Commentary

Ever wondered why some people turn down the thought of living abroad, even if it meant a chance at bigger opportunities, wider networks and, potentially, a brighter future? After all, leaving behind a life that they’ve built may simply be too big a sacrifice for many to make. That feeling of apprehension and fear is what it’s like for 85% of organisations that have yet to unlock the real business value of cloud.

The machines have taken over almost all array of business applications and operations whilst generating copious quantities of data. Today, data is everywhere – in industries, in business, and in our daily lives, and this volume of data is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

In the age of Industry 4.0, innovation hubs have grown beyond borders almost as a pre-requisite for companies looking to jumpstart their digital transformation journey. Such investments are growing fast across Asia, especially in Singapore. In 2017, the nation has attracted the highest number of innovation centres in the world, adding 13 within the year to bring its total to 27. This number surpassed Silicon Valley and overtook London’s No.2 global spot in the ranking of newly opened hubs.

With more than 1 in 4 companies experiencing business email compromise scams in the past year, Singapore was found to be the most targeted country in this area across Southeast Asia. Such scams involve attackers initiating or intercepting communication with a company decision-maker who can release funds or conduct wire transfers.

According to the most recent research, 63% of World’s Most Attractive Employers organisations leverage video interviews in their recruitment to make their process 50% more efficient, whilst increasing accuracy and gaining peace of mind in their recruitment decisions.

Aviation market in Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing in the world, and on course to become the world’s largest in the next 20 years. Fuelled by rapid economic growth and increasing popularity of low-cost carriers, there is increasing passenger traffic and aircraft demand– almost 40% of the global deliveries of new aircrafts (42,000 planes) will come from the Asia-Pacific region from 2018-2037, according to Boeing. The consequent need for maintenance as well as the technological upgrades of existing fleet is set to boost the role of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services in assuring aircraft safety and airworthiness.

All across Asia and especially in Singapore, our reputation for overwork persists. Singapore consistently ranks amongst the top in the world for innovation and competitiveness, but is also similarly ranked for number of hours worked each week. With the World Health Organisation officially classifying burnout - resulting from chronic workplace stress - as a medical condition, business leaders have a responsibility to rethink working culture.

Mass data breaches have been impacting our region, reiterating the fact that no business or nation is truly immune from cyber threats. This has been a driving force for the development of cybersecurity capabilities from within by regional governments, including Singapore’s, and businesses, by fostering the development of startups in the cybersecurity space.

It may seem like money laundering is on the rise if recent news headlines are anything to go by. But the fact is, criminals have been successfully laundering money through financial institutions for hundreds of years. The difference now is that financial regulators around the world – including the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – are cracking down on banks to ensure that adequate processes are put in place to prevent criminals laundering money and financing terrorist activity. The landscape for financial institutions is well and truly changing, and the regulations are only going to get tighter.

Although Singapore was ranked as the safest country in the world based on a report by the World Justice Project in 2018, cybersecurity breaches are increasingly threatening the safety of our digital world.

There are increasing calls all around the world for the government to regulate social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter and tech giants like Amazon. A web of reasons explains these sentiments, which were kindled by the Cambridge Analytica scandal which damaged Facebook’s reputation internationally. Coupled with recent scares on fake news and misinformation, the case for government regulation seems compelling. In fact, the Singapore government, in early May, has already passed legislation that would compel sites like Facebook to issue corrections or make changes to posts that are deemed to be against "public interest".

It was now over ten years ago when the cargo ships stopped moving. The Global Financial Crisis reached Asia causing the Singapore Strait, one of the biggest arteries of global trade, to come to a standstill. In fact, Singapore was the first Southeast Asian country to fall into a recession as a result of the calamity. At the time, it seemed the only businesses doing well were the bars and restaurants filled with brokers and traders who had nothing to sell.

The way people want to work is constantly evolving. Driven by needs that are sometimes not provided by a permanent placement, for example, flexible working arrangements or gaining experience without a need to commit to a company, more people today seek greater control over the way they work.

As growing uncertainty mounts in the global economy due to the US-China trade conflicts, the need to transform Singapore into a globally competitive, self-sustaining and technology-driven nation grows increasingly urgent. Singapore, heavily reliant on exports, could lose $22b in GDP according to analysts, due to the trade war.

To mark the end of Singapore’s ASEAN chairmanship in November 2018, Prime Minister Lee handed Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, a wooden gavel and the Thai premier thanked Singapore for "efficiently driving forward a resilient and innovative ASEAN community". So what can the community learn from Singapore after a decade?

The retail sales (excluding auto) in Singapore has been declining since 2014 on an average of 0.2% per year, but the yearly decline is much faster in departmental stores and apparels at 0.7% and 0.4% respectively. This decline in retail spending is despite the household incomes going up by 12% during the same period. Clearly, the malls and stores need to have a paradigm shift in shopping experience to be able to reverse the declining trend and give a solid reason for shoppers to spend more in stores.