Latest news with #GAVINFOO
Straits Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Over 5,000 pre-schoolers work on SG60 mural made of reused plastic toys
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox SINGAPORE - Over 147kg of old plastic toys have been assembled on a giant mural at Promenade MRT station depicting iconic figures in Singapore's 60-year journey, including its founder Sir Stamford Raffles, samsui women, and the once-ubiquitous kacang puteh man. Modern icons like the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and Marina Bay Sands, as well as beloved zoo animals Inuka the polar bear and Ah Meng the orang utan, are also featured. The SG60 art project, titled Building Our Nation Over Generations, was unveiled on July 2. Measuring 13.5m wide and 2.1m high, it is said to be the largest mural in Singapore made from reused plastics, created in support of Go Green SG. Ms Goh Han Yan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, placed the final piece on the mural at its unveiling ceremony. Over 10,000 participants were involved in the making of the mural, including more than 5,000 pre-schoolers from Kinderland International Education and their educators and family members. The pre-school group also partnered with SMRT Trains, YTL PowerSeraya and Lions Befrienders for the project. Ms Fadhlin A.G., 35, who designed the artwork, said Kinderland approached her to create the mural to share the message of sustainability. Ms Fadhlin A.G. (in black top), head of art at Crestar Learning Centre, and pre-schoolers looking at Singapore's largest mural made from recycled plastic toys on July 2. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO 'I feel very happy and very proud of the kids,' said Ms Fadhlin, head of art at Crestar Learning Centre. She added that the kids 'did most of the work', dismantling the toys to glue them onto the mural board. Ms Doris Tey, 53, centre leader of Kinderland, facilitated the project across the group 's 51 centres in Singapore. She said that after the centres received toy donations, the plastic ones were identified, weighed and sorted by size. If a toy was too big, it would be dismantled. The task of dismantling toys was handled by adult volunteers from YTL Power Seraya and educators from the centres. Seniors from Lions Befrienders helped with painting and sorting the toys. Reagan Wong, one of the 5,000 pre-schoolers who worked on the mural, said choosing the toys was his favourite part of the project. 'I have fun making this picture with my friends,' said the six-year-old boy. (From left) President of SMRT Trains Lam Sheau Kai; General Manager of Kinderland Seet Lee Kiang; Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Sustainability & the Environment Goh Han Yan; CEO of YTL PowerSeraya John Ng; and Executive Director of Lions Befrienders Service Association Singapore Karen Wee in front of Singapore's largest mural made from recycled plastic toy waste. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Ayesha Adawiyah Md Fadli, six, said it was good to use old toys for the mural. Recycling 'helps the earth and the earth will be clean', she said. Ms Tey said the mural is a meaningful 'inter-generational effort to celebrate Singapore's 60th anniversary and promote sustainability'. SMRT, which provided the platform for the artwork, said: 'The mural stands as a powerful symbol of how even the youngest among us can contribute to a greener future.' Mr Seet Lee Kiang, general manager and director of Kinderland Singapore, said: 'This SG60 mural is more than an artwork. It is a symbol of hope, collaboration and a greener future.'
Straits Times
28-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Surviving terror, investing in hope: How entrepreneur Shiv Puri turned survival into purpose and prosperity
Mr Shiv Puri, a philanthropist and the founder and managing director of TVF Capital Advisors, at Sentosa Golf Club on June 23, 2025. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Wong Kim Hoh meets... Surviving terror, investing in hope: How entrepreneur Shiv Puri turned survival into purpose and prosperity Meet Mr Shiv Puri and you might think he has breezed through life, helped along by luck and a few well-timed tailwinds. The 48-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist laughs easily, tells great stories and carries the steady calm of someone who has seen the extremes of human experience and lived to tell the tale. Behind the easy charm is a mind forged by discipline – on the golf course, where he was a teenage amateur champion; in the boardroom, as founder of boutique equity firm TVF Capital Advisors; and most profoundly, in the face of mortality, having survived the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The last experience reshaped his outlook and brought a deeper purpose to his pursuit of success. Now a Singaporean, Mr Puri was born in Mumbai but moved to New Delhi when he was a child. His entrepreneur father, who left a stable job to start a real estate business, and his mother, a homemaker, raised him and his older sister in what he describes as a 'very normal upbringing'. But normal is relative. Even as a child, he was 'very driven to want to do something on my own'. At 11, he started his first business: buying cricket cards wholesale and selling them to classmates, undercutting the vendor outside his school. The profits, he recalls, were 'great money for a kid', enough to supplement his meagre pocket money and fund fast-food treats. Around the same age, he discovered golf. His father had joined a club, and young Shiv tagged along, quickly becoming hooked. 'Golf is a mental sport. It's all in the mind,' he says. By 15, he was playing internationally, and at 17, he represented India at the World Schools Golf Championship in St Andrews, Scotland, the sport's hallowed ground and the oldest golf course in the world. Golf, he explains, is less about beating others and more about 'competing against the course'. It taught him resilience. He says: 'If you hit a bad shot, it's over, it's behind you... don't dwell on the past. You can still regroup and have a good round.' These lessons – patience, focus and the ability to recover from setbacks – would later become the bedrock of his investment philosophy. When it came time for university, he set his sights on the United States, a bold move in the mid-1990s, when few in his family had ventured so far. His parents agreed, on one condition: He would study engineering. 'I had no idea about engineering, but I said yes,' he says. At the University of Pennsylvania, he went a step further, landing a spot at the prestigious Wharton School and juggling a dual degree in systems engineering and finance. 'I had to do the engineering degree to make mum and dad happy,' he says with a laugh. It was at Wharton that he stumbled upon the writings of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, the minds behind American multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. Their no-nonsense wisdom and long-term investing philosophy struck a chord and would go on to deeply shape his world view. To save on tuition, he crammed five years of coursework into four. Despite the punishing schedule – 'in my final semester, my friends were taking two classes... I had seven, plus golf' – he thrived. Playing off a handicap of one, Mr Puri was part of the team that led Penn to its first Ivy League championship in 66 years. By the time he graduated in 1998, one thing was clear: Engineering had sharpened his problem-solving skills, but his heart was in finance. He landed his first job at investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York, working in private equity, ironically, in real estate. 'My dad was very happy,' he says. The hours were brutal, the learning curve steep, but the experience invaluable. Yet, after two years, he craved more than just 'crunching numbers and thinking about Excel sheets'. The lure of Silicon Valley – and the boom – proved irresistible. He joined Crescendo, a venture capital firm, just as the tech bubble was inflating. 'We'd make investments, and the value would shoot up 30 times in a year. I thought, 'Making money is so easy!'' he recalls, with a wry smile. After the bust, Mr Shiv Puri realised that venture capital – picking winners from a sea of business plans – was not where his edge lay. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Then came the crash. 'In one year, I saw people I thought were the best investors lose everything. That was the single best risk management lesson I've ever had. No textbook could teach me that.' 'Even today, when there are market bubbles or exuberance, that risk filter subconsciously is always there,' he adds. After the bust, Mr Puri realised that venture capital – picking winners from a sea of business plans – was not where his edge lay. In 2001, he joined Bain Capital in Boston, this time focusing on public equities. 'Six months into the job, I knew this was what I wanted to do forever,' he says. The appeal? The ability to analyse established businesses, look beyond short-term noise and invest with a long horizon. But the entrepreneurial itch returned. In 2004, Mr Puri launched his own fund, TVF (The Voyager Fund), with a modest pool of capital of US$5 million and a simple philosophy inspired by Mr Buffett and Mr Munger: 'Play long-term games with long-term people.' He sought investors who were willing to commit for years, and focused on businesses he could hold for a decade or more. 'Compounding is everything,' he says. 'All good things happen because of compounding, whether it's wealth, health, family or relationships.' The approach was unusual in the world of public markets, where most investors chase quick returns. Asked how a 27-year-old resisted the allure of fast money, he says: 'There's a lot of noise and turbulence when you're flying at a certain level but if you fly slightly higher, it's actually calmer. And you can see the horizon better.' Mr Shiv Puri with the late Mr Charles Munger, vice-chairman of American multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, in 2019. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SHIV PURI Word spread. Institutional investors – family offices, college endowments, even a sovereign wealth fund – came knocking. Today, the company manages more than 150 times its original capital, with a team split between Singapore and India. TVF's approach is resolutely bottom-up, focused on sectors like financial services, healthcare (especially hospitals), technology and consumer discretionary, particularly in India and South-east Asia. Key investments which the company has held for more than a decade include Max Healthcare, a major player in India's healthcare sector; Info Edge, an early-stage tech company that grew into a big online classifieds business; and Bajaj Finance, a non-banking financial company with a market capitalisation that has gone from US$3 billion in 2015 to US$65 billion (S$83 billion) today. 'We look for businesses that can scale, maintain quality and have a long runway for growth,' he says. 'Patience is active, very active endurance, knowing that there's a goal, knowing that you're making progress but it's not immediate,' he says sagely. He insists on getting to know founders deeply, sometimes over decades, before investing. 'It's not just about the person at the top, but the culture within the firm,' he says. If golf taught him patience, and the crash taught him risk, it was the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 that taught him perspective. On the night of Nov 26 that year, Mr Puri, his wife and two friends were having pre-dinner aperitifs at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel's Harbour Bar when gunfire erupted. 'At first, we thought someone had dropped a lot of plates,' he recalls. But the reality soon became clear. Drawing on his knowledge of the hotel's layout – he got married there a year earlier – he led his group through kitchens and corridors, seeking refuge. They hid in the chef's office, lights off, chairs braced against the door, as terrorists stalked the hallways. At one point, he heard a terrorist outside the door asking a hotel employee if there were guests inside. 'At that point, the terrorists were not shooting the servers, waiters or chefs unless they came in the line of fire. They wanted to shoot the guests, the foreigners, people who would make headlines. Luckily, the employee said there was no one inside.' Later, a heroic chef – who unfortunately died in the course of the night – led them to a business lounge packed with 150 people. When an evacuation was attempted, the first 30 people in line were gunned down. Mr Puri and his wife and friends were just four places behind. 'It was pure luck,' he says quietly. They spent the night lying flat on the floor, frozen as gunfire echoed around them, until commandos finally rescued them at dawn. 'I always had an innate belief that it was going to be okay,' he says. His wife, meanwhile, could think only of their five-week-old baby at home. After the incident, she struggled to leave the house for months, but Mr Puri went back to work two days later. The experience was transformative. 'After that, nothing in business, no market crisis, could come close. It put everything in perspective.' His brush with death was a turning point, he says. 'I became much more deliberate about purpose. Wealth creation has to have a purpose. For me, that's making an impact, especially in education and healthcare,' says Mr Puri, who also set up his own family office, Vesta Global Capital, in 2015. Over time, he channelled his energies into philanthropy, especially in education. 'Education can really change lives. It's the best form of pay-it-forward,' says Mr Puri, who, among other things, helped scale Prayas, a non-governmental organisation that runs after-school programmes for disadvantaged children in Delhi, and co-founded Ashoka University, now India's largest liberal arts institution. His involvement goes beyond funding. He is actively building bridges between Ashoka and the National University of Singapore (NUS), fostering student exchanges and entrepreneurial internships. In Singapore, where he moved to after the Mumbai attacks, he also sits on the international advisory council of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, mentoring young doctors and entrepreneurs. Mr Shiv Puri planting a tree in 2016 at Ashoka University, which he co-founded. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SHIV PURI Healthcare, particularly eldercare, is his next frontier. 'How do you age gracefully? It's about finding purpose, getting respect and still feeling like you're a valuable member of society even though you're not working. It's a combination of all these things,' he says. For insights into long-term thinking, he studies Mr Buffett's annual letters. For perspective, he turns to Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, a collection of writings on Stoic philosophy. Among other things, Stoic philosophy focuses on staying grounded, resilient and at peace by focusing on what you can control and letting go of what you can't. Despite the constant drumbeat of bad news and global woes, the father of two teenagers prefers to remain optimistic. 'Civilisation requires trust. I think optimism is a default setting. It doesn't mean you're being naive. But I think people are far too pessimistic, especially in the investing world.' He adds: 'Human ingenuity cannot be underestimated. And despite all we have endured in the past, we are still living in the most prosperous time on earth.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
The Star
22-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Star
Singapore: New team of police officers first to be equipped with off-road vehicles, drones on patrol
Assistant Commissioner of Police Victor Ho (centre), the commander of Protective Security Command, with officers from the newly minted strategic location response teams. -- ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A specialist police unit has acquired a fleet of off-road vehicles to help officers navigate rough, unpaved terrain – and flood waters – to respond more quickly to public security incidents. The cars will be used by the Protective Security Command's (ProCom) newly established strategic location response (SLR) teams, which were officially implemented on June 22. The commander of ProCom, Assistant Commissioner of Police Victor Ho, said the aim is to strengthen the Singapore Police Force's (SPF) ability to respond more quickly and effectively to a wider range of public security incidents, such as terror attacks. 'Our officers will be patrolling key locations, including shopping centres and tourist spots, to deter and respond to any security threats,' he said. While such patrols are a mainstay of ProCom operations, SLR officers are the first to be equipped with drones and counter-drone technology such as handheld drone jammers. The new off-road vehicles – Land Rover Defender 110 – have been modified to accommodate this equipment and officers in tactical gear. They also have 360-degree camera systems, multiple airbags, and a tyre pressure monitoring system. SPF said it worked with HTX (Home Team Science and Technology Agency) to equip SLR officers with the handheld drone jammers, which 'allow them to disrupt... unauthorised drone operations'. Strategic location response officers from the Protective Security Command demonstrating a handheld drone jammer. -- ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO These rifle-style jammers disrupt communications between a drone and its controller, preventing the drone from receiving commands. SLR officers are tactically trained and more heavily armed, as they patrol strategic locations such as critical infrastructure, tourist attractions, and other public areas with high foot traffic. In addition to bulletproof vests and helmets, they carry submachine guns. AC Ho told The Straits Times that ProCom had decided to implement SLR teams in response to evolving security threats. 'The launch of SLR (teams) will complement ground response officers in dealing with public security incidents by providing aerial surveillance and counter drone capabilities,' he said. 'This will enable the officers to better manage incidents at the onset, as these enhanced capabilities will boost the officers' ability to attend to incidents swiftly and effectively.' Assistant Superintendent of Police Jaslyn Lee, the officer in charge of a troop of SLR officers, said that compared with their predecessors, 'the new off-road vehicles offer a larger cabin space to accommodate our operational equipment and officers in tactical gear'. She added: 'Its high ground clearance allows us to move through obstacles and respond swiftly to security incidents.' A team of SLR officers showcased their abilities on June 22 at ProCom headquarters in Ulu Pandan, where they used a drone to track the movements of a 'gunman' on the third floor of a building during a simulated exercise. The drone, equipped with a camera, revealed the 'gunman's' hiding place, even showing him in thermal imaging. An officer later demonstrated using a drone jammer gun to incapacitate a drone. ProCom was formed in 2016 to protect strategic events and locations in peacetime and during national emergencies. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
15-06-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Serene village in China's Xi'an offers new approach to Alzheimer's care
Instead of confining sufferers behind locked doors or restricting them to rigid routines, the village offers an environment that meets them where they are. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO SINGAPORE/XI'AN – Nestled amid the verdant forest parks and mountain springs of the Zhouzhi Louguan eco-cultural tourism resort zone in Xi'an, China, is a one-of-its-kind village for seniors. Here, mornings are unhurried. In the centre of the village, a man-made lake mirrors the daylight, with the sound of water gently lapping against stone. A short stroll along the lakeside brings seniors to a bright, spacious dining hall, where breakfast is served. There is quiet chatter – even laughter – as friends greet one another, some for the third or fourth time that morning. Afterwards, a few residents go for a light workout in a tree-lined gazebo, while others head to a calligraphy or music class. If the place looks like a typical quaint Chinese village, that is because it was designed to mimic one as much as possible. Clues like a post office that does not send or receive actual mail, a convenience store that uses fake currency, and bus routes that loop endlessly around the tiny compound give away the nature of the village. Spanning over 43,000 sq m, or about the size of six football fields , the compound is an Alzheimer's disease village – a first for China. It is run by real-estate-turned-healthcare company Perennial Holdings. A mock post office and florist at the Perennial Alzheimer's Care Village Xi'an. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Earlier in June, the Singapore-based company took journalists to tour the compound along with its healthcare facilities in other Chinese cities. The innovative care model in the Perennial Alzheimer's Care Village Xi'an is designed for those living with a disease that progressively robs them of their memory, thinking and reasoning. The illness is the most common disease that causes dementia, an umbrella term for symptoms ranging from confusion to changes in behaviour, to problems with language. Instead of confining sufferers behind locked doors or restricting them to rigid routines, as in traditional eldercare facilities, the village offers an environment that meets them where they are – one built on safety, dignity and choice. Residents can move about freely and interact with one other. Staff such as doctors, nurses and physiotherapists also aim to be part of the residents' lives, engaging with them like friends or family members on top of being medical professionals. The care model was first popularised by the Hogeweyk dementia village in the Netherlands in 2009. More than a decade later, similar villages offering inclusive and small-scale communities for dementia patients have been set up in countries like France, Canada, Norway and Switzerland. When setting up the Xi'an project, the Perennial team visited some of these villages to learn from their experiences. Today, the Xi'an village comprises a dementia care home with about 450 beds, a nursing care hospital, a rehabilitation hospital and an international eldercare research institute. Since it opened progressively from March 2024, the village has hosted over 50 residents, with 26 still residing there currently. Staff aim to be part of the residents' lives, engaging with them like friends or family members on top of being medical professionals. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Dr Song Xiangying, dean of the village, said the majority of the patients, who have medium to severe symptoms, have become less agitated, happier and calmer since they were admitted to the facility. She cited the example of a man who, during his first few days after admission, would insist on going home after his meals. Instead of trying to convince him to stay, she waited with the man at one of the 'bus stops' in the compound. 'We chatted about how long it would take for him to go home and even walked to another bus stop when we had waited too long,' said Dr Song, adding that going along with the man's version of reality helped to calm him. After a few days, he stopped wanting to go home. One of the 'bus stops' in the compound. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Dr Song also said no resident has wandered out of the compound. Such behaviour, known as elopement, is common because patients may be disorientated or have a desire to fulfil former obligations or unmet needs. While the patient and understanding staff play a key role in its success, the facility is also equipped with high-tech security measures to prevent residents from wandering off. 'We use facial and video recognition to monitor the residents' whereabouts, so they do not need to put on wearable devices like bracelets,' said Dr Song. All staff, including security guards and cleaners, know residents by name and keep a watchful eye on them, she added. Residents can move about freely and interact with one another. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Among the residents is Madam Wang Lai Fei, 76. While she had displayed early signs of Alzheimer's disease since 2023, her condition deteriorated in January after her husband died. Her daughter-in-law Lu Jing said the elderly woman had wandered out on her own and got lost twice. Ms Lu then decided to admit Madam Wang to the facility as she was stressed from caregiving. 'Now, her condition is stable and she has even gained weight. She is very comfortable here, with a group of friends she can chit-chat with every day ,' said Ms Lu. (From left) Dr Song Xiangying, dean of the village, with Madam Wang Lai Fei and Madam Wang's daughter-in-law Lu Jing. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Assistant Professor Saima Hilal, from NUS' Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said that since dementia is a progressive condition with no known cure, the success of dementia villages should be measured not only by clinical outcomes like slowing of decline, but also, more importantly, by indicators of well-being and quality of life. Some useful benchmarks include engagement in daily activities; reduced reliance on antipsychotic medication, physical restraints or hospital admissions; and cost-effectiveness over time, especially when factoring in fewer emergency admissions or complications. Singapore tried to pilot its own dementia care village in 2020 in Buangkok Green, but the project attracted only one bid – a joint one by Perennial Holdings subsidiary Pre 11 and nursing and personal care operator Orpea. Ultimately, the project was shelved because the Government found the bid of $15 million to be too low. Perennial chief executive Pua Seck Guan said that if Singapore were to revive the project, the company would be 'happy to explore' opportunities, but he also cited high land costs as a challenge. The Perennial Alzheimer's Care Village Xi'an spans over 43,000 sq m, about the size of six football fields. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Prof Hilal noted that besides land costs, operational costs for such care models would also be higher due to the need for trained staff and low resident-to-staff ratios. Another challenge is the limited public-private investment, as the business model is not yet fully proven in South-east Asia. Therefore, instead of replicating large-scale dementia villages, hybrid models could be more feasible in Singapore, she said. These include embedding dementia-friendly design features in HDB estates and active ageing centres, setting up smaller cluster-living homes using under-utilised community spaces, and training neighbourhood volunteers and caregivers to support dementia-inclusive communities. 'These steps are more scalable and culturally appropriate for Singapore's high-density environment, and can deliver many of the same benefits as full-fledged dementia villages,' said Prof Hilal. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Google Cloud and Singapore launch $500,000 AI incentive for 300 Enterprises
Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling (3rd from right), with Google Cloud's executives, launching the inaugural AI Cloud Takeoff programme at Google Cloud office on June 13. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO SINGAPORE – Google's cloud unit has joined forces with the Government to outlay benefits worth $500,000 to each of 300 selected local companies in a bid to promote the use of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions. The AI Cloud Takeoff, as the initiative is called, provides technical guidance, Google training resources and cloud services credits to help firms build in-house AI expertise and broaden their AI pilots into core operations. Companies must be locally registered or incorporated in Singapore, commit at least three employees in AI roles for at least six months, have formal support from a business leader, and have at least one AI use case ready to be worked on. The use case will be evaluated by the Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), the government arm driving the programme, which is the first to take wing under the $150 million Enterprise Compute Initiative announced in the 2025 Budget. The initiative aims to encourage companies to partner cloud providers to accelerate enterprise AI and cloud adoption. A key feature is a two-week AI capacity building boot camp with Google Cloud's experts to help firms set up AI Centres of Excellence within six months. Singapore has at least 26 of these centres, which concentrate innovation, experimentation, training, coordination and evaluation. Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling said at the launch ceremony for the new programme that the Government hopes to have about 100 such centres, each serving as catalyst for broader industry transformation. Mr Mitesh Agarwal, Google Cloud's regional managing director for solutions and technology, told The Straits Times: 'When people develop Centres of Excellences, the rubber hits the road. 'That's when you start realising that hiring technical staff – AI engineers, machine learning engineers – and retaining them, keeping them motivated, is not easy.' Selected firms could consult seven advisory firms – Accenture, AsiaPac, CloudMile, Deloitte, Kyndryl, NTT Data, and Searce – to help them take their data exploration and experimentation stages to model training, deployment, performance monitoring and optimisation. Participants have six months to set a budget and turn out at least one viable AI use case. The grant will be disbursed in tranches as each milestone is hit. Mr Andy Welsh, chief technology officer of fintech Embed, which has been trialling the programme, urged firms to pick existing problems when formulating their viable use case. 'You have got people watching the problem and complaining about it. You get feedback quicker and you get results quicker. Don't invent a problem. Stick to something that's already nagging you.' The $500,000 grant comprises an estimated $105,000 to subsidise 70 per cent of consultancy service costs, $200,000 for training credits and certifications and $195,000 for cloud credits. Andy Welsh, Chief Technology Officer at fintech Embed, demonstrating his company's AI solution for arcade gaming at the launch of AI Cloud Take-Off (AI CTO) held at the Google office in Pasir Panjang on June 13. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Mr Agarwal said the last tranche, cloud credits, is designed to encourage firms to take the final step – deployment. He said: 'When you deploy in a real world environment, that's where the (cloud) consumption goes up based on usage of your own customers.' Google Cloud, the world's third-largest cloud services provider by market share, estimates that a $150,000 budget set aside by companies would be enough for them to produce at least one viable use case. It added that firms applying for the programme do not need to be current Google customers. It is also prepared to support more enterprises if more than 300 companies apply. The new scheme replaces Google's 2023 AI Trailblazers programme that graduated 213 firms at early stages of AI adoption. All are now Google's customers, said Mr Agarwal. Firms were too wary of security and quality issues to adopt AI then, but the market is now more mature where many companies have already tried and adopted at least one enterprise AI solution, he added. As well as Embed, supply chain solutions firm YCH Group, investment platform Endowus and software company Polybee are among the 30 firms that have been trialling the new programme since late 2024. YCH is taking its new AI-powered document and cargo scanning solution to use in the Vietnam SuperPort. It plans to introduce the tool progressively in supply chain cities in Singapore and Malaysia. Container leasing company Seaco put up 30 AI use cases for the pilot. About six weeks ago, it started using AI to identify damaged containers at the Tuas depot. Mr Damian Leach, its chief information officer, said the automation has reduced times from days and weeks to a matter of minutes. Savings are expected to be around $10 million annually at least. He said: 'We interface with over 500 ports and depots across the world. A lot of these ports and depots are in emerging markets, and as you would imagine, the technology in those emerging markets isn't that great. 'So for us, the depot process was a critical function that we wanted to automate.' Embed, which provides services to entertainment complexes such as Timezone games arcades, introduced its AI kiosk solution in the US to personalise game rec ommendations and themes based on customer preferences . It is also able to direct customers to less performing games in an arcade. It's CTO, Mr Welsh, said: 'The cool part about this is that this AI says these games are underperforming at the moment, we need to drive more traffic that way.' Companies can apply at They can also contact Google Cloud at to discuss their AI use case. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
