Local brand Naiise owes some vendors up to S$10,000, closes its last Singapore physical store today (11 April)

Naiise's Jewel closure

If you’ve been a Singapore resident for some time now or all your life, chances are that you must have heard of Naiise.

Naiise is a homegrown creative marketplace for creatives and makers to connect with their customers through the platform’s online and offline initiatives. But things aren’t looking good for the brand, apparently.

News has it that the brand has owed its vendors thousands of dollars. According to its founder, Dennis Tay, the company is struggling with the payouts because of the pandemic situation. However, it seems like the vendors’ payment defaults happened way before COVID-19 started.

Anyhow, Naiise will close their last local physical store at Jewel Changi Airport today (11 April) after attributing it as a significant investment at the wrong time. The decision follows after the closure of its Paya Lebar Quarter mall’s outlet in July 2020.

Naiise vendors’ side of the story

Ex-owner of Canvas Avenue, a brand specialising in handmade wooden accessories and printed clothes, created a Facebook group named “Naiise Vendors” in June 2020 after she was due to be paid S$5,000.

Naiise Vendors Facebook Page

Image Credits: Facebook

Ms Wendy Wang said: “I thought it was a bad sign, and I put up the post to get the news out there in case we may not get our money back.” The 35-year-old was referring to the resignation of Ms Amanda Eng, chief marketing and buying officer of Naiise, during the same period.

While Ms Wang has received her due payment in full, other Naiise vendors aren’t having a pleasant time dealing with the company.

Another vendor named Ms Suzianna Mohd Sofiee noted that Naiise had been late on payments since she joined them as a merchant in December 2019. The 36-year-old added that she was denied S$1,800 in sales made from January to March 2020. Based on her contract, she was supposed to receive the amounts from April 2020 but did not.

Until she threatened to file a case with the Small Claims Tribunals in October 2020, Naiise responded. But the agreement to repay her in S$250 monthly instalments were not met, and she only got one payout in December last year. The company later requested to make S$30 recurring repayments this year instead but has yet to fulfil it.

Some merchants have given up

The co-owner of Freshly Pressed Socks said he had dismissed the debt of about S$4,000 considering the time and costs needed to chase for payments.

“Naiise used to be about supporting local designers and — yes, on principle, it is about establishing Singapore’s brand — but at the back of it, brands are all suffering because of them,” Mr Vincent Teo of Freshly Pressed Socks remarked.

Similarly, the founder of Bespoke Parfums Artisanaux shared that she had already wasted S$700 sending two official letters in 2018 and 2020 to settle a total of S$10,000 in outstanding payment.

Ms Faizah Lokman added that it would cost her up to S$4,000 if she were to file a lawsuit to enforce the demands. This is not forgetting that it may take up to six months for the entire procedure to happen.

“They can close anytime, and our company’s civil proceeding fees would go down the drain,” she noted.

a man walking past the deserted Naiise outlet at Jewel

Image Credits: TODAYonline

Are you one of the affected vendors, or know someone seeking claims? Maybe the Small Claims Tribunals via the State Courts of Singapore’s website can help. Click through the link for more information, and we hope you will receive a favourable outcome soon.

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Are International Schools Expensive: What You Need To Know

Most parents think all the international schools are expensive and the reason is because of the facilities it has to offer. Well, you can say that due to the facilities like swimming pool, music rooms, playgrounds are expensive to maintain, but this is not the only reason.

So, why do international schools are expensive? The answer is simple.

More than 80% of the student’s fees are given to the teachers in salary. Face it, you cannot recruit a good teacher with low salaries. And as we know, international schools are all about having trained and qualified teachers.

In addition to these salaries, students are covered with medical insurance benefits, housing allowances, books’ costs, and study materials.

Why Is the International Education System Expensive?

This is a question that almost every parent would like to know the answer to. However, before you ask this same question, you must understand why these international schools are so expensive.

When we talk about international schools, there is an old saying, “You get what you pay for”. This saying perfectly complements the doubts over the international school being too expensive. Despite that you want to look for a budgeted school, this might be one of the affordable international school in Singapore.

There are many aspects of an international school that is reflected in the high term fees. The following might be able to make your understanding better.

1. Best Teacher

International schools are all about having the best teachers to guide the students. No matter which international you take, you will find that most teachers have experience teaching from all around the world. This makes them carry a lot of teaching experience that can help the students.

If teachers like those are being invited to teach in school, it is obvious that they will look for a salary that satisfies their needs. This is one of the main reasons why international schools are expensive.

2. Top Class Amenities

An international school means your child will have top-class amenities at their disposal. Whether we are talking about a swimming pool, playgrounds, canteen, medical facilities, science lab, and library, there is no way you will not have to pay for all of these.

The international school ensures that students have adequate space to perform several activities to help them learn and grow. In addition to that, these are considerable investments that need contact maintenance.

3. Supporting Staff

What do you think, an international school is where your children will cook and clean on their own? No! For that, every international school has supportive staff members responsible for taking care of the children and school.

With roles like:

  • Campus security.
  • Office staff.
  • Medical staff.
  • Maintenance staff.

The school will more likely employ local people to take off the schools and its areas. This certainly needs investment to some extent.

4. School Dinner

Of course, the international school needs to have a fully functional kitchen to ensure every student is well fed. When you are not around your child, you would expect that your child would get the right food at the right time. International schools invest a lot in food to ensure all the students eat healthily and remain healthy.

5. Teacher-Student Ratio

With the local public schools, you might find one teacher teaching more than 100 students. But that is not the case of international schools. With the international school, the student-teacher ratio is maintained to ensure good communication between student and teacher.

Hence, keeping classes small means the cost of one class must be shared with fewer parents. This also adds to the value of international school fees.

Benefits Of An International School

The best thing about the international school is that it offers high-quality educational facilities that prepare the students to face the world from the get-go. In addition to that, if your child passes an international school with 3 A level passes, he/she will literally get the chance of choosing the university to continue with their higher studies.

International schools are not the investment you make; it’s an investment that you make on your children for their bright future.

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Three Tips To More Easily Managing Your Home Mortgage Payments

Having a mortgage is quite an exciting experience because it is a physical manifestation of a decision that you have made that has led you to this point where you can literally see all of your determination and hard work coming to life around you. Even so, it is important to recognise and understand that having a mortgage is also quite an overwhelming experience. The financial reality of a mortgage means that it essentially locks you in to an ongoing payment for years until you either sell and move on, or pay off the property in its entirety.

When it comes to managing your mortgage payments, there is so much to be said about the fact that even though it might seem like a stressful practice at times, it does not have to be. Regardless of if your mortgage covers your dream forever home or an apartment in blocks like Pasir Ris 8 Show Flat (or any other type of property, for that matter), there are thankfully some handy tips and tricks to assist you in being able to handle this aspect of your mortgage more easily. So, what are some of the best tips to more easily and successfully manage your home mortgage payments?

1. Work with a budget

There is quite a lot of value in working with a budget in your everyday life not just for the sake of staying up to date (if not ahead) with your mortgage payments, but for your general financial peace of mind and the like. In the specific case of a mortgage, however, working with a budget essentially more or less ensures that you are going to be aware of exactly where your money is going each month and thus more in control of how you are navigating mortgage payments so that you do not somehow end up falling behind.

2. Set up a separate account

Arguably more important than anything else is going through the process of setting up an entirely separate automated account for your mortgage to come out of. This will ensure that every time you get paid, that a certain amount is then automatically funnelled into that separate account and directly accrued into your self proclaimed mortgage account. This account is entirely for your mortgage payments. Having this entirely separate pool of income will ensure that you are prioritising your mortgage payments without having to constantly be thinking about how and when to transfer funds to cover the payments in due time.

3. Get ahead when possible

And of course, if it is ever possible for you to pay more and get ahead on your mortgage payments, this is always a great tip for more easily managing your mortgage payments. Yes, this is only ever a sustainable and responsible action to take if you happen to have that additional money sitting there that does not impact your savings, rainy day funds (both of which should always, or at the very least, nearly never be untouched), daily spendings, and the like. Paying more off when it is possible also puts you in the advantageous position of having the peace of mind that if you do end up going through a rough patch, you are covered (at least for a little while).

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Tips to choose the best Forex broker for you

One of the questions we get more often is how to choose a broker. There are many and all offer different services and publicize diverse features. How do you make sure you’re choosing the right one for you?

There are certain steps that we can walk you through to choose a forex broker that suits your trading style and your general level of expertise.

First of all, traders, mostly beginners but also experts, must think about their goals in the currency exchange market, as well as their needs in terms of strategies, currency pairs, and spreads.

Then, traders can start matching forex brokers to their standards and narrowing down the search by establishing clear priorities. As a trader, do you care more about low spreads and cheap deals? Or do you prefer to have quality customer service? Or maybe do you need a list of PayPal forex brokers?

Your needs and interests

Being clear about your priorities is a must for anyone trying to figure out what broker is best for you.

You can start by thinking of what’s your style of trading. Some traders are more interested in short-term investments and maybe day trading is a better option for them. Others prefer a longer investment and may have less time to spend in the market every day.

When it comes to forex, there are different trading strategies. Apart from day trading, there is also trend trading, price action trading, swing trading, and many more. Which one suits you better?

Another aspect to consider is your level of expertise. While forex trading is easy and accessible, traders need to be familiar with spreads, pip, and market trends. How much experience you have in forex trading will also determine what broker is best for you.

What to keep in mind when choosing a Forex broker?

There is a wide variety of aspects that may be a priority for some traders, but some should be considered by all. Especially when talking about security and regulatory bodies. Other aspects are spreads and speed of execution, initial deposits, customer service, and a general feeling of the brokers’ online platform.

Security and regulatory compliance

Any search for a new broker should start here.

Making sure the forex broker you are considering is registered with the regulatory bodies in place in your country of residence is a must. This will guarantee your safety as an investor and the security of your money.

Forex trading is strongly regulated in most countries and there is a good reason for that. Wherever there is a chance to make money, there are also scammers and fraudulent operations in place. The best way to avoid them is to simply disregard any brokers with shady regulatory registrations.

Spreads and commissions

Some brokers have a good reputation for offering lower spreads and this means lower commissions and higher chances to make a profit.

While this alone should not be the only thing to consider, it’s undeniable that it plays a big part in many investors’ considerations when choosing a broker.

Trading platform

Making sure you are familiar with the platform your broker offers, and you can use it to its maximum potential, is very important. It guarantees you are investing in the right way and taking advantage of all the features they offer, which ultimately, help you increase your income.

Most brokers today offer a demo account which is not only a good way to start learning about the forex market and experimenting with different strategies but also a good way to see if you like the platform and suits your trading needs.

 

 

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Why 2021 will be a fantastic year for eVTOL investors

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) is the future of aviation and as an emerging market in the broader urban air mobility (UAM) industry, it has rightfully garnered the attention of investors around the world. Companies and firms, even government agencies, are pouring billions of dollars of investments into eVTOL every year. In 2020, despite the debilitating effect of the pandemic to the economy, developers have raised $1.3 billion in private investment.

The UAM market presents a global opportunity set to rake in hundreds of billions of dollars annually. The revenues that it will provide to air mobility operators will finance more vehicles, vertiports and others. All these works required to build new aircrafts and infrastructure will then generate thousands of job opportunities. In the United States alone, around 280,000 new jobs are expected to be created to meet the demand for manpower.

Moreover, reports to determine consumers’ willingness to get onboard electric air taxis are promising. Potential passengers in almost all age groups have expressed positive inclination towards urban aero mobility. This is vital information, as it indicates a universal consumer acceptance of eVTOLs by the time they are ready to take to the skies. It will also encourage investors to remain optimistic on the industry’s outlook and progress.

Areas of UAM Ecosystem to See Expanded Investment in 2021

Actual Aircraft

Out of all the areas in the urban air mobility ecosystem, the ones that have received the largest amount of investment to date are the eVTOL companies making the actual aircraft. German air taxi developer Volocopter has recently closed a Series D fundraising round for VeloCity, bringing its total funds raised to $388 million. Fellow German eVTOL developer Lilium also secured more funding, acquiring about $275 million of investment in 2020.

Meanwhile, urban air mobility companies like Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation have raised more funding, around $1 billion each, through mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). The entrance of SPACs into the space is one of the biggest investment trends being watched in the eVTOL sector. Many SPACs and other private investors are gearing to take advantage of the growing demand for public shares in electric vehicle companies.

Archer, for instance, has announced that it was going public with a SPAC called Atlas Crest investment Corp. Volocopter also has expressed interest in a SPAC merger, stating that it will be a good financing option for the industry with such large capital requirements involved. This year, most SPAC activity appears to be propelled by the potential in eVTOL companies, even if they are pre-revenue and will not generate returns some time soon.

As for Texas-based developer Astro Aerospace (OTC:ASDN), it has been revealed that it will be taking over Horizon Aircraft, a company based in Canada developing its own eVTOL. The transaction will reportedly close in the second quarter of 2021. Astro’s acquisition of Horizon is expected to cement its place as the leader in the global eVTOL market. The company is confident that its shareholders will see exponential growth in this next chapter.

Other Areas

While a big chunk of investments for eVTOL goes for the developers of the actual aircraft, this could change as investors start to recognize the potential value of other elements, such as batteries, infrastructures and other digital services. It is also anticipated that more private equity will increasingly go after segments necessary to enable air taxi operations, like vertiports and charging hubs.

For a vehicle as large as an eVTOL aircraft, a battery system that can power a high-voltage motor for the entire duration of the flight, including emergency reserve, is needed. eVTOL batteries require high levels of power to get off the ground and maintain control while on air. Cycle life is critical as any interrupted battery operations during a flight could have catastrophic consequences. Any battery to be used for eVTOLs must also be lightweight.

Manufacturers of electric air taxis have had problems with sourcing batteries at some point. But with recent advances in battery technology, this will turn to be a promising future market. United Kingdom-based company OXIS Energy has been making headway developing a lithium-sulfur battery designed for electric airplanes. HyPoint is another start-up deep into developing fuel cells ideal for air mobility uses.

Another element of the UAM ecosystem expected to see more private investments in 2021 is infrastructure. Vertiports, for instance, will be a crucial enabler for UAM. Currently, there are few regulations to exist for vertiport design and operations. In most cases, eVTOL developers have the responsibility of conducting initial feasibility studies on their proposed infrastructure, subject to approval of authorities like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Recently, a number of airports have announced plans to develop ground infrastructure for eVTOL aircrafts. These include Cologne Bonn and Dusseldorf Airports in Germany and Cranfield Airport in England. Flying taxi startup Lilium has also announced its plans to build a vertiport network at the Lake Nona community in Orlando, Florida. The German company will be working with Tavistock Development Company for the $25-million project.

In the future, most airports are expected to be the center of intermodal UAM. But until Congress and the civil aviation authorities like the FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) release a comprehensive guideline for UAM infrastructure, industry players will be flying blind. For now, eVTOL aircraft developers themselves have to come up with short and long term plans for vertiport integration, with help from aerodrome operators.

The recent UK Air mobility consortium and Paris urban air mobility initiative are big steps in exploring vehicle development, infrastructure requirements and regulatory challenges relevant to the introduction of eVTOL flights to their cities. Still, substantial investments are needed to prepare the existing ecosystem before regulators approve full operational roll out of the aircrafts.

While the eVTOL industry is working towards more development and acquiring certification in 2021, only time will tell. There will likely be more scrutiny as to whether air mobility companies are meeting the demanding timelines required for such ambitious commitments – most of them are looking at mid- to late 2020s deployment. Fortunately, investors are more than happy to fund numerous projects at the moment.

 

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