2nd year in a row Malaysian AI startup has won an APICTA category award
Rapid growth over past 2 years, claims to serve 1k active clients in 78 countries
NexMind AI Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian AI company, announced that it has won the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards 2023 (APICTA) in Hong Kong,…Continue Reading
Mr Perry said that while Coconuts had its fair share of success, such as winning journalism and entertainment awards and being frequently cited “by the biggest media companies in the world”, it had not translated to commercial success.
“Like many other independent news publishers, we have found financial sustainability to be incredibly elusive despite our best efforts,” he added.
In March, Coconuts’ Hong Kong office announced that it would conclude its operations and gave similar reasons.
A letter on the website on Mar 1 read: “In recent years, we have faced increasing journalistic and commercial challenges that have made it difficult for us to continue publishing regularly in Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong Free Press reported that the closure of the Hong Kong office came after Mr Vim Shanmugam took the helm as general manager and chief marketing officer, following Mr Perry’s relocation to the United States, where he became Coconuts Media chairman.
In the letter, Mr Perry also thanked his employees for their contributions.
“I also personally want to thank all of the staff – past and present – who have put so much time, effort, drive, creativity and intelligence into making Coconuts great.
“I am truly grateful for your service and I wish you the best in your careers.”
TODAY has reached out to Coconuts to ask about the number of workers across their offices and in Singapore who will be affected by the closure.
Mr Perry added: “We want to give a profuse and heartfelt ‘thank you’ to our readers. Our core mission was always to inform and entertain you, and we hope that we’ve succeeded in that regard for the last 12 years.”
He also said that Coconut’s archives will remain up “for all to read for (we hope) eternity”.
Coconuts Media will continue to operate as a business, with other websites BK Magazine and Soimilk still running along with its in-house brand studio, Grove.
BK Magazine is a lifestyle website on the best places to eat and visit in Bangkok. Soimilk is a Thai youth-focused website.
Mr Perry ended the letter by saying that he hopes to re-launch Coconuts “one day”.
This article was originally published in TODAY.
PUBLISHED : 18 Dec 2023 at 05:17
The Rice Department will certify eight new high-yield rice strains in April, with a plan to promote those strains among farmers nationwide.
Deputy spokeswoman Rudklao Suwankiri said on Sunday the department worked with Ruam Jai Pattana Kwamroo, a private company with expertise in rice research, to develop the strains, which have been planted in government research centres nationwide.
“Those rice strains are aimed at elevating the quality and quantity of Thai rice, with crop yields expected to jump from the present average of 700–800 kilogrammes per rai to 1,300kg per rai,” she said. The increase in production will help meet the high demand for rice in the global market while enhancing Thailand’s competitiveness in the region.
Ms Rudklao said the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ rice development policy is based on the principle of using innovation to help increase incomes for farmers. “Rice is one of the key export products from Thailand. The government will keep improving the rice to increase earnings for farmers,” she said.
The announcement of the new certification comes after Thailand’s famed Thai Hom Mali rice appeared to be losing its foothold in the market. It did not feature in the World’s Best Rice Awards 2023, after the Commerce Ministry and the Thai Rice Exporters Association decided not to join the contest this year, according to Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Capt Thamanat Prompow.
Even though the Hom Mali rice strain won the contest in 2020 and 2021, it lost its champion title in 2022 to Cambodia’s Phka Rumduol. Vietnam’s ST25 won this year’s award.
Thailand has at least 149 million rai planted in rice, or 47% of the country’s agricultural areas, with at least 17 million rice farmers nationwide.
ThaiHealth salutes innovators in health and wellness
PUBLISHED : 16 Dec 2023 at 15:49
AiHelp, an artificial intelligence-based system that aids bedridden patients, has won this year’s Prime Minister’s Award for Health Promotion Innovation.
The sixth instalment of the awards, organised by the Thai Health Organisation (ThaiHealth), attracted more than 250 entrants who presented innovations that promote wellness.
AiHelp won the innovation idea award, given in the general public and startup business categories. It was developed by the company AiHUB to be a communication platform between patients and their caregivers.
Rungroj Krunkasem, the founder of AiHUB, said AiHelp was inspired by his communication experience with patients as a caregiver. AiHelp mainly uses AI to process commands, which detect a user’s eye blinking. He said the system will expand into a mobile application for easier access.
Mr Rungroj said the system helps caregivers save time, as better communication allows them to be by their patient’s side only when needed.
Formerly known as the ThaiHealth Inno Awards, the PM Award was established in 2017 to promote innovations addressing health and wellness issues.
Nutthapan Supphaka, director of the Office of Partner Development and International Relations at ThaiHealth, said the awards were divided into three categories: Matthayom, vocational education, and general public and startup business.
SINGAPORE: An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) inspector was charged on Thursday (Dec 14) with getting sexual favours in return for his help with short-term visit pass applications.
Kannan Morice Rajagopal Jayaram, 53, was handed six charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Between 2022 and February 2023, he allegedly obtained “corrupt gratifications” in the form of sex acts with six individuals. Charge sheets seen by TODAY indicated that the six people were male.
“These gratifications were intended as an inducement to help these six individuals with their short-term visit pass applications with the ICA,” said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.
Anyone convicted of a corruption offence may be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000 (US$74,400), or both.
An ICA spokesperson told TODAY that the agency takes a serious view of errant officers and that Kannan has been interdicted from service since April 15 this year.
“ICA immediately reported the officer to the relevant authorities for their follow up investigation when we received information on the officer’s alleged corruption,” it said.
TODAY reported that defence lawyer Tan Wei Chieh sought a six-week adjournment for him to take instructions from Kannan, who had just appointed him.
However, District Judge Brenda Tan said that the court only permitted an adjournment of four weeks. She also reminded Mr Tan that the prosecution was ready for Kannan to plead guilty, but his counsel said that he had yet to take instructions on his client’s position.
Kannan has until March 7 next year to plead guilty at the earliest stage.
He was awarded The Long Service Medal in the 2019 National Day Awards. He was also awarded the COVID-19 Resilience Medal this year.
Network management using AI, ML, automation to allocate resources
PoC wins the Glotel Awards in London which recognizes innovation and excellence
Ericsson and Malaysia’s Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) have successfully conducted an award winning proof of concept (PoC) in the use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation to simplify management…Continue Reading
Chairman of the GCTEA Evaluation Panel Michael Ngu said: “We are all saddened by Nirat’s passing and decided we should still honour his contributions by presenting him with a posthumous award.” Mr Ngu, who is also a Board Member of SG Enable and a GCTEA 2019 Achievement Award recipient, said thatContinue Reading
Getty ImagesGao Yaojie, a dissident doctor who exposed the Aids epidemic in rural China, has died aged 95.
Dr Gao died of natural causes in New York, where she had been on exile since 2009, a friend of hers told the BBC.
Her work uncovered how businesses selling blood led to the spread of HIV in the countryside.
She was at the forefront of Aids activism in China and travelled across the country treating patients, often at her own expense.
A gynaecologist by training, Dr Gao encountered her first AIDS patient in the central province of Henan in 1996.
With a huge population and limited industry, Henan residents sold their blood to make a living. Unsanitary conditions allowed blood tainted with HIV to spread and infect more people.
Dr Gao had claimed that 10 million people were infected with HIV in China, far greater than Beijing’s official figure of 740,000.
While Dr Gao was not the first the Chinese doctor to expose the country’s Aids epidemic, it was her work that gained the most attention at home and abroad. She also won numerous awards.
Chinese authorities were initially lenient with her but they later grew uncomfortable with her criticism of officials. She left China in 2009, in the face of surveillance and growing pressure from authorities.
Her death has been mourned by the Chinese on the internet, despite her long absence in her homeland.
“She was a great figure. But young people nowadays may not know about that history,” said one user on social media platform Weibo.
“Our generation of news workers or news readers know her and remember her. It [the news] also reminded me of other Chinese doctors’ names such as Jiang Yanyong and Li Wenliang,” said Chinese journalist Li Weiao on Weibo, referring to other whistleblowers of the Sars outbreak of 2003 and the Covid pandemic.
China is promoting Guanxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which lies on the border with Vietnam, as a gateway to the mainland for businesses and tourists from the Asean region.
Guanxi’s location in southern China makes it well-suited to become a gateway to Southeast Asia. The region is connected to Vietnam by land, sea and air, and it is served by over 30 international cargo and passenger services which depart from its three international airports and three deep-sea ports.
Local authorities are hoping these facilities will attract more businesses and tourists from Southeast Asia to visit the region, and vice versa, according to Dong Changting, the deputy director of External Publicity and Exchange Department of Guangxi Zhuang Automomous Region.
Guangxi is also known for having one of the highest numbers of education institutions which provide Thai language courses to Chinese students.
A growing number of Chinese students are interested in taking up Thai lessons in Guangxi prior to leaving for Thailand. Similarly, a source said, an increasing number of Thais are also coming to Guangxi to learn Chinese.
The Chinese government is keen to facilitate language exchanges as it expands its reach in the region through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the source said, noting such exchanges also boost the nation’s soft power capacity, which it needs to maintain its influence over its allies.
BRI is a major infrastructure push launched by the Chinese government, which Beijing envisions would ultimately link all major trade routes across Asia, Europe and Africa.
Prime location
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, has said Guangxi’s location and proximity to Southeast Asia makes it an ideal gateway for Thai agricultural exports to China, such as jasmine rice, durian, grapefruit and longans.
The reason, he said, is because the autonomous region is well equipped to handle land and marine cargo shipments, allowing Thai products to reach the markets faster than if they had gone through a different gateway.
Recently, authorities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region hosted a China-Asean expo to boost cooperation between Chinese businesses and their Asean counterparts, in which they showcased the region’s rapid development and modernisation.
The trip was organised by the Propaganda Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Guangxi Branch of China News Service.
Known for Guilin
Before Guangxi became a modern and popular trade hub, it was first known for its natural attractions, chief among which is Guilin, which is world-famous for its beguiling limestone karst formations.
The landscape around Guiling is so renowned that it is featured on the 20-yuan banknote, said Ma Tieqiao, chairman of Guilin Junda Transportation Company, which offers leisure cruises along the Li Jiang River.
In the past, he said, most tourists would have to get on bamboo rafts, which are only big enough for about three people, or risk getting crammed into a small boat for larger groups.
As the number of tourists continue to grow, in 1985 the Guilin Sightseeing Shipping Co was founded to provide improved services for local and international visitors.
The move proved to be successful and now scores of leisure boats cruise along the Li Jiang River everyday, he said.
Home to high-tech industry
Now, Guilin is increasingly becoming known as a hub for high-tech industries.
The rapid transformation started in 1988, when Guilin High-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established. It was upgraded into a high-tech special development zone in 1991, becoming the first national-level high-tech zone across China’s five autonomous regions.
In just 30 years, Guilin has become one of the leaders in scientific innovation and industrial development.
One example of a successful company based in the region is Guangxi Guilin Zhishen Information Technology Company, which produces anti-shake tripods for cameras and other equipment for digital photography, as well as mobile phones.
The company has won several awards such as the iF Design Award, the Red Dot Award and the Excellent Design Award, according to the company.
In addition, Guigang, which is located in eastern Guangxi, has been designated as a hub for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. The city is home to more than 100 EV-related businesses, including e-bike producers, machine components and vehicle parts manufacturers.
Having an EV production base in Guigang will give China more opportunities to export its EVs to countries in Southeast Asia, said a representative of Guangxi Luyuan Electric Vehicle Company, which manufactures and distributes electric motorbikes and e-bicycles.
He said as the electric vehicle industry has become more popular in the world, the company expects to expand its reach to many countries in Southeast Asia.
EVs will be a solution for the green energy ecosystem, he said.
The Sun and Moon Pagodas are illuminated at night in the Fir Lake, one of popular tourism sites in Guilin. Photos by Penchan Charoensuthipan
Having worked as bartenders for so long, what keeps both Ding and Foo working in such a demanding scene at their age? Both shared that it’s more rewarding now with awards such as 50 Best Bars giving them a sense of pride.
“When we won the Best Bar award in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2017 and won a spot in World’s 50 Best Bars, we were filled with joy and pride,” said Ding. “I’m still working at this age, it’s tiring, but as long as I’m in good health and able to contribute, I would be happy to keep working.”
As for Foo, he reckoned the changes in the industry has certainly enhanced his social skills. But while he takes great pride in being an integral part of the team, he jokingly embraced the idea of taking a break soon.
“I now work behind the scenes more. It has been a good ride, but a change in environment and some rest would definitely be welcomed!”
