The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

The Singapore-Johor Causeway, one of the busiest border crossings in the world, turns 100 today (Jun 28, 2024). Francis E. Hutchinson, Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, talks to Lynlee Foo about how it came to be and what the century-old land crossing means to Singaporeans and Malaysians.

Virtual productions allow filmmakers, cinematographers, directors, producers and creatives to shoot in-camera VFX using LED technology whilst exploring the technological landscape that's revolutionising the visual effects industry. It combines both physical and virtual film-making techniques, so visual effects can be shot on-camera instead of edited in during post-production. Recently, a former power station at 25 Pasir Panjang Road, has been given new life as a pioneering studio called X3D studio, the largest facility of its type in South-east Asia that will employ the same virtual production technology used to create the immersive settings seen in visually arresting productions. Karen Seah, co-founder of X3D Studio tells us more about virtual productions and how it is changing the media and entertainment sector in Singapore. 

Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist, AMP Capital, discusses with Sean Cheong about some of  the major stories that impacted the market this week, if the week's dip in the Tech and AI sector is a pullback or "buy the dip" opportunity, the impact of the weak yen's on Asian Markets, Guzman's IPO and why his call of the week is in treasury bonds. 

According to Savills World Research, office occupancy rates in Asia Pacific are the highest in the world at 88%. In contrast, Europe and North America occupancies are below 60% with major US cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles still below 50% occupancy. Why the big difference between Asia Pacific and the West? What does this mean in terms of the office property sector? Alan Cheong, Executive Director, Research & Consultancy, Savills Singapore, offers his views. 

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency pegged to other assets, designed to minimise the volatility often associated with cryptocurrencies which would make them better for use in transactions. On Industry Insight, we take a look at emerging trends and how stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future with Hassan Ahmad, Coinbase’s Singapore Country Director.

Kavita Gandhi, Executive Director of SEAS and Christophe Inglin, Vice-Chairman, SEAS/Managing Director, Energetix speak with Rachel Kelly about the latest developments in the regional renewable energy industry. 

Recently, it was announced that the site at Bukit Timah's Turf City will be developed into a new residential enclave with up to 20,000 private and public homes. The announcement marks the first time that public housing has been planned in Bukit Timah since the Toh Yi estate was built about 40 years ago. Professor Sing Tien Foo, the Provost's Chair Professor at the Department of Real Estate, NUS Business School, shares his views on what sort of impact this would bring to the area and if it would be game changer to Public Housing in future.

APAC boasts a robust retail growth trajectory, especially in South East Asia. According to the 2023 global retail development index, both Malaysia and Indonesia are ranked among the top 10 economies that retailers should prioritise establishing a presence in. Tom Bianculli, Chief Technology Officer at American mobile computing company, Zebra Technologies, shares more about the importance of omnichannel capabilities and emerging technologies like Generative AI to retailers, especially as AI revolutionises the retail industry.

Dan Chang, Investment Specialist at Philip Capital, and Sean Cheong break down some of the week's market stories across US, Asian and Singapore markets.  Dan also explains why Seatrium (SGX: 5E2) is his call of the week. 

For the first time in more than 20 years, a Singapore housing site gets no bids, while another site gets a highest bid that is still about 10% lower than a fair market value. Are these signs that the Singapore private property market is heading for a lull? What sort of the impact will the new Prime Location Public Housing flats have as well to the private property market? Nicholas Mak, Chief Research Officer of property search portal Mogul.sg shares his insights to these questions.