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FreeFlow Finance and IX Fintech Digital Form Strategic Partnership for Synergistic Cooperation

FreeFlow payments infrastructure enabling universal access to regulated digital assets and IX Fintech’s portfolio of innovative digital asset products make for a win-win outcome

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 May 2022 – FreeFlow Finance Limited (FreeFlow) and IX Fintech Digital (International) Company Limited (IX Fintech Digital) are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership, combining FreeFlow’s world’s first interoperability infrastructure for cross-border payments, trade transactions and retail commerce, using regulated digital currencies with IX Fintech Digital’s leading digital asset products and services including digital asset index products, digital asset wallet, digital double-offline retail point system network and related digital finance innovation.

The strategic partnership will open up the potential for IX Fintech Digital to add fully regulated digital asset payment/settlement functionality and regtech/compliance solutions to their portfolio of services for their customers and partners, and to enable institutional DeFi use cases to allow new business model opportunities for FX, cash management, and lending.

The strategic partnership will also open up the opportunity for FreeFlow to explore specific use cases to connect Hong Kong customers to facilitate cross-border transactions into Greater China leveraging FreeFlow’s interoperability infrastructure and strategic partners, and IX Fintech Digital’s digital wallet and digital asset products.

The parties will start their strategic partnership by engaging in a feasibility study for technical integration of FreeFlow’s interoperability infrastructure to IX Fintech Digital. This will be followed by deeper collaboration in follow-on phases to form business partnerships to commercially scale the opportunities identified.

“At FreeFlow, we’re always looking for new synergistic partners for our ecosystem to reshape global finance and financial inclusion through regulated digital assets,” said Michael Sung, Founder and CEO of FreeFlow. “Our strategic partnerships are instrumental in facilitating responsible financial solutions for SMEs and consumers, and we’re excited to be working with IX Fintech Digital.”

“At IX Fintech Digital, we strive to build the best practice and products for future financial markets, to achieve a more seamless, transparent, and efficient system,” said Irene Wong, Founder and CEO of IX Fintech Digital. “With home base in Hong Kong, we aim to bridge between China and the other countries to achieve green, blue, cultural exchange and financial inclusion via the use of technology and treasure the opportunity to work with good partners like FreeFlow.”

About FreeFlow Finance

FreeFlow Finance is the world’s first interoperability infrastructure company for the next generation of cross-border payments, trade transactions and retail commerce, using regulated digital currencies. FreeFlow enables seamless integration with stable coins and central bank digital currencies through our cross-platform digital currency clearing and settlement and on-chain FX liquidity provision capabilities, powered by our institutional grade, vertically integrated, and regulatory compliant, single-window API platform.

About IX Fintech Digital
IX Fintech Digital is an award-winning company, providing best-in-class digital asset services, ranging from digital asset indexing, digital double-offline retail point system network to decentralized digital asset wallets, built on robust infrastructure. IX Fintech Digital (International) Company Limited offers products and services with high security and KYC/AML capabilities. Its digital asset wallet is equipped with post-quantum security and full-stack KYC/AML solutions.

#FreeFlowFinance #IXFintechDigital

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

“Ear Up Incubation” Fostering New Hong Kong Music

Five Grand Awards at the “Ear Up Music Festival”
13 New Voices of Hong Kong that Must Be Heard

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 May 2022 – Now in its fifth year, the “Ear Up Incubation” music mentorship programme reached another milestone for the local music industry when 14 Hong Kong based groups were chosen as finalists in the long-awaited Ear Up Music Festival in April 2022.

Credit: Ear Up Music

Credit: Ear Up Music

Along with local rock band, Kolor and independent singer-song writer, Kendy Suen, the 13 rising musicians among the finalists delivered their best to the live indie music lovers.

Credit: Ear Up Music

Credit: Ear Up Music

Covering a variety of music genres, the groups took five major awards including the “Ear Up Grand Prize“, the “Ear Up Creativity Award“, the “Ear Up Performance Award“, the “Ear Up Audience Award” and the new “Ear Up Branding Award”.

13 groups rocked the stage

Despite the continuous challenges created by the COVID-19 situation, a year-long training programme concluded with the 13 groups among the 14 finalists displaying their talents at the Festival which was held in the Macpherson Stadium.

1. BEAT FRIDAY

2. Bedroom Party

3. CHOR

4. DAWN

5. FIESTER(Unfortunately, FIESTER not on show because of other arrangements.)

6. Higgo Raj

7. Kowloon K

8. Lester Lam

9. Nervous System

10. Project “Narratist”

11. RAM

12. Tofu Kingdom

13. Uchu Yurei

14. Yuki Lovey

Female dominance evoked haunting charms

The power of the female voice could not be overlooked in this year’s “Ear Up Incubation” programme. In a diverse range of music, the female voice opened up new possibilities. Combining heavy metal and electronic elements with Cantonese songs, FIESTER delivered a colourful style of music to music lovers. DAWN saw music creation as a vast and unknown sound adventure, taking into account the song’s composition, and bringing an alternative colour side to Cantonese songs. CHOR sang in a psychedelic atmosphere, leading the audience into the music and into another place where they could feel the message and be genuinely moved. Growing up in music, Yuki Lovey used piano elements from everyday sounds such as metal parts, glue, wood, water and typing to explore themes like personal growth, suffering, and the relationships between people to deliver healing effects to busy urbanites.

Unique styles from new bands

Indie band sounds are the soul of Ear Up Music and fans enjoyed alternative rock, electronic, metal, fusion, jazz-pop, neo-soul, R&B, rap and dream-pop in Cantonese, English, Mandarin and Japanese songs.

Uchu Yurei brought progressive rock, jazz-fusion, Japanese film soundtracks, and classical music into their musical universe. Project “Narratist” told stories using notes and rhythms that blended jazz, rock, and classical music to create a pleasant and profound sound journey for the audience, while RAM provided the audience with an alternative rap rock music experience. The Kowloon K wrote songs with improvisational elements of the instrument and were constantly experimenting with new possibilities by combining city-pop and jazz-pop. Inspired by jazz-pop, soul and funk punk, Nervous System surprised the audience with its diversity of music. With dream-pop and shoegaze as their main music backbone, Tofu Kingdom provided fans with another musical experience through their indie-pop style paired with fantastic and exciting music videos.

Wandering between the electronic music of hip hop, electro, trip and house, the duo BEAT FRIDAY showcased unique music and visual in their performance. While Bedroom Party created rhythmic and dreamy music using the computer’s digital music workstation software in their bedrooms.

The ‘big chaos’ music style of Higgo Raj blends R&B, EDM, disco, hip hop, and more in a rhythmic musical journey. While Lester Lam incorporates pop music, R&B and indie into his singing and writing.

The Award Winners

Uchu Yurei, a progressive and instrumental band, offered an impressive music performance and won the “Ear Up Grand Prize“. The city pop representative Kowloon K got the “Ear Up Audience Award” and was the online live viewers’ the clear favourite. Higgo Raj was the winner of the “Ear Up Performance Award” who showed his music passion with his talented band. “Ear Up Creativity Award” went to BEAT FRIDAY, who demonstrated an innovative combination of music and visual content. Lester Lam, the singer-songwriter, was the winner of the new “Ear Up Branding Award“.

From Music to Moving Images

This year, Ear Up Music has created a limited edition of the vintage cassette Mixtape album, EUM001: ups and downs, with 12 selected songs from the finalists.

Five newly created music videos with the latest XR techniques demonstrated the originality of the new generation. Besides, Director Eric Tsang has been invited to create a mini drama with the inspiration of music by the finalists.

Fostering new Hong Kong music: Ear Up +

Ear Up Music is a music label that was tasked by the Renaissance Foundation Hong Kong to develop a sustainable and diverse music ecology in the city and nurture rising young music stars. Sponsored since 2016 by Create Hong Kong (a Government unit that aims to develop Hong Kong into a regional creative capital),the label created the “Ear Up Incubation” programme to spotlight new music in Hong Kong and in neighbouring regions and beyond.

Apart from dedicated small group mentorship sessions, the programme also includes a series of performance workshops and international forums for young musicians to enhance their live performance skills, understand the latest industry trends and discover potential collaboration opportunities. Live house showcases and school showcases are also arranged for incubatees to gain performance experience and build up a fanbase. All the incubatees are selected through an open recruitment and audition process organised by Ear Up Music.

This year, “Ear Up Music” has evolved again – the “Ear Up Music Incubation Programme 2022/23: Ear Up +” has been released. “Ear Up +” is openly recruiting 18 original music groups with market potential. The selected candidates will receive training and production and market development subsidies of up to HK$450,000. The programme will also hold a music festival for them to introduce the rising voices of Hong Kong to the public.

*****For high resolution images, please download here *****

Organiser
Renaissance Foundation
Ear Up Music

Main Sponsor

CreateHK

Ear Up Music Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earupmusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/earupmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earupmusic/

About Ear Up Music

Ear Up Music is a music label that spotlights new music of Hong Kong to its neighbouring regions and beyond. The label, established by Renaissance Foundation Hong Kong in 2016, runs numerous projects from talent development to showcase events that connect with global music networks. These projects include Ear Up Incubation, Ear Up Global, Ear Up Tour and Ear Up Gig On.

In 2018, we founded Ear Hub to curate the latest developments in the Hong Kong, Asian and International music, media, production and interactive industry. Ear Hub is an international music conference and festival that offers an audiovisual feast as well as a cordial environment to initiate cross-border collaborations for music lovers and professionals.

#EarUpMusic

MINT Museum of Toys Singapore To Launch New Toy Figurines Exhibition Uncovering Generational Shifts

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 16 May 2022 – Capturing socio-cultural trends nestled in childhood experiences, MINT Museum of Toys Singapore will narrate influential stories that defined playtime in its latest exhibition, UNBOX Presents: Toy Figurines. Open to the public from 28 May to 28 November 2022, the exhibition will unveil the various toy figurines that underpinned and sparked generational shifts, from the evolution of gender norms portrayed by Barbie, G.I. Joe and Bratz to the epitome of transmedia storytelling across the Monster High ecosystem. Museum admission tickets to view this pop-up exhibition can be purchased online via their online ticketing platform.

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From Barbie to Rainbow High

Socio-cultural shifts across decades become apparent when surveyed alongside consumer trends within the toy industry. Staying culturally relevant is key to thriving; generational toys, therefore, provide clues to changing societal expectations till today.

“Toys echo societal voices, and at the same time, facilitate the progressive changes in society,” shares the UNBOX curational team led by General Manager Mr Christopher Ho. Barbie is a classic example.

They add, “In the economic boom of postwar years, the pioneering Barbie let little girls break away from the domesticated worldviews of earlier paper dolls. Rapid globalisation in the 20th century required adapting the fashion doll for newer markets, which then gave rise to the queen of Japanese dress-up dolls, Licca Chan. The definition of womanhood further shifted and expanded in the age of the Internet that called upon greater representation with more inclusive toys. Here, the racially-diverse Bratz dolls replaced Barbie’s single-tone and sweet personas with edgy personalities that empowered young girls”

The rapid spread of global pop culture when the Internet developed allowed many toymakers to dabble in once-taboo areas, like goth and LGBTQ+, which the team opines, laid the successful paths for Monster High and Rainbow High. The narratives of G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Masters of Universe, and M.A.S.K travelled a similar course, among many others, which the public can delve into at the upcoming exhibition.

Highlighting Significant Chapters of History

These generational movements depicted by toys, the team adds, are vital to understanding the role toy figurines played in impacting childhood experiences within the societal peripheries of each decade, lending it a true lever in the study of history. Housing the largest collection of the most popular vintage toys in Singapore and Southeast Asia, the MINT Museum of Toys reiterates the need for society to look back and understand the journey transpired till today. With nuggets of history embedded in each toy figurine, UNBOX exhibitions such as these reach out to the inner child of the visitor, allowing them to rediscover and reflect on a past once lived. Also a creative ground for up and coming curators to explore alternative narratives, UNBOX helps to bridge the gap between toys, art and history.

About MINT Museum of Toys

MINT Museum of Toys Singapore has an ever-growing collection of 50,000 toys, the largest in Southeast Asia, carefully curated collections ranged between the years of 1840s to 1980s hailing from over 40 different countries are displayed across four levels of the museum, housed in an award-winning designed building on 26 Seah Street, Singapore. The museum also organises programmes for schools including comprising guided tours and hands-on activities, and a variety of public events held at our . The latter includes the annual “” that celebrates Singapore’s unique culture and the seasonal “UNBOX” where vintage, rare and famous collections are revealed for public display. The museum also extends its experience to the virtual world with its series of innovative and interactive digital products, such as its which feature two core exhibitions in a 360-view of over 100 content-based, video and gamification touchpoints. It’s most recent product is the , an app-guided tour of the various toys and characters with over 35 interactive 2D and 3D touchpoints. For more information, please visit:

#MINTMuseumofToys

Reckitt set up ‘Dettol Disinfection Zone for online purchases pickup’ in nearly 90% of HKTVmall O2O shops and three HKTVmall supermarkets in Hong Kong

Turned over a new page of partnership with the largest online shopping mall in Hong Kong to jointly protect the new retail experience

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 May 2022 – Reckitt and HKTVmall, the largest online shopping mall in Hong Kong that connects online and offline, have turned over a new page of partnership to set up Dettol Disinfection Zone for online purchases pickup in nearly 90% of HKTVmall O2O shops and three HKTVmall supermarkets[1]. It allows consumers to disinfect their packages when picking up online purchases in stores, aiming to reduce the chance of virus transmission and jointly safeguard the new retail experience.

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With the fifth wave of COVID-19 hitting Hong Kong since the beginning of the year, citizens have been going out less and purchasing necessities through online channels. According to ‘The Hong Kong New Normal Tracking Study – Covid-19 Impact February 2022’ published by Ipsos, a marketing research firm[2], consumers who have purchased online in the past four weeks before the survey have increased from 39% to 49%, compared to December 2021. Although the fifth wave of COVID-19 continues to stabilise and social distancing measures are gradually relaxing, the community are encouraged to remain cautious and to maintain high level of hygiene awareness and good personal hygiene at all times.

Reckitt exists to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world and hygiene is the foundation of public health. As online shopping trend matures, Reckitt established partnership with HKTVmall to set up ‘Dettol Disinfection Zone’ for online purchase pickups in ninety-three HKTVmall O2O shops (including three HKTVmall supermarkets) in Hong Kong since April. When picking up online purchases in stores, consumers can disinfect their packages with Dettol Disinfection Spray, which can effectively kill 99.9%[3] of germs, including New Coronavirus[4]. In addition, Dettol hand sanitiser dispensers are placed at entrances and exits of the three HKTVmall supermarkets to protect the health and hygiene of store visitors, creating safe new retail experience for consumers and fighting against the epidemic situation.

Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited founded HKTVmall online shopping mall in 2015 and opened the first O2O shop in 2016—becoming the first e-commerce company to operate with physical stores in Hong Kong, pioneering the new retail experience in town. Reckitt launched its flagship store in HKTVmall online shopping mall in 2015. Since then, Reckitt has been partnering with HKTVmall to promote products from its brands through hosting multiple live-streaming sales. The live-streaming sales at HKTVmall Store Day were popular among consumers and recorded doubled Gross Merchandise Volume compared to the standalone ones.

Jelly Zhou, Chief Executive Officer (Hong Kong) of Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited said, “HKTVmall created a new retail model by setting up offline shops to complement online sales to serve the needs of different customer segments. Through this new partnership with Reckitt, we jointly offer instant disinfection services in HKTVmall O2O shops and supermarkets to further protect the health and safety of our consumers and hence enhance their confidence in online shopping services. HKTVmall will continue to work closely with the community to provide the most comprehensive and high-quality online shopping experience for the public.”

“At Reckitt, we put people first,” said Boudewijn Feith, Reckitt General Manager Hong Kong/Taiwan. “We are pleased to reach a new milestone in our partnership with HKTVmall. By setting up Dettol Disinfectant Zone in nearly 90% of HKTVmall O2O stores and three HKTVmall supermarkets, we provide hygiene protection to consumers when they pick up their online purchases in stores and create a safer shopping experience. Moving forward, we look forward to establishing more initiatives with HKTVmall to enhance consumer’s O2O shopping experience and continue to safeguard every moment in the life of Hong Kong people with Dettol, one of the world’s most trusted disinfectant brands.”


[1] The three HKTVmall supermarkets are Savannah store in Tseung Kwan O, H.A.N.D.S store in Tuen Mun and Shek Tong Tsui store in Sai Ting Pun

[3] Reckitt Data on file

[4] According to the in vitro study done by Microbac (an external laboratory in the US) in 2020, Dettol Disinfectant Spray are effective in killing 99.9% of the new coronavirus when tested according to EN14476:2013+A2:2019, neat at 5 mins. contact time. Test data is only for reference.

About Reckitt:

Reckitt* exists to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We believe that access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment is a right, not a privilege.

Reckitt is the company behind some of the world’s most recognisable and trusted consumer brands in Hygiene, Health and Nutrition, including Air Wick, Calgon, Cillit Bang, Clearasil, Dettol, Durex, Enfamil, Finish, Gaviscon, Harpic, Lysol, Mortein, Mucinex, Nurofen, Nutramigen, Strepsils, Vanish, Veet, Woolite and more.

Every day, more than 20 million Reckitt products are bought globally. We always put consumers and people first, seek out new opportunities, strive for excellence in all that we do and build shared success with all our partners. We aim to do the right thing, always.

We are a diverse global team of more than 43,000 colleagues. We draw on our collective energy to meet our ambitions of purpose-led brands, a healthier planet and a fairer society.

Find out more, or get in touch with us, at

*Reckitt is the trading name of the Reckitt Benckiser group of companies

About HKTVmall:

HKTVmall is the largest 24-hour online shopping mall in Hong Kong and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited (SEHK: 1137). Established in 1992, the Group has extensive and successful experience in telecom market liberalization and popularizing advanced technology and applications. HKTVmall provides one-stop shop services including online shopping, marketing & digital advertising, big data analysis, smart logistics & fulfilment as well as physical O2O stores, and to transform all business operations, trading, retail, finance and daily life onto a single digital online platform to establish a unique digital ecosystem. For more information, please visit: www.hktv.com.hk.

#Reckitt #HKTVmall

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

USAID Gives USD 5.6 Million to Address Impact of Covid on Education and Economic Growth in Laos

Deputy Administrator (DA) for Policy and Programming for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Isobel Coleman and Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr. Manothong Vongsay at the ceremony.
Deputy Administrator (DA) for Policy and Programming for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Isobel Coleman and Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr. Manothong Vongsay at the ceremony.

Isobel Coleman, Deputy Administrator (DA) for Policy and Programming for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced USD 5.6 million in additional assistance to address the impacts of COVID-19 on economic growth and primary education in Laos.

Thai Journalist Apologizes for Failure to Recognize Lao PM

Thai newscasters apologize for failing to recognize Laos Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh
Thai newscasters apologize for failing to recognize Laos Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh.

Thai newscaster Sophon Ong-karn has apologized for a gaffe during live television yesterday during which he failed to recognize the Prime Minister of Laos, Phankham Viphavanh.

Biden Hails “New Era” of US-ASEAN Ties at Washington Summit

Biden addresses Southeast Asian leaders at the US-ASEAN Special Summit.
Biden addresses Southeast Asian leaders at the US-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington, DC.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that the first summit held in Washington with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) marked the beginning of a “new era” in the US-ASEAN partnership.

Come Celebrate Four Years of BingX With Four Weeks Of Rewards Worth over $50,000 USDT!

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 13 May 2022 – BingX is excited to celebrate its fourth anniversary in May 2022. To make the event even more joyous, BingX will conduct a month-long contest with individual and group prizes to the tune of over $50,000 USDT.

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DATE – LOCATION –
BingX was initially founded in 2018 and always aimed to make trading easier for everyone. To that extent, the team has explored various options, leading to developing a global digital asset, spot, and derivatives trading platform supporting hundreds of cryptocurrencies. As a result, users can benefit from a safe, reliable, open, and user-centric ecosystem featuring intuitive social trading elements. Today, BingX has become the world’s leading social trading platform.

With over 20,000 copy traders and a cumulative 5,000 daily traders relying on BingX’s state-of-the-art copy trading feature, the platform continues to build momentum. BingX is a regulated and government-approved platform wherever the platform can be accessed, including the EU, US, Canada, and Oceania. BingX holds the necessary operating licenses in all these regions, confirming its regulatory compliant nature.

As BingX blows out four candles, the team will hold a four-week contest for all users. Registration kicks off on May 14, 2022, and closes on June 10, 2022. The contest itself starts on May 20, 2022, until June 17, 2022. The contest consists of top income earners and the popularity list.

All registered BingX users will rank based on their total week’s income. The top five of those users will earn weekly rewards based on their ranking. Furthermore, users will automatically enter the popularity contest, where they can collect “likes” from other BingX users every day. All participants can like one other player daily.

BingX’s $50,000 USDT competition will heat up over three weeks, leading into the grand finals. The finals will see the top 30 users every week, and the top 100 most popular players will compete.

The three groups of top 30 players will battle it out to determine the top 10 income earners, who will gain ranking rewards worth up to $117,000 USDT.

The 100 most popular users will become part of a team popularity list. Players can join any team to increase its popularity, with more players leading to more popular teams. The three most-popular teams will share in the bonuses and rewards worth over $45,000 USDT.

Communications and Public Relations Director at BingX, Elvisco Carrington, adds:

“This tournament will be an adventurous one comprising of many fun-filled activities for everyone. We believe this is a great way for us to show our users how much we appreciate them. Competitions help to foster community engagement and interaction and this is exactly what we want.”

Mark your calendars and be ready to join in the BingX 4th-anniversary contest and win!

About BingX

Founded in 2018, has grown to become the world’s leading social trading platform offering popular coins such as , , and . It is a global digital asset, spot, and derivatives trading platform that provides a safe, reliable, user-centric, and open ecosystem with intuitive social trading features created to enrich the entire cryptocurrency industry. In the countries and regions where BingX operates, it has registered or obtained recognized and regulated by local governments.

#BingX

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