Tyres and treasure: Stamford Tyres' Dawn Wee talks about the soul of business

Some businesses are built on strategy. Legacies, however, are built on something deeper. In this episode of Lens on Singapore, Claressa Monteiro sits down with Dawn Wee, executive chairman of Stamford Tyres, to reflect on the lessons learnt from building a family business of four decades, and why …

Iran War Costs Tops US$37.5B, Houthis Threaten Red Sea Shipping , SGX Debuts First U.S. SDRs

Headline news for July 22, 2026:  Oil prices surged to a five-week high today, as two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that U.S. imported generic drugs will face a 100% tariff in August 2028. SGX will launch 3 SDRs for U.…

Houthis Blockade Saudi Arabia, Mediators Propose a Ten-Day Iran Ceasefire and Burnham Takes Power in Britain 

Headline news for July 21, 2026: Yemen's Houthis declare a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia effective immediately threatening to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and cut a further seven per cent of global oil supply. Mediators have put a ten-day ceasefire proposal to Iran in a bid to salvage the interi…

US Death Toll Hits Seventeen, Brent Crosses Ninety Dollars and Hormuz Traffic Falls to Four Ships 

Headline news for July 20, 2026: A third US service member is confirmed killed in the Iran conflict, bringing the total death toll to seventeen since February. Brent crude crosses ninety U.S. dollars a barrel as fighting enters its ninth consecutive night. The Strait of Hormuz traffic crashes to ju…

Singapore Electronics Surge, Iran Fighting Enters Sixth Night and Gold Falls Below Four Thousand Dollars 

Headline news for July 17, 2026: Singapore's electronics exports surge one hundred and five per cent in June on AI-driven demand even as overall export growth moderates. US and Iranian forces exchange fire for a sixth consecutive night as the June truce continues to unravel. Gold falls below four t…

Bank of Korea Hikes Rates, China Tops the US in Global Favourability and Asian Chip Stocks Tumble 

Headline news for July 16, 2026: The Bank of Korea raises rates for the first time in three and a half years as inflation hits a two-and-a-half-year high driven by Middle East energy costs. A Pew Research survey finds China now viewed more favourably than the US in most countries surveyed including…

Hormuz Blockade In Force, UAE Tankers Burn and Softer US Inflation Eases Rate Hike Fears 

Headline news for July 15, 2026: The US naval blockade on Iran is now in force as of four this morning Singapore time. Two UAE tankers are set ablaze and one mariner killed as Iran strikes commercial vessels for the fourth consecutive day. US inflation comes in softer than expected, easing fears of…

US Restarts the Iran Blockade, Singapore's Economy Beats Expectations and Malaysia Eyes Early Election 

Headline news for July 14, 2026: President Trump reinstates the Iran blockade and declares the US the Guardian of the Strait of Hormuz announcing a twenty per cent fee on all cargo transiting the waterway, effective four this Wednesday morning Singapore time. Singapore's economy grows five-point-se…

Bangkok Pub Fire Kills Twenty-Seven, Iran Closes Hormuz Again and Warsh Faces Congress 

Headline news for July 13, 2026: A fire at a Bangkok pub kills twenty-seven people and injures sixty-three overnight — many found trapped in restrooms at the back of the venue. Iran claims to have closed the Strait of Hormuz again as US and Iranian forces exchange heavy strikes. Federal Reserve cha…

Iran Strikes Four Countries as US Hits Near Nuclear Plant, Australia set to Sell Uranium to India 

Headline news for July 10, 2026: Iran fires missiles and drones at US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan as US strikes hit near the perimeter of Iran's only civilian nuclear plant at Bushehr. Australia agrees to sell uranium to India. Andy Burnham is on track to become Britain's ne…