Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe. They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises. Weeks after 159 people died in a crowd crush in Seoul’s clubbing district on Halloween, South Korea is preparing for year-end festivities. In this episode, she chats with ST's South Korea correspondent Chang May Choon. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:13 Seoul will be different this time, after the Itaewon tragedy 4:35 Ppali, ppali (fast) & skinship: understanding Korean crowd culture 9:55 Is behaviour changing in the ‘subway from hell’? 17:05 Has the Itaewon tragedy yielded some lessons? Read Chang May Choon’s article here: https://str.sg/wC5Q Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim and Fa’izah Sani Edited by: Fa’izah Sani and Eden Soh Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo Read Chang May Choon’s articles: https://str.sg/wCJU Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters --- Discover ST's special edition podcasts: Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2 Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn --- Discover more ST podcast series: Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #STAsianInsider

November has been the best month for Asian stocks relative to global peers since 1993. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 15% this month, set for its biggest jump since 1998. In comparison, the MSCI All Country World Index is up less than 6%. David Kuo, co-founder, The Smart Investor shares more. 

In today's Breakfast Brief, we talk about the latest comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell helping to give some reprieve to investors, as he dialed back some of the hawkish rhetoric from earlier Fed speakers this week.

Mitul Kotecha, Head of Emerging Markets Strategy, TD Securities discusses how much optimism investors should price into a China reopening, and how much lower the recently weakening USD will drift in 2023.

From UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s first foreign policy speech to EU governments failing to agree to a price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil. Trisha Craig, Vice President (Engagement) and Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences (Sociology and Political Science), Yale-NUS College shares more. 

Businesses are embracing digitisation to support their operations and employee engagement, but this is happening at different speeds. 86 percent of respondents working in large firms with 201 or more employees say that their companies are mostly or thoroughly digitised. However, only 30 percent of SMEs could say the same. Gillian Parker, Senior Manager, Policy & Insights, Economist Insights shares more. 

Cyber security incidents are a growing concern in Asia. The continent was the most targeted region in 2021, taking on one in four cybersecurity attacks with financial services and manufacturing organisations accounting for almost 60 percent of attacks in Asia. Gene Yu. Founder & CEO, Blackpanda Group shares more. 

Brian Arcese, Portfolio Manager and Equity Analyst, Foord Asset Management discusses if the bounce in Chinese markets can be sustained amid unhappiness over Covid-19 restrictions and how the government's messaging is changing. He also previews how US non-farm payrolls out on Friday will steer market sentiment.

In today's Breakfast Brief, we discuss how Chinese cities are shifting away from broader lockdown measures towards more targeted measures such as a list of buildings to be shuttered.

From how Malaysia's new Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will make a difference in the country's political scene and the future of Malaysia's political relationships with other countries in the region.  Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University shares more.