Let's Talk, Singapore

Served in a neon yellow cup, Flash Coffee is a tech-enabled coffee chain that conveniently brings you award-winning coffee with a few taps on your phone. In fact, you need only use the Flash Coffee app when it comes to ordering and paying for your coffee. Sahil Arora, Managing Director, Flash Coffee Singapore shares how Flash Coffee managed to expand itself so rapidly in such a short time span and the rationale behind the launch of an In-App Delivery via their very own app at the most competitive prices. 

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According to parents, therapists and special education teachers, support for students with special needs has grown in the past years. However, those that The Straits Times spoke to adds that while special needs education has received more focus over the years, there is a need for more work and education opportunities for adults with special needs. Lee Hui Lin, Assistant Director of Adult & Elderly Services, SPD shares more about the kind of support people with disabilities need and what more can be done to include diversity and inclusion for people with disabilities. 

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In this morning's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to set up humanitarian corridors and a possible ceasefire around them for fleeing civilians, Anonymous offer of £39k in Bitcoin to Russian soldiers, how China’s consumer and retail shares are reacting to Beijing's exit from its strict Covid-Zero policy, and more. 

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Synopsis: The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe every month.

They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.

In this episode, she chats with ST's Japan correspondent Walter Sim.

Highlights (click/tap above):

01:26 Decline in the number of vending machines in Japan - is the lure fading?

03:24 Japan's history of vending machines and changes over the years

09:40 Popularity of vending machines on the rise due to the Covid-19 pandemic

12:01 Pros and cons of vending machines - in terms of a business deal

14:55 Weirdest product to come out of a vending machine

Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar ([email protected]), Ernest Luis and Fa'izah Sani

Edited by: Fa'izah Sani

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Heng Koon How, Head of Markets Strategy, UOB discusses how sustainable the rally in oil prices will be and the implications for the global economy, as well as how it may feed into the Fed's rate hike policy. 

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Australia has finally reopened its borders to all foreign travellers starting from February 21, ending a two-year closure that has been devastating for the nation's tourism sector. Brent Anderson, Regional General Manager of South & South East Asia, Tourism Australia discuss the role Australia's travel and tourism sector plays in the country's economy, and the efforts that have been done by Tourism Australia to boost the travel and tourism sector there, in line with the change of travellers' habits.

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