Taiwan’s iPhone billionaire is running for president after a goddess appeared in his dreams4/17/2019
A self-made tycoon and political outsider with a penchant for caps is running for president in 2020, and it’s not Donald Trump.
One of Taiwan’s richest people and Foxconn chairman, Terry Gou, who made his fortune supplying components to tech companies such as Apple and Sony, announced today (April 17) that he will throw his hat in the ring (paywall) for the island’s presidential race next year. Gou, who said earlier this week that he plans to step down as chairman within months, visited a temple in New Taipei City today and said that the sea goddess Mazu had visited him in his dreams and told him to “‘do good things for our suffering people, give hope to the youth, contribute to cross-strait peace.'”
Mazu is a widely revered deity in Taiwan, China’s southern coastal areas, and parts of Southeast Asia, and is also known by other names such as Tin Hau in Hong Kong.
Gou, 68, said he’ll run as a candidate for the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, which supports having friendlier ties with China. At an event yesterday (April 16) where he flagged that he was considering a run for president, Gou described 2020 as being a “turning point” for Taiwan politically, economically, and militarily.
Taiwan’s current president Tsai Ing-wen, who came to power in 2016, belongs to the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Since she came to power, Beijing has pursued increasingly hardline policies against the self-ruled territory, including limiting its nationals from visiting Taiwan and pressuring Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies to switch their allegiance to Beijing.
After the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the defeated Nationalist, or KMT, forces fled to Taiwan and established a competing Chinese government there, while the Communist Party ruled from Beijing. Since then, Taiwan has governed itself and holds democratic elections, while Beijing has never relinquished its claims over the island. Gou was born in Taiwan, after his parents came over from China after the civil war.
Gou was among the first wave of Taiwanese companies that shifted production to China in the late 1980s as it embarked on economic reforms, and built up a massive electronics-manufacturing empire there. Foxconn, or Hon Hai as it’s officially known, has also drawn scrutiny in recent years after the company’s poor treatment of workers was cited as a cause of a spate of suicides at its factories in China.
Gou’s decision to run for president in January’s elections, along with the meteoric rise of the KMT’s Han Kuo-yu, the populist, pro-China mayor of Taiwan’s second city Kaohsiung, should have the ruling party deeply worried. The DPP recently suffered heavy losses across the country in local elections in November that gave China reason to celebrate as Beijing would rather have the KMT, which stresses close economic ties with China and eschews independence talk, in power. As a businessman with deep economic ties to China, Gou also undoubtedly has cultivated important political relationships (paywall) there.
Kaohsiung mayor Han has not announced his presidential bid yet, although a growing number of his supporters are calling for him to run. Another populist figure, Taipei’s independent mayor Ko Wen-je—recently known for releasing an earnest rap video—is also widely expected to add his name to the race. The race to Taiwan’s presidency in 2020 is shaping up to be every bit as interesting as the one to the White House.
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PETALING JAYA: The government’s regulatory body for valuers, appraisers, estate agents and property managers expects no further deterioration in the property market this year despite predictions that the market could worsen towards the second half of 2019.
Siders Sittampalam, chairman of the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers’ (BOVAEP) test of competence, added that Malaysia’s property market should not be seen in isolation.
“Generally, the economy in the whole region is facing problems. There is a definite slowdown, economically,” he said when met by reporters after the launch of the 6th edition of the Malaysian Valuation Standards here today. “As it is always said, the property market works within the framework of the economy. But our opinion is that the market will likely be flat until the end of the year.” He added that the market’s current pace is enough to sustain it for the rest of the year.
When asked if there are internal factors behind the slowdown in the property market, Siders reiterated that Malaysia is not the only country that is not performing well.
“Regionally, all countries are not performing so well,” he said. He added however that market sentiments will improve now that the government is looking at infrastructure projects such as the East Coast Rail Link.
“This is good,” he said. “We are looking at 2019 to see growth and improvement in both the economy and the property market.”
BOVAEP president Ahmad Zailan Azizuddin agreed, saying that the property market appears stable, based on past trends. On a separate matter, he said as of Dec 31, BOVAEP had registered 3,500 new property managers who were previously not regulated by the board.
“In 2018, we opened up registration for those who want to practise as property managers to register themselves with us.
“Previously, there wasn’t a separate register for property managers,” he said. He said it used to be that an individual only needs to be a valuer in order to be a property manager. But this was no longer the case after the amendment of Act 242 of the Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers Act 1981, he added. “In order to practise as a property manager, they have to register with BOVAEAP.”
The investment brings to an end Oyo’s nearly $1.1 billion Series E funding round that saw participation from SoftBank Vision Fund, China’s Didi Chuxing and Singapore-based ride hailing firm Grab
US home sharing company Airbnb has invested $75 million (Rs 516 crore) in SoftBank-backed hospitality firm Oyo, regulatory filings sourced from business signals platform Paper.vc showed.
The investment brings to an end Oyo’s nearly $1.1 billion Series E funding round that saw participation from SoftBank Vision Fund, China’s Didi Chuxing and Singapore-based ride hailing firm Grab. A spokesperson from Oyo confirmed the investment from Airbnb and the closure of the round.
The investment from Airbnb was made at the same $5 billion valuation at which Oyo raised $800 million led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, and $100 million apiece from Grab and Didi Chuxing.
Oyo did not elaborate on possible synergies with Airbnb post the investment, but the Gurugram-based firm could potentially give Airbnb access to its 173,000 rooms spread across 259 cities. Oyo will get access to Airbnb’s large global traveller base and Indian users as well.
ET had reported on April 2 that both companies were exploring several opportunities to collaborate in India, including making Oyo’s inventory available on Airbnb, citing sources within the company.
It is estimated that Airbnb has 45,000 listings on its platform in India. In February, Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk had told ET that India was among the top five fastest growing markets for the company. The US firm’s investment in Oyo comes ahead of its plan for an initial public offer, which could possibly take place in 2019.
The partnership could also lead to synergies in China, experts and industry watchers said, where Oyo has expanded quickly and is operating in 280 cities with 5,000 hotels and 260,000 rooms. China has been a market where Airbnb has failed to gain a foothold and compete with local players.
Scientists in Israel unveiled a 3D print of a heart with human tissue and vessels on Monday, calling it a first and a "major medical breakthrough" that advances possibilities for transplants.
The heart, about the size of a rabbit's, marked "the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers," said Tel Aviv University's Tal Dvir, who led the project.
"People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels," he said.
But the scientists said many challenges remain before fully working 3D printed hearts will be available for transplant into patients.
Journalists were shown a 3D print of a heart about the size of a cherry at Tel Aviv University on Monday as the researchers announced their findings, published in the journal Advanced Science.
Researchers must now teach the printed hearts "to behave" like real ones. Then they plan to transplant them into animal models, said Dvir.
"Maybe, in 10 years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely," he said. But he said hospitals would likely start with simpler organs than hearts. I have just found out about an incredible 8-day, BY INVITATION ONLY event, being hosted by my good friend and entrepreneur Dame Doria (DC) Cordova. I think you should explore it ASAP. Called the Global Excellerated Business School for Entrepreneurs – just 100 leaders and entrepreneurs from all over the world are invited to participate and benefit from the program. The event is taught by an unbelievable line of experts, entrepreneurs and masters that teach the execution and implementation of their principles through experiential exercises.... There is nothing theoretical about the Excellerated Business School. The access gained to multi-millionaires, billionaires (yes with a B), thought-leaders, experts and change-makers for those who attend, is extraordinary. It is an exclusive group and, a very special opportunity. While the program is nearly full, Doria asked me who I knew that I thought was an entrepreneur or leader who would meet the calibre of person who could attend. (You can only benefit by personal invitation). Of course, I thought of you Please do explore more here just as soon as possible (it is nearly closed):
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IOI Properties Group Bhd expects the property market to recover from the overhang situation due to a pickup in buyer interest and sales.
Its chief sales and marketing officer Jason Tie said the optimism is based on the group’s sales following its participation in the Malaysia Property Expo last month, in conjunction with the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) 2019.
“We saw sales picking up and received a lot of bookings (during the campaign). We also see the market responding to it. It might be a bit slow but is very encouraging,” he told reporters at the media preview of The Clio 2 Residences in Putrajaya yesterday.
The HOC 2019 aims to help clear unsold residential property across the country. “In our case, we do not have much inventory, but we are in a manageable situation,” Tie added.
According to a report by the National Property Information Centre, there is a overhang in the market especially in the category with price range of RM300,000 and below.
Tie said the group expects to launch at least three projects this year including The Clio 2 Residences. IOI Properties currently has several domestic property developments in Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan and Johor, and projects in China and Singapore.
Its property investment portfolios include shopping mall, hotel, leisure and office.
The Clio 2 Residences project has a gross development value of RM300 million, comprising 550 units tri- towers serviced apartments and is part of the 788 acre (318.9ha) IOI Resort City. The project is slated for completion in the third quarter of next year. Registration is open for the first block (Block A) which consists of a 23-storey block. It is a low density development with every floor having only eight units.
IOI Properties sales and marketing manager Alex Eng said response from pre-registration has been encouraging.
“We have started pre-booking already. We are now in the second week into the pre-booking and managed to gather 40 pre-bookings (so far),” he said. “We have seen a lot of first-time homebuyers, young executives and young families. We expect that to continue as well to make up all our residences,” he said. The Clio 2 Residences is expected to be launched in May 2019, with a three-bedroom unit starting from RM492,000. The built-up range is from 829 sq ft to 1,216 sq ft (112.97 sq m).
(Bloomberg) -- Publicis Groupe SA will pay $4.4 billion in cash to acquire Alliance Data Systems Corp.’s marketing unit Epsilon, as the French advertising group seeks to deepen its digital expertise and expand in the U.S.
The takeover, the biggest ever for Publicis, was announced by the Paris-based company in a statement on Sunday, two weeks after it confirmed it was in talks with Alliance Data. The owner of agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett Worldwide is focusing more on data analytics as consumer giants rely less on TV commercials and billboards and shift spending online.
Epsilon runs loyalty programs and email marketing and collects data including transactions, location and web activity
Clients are facing mounting challenges in a “data-led and digital-first world,” Publicis Chief Executive Officer Arthur Sadoun said in an interview. “We thought that Epsilon can bring to our existing assets in creativity and technology an acceleration in data and platform that will position us as a clear leader in personalized experience at scale.”
Traditional marketing firms like Publicis and WPP Plc are now up against consultants focused on business transformation including Accenture Plc, which is also getting into creative work. At the same time, tech giants Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google threaten to cut out agencies as buyers of ad space
Shares of Publicis, the third-largest ad holding company by market value, have fallen 14 percent over the past year. The stock dropped after the company was named as a potential bidder for Epsilon, as investors questioned its ability to absorb such a big transaction
Publicis said the acquisition would be fully financed by debt and cash on hand and it would suspend a share buyback program to keep a 45 percent dividend payout ratio pledge. The net purchase price will be $3.95 billion after an acquisition-related tax impact, Publicis said
In a separate statement, Publicis said first-quarter revenue increased 1.7 percent from a year earlier, to 2.12 billion euros ($2.4 billion). The company said it was able to offset client losses in the U.S. with customer retention elsewhere, leading to higher organic growth.
Patchy Record While Sadounis staking the company’s future on digital tech businesses that he sees as “strategic game changers, Publicis has a patchy record in managing acquired companies. The group posted a loss in 2016 after writing down the value of one of its digital businesses
Under Sadoun’s predecessor as CEO, Publicis supervisory board Chairman Maurice Levy, the company made one of the industry’s boldest bets on ad technology in 2015 with the $3.7 billion purchase of Boston-based Sapient. On Sunday, Sadoun called the Sapient and Epsilon businesses complimentary. “Sapient is about business transformation and consulting. Epsilon is about platforms, data and technology to enrich first-party data,” he said
Plano, Texas-based Alliance Data said in February it was weighing preliminary offers for Epsilon after announcing a review in November. In addition to the Publicis offer, Alliance Data had attracted bids from Advent International and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., people familiar with the matter said last month.
HONG KONG: Billionaire Jack Ma again encouraged tech workers to embrace the industry’s extreme-overtime culture, defying a growing social media backlash.
The Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder once more endorsed the sector’s infamous 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week routine as de rigueur for passionate young workers.
In a lengthy Sunday blog post, China’s richest man expanded on comments from last week, in which he dismissed people who expect a typical eight-hour office lifestyle.
“As I expected, my comments internally a few days ago about the 996 schedule caused a debate and non-stop criticism,” Ma wrote.
“I understand these people, and I could have said something that was correct’. But we don’t lack people saying '€correct’ things in the world today, what we lack is truthful words that make people think.”
Ma’s earlier comments stoked a fierce ongoing debate over tales of programmers and founders dying from unrelenting stress.
Chinese tech workers protested labor conditions on the online code-sharing community GitHub in March under the banner 996.ICU, which quickly became the site’s most popular topic. “Those who can stick to a 996 schedule are those who have found their passion beyond monetary gains,” he wrote Sunday. Sources: Bloomberg
TOKYO — The transport courtesy isn’t what it used to be. Budget airlines and websites like Expedia and Booking.com are disrupting out-of-date agencies. Airbnb and other home-sharing services are giving hotels a run for their money. But these companies are customarily commencement to answer globe-trotters’ many critical question: what to do once they’ve reached their destination.
Taiwanese startup KKday is looking to kick a large players during this new game. Its app connects tourists with thousands of locally-run activities, either it’s skiing lessons in South Korea or swimming with whale sharks in a Philippines.
Free suggestion forms who hatred to devise weeks or months in allege can mostly book a excursions by KKday’s app a night before.
Tsui Cheyin, a 32-year-old from Taiwan, chose one of KKday’s tours for his new solo outing to Japan, that enclosed sightseeing in Tokyo and circuitously Nikko, famous for a expensively flashy shrine. “I always check KKday after nearing during my end to learn internal tips, though this can infrequently be during a final minute,” Tsui said.
KKday owner and CEO Chen Ming, 45, combined a association in late 2014 to support to bustling millennials like Tsui. “The internet bang brought opportunities for particular travelers to pattern their possess itineraries,” Chen told a Nikkei Asian Review. Yet, he argued, “there was no height for things to do during your destination, nonetheless people were seeking authentic experiences.”
“We wish to solve any pain points for travelers,” combined Chen, now an 18-year maestro of a transport industry.
Chen has focused on Asia, where a arise of smartphones has fueled a swell in eccentric travel. South Korea and Hong Kong have spin priority markets for a company, that has 11 abroad offices, including Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and China.
KKday, like many immature startups, is loss-making – nonetheless it says it has begun to spin a distinction in Taiwan and Hong Kong. It refuses to disclose revenues. Nor will it exhibit a user count. But this is estimated by courtesy experts during over 1.5 million. The company, that has some-more than 400 employees, links those visitors with scarcely 20,000 practice in over 80 countries and 500 cities.
As travelers have gravitated to a app, so too have some high-profile investors.
KKday is still majority-owned by a management, though it lifted $10.5 million from Japanese transport group H.I.S. and others in Feb 2018. In November, it bagged an undisclosed volume from Line Ventures, a investment arm of Japanese messaging app Line, and China’s Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. The startup also non-stop an online store within Alibaba Group Holding’s transport use Fliggy, in hopes of gaining a foothold in mainland China. The backers are counting on KKday to gain on a flourishing shred of a transport market. |
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