at schools around Singapore.

I got the (Big Hit) job off the quality of my craft, not through connections. That makes me proud.

I wasn’t scared (pursuing a dance career), and never had any doubts. You either go all in or all out. When my parents asked me, ‘do you want to go to university?’ I said ‘no need, save your money’.”

– Alif “Aircho”, dancer

Teaching TXT By Proxy

Alif literally took his dance off the streets and through the doors of one of the largest entertainment companies in the world. However, he has yet to meet TXT or BTS in real life.

“I would love to, though,” he says wistfully.

According to Alif, most choreographers for K-pop groups hardly ever meet the idols they work for. It takes choreographers at least seven to 10 rounds of choreography for K-pop groups before they actually meet.

To date, Alif has partnered with Big Hit Entertainment on two projects for TXT.

That includes the 2019 “Blue Orangeade” live performance for TXT’s first album in March, followed by the 2019 “Angel or Devil” performance for their second album in October.

The choreography creation process takes place entirely online.

BigHit provides the general framework and vision for the dance, and Alif “fills in the details.”

After several rounds of drafting, he records the choreography in Singapore and sends a finalised version over in a video file.

The choreoraphy is then learnt and retaught to TXT in Korea. Big Hit Entertainment owns the intellectual property rights (IP) to the dance, meaning that Alif cannot reproduce the choreography independently.

Alif keeps mum on future collaborations with Big Hit. “I hope we will (work together) in the future, though.”

Being A Dancer Takes Consistency And Passion

Despite his work with Big Hit Entertainment, Alif doesn’t think that he’s “made it” as a dancer yet.

There’s no end goal. It’s not fixed.

You’ve got to be the best as a dancer, and hold yourself to (ever-higher) standards. That means putting in the time to gain the right skills and experience.

– Alif “Aircho”, dancer

Alif has worked in the dance industry for over a decade, but that’s not something he considers to a long time. In fact, Alif says that he’s still “starting out.”

Ultimately, he wants to pass on his craft to the younger generation and show them that a career can be made out of the arts.

“You’ll have to work very hard, but you can do it with consistency and passion.”

Featured Image Credit: kprofiles / Recognize Studios

About a month ago, we at Vulcan Post began to notice something rather odd happening in the comments of our Facebook posts.

As a digital publisher sharing content on social media, we’re used to seeing pretty much all sorts of comments ranging from rude ones to genuinely insightful and educational ones.

However, this was different (well, at least to me it was, as I’ve only been with the company for just over a year now).

On pretty much each post we made in August (up until now), there would be a few up to over a dozen of Facebook users spamming our comments about some programme by Celcom called BeBozz.

Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored by Celcom, we’re writing this to share our experience of being on the receiving end of spam due to one of the company’s programmes, and our opinion on this sort of marketing strategy.

While the first sentence of their comment would start in different ways (see examples below), the back part of it would be the same exact words, asking whoever sees the comment to sign up for the programme using their referral code.

Eventually though, we did notice that even the first sentence would be reused multiple times by different users, so it’s safe to assume that the entire message could just be tweaked versions of a template.

At first, we suspected they were bots. A while after we’d publish a post, a swarm would follow and make their presence known in the comments all in the span of a few minutes, which was very bot-like.

What boggled our minds, however, were the few observations we made about this whole phenomenon.

What Is Even Going On?

First of all, they’re not bots. They’re actual people living real lives.

I’ll admit that I clicked curiously on a number of public profiles, did some scrolling, and saw that they were decently active accounts.

For example, there were some who had uploaded new profile pictures quite recently and received a number of comments from friends and family praising them.

Surely bots aren’t that advanced yet, right? At least, not to the point of having a community of bots that can interact with one another like you and I would.

Secondly, what we couldn’t understand was how we were being targeted.

Regardless of whether or not the post was mobile device-related, they would spam the comments.

Were they just targeting us in general, along with a bunch of other publishers? As the spam is quite an eyesore on our page, we’ve been actively hiding them upon noticing them.

It’s likely that other publishers are doing the same on their Facebook pages too, but the other day I saw a yet-to-be hidden BeBozz comment on one of The Edge Malaysia’s posts.

That was actually what triggered me to write this article, as for a while I had thought we were the only ones being targeted. Seeing that made me realise that it’s a problem affecting others too.

I can’t confirm if only the pages of digital Malaysian publishers are being targeted by the comments, but I can confirm one thing: the spam is irritating as hell.

Thirdly, I would never spot the same user in the comments of different posts.

Each comment would be written by a new user, without fail, so simply banning the user wouldn’t have helped reduce the spam.

Is This Even An Effective Marketing Strategy?

From what I can tell, BeBozz is a Celcom programme that claims you can become your own boss and earn an income without subscribing to the 9-5 grind.

You’re essentially signing up to become a sales agent for Celcom’s prepaid and postpaid products.

However, the spam comments aren’t marketing Celcom products at all—they’re marketing the programme itself and trying to recruit more people to become sales agents under BeBozz.

Assuming that these users were expected to market the programme this way upon signing up, is this even an effective marketing strategy?

The more common types of marketing strategies to promote something are giveaways and referrals.

You see giveaways happening all the time on various social media platforms, where a brand will get their audience to tag a friend/family member (or several) to have a shot at winning.

When the tagger tags someone, they’re helping the brand gain more awareness, and are practically doing free, willing marketing for it.

But this isn’t something that the tagger and the people they tag mind, as the brand would usually already be a target of their interest.

Referrals can make even sweeter deals. They’re practically guaranteed rewards if you successfully get someone to sign up for something through a unique link provided to you.

Both giveaways and referrals give people a chance of winning a reward. If you fail to win a giveaway or no one signs up with your referral link, you don’t lose much, if anything at all.

An All-Around Strange Situation

On the other hand, this strategy of marketing BeBozz is neither a giveaway nor a referral, and you do have something to lose (if you don’t perform).

Because the comments ended with a link after all the encouragement of signing up for the programme, I had initially assumed that they were referral links.

Upon taking a closer look though, they were all the generic link to the main Celcom BeBozz page.

Based on information I could gather from the FAQ and T&Cs, those who sign up for the programme actually have to invest RM20 up to RM270, depending on which startup investment package you go for.

Sure, it’s a small investment amount in the long run if you can kick off your career as a BeBozz sales agent, but if you can’t, it’s still money lost.

Everything I’ve learnt about this so far still makes me scratch my head. What is the purpose of these spam comments?

Is it some stipulation by Celcom that you have to do this if you sign up for the programme?

If not, why are these users willingly carrying out free marketing for the programme, since they don’t get any referral rewards (that I know of, from looking at the FAQ and T&Cs)?

Are the comments being posted just to catch the attention of anyone and everyone in hopes that someone will click on the link and join?

Are these users specifically choosing to spam our comments (and that of other publishers) for whatever reason, or are their accounts unknowingly being hijacked on the side to make the comments seem “real”?

I have so many questions and no answers. I’ve tried reaching out to Celcom to learn why this is happening, but haven’t been able to get a contact.

It’s Not About The Programme, It’s About The Marketing

To clarify, I have no issue with the programme itself, as it’s still an opportunity for Malaysians to earn some money (as long as it isn’t a scam).

What I truly take issue with is the way that the programme is being marketed, taking advantage of public pages and the traffic they get.

Even worse, the comments are an absolute eyesore both to everyone and their audience.

So much so that one of our readers who owns a public page himself personally reached out to me with a recommendation on how to automatically hide comments with any mention of “BeBozz”.

I’d like to pass on the knowledge he gave me, so to do it, you need to head to Facebook’s Business Manager, find your Settings, and under General, there’s an option called Page Moderation.

Simply type in the specific word you’d like to ban, and it’ll auto-hide any comments containing that word.

Since doing so, we’ve had a little more peace of mind, but just because they’re hidden doesn’t mean they’ve stopped.

All the spam may have helped Celcom get more sign-ups, but at the cost of their brand image, I’d say.

Our audience may not be too bothered by it as they’re not directly targeted, but as a brand seeing our page and other publishers’ social media getting marred like that, it’s rightfully annoying.

With a deal-hungry and cashback-centric Singapore, it is high time our local apps and platforms find ways to bring more cash savings to users.

Fave is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing fintech platform that provides QR payments and loyalty cashback to merchants.

Previously known as deals website Groupon, The Fave Group has acquired the Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean operations of Groupon, and established Fave Singapore in 2017.

Since 2019, Fave has issued over S$20 million in instant cashback to over 1 million Singaporeans through the FavePay loyalty cashback programme.

In an interview with Vulcan Post, Ng Aik-Phong, Managing Director of Fave Singapore and Malaysia shared with us how it’s helping merchants stay afloat during the post-circuit breaker period.

Increasing Customer Retention For Merchants

“FavePay was introduced to the Singapore market almost exactly three years ago to provide cashless mobile payments and a loyalty system for our merchants in the form of cashback,” explained Aik-Phong.

Essentially, it gives customers an incentive to revisit the store and use their cashback, therefore driving more repeat visits and patronage.

Merchants who issue cashback to their customers via FavePay have reported upwards of 20 per cent increase in customer retention and loyalty.  This extra 10, 20 or 30 per cent can mean the difference between survival or thrive.

– Ng Aik-Phong, Managing Director of Fave Singapore and Malaysia

Up To 20% Instant Cashback For Users

Last month, Fave struck a partnership with Singtel and DBS Bank to offer payment options.

We have three seemingly competing payment platforms – FavePay, DBS PayLah! and Singtel Dash coming together to provide more value to each platform’s customers.

– Ng Aik-Phong, Managing Director of Fave Singapore and Malaysia

DBS PayLah! and Singtel Dash users will be able to transact digitally by scanning SGQR codes at Fave-partnered merchants to receive instant cashback of up to 20 per cent.

They can also get to enjoy unique rewards, loyalty points and cashback powered by Fave.

Through this new partnership, DBS PayLah! and Singtel Dash users will be able to scan at more than 12,000 F&B and retail outlets across Singapore such as Tim Ho Wan, Food Republic, Essensuals Hairdressing by Toni & Guy and Ippudo Ramen.

How does it work? Here’s a straight-forward explanation:

• Day 1: You can use FavePay at Merchant A to pay and earn Cashback from Merchant A
• Day 2: You can go back to Merchant A and use DBS PayLah! to pay and redeem your previously earned cashback
• Day 3: You can return to Merchant A and pay using Singtel Dash, then redeeming your previously earned cashback from Day 2.

With the tie-up, users will essentially be collecting twice the rewards across multiple platforms, and it makes payment a lot easier, which means merchants can look forward to more and repeated transactions.

– Ng Aik-Phong, Managing Director of Fave Singapore and Malaysia

Prolonging Retail’s Survival

Newly onboarded merchants will enjoy the benefit of being able to accept millions of DBS PayLah! and Singtel Dash user payments under the FaveBiz platform.

The consolidation and acceptance of payments will allow Fave’s merchant partners to access seamless reporting, payment reconciliation, customer insights and demographic data.

Among the merchants expected to benefit from this new initiative are local businesses with physical stores that accept QR payments such as retail,  F&B outlets, beauty salons, wellness spas and other forms of service providers.

This goes a long way to ensure retail’s survival during Covid-19 with e-payments. 

Digital Payments: A Cleaner, Safer Way To Pay

According to research from ​Mastercard’s Impact Studies​, there has been a notable decrease in cash usage since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Asia Pacific region is leading the massive growth in digital payments with the majority of consumers believing it is the cleaner, safer way to pay.

91 per cent of those surveyed reported that they are now using tap-and-go payments.

Digital payments and e-wallet adoption are projected to increase rapidly in Singapore over the next two years, comprising 22.5 per cent of all sales by 2021, according to the latest research by JP Morgan.

In this period of the pandemic, it is essential to accept cashless payments as well as consumers shun cash for safer and hygienic contactless modes of payments.

– Ng Aik-Phong, Managing Director of Fave Singapore and Malaysia

Featured Image Credit: KrAsia

Forbes recently unveiled its list of 2020 Forbes Singapore Rich List, which highlighted the top 50 richest in Singapore.

One interesting finding is that all three of Sea’s co-founders are included in the list.

Chairman and CEO Forrest Li added US$5.53 billion to his wealth and entered the ranks of the top ten richest for the first time ever. He is currently the seventh richest in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Sea’s chief operating officer Gang Ye (No. 11, US$4.3 billion) saw an impressive 356 per cent jump in his net worth — this is the largest percentage gain of any fortune on the list.

Thanks to the exponential rise in Sea’s shares, the firm’s third co-founder David Chen became a billionaire as well and makes his debut at No. 25 with a net worth of US$1.37 billion.

The gaming and e-commerce firm is a homegrown success story best known for its super-hit Free Fire online game, but how exactly did the co-founders grow the company and earn their riches?

From China To Singapore

All three of the co-founders hail from China.

Chen and Ye first came to Singapore as teenagers under a government scheme to recruit foreign talent through scholarship programmes.

Chen studied computer engineering at the National University of Singapore while Ye went to Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Junior College. He later attained bachelor degrees in computer science and economics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

On the other hand, Li had earned an engineering degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University.

He then worked at Motorola Solutions Inc. and Corning Inc. in China, and later pursued an MBA at Stanford University.

His then-girlfriend (now wife) was also from Stanford. When he attended her graduation ceremony back in 2005, Steve Jobs was also present.

Jobs delivered a memorable commencement speech, urging the class to “stay hungry, stay foolish.” Those four words were ingrained in Li’s mind, and inspired him to chase his dreams.

Growing Garena Into A Gaming Powerhouse

After Li completed his MBA, he followed his wife to Singapore.

He worked for nine months with MTV Network’s digital team before starting his first business, GG Game, which develops single-player gaming products.

Angel investors for GG Game included Skype co-founder Toivo Annus; Bryan, who is the son-in-law of billionaire Robert Kuok; and Kuok Khoon Hong, CEO of palm oil major Wilmar.

The venture was short-lived, but a fresh funding of about US$1 million earned him another chance to redeem himself.

He started anew with Garena in 2009, roping in fellow co-founders Chen and Ye.

Short for Global Arena, it is a leading online games developer and publisher with a global footprint across more than 130 markets.

It developed Free Fire, a popular mobile battle royale game, which has hit 100 million peak daily users in the second quarter of 2020.

According to data from App Annie, it continues to be the highest grossing mobile game in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

In addition, Garena exclusively licenses and publishes games from global partners. It also hosts esports events, ranging from local tournaments to global esports competitions.

In a 2009 interview with TechinAsia, Li simply described Garena as a “community for gamers worldwide.”

At that time — the first year of its launch — it had 23 million registered gamers from 210 countries.

They ramped up their user base through their flagship product, which is a downloadable gaming platform (garena.com).

The most exciting thing about this platform is every time you log on, you will be immediately connected to another 400,000 gamers who are also on the platform at that moment. They are from every corner of the world, but share the same passion on games.

– Forrest Li, co-founder and CEO of Sea in a 2009 interview with TechinAsia

Through the platform, gamers can chat, challenge opponents, and play their favourite games online with millions of other gamers.

According to Li, their big break only came in 2010 when they secured a distribution license in Southeast Asia with US game developer Riot Games, which had just released League of Legends at the time.

It helped Garena turn profitable within the next two years, and opened doors of opportunities for them to secure other game titles.

That was also how it gained the attention of Tencent, which is the majority owner of Riot Games.

In November 2018, Garena partnered Tencent, which allowed it to gain a five-year right of first refusal to publish Tencent’s mobile and PC games across Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

This helped to boost Garena’s already-strong portfolio of PC and mobile games, further solidifying the company as a Southeast Asia gaming powerhouse.

First Foray Into Fintech: SeaMoney

Garena didn’t want to settle to be “just a single-country business” so it thought of ways on how it could expand its business further.

There was a real need to serve the underprivileged middle class of this region. There’s unfortunately a very low penetration of bank accounts across in Greater Southeast Asia.

The majority of adults in places like Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines don’t have a bank account, let alone credit cards, so our next platform was in payments.

– Nick Nash, Sea’s Group President in a 2017 Interbrand interview

Established in 2014, SeaMoney is a digital payments and financial services provider in Southeast Asia.

Its mission is to better the lives of individuals and businesses in our region with financial services through technology.

SeaMoney’s offerings include mobile wallet services, payment processing, credit, and related digital financial services and products. These services and products are offered under AirPay, ShopeePay, ShopeePayLater, and other brands in the region.

As it branched out, Garena quickly became Singapore’s first internet unicorn. It joined the unicorn club relatively early, already being valued at US$1.2 billion in 2014.

Shopee Dominates E-Commerce In SEA

According to Financial Times, Li decided to launch e-commerce platform Shopee in 2015 after his daughter said she missed Taobao, Alibaba’s online shopping mall.

Shopee has since grown to be among the top two most-used e-commerce apps in Southeast Asia in 2019, based on monthly active users.

It was also the most visited e-commerce website, chalking up 2.1 billion visits against competitor Lazada’s 1.8 billion, according to research from iPrice.

Despite being a latecomer — Lazada and Tokopedia launched three and six years ahead respectively — Shopee has rapidly caught up with these Alibaba-backed incumbents.

Interestingly, the company has yet to turn a profit. While its gaming business has been profitable for years, Shopee has accounted for most of its net losses, which almost doubled year on year, to US$961 million, in 2018.

Li simply viewed Shopee’s losses as a stepping stone to expand the platform.

Internally we don’t think this is a loss because this is not a mature business.

For such a business with such a high growth rate … you do need to invest upfront, otherwise you are not going to make it. Scale matters so much for e-commerce.

– Forrest Li, co-founder and CEO of Sea in a 2019 interview with Financial Times

He added that Shopee could instantly become profitable if it cut down on sales and marketing expenses, and increased commission rates of merchants.

However, growing market share and the scale of the entire marketplace is their utmost priority compared to making money.

Shopee is now the third-most downloaded shopping app globally across iOS and Google Play in the first quarter of 2020.

Its revenue in the first quarter of 2020 stood at US$266.5 million, up 104 per cent year on year.

SEA’s Most Valuable Tech Startup

In 2017, Garena rebranded as Sea Ltd after it secured US$550 million funding.

The name draws inspiration from, as you might expect, their operating region of Southeast Asia, and also the very ocean that connects us, which symbolises their motto of “connect the dots”.

Garena is a brand that is beloved across our game ecosystem, our Shopee brand has become synonymous with e-commerce in our region, and AirPay is quickly becoming a leader in digital financial services.

We cherish these three brands, and are now embracing an overall identity for our entire company.

– Forrest Li, co-founder and CEO of Sea in a media statement

In October that year, Sea debuted a US$884 million initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sea is apparently the first Singapore-based tech unicorn to go public in the United States.

The IPO valued the company at US$4.58 billion, making it Southeast Asia’s most valuable tech company.

Today, Sea has become the world’s best-performing large-cap stock — its shares have increased by more than 880 per cent in the past 18 months, beating Tesla and FAANGs.

This is the largest gain worldwide among companies with a starting market value of at least US$1 billion.

Sea has already claimed the title of Singapore’s most valuable homegrown public company after its market value swelled to US$65 billion, surpassing DBS Group Holdings Ltd. for the first time earlier this year.

Revenue has also grown quickly, jumping 163 per cent to US$2.2 billion in 2019, though it’s still just a fraction of DBS’ US$11 billion.

In a video interview, Li said that he has been working in the office seven days a week since April, leading his company through what may be its most pivotal year.

Demand for Sea’s mobile games and online-shopping platform has surged during the pandemic, and the company is bidding on a Singapore digital-banking license to accelerate its push into financial services.

Li is also looking for potential acquisitions in gaming, logistics and e-commerce.

He added that he is well aware that people has been calling his company a Southeast Asian mash-up of Tencent and Alibaba.

We learned a lot from those pioneers. But at the end of the day, we don’t need to be their mini versions. We can just be ourselves.

– Forrest Li, co-founder and CEO of Sea in a 2020 interview with The Business Times

Featured Image Credit: Sea Group / Bloomberg

For a long time, the retail industry in Singapore has felt the effects from the e-commerce boom.

Last year, many well-known local and international brands — from Home-Fix to Sasa to Forever 21 — threw in the towel and announced closures.

This year, the Covid-19 pandemic has only made the situation worse for many brands.

The circuit breaker and safe-distancing measures put in place to ensure public health has also resulted in a plunge in footfall for brick-and-mortar stores.

In the first few months of 2020, Singapore has already seen a few closures, with stores moving online instead.

In end March, Hong Kong lifestyle retailer Kapok announced its closure, shifting to a completely online model.

Over the weekend, Singapore’s beloved local bookstore BooksActually, and British fashion brand Topshop and Topman also announced that they are closing their physical stores as well.

BooksActually Will “Transform Fully” Into An Online Store

BooksActually was founded 15 years ago in 2005 by Kenny Leck and then co-owner Karen Wai.

Its current location in Tiong Bahru is one that holds fond memories for many Singaporeans — with its mystery book vending machine and three resident cats.

However, on September 13, the bookstore took to its social media channels to announce the closure of its only store at Tiong Bahru.

“As the world changes around us, the bookstore has to move in tandem as well,” said Kenny in a separate social media post.

He also assured fans that he plans to continue organising literary events when possible, and that the team at BooksActually is ready to make its online store a reality after spending the first half of the year online.

The Closure Of Topshop And Topman’s Last Store In Singapore

On September 11, British fashion brands Topshop and Topman’s brand manager, Wing Tai Retail, confirmed the closure of its Vivocity outlet.

The Vivocity outlet, which is its last in Singapore, will be officially closed this Thursday, September 17.

Over the weekend, several “sale” signs were seen at the store, which attracted a snaking queue.

Topshop and Topman has been in Singapore since 2000, and its departure from Singapore will see it transitioning to a completely online store instead.

A Slate Of Permanent Closures

Other notable stores in Singapore that have left our shores permanently this year include fashion brand Esprit, and sports retail chain Sportslink.

Besides a fall in customers, rental and manpower costs also remain a difficulty for many operators.

Hence, many are having to rely on online channels as an alternative to boost sales.

Grants like the E-Commerce Booster Package administered by Enterprise Singapore are thus useful for these stores.

The grant will cover 90 per cent of the costs required to set up operations on Amazon Singapore, Lazada Singapore, Qoo10 and Shopee.

Nanyang Polytechnic School of Business Management director Esther Ho told The Straits Times that moving online would likely help brands cut the strain on resources due to the pandemic.

“The footfall in malls has taken a hit, so it is timely for businesses to try scaling up their online sales, without concurrently suffering a drain of their resources in physical stores,” she said.

Featured Image Credit: Hype and Stuff, Weekender

There’s a new award in The Malaysia Book of Records in the form of the longest-running business blog.

The recipient is Long Yun Siang, CEO of brand consultancy firm Roar Point Sdn Bhd.

The blog in question is Raw Points, one that he’s been running for almost a decade now, since starting it on Valentine’s Day in 2011 as a gift for himself and his company.

It’s one that he works upon every working day without fail, with good reason to do so.

Coming from his experience in advertising, marketing and being an entrepreneur, his blog is meant to give others in his position a voice.

“There are sometimes politically incorrect things that we do not talk about like how clients judge things that are being presented,” Long said, sharing a link to a 2011 entry that described exactly this.

“This is what a lot of agencies will go through. They complain behind closed doors, over beer and teh tarik. I just had the audacity and platform to write it right after presenting to a prospect.”

He added, “If they read the blog, they would know I was talking about them.”

Ad agencies and brand consultancies do not and cannot talk about it because they are too afraid to offend the client. And I do not blame them. But sometimes I feel some conversations need to be started and need to be said.

Long Yun Siang, CEO of Roar Point and author of Raw Points

Not Writing For The Masses, But For Those Who Need It

Long isn’t really chasing pageviews; he writes more so to give a different perspective to those seeking it.

The topics he writes about range from branding and marketing to motivation and creativity, and can sometimes touch on personal topics too, like knowing when to quit your job.

“Sometimes about entrepreneurship and business. Sometimes about attitude, work, work ethics, consumers, clients, and whatever that comes to mind,” he added.

“But every time, I try to inspire. I try to get people to think differently. Hence, it always starts with a seemingly simple question but answered in a very different way—one might say, an unexpected way. Then it ends with another question.”

It’s fair to say that Raw Points is an extension of his personal thoughts and beliefs, one of which is how a good consultant can give you answers, but an excellent consultant inspires you to question better.

Each of his blog entries is posted on their company’s Facebook page, and he knows that people find his content relatable when they PM him or react to the post on Facebook.

“But my favourite is when I meet clients or suppliers or friends who quote from the blog or joke about it,” he said.

“If it is a priority, you make time.”

Being a full-time CEO of an active firm, I wondered how he found time to write each working day.

Granted, his entries don’t seem long at only a few paragraphs each, but it still takes time to come up with topics and decide how you’d write about them.

Long’s answer was simple: “I make time. If it is a priority, you make time. Just like we schedule time for meetings and picking up our kids and having dinner with friends. So, I just schedule it in. I plan ahead.”

Writing is a priority to him, even though he doesn’t think he’s a writer and only writes to think and clarify his thoughts.

All his efforts have made him a sharper thinker, and he hopes this benefit cascades to his readers too.

Aside from the blog, he’s flexed his writing muscles by authoring books like “Rethink Your Marketing Questions And Answers” and “500 Questions to Inspire a Better Marketing Plan” too.

You’ll Never Know If You Don’t Ask

A year or so back, Long met someone dealing with records and achievements and casually asked them, “Hey, do you think my blog qualifies as a longest-running daily business blog?”.

The person shrugged him off, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of it being true after that.

One day, he was reading a book by Derek Siver that mentioned the topic of “let’s see what happens”.

“I took that as an exercise—let’s see what happens when I write to The Malaysia Book of Records.”

So, he did it and showed them what he had been doing with Raw Points thus far, and they wrote back for more details and verification before confirming its qualification.

Since Long doesn’t post on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays, Raw Points didn’t qualify in the daily category, but it still qualified as the longest running business blog.

With this award, he foresees that his readership will grow as the awareness of the blog increases.

The award may be one of the proudest achievements he’s had with Raw Points, but another one is how he had written about the possibility of Facebook having a “Love” button 5 years before Facebook actually launched one in 2016.

“But more than that, I am just happy to lead by example be it for my kids, friends, or staff. That is the philosophy of doing and taking action and not just talk,” Long said.

If you commit, it can be done. Turn up, do the work, don’t complain.

Long Yun Siang, CEO of Roar Point and author of Raw Points

• You can learn more about Roar Point here, and Raw Points here.
• You can read about another Malaysia Book of Records award winner in 2020 here.

Featured Image Credit: Long Yun Siang, CEO of Roar Point

Koobits, an edtech startup, has to turn off its servers between 10pm and 6am to stop its students from doing work past their bedtime.

“We received complaints from parents,” remarks Stanley Han, the CEO and founder of KooBits.

The secret to their popularity? Unlike other digital tools used in education, KooBits isn’t built for adults. It’s built for children.

The online learning platform uses a combination of gamification and community-based learning to make learning fun. Children log onto and use the platform of their own accord.

To date, KooBits has also served over 361 schools from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The edtech startup has one of the highest traffic rates in its product category — at least 200,000 users visit it monthly.

But it wasn’t too long ago that Stanley was contemplating selling off their furniture just to make ends meet.

KooBits Doesn’t Require Adult Supervision

KooBits started off building English e-books to help children improve their writing skills in 2007.

Despite early traction, issues with the business model and marketing strategy meant that the edtech startup didn’t take off.

“We misunderstood the market dynamics in Singapore,” Stanley admits.

By 2014, Koobits had to wind down its operations for their e-book. The team went on to restructure the company and build a suite of other edtech products.

However, Koobits soon burned through investors’ funds and S$300,000 worth of personal savings raised to keep the company afloat.

Then, surprise orders worth S$87,000 came in for Koobits’ math program from five primary schools. The next day, S$25,000 in purchase orders came from another two schools.

Within two months, KooBits received close to S$250,000 in purchase orders. They had inadvertently uncovered the right product-market fit.

A principal told me that every morning, at least 50 companies would be trying to pitch products that teachers could use in lessons.

But a teacher’s time is limited — companies (that pitch products which require time-investments) won’t get through.

– Stanley Han, CEO and founder of KooBits

Unlike other edtech startups, KooBits built a math product that didn’t require adult supervision, where children could work independently.

KooBits Is Gamifying Homework

“Today’s textbooks are built for teachers to teach, not students to read,” Stanley explains.

To empower self-directed learning, KooBits “redesigns content in the language of children,” repackaging Singapore’s internationally-ranked maths syllabus in a format that incentivises independent learning.

KooBits is an online learning platform that students can use in school or at home, and is available for both schools and individuals on a subscription-based plan.

KooBits currently costs just S$12 per child in Singapore, with 35 per cent off on its annual plans. The plan provides users with an unlimited access to Primary 1 to 6 syllabus.

Students gain access to worksheets and video tutorials, rewards and events, and a syllabus derived from top schools. Parents are also able to track their children’s learning progress in-app.

The platform personalises the learning experience by using AI and big data to conduct diagnostic assessments on students.

Higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills are also cultivated through KooBits’ colourful retinue of practices and video lessons. The key is to groom the next generation of independent thinkers.

The platform also relies on gamification to incentivise students to practice math of their own accord. Students are given rewards for completing tasks and tap on peer-to-peer learning networks.

The edtech startup encourages students to approach each other to form teams or spar on math problems in friendly online competitions.

During the June school holidays, KooBits held an open competition, with over 5 million questions submitted during the event.

Covid-19 Is Accelerating The Edtech Industry

Edtech startups like KooBits is becoming increasingly crucial in an era where children are deprived of their education during lockdowns.

According to UNESCO, over 1 billion learners worldwide have been affected by the outbreak of the pandemic, with 132 country-wide school closures. Many schools in Southeast Asia remain closed or only partially open.

Edtech solutions could turn remote learning into the “classroom of the future.”

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the growth trajectory of edtech is expected to triple within the decade, from US$107 billion in 2015 to US$325 billion in 2025.

KooBits got off to a rough start, but has been growing at 200 per cent year-on-year for the past three years. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated their expansion and Stanley expects the edtech to break 200 per cent in 2020.

However, edtech startup has to compete with other popular industries.

“There’s a lack of funding, and a lack of venture capitalists compared to sectors like e-commerce,” Stanley observes.

For an edtech startup, that capital injection is a pre-requisite for hiring top-quality talent to build programs and platforms.

“We need the equivalent of Google and Facebook (software) engineers. My own engineers are paid twice my own salary,” he comments.

Resolving The Teacher Shortage

Despite the capital and talent shortfall, KooBits has declared that it is looking into overseas expansions.

Such a venture requires “starting over” in every market they enter, in order to cater to localised education needs, says Stanley.

KooBits will be launching localised content in Bahasa Indonesia and Mandarin Chinese to cater to foreign language speaking audiences. The startup will also be expanding the suite of subjects taught on KooBits.

In spite of the variance in market dynamics, Stanley seems confident that KooBits will be well-received, stating that the problems the startup addresses are homogenous across markets.

“Every school lacks good teachers. Sometimes, training or hiring one is impossible — even with good money. Good teachers are not mobile.”

“If we can create something for students that don’t need adult supervision … and give that data to teachers (wouldn’t that be ideal)? People didn’t believe us. They thought kids would slack off, but it worked.”

Featured Image Credit: KooBits

SingPost announced today (14 September) that it would be running its first trial of its smart letterboxes with a neighbourhood in the west.

Current letterbox “nests” may be replaced over time, according to Vincent Phang, SingPost’s CEO and head of postal services.

The smart letterbox system has been in the works since 2019 — a prototype was debuted in September during the Home Delivery Asia retail logistics conference and exhibition.

Unlike the current SingPost system, which only dispenses packages, the smart letterbox dispenses both packages and mail through a centralised machine.

During the prototype demonstration, SingPost packages are deposited and collected in individual lockers after a form of identification is provided, which includes a smartphone app, QR code or facial identification.

Like packages, SingPost mail can be collected after a form of authentication is provided via a vending machine that drops your requested mail into the collection box.

Updates to Singapore’s postal services are necessary to save on time and manpower. Door-to-door deliveries take six minutes, whereas drop-offs take just six seconds for a letterbox delivery.

During last year’s demonstration, a smart stamp was also introduced that would enable all mail and packages to be tracked at every stage.

The smart stamps will be embedded with data matrix codes which contains information on both the sender and receiver.

Users may also be notified of their deliveries on a mobile app once they’ve arrived.

The innovation to Singapore’s postal infrastructure comes in a period where e-commerce is accelerating as more people are choosing to shop online during a global pandemic.

According to Global Data, Singapore’s e-commerce market is expected to reach S$9.5 billion in 2020, and has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 per cent for the past five years.

With the boom in e-commerce, smarter innovations like this is definitely the right step forward.

Featured Image Credit: CGTN / NUS

It’s that time of the year again.

The Hungry Ghost Festival falls on the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, when ghosts and spirits are believed to be let out of the Gates of Hell on the first day of the month.

Despite no getai performances and live auctions this year due to COVID-19, joss sticks can still be seen lined up along sidewalks and many worshippers are still burning prayer offerings.

It’s a typically busy period for Ban Kah Hiang Trading, which is known to be one of Singapore’s oldest joss paper shops.

This year unfortunately, seems to be a quieter-than-usual period for the business due to the pandemic.

A Family Business Of Over 70 Years

Ban Kah Hiang Trading was established in the 1950s, and was founded by the late Teo Chong Lim.

The business was later passed down to his son in the late 1980s, and has since been taken over by his grandson in 2016.

The current third-generation owner is 32-year-old Alex Teo, who is also a father of three.

In an interview with Vulcan Post, Alex shared that his grandfather had hailed from Fujian province, China and sailed down to Penang, Malaysia where he worked in a joss stick factory — that was where he first learnt the trade of making joss stick.

His grandfather then migrated further down and eventually settled down in Singapore, where he continued to work at several joss stick factories before he decided to open a factory of his own.

According to Alex, it was the first factory in Singapore to locally produce incense coil.

Due to increasing operating and manpower cost however, the joss stick factory eventually closed down in the mid-1980s.

However, their operation still continued on through the 1990s from their two retail stores in Tiong Bahru Market and Prince Philip Avenue.

Our operation still continued on through the 1990s from our two retail stores in Tiong Bahru Market and Prince Philip Avenue.

Today, our old retail store at Tiong Bahru Market is still there and we are headquartered and operating from 107 Jalan Bukit Merah, which is where I am based now.

– Alex Teo, third-generation owner of Ban Kah Hiang Trading

Currently, Ban Kah Hiang Trading operates from two retail outlets and three warehouses.

It is now a supplier and wholesaler for joss paper and joss sticks, which they supply to various temples and other joss paper stores islandwide.

They have clinched several big-name clients, especially during the seventh month when many corporate companies order from them regularly every year.

These clients include big hotels, restaurant groups, MNCs and even government agencies.

A Millennial Running A Traditional Business

Alex took over the family business full-time in 2016, when he was only 28 years old.

There were quite a number of traditional joss paper shops which have been around in Singapore for many years (but they’ve) closed down because there was no successor of my generation to take over the business.

I wouldn’t want this to happen to my own family business and decided to take over after consulting my parents and spouse.

– Alex Teo, third-generation owner of Ban Kah Hiang Trading

While family and friends didn’t expect him to take over such a traditional business, they were supportive of his decision.

Prior to running the business, the business management graduate from the University of Manchester worked as a medical claims assessor — for CPF Board for almost five years, and Prudential Assurance for the next 1.5 years.

He had zero experience in retail, so there was a steep learning curve for him.

“There are so many things to learn in this trade, and I am still learning from my parents at this stage. I actually have a ‘baby face’ and many people I met thought I am still 18 or 19, even though I am already 32!” he lamented.

“Many of my clients and customers don’t really take me seriously, or doubt whatever I said to them because they don’t think a boy at this age will be able to understand joss paper or Taoist tradition and practice.”

However, over the years, he has managed to convince them that he “knows [his] stuff”. Even if he really has no idea, he would turn to his parents and consult them.

Over the years, the confidence built up and he now has good relations with all his clients and customers.

Additionally, when Alex first took over from his dad, he realised that there were many things that were done manually such as issuing invoices and stock-taking.

“So my first task of taking over the business was to computerise everything. Now, all my invoices and stock counts are computerised and uploaded in the cloud so that I would be able to access these documents or work anywhere through my mobile or tablet.”

“It has definitely made my business processes more efficient and less time-consuming.”

Sales Have Fallen By 50%

According to Alex, his joss paper business have three main peak periods in a year — Chinese New Year, Qing Ming Festival and Hungry Ghost Festival.

Since they also supply goods to various temples and other stores throughout the year, business is brisk at other times of the year too.

Moreover, they also have walk-in customers who buy goods at their retail store for their ancestor’s anniversary prayers and various Taoist deities birthday throughout the year.

While kim zua is not exactly a seasonal business, it can be seen as a sunset industry.

As the society gets more modernised and westernised, the tradition of burning offerings and paper effigies will “fade off overtime.”

“However, the majority of our population and religion is still Chinese and Taoist/Buddhist respectively, so I think this tradition and practice should still be able to continue for several generations”

“These practices and traditions have already been around from thousands of years, (so) I do believe it will still stand the test of time for several more generations.”

Coupled with the threat of eroding traditions, his business has also been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales and revenue have been constant throughout these years except for this year, when our business has dropped by 50 per cent due to COVID-19. Our business revenue has dropped by about half of last year.

(Many) temples and columbariums were closed during circuit breaker and a lot of restrictions were imposed, so (the number of) our retail customers have dropped quite a (fair) bit. Temples are also getting lesser goods from us as there are restrictions to the number of people in the temples.

– Alex Teo, third-generation owner of Ban Kah Hiang Trading

Sharing his future business plans, Alex said that they plan to innovate and bring in new products and designs every year to attract returning customers.

Some unique paper offerings include the latest electronic gadgets, fast food meal sets and even durian.

“We will try to listen to customer needs and requirements and try to bring in new paper effigies every year.”

He added that they have been trying to improve their products every year to be more environmentally friendly. Currently, they are developing and bringing in “lesser smoke” and “smokeless” joss sticks.

“We have also developed a “smokeless” joss paper (and) we hope to see it mass produced and used in Singapore.”

Despite the innovations, one thing that will remain constant is their pricing.

My father advised me that our goods need to be reasonably priced and affordable. We cannot charge exorbitant prices, we cannot do it just for the money.

We are selling these goods in a way we are also accumulating good karma by helping others to give back to their ancestors and the deities.

– Alex Teo, third-generation owner of Ban Kah Hiang Trading

Featured Image Credit: Alex Teo

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has partnered with online travel booking platform Klook to launch a S$2 million partnership.

The partnership falls under the S$45 million SingapoRediscovers campaign which aims to promote local tourism and lifestyle offerings.

STB and Klook released a joint statement today (14 September) on the partnership, in which they said they share a common goal to encourage locals to explore and experience a “different side of Singapore”.

The partnership begins in September, and will last for seven months.

Curated Promotions, Content Development And Digital Marketing

The partnership is marketing based, and will be focused on three areas: curated promotions for products and experiences, content development, and digital marketing to boost spending.

Businesses are encouraged to develop new experiences and product offerings for consumers, which will be curated into “attractive offers to appeal to different interest groups”.

For example, a staycation at Mandarin Orchard Singapore can be paired with an art jam session in Orchard Road.

Both STB and Klook will also co-invest in digital marketing and content creation efforts to boost the reach of these packages.

The ultimate aim is to increase the footfall at local precincts such as Orchard Road, Chinatown, the Civic District and Katong-Joo Chiat.

Go On A “Singapoliday”

With the lack of overseas travel, Singapore has experienced a significant fall in tourism dollars.

According to Channel News Asia, there were 880 visitor arrivals in May, a year-on-year decline of 99.9 per cent. 

This is why Singaporeans are encouraged to take a local holiday, dubbed as “Singapoliday”, to boost local business and the economy.

The SingapoRediscovers campaign is tailored for Singaporeans to “discover Singapore with fresh eyes”.

Under the campaign, STB has collaborated with businesses and associations to offer attractive promotions and unique experiences, across categories like retail, food and beverage, hotels, tours and attractions.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat also announced that S$320 million in tourism credits would be given to Singaporeans in a bid to encourage domestic tourism.

He urged Singaporeans to take the opportunity to explore Singapore’s local culture and heritage, nature, art, and architecture.

How Klook Is Navigating The Pandemic

Early this year, the Hong Kong-based travel startup announced measures such as layoffs to cut costs amid the pandemic.

However, it managed to successfully pivot into home-based experiences during the circuit breaker period in Singapore, as well as exclusive interactive tours of famous landmarks.

With the easing of lockdown measures in Singapore, Klook also reintroduced packages and discounts to boost local tourism.

Marcus Yong, Klook’s vice-president of marketing for Asia-Pacific, said the firm hopes to help businesses build collective demand and reignite the industry.

“Through this partnership, we hope to bring back a sense of joy and adventure as locals explore their own backyard,” he added.

Featured Image Credit: Time Out

Despite a global pandemic, Singapore is still drawing investments from global tech firms. As the US-China tech race heats up, more firms are flocking to Singapore in a bid to escape the fallout.

In the first half of 2020, Singapore has already drawn S$14.3 billion in fixed-asset investments — this is 95 per cent of the total investment commitments for 2019.

Last year’s S$15.2 billion in investments already marked a seven-year high.

Companies like DB Schenker, PayPal, Kajima, Johnson Controls and Descartes Underwriting are either planning to, or have already announced investments in Singapore this year.

As green lanes reopen, the prospects for international business are starting to look up. Here are five global tech firms ramping up their presence in Singapore this year.

TikTok / ByteDance

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is planning to use Singapore as its beachhead to expand to the rest of Asia. To date, Tik Tok already has over 400 workers employed in tech, sales and marketing, with over 200 positions open on its job referral site.

According to a confidential source, the tech firm will be investing billions of dollars and adding hundreds of jobs over the next three years in Singapore. ByteDance is also among the companies competing for a digital bank license here.

The pivot towards Singapore comes on the heels of ByteDance’s embattled relationship with the Trump administration. Last month, Trump ordered a sale of TikTok on the grounds of US security concerns.

Earlier today, ByteDance dropped the proposed US sale, announcing a partnership with Oracle in an attempt to appease both the US and Chinese government.

Check out their job portal here.

Bigo Live

Bigo, whose apps Likee and Bigo Live compete directly with TikTok, announced that it would be moving its servers from Hong Kong to Singapore last month.

Hong Kong’s new security law gives the Chinese government the power to demand that companies turn over private user data, prompting the mass retraction of tech firms from the embattled city.

Bigo has not announced detailed plans for expansion, but its retraction from Hong Kong may follow the path of other tech giants hoping to relocate to Singapore as “neutral ground” in the US-China tech rivalry.

Check out their job portal here.

Twitter

In February 2020, Twitter announced that it would be setting up its first engineering centre in the Asia Pacific in Singapore, creating 65 new positions to be filled over the next few years.

The new hires will work in product, software and data engineering, and data science. Twitter first set up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore in 2015, and first international data science team here a year later.

Check out their job portal here.

Zoom

Last month, Zoom announced that it would be opening a data center in Singapore, marking the first time the web platform will be expanding to Southeast Asia.

The tech giant announced that it will be hiring an unspecified number of engineers and sales staff, and offering new services like Zoom Phone to scale in Southeast Asia.

Like Tik Tok, Zoom has come under scrutiny over the risks of it transmitting private user data to China. In April, Singapore banned teachers from using Zoom for remote learning after hackers posted obscene images on screens.

Check out their job portal here.

Rakuten

Rakuten Mobile established its global headquarters in Singapore this year, although it has remained silent on its Singapore headcount and hiring processes.

The Japanese giant will use its Singapore office as the base to unveil its fully-virtual, cloud-native mobile communications platform, the Rakuten Communication Platform (RCP).

Rakuten will be partnering with NEC to develop a scalable 4G and 5G cloud-native converged core to be ready for the 5G rollout in Singapore. 5G services are on track to be rolled out in September.

Check out their job portal here.

Featured Image Credit: The Verge / Windows Bulletin Tutorials / Variety / Linkedin

Alibaba is reportedly in talks to invest US$3 billion (S$4.1 billion) into Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab Holdings. That’s a fifth of Grab’s last known valuation of US$14 billion (S$19.1 billion)

The e-commerce giant will be acquiring a percentage of the Grab stock held by Uber technologies.

The Chinese giant’s Grab acquisition gives it access to data on millions of users in eight countries, an extensive delivery fleet, and e-wallet and financial services.

The deal comes amidst Grab’s “long winter”, as Covid-19 upends the ride-hailing giant’s interview, said co-founder Tan Hooi Ling earlier this year.

CEO Anthony Tan also stated that the pandemic was the single biggest crisis to affect the unicorn.

Uber and Grab, the world’s biggest ride-hailing companies agreed to a truce to stay out of each other’s markets after years of costly battles.

In 2018, Uber gained a 23.2% stake in Grab; that means Grab is on the hook for approximately US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) if it doesn’t go public by 2023.

SoftBank Group Corp is using its position as a major shareholder to push Uber to unload its stakes in Grab.

SoftBank, an investor in all the world’s largest ride-hailing companies, is also pushing Grab to make peace with Gojek, the Indonesian unicorn that has quickly turned into one of its biggest competitors.

Both Grab and GoJek are seeking a majority stake in the merged business in Indonesia, the largest and most promising market in Southeast Asia.

Featured Image Credits: Grab Facebook / Time

Retrenchments exceeded initial estimations, rising to 11,350 in the first half of 2020, revealed the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in its latest labour market report.

According to advanced estimates forecast on July 29, there would be 9,920 layoffs in the first half of the year.

The 11,350 retrenchments in H1 2020 now exceeds the cuts experienced during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. During Sars, there were 10,120 retrenchments in the first half of 2003.

However, this year’s number has yet to exceed that of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, when there were 12,760 layoffs.

Despite the retrenchments, resident unemployment rate in June was lower than expected at 3.8 per cent, relative to 3.9 per cent in advanced estimates.

Total employment also shrank by 103,500 between April and June, compared to initial estimates of 121,800. In total, employment shrank by 129,100 in the first half of 2020.

This marks the largest half-yearly reduction on record.

S’pore Sees More Job Vacancies

There are also fewer job vacancies in June, standing at 42,400, down from 46,300 in March.

The number of unemployed persons in Singapore exceeds the number of job vacancies, with the ratio standing at 0.57.

However, job vacancies have risen in sectors like financial services, wholesale trade, food-and-beverage services, administrative and support services and public administration and education.

In July, overall unemployment rose from 2.4 per cent to 2.9 per cent from the last quarter. This marked the highest level of unemployment in more than a decade.

On 17 August, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced a S$1 billion Jobs Growth Incentive as part of S$8 billion worth of measures to bolster Singapore’s economy.

According to Minister Heng, Singapore’s labour market is “likely to remain weak beyond 2020” and a post-Covid-19 world “will not be business-as-usual.”

Featured Image Credit: HRM Asia

Fancy macarons that come wedged with ham and cheese, orh nee or durian mochi?

There’s a local patisserie, Nanatang, where you can get these beautiful and delicious-looking sweet treats.

Instagrammable, plus-size versions of the macaron — known as “fatfat-carons” — have caught wind in South Korea.

While a typical French-style macaron is usually piped simply with a layer of buttercream, “fatfat-carons” are stuffed, almost to the brink of bursting, with ingredients from mochis to whole strawberries to gigantic blobs of cream.

Rolling Up Her Sleeves To Bake Full-Time

The bakehouse and studio along Kampong Bahru Road was founded by self-taught baker Serena Tang in 2013.

The 28-year-old Singaporean holds a double degree in marketing and advertising, and has had zero culinary experience.

I started out as a home baker selling online, mostly on Instagram. I was just baking part-time as a hobby while studying and working full-time.

After working for a few years, I realised that I don’t feel accomplished with an office job, so I decided to resign and focus on baking.

– Serena Tang, founder of Nanatang

She has always wanted to helm her own bake shop after many years of home baking. That was how Nanatang came about.

“Nanatang was created as a space to bring together people to create beautiful things and where it is normal to hear people say ‘cake is life’,” said Serena.

“Nanatang is actually a nickname that my friends gave me. There were too many “nanas”, so they added “Tang” which is my surname to differentiate from others.”

Her “fat-carons” retail at S$35 for a box of 10 and while they look similar to a regular macaron, they are filled with a thicker layer of buttercream in popular flavours such as Speculoos, Citron, Earl Grey or even Cream Cheese.

And of course, their star product is none other than the Insta-worthy, super thick and chunky “Fatfat-carons” that retail at S$30 for a box of four, except that they are filled with funkier fillings.

Think interesting flavours such as Apple Cinnamon Crumble, Ondeh Ondeh, Oreo Cheesecake, Kaya Fancy Cheese, Orh Nee, Durian Mochi and Ham and Cheese.

Besides the “fat-carons” and “fatfat-carons”, Nanatang also specialises in buttercream cakes decorated with intricate flower piping that are inspired from South Korea.

These Korean-style flower cakes have been in trend recently for their aesthetics.

Marrying Korean-Inspired Creations With S’porean Flavours

The Ham and Cheese flavour would probably raise eyebrows, but Serena said that they wanted to create “something fancy and shocking that aim to trigger people to try them out”.

“We try to localise the flavours hence we have ‘Singaporean flavours’ such as durian, orh nee and milo dinosaur.”

As opposed to S$20 for a box of 10 regular macarons (or S$2 a piece), these “fatfat-carons” admittedly come at steeper prices, but you probably are getting more bang for your buck with each “fatfat-caron”.

With her everything-Korean obsession in pastry-making, one might assume that she is Korean. After all, she sports the same dewy, fair skin like most Koreans have.

However, Serena stressed that she is not Korean. “I just happen to have very fair skin and small, single-eyelid eyes,” she laughed.

She also just loves travelling to South Korea — she would make a trip there at least twice a year before Covid-19 happened.

“I have many Korean friends as well, whom I got to know from class collaborations so I am very updated with the Korean trends,” she said.

“These “fatcarons” called “뚱카롱” are super popular in Korea and I wanted to introduce them to Singapore.”

She added that they not only have to be visually beautiful, they need to taste good as well.

From Selling Bakes To Conducting Baking Classes

While she could clearly carve a niche for herself among Singaporean bakers, she didn’t think that it would be sustainable.

Instead of selling bakes in an already saturated industry filled with home-bakers and bakeries, she decided that she needed to differentiate herself.

There were too many ‘bakers’ but not many ‘baking teachers’. And how many cakes do I need to bake and sell in order to be sustainable?

It was too difficult. Teaching makes more sense as it was not so saturated when I first started out, and sharing knowledge was enjoyable for me.

– Serena Tang, founder of Nanatang

Therefore, when she saw opportunities in teaching baking classes, she jumped on them.

“I kept experimenting with different recipes and went into Korean flower piping when it was getting popular,” said Serena.

One day, a Korean flower piping instructor sent her a direct message on Instagram after seeing her work. She wanted to collaborate with Serena to teach classes in Singapore and that was how she started to move towards baking.

She opened her baking studio in 2017 to conduct baking workshops.

They collaborate with many international, award-winning baking instructors such as French cake designer Luma’s Cake and chocolate sculptor Carla Puig.

Today, it is a baking studio that caters for the latest cake trends through exciting workshops and Insta-worthy cakes.

On average, they sell 200 to 500 cakes/boxes/sets per month.

“It is actually not a lot as Nanatang focuses more on teaching than selling,” added Serena.

Where There’s A Whisk, There’s A Way

Looking back on her journey, Serena said that she had zero knowledge on organising baking classes.

“From finding students, to preparing ingredients and renting a studio to conduct classes, I explored every step by myself,” said Serena.

It was really fun and that sense of accomplishment she gets really keeps her going.

“From there, I started to collaborate with different instructors with different specialisations. As it goes, we became stronger and bigger,” said Serena.

Nanatang now consists of a team of people who are passionate about caking and each person brings their own strengths to the business.

For example, Serena is good with piping skills and macarons. Her assistant is good at fondant modelling and 3D skills while another employee is good with chocolate.

As a result, Nanatang is “able to provide a huge range of products and accept any kind of custom cake for any occasion”.

So does she have plans to open a cafe here?

It was actually my goal before I got to understand about the teaching industry. But for now, I don’t think I want to open one after observing the cafe industry in Singapore.

– Serena Tang, founder of Nanatang

She explained that a cafe is probably more difficult to manage [than a baking studio] and has its own set of challenges especially in operations and manpower.

With Covid-19 and the circuit breaker, cafes have been badly hit and Nanatang could not conduct any classes either.

“We relied solely on selling. Fortunately, we were able to survive. Our “fat-carons” and “fatfat-carons”, as well as our durian swissrolls and mochi were well-received.”

Not Resting Her Laurels

While she did not have prior culinary experience to starting her own baking studio and online bakery, she says that her “just do it” character helps.

“I am someone who doesn’t give up easily. When I want something, I will work really hard towards it.”

At 28 years old, she is one of the youngest baking instructors in Singapore.

As a result, she channels creativity and fresh perspectives into her products and classes. “I don’t like anything too boring, hence I am constantly creating new products and design,” said Serena.

“There are always new ideas, new products, new creations. People who think out of the box will usually survive the longest,” she added.

She stressed that photos are key — “you must know how to take good photos, as they are the first things that people see”. Nice photos will definitely garner more attention, she said.

On her advice for budding baker-entrepreneurs, she begs them to think harder before choosing this career as it is tough one and one can fail very easily if you are not unique.

If you think you can earn a lot of money [in this career], please reconsider and maybe choose an office job instead.

It is 100% not possible to do everything yourself. You will need a team to work together with each person specialising in a certain area.

Entrepreneurship is full of head attacks. If you are weak, don’t do it!

– Serena Tang, founder of Nanatang

Featured Image Credit: Nanatang

More than 2,000 stillbirths occur in Malaysia annually, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations (UN).

Stillbirth refers to the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery.

Both a miscarriage and stillbirth describe pregnancy loss, but they differ depending on when the loss happens.

theAsianparent is a pregnancy and babycare platform in SEA that has brought millions of ASEAN parents together.

Now it’s executing a plan to reduce stillbirth by 10% over the next 3 years, with a more specific goal being preventing 500 stillbirths in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore by the end of 2020.

The team believes that one-third of the grief of losing a baby is caused by 3 major factors:

• Sleeping on the back after 28 weeks of pregnancy,
• Not consulting a doctor when experiencing unusual fetal movement,
• Smoking while pregnant.

On its free app, the team has developed several features to educate parents on healthy practices to prevent those factors, through gamification and social platforms.

Gamifying The Pregnancy Process

The stillbirth prevention campaign is called Project Sidekicks, and it utilises theAsianparent’s app for several activities.

One of the app’s stillbirth prevention features is called Kick Counter, where mums will log their baby’s movement for 60 minutes each day by counting and choosing what kind of movement they felt from their baby.

“Gamifying this task gets mums to focus on the fun. They can log each foetal movement as a tap, kick, jab, turn, swish,” Roshni, founder of theAsianparent said.

“At the end of it, they get a note on whether the patterns are normal or if medical attention is necessary based on prior sessions.”

As the third trimester can be a busy time for mums preparing for their baby’s arrival, the app can send them push notifications and alerts to remind mothers to do their kick counting. 

Making use of their online community, the team is pushing for (pun intended) pregnant women to sleep on their sides by using their second feature, “What’s your bedside view?”. 

“It is the trickier aspect to track but is so important. The team found a study that associates sleeping on the back in the third trimester had a 3.7x higher risk of stillbirth,” she said.

“Sleeping on the left side, in particular, decreases the compression on a major blood vessel running down the right side of our back. This helps the baby get an optimal flow of oxygen and nutrients.”

“What’s your bedside view?” works by getting pregnant mums to post photos of their viewpoint from the way they’re lying down.

“No one wants to see photos of people’s ceilings, right? We look forward to seeing sunrise views, maybe a breakfast in bed tray, toddlers waking their parents up, hopefully no drooling spouses!” Roshni joked.

The team hopes that this will subtly remind other expectant women in the community to sleep on their side. 

Utilising An Existing Community For Development

The whole process from conceptualisation to launch took about half a year to develop and was done entirely by an in-house team. 

“Rajan, our head of engineering, Mukesh, our head of iOS, and Vishal, our head of Android are all dads so this was a project they felt incredibly passionate about and were so motivated to get very, very right and get to market,” she said.

Since the app already has an active online community of at least 300,000 Malaysian users, they used this to their advantage when it came to market research and developing these features.

“We did our research by analysing existing kick counting tools, surveyed mums online, and involved them in test groups not just to get their feedback on the functions, but also on the content we had in the Project Sidekicks tab,” Roshni shared.

The team also turned to local experts such as Dr. Ahmad Rostam of DoctoronCall for guidance.

theAsianparent launched another feature called Healing Mode in the app too, to support parents who have lost a baby from a stillbirth.

“Healing Mode was created because we noticed drop-offs in our pregnancy tracker that we later realised were connected to stillbirths.”

“This is our small way of helping mums cope with such heartbreaking loss. In switching to healing mode, they get information on dealing with and moving on from grief, verified by experts,” she said.

For them to reach their goals with Project Sidekicks, Roshni told us that education is key.

“Through our content platforms, we are able to share practical information on stillbirths and their prevention.”

“Aside from the kick counter on the app, we’re able to send targeted messages to users who are expecting a baby via push notifications,” she added.

The 40-man Project Sidekicks team is also currently conducting monthly webinars featuring local experts like gynaecologists and psychologists to talk about mental health and provide advice for a healthy pregnancy.

• You can learn more about Project Sidekicks here.
• You can read more about other Malaysian Startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Kick Counter on theAsianparent’s app and Freepik

Singapore is touted to be the fourth-wealthiest country in the world.

To date, Singapore has 226,000 individuals who rank in the top 1 per cent of the mega-rich globally, according to Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report for 2019.

Despite being born with a silver spoon in the mouth, some of these crazy rich kids have chosen to build business empires of their own to amass their own fortunes.

Regardless if they used their parents’ riches to start up, here are four heirs and heiresses who have chosen to be entrepreneurs instead of resting on their laurels.

Kim Lim

Kim Lim is a Singaporean socialite famous for her career as an Instagram influencer, model and actress.

Her father, the self-made former stockbroker and business magnate Peter Lim, ranked 17th on Forbes’ 2020 List of Singapore’s 50 Richest with a net worth of approximately US$1.9 billion.

She is a single mother to her three-year-old son and is also the the founder and face of not one, but three beauty and lifestyle businesses.

That includes Papilla Hair Care, a specialised hair loss and scalp treatment centre, Illumia Therapeutics, a full-service medical aesthetics spa, and Illumia Medical, an aesthetic and plastic surgery clinic in Singapore.

RK Kishin

Singapore’s youngest billionaire, RK Kishin, is famous not only for his striking good looks but also his ventures into real estate with his father Raj Kumar.

The father-son duo has a combined net worth of US$2.6 billion and is one of Singapore’s leading landlords.

RK Kishin sold off an apartment gifted to him as a birthday present by his parents, and used the proceeds as seed capital to start his own real estate company, RB Capital.

The firm owns property in the heart of downtown Singapore, including the Intercontinental at Robertson Quay and Far East Plaza.

The billionaire also announced that his first F&B venture, virtual brand Tiffinlabs, will be expanding to 1,000 cloud kitchens worldwide earlier this year.

Wee Teng Wen

The fourth-generation son of the Wee family, Teng Wen hails from an impressive bloodline.

Teng Wen’s great-grandfather founded United Overseas Bank (UOB), his grandfather Wee Cho Yaw has a net worth of US$5.4 billion, and his father, Wee Ee Cheong serves as UOB’s present-day Chief Executive.

Despite a lineage in banking and finance, Wee Teng Wen broke the mould when he forged a path into the F&B industry to establish the immensely successful Lo & Behold Group.

The Lo & Behold Group is behind some of Singapore’s premier restaurants, including Odette, The Black Swan, Tanjong Beach Club and The White Rabbit.

Arissa Cheo

Singaporean heiress Arissa Cheo is not only the ex-wife of Taiwanese actor-singer Vanness Wu; she’s also the daughter of Cheo Tong Choon.

The Canada-trained medical doctor inherited edible oils refiner Mewah International, pegging the Cheo family’s net worth to a formidable US$455 million on Forbes.

Arissa, a socialite and influencer dubbed “Singapore’s prettiest face” has also launched businesses of her own.

In 2009, Arissa co-founded Carte Blanche X, a now-defunct e-commerce store retailing indie and in-house labels.

In 2016, she launched her own fashion label, Arissa X at Singapore Fashion Week. The label has collaborated with brands like Tocco, Todcano, Momo’s March and Reve by Rene.

Rich Isn’t Spoilt

While they may be born with a silver spoon, these four Singaporeans have shown that they have the grit to make it on their own.

While some have expressed concern that the talent for money-making may skip generations, it’s clear that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in these four.

Their achievements does not discount the efforts of “Rich Kids” who take up the reins of their family business, of course.

Did we miss anyone out? Let us know in the comments below!

Featured Image Credit: Arissa Cheo Facebook / Indonesia Tatler / Kim lim Wiki / buro 24/7