News In Brief

Welcome to our ‘News In Brief’ column in which we digest all the news releases for you and write them in no more than five paragraphs. Below are snippets of all the media releases that we received from August 9 till 15. Please check back throughout the week for more updates.

Got Your Jab? Get Your Discount from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf!

Kuala Lumpur, August 13: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf^® (CB&TL) says ‘well done’ for doing your part and getting vaccinated against COVID-19!
And as a thank you, enjoy RM5 off with a minimum spend of RM15 on handcrafted food and beverages – just show our staff your digital certificate on MySejahtera to redeem this promo, available from Aug 13 till Sept 16. 
One must at least receive one dose or have completed their vaccine regime to enjoy the discounts. 
Stay up-to-date with CB&TL’s latest offerings, news and promotions, via the CB&TL Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CBTLMalaysiaPage, the CB&TL Instagram account @coffeebeanMY, or our website www.coffeebean.com.my.

Book Launch: How To Talk To Strangers

Singapore, August 13: A new self-help book, How To Talk To Strangers by Kerrie Phipps, was launched globally along with the co-authors of the book, reaching over 1000 people through the event was aired live on Facebook and Youtube. 
The book is an invitation to think more deeply about how you connect with others, so you don’t overlook essential connections or risk missing opportunities to impact people and the chance to change your own life in the process. 
“Stories of the kindness of strangers are so moving, the impression they have on people, and the power of encouragement in our lives – strangers or friends, family, colleagues, and it was vital to share some in a book,” Kerrie Phipps, the Author and publisher said. 
Kerrie’s other books include DO Talk To Strangers – How To Connect With Anyone, Anywhere and the sequel, DO Talk To Strangers Travel Toolkit.
Click here to buy the book in digital or print format. 

Nurturing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

Hong Kong, August 13: FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp recently unveiled the winners of the 15th annual FedEx Express/JA International Trade Challenge (ITC) finals.
The winning team was The Peak Performers who include Princess Cecile F. Gurrea from the Philippines and Chaerin Park from South Korea for their idea to create Seed Link greeting cards containing scented seeds for the elderly to write letters to their loved ones.
The aromatic scent helps them relax and feel connected even during the lockdown.
The competition drew students from ten AMEA markets – Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam.
The AMEA finalists had already won through local market competitions fending off more than 4,000 other aspiring student entrepreneurs and the winners emerged from a group of 60 APAC finalists who competed in the finals held entirely virtually from August 9 to 11.  

Screenrights Announces $249K Funding

Sydney, August 11: Screenrights has announced seven projects that will be supported by the 2021 round of its annual Cultural Fund, to total $249,600 in funding for this year’s focus of ‘New Teams’. 
This is the fourth year of the Screenrights Cultural Fund, which was established in 2018.
“This year’s focus on New Teams attracted a strong round of high-quality applications out of which seven projects have been approved with a rich diversity of participants and project aims,” said Screenrights Board Director and Cultural Fund Working Group Chair Geoffrey Atherden in a statement. 
“We’re confident that this year’s grants will deliver rewarding and innovative outcomes for audiences and the screen industry in Australia and New Zealand.”
Applications were assessed by a panel of professionals with both local and international expertise in screen, media and education.

HotPlay Teams Up With Mediakeys

Florida, August 11: NextPlay Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTP), a digital business ecosystem for digital advertisers, consumers, video gamers and travellers, advertising unit – HotPlay, has formed a strategic partnership with Mediakeys, an international media and advertising agency.
Since its founding in 1993, Mediakeys has become a global leader in digital and out-of-home (OOH) advertising with offices spanning 16 countries, including New York, London, Zurich, Hong Kong and Singapore. 
“The unparalleled capabilities of our respective platforms will help drive HotPlay’s rapid expansion into numerous fast-growing international markets,” Mediakeys CEO, Paul Cahierre said in a statement.
Its omnichannel platform spans digital, outdoor, airport, broadcast and print across the global markets, including the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA).
HotPlay plans to leverage Mediakeys’ expansive global presence and media relationships to further expand the global reach of its revolutionary in-game advertising (IGA) platform which enables advertisers to seamlessly insert brand messages and rewards into game content natively, interactively and in real-time.

Support Growing For Aussie Sports 

Sydney, August 10: The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has released its 2021-2025 Corporate Plan, which highlights Sport Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport’s (AIS) commitment to grow participation in organised sport and continue to support high-performance sport, while developing the champions of the future.
Minister for Sport, Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck said Sport Australia and the AIS has shown tremendous agility and a renewed focus on supporting the sport.
He said the Australian Government’s commitment to funding sport at every level had also helped the sector navigate the extraordinary challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This financial year alone we will spend more than $500 million on sport and recreation and in the 2021-22 Budget we announced an additional $245.8 million for sport over and above our regular sports funding commitments,” he said in a statement.
“This includes an additional $136.3 million to support Australia’s high-performance system.”

Avance Clinical Awarded Prestigious Award

Adelaide, August 10: Avance Clinical, the largest premium Australian CRO for international biotechs, has been awarded the prestigious Frost & Sullivan 2021 Asia-Pacific CRO Customer Value Leadership Award, the second consecutive Asia-Pacific (APAC) CRO Best Practices Award for the company from Frost & Sullivan.
Avance Clinical is an Australian owned Contract Research Organisation (CRO) that has been providing high-quality clinical research services fit for global regulatory standards to the local and international drug development industry for 24 years.
“The region is becoming the go-to research and development market, with China, Japan, Australia, and South Korea in the lead, accounting for 16 per cent of the APAC clinical CRO market in 2020,” according to Supriya Lala Kundu, Best Practices Research Analyst, Frost & Sullivan said in a statement.
Frost & Sullivan says the Asia-Pacific’s CRO market value, currently at AUD$6.01 billion, is estimated to reach nearly AUD$11.04 billion in 2026, growing at a compound annual rate of 12.2 per cent.
This is the second Frost & Sullivan award for Avance Clinical, which has seen rapid growth in the APAC region over the past year.

Elegance Optical Buys Into H. Sterling 

Hong Kong, Aug 10: Elegance Optical International Holdings Limited subsidiary Green Source Global Limited has entered into the agreement with H. Sterling LNG Terminal Holding Limited to subscribe 10,000 shares, representing 50 per cent of the issued share capital of the target company as enlarged at the subscription price of RMB223 million, to be settled in cash.
Completion of the subscription shall take place on the 30th business day after all the conditions precedent under the agreement have been fulfilled or waived.
Upon completion, the company will indirectly own 50 per cent equity interest of the target company, representing approximately 10.5 per cent equivalent interest in Yantai LNG Terminal Project Company of which 21 per cent equivalent interest is held by the target company.
The directors of the Group are optimistic about the prospects of the Yantai LNG Terminal Project that its annual income is estimated at approximately RMB2.5 billion by the top management of the Group. 
The Yantai LNG Terminal Project is listed as China’s major project in Shandong Province and will be the 23rd LNG terminal in China. 
As of now, China has 22 LNG terminals, of which 15 of them are owned and operated by government-owned enterprises.

AFC agrees media rights deal with RCTI+ in the Philippines

Kuala Lumpur, August 10: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today announced RCTI+ as the new media partner in the Philippines to broadcast the AFC’s competitions for 2021.
The deal comprises all major AFC national team and club competitions including the final round of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar, the AFC Champions League and the AFC CupTM, until the end of the 2021 season.
“The AFC is delighted to enter into this agreement with RCTI+ to broadcast the AFC’s world-class competitions in the Philippines,” Datuk Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary said in a statement.
Previously focused on Indonesia, RCTI+, an OTT platform operated by MNC (PT Media Nusantara Citra), has now expanded its reach into more Southeast Asian markets including the Philippines.
Bringing the AFC competitions to the Philippines, RCTI+ proactively moves to broaden its footprint beyond its home market with its first major sports programme shown outside of Indonesia. Fans of Asian football will be able to enjoy all matches live on RCTI+.

AIS congratulates Olympians for inspirational Games

Sydney, August 10: The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) CEO Peter Conde said the success of the Australian team at the Tokyo Olympic Games is a testament not only to our outstanding athletes and coaches, but also the collaboration and teamwork within the nation’s high-performance sector.
Australia finished the delayed Games in Japan sixth place on the medal tally and equalled the country’s best-ever Olympics in Athens 2004 by winning 17 gold medals, as well as seven silver and 22 bronze. 
“This is a historic result for sport in Australia and I would like to congratulate every athlete, coach and performance support staff member for an inspirational 19 days in Japan,” Conde said in a statement.
“Never before has there been a Games surrounded by so many challenges and uncertainty. Our athletes showed incredible resilience and courage and I couldn’t be happier to see them rewarded by this success.”
The achievements from Tokyo included Australia’s best performance in the pool since 1956, inaugural medals in skateboarding, surfing and BXM Freestyle, the first beach volleyball medal since the Sydney Games, the end of a three-decade medal drought in men’s boxing, the Boomers first-ever medal in basketball and some outstanding performances and medals in Athletics.

Facebook Captures The Olympics Most Poignant Social Media Moments

Kuala Lumpur, August 10: As the Tokyo 2020 Games come to a close, the team at Facebook has recapped the most historical moments with some of the top social media moments and stars from the entirety of the Games.
Here are the findings:

MALAYSIA 

• The most talked about athletes on Facebook in Malaysia are: Dato’ Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Goh Liu Ying, and Aaron Chia Teng Fong
• The most talked about sports on Facebook in Malaysia are: Badminton, Cycling Track, and Gymnastic
• Lee Zii Jia’s Instagram post following his loss from the Games, is the most interacted post with over 8,000 interactions.  
• National cyclist,  Datuk Azizulhasni Awang who won silver in men’s keirin final gained over 1.2M total interaction on Facebook – making him the Malaysian athlete with the highest interaction since the Olympics started. 

GLOBAL 

• The top three most talked about athletes on Facebook globally are: #1 Simone Biles  #2 Neeraj Chopra  #3 Hidilyn Diaz 
• Globally, athletes gained more than 75 million followers and drove more than 410 million interactions on Instagram over the course of the Games. They also created more than 300,000 Stories. 
• The three loudest countries on Facebook were: #1 India #2 United States #3 Brazil
• The most talked about sports on Facebook were: #1 Athletics #2 Gymnastics #3 Rowing
• The most used emojis on Facebook are: #1 ️ #2  #3 

Note: These findings were derived based on Facebook and Instagram internal data covering since the start of the Olympics (July 23 up until 8am PST on Aug 8 this year)