Hong Kong schools have recorded net student rises for two consecutive years, with the current academic year seeing an increase of about 7,200 pupils, a surge that an industry leader has attributed to the influx of dependants of admitted talent. The Education Bureau published enrolment figures on its website on April 28. The data covers all government, aided, private, international and direct subsi...
Hong Kong schools have recorded net student rises for two consecutive years, with the current academic year seeing an increase of about 7,200 pupils, a surge that an industry leader has attributed to the influx of dependants of admitted talent. The Education Bureau published enrolment figures on its website on April 28. The data covers all government, aided, private, international and direct subsidy scheme schools at the time of the annual headcount exercise in September 2025. To determine the...
In an extraordinary break from the diplomatic restraint typical of central banks, a dozen leaders of the world’s foremost monetary institutions issued a joint statement in January declaring their “full solidarity” with the US Federal Reserve and its embattled chair, Jerome Powell. “The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the ...
In an extraordinary break from the diplomatic restraint typical of central banks, a dozen leaders of the world’s foremost monetary institutions issued a joint statement in January declaring their “full solidarity” with the US Federal Reserve and its embattled chair, Jerome Powell. “The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve,” they wrote. The move was intended to shore up the separation of monetary...
A four-year-old boy miraculously survived after falling from the window of his 11th-floor home. After the boy gained consciousness, he said in tears to his mother that he had climbed onto the window because he was missing her so much that he wanted to see if she was coming home. The boy’s experience went viral online after his experience was reported by the Haibao News in early May. The incident u...
A four-year-old boy miraculously survived after falling from the window of his 11th-floor home. After the boy gained consciousness, he said in tears to his mother that he had climbed onto the window because he was missing her so much that he wanted to see if she was coming home. The boy’s experience went viral online after his experience was reported by the Haibao News in early May. The incident unfolded on April 11 when the boy, nicknamed Xiaoming, was left alone in his home in Dalian, Liaoning...
Each week we bring you insights into one of Asia’s most dynamic economies. If you haven’t yet, please sign up here . This week, Low De Wei analyzes Singapore’s real estate scene which has seen a flurry of action. Olivia Poh looks at what Grab has in its toolkit as it faces a regulatory hurdle and Gabrielle Ng swigs cocktails at a former police station. Prop Mart It’s the best of times, it’s the wo...
Each week we bring you insights into one of Asia’s most dynamic economies. If you haven’t yet, please sign up here . This week, Low De Wei analyzes Singapore’s real estate scene which has seen a flurry of action. Olivia Poh looks at what Grab has in its toolkit as it faces a regulatory hurdle and Gabrielle Ng swigs cocktails at a former police station. Prop Mart It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times for Singapore’s real estate players. The once-sleepy office scene is seeing a resurgence and drove commercial real estate deals to a record quarter in the first three months of the year. Several office owners are once again looking to sell their billion-dollar towers that have failed to sell for years. Singapore’s residential market is still humming and prompted yet another round of curbs this week to target buyers of an asset class that some flippers have favored — executive condominiums, a form of quasi-public housing. What’s changed? The easy answer: Singapore’s safe haven status favored by the world’s richest and reinforced by the war in Iran . The more complicated answer can be found in an aphorism: It’s the economy, stupid. Investors who have been trying to get out of the office market for years are finally relenting on pricing. Local lending rates have declined for years and are now lower than Japan . In other words, the stalemate between sellers and interested investors may be cracking. Still, a bigger issue confounds the industry: Risk. I attended an industry panel this week where a prescient question was raised: What’s holding back Asian real estate from its next boom? The top answer — capital, followed by US President Donald Trump and geopolitical uncertainties. Many traditional investors including pension funds and endowments are holding back. Those willing to take the plunge fret about how markets may be easily upended by the next Truth Social post. Take the S$2.48 billion ($2 billion) sale by Singapore’s largest REIT of a prime office tower to a M...
Is There More Risk Than Reward In The US–China Summit? Authored by James Gorrie via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Do the advantages of the U.S.–China summit still outweigh the disadvantages? Perhaps, but the negative risks are high. President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, 2025...
Is There More Risk Than Reward In The US–China Summit? Authored by James Gorrie via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Do the advantages of the U.S.–China summit still outweigh the disadvantages? Perhaps, but the negative risks are high. President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, 2025. Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo The scheduled May 14–15 summit in Beijing between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping was intended to be a landmark “reset” between the two nations. But as the high-stakes game of chicken unfolds between Washington and Beijing, there may be more reasons not to meet than to carry on with the summit. Why would that be? In both principle and practice, the U.S.–China relationship has moved beyond mere trade friction into the realm of indirect military confrontation. In both countries, there are challenges on the internal political, economic, and social fronts, as well as global reputations at stake. Any one of a number of potentially explosive geopolitical triggers could justify a second delay to the meeting. The Hormuz Flashpoint: Chinese Weapons Threatening the US Navy? Of course, the escalating naval war in the Middle East is one of the main reasons for the summit—and for why it may not happen. Reports indicate that China’s transfer of “carrier-killer” anti-ship missiles to Iran could enable Iranian forces to strike a U.S. Navy vessel. If such an attack were to occur, the political optics for Trump would be disastrous. Not only would American lives and ships be at risk, but Trump’s humiliation in Beijing would be seen by the entire world. Furthermore, at least one Chinese tanker has passed through the U.S.-led blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in April, to the distaste of the Trump administration. For Trump, who prides himself on “strength,” does it make sense to shake hands with a leader whose technology just “painted a target” o...
Mexican authorities have announced that the school year will end over a month early as the country gears up to host World Cup matches, prompting broad backlash. Education Secretary Mario Delgado said the decision to end the school year 40 days early was made in part due to a heatwave affecting several states. “We’re going to end the school year on June 5 because many states are already experiencin...
Mexican authorities have announced that the school year will end over a month early as the country gears up to host World Cup matches, prompting broad backlash. Education Secretary Mario Delgado said the decision to end the school year 40 days early was made in part due to a heatwave affecting several states. “We’re going to end the school year on June 5 because many states are already experiencing high temperatures, and there’s also the issue of the World Cup,” he said at an event on Friday in...
narvo vexar/iStock via Getty Images Lazard ( LAZ ) does not hold any moat in the investment banking or asset management industries in my opinion, making me cautious about its growth targets that may be difficult to achieve over the next few years. Its business remains quite cyclical and its valuation doesn’t seem to be cheap, making its dividend yield the most interesting feature of its investment...
narvo vexar/iStock via Getty Images Lazard ( LAZ ) does not hold any moat in the investment banking or asset management industries in my opinion, making me cautious about its growth targets that may be difficult to achieve over the next few years. Its business remains quite cyclical and its valuation doesn’t seem to be cheap, making its dividend yield the most interesting feature of its investment case. The last time I’ve covered Lazard was back in 2018 and, at the time, I saw its investment case largely geared to income. While the bank also seemed to have good growth prospects at the time, this has not played out well and its share price has traded sideways over the past few years. Compared to the financial sector ( IYF ), Lazard has underperformed its peers by a wide margin since then, which is not a great outcome. Performance comparison (Seeking Alpha) Indeed, its positive total return over the past few years has been driven by dividends, as the share price performance was slightly negative during this period. This weak performance can be a warning sign that its business may have some fundamentals issues, as the financial sector has performed well in recent years and this performance was not followed by Lazard. Business Profile Regarding its business profile , Lazard has not changed much over the past few years, remaining an independent investment bank focused both on financial advisory and asset management. Historically, the financial advisory segment has been the largest one within the bank and this has not changed much over the past few years, considering that financial advisory generated between 56-60% of the bank’s revenues over the last five years. The rest was practically driven by asset management, with both segments showing significant exposure to capital markets’ ups and downs in recent years. Total net revenue (Lazard) As can be seen in the previous graph, Lazard’s revenues are somewhat volatile, which is not surprising considering its business profile...