Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) has recently detailed the investigation and disciplinary processes that led to the firing of three senior executives. This comes after questions were raised about the termination of SingPost’s group chief executive (CEO) Vincent Phang, group chief financial officer (CFO) Vincent Yik, and chief executive of the company's international business unit (IBU) Li Yu- including the timeline of events.  This latest crisis adds to Singpost ongoing business challenges and leaves a vacuum in leadership. Will Singpost be able to recover from its latest scandal? What does this latest incident say about its corporate governance? On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Mak Yuen Teen, Professor (Practice) of accounting and former Vice Dean of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School to find out more.   

Health consciousness among Singaporeans is on the rise, but is eating bland greens all it takes to truly eat clean? In fact, many of us could be consuming more calories from our salads than we expect, especially if it isn’t the right mix of everything that makes up a truly healthy bowl of food. Supergreen takes this struggle off its customers’ hands, making tasty and balanced bowls convenient for even the busiest of Singaporeans. On The Right Business, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Shao Rong, Founder of Supergreen to find out more.   

Singapore stocks opened flat this morning with a mixed showing from global markets amid light trading volumes with the New Year holiday approaching. In early trade, the Straits Times Index (STI) edged up 0.03 per cent to 3,772.85 points after 51.2 million securities changed hands in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch, we have OCBC, after the bank has agreed to sell its entire 33.3 per cent stake in Hong Kong Life Insurance to a Hong Kong investment holding company for HK$589.3 million (S$103 million).  Elsewhere, from US stocks falling across the board on Friday, to shares of South Korean budget carrier Jeju Air slumping to a record low after the country’s deadliest air crash yesterday, more international and corporate headlines remain in focus.     On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with Chin Hui Leong, Co-founder, The Smart Investor.

It's been considered South Korea’s worst commercial airline disaster. A passenger jet crash-landed at an airport in southwestern South Korea, with the aircraft sliding on its belly at high speed down the runway before bursting into flames, killing 179 people and leaving just two survivors. What happened? Was it a bird strike? Or was it a failure on the aircraft? On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong covers what we know so far about the crash. 

Red light for “Squid Game Season 2”. Red light for stock markets.  Stocks related to the highly anticipated second season of Netflix's Korean original series experienced a sharp drop, with some hitting their daily limit lows, after receiving negative reviews following its release the previous day. But was the plunge warranted for just one bad season? How should investors be playing the “Squid Game” in stock markets ahead of season 3? On Wealth Tracker, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Dan Chang, Investment Specialist and Trading Representative, PhillipCapital, to find out more. 

The global e-commerce logistics market is projected to grow to more than US$1.9b by 2032. Asia Pacific alone has dominated the e-commerce logistics market, with a market share of 41.61% in 2023. That’s where Anchanto, a leading B2B e-commerce and logistics SaaS providercomes in. Their integration of AI and robotics not only aligns with the e-commerce growth in recent years, but has also streamlined operations for thousands of businesses, driving substantial cost savings and efficiency. On The Right Business, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Vaibhav Dabhade, Founder and CEO of Anchanto to find out how this company has gone from a startup to a global leader in the B2B space.  

And so the journey comes to an end. Despite the valiant effort of Singapore to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit, it’s Vietnam who booked their spot in the ASEAN Championship finals. As for our Lions, they will left licking their wounds, contemplating what could have been. Was the tournament a step in the right direction for Singapore? And could this be the end of the road for NT skipper Hariss Harun? Deepanraj Ganesan, sports reporter with The Straits Times, weigh in on Sports Minutes. READ MORE: https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/lions-bow-out-of-asean-championship-semi-final-after-3-1-away-defeat-amidst-more-var-drama Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! raushan@sph.com.sg

In this special edition of Market View, we’re going to let our imagination run wild and look at some Outrageous Predictions for the year of 2025.  If you recall, online trading and investment firm Saxo comes up with a series of out-of-the-world predictions at this time every year. The Outrageous Predictions is a series of events that, while highly unlikely, could just happen, and that would send shockwaves across financial markets.  The predictions are meant to spark discussions and challenge consensus around key themes driving markets.  Some of Saxo’s Outrageous Predictions include Trump 2.0 blowing up the US dollar, Nvidia ballooning to twice the value of Apple with the availability in volume of its revolutionary 208-billion transistor Blackwell chip and China unleashing CNY 50 trillion stimulus to reflate the country’s economy.  Others include how an electrification boom could find OPEC’s relevance shrinking further and how the US could impose an AI data centre tax as power prices run wild.  But what are the potential market implications of the various predictions and how far would they bring about a round of whiplash for global investors?  On Market View, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the predictions with John Hardy, Chief Macro Strategist at Saxo.

The Lions were left licking their wounds as two late goals proved to be the sucker punch to Singapore's AFF Championship title ambitions - with Vietnam seizing a crucial first-leg advantage in the semi-finals. Heading into the away tie on 29 December, can the Lions pick themselves up to achieve the most improbable of comebacks? Hassan Sunny, ex-Singapore international & Deepanraj Ganesan, sports reporter with The Straits Times, weigh in on Sports Minutes. READ MORE: https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/singapore-suffer-heartbreaking-2-0-loss-to-vietnam-in-first-leg-of-asean-cup-s-finals-after-var  Got a story to tell? Get in touch with us! raushan@sph.com.sg

Singapore shares fell at the open today, reversing from Tuesday’s gains before investors took a break for Christmas. The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent to 3,766.45 points in early trade after 44.7 million securities changed hands in the broader market. In terms of companies to watch, we have Koh Brothers Eco Engineering, after its wholly owned subsidiary bagged a S$313.9 million contract from the Land Transport Authority to design and construct a bus depot in Lorong Halus. Elsewhere from how China refrained from cutting its interest rate ahead of a possible escalation of trade tensions with the US next year, to more on movements relating to automaker Toyota – more corporate and international headlines remain in focus.  On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian dived into the details with Terence Wong, CEO, Azure Capital.