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Loanhere Launches New Website to Help Singaporeans Apply for Personal Loans from Licensed Money Lenders Fast and Effortlessly

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 23 February 2021 – Loanhere announced today the launch of its website, a one-stop destination platform to apply for a personal loan in Singapore and receive multiple quotations and offers from licensed money lenders instantly.

Widely recognised as one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, having the financial liquidity to cope with Singapore’s high cost of living is not an easy thing. Coupled with an ongoing global pandemic, a significant number of locals are finding it difficult to cope and necessary to take out loans to cover living expenses and other payment obligations.

According to a recent report by Finder.com, almost 1 in 3 Singaporeans have taken out a personal loan in the last 12 months, largely to cover basic expenses, consolidate their debts or pay off credit card liabilities.

Aggregating loan quotes from licensed money lenders


Although there are platforms in the market that provide aggregated information on personal loan and sme business loan, almost all of them are focused only on bank financing. There isn’t a similar platform that exists in the market for borrowing from a licensed money lender perspective.


Loanhere is launched in response to this and seeks to be the one-stop destination platform for all information related to borrowing from licensed moneylenders in Singapore.


More importantly, Loanhere provides potential borrowers with instantaneous loan quotes aggregated from a curated selection of established and experienced licensed money lenders throughout Singapore.


Loanhere saves borrowers time and hassle by prequalifying all the partner lenders in its network, to be operating with a valid moneylender license issued by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), are of good standing with relevant authorities and have excellent customer reviews.


Simply by providing basic personal information such as name, contact details, and the sum of money desired to borrow, Loanhere matches the loan request via its proprietary process with suitable offers from its network of licensed lenders and sends the corresponding loan quotes and offers to the requestor’s email inbox instantly. The service is automated and entirely free to use by all Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PRs).


While banks have been the traditional lenders of personal loans, more and more Singaporeans and permanent residents have been increasingly turning to licensed money lenders as the alternative – or even the preferred – channel to take out a loan from.


With evaluation criteria generally more favourable to borrowers, shorter application processing and cash disbursement time, as well as the possibility of negotiating customised loan repayment plans, more and more locals are finding the licensed moneylender route an attractive option for personal financing.


Clearing the air on licensed money lending


Nevertheless, there remains a certain degree of misconception and an absence of clarity in the market when it comes to licensed moneylenders, such as how do they work, how to differentiate the good ones from the bad, what is considered legitimate and what is not, among other doubts and concerns.


Beyond providing borrowers loan quotes fast, Loanhere also strives to raise the public’s general awareness and understanding of borrowing from licensed moneylenders, through regular publishing of articles on the website that covers various aspects of the subject, including the clear distinction between licensed money lending and other unsavoury forms of lending.


“Taking up loans from licensed money lenders in Singapore is a viable and oftentimes more appealing option than borrowing from banks. We believe more Singaporeans can better alleviate their financial situations with a clear understanding and proper use of licensed moneylenders as a practical and legitimate source of funds, and are committed in our mission to deliver the most efficient loan quote aggregation service in the market”, explained a spokesperson from Loanhere.


Visit the Loanhere website and receive instant loan quotes with a simple submission at https://loanhere.co/.

About Loanhere

Loanhere provides useful and relevant information about loans and alternate financing options via licensed moneylenders to help Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) alleviate their financial challenges.

Loanhere is committed and dedicated to be the number 1 destination site in Singapore for loans and financing through licensed moneylenders.

To find out more about Loanhere, please visit https://loanhere.co/.

Hunter Fan Company Debuts Industrial Fan Line For Singapore

Inventor of Ceiling Fan Expands HVLS Product Offerings for International Market Needs

 

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 23 February 2021 Hunter Industrial Fans – the industrial division of Hunter Fan Company – launched its international fan line known as “DDI.” The DDI is a high volume, low speed (HVLS) industrial fan built for powerful air circulation. The HVLS fan is designed for simplicity while providing significant airflow due to its custom-built, direct-drive motor and three aerodynamically efficient blades.

“Hunter Industrial has grown significantly over the last six years, and we’re proud to offer a product that meets the demand for our international customers across the globe,” said Mark D’Agostino, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hunter Industrial. “The DDI fan will offer competitive pricing with unmatched performance in the industry.”

Available in two sizes – including 20- and 24-foot diameter models–the DDI fan is ideal for any facility looking to provide greater air movement in large spaces, such as warehouses, manufacturing centers, shipping, or dock and door areas.

“We have seen an increased demand for an international product line that is reliable, easy to install and affordable. DDI is the solution, and I look forward to partnering with companies across the world to meet their facilities’ needs,” said Borja Chavarri, International Director of Sales for Hunter Industrial.

The DDI fan features a five-year warranty on the motor and electronic control, and a Limited Lifetime Warranty on all other components. For international sales inquiries, contact Borja Chavarri at bgiralt@hunterfan.com.

About Hunter Industrial Fans

Since 1886, Hunter Fan Company’s focus has been on providing and enhancing comfort for consumers. Hunter’s commitment to quality, craftsmanship and innovation is why the company remains unrivaled today–and why Hunter’s fans last for generations. Hunter Industrial is part of that heritage, and the industrial division’s high-volume, low-speed fans embody Hunter’s passion for pioneering breakthroughs in ceiling fan technologies. Hunter Industrial’s fans are designed with every person in the process in mind–from installer to owner. Based in Nashville, Tenn., Hunter Industrial’s designers, engineers and technicians work together to test, prototype and manufacture every fan to perfection. For more information, visit www.hunterfan.com/industrial.

Appier Shares AI Predictions and Trends to Watch in 2021

TAIPEI, TAIWAN Media OutReach23 February 2021 – Appier, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) company, today shares AI Predictions and Trends to Watch in 2021. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have moved from the backrooms of computer science into the mainstream. Their impact is being felt in everything from how we shop through to finance markets and medical research, as well as the agriculture and manufacture industries.

Larger models have been trained in separated modality. For instance, GPT-3 is the first 100-billion-parameter model for natural language processing (NLP). Recently, a-trillion-parameter model (T5-XXL) has also been trained. They can be used to write articles, analyze text, perform translations and even create poetry.

In parallel, we’ve seen models used for image recognition and generation greatly improved as they have also been trained with more data sets. What we are seeing emerge is the power that can come from combining two or more AI models without changing these large models. In this way, combining these large models becomes affordable. That will allow us to use AI to interpret text and generate a completely new image. The following are the current observations and predictions of AI applications in five major fields.

The E-Commerce Boom Is AI-Driven

Over the last year, online commerce has grown significantly and is expected to continue to increase. COVID-19 restrictions have resulted in people spending much more time online — not just shopping but in online meetings, playing games, accessing social media and using apps. The growing digital journeys undertaken by people have generated more data that can be used to understand human behavior. However, more data also brings a greater complexity. Today, there’s no single, most effective channel for reaching customers. Reaching the right customer on the right channel at the right time is complicated for humans, but that complexity can be overcome through the use of AI.

AI gives marketers a way to influence customer’s behavior at a pace and scale previously thought impossible. AI not only finds the right customers, but also accesses the often-forgotten long tail of customers. It can also effectively generate creatives and develop customized content for different customers, and test the performance for different creatives to increase user engagement.

Data-Driven Finance Relies on AI

Furthermore, the main application of AI in finance has been in high-frequency trading where transactions are conducted between machines faster than people can communicate. This will continue in both traditional finance and in the world of cryptocurrencies, where we see different AIs engage in ‘warfare’. Investors have been using AI to make long-term predictions — which has required systems that can understand investors’ long-term targets. These were typically centered around measures such as revenues, incomes and profits.

While high-frequency trading strategies are important, there is another factor to show that cryptocurrencies are far more challenging to predict. Much of what we see in cryptocurrency markets is driven by ‘human madness’. While AI models struggle with this today, we can expect the AI models of the future to evolve and do a better job of predicting this behavior through closely monitoring trends in media and social networks.

AI in Healthcare and Biomedical Research

The prototype of messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines was developed in days thanks to the digitization tools of genetic code sequencing and the transcription tools of making mRNA from genetic code sequence. With the help of AI to predict new mutations in the Sars-Cov-2 virus, the process of developing mRNA vaccines will be even faster. AI can also be used as a diagnostic tool to read x-rays, based on the sound of someone coughing and indicate whether the patient is likely to be suffering from COVID-19 or some other illness.

In the biomedical domain, sequences of codes, such as DNA or amino acid, are commonly used. Since sequences of codes can be treated as a type of language with hidden structure, the architecture used in NLP models can be potentially used to understand and generate sequences of codes in the biomedical domain as well. One impressive example in early 2021 is that biomedical researchers used language model architecture to predict virus mutations and to understand protein folding — a key challenge in the creation of some of the vaccines now available. This finding is actually adapting the architecture of one model to solve problems in the biomedical domain.

Machine learning and AI don’t replace clinicians and researchers; they allow these professionals to work faster and rapidly test hypotheses. Instead of waiting for cell cultures to grow in the physical world, they can use these models to understand what will happen much faster in the digital simulation. As more and more people wear devices that can monitor heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure and other critical factors, the data can be used to give doctors greater insight into a patient’s condition. It also aids accuracy when making diagnoses as doctors and other clinicians are no longer reliant on patient recollections.

The Future of Education

Curricula and textbooks have typically been developed to serve large populations of ‘average’ students. These materials include content designed for a wide gamut of different abilities. However, experts, such as Sir Ken Robinson, point out that the ‘conveyor belt’ model of education doesn’t take into account the individual abilities and needs of students. Therefore, we have seen AI being used to revolutionize the way curricula is created and delivered. It can be used to provide more personalized curricula or personal problem sets for students. Instead of every student working through the same set of problems or questions, they receive a set that are customized to their specific level.

For example, a student may be very strong with fractions in mathematics, but have a problem with trigonometry. Instead of putting the student through the standard curriculum, he or she would spend less time on fractions and more time on trigonometry. As a student proceeds through a course, AI will monitor his progress and self-modify to meet the specific needs of that student.

With so much content now available online, cheating and plagiarism has become a huge issue. While detecting plagiarism is quite easy — there is already AI that can detect direct copying and similar text where just a few words or the tense are altered — there are other challenges. For example, a student may take content from one language and translate it to another. This is harder to detect, but AI is being developed to solve this problem. Similarly, image interpretation AI is being developed to find instances where arts students copy or imitate a design.

Smart Farming and Factories

Factories and farms are using data in innovative ways too. However, they differ from many other AI applications as they don’t focus on end-users. Instead, they focus on products, produce and machines. This requires an investment in sensors, robots and automation, and the optimization of operations.

The biggest development we are seeing in this area is in the generalization of findings between different areas. For example, if AI is being used to increase yields in an apple crop, can those AI models be reapplied for the growing of other fruits such as bananas or peaches? Similarly, if a factory is manufacturing LCD panels and has found ways to increase their yield rates, can those tools and lessons be applied to other manufacturing processes and factories?

Perhaps the biggest prediction we can make about AI in 2021 and beyond can be summarized in one word: leverage. Using existing AI model architecture, combining well developed models and finding ways to generalize existing models to other applications will continuously increase the impact of AI along with accelerated digital transformation across many domains. For more artificial intelligence and machine learning blog information, please refer to the Appier blog.

About Appier

Appier helps businesses solve their most challenging problems with artificial intelligence. It is a partner to some of the world’s leading brands, providing a suite of enterprise-grade products to support data-driven decisions and accelerate business growth. Established in 2012 by a passionate team of computer scientists and engineers, Appier now has more than 450 employees across 15 offices in APAC and Europe, and is recognized as a Top 50 AI company by Fortune Magazine. Appier has raised US$162 million in funding from investors including Sequoia, Softbank, and Line. Learn more at www.appier.com.

Voluntary Announcement: IND Approval Received for A Phase III Clinical Trial of OT-101 in the United States

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 22 February 2021 – This announcement is made by Ocumension Therapeutics (the “Company“, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group“) on a voluntary basis to keep the shareholders of the Company and potential investors informed of the latest business updates of the Group.

The board of directors of the Company (the “Board“) is pleased to announce that an investigational new drug (“IND“) approval for initiating a multi-regional phase III clinical trial (the “Phase III MRCT“) in the United States for OT-101, a self developed product of the Group, has been received from the United States Food and Drug Administration in February 2021. The Company plans to file IND applications with the regulatory authorities in both China and Europe Union in 2021 and initiate the Phase III MRCT of OT-101 in these regions accordingly.

OT-101 is a low-concentration atropine 0.01% eye drop developed by the Group to retard, or slow down, the progression of myopia in children and adolescents. The instability of low-concentration atropine solutions has long been a technical barrier for its commercialization. The Group developed a storage and delivery system to address low-concentration atropine solution’s instability, and also conducted several rounds of tests on the system’s reliability, closure integrity and sterility conditions.

Cautionary Statement required by Rule 18A.05 of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited: The Company cannot guarantee that it will ultimately commercialize OT-101 successfully. Shareholders of the Company and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company.

By order of the Board of

Ocumension Therapeutics

Dr. Lian Yong CHEN

Chairman and Executive Director

As of the date of this announcement, the Board comprises Dr. Lian Yong CHEN, Mr. Ye LIU, Dr. Zhaopeng HU and Dr. Wei LI as executive directors, Mr. Yanling CAO and Mr. Lefei SUN as non-executive directors, and Mr. Ting Yuk Anthony WU, Mr. Lianming HE, and Mr. Yiran HUANG as independent non-executive directors.


Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

Citi Plus® Official Launch Ceremony

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 22 February 2021

Photo 1


Mr Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager of Citibank Hong Kong, introduces saving, investment and spending services of Citi Plus® that are designed to suit needs of the younger generation.

Photo 2


Mr Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager of Citibank Hong Kong, and Ms Josephine Lee, Head of Retail Bank at Citibank Hong Kong, unveil Citi Plus® at the official launch ceremony.

Photo 3



Mr Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager (third from left) and Ms Josephine Lee, Head of Retail Bank of Citibank Hong Kong (forth from left), exchange wealth management tips with singer Hins Cheung (fifth from left), Jason Chan (first from left), artist Elva Ni (second from left), and athlete Cecilia Yeung (sixth from left), and talk about how Citi Plus’ features can address clients’ pain points, supporting them to achieve investment goals.

Black Spade Capital Aims to Build an SPAC-themed Portfolio

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 22 February 2021 – 2020 proved to be a great year for Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs). The market saw more high-profile investors joining the party while a record number of companies went public through this unique structure. With a whopping US$80 billion raised by over 230 blank-cheque companies, SPAC IPOs not only represented approximately 50% of total IPO issuance in the US in 2020, the massive amount raised by SPACs even eclipsed traditional IPOs last year.

Mr. Dennis Tam, President and CEO

SPAC Trend Continues To Heat Up

While SPACs continue to be favoured by institutional and private investors alike in the US, they are also gaining momentum in Asia. Savvy investors in the East are catching up fast with the trend and among them is Black Spade Capital Limited, the family office of casino magnate Lawrence Ho Yau Lung.

“We aim to be one of the first Asian family offices to build an SPAC-themed portfolio,” said Mr. Dennis Tam, President and CEO of Black Spade Capital. He added that “of course, we have to be selective — only high-quality SPACs with great potential are considered”.

One catalyst, Two Criteria

Mr. Tam considers the current close-to-zero or, in some cases, negative interest rate environment as one of the catalysts that contribute to the success of SPAC IPOs. “Loose monetary policy means lower cost of funds and greater incentive for investors to look for new investments. SPACs enjoy a great start this year with over US$45 billion raised by more than 140 new SPACs to-date — the fact that both the number and size of SPAC deals in the first two months of 2021 represent some 56% of the full-year performance in 2020 reflects just how buoyant the SPAC market is. The whole SPAC trend has to do to a certain extent with the abundance of capital in the market seeking return. When the interest rate picks up, the trend may slow down” said Mr. Tam.

Mr. Tam commented that the family office places importance on the sponsors in terms of selection criteria. “There are two main criteria — sponsors’ reputation and their track record. Sponsors are the face of an SPAC. They set out the road map of the investment vehicle. Their track record gives us a glimpse of what the sponsors are capable of. I always find one-on-one investor meeting a good way to learn about the vision and strategy that the sponsors have for their SPACs. A reputable sponsor boosts investor confidence. Some people point out that sponsors typically receive 20% of the equity in the SPAC; in my opinion, this mechanism helps align sponsors’ interest with that of investors which is actually positive — as long as the sponsors deliver, they deserve a matching reward. After all, if the sponsors successfully acquire or merge with a promising target (i.e. de-SPAC), everybody wins” explained Mr. Tam.

The relatively straightforward structure of SPACs also begins to appeal to many family offices. “As the name suggests, an SPAC has the sole purpose of merging with a private company and taking it public. The tenor is usually capped at two years and the sector from which the SPAC identifies its acquisition target is announced before the SPAC is listed. The fund raised by an SPAC usually serves as a good indication of the size of the future target, which is typically 3x to 4x the size of the SPAC. This is the kind of clarity that investors appreciate,” explained Mr. Tam. “Also, SPAC issuers offer to redeem the shares from investors at a call price equivalent to the IPO price if they do not like the acquisition target. This capital protection mechanism affords greater assurance to investors” added Mr. Tam.

Mr. Tam believes that investor education will encourage more Asian family offices as well as other investors in the region to participate in this SPAC trend. “We had several rounds of in-depth discussions with various investment banks and private banks before making our first SPAC investment last year,” recalled Mr. Tam. “In the process, our bankers get to understand our investment appetite and selection criteria and are able to introduce different SPAC opportunities to us” said Mr. Tam.

In terms of Black Spade Capital’s target return with regard to SPACs, “We have seen some truly impressive performance of certain star SPACs, such as QuantumScape and Draft Kings, which have realized a return of close to 10x and 4x, respectively, in 2020. Naturally, we look for above average return and we believe the key to achieve this is to invest in quality SPACs at the time of IPO” said Mr. Tam.

About Black Spade Capital Limited (黑桃資本有限公司)

Black Spade Capital Limited is an established family office that manages the private investments of Mr. Lawrence Ho. Headquartered in Hong Kong, its global portfolio consists of a wide spectrum of cross-border investments as it consistently seeks to add new projects and opportunities to its investment mix. Black Spade’s investment strategy maximizes coverage of geographic regions and sectors whilst maintaining a portfolio of diversified asset classes, ranging from equity, fixed income, medical technology, leisure and culture, green energy, real estate to Pre-IPO investments.


Kerry Logistics Network Extends Winning Streak at the Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise Awards for Sixth Year Running

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 22 February 2021 – Kerry Logistics Network Limited (‘Kerry Logistics Network’; Stock Code 0636.HK) is honoured to be named the Outstanding Global 3PL for the fourth time running at the Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise Awards (‘QOEA’) 2020. This was the sixth consecutive year that Kerry Logistics Network has been a winner of QOEA, which were announced in Hong Kong today.

Organised annually by leading Hong Kong financial news platform Quamnet, the QOEA aim to appraise and recognise the distinguished enterprises in Hong Kong and its spirit. Themed “Sagacity Built to Business Perfection” this year, the QOEA 2020 commended enterprises’ outstanding sagacity in times of challenge and change. Winning companies were nominated and selected by the judging committee made up of the Quamnet editorial team, the Quam Research team and independent financial analysts.

William Ma, Group Managing Director of Kerry Logistics Network, said, “2020 was a trying year filled with unprecedented challenges, which we strived to navigate and adapted to with ingenuity and flexibility. Therefore, we are particularly delighted to be awarded the Outstanding Global 3PL title again for the recognition of our efforts during the year. Logistics will continue to serve a crucial function globally in the times ahead. We will remain dedicated to excellence and innovation as we work hard to ensure smoothly-run supply chains.”

Kerry Logistics Network has been offering innovative solutions and expanding its geographic coverage to strengthen its service capability and diversify its business portfolio. It has launched new multimodal transport products to Mongolia, through its member Globalink Logistics, to provide alternative solutions to customers, as well as announced recently its development of a bonded logistics centre in the Hainan Free Trade Port in China to tap into the growing duty-free and inbound e-commerce market.

About Kerry Logistics Network Limited (Stock Code 0636.HK)

Kerry Logistics Network is an Asia-based, global 3PL with a highly diversified business portfolio and the strongest coverage in Asia. It offers a broad range of supply chain solutions from integrated logistics, international freight forwarding (air, ocean, road, rail and multimodal), industrial project logistics, to cross-border e-commerce, last-mile fulfilment and infrastructure investment.

With a global presence across 59 countries and territories, Kerry Logistics Network has established a solid foothold in half of the world’s emerging markets. Its diverse infrastructure, extensive coverage in international gateways and local expertise span across China, India, Southeast Asia, the CIS, Middle East, LATAM and other locations.

Kerry Logistics Network generated a revenue of over HK$40 billion in 2019 and is the largest international logistics company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

About Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise Awards

Instituted in 2009, QOEA is organised by Quamnet, a leading financial website in Hong Kong, to identify and praise the excellent performance of Hong Kong enterprises. It has developed into an annual event with wide recognition and support from independent investors, media and industries.

Mekong River Levels See Slight Increase, Monsoon Rains to Begin Earlier

MRC - Mekong Countries Urged to Address Low Water Flows
Mekong River upstream from Vientiane Capital, January 2019 (Photo: Jason Rolan)

Water levels in some sections of the Mekong River have increased slightly over the last seven days, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat said today.