From left Chiew, Ho and Lim. All three picked up a win each
The Edge Singapore won three out of the five awards up for grabs at this year’s SGX Orb Awards 2021, held by the Singapore Exchange to recognise the role of the financial and business journalists play in fostering financial education and empowering investors.
Held for the fourth time this year, the awards once again received submissions from local and international media, online news sites as well independent writers such as bloggers.
In addition, there is a special category on sustainability meant to highlight Singapore’s rising role in promoting ESG considerations among companies here. The winners were announced at a virtual event on Oct 20 graced by SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye.
“We are greatly encouraged that content producers are expanding their coverage of financial topics, in particular Singapore’s growing prominence as a leading sustainability hub in Asia,” says Teo Ai June, head of marketing and communications at SGX.
“By delivering insightful and engaging work, they are helping the public to make better-informed investment decisions. Congratulations to all nominees and winners, and we look forward to working with the community to continue inspiring conversations,” she adds.
See also: The Edge Singapore wins big at SGX awards
The judging panel this year consists of Jane Moir, research director, Hong Kong and Singapore, Asian Corporate Governance Association; Jeremy Goh, associate professor of finance at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business of Singapore Management University; Nan Luo, head of China at the Principles for Responsible Investment and also Sharanjit Leyl, who, for nearly two decades, was a journalist with BBC World News.
Hat trick
Jovi Ho, who joined The Edge Singapore last July as a writer, picked up the top award for Story of The Year with his cover story on the growing popularity of "buy now, pay later" among consumers here and in other markets, thanks to easy availability and changing mindsets towards this way of spending.
The story features start-ups and fast-growing companies providing such services, as well as how traditional payment service providers, namely, the banks, are adapting to this new trend. Regulators and academics’ views were taken into account as well.
"I'm very honoured to win Story of The Year with my first cover story for The Edge Singapore. This story was only made possible with the help of my editors Chan Chao Peh, Goola Warden, Lee Pang Chuan and our team of subeditors," says Ho.
"Thank you to SGX and the judges for affirming our work, and to the many newsmakers featured for their patience as we perfected the package," he adds.
Lim Hui Jie’s story “Megachem holds steady amid pandemic woes; eyes Asean market with graphite venture” picked up The Hidden Gem award. This profile on chemicals distributor Megachem flagged how the company has been able to improve its earnings amid the disruptions caused by the pandemic, but seems to be overlooked by investors despite its strong showing.
"I would like to thank SGX and the judging panel for the award, and as the saying goes: 'It takes a village to raise a child', I would like to thank everyone at The Edge Singapore for all the guidance that they have given me," says Lim, who joined the same month as Ho.
Both Ho and Lim are taking part in the SGX Orb Awards for the first time.
Senior writer Samantha Chiew completed the hat trick for the company with her win in this year’s special category — Sustainability: Advantage Asia.
Titled "A fresh view of meat", her story examined how the growing demand for plant-based meat stems from heightened consciousness among younger consumers who care about the environment. Naturally, along with growing demand, Singapore’s restaurants and investors are quick to ride on this trend.
This is Chiew's second win at the SGX Orb Awards. Chiew won last year in The Hidden Gem category for her story on the SGX-listed Food Empire, which sells coffee mix and other beverages to emerging markets ranging from Ukraine to Vietnam.
"I'm honoured to win the SGX Orb Award this year under the Sustainability: Advantage Asia category. The past few years have cast a spotlight on the importance of ESG and I'm glad that SGX has recognised that in my story," says Chiew.
"I would like to thank SGX for this opportunity, as well as the team at The Edge Singapore for their support," she adds.
In addition to winning this award, Chiew received another nomination for her story "Sarine Technologies burnishes returns with turnaround and dual-listing move" in the Hidden Gem category.
Sarine, an Israeli-based company, in this past year has achieved a turnaround in its earnings as its business of providing technologies for the polishing, analysing and grading of diamonds, is seeing an uptick. It is one of the handful of companies from Israel drawn to the SGX.
The story was done together with Vivian Yee, who is now a second-year student at the National University of Singapore, and previously interned with The Edge Singapore.
Nessa Anwar of CNBC won in the Visual Treat category for her story "What is a Spac". Last but not least, Financial Horse won for the Goto.com category, which recognises the best digital platform that most empowers investors to make educated decisions with their money.
The business environment for business media has gotten tougher as each year goes by. At the same time, new business and investment trends are shaping up rapidly.
"I'm proud to have this team of young and enthusiastic colleagues who bring fresh perspectives and spot new trends, to help our readers stay on top of things," says Chan Chao Peh, editor of The Edge Singapore.
"On behalf of all my colleagues, we are very grateful to the judging committee and SGX for recognising what we are doing to help grow our Singapore market ecosystem," says Bernard Tong, CEO of The Edge Singapore and EdgeProp.sg.
The full list of award categories and nominations are:
Story of the Year
Buy now, regulate later? (Jovi Ho, The Edge Singapore)
Owning Singapore stocks has been a poor bet even for investors with long horizons (Ben Paul, The Business Times)
Reit mergers bring scale and headaches to Singapore (Chris Wright, Euromoney)
Sustainability: Advantage Asia
A fresh view of meat (Samantha Chiew, The Edge Singapore)
Is there room for a corporate version of the Gini index? (Joan Ng, The Business Times)
New Hong Kong fund rules collide with China’s poor ESG data (Karen Lai, Risk.net)
The Hidden Gem
Megachem holds steady amid pandemic woes; eyes Asean market with graphite venture (Lim Hui Jie, The Edge Singapore)
Sarine Technologies burnishes returns with turnaround and dual-listing move (Samantha Chiew & Vivian Yee, The Edge Singapore)
This Burn-In Service Provider is Probably One of the Biggest Laggard in the Technology Sector (Teo Zheng Long, Investor-One)
The Visual Treat
Filling in the ESG pitfalls of cryptocurrencies (Natalie Koh, AsianInvestor)
The Woke Salaryman Guide To Bonds (Wei Choon Goh & Ruiming He, The Woke Salaryman)
What is a SPAC? | CNBC Explains (Nessa Anwar, CNBC)
GoTo.com
DollarsAndSense
Financial Horse
Investor-One
