Columns

The world is hedging its bets

We will enter an age of terrible instability if new security, economic and political structures don’t arise before the old ones are hollowed out

A consortium that includes Oracle, Silver Lake and Emirati investment firm MGX will acquire a 50% stake in a TikTok US joint venture, while the platform’s Chinese parent company ByteDance keeps a 19.9% stake.
THINKING ALOUD

The US’ American-ish TikTok awaits

Even as platforms splinter further for users, corporations remain bound by geopolitical ties

The 2026 Davos theme is “A Spirit of Dialogue”, addressing issues from responsible innovation to investing in people in the age of artificial intelligence.

World Economic Forum 2026: Hope for ‘multi-bilateralism’

As the world fragments towards multiple poles, Davos holds out for a possible yet fragile new global economic order

Acma and Sitra Holdings International are two of the best performers on the SGX in the year to date.
HOCK LOCK SIEW

A couple of micro-cap SGX companies are surging – but investors should think twice before biting

Acma and Sitra have not offered compelling growth stories, so their share price gains may not be sustainable

If territorial disputes and coercive diplomacy become normalised in Arctic waters, similar dynamics could emerge in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
THE BOTTOM LINE

The Greenland crisis is a warning for East Asia

Implications of Trump’s Atlantic ambitions extend towards the Pacific

Even the fashion sneaker, a kind of hybrid between sporty and smart, is evolving more towards the latter.

Want to keep your job? Buy yourself a blazer

We haven’t abandoned our sneakers and sweatpants, but athletic wear in everyday life looks passe

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney (left) with China President Xi Jinping in Beijing. On the first day of Carney’s trip to China on Jan 13, Canada agreed to deepen cooperation with the Asian country on both clean and conventional sources of energy.

Canada’s energy sector is its gateway to Asia

With economies like South Korea, Japan and Singapore importing almost all their oil and gas, Asia presents a huge opportunity for Ottawa

Chinese technology companies are paving the way for a world that will be powered by electric motors rather than gas-guzzling engines.

Trump is obsessed with oil, but Chinese batteries will soon run the world

China isn’t just building gigantic amounts of power – its businesses are also reshaping technological foundations to electrify the world

Exporters of high-carbon industrial products such as steel, iron, aluminium (above), cement and fertilisers will be most affected.

Can the EU withstand the pushback against its carbon levy?

Brussels must defend its climate goals and prove its policy is the future of trade

Residential buildings being built in Beijing, China, which has driven the global cement market for three decades, and still accounts for nearly half of output. But the boom is now well and truly over.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Cement is hitting a wall. There’s no coming back

Prices are at their lowest in a decade, and factories are saddled with more than twice the capacity they need