Singaporeans have had to grapple with surcharges while they prepare for the Lunar New Year festivities. From haircuts, manicures, car servicing and even pet grooming – businesses are charging their clients an extra cost on top of their regular prices. But why are these surcharges starting so early and how do we determine what is a fair surcharge? That’s what host Steven Chia investigates in this episode of Talking Point.
Love-wary actor Aaron Mossadeg explores why young people from Singapore and Asia delay marriage and parenthood. In Singapore and Hong Kong, he meets couples struggling with housing issues and limited space, learning its impact on family formation. Aaron examines if better gender equality in parenting might encourage more children. His quest leads him to Sweden, known for progressive parental leave policies, where he encounters a 'Latte Papa,' a symbol of modern fatherhood.
Reflecting on his own doubts about lifelong marriage, Aaron visits South Korea to explore the youth's growing preference for cohabitation over traditional wedlock. Finally, Aaron confronts misconceptions about fertility, testing his sperm and questioning the effectiveness of IVF as a last resort. Delays in childbearing may hinder the aspiration for larger families, but he finds hope in the supportive role of grandparents. Aaron merges personal and cultural insights on modern Asian family life.
The shock of losing a job without any warning is usually followed by anxiety over the loss of regular income. What are your options if you are retrenched and how do you stretch your savings while waiting for the next job?
Sim Yong Han, senior financial consultant of Trust Advisors Group at SG Alliance, provides some practical tips.
The government recently launched BudgetMealGoWhere, a platform that aims to help people easily locate HDB coffee shops that offer budget meals. But what exactly do you get for these low prices?
Now that the remote and hybrid work revolution has begun, many cities are filled with empty or half empty offices, creating very quiet downtowns. At the same time, the U.S. is experiencing a housing crisis. CNBC Marathon explores if U.S. cities will convert offices into apartments.
Some U.S. mayors are loosening up rules that determine how developers convert office buildings into apartment complexes. The conversion trend sped up in the 2020s, as the pandemic remote work boom reshaped cities. Declines in office activity are straining tax revenues for city services like education and transit, leading some local leaders to prioritize increased conversion of dated buildings. These rule changes may create some additional housing supply in regions like the U.S. east coast.
Meanwhile, San Francisco is facing its highest office vacancy rates in nearly 30 years. At the same time, the city is facing a housing crisis with the state demanding 82,000 new units of housing to be built by 2031. CNBC sits down with San Francisco Mayor London Breed to discuss how the city could tackle two of its biggest issues head-on. Plus, CNBC visits a building in the Civic Center neighborhood that undertook the biggest office-to-residential conversion in the city to date.
Major American cities such as New York and San Francisco face serious problems — mass migration, empty offices and declining tax revenues. These trends have had a direct impact on cities, which rely on tax revenues for funding, a significant portion from commercial real estate. Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh has defined this cycle of spillover effects as the ‘urban doom loop.’