Victor Loh

Jan 17, 2025 | moniify.com | Ushar Daniele |Victor Loh

In 2012, Chinese hotpot juggernaut Haidilao opened its first restaurant outside mainland China, choosing Singapore as its launchpad.  Today, following an expansion blitz through Asia, the US, Europe – and most recently the Middle East – the chain boasts more than 1,300 restaurants worldwide.  With intense competition and slower consumer demand at home, Chinese food companies are hungry for growth in new markets.

Jan 13, 2025 | moniify.com | Ushar Daniele |Victor Loh

Wong Chew Beng has been brewing coffee at his coffee shop in the Malaysian state of Selangor for more than 30 years. A lot’s changed in that time, not least of which the cost of a cup, which has nearly tripled from about 1 ringgit (40 cents) in the 1990s for a kopi-o, or black coffee to 3 ringgit today. But now the price is about to shoot up even further, increasing the pain for fans of the bitter bean.

Jan 8, 2025 | moniify.com | Khamila Mulia |Tabita Diela |Victor Loh

Indonesia’s been playing hard to get — and Apple has finally got the message. Its $1 billion investment fee offer was “welcomed” by Indonesia, but an iPhone sales ban won’t be lifted just yet. Why? Apple’s $1 billion proposal was still short on details of how it would produce smartphone components in Indonesia, which means it has to resubmit its proposal.

Nov 27, 2023 | cnbc.com | Victor Loh

From 2018 to 2022, South Korea was the ninth largest weapons supplier globally, ahead of Israel, the Netherlands and Turkey. In recent years, South Korea has edged out stiff competition from Western defense manufacturers and cheaper Chinese developers with government support, attractive pricing and faster delivery times. Seoul has ambitions to be the fourth-largest weapons exporter by 2027, after the United States, Russia and France.