City Developments (CDL), the Singapore property group controlled by one of the country’s wealthiest families, said it wants to invest S$5 billion (US$3.9 billion) in Singapore, China and Japan by 2029 as part of measures to regain investor confidence after a feud within the clan. The firm also aims to sell S$6 billion of assets within the same period either via outright divestments or seeding suitable assets into managed vehicles, according to an exchange filing on Monday. It wants to set up a...

Founders raising a venture round tend to watch other startups. Who has just closed? Who is talking to the same funds? Who is setting the price for the next deal? The fund across the table has another comparison to make. At portfolio level, it also has to weigh opening new positions against preserving capital for […] The post Your startup may be competing with a VC’s existing portfolio appeared first on e27.

For almost two decades, the startup creation playbook for Southeast Asia has been largely predictable: build a super app, raise hundreds of millions of dollars, staff thousands of employees, operate in dozens of markets and scale to dominate the region. Firms like Grab, Sea Group and GoTo have since been synonymous with the region’s ability […] The post One-person company: Why Southeast Asia’s next unicorn may look nothing like Grab appeared first on e27.

This year’s haze crisis has added to the heat woes squeezing livestock farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia as they struggle to keep their animals cool, fed and productive. While it is difficult to separately assess the effects of haze-related smoke from heat, water shortages, feed and disease, farmers and industry groups say the cumulative strain is severely affecting animal health, productivity and their finances. In Selama, Perak, poultry keeper Zaiful Zakaria, 42, had begun installing...

Singapore Airlines’ expanding artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio shows that adoption is no longer the main issue. The harder question is what an AI system should be permitted to do. The Business Times reported on 18 August that Singapore Airlines, or SIA, has deployed more than 160 AI applications and identified over 550 potential generative-AI use […] The post SIA has scaled AI. Aviation must now govern the point of action appeared first on e27.

Indonesia is considering lifting a statutory cap on government spending that has been in place for more than two decades, as President Prabowo Subianto pushes for faster economic growth. Supporters argue that greater room to borrow and spend would let Southeast Asia’s largest economy invest its way towards Prabowo’s target of 8 per cent annual growth by 2029. Economists counter that weakening the rule could push up borrowing costs and dent investor confidence. At issue is the mandatory ceiling...

Deep floodwaters in Bangkok drove thousands of residents into shelters as others scrambled to buy groceries or dry out their homes on Sunday after days of heavy rain inundated markets, roads, and residences. Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos waded through murky knee-deep water in the Thai capital, some venturing into a supermarket while others floated their belongings in plastic tubs. “People cannot get out of their homes. We are running out of food, so I came out to purchase some,” Aduenan...

Bangkok residents stranded by neck-deep floodwaters on Sunday appealed for clean water and food, as Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cut short a diplomatic trip to the United Kingdom to monitor the response amid growing criticism online. In the worst floods to hit the Thai capital in 15 years, life has ground to a standstill in parts of the city since Friday evening, prompting the town hall to declare a disaster in all 50 districts. Days of incessant rains that overwhelmed Bangkok’s...

Stories of the manananggal, a creature said to split its body in two, and the tiyanak, which takes the form of an infant, are part of the folklore many children grow up hearing in the Philippines. Now, they are among the mythological creatures featured in DreamWorks’ animated film Forgotten Island, which opened in the Philippines on Wednesday and two days later in the United States. The film, described as the first major Hollywood production to showcase Filipino culture and mythology, offers a...

Indonesia is considering Chinese investment to help build a massive 2,772km (1,722 mile) railway network through the vast, resource-rich region of Kalimantan, following the completion of Southeast Asia’s first high-speed line between Jakarta and Bandung, state media and analysts said. However, analysts noted that any future commercial agreements were likely to be negotiated cautiously, given the financial strains that dogged the high-speed line and the challenges that stalled a proposed...