Joyce Lim

1 week ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Lim

GUANGZHOU – Sixteen propeller blades, in sets of two, whir, growing faster and louder. Then, the “air taxi” lifts off. It rises vertically off the ground, one gutsy passenger strapped in, as a throng of journalists watches on. He is alone in the two-seater cabin, several storeys high, with no pilot in sight. This scene, seemingly from the future, is very much in the present, taking place on a recent Tuesday in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

1 week ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Lim

SINGAPORE - From a wood-fired oven in a bungalow in East Coast, Long Weekend Pizza can churn out 200 pizzas a day. At 37 Blair Road, Little Social serves Peranakan dinners to up to 60 guests at a time in a residential conservation shophouse. And in HDB flats, cocktail bars have popped up serving bespoke drinks that can cost up to $25 a pop. These are some examples of the booming home-based food and beverage scene in Singapore.

2 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Lim

SINGAPORE – Loyang Valley condominium in Changi will be making a third attempt at a collective sale, with a reduced reserve price of $880 million. The lower reserve price, which is $100 million less than its last tender in 2022, “reflects a realistic and achievable figure given current market conditions”, said Mr Terence Lian, head of investment sales for the appointed marketing agent, Huttons Asia.

2 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Lim

SINGAPORE – Motor insurance premiums are expected to continue rising as insurers grapple with mounting losses and rising claims, said industry experts. Latest industry statistics from the General Insurance Association (GIA) seen by The Straits Times show that in the first three months of 2025, gross written premiums for motor insurance rose by 9.4 per cent to $368.2 million, compared with the same period in 2024. Underwriting losses were up by about 14 per cent from $11.6 million to $13.3 million.

3 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Lim

SHENZHEN - Mr Xu Hui, who used to sell women’s clothing online, has grown tired of the long hours and cut-throat competition plaguing the live-stream business. So for the past month, the 28-year-old has trained almost every day for what he hopes will be his next career: a drone operator. At a quiet football field on a weekday afternoon, he and six classmates at a private flying school take turns steering a drone, the size of a nightstand, in figures of eight above mini traffic cones.