Faced with layoffs, hiring freezes, and a significant decline in funding within the Southeast Asian tech
ecosystem, there has been a notable shift in compensation trends in Singapore’s tech industry.

In contrast to the preceding two years, during which technology salaries experienced substantial
growth, there is now an overall decrease in salaries for various tech positions, according to Nodeflair’s annual tech salary report. This includes software engineers, who are traditionally among the top earners in the industry.

Despite the overarching salary reductions, one sector stands out: artificial intelligence (AI). As the industry increasingly pivots towards AI technologies, compensation for roles in this domain has witnessed a notable upswing.

In particular, data science roles, including positions such as AI engineers, machine-learning specialists, and deep-learning experts, have seen a noteworthy increase of over 10 per cent in average salaries, marking a growing interest and investment in AI technologies.

The median starting pay for junior data scientists in S$7,500

Based on the salary data derived from NodeFlair’s proprietary database, which includes verified user-submitted pay slips and offer letters, the median pay for a junior data scientist hovers around S$7,500.

Meanwhile, data scientist leads earn up to S$17,000 per month, marking a 27 per cent increase as compared to the previous year.

Other tech roles that have seen an uptick in salaries besides data scientists include quality assurance, systems analysts, mobile engineers, and product managers.

With a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in cyber attacks across Asia Pacific, cybersecurity engineers also see an average salary increase of 8.24 per cent. The median salary of junior cybersecurity engineers is S$4,750, while the 90th percentile of lead cybersecurity engineers makes S$16,000 per month.

Software engineers still remain the highest-paid tech role

Based on the report, the role that has seen the highest pay cut is game engineers, with their pay dipping by 6.66 per cent in 2023.

This is followed by solutions engineers, blockchain engineers, DevOps, data engineers, data analysts, and software engineers.

Software engineer salaries decreased by an average of 0.99 per cent in 2023, compared to an increase of 7.61 per cent in 2022. Despite this dip, they remain the highest-paid tech role, with the 90th percentile of software engineer managers earning S$20,500 per month.

Despite the decrease in salaries this year, they still surpass those observed two years ago. This indicates that the current adjustments reflect a move towards a more balanced and realistic compensation structure.

However, the report also highlights a notable disparity between the industry’s highest and lowest earners, with the former making up to three times more than the latter.

More companies are paying tech talents 20% above market median

Amid the upheavals in the tech industry, job seekers are now prioritising companies that provide stability—workers are now drawn to firms that not only offer competitive salaries but are also financially stable and committed to avoiding layoffs. 

Salary has also won over priorities of previous years, including work-life balance and employee benefits.

At the same time, an increasing number of companies are paying salaries 20 percent higher than the market median. Among the top 14 most searched tech companies, 10 offer salaries at least 20 percent above the market median, while most others offer salaries 10 percent higher than the median.

This represents a significant departure from the previous year, where only six out of 16 companies paid salaries 20 percent above the market median.

Remote hiring will become more prominent

Looking forward to 2024, the tech hiring landscape is poised for further evolution and innovation, particularly with the ascent of generative AI.

To address talent shortages, Ethan Ang, the CEO of NodeFlair, anticipates a notable surge in cross-border and remote hiring practices within the tech industry.

“As we step into 2024, the tech industry grapples with talent challenges amidst the rise of generative AI and financial prudence,” says Ethan. With flexible hiring strategies, organisations will be empowered to build resilient, globally diverse tech teams, driving unprecedented innovation and success in today’s dynamic landscape.

Next year will also see a notable increase in the use of AI tools in hiring. These tools streamline recruitment workflows for efficiency and unbiased candidate evaluation. Advanced AI systems, particularly in coding assessments, are set to transform interview and assessment procedures, introducing safeguards for the integrity of the hiring process.

Featured Image Credit: Unscrambled

The Forbes 2024 list of the world’s richest people, which was released on Tuesday (April 2), revealed that there are now more billionaires than ever: 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021.

They are richer than ever, worth US$14.2 trillion in aggregate, up by US$2 trillion from 2023 and US$1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021.

French luxury goods titan Bernard Arnault topped the ranking for the second consecutive year after his net worth grew by 10 per cent to US$233 billion, while Elon Musk remained in the second spot, with a fortune of US$195 billion, up 8 per cent from 2023.

There were also 265 newcomers to the list, including fashion designer Christian Louboutin, with a net worth of US$1.2 billion, and pop star Taylor Swift, whose wealth stood at US$1.1 billion.

Among the world’s wealthiest, 39 Singaporeans have made this year’s Forbes list, with one-third of them amassing their wealth from real estate.

Out of the 39, we have compiled a list of the 10 wealthiest Singaporeans, with a breakdown of the businesses they helm:

1. Li Xiting

Ranking No. 126 globally, Li Xiting, founder of medical equipment firm Mindray, remains the wealthiest Singaporean on the list. He was born in Anhui, China, but relocated to Singapore and obtained citizenship here in 2018.

The 73-year-old co-founded Mindray in 1991 and achieved his wealth by selling ventilators and medical devices. Due to high demand, Li witnessed a significant increase in his net worth during the Covid-19 pandemic, however, since its peak in 2021, his net worth has seen a steady decline.

According to Forbes, his total net worth of US$15.1 billion this year is down from US$16.3 billion reported in 2023, and his global ranking has also slipped from No. 103 last year.

2. Goh Cheng Liang

Following closely behind Li is paint manufacturing tycoon Goh Cheng Liang at No. 154, with a total net worth of US$12.7 billion. He earns most of his wealth from a majority stake in Japan’s Nippon Paint Holdings.

Goh wasn’t always on top of the world. Born to a jobless father and a mother who did laundry for work, he grew up in poverty and sold fishnets and rubber tappers for income. After stumbling into the paint business after World War II, he started making paints in a small factory in Singapore before he partnered with Nippon Paint in 1962. From then onwards, he dominated the field in Singapore and beyond.

Today, his companies, Wuthelam Holdings and Yenom Industries, include a wide array of businesses, from retail and distribution to golf courses, logistics, a Chinese mining company, marinas, hotels, and housing developments worldwide.

3. & 4. Philip Ng and Robert Ng

The third and fourth richest Singaporeans to make the 2024 Forbes billionaire list is Phillip Ng at No. 373 and his brother Robert Ng, at No. 385, with net worths of US$7.2 billion and US$7.1 billion respectively.

Philip Ng and his brother control Far East Organization, Singapore’s largest private landlord and property developer—the company produces one in every six houses sold to the public. Philip oversees the Group’s Singapore interests, while Robert runs their Hong Kong arm, Sino Group.

Far East Organisation was founded by the siblings’ father Ng Teng Fong, who moved from China to Singapore in 1934 and came to be known as “The King of Orchard Road.”

5. Jason Chang

Jason Chang, the 79-year-old chairman of Taiwan-based Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), a provider of independent semiconductor assembling and test manufacturing services, comes in fifth. Jason ranks No. 417 globally, with a net worth of US$6.6 billion.

ASE was founded back in 1984, opening its first factory in Kaohsiung, Taiwan–where it is now based. Its other plants are located in China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, with offices and service centres in China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Belgium and the United States

Along with his brother Richard, Jason is also a major investor in Sino Horizon, a commercial real estate developer.

6. Zhang Yong

The sixth richest Singaporean and No. 624 on the list is Zhang Yong, the Chinese-born Singaporean business magnate behind the Haidilao restaurant group.

Despite dropping out of high school and lacking a culinary background, the entrepreneur has grown the chain to nearly 1,500 restaurants today. The restaurants are mostly located in China but also in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

Haidilao’s HK$7.6 billion initial public offering in 2018 made Zhang a billionaire, and his net worth is valued at US$4.9 billion today.

7. Jason Jiang

Coming in at No. 871 is Jason Jiang, the founder, chairman and CEO of Alibaba-backed Chinese outdoor advertising firm Focus Media Information Technology, with a net worth of US$3.7 billion.

The firm boasts elevator screens and movie theatre media networks in 300 cities across China, and 70 overseas.

The 51-year-old’s company went public on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 2005. However, following negative publicity from a short seller, it was taken private in 2013. In 2016, it went public in Shenzhen through a backdoor listing.

8. Forrest Li

The ninth richest Singaporean on this year’s Forbes list is Forrest Li, founder of online gaming and e-commerce firm Sea. With a net worth of US$3.6 billion, Li ranks No. 896 globally.

Li first entered the ranks of Singapore’s richest after listing Sea on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2017. Since its IPO, the firm reported its first-ever quarterly profit of US$423 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

However, Li’s net worth has steadily declined since its peak of US$12.4 billion in 2021. In 2022, it more than halved to US$5.3 billion, and further declined to US$4.6 billion last year.

9. Kwek Leng Beng

Hotel and property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng is the ninth richest Singaporean to be featured on this year’s Forbes list, ranking No. 949 with a net worth of US$3.4 billion.

He heads the Hong Leong Group, which his father founded, and is the executive chairman of the property and hotel group City Developments Limited. In 2018, the 83-year-old’s son, Sherman Kwek, took charge as City Developments’ group CEO.

Kwek came into prominence in the 1990s after acquiring a string of hotels to found the Millennium & Copthorne chain. In 1995, he and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal acquired the Plaza Hotel in New York, which was a high-profile acquisition.

10. Choo Chong Ngen and Kuok Khoon Hong

Tying at No. 1143 with net worths of US$2.9 billion each are Choo Chong Ngen, the founder and chairman of Worldwide Hotels, and Kuok Khoon Hong, the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Wilmar International.

Choo made his fortune in textiles before launching his Hotel 81 budget hotel chain in Geylang in 1993. Since then, it has grown into Singapore’s largest budget hotel chain. Hotel 81 is one of six hotel brands in his portfolio, the others being Value Hotel, Venue Hotel, V Hotel, Hotel Boss, and Hotel Mi.

Currently, Worldwide Hotels operates 38 hotels in Singapore, with over 6,500 rooms contributing nearly 10 per cent of the country’s total hotel inventory.

Meanwhile, Kuok cofounded Wilmar in 1991 and built it into one of the world’s largest palm oil producers. The enterprise launched an initial public offering on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2006 with a capitalisation of S$2.38 billion.

Kuok has long dabbled in the industry prior to starting up Wilmar International. In fact, the 74-year-old had been involved in the grains, edible oils and oilseeds businesses since 1973, playing an integral role in many projects involving the establishment of oil palm plantations across Asia and Africa.

Four Singaporeans made their debut in this year’s list

This year’s list also sees four new Singaporean entrants, including the three sons of the late banking tycoon Wee Cho Yaw.

Wee Ee Cheong, 71, ranked No. 1945 with a net worth of US$1.6 billion, while his brothers, Wee Ee Chao and Wee Ee Lim, have a net worth of US$1.3 billion each, tying for No. 2287 on the list.

The fourth newcomer was 67-year-old John Lim, the co-founder and deputy chairman of ARA Asset Management, coming in at No. 2692.

Featured Image Credit: Sea/ Forbes/ Tatler/ Getty/ Zhang Yong via Facebook

Carousell Group has expanded its luxury segment by acquiring LuxLexicon, a Singapore-based luxury bags reseller and authenticated luxury consignment platform, today (April 2).

The secondhand marketplace is looking to extend its gains in the luxury resale market with the acquisition as it seeks to tap a market projected to reach US$7.5 billion by 2026. Over the last two years, the company said it has seen a surge in its high-end bag listings, with an increase of 71 per cent per month.

While Carousell did not disclose how much LuxLexicon was acquired for, filings with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore show that Carousell paid for the deal in a mixture of cash and shares amounting up to S$2 million worth, the Business Times reports.

The acquisition will also allow LuxLexicon to leverage Carousell Group’s expertise in online recommerce and overseas expansion for future growth. LuxLexicon will continue to be led by its founder, Florence Low, and operate as its own brand, retaining its name, retail space, and team.

Carousell Group has also made acquisitions for fashion, mobiles and autos

Over the past couple of years, Carousell Group has been strengthening its recommerce foundations to drive the company’s multi-category approach on its top growth categories, including Luxury.

In 2023, it launched two initiatives to make buying and selling luxury bags more reliable and user-friendly, including the Carousell Certified Luxury program, which verifies the authenticity of high-end bags and the Sell to Carousell Luxury service, which allows users to sell or consign their bags to Carousell.

Marcus Tan, the co-founder of Carousell Group, says that he initially met Florence Low, the founder of LuxLexicon, to partner with the business for Carousell’s Certified Luxury programme.

“After conversations, we realised that we had a similar vision, and by joining forces with LuxLexicon’s expertise, we could help each other supercharge our luxury bag business in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan over the next few years,” he shares.

Apart from Luxury, the secondhand platform also had made acquisitions for fashion, mobiles and autos over the years. The acquisition of LuxLexicon follows the group’s 2022 acquisition of Indonesian electronics recommerce platform Laku6 and Singaporean omnichannel fashion recommerce retailer REFASH.

Although the company views organic growth as a top priority, Carousell Group will continue to seek acquisition opportunities with the “right partners across its focus categories and markets to accelerate the future of secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia”.

Featured Image Credit: Carousell Group

Also Read: “This space marks a coming-of-age”: Carousell unveils new regional HQ at one-north in S’pore

Homegrown maritime electrification technology start-up Pyxis launched Singapore’s first fully electric workboat, the X Tron, on March 27.

With the launch, the start-up aims to provide port and ship workers who shuttle between mainland Singapore and ships anchored in the Republic’s waters with quieter, cleaner and greener rides over the sea.

The X Tron measures 14.8m in length and can ferry up to 12 passengers and a crew of two—similar to conventional diesel equivalents. Its range is up to 50 nautical miles, which is enough for two round trips from its operational base, Marina South Pier, and its surrounding anchorages.

The vessel utilises the same charging port electric vehicles. With a high-speed 150 kW charger, it takes about two and a half hours for it to get to full charge. One such charger will be located at Marina South Pier as part of a trial to be conducted by Pyxis and SP Mobility in April.

Pyxis took 11 months to manufacture X Tron and hopes to eventually get this down to six months in the future.

Pyxis aims to launch more than 100 electric vessels by 2030

X Tron is the first in a series of electric port passenger vessels made by Pyxis called Pyxis One. The start-up has two other product lines in the works, including the Pyxis R, an electric river boat that can accommodate 50 passengers designed to be used for sightseeing tours on the Singapore River, and the Pyxis L, a more luxurious variant of Pyxis R.

Vessels in the Pyxis One product line, including the X Tron, are expected to save up to 120kg of carbon emissions per hour compared to equivalent diesel vessels.

Including the X Tron, Pyxis now has a total of 13 vessels on its order book. The company aims to deliver all of them by 2026. The start-up’s larger goal is to launch more than 100 electric vessels across the Asia-Pacific region by 2030, it added.

“As frontrunners in the coastal maritime sector, we aim to propel the beginning of a new era in Singapore’s maritime industry by making electrification accessible to all,” said Tommy Phun, Pyxis’ Founder and CEO.

“Pyxis is founded for the industry, by the industry”

Founded by seasoned industry experts in 2022, Pyxis aims to spearhead the transition to a sustainable, greener and more efficient maritime future in both local and regional ports. In Singapore waters alone, an estimated 1,600 harbour crafts are ready to be electrified.

Earlier in February, the company secured S$4.5 million in a seed funding round co-led by Motion Ventures and Shift4Good. Other participants of the fundraise include Seeds Capital, MarImpact, ShipsFocus, Tian San Shipping, Kim Ann Investments, and LCC Resources.

Alongside Pyxis’ electric port passenger vessels, the company also aims to usher automation and digital transformation in the maritime industry through its digital platform, Electra—an all-in-one platform for fleet management, electric charging, route optimisation, predictive maintenance, and emissions reduction tracking.

Pyxis is founded for the industry, by the industry. It is our strong network, industry expertise, and proprietary technology that allows Pyxis to focus on data-driven designs and optimisations in expanding beyond Singapore to sister ports in the APAC region.

Our team of industry experts is immersed in the intricate workings of the coastal maritime landscape and is united by a shared vision to overcome the sector’s demands and challenges.

– Tommy Phun, Founder and CEO, Pyxis

Featured Image Credit: Pyxis

Back in the early 2000s, NASA-funded scientists conducted an investigation into alternative protein sources to offer astronauts more palatable options on long space journeys.

The result? Lab-grown goldfish meat that “looked and smelled” exactly like fish.

The scientists didn’t go as far as tasting it, though. The cultivated meat hadn’t yet been certified as safe to eat, and concerns lingered about potential infectious agents from the foetal bovine serum used to grow it.

Fast forward to 2013, the cultivated meat industry saw another breakthrough after years of research when Dutch scientist Mark Post announced he had created the world’s first cultivated beef burger. The cultivated patty, which was painstakingly grown strand by strand in hundreds of plastic dishes, took two years to develop and cost a whopping US$332,000.

This breakthrough sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector: startups emerged, making bold proclamations and laying out aggressive product timelines. Investors too, fuelled by the promise and potential of this new innovation, poured millions of dollars into cultivated meat ventures.

In 2021, investment in cultivated meat companies topped US$1.36 billion, growing by over 300 per cent from the previous year. Among these companies is Californian firm Eat Just, one of the top funded startups in the industry, having raised around US$850 million since its founding in 2011.

Eat Just was also the first company in the world to gain approval to sell its lab-grown chicken nuggets to consumers in Singapore three years ago to much fanfare.

But despite cinching regulatory approval and having millions of dollars poured into the industry, lab-grown meat has yet to make its way onto grocery store shelves.

For years, companies have promised that commercially-viable lab-grown meat was right around the corner, however, repeated missed product launches and setbacks have eroded investor confidence in the space. From 2022 to 2023, total investment in the cultivated meat industry dipped by 78 per cent, from US$807 million to US$177 million.

And as funding dries up, cracks in the industry are becoming more apparent, with MIT Technology Review dubbing lab-grown meat as one of the “worst technology failures” of 2023.

How did an industry which once held so much promise falter so quickly?

Another expensive Silicon Valley mistake

At its current state, the cultivated meat industry is propped up more by wishful thinking than science.

Sure, the most basic part of the process, which involves growing a few living cells into many, is not new—pharmaceutical companies have routinely cultured animal cells at scale for decades for antibody and vaccine production, and the first vaccine developed for human use was made from duck embryonic cells.

However, this process typically produces undifferentiated cell biomass. To turn this into something edible, you’d have to blend it with plant-based ingredients, or alternatively, you could attempt something vastly more difficult: getting the animal cells to form into muscle-like tissue.

The former will limit you to the production of “minced” products, like chicken nuggets and meatballs, while the latter will enable you to create fully-structured meat, such as fillets and steaks. But even when it comes to the creation of processed, “minced” products, many startups have faltered—none have managed to achieve affordability and scalability to date.

Take Singapore food tech darling Shiok Meats, for instance. When the company showcased its first prototype in 2019—the world’s first cell-based siew mai—it was quickly shoved into the media spotlight, heralded as one of the up and coming food tech startups in both Singapore and Southeast Asia.

The company’s offerings were scheduled for commercial launch in 2023, but there was just one problem: the five shrimp dumplings it showcased had a whopping S$8,000 to S$10,000 price tag on them.

Shiok Meats eventually did manage to lower costs by swapping some of the pharmaceutical-grade ingredients used in the production of their cultivated shrimp (which accounted for 90 per cent of its price) for plant-based and edible ingredients two years later, but even then, its products still remained relatively expensive.

A kilogram of lab-grown shrimp meat now set the company back by S$5,000, bringing down the cost of each siew mai to S$150, and the company’s co-founder, Sandhya Sriram, was so sure that this could be further reduced to a “two- to three-digit number” by the start of 2021.

But that never happened. In 2023, Sandhya came out to share on LinkedIn that Shiok Meats was “unable to scale its crustacean stem cells into production” after facing allegations that its core technology did not work and losing half its staff six months prior.

Production pauses, contaminated cell lines, and failed experiments

Shiok Meats’ struggle to scale isn’t an isolated incident; it’s a reflection of broader industry-wide shortcomings.

Earlier this month, The Straits Times (ST) reported that the production of Eat Just’s cell-based meat, sold under the label Good Meat, had been put on pause. Its S$61 million Good Meat production facility in Bedok, which was initially slated to open in the third quarter of 2023, also appeared to be shuttered.

When Vulcan Post reached out to Eat Just regarding the pause in production, an Eat Just spokeswoman was quick to clarify that the company’s production in Singapore “had never been continuous”.

Eat Just’s production has always been more campaign style—our regular cadence since we began production in 2020 has been to produce and pause, produce and pause. There’s truly no news here; we are simply in a paused phase of production as we have been in the past, and we plan to resume production and service to consumers very soon.

– An Eat Just spokeswoman on the company’s reported pause in production

Even if that may be true, the lab grown meat company has had a history of encountering setbacks in its cultivated meat experiments.

Sometime in 2018, when Eat Just was exploring cell-based duck products like foie gras and duck chorizo, scientists ran a scan on the cells being used and found mouse cells, forcing Eat Just to scrap its duck products altogether.

Temasek-backed Upside Foods also found similar contaminants—rat cells, to be precise—in their cell lines back in 2019.

The company has made progress since the incident, opening a production factory to scale its offerings, but an article by MIT Technology Review in 2023 alleged that Upside Foods was still producing its textured chicken product by growing thin layers of chicken skin cells in laboratory flasks, which are then manually pressed into chicken pieces—versus growing the chicken breast products in their bioreactors.

Is cultivated meat truly environmentally friendly?

Looking at the state of the industry, it’s painfully obvious that the technology isn’t at all there yet—it just seems more like a story about optimism. What should’ve been left in academia has now seemingly turned into a waste of time and resources.

Yet, many of these companies still chase the idea that these cell-based meats are viable and ethical alternatives to slaughtering animals.

Beyond the ethical allure of lab-grown meat, it is often hailed as a sustainable alternative to raising livestock. Feeding animals on farms requires a lot of land and energy, both of which can produce carbon dioxide emissions. On a global average, one kilogram of beef can account for emissions roughly equivalent to 100 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

Cultivated meat could potentially eliminate these environmental challenges as it requires less land, water and greenhouse gases. But according to researchers at the University of California, whether or not cultivated meat can deliver on its big climate promises still remains questionable.

In fact, they found the environmental impact of lab-grown meat to be “orders of magnitude” higher than retail beef based on current and near-term production methods.

This is because energy is required to run the reactors that house cultivated cells as they grow, which will likely involve the use of fossil fuels.

Sure, they could be replaced with renewables once they become widely available, but even then, the reactors, pipes, and other necessary equipment for production facilities often have associated emissions that are tough to eliminate entirely. In addition, animal cells need to be fed and cared for, and the supply chain involved in that also comes with emissions attached. 

Cultivated meat production can benefit Singapore’s economy

But be that as it may, Singapore still stands to reap significant economic benefits from lab-grown meat.

Given the nation’s land scarcity, cultivated meat could play a pivotal role in reducing the reliance on imported meat and address supply chain vulnerabilities. Presently, Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food from more than 180 countries and regions.

Although the government is working towards ramping up local food production to meet 30 per cent of the nation’s nutritional needs by 2030—up from less than 10 per cent currently—it falls short, especially when you consider that global demand for food is projected to increase by 50 per cent come 2050 with population growth.

Apart from this, with countries increasingly looking inwards and prioritising their needs over international trade following COVID-19, inflation and international security threats, deglobalisation poses additional challenges to Singapore’s food security, making investments in cultivated meat production even more strategically significant for the city-state’s economic resilience.

But these investments may never gain fruition, considering the current state of the industry.

Featured Image Credit: Lehigh University

According to a recent report from investment and wealth management firm Philips Capital, regional healthcare company Thomson Medical Group (TMG) may be an opportunity for investors and industry watchers.

The report noted that TMG had only registered a value of S$91 million on its books for its plot of freehold land in Iskandar, which is 1 million square feet.

At current real estate prices, Philips Capital estimates that it could yield a gross development value of S$3.6 billion and a development gain of about S$1.1 billion when fully developed. The approved development plot ratio is 11x, and upon full development of the freehold land, its book value will be revised upwards to reflect its market value.

TMG may be undervalued, given its current valuation of S$1.4 billion (as of 26 March).

The value of the real estate could also rise with the completion of the railway link between Singapore and Johor Bahru in 2026 and the establishment of a free trade zone in the area.

In addition, the freehold land is strategically located near the Johor waterfront and a five-minute drive from the Johor CIQ customs complex. The proximity to key transportation hubs and scenic waterfront views make it highly desirable for commercial development.

Thomson Medical Group’s key growth engine

Founded in 1979, TMG is a leading healthcare provider in Southeast Asia. It operates three tertiary hospitals with 757 licensed beds across Singapore, Malaysia, and, most recently, Vietnam, with the S$517.1 million acquisition of FV Hospital in December.

The Group also runs a chain of specialist medical centres and diagnostic centres in Singapore, fertility centres in Malaysia, and chiropractic clinics in Vietnam.

According to Philips Capital, TMG’s operations in Malaysia serve as the primary driver of the Group’s growth.

The number of inpatients in Malaysia has risen by more than 20 per cent each in the last two years, while the average bill size grew by 6 per cent. As TMG continues to improve service quality and offerings, Philips Capital believes that the Group can continue to attract more foreign patients, especially in Malaysia.

Featured Image Credit: Thomson Medical Group

Homegrown bike-sharing firm SG Bike will be exiting the Singapore market on April 30 once its license expires due to a “strategic shift in business direction”.

From today (March 21), SG Bike will no longer accept new sign-ups, credit top-ups and purchases of passes, and its customer base will be ported over to Anywheel, one of the two remaining bike-sharing players in Singapore.

In the arrangement between the two companies, SG Bike users will be able to convert their existing wallet balance to the Anywheel platform, which will be reflected on the app by May 3 or earlier when they log on using the same registered mobile number. 

According to Anywheel’s founder and CEO Htay Aung, this will allow SG Bike users to continue using bike-sharing services “without obstruction”.

Users who opt to convert their wallet balances between March 21 and April 21 will receive complimentary S$10 credits on top of their existing balance. The converted balances can be used only for rides. 

Those who do not wish to join Anywheel can opt out by April 30 via the SG Bike app. However, there will be no refund issued for the remaining balance in their wallet.

SG Bike accumulated losses of S$7.4M in FY 2021/22

According to a spokesperson from SG Bike, the decision to exit the market was challenging. However, after “carefully reviewing its resources”, the company found itself unable to sustain the level of “quality experience” it had initially aimed to provide for its users. 

We trust that our users will continue to enjoy a quality bike sharing experience with Anywheel and we express our most sincere gratitude to our users, Land Transport Authority, partners, and colleagues for the kind support and understanding of this decision.

We believe Anywheel will continue on our shared mission to grow bike sharing as a sustainable and accessible transportation, providing a convenient and green transport alternative for everyone in Singapore, and we wish them all the best.

– An SG Bike spokesperson on the bike-sharing firm’s exit

SG Bike made its debut in Singapore in August 2017 and grew to become the largest player in the market after taking over the now-defunct Mobike’s license to operate 25,000 bicycles in 2019. However, over a period of time, the inherited bicycles from Mobike were removed or scrapped for various reasons including vandalism, theft, damage, and old age.

Although new SG Bike bicycles were brought in, the firm eventually had to decrease its license size to align with market demand and operational requirements. By July 2023, its fleet size was down to 1,500 bicycles.

Furthermore, SG Bike had also been loss-making between its 2020 and 2022 financial years. Based on its most recent financial data, the company accumulated losses of S$7.4 million for the financial year ending June 30, 2022, following losses of S$5.5 million in the preceding year.

In December 2022, SG Bike’s previous previous parent company, ISOTeam, sold its entire 48 per cent stake in the firm to a fund managed by Atlas Asset Management.

Anywheel and HelloRide are only remaining bike-sharing players in Singapore

In 2017, Singapore started seeing a bike-sharing boom. Many Chinese firms emerged into the scene, before local players started joining the race. 

At its peak, nine bike-sharing companies were operational in Singapore — oBike, ofo, Mobike, SG Bike, GBikes, ShareBikeSG, Baicycle, Anywheel and Moov Technology — offering a total of more than 200,000 shared bicycles.

However, the bike-sharing landscape quickly got ugly. Since these dockless bike-sharing services exploded onto the streets, indiscriminate parking and vandalism became rampant. It was equally as messy on the operators’ end — several companies made some dramatic exits, from bankruptcies to abandoned operations. 

SG Bike’s departure leaves market leader Anywheel and Chinese firm HelloRide as the remaining two bike-sharing operators Singapore.

HelloRide entered the Singaporean market in July 2022 and secured a license in July 2023 to operate a fleet of up to 10,000 shared bicycles in the city-state until June 30, 2025.

Meanwhile, Anywheel, which received approval to operate up to 30,000 shared bicycles in June 2022 – the largest fleet approved since a licensing scheme started in 2018 – intends to get approval to increase its fleet size. 

Even without the addition of users from SG Bike’s customer base, Anywheel’s Htay shared that the company needs to grow its fleet as ridership has been growing month on month for the past four years. As of February 2024, the bike-sharing platform boasts over 1.3 million users.

Anywheel will not take over SG Bike’s fleet of bicycles, which will be cleared off the streets for scrapping by the end of June. 

Featured Image Credit: Anywheel

Popular South Korean convenience store chain Emart24 has closed all its three outlets in Singapore.

News of the chain’s closure first broke on Monday (March 18) in a Facebook post by Singapore Atrium Sale.

A photo included in the post shows a mall unit where the convenience store once stood, which is now locked and boarded up.

A quick online search by Vulcan Post revealed this to be true: its Jurong Point, NEX, and Margaret Market were labelled to be “permanently closed” on Google. Vulcan Post has reached out to Emart24 for additional comments.

Emart24 opened its first outlet in Singapore back in December 2022 to much fanfare, with throngs of Singaporeans flocking to the store in its first days. 

The convenience chain is well-known for its variety of affordable Korean street food, ready-to-eat meals, drinks and lifestyle items. It has over 6,500 outlets in South Korea, and boasts numerous international outlets, including 52 in Malaysia.

Featured Image Credit: Singapore Atrium Sale

Cashback and rewards platform ShopBack has laid off 24 per cent of its workforce or 195 roles “to become more focused and self-sustainable as a company”. The announcement was made by co-founder and CEO Henry Chan at the Temasek-backed startup’s town hall today (Mar 19).

Those impacted by the job cuts were notified within an hour of the event’s conclusion, and the company also called off the rest of the workday. All departures were kept to the same day “out of respect and to ease transition for departing team members”, with their last in-office day as Mar 19, 2024. 

“Undoubtedly, this is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in our company’s history,” said Chan in his message titled On Focus and Sustainability – A Painful Decision posted on the ShopBack website.

To the ShopBackers who will be leaving us, I am truly sorry and I acknowledge the difficulties it will bring to you. We will do our best to support you through this transition with care and compassion.

– Henry Chan, ShopBack co-founder and CEO

Laid-off employees were offered pay for at least two months of their notice period, and an additional month of severance payment for every full year of service or based on local statutory guidelines, whichever is higher.

They will also receive a bonus equivalent to a month’s salary, which will be pro-rated if they are yet to complete a full year of service, as well as encashed accrued and unutilised leave days.

Additionally, all outgoing employees will have their medical insurance coverage extended and access to mental healthcare support will run until Jun 30, 2024.

These employees will also receive career transition support, which includes either CV reviews, mock interviews and access to a professional coach, or a “career transition support allowance”, which has been determined in consultation with the ShopBack’s HR department.

Meanwhile, visa holders will have their repatriation costs covered, including air fare and a budget for moving expenses to “ensure a seamless transition back home if that is the option (they) are pursuing”.

“A leaner and more agile team is needed for ShopBack’s success”

Between 2021 and early 2022 — a period when the economy favored expansion over sustainability — ShopBack scaled up its team of 550 to over 900 employees.

However, when market sentiments shifted and aggressive growth became an unsustainable long-term strategy in Q2 2022, ShopBack’s focus shifted to cost efficiency.

The company “explored and exhausted all viable alternatives to reduce costs”, including cutting back significantly on salary increments and performance bonuses, as well as implementing pay freezes. Yet, sustainable growth remained a significant challenge for the rewards platform.

Hence, the company had to “narrow its focus” over the last few months, and “identify critical and durable problem spaces to excel in over the longer term”.

It then became clear to Chan that a leaner and more agile team — significantly different from the company’s current organisational structure today — would be needed for ShopBack’s success.

I made the mistake of pursuing too many directions as a company and expanding our team too rapidly. I take full responsibility for the decisions that have led to this situation.

While these course corrections are painful, they are crucial and will set us up for success in the years to come. Because of this, we will be able to grow sustainably moving forward. 

– Henry Chan, ShopBack co-founder and CEO

The company reported a 20 per cent decline in its revenue for FY2022/23

Shopback’s announcement comes a month after the company reported a 20 per cent year-on-year decline in its revenue to US$87.7 million for the financial year ended March 2023.

Its voucher revenue fell by more than half, and the company’s losses before tax widened by 29 per cent year-on-year as one-off employee and M&A expenses affected growth.

Earlier this month, the company announced it would be discontinuing its buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, PayLater, from Mar 22 following a periodic review of its business units. 

The company first rolled out the PayLater service to Singapore and Malaysia in 2022 after acquiring BNPL player Hoolah the previous year.

Featured Image Credit: ShopBack

Grab users in Singapore can now pay for its services with cryptocurrencies following its tie-up with crypto payments provider Triple A. With this new feature, stablecoins and other digital assets can be converted into usable funds for GrabPay.

Users can top up their GrabPay e-wallets using five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ether, StraitsX’s Singapore dollar-backed stablecoin XSGD, a United States dollar-backed stablecoin USDC that is managed by global payments firm Circle, and stablecoin Tether, also known as USDT.

According to Triple-A, the crypto top-ups in Grab Pay Wallet were first rolled out on March 12. “From arranging deliveries to booking rides or paying for coffee at their nearest shop, digital currency owners in Singapore can now use digital currencies for everyday transactions,” the payments provider added.

Crypto are only available in Singapore for now, however, Grab will “continue to monitor user adoption and respond to demand for such services.”

This partnership builds upon the super app’s previous collaboration efforts with Triple A. In 2021, Grab’s partnership with Triple A saw GrabPay wallet being added as one of the payment options to top up the latter’s trading platform wallet.

Grab has actively worked to bring crypto into the mainstream. Last year, the company introduced a Web3 feature that allowed users to earn blockchain-based rewards and pay for restaurants and services with NFT vouchers during the 2023 F1 Grand Prix.

The superapp also collaborated with StraitsX to test the issuance of Purpose Bound Money in the form of commercial digital vouchers during the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) 2022.

According to sources who spoke to The Straits Times in late 2023, Grab has plans to apply for a digital payment token licence from Singapore’s regulator.

Featured Image Credit: Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg