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Rimping Supermarket Opens Phonsinuan Branch

Rimping Supermarket, Phonsinuan Branch Officially Opened!
Customers purchase goods at the newly opened Rimping Supermarket in Phonsinuan.

Rimping Supermarket, an upscale supermarket chain hailing from Chiang Mai, Thailand, has officially opened its second store in Phonsinuan, Vientiane Capital.

Air Pollution Reaches Hazardous Levels in Vientiane Capital

Hazy smog of air pollution over Vientiane Capital (Photo: Justa van Slooten)
Hazy smog of air pollution over Vientiane Capital (Photo: Justa van Slooten)

Residents of Vientiane awoke to a dangerous haze of smoky smog this morning, while air quality in various provinces across Laos has reached dangerous levels as well.

Shaw Brothers Holdings Limited Announces 2022 Annual Results

Effort focused more on drama series production as pandemic affected film production

To capitalize on post-pandemic economic recovery and growing popularity of video-on-demand streaming platforms through greater efforts to produce films, online movies and dramas

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 24 March 2023 – Shaw Brothers Holdings Limited (“Shaw Brothers” or the “Group”; Stock Code: 953) announces its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2022 (the “Year”) today.

RESULTS HIGHLIGHTS

  • In February 2022, a 30-episode action crime drama series “Flying Tiger 3” was broadcast in Hong Kong, building on the success of its previous two seasons.
  • In December 2022, a 27-episode anti-corruption drama series “Mission Run” was first broadcast in mainland China.
  • An action crime film “Endless Battle” is scheduled to be first released on Youku in mainland China in May 2023 and its theatrical release in Hong Kong is expected in the same month.
  • The Group’s revenue decreased by 25% to RMB161,051,000 in 2022 from RMB215,518,000 in 2021 mainly due to the decreased revenue contribution from both the film, drama and non-drama production segment, and artiste and event management segment amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Loss attributable to the owners of the Company was RMB302,000 in 2022, in contrast to a profit of RMB16,403,000 in 2021.
  • The Group’s total bank balances and cash and short-term bank deposits amounted to approximately RMB322,828,000 as at 31 December 2022 (31 December 2021: RMB312,059,000), indicating a sound financial position.
  • The Group’s equity attributable to the owners of the Company increased by 8% to RMB452,793,000 as at 31 December 2022 (31 December 2021: RMB418,983,000).
  • Net asset value per share attributable to the owners of the Company increased to 31.90 RMB cents (31 December 2021: 29.51 RMB cents).
  • The Board did not recommend the payment of final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2022.

For the Year, the revenue of the Group was RMB161,051,000, representing a decrease of 25% from RMB215,518,000 for the year ended 31 December 2021 (the “Previous Year”). It was mainly due to the decreased revenue contribution from both the film, drama and non-drama production segment, and artiste and event management segment during the Year. In 2022, the COVID-19 continued to mutate and spread rapidly, resulting in multiple outbreaks and lockdowns in Hong Kong and mainland China. These delayed the development of film and drama projects and reduced external commercial engagements in the artiste and event management business in 2022.

Loss attributable to the owners of the Company amounted to RMB302,000 (2021: a profit of RMB16,403,000). The loss was caused by the decrease in overall revenue and the other loss recorded in the Year due to an exchange loss arising from translation of the renminbi-denominated trade receivables, trade payables and bank deposits during the Year. Loss per share were 0.02 RMB cents for the Year (2021: earnings per share of 1.16 RMB cents).

The Board of Directors has resolved not to recommend the payment of a final dividend. The Company believes that this measure is a prudent and responsible means of preserving cash for the long-term financial health of the Group.

In 2022, the Group continued to give full play to its content development capability by producing or distributing films and drama series with high-quality content through collaboration with its business partners in the industry. During the pandemic, the Group had been focusing its effort more on the drama series production in the light of the pandemic’s adverse effect on its film production business.

In February 2022, the Group had a 30-episode action crime drama series “Flying Tiger 3” broadcast on the over-the-top (OTT) media service platform myTV SUPER and the free-to-air channel of Television Broadcasts Limited (“TVB”) in Hong Kong, building on the success of its previous two seasons. In December 2022, the Group had a 27-episode anti-corruption drama series “Mission Run” first broadcast on Youku, a video hosting service platform under Alibaba Group in mainland China. “Mission Run” was scheduled to be broadcast on TVB’s myTV SUPER and free-to-air channel in Hong Kong from February to March 2023.

The Group also released non-drama productions, including such variety shows as “Gigi’s Tasteful Kitchen Third Season”, “The Order of Boss”, “Drive U To The Hell 3” and “HAHAHAHAHA Season 2” on various Chinese portals and online platforms in 2022.

During the Year, the Group was also preparing for the releases of new productions in 2023. An action crime film “Endless Battle” is scheduled to be first released on Youku in mainland China in May 2023 and its theatrical release in Hong Kong is expected in the same month. Also in the pipeline are variety shows such as “My United Lover”, of which the shooting was scheduled for December 2022 to February 2023 in Hong Kong and “Drive U To The Hell 7”, of which shooting was planned for March 2023 in Hong Kong.

Revenue from the film, drama and non-drama production decreased by 25% to RMB135,448,000 in 2022 from RMB180,841,000 in 2021.

The Group’s artiste and event management business had been affected by the pandemic in the past several years as film and drama productions and artistes’ commercial activities were shelved or postponed in compliance with the governments’ anti-pandemic measures. As a result, revenue from that business segment decreased by 26% to RMB25,603,000 in 2022 from RMB34,677,000 in 2021. In 2022, 73 artistes were under the Group’s management. Artistes managed by the subsidiary Shaw Brothers Pictures International Limited included famous artistes such as Bosco Wong, Joel Chan, Michael Fitzgerald Wong, Nancy Wu, Rosina Lam and Jeannie Chan; and popular singers such as Hubert Wu and James Ng. Artistes managed by the subsidiary Tailor Made Production Limited included famous artistes such as Wong Cho-lam, Roger Kwok and Eliza Sam; and popular singers such as Teresa Carpio and Vivian Lai.

In 2023, with the abatement of the pandemic and the resultant relaxation of the government’s anti-pandemic measures, the Group looks forward to a recovery in the economy and in the industries of film and drama production and artiste and event management.

In terms of production, it is expected that freedom to shoot films overseas will be resumed and thus movies of more diverse subjects and genres will be able to be produced. In terms of distribution, the cinemas have seen their operation’s return to normal and box-office successes of top-grossing films. The Group will make a greater effort again to produce films and will step up its effort to produce online movies and dramas for on-demand streaming services platforms in both mainland China and overseas countries, targeting Chinese communities.

The Group will also deepen the synergy between its business of film and drama production and that of artiste and event management by increasing the number of online movie and drama productions which include a combination of its own first-tier actors and actresses in the cast. It will also further tap the potential of its roster of artistes by having them conduct live-streaming e-commerce on online shopping platforms. It is expected that there will be more opportunities for its artistes to be hired in brand engagement campaigns after the pandemic.

Commenting on the Group’s prospect and strategies, Mr. Li Ruigang, Chairman and Non-executive Director of Shaw Brothers, said, “With our production expertise, established strategic partnerships and rich talent resources, we are well-positioned to capitalize on a post-pandemic recovery in the existing markets and to develop new markets under our strategy of investing in film and drama production with high-quality content. We will leverage our rich resources such as a seasoned production team and a rich pool of top artistes to tap the great potential of the markets of the Greater Bay Area and the Chinese communities all over the world as we aspire to be one of the leading content producers and curators in Asia-Pacific.”

Hashtag: #shawbrothers

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Shaw Brothers Holdings Limited

Shaw Brothers Holdings Limited (Stock Code 00953) principally engages in investment in film, drama and non-drama production and artiste and event management. Its major subsidiary, Shaw Brothers Pictures International Limited, is an iconic film production company in Hong Kong. Shaw Brothers gives full play to its seasoned production team and rich pool of top artistes, and cooperates with film and television producers and online video streaming platforms in mainland China to fully tap the entertainment markets of the country, especially the Greater Bay Area, and the overseas Chinese communities. Its diverse talents such as actors, singers also do stage performances and undertake external commercial engagements such as brand endorsements. The company aspires to be one of the leading content producers and curators in Asia-Pacific.

VinFast celebrates its expansion to the west of France with the opening of VinFast Rennes

RENNES, FRANCE – Media OutReach – 24 March 2023 – VinFast officially announced the opening of its VinFast store in Rennes, marking its presence in the West of France. In addition, VinFast’s next stores in France are expected soon in Montpellier, Aix-En-Provence, and other major cities.

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Located in a prime location with many other auto brands, VinFast Rennes is expected to help VinFast increase its brand presence and quickly reach prospective customers. This is VinFast’s first store in the West of France, furthering its expansion rollout in European markets.

VinFast Rennes will focus on showcasing products and in-car smart features while providing one-on-one assistance through professional and well-trained product experts. In addition, the VinFast store will link the brand and its customers, bringing personalized services and peace of mind experiences throughout the electric vehicle ownership journey.

VinFast Rennes combines modern space with design highlights inspired by the beauty of Vietnam’s natural wonders. The store will display two electric SUV models, the VF 8 and VF 9. Later, the VF 6 and VF 7 will also be presented here, allowing customers to directly experience VinFast’s complete electric vehicle lineup directly. Customers can explore the products at 3 Rue des Mesliers, Rennes.

Before this event, VinFast established its presence in Paris, Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Oberhausen, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam. VinFast Rennes is VinFast’s third store in France. After Rennes, the following stores will open in Montpellier, Aix-En-Provence, and other major cities to expand the retail and service network, building connections and trust with French customers.

Coming up, VinFast will organize large-scale test-drive events in France, Germany, and the Netherlands to approach and convince its consumers with hands-on experiences with VinFast’s products and services.

Hashtag: #VinFast

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About VinFast

VinFast – a member of Vingroup – envisioned to drive the movement of global smart electric vehicle revolution. Established in 2017, Vin-Fast owns a state-of-the-art automotive manufacturing complex with globally leading scalability that boasts up to 90% automation in Hai Phong, Vietnam.

Strongly committed to the mission for a sustainable future for everyone, VinFast constantly innovates to bring high-quality products, advanced smart services, seamless customer experiences, and pricing strategy for all to inspire global customers to jointly create a future of smart mobility and a sustainable planet. Learn more at:

Hellven Metaverse: First Metaverse Social Platform Based on Arbitrum

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 24 March 2023 – Hellven Metaverse is a new generation Web3.0 ecosystem built on Arbitrum, and has announced a $2 million seed investment. It uses 3D Hero NFT as the ecological pass card to access boards such as the RPG game Hellven’s Gate, and the business and social space Hellven Utopia. By attracting talented developers and buidlers, Hellven is targeting to build an open and free commercial metaverse platform.

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Hellven Metaverse has launched Three Pillars of landing scenarios, including Hellven’s Gate, Hellven Utopia, and the Open and Free Business Metaverse.

About The Flagship Game: Hellven’s Gat
In Hellven Metaverse, games are one of the most important landing scenes and serve as the primary carrier. As the first game in Metaverse matrix, Hellven’s Gate is a game that combines traditional strategic gameplay with blockchain technology. It is a 3v3 turn-based tactical game where players take on the role of heroes, crossing Hellven’s Gate to uncover hidden secrets. Along the journey, players can constantly adjust their lineup, upgrade their heroes, search for valuable equipment, and upgrade to enhance their characters.

Hellven plans to launch more types of games in the future, covering various game genres such as action, role-playing, racing, and shooting. Besides the games, Metaverse also plans to provide an open platform where creators can create and publish their own virtual content and share it with other players. They will support various creation tools and technologies such as 3D modeling, AIGC and augmented reality, so creators can unleash their imagination and unlimited creativity.

About The Social E-Commerce: Hellven Utopia
The future of the digital world will depend on the development of emerging technologies and Hellven Utopia is the practice of combining these technologies into social space. Hellven Utopia can perform airdrop, minting and auction in real time while interact and show individual personality. It provides a novel, interesting and low-threshold platform for the huge non-gaming community.

Hellven Utopia aims to create a brand new digital space where people can freely express their individuality and creativity, interact with others. Utopia will use NFT technology to endow unique digital assets with value and rights. Utopia will also use AI technology to provide users with more intelligent social experiences. By analyzing user behavior and interests, Utopia will recommend activities and characters that match their taste, allowing users to better integrate into the social network. At the same time, Utopia’s AR will enable users to interact with virtual objects and other users in real-time, creating an immersive experience.

About The Open and Free Business Metaverse
The metaverse is continuously “eating” the world, and an immersive world full of interactive experiences is coming.

Thanks to emerging AIGC and Create to Earn marketplace models, the business paradigm revolution has emerged. Hellven is building the engine of business growth and the infrastructure for traditional brand, crypto-native brand, and individual IP.

Artists can design their NFT artwork using the tools provided by the platform and earn legitimate income, or showcase them to the world through the encrypted art galleries of Hellven Utopia. Merchants can open their own metaverse stores and sell products in different events, offer interesting rewards with NFTs.

Individuals can also build their own room in Utopia, become the meta-landlords to earn by renting or selling digital assets, or through advertising partnerships.

The origin of the Hellven Metaverse.

“What if we have a second chance to become the protagonist of our own story?”, Hellven’s founder keeps asking and that’s why Hellven’s vision is to create a truly open, free and trustworthy business model for Web3 creators in decentralized value internet.

As a virtual digital world, the metaverse requires advanced technical support, the Hellven team has decades of start-up experiences in gaming and blockchain, and possesses sufficient business insights, which help to achieve the platform vision. encourage users and creators to build an open and free Web3 ecosystem.

About Team members
Việt Le as CEO has 15 years of IT consulting and blockchain development experience, and was previously co-founder of L7.digital and SportE.net. Quoc Le has 15 years in gaming and enterprise solutions as CTO, 6 years as a blockchain architect at GINAR, and was the technical lead for Infinity Blockchain Labs (IBL) and Moonstake. Tung Dam as COO has 6 years of software engineering and full-stack blockchain development, and was the co-founder of yberk.io and Skymore.

In addition, Michael Bei, Hellven’s game advisor, was the core team member of Fantasy Westward Journey, a AAA blockbuster with over 200 million PC users and 20 million mobile users, ranked No.1 in AppStore & GooglePlay. And Andy Daniel, technical advisor, was a core team member of Google Chrome, and led a team of more than 100 engineers.

About Financing Situation
Hellven Metaverse has announced a $2 million seed investment led by industrial capital Macau New World Development, NICE Capital, Polaris Venture, Z&Y Capital and other angel investors. The investment is used for product development, business expansion and recruitment of talented people.

Conclusion
The metaverse, which combines virtual and real, is essentially mankind’s beautiful vision of the future. We are eager to expand the boundaries of interaction and experience. We are building a “beautiful new world” of freedom and equality while creating a new continent. Hellven Metaverse is born based on these ideas. It will be a decentralized digital world with a new economic system and identity system at its core, bringing users a brand new virtual interactive experience.

Follow Hellven Metaverse
Twitter:https://twitter.com/HellvenGate
Discord:https://discord.gg/hellvensgate

Hashtag: #Hellven

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

From Hmong Village to Miss Universe: Payengxa Lor’s Journey to Inspire Women

Payengxa Lor poses at Sure Stay Hotel during the interview with The Laotian Times.

In 2022, a young Hmong woman made history as the first person from her community to win the title of Miss Universe Laos. She then competed in Miss Universe where she was placed as one of the top 16 finalists from the 84 participants, setting a new record for her country. The 21-year-old Payengxa Lor spoke to Laotian Times about her humble beginnings, what made her want to participate in beauty pageants, and how she wants to use her platform for social good.  

Malaysia Healthcare Offers Advanced Orthopaedic Treatments

Employing top-notch medical technology and expertise, Malaysia provides orthopaedic care for optimal recovery.

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 24 March 2023 – Keeping pace with the current demands and trends in the healthcare industry, Malaysia Healthcare offers innovative solutions to patients with advanced orthopaedic treatments, employing top-notch medical technology and expertise.

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Over the past 20 years, the orthopaedic industry has undergone significant global advancements, some of which include the use of robotics for less invasive procedures and reproducible precision, which shorten hospital stays and expedite recovery. Surgical procedure improvement solutions, such as motion preservation techniques, minimally invasive surgeries, tissue-guided surgeries and cementless joint replacements are a few of the advancements that have evolved over time to promote speedier recovery[1].

The advancement of the industry is shaped by the demand for personalised treatments and implants, as well as advancements that can expedite procedures, improve efficiency and outcomes, and facilitate the recovery and comfort of the patient are currently influencing the orthopaedic field to ensure a better patient experience.

In its commitment to offering world-class healthcare, most of Malaysia’s healthcare professionals are trained internationally, and its hospitals are equipped with the latest, cutting-edge medical facilities and equipment, ensuring that patients receive the best health treatments and services.

Robotic-assisted surgery, according to Dato’ Dr. Lee Keat Hwa, a Consultant Orthopaedic & Arthroplasty Surgeon at Island Hospital, combines robotics and artificial intelligence. Surgeons carefully examine patients’ radiographs to record the anatomy of the relevant body part. The robots will then analyse the data and help determine the best implantation method from there. “The robots are intelligent, as they assist with accurate data. Thus, we as surgeons do not have to open a big wound when performing major surgeries on patients. Instead, we can make smaller, more precise incisions. As a result, robotic-assisted surgeries have a potential to be more successful and faster than conventional orthopaedic surgery,” she added.

In the Asian population, knee arthritis is a common arthritis. As a result, we are likely to see more knee replacements than hip replacements. “I perform a lot of fast-track knee replacements, which allow patients to walk almost immediately after surgery. Typically, patients are operated on in the morning and can walk the same day,” said Dato’ Dr. Siva Kumar Ariaretnam, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Subang Jaya Medical Centre.

The benefit of this is that patients have a lower risk of complications like Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Venous Thromboembolism (VTE), which are severe blood clots in the leg. “Many patients, including those from abroad, would undoubtedly want to keep their hospital stays to a minimum while also recovering as quickly as possible. Therefore, I have also created techniques for wound closure that do not require the patient to return to the hospital for the removal of the stitches,” explained Dato’ Dr. Siva.

According to Dr. Prashant Narhari, Consultant Orthopaedic, Traumatologist & Orthopaedic Oncologist at Penang Adventist Hospital, bailout is another treatment aspect that orthopaedic surgeons undertake. “Basically, we reconstruct the limb after doing a large resection to remove a sizeable piece of the tumour from it. This is also done for severe fractures that develop in elderly people. When using a plate to treat the fracture is not an option, we will remove the broken pieces and apply an implant in their place. The patient can walk the day following surgery since we are employing an implant,” he said.

Conceived over 10 years ago, Malaysia Healthcare is the backbone that ensures the delivery of seamless end-to-end patient care. Led by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia, it brings together the nation’s dual heritage of medical innovation and hospitality to provide healthcare travellers with a memorable experience from the moment they begin their enquiries until the time they head back home.

Find out more about Malaysia Healthcare’s orthopaedic offerings at: https://youtu.be/Iw8iQSp9tnU

For more information on Malaysia Healthcare and its services, please visit https://malaysiahealthcare.org/ or visit our social feeds at: www.facebook.com/MHTCMalaysia or at LinkedIn (Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council).

Hashtag: #MalaysiaHealthcare

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health Malaysia that has been entrusted with the responsibility of curating the country’s healthcare travel scene. Founded in 2009, MHTC works to streamline industry players and service providers in facilitating and growing Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry under the brand “Malaysia Healthcare” with the intended goal of making Malaysia the leading global healthcare destination. MHTC works closely with over 80 private healthcare facilities in Malaysia, who are registered members of MHTC.

Could Technology Solve the Problem of Illegal Parking in Vientiane? 

Illegal parking in Vientiane
Illegal parking in Vientiane (File photo).

Pedestrians in Vientiane Capital are routinely forced to walk into oncoming traffic as they navigate around vehicles parked on the footpath. Despite hundreds of attempts by authorities, the issue has yet to be resolved. But could new technology play a part in solving the problem once and for all?