Singapore's cottage industry gets a digital lift

THAT word-of-mouth home baker that you order your pineapple tarts from every Chinese New Year? Chances are, they've set up shop online and are now firmly part of the digital cottage industry.

Spurred by the pandemic, many micro-entrepreneurs have taken their small and informal businesses onto the Internet, facilitated by the ease of social media platforms and online commerce. We meet some of these individuals and find out what the future looks like for them, in Brunch this Saturday in The Business Times Weekend.

Business leadership has never been more tested. In The Raffles Conversation, Renee McGowan, CEO Asia of Mercer tells why firms, faced with an unforgiving Covid environment, must seize the opportunity to reinvent and transform ahead of their competitors.

Top-ups to one's Supplementary Retirement Scheme account can lead to substantial immediate tax relief, but how should this locked-up money be invested? On the dawn of SFF x SWITCH, The Science of Wealth discusses more wealth inclusion through education, and the right incentive models.

Is a Covid vaccination the panacea to the ills of the stricken travel industry? Our Saturday Soapbox columnist ponders the implications for privacy and whether immunity equals safety.

In The Steering Column, we take the wheel of the scintillating Ferrari F8 Spider to find out if, in a world awash with high-performance supercars, it takes roofless measures to succeed.

And is the smart watch that measures our vital stats - from activity and heart rhythms to, potentially, blood information - the secret weapon in the fight against disease and chronic conditions? In the Health page, we look at the science behind the tech.