Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

From former President Donald Trump first rally of 2022 Saturday in Arizona, to hundreds of students in Boston and Chicago walking out of classes in protests demanding a switch to remote learning as a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant, Nirmal Ghosh, US Bureau Chief, Straits Times gives an analysis of it all. 

The impact of Covid-19 aside, increasing competition from proliferating heartland shopping malls and the rise of e-commerce has significantly decreased footfall to smaller heartland shops.  Estee Lim, General Manager, Bee Choo Origin shares her views on the importance of digitalisation for heartland businesses and how they can push boundaries to preserve the ‘kampung spirit’. 

Have you tried one of those meat alternative products, can it potentially replace real meat in the near future? It was recently suggested that 54 percent of Gen Z respondents were already trying to restrict their meat consumption. Gautam  Godhwani, Managing Partner, Good Startup shares his views on how the meat alternative industry can continue to re-define consumer food choices worldwide and retain investors' attention globally.       

We knew it was coming all along, but the question was when? It looks like we might be seeing a GST hike in 2022, with some saying it might come as early as April. But is this the right time to do so? Simon Poh, Associate Professor, Accounting Department, NUS Business School shares his views.   

Caroline Loke, Portfolio Manager for Asia ex Japan Equity, PineBridge Investments discusses the highlights of her investment strategies in 2021 and her views on where valuations are going in 2022. 

In this morning's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss China's Evergrande securing payment extension as more developers race to avert defaults and Microsoft board reviewing their sexual harassment, discrimination policies. 

Synopsis: Join The Straits Times's associate editor Ravi Velloor, in this series of podcasts as he distils his experience from four decades of covering the continent. In this episode, he hosts Professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego. He also happens to be a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which makes him the Pope’s climate scientist. Highlights of conversation (click/tap above): 03:27 Professor Ramanathan on the outcomes of the COP26 in Glasgow and whether the world is doing enough to curb fossil fuels 16:26 Global warming morphing into a global disruption of the weather systems, including those along the equator and the polar region 22:05 Remedies for climate change and ways to cut global warming 30:36 Geopolitics coming in the way of taking effective steps to cooperate on climate change? 33:54 How Professor Ramanathan built his relationship with the Vatican leading up to the encyclical that was issued by Pope Francis in 2015 and is there a need to enlist religious authorities into climate effort? 48:43 The Pope's view that poverty is the main pollutant and Professor Ramanathan's thoughts on a possible future world leader who might dismiss climate change issues Produced by: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg) and ST Video Edited by: ST Video & Fa'izah Sani Subscribe to our Asian Insider Podcast channel to follow our various shows each week and rate us on your favourite audio apps: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Ravi Velloor's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP Ravi Velloor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloor 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 SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR #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 ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #STAsianInsider

Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist, AMP Capital discusses how the cloud over China's growth will affect other economies and markets, and why he's got his eye on the US mid-term elections in November.

With hotels opening up for staycations in Singapore, most of us might still be looking for an experience which gets us on our feet, with more physical activity. One company, Discover Sailing Asia (DSA), is offering staycations at sea for those who enjoy being under the sun. Chong Wei Yong, Director, Discover Sailing Asia shares how the idea of staycation at sea came about and the activities that come along with this seacation. 

In this morning's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss the highest inflation rise of 7% over the past year since 1982, and World Health Organization's report of a record numbers of Covid-19 cases globally for a single week amid the omicron surge