World

Over the past decade, Thailand has lost much of its market share in the rice trade to Vietnam, which has continued to develop its aromatic varieties for sale at a cheaper price. “Businesses that require a large amount of rice such as restaurants, hotels and hospitals and used to buy fragrant rice from Thailand are now buying it from Vietnam because it’s cheaper and acceptable,” Chookiat of TREA explained. “I have to say that Vietnamese white rice nowadays is even more beautiful than Thai rice. The grain is slender and soft when cooked. It’s delicious and costs less than ours. This is what we’re worried about.” A lack of research, genetic development and varietal improvement as well as red tape in the seed registration process has limited Thailand’s capacity to produce high-quality, high...

FROM COMIC BOOKS TO LUXURY COLLECTIBLES Ang’s love affair with comic books started at a young age. “I used to read manga, English comics and Hong Kong comics,” he said. In 1995, Ang, who had dropped out of school, ran a small comic bookstore in Chinatown together with his older brother, Seng. On the side, they also picked up airbrush painting. Two years later, a friend approached the brothers with an offer to take over a hobby store in Bras Basah. “But the rent was quite expensive. Seng then said that our mum had just given him S$1,000 for his polytechnic school fees. So we used the money to pay the rent,” Ang chuckled. Eventually, their mother found out after a call from Seng’s school. “But she was very supportive. The worst was when my father found out!” Ang said with laugh. After sit...

After a career in corporate America, IyaSokoya Karade turned her love of gymnastics and her retirement savings into a new enterprise: opening a youth fitness center in her local community. She soon learned that having a passion wasn't enough to create a sustainable business. One of her earliest mistakes, she said, was not paying herself a salary. "Pay yourself, because you will run into a complete brick wall when you have debt, responsibilities," said Karade, owner and CEO of Athletic Arts Academy in Orange, New Jersey. "You have to provide your service product and you're looking around and you have nothing." With a team of advisers to help her, Karade has changed both the focus of her business and her mindset. More from Invest in You: Rising rates, inflation, market volatility: How to ma...

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, in its reply to CNA regarding the future of safe distancing ambassadors, said the Government will work with agencies to offer employment assistance to those in need. Authorities have also said that many of those employed in short-term COVID-19 roles will return to sectors they had originally come from, such as aviation or the service industry. Efforts are also being made to absorb safe distancing ambassadors into the healthcare sector, if they have been deployed to areas related to it, a TODAY report cited Manpower Minister Tan See Leng as saying earlier this month. Given continued growth, the healthcare and community sectors are indeed areas that job seekers can consider, said a private provider of healthcare training. “The healthcar...

SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday (Apr 27) gave an update on major investigations involving ongoing high-profile cases such as Noble Group and Hyflux, as part of efforts to provide greater transparency. The updates were included in the authority’s latest enforcement report, in which it highlighted the strong enforcement actions taken against financial institutions and individuals for breaches of laws and regulations administered by MAS. The inclusion of case updates comes in response to investor and industry feedback, said MAS, adding that it will balance the public’s interest in obtaining information against the need to protect the integrity of investigations and any pending court proceedings. According to the report, MAS imposed S$2.4 million in composi...

SINGAPORE : Asian oil refiners are reaping their highest profits ever this week, spurred by higher fuel demand during peak holiday seasons as more economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic while the region ramps up exports to Europe to replace a Russia shortfall. Profit margins for complex refineries in Singapore, the bellwether for Asian refiners, tipped over $20 a barrel on Wednesday. Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel crack spreads all hit fresh record highs of $22.28, $47.53 and $37.38 per barrel respectively on Thursday, thanks to a transport boom as more economies ease COVID restrictions. Asia oil refining margins https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/klvyklqyqvg/Pastedper cent20imageper cent201651118180541.png The demand strength comes at a time when supplies remain tight follo...

SYDNEY: Qantas announced on Monday (May 2) it will launch the world's longest nonstop commercial flight, with passengers set to spend 19 hours in the air traveling from Sydney to London by the end of 2025. After five years of planning, the airline said it was ordering 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to operate the "Project Sunrise" flights to cities including London and New York. Nonstop flights will start from Sydney by the end of 2025, it said, with long-haul trips later planned to include Melbourne. "New types of aircraft make new things possible," said Qantas chairman Alan Joyce, according to a statement. "The A350 and Project Sunrise will make any city just one flight away from Australia," he said. "It's the final frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance." Qantas oper...

South Korea joined NATO’s cyber defense group on May 5, becoming the second East Asian country after Japan to join the group. South Korea’s top spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said it had been admitted as a “contributing participant” to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, Estonia. The CCDCOE’s mission is to support NATO in the field of cyber defense research, training and exercises covering the focus areas of technology, strategy, operations and law. It was established in 2008 on the initiative of Estonia, in response to alleged Russian cyberattacks in 2007 which targeted Estonian banks, government offices and media outlets after Estonia’s relocation of a Soviet-era World War II monument and war graves. “Cyberthreats are cau...

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We earn a commission from affiliate partners on many offers, but not all offers on Select are from affiliate partners. With summer just around the corner, three Marriott Bonvoy credit cards — the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card and Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card — are offering lucrative welcome offers with perks such as free nights and up to 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to help consumers reduce the cost of future hotel stays. Below, Select breaks down the three updated welcome bonuses, as well as each card's unique features and how you can use each one to its full potential. Subscribe to the Selec...

LONDON: Most cryptocurrencies have a major problem with price volatility, but one sub-category of coins is designed to maintain a constant value - stablecoins. As cryptocurrency prices plummeted this week, with bitcoin losing around a third of its value in just eight days, stablecoins were supposed to be isolated from the chaos. But an unexpected collapse in the fourth-largest stablecoin TerraUSD, which broke from its 1:1 dollar peg, has brought the asset class under renewed attention. Here's what you need to know: WHAT ARE STABLECOINS? Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to be protected from the wild volatility that makes it difficult to use digital assets for payments or as a store of value. They attempt to maintain a constant exchange rate with fiat currencies, for example t...