https://www.scmp.com/rss/326932/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Philip Leong gets out of bed at 3am every morning to open his food stall in Singapore’s Jurong district. He stands for hours over a sizzling wok, whipping up more than 100 plates of fried vegetarian bee hoon, or vermicelli. The 68-year-old has been doing this back-breaking work for nearly two decades, yet his life as a hawker was not borne of a particular passion for cooking but rather sheer necessity. In 2002, Leong lost his job as a senior engineering assistant at Singapore Technologies... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3096654/coronavirus-batters-singapores-economy-lost-jobs-loom-long-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3096654/coronavirus-batters-singapores-economy-lost-jobs-loom-long-term?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Aug 2020 00:00:26 +0000 It is not uncommon for investors to take up arms against a company that is unable to repay its debts. Yet when Singapore-listed developer Hatten Land asked its investors for leniency on US$25 million worth of bonds that came due this year, it obtained their generous approval to defer repayment – not just once, but three times. The 8 per cent guaranteed bonds were supposed to mature on March 8. Hatten Land bondholders first pushed back the repayment date to June, before moving it to July, and now... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3095174/stress-levels-singapores-corporate-bond-market-rising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3095174/stress-levels-singapores-corporate-bond-market-rising?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jul 2020 01:30:14 +0000 Bent over a wooden table, Albert Tay, 61, picks up a plastic knife – the kind that comes with a McDonald’s takeaway order – and gets to work. His hands run down a winding log of reddish-brown clay that is shaped like a dragon without features. Using the knife, he deftly carves out small, protruding scales, one after another, until they eventually form a dense pattern across the dragon’s body, which dresses up a 2-metre-long joss stick. With more twists and flicks of the wrist, he works on the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3081474/last-giant-joss-stick-makers-singapore-are-burning-end?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3081474/last-giant-joss-stick-makers-singapore-are-burning-end?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2020 01:00:21 +0000 Oil prices are at the cheapest they have ever been in modern history, but this does not bode well even for Southeast Asia’s energy-hungry economies. In fact, compounded with the rising pressures of the coronavirus pandemic, the new lows seen in global oil prices are likely to hurt government coffers, spark a wave of bankruptcies, and unleash a fresh round of retrenchments across the region, industry observers say. Oil-producing countries like Indonesia and Malaysia are likely to take a big hit,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3081278/coronavirus-means-cheap-oil-isnt-good-news-energy-hungry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3081278/coronavirus-means-cheap-oil-isnt-good-news-energy-hungry?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2020 01:00:09 +0000 When Chinese tech giant Alibaba made its debut on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) in November, the world sat up to watch. The stock finished 6.6 per cent higher in a heavily oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO) that raised about US$13 billion. It easily became one of the biggest listings globally last year, second only to Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company. For the HKEX, it was a homecoming of sorts, given that founder Jack Ma had wanted to go public in Hong... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3046581/why-even-protest-hit-hong-kong-wont-lose-its-ipo-crown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3046581/why-even-protest-hit-hong-kong-wont-lose-its-ipo-crown?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2020 23:00:12 +0000 Uncomfortable – that’s how Singapore-born entrepreneur Faith Teo describes the first foray she made into China, back in late 2016. “I didn’t want to go to China,” recalled the 30-year-old, who had moved to Hangzhou in Zhejiang province at the time with her sister to grow their mobile fashion app Fashory. “When I got there, everything was complicated, there was a lot of drinking in business-making, I didn’t really like the food. China was like another planet. I just wanted to go home [to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3045582/singaporeans-hong-kong-and-mainland-china-how-third-wing-lion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3045582/singaporeans-hong-kong-and-mainland-china-how-third-wing-lion?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jan 2020 00:00:11 +0000 Every time Josh Lim meets up with his friends from secondary school in Singapore, they never fail to ask about his work in China. “There’s always this buzz and excitement when we talk about what’s going on in China,” noted Lim, who heads his own Shanghai-based investment and advisory firm, IJK Capital Partners. “I guess our education has helped foster this affinity with China. They’re curious and it’s very easy for us to connect on the topic – more so than when I talk about the same things with... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3045625/how-singapores-schools-prime-youth-success-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3045625/how-singapores-schools-prime-youth-success-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jan 2020 05:30:06 +0000 Having amassed decades of experience working outside of his home country, Singaporean-born businessman K.K. Chua is a big advocate of young people taking their careers overseas – honing the explorer’s spirit, as he called it. But China, he said, was no longer the place to be. “My advice for young Singaporeans trying to go into China is this: there are better places, more spaces for you to grow elsewhere,” said the Hong Kong-based president of Asia-Pacific at American make-up brand Mary Kay... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3045407/china-no-longer-place-be-young-singaporeans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3045407/china-no-longer-place-be-young-singaporeans?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2020 23:00:11 +0000 The year was 1988. Fresh off his maiden voyage to Asia, Bjorn Hojgaard, then just a 20-year-old seaman, stepped onto the shores of Hong Kong – and it was the scent that hit him first. “I remember Hong Kong for the smells because they were so foreign,” recalled Hojgaard, who is chief executive of Hong Kong-based ship-management firm Anglo-Eastern Group. “It was literally a fragrant harbour.” So bustling was the Kwai Tsing Port, the ships that docked there even morphed into “markets” of their own,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3044577/what-sank-port-hong-kongs-claim-worlds-shipping-crown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3044577/what-sank-port-hong-kongs-claim-worlds-shipping-crown?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jan 2020 23:00:09 +0000 When the doors to the sales gallery of an upcoming residential project in central Singapore opened in July, more than 4,000 prospective homebuyers flooded the showroom for a first glimpse of the plush development. The project, One Pearl Bank, sits on a 99-year leasehold site once home to the iconic horseshoe-shaped Pearl Bank Apartments. It is set to stand among the tallest residential properties in the Lion City when completed by 2023, boasting unobstructed views of the city skyline. Following... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3022220/hype-smoke-and-hot-air-clouding-singapore-real-estate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3022220/hype-smoke-and-hot-air-clouding-singapore-real-estate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2019 01:00:16 +0000 In Singapore’s exclusive Sentosa Cove residential enclave – touted as “the world’s most desired address” – the Cape Royale development stands out as one of the tallest buildings on the man-made island. The luxury condominium was one of the latest additions to the prestigious waterfront haven, boasting unparalleled views of the South China Sea. It even landed a cameo in last year’s Hollywood box-office hit Crazy Rich Asians . Beneath that shiny facade, though, there is another reality: not a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3003877/crazy-rich-asians-poor-mans-bali-rise-and-fall-and-rise-sentosa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3003877/crazy-rich-asians-poor-mans-bali-rise-and-fall-and-rise-sentosa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2019 01:00:04 +0000 In the cutthroat world of shipping, Singapore has cemented its role as a global maritime powerhouse thanks to a deal signed between its port operator PSA and Japan’s largest ocean carrier. PSA entered into a joint venture with Ocean Network Express (ONE) last month to operate four mega container berths in Singapore, making the country the primary port of call for ONE’s services. The deal was the final piece of the puzzle in drawing all of the world’s three major container shipping alliances –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2182645/cutthroat-shipping-industry-singapores-moves-increase-its-berth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2182645/cutthroat-shipping-industry-singapores-moves-increase-its-berth?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Jan 2019 00:00:15 +0000 Homeowner Grace Koh had barely settled into her new condominium apartment along Singapore’s breezy East Coast in August, when the interest rate on her mortgage jumped from 1.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent. When she first took out the S$1.1 million (US$800,000) home loan with her husband in June last year, the interest rate had been an even more attractive 1.3 per cent. Their mortgage is pegged to a floating interest rate that fluctuates according to the rise and fall of the Singapore Interbank... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2179083/what-rising-interest-rates-mean-singapore-property?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2179083/what-rising-interest-rates-mean-singapore-property?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000 This month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit was marred by disagreements, resulting in the absence of a concluding joint communique for the first time in its history. But its member countries are still united in their ambitions for more trade and more growth, according to the head of the block’s secretariat. Alan Bollard, the outgoing executive director of the 21-member intergovernmental forum, on Tuesday said leaders had shared candid views during the meeting in Papua New Guinea... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2175399/no-resolution-no-problem-apec-united-desire-more-trade-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2175399/no-resolution-no-problem-apec-united-desire-more-trade-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Nov 2018 11:00:23 +0000 China is still some way from its ambition of becoming a global powerhouse in hi-tech manufacturing, according to a senior economist. Speaking at a forum in Singapore on Wednesday, Li Wenlong, senior economist at the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, said that the world’s second-largest economy continues to face “uncertainty or some challenges” in achieving the targets outlined in its “Made in China 2025” strategy. The “Made in China 2025” action plan, launched by Premier Li Keqiang in 2015,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2174443/china-must-embrace-private-sector-become-tech-powerhouse-experts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2174443/china-must-embrace-private-sector-become-tech-powerhouse-experts?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Nov 2018 03:15:45 +0000 After a visit to Singapore, Tran Vi Thoai never returns to Vietnam empty-handed. In fact, the 34-year-old lawyer makes sure he goes back to his family armed specifically with salted-egg fish skins – several packets of them. “There was one time I left these snacks on the table [at home], and went away for just 10 minutes. But when I came back, there was nothing left. My mother and sister ate everything,” Tran recalls, with a laugh. “I haven’t found anything quite like it in Vietnam so far. It’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2170246/love-first-bite-why-singapore-land-good-food-souvenirs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2170246/love-first-bite-why-singapore-land-good-food-souvenirs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Oct 2018 04:30:45 +0000 [Sponsored Article] It is an unnerving truth – that countries in Asia have much to lose should tensions between the United States and China escalate into a full-blown trade war. The world’s two biggest economies have been locked in battle since earlier this year, with the US imposing restrictions on a growing list of Chinese exports over accusations of unfair trade practices and theft of intellectual property. China has responded tit for tat. Both countries have already put in place tariffs on... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/asia/topics/china-conference-sea/article/2167008/investing-talent-playing-defence-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/asia/topics/china-conference-sea/article/2167008/investing-talent-playing-defence-age?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Oct 2018 07:30:15 +0000 Just three years ago, Vietnam was still a cipher in the global financial system. The Southeast Asian nation had only ten US$1 billion listed companies, while daily trading volume on the stock market came in at around US$100 million. That picture, however, is vastly different today. It is not quite Wall Street, but the country’s financial centre, Ho Chi Minh, is fast heating up. Last year, the country’s benchmark Vietnam Index soared to a 10-year high with a 47 per cent gain – taking the crown as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2156965/can-vietnam-take-singapores-stock-market-crown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2156965/can-vietnam-take-singapores-stock-market-crown?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jul 2018 02:46:06 +0000 It is 11 on a Thursday night, and a private condominium show suite in Singapore’s Hougang district – a populous area in the northeastern side of the island – is unusually packed. Snaking queues stretch beyond the Riverfront Residences showroom, while cars are double-parked. Inside, bright lights and shouting flood the space. Wild-eyed property agents scramble frantically looking for clients lost in the crowd, while sweaty bankers with rolled-up sleeves hand out stacks of forms to whoever is keen... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2155209/can-singapore-tame-its-property-market-new-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2155209/can-singapore-tame-its-property-market-new-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jul 2018 00:15:30 +0000 At 9am on Tuesday, many of the 25,000-strong South Korean community in Singapore will take a break from their work, errands and studies to pay rapt attention to the television for an event they thought they would never witness. As US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prepare for their landmark summit, South Koreans in Singapore remain awkwardly detached as they are not direct participants but many are nonetheless caught up in the excitement. “For Koreans, this is a very... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2150019/historic-summit-nears-south-koreans-living-singapore-dare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2150019/historic-summit-nears-south-koreans-living-singapore-dare?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jun 2018 03:44:28 +0000 Work is slowly winding down at the container terminals in Singapore’s bustling commercial centre. Giant cranes at the iconic Tanjong Pagar Terminal – long seen as a barometer for the city state’s economic health – are no longer used to service hulking container ships. Instead, they are ready to be dismantled, their parts to be sold as scrap metal. This is just one step in Singapore’s great port migration to its new, multibillion-dollar home far west of the island: the upcoming Tuas mega-port,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2148878/singapores-tuas-mega-port-plain-sailing-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2148878/singapores-tuas-mega-port-plain-sailing-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Jun 2018 23:30:44 +0000 In 2005, semi-retiree H.H. Tan paid S$633,000 (HK$3.8 million) for a three-bedroom apartment in Singapore’s Pacific Mansion, an ageing private condominium near the city’s prime shopping belt. Despite its good location, it was a questionable investment given the development’s notoriety. “It had quite the history and was called ‘Prostitute Mansion’,” she admitted, chuckling at her foolhardy purchase in the red-light district. It has turned into the 64-year-old former entrepreneur’s best purchase.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2143295/prostitute-mansion-singapore-heading-hong-kong-style-housing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2143295/prostitute-mansion-singapore-heading-hong-kong-style-housing?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Apr 2018 01:00:45 +0000