The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

In Singapore, estate planning is not just for the wealthy; it’s a practical step for anyone wanting to manage their assets responsibly. Whether or not you share the wishes outlined in your estate plan is your choice. In some situations, it may be in your best interest to let certain people in on the secret. Jonathan Wong, lawyer and director of Singapore practice Bayfront Law, shares his expertise in the basics of estate planning, and how you can confidently manage your assets, and hopefully avoid family drama.

In land-scarce Singapore where public housing can cost up to a million dollars, the appeal of shophouses seems to be growing. Interest in Housing and Development Board (HDB) shophouses is on the rise, with buyers drawn to their relatively high yields, high-traffic locations and limited supply in the market for assets in public housing estates. To find out more about this trend and things to look out for when investing in a shophouse, Loyalle Chin, founder of PropNex ShophouseHuat, and an expert who is dubbed the “private banker” of shophouses to CEOs and families shares some insightful advice.

With ransomware attacks, hacks and data breaches becoming increasingly common, how can businesses navigate through the intricacies of cybersecurity, equip themselves with the knowledge and insights they need to safeguard their digital assets and stay ahead of cyber threats? On Industry Insight, we take a look at the threat Intelligence space, and delve into the critical steps, emerging trends and effective strategies that define the ever-evolving landscape of digital defence. Earlier this year, Google launched a new cybersecurity solution, Google Threat Intelligence designed to provide organisations with enhanced visibility into the global threat landscape to protect against external threats, managing attack surfaces, and mitigating digital risks.  Veteran cybersecurity leader, Sandra Joyce, who isVice President of Google Threat Intelligence, shares her insights. 

The Straits Times Index finally went on a rally above the 3600 level, notching up a weekly gain of almost 1.9%, in the aftermath of the stimulus measures from China, The “assault” on the 17-year high of 3,906 continues, and if that 3,906 number is taken out, it would be the highest level that the STI has been in 17 years.  Dan Chang, Investment Specialist and Trading Representative at PhillipCapital, shares with us more about the velocity of this rally, discusses if breaking the 17-year high is possible and if Singapore markets are set for the end-year 'Santa Claus' rally. 

According to Future of Work survey by global real estate services company, JLL, 7 in 10 expect their commercial real estate (CRE) budgets to increase between now and 2030.  This comes as many organisations look to increase headcount in the coming years and make additional investments in real estate. Many will retain a strong focus on workplace efficiency to maintain a smarter real estate portfolio. So, how will commercial real estate prepare for the future of work? How will business leaders put their office space to work? Kamya Miglani, Head of ESG Research, Asia Pacific, JLL, tells us more. 

For the first time, home buyers can look forward to seven Plus projects and one Prime project in the Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercise under a new classification framework. In total, HDB will offer 8,500 flats across 15 projects in nine HDB towns in the upcoming BTO sales exercise. This will be the largest number of projects launched in a BTO exercise to date. The number of new flats launched will also account for more than 40 per cent of the new HDB flat supply for 2024.  What are the key changes to the BTO scheme? How will the overhauled framework impact the resale market? Christine Sun, Chief Researcher and Strategist at OrangeTee & Tie shares with us more.

In Southeast Asia's SGD$19 billion creator economy, most content creators face common challenges - monetising their content and receiving timely payments. Due in part to the nature of creator economies which are diverse and distributed, the payment process is challenging. Not surprisingly, the content creation community in this region is still largely unsupported by any payments platform.  Singapore-based content membership platform Gank is filling the gap in this space to help meet the monetisation and payments needs of content creators in Southeast Asia. The Afternoon Update speaks to the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Gank, James Sim to find out why content creators should bank on Gank.

Hong Kong and Shanghai soared Friday (Oct 18) to lead gains across most Asian markets after Chinese growth beat forecasts and officials flagged fresh measures to boost the world's number two economy. Markets this week are riding on a wave of optimism following announcements from various other central banks and stimulus measures.  How have these developments impacted the commodities markets? Yeap Junrong, Market Strategist at IG, shares more on gold, silver and oil commodities, and an update on  currencies including the SGD / JPY currency pair, which has caught his attention. 

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee pledged on Oct 16 to reform and revive the economy and financial markets including slashing liquor duties, while seeking to improve dire living conditions for the city's poorest. Are the measures in his third annual policy address sufficient to solve Hong Kong's pressing challenges? Hong Kong-based economist Gary Ng, from corporate and investment banking firm Natixis shares his perspective. 

Since 2016, GovWare has been a cornerstone event of the annual Singapore International Cyber Week. This year, the resilience of critical information infrastructure was one of the key focus areas at the conference, held between October 15-17.  As organisations in the public and private sectors operate under increasing threats of ransomware attacks, geopolitical threats, and breach attempts of citizens' personally identifiable information, the Asia Pacific region has witnessed a rise in the sophistication of cyber attacks. With cyber threats becoming more complex and varied, are we equipped to defend against these hidden predators in our data networks? Ian Monteiro, Partner and Executive Director of Image Engine, the organiser of GovWare shares some of the key highlights at GovWare 2024.