A story by senior writer Khairani Afifi Noordin of The Edge Singapore, “Into the metaverse”, was named Story of the Year at this year’s Orb Awards organised by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) Group.
Khairani’s win marks a consecutive year in which a journalist from The Edge Singapore won the key honour at the annual awards organised by the bourse to recognise excellence in financial news and content.
Senior writer Jovi Ho won the same award last year for his story “Buy now, pain later”. In this winning story published in March, Khairani dives into the hype surrounding the brave new world of the metaverse, promoted by global tech leaders like Meta Platforms and Alphabet, parent companies of Facebook and Google, respectively.
In addition, she flagged the actual investment opportunities within the virtual, including not just individual stocks but newly-established thematic ETFs, such as Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF and KODEX US Metaverse Nasdaq Active ETF.
Several locally-listed companies, like mm2 Asia and AMTD International (recently renamed AMTD Idea Group), have also angled themselves for a piece of the metaverse action.
See also: Into the metaverse
Khairani Afifi Noordin’s story on investing opportunities in the metaverse was named Story of the Year
In winning this Story of the Year award, Khairani beat two of her colleagues. A joint byline story by the executive editor of The Edge Singapore Goola Warden and Ho, “Is your financing green?” was also one of the three shortlisted stories for this category. This story explores the challenges and considerations the financial services industry face as environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles come to the fore.
The third shortlisted story in this category was “Spac-tacular! HK, Singapore welcome first deals” by Jonathan Breen of Global Capital Asia.
See also: Box office struggles: Is it curtains for the cinema business?
While Ho did not repeat his Story of the Year win this year; he picked up the award for the Hidden Gem category with “Box office struggles” — his story of the trials and tribulations the local cinema industry faced trying to deal with the pandemic.
This is the third consecutive win by The Edge Singapore in this category. Last year, senior writer Lim Hui Jie won this category for his story — “Megachem holds steady amid pandemic woes; eyes Asean market with graphite venture”. Assistant editor Samantha Chiew won in 2020 with “Food Empire records robust growth; declares higher dividend on better outlook”.
Ho’s story “Walking the energy tightrope” was also shortlisted in a third award category, a special, thematic category that changes each year: Collaborate to Compete. Ho’s three nominations for three different award categories in the same year is unprecedented.
Jovi Ho (right) receiving his Hidden Gem award from SGX Group CEO Loh Boon Chye. Three of Ho’s stories were shortlisted in three different categories within the same year, which is an unprecedented feat / Photo: SGX Group
The two wins by The Edge Singapore this year out of the five categories in total compare with the three wins won by this team last year.
Bernard Tong, CEO of The Edge Singapore, thanks the SGX Group for having this platform to recognise the media industry. “We want to play a more active role within the Singapore markets ecosystem.”
See also: Is your financing really green?
Meanwhile, The Edge Singapore editor Chan Chao Peh says he is honoured to work with this team of dedicated colleagues. “I’m very grateful for yet another validation of our commitment to quality journalism to serve our invaluable community of readers better.”
Kenneth Lim, the deputy news editor of The Business Times, was named the winner for his infographic “Carbon credit crash course” under The Visual Treat category.
The Woke Salaryman, which won the GoTo.com award in 2019, was again named the winner this year in the same category.
For each year’s Orb Awards, SGX picks a unique, thematic category. This year’s edition was titled “Collaborate to Compete”. The winner of this award is a team of four from Nikkei Asia: Akito Tanaka, Dylan Loh, Jada Nagumo and Pak Yiu, for their story — “Asia’s new food frontier: The rise of edible tech”.
“We are delighted to be connecting perspectives with this year’s focus on the value of collaboration, which has seen some of the most engaging stories we have seen so far,” says Teo Ai June, head of marketing and communications at SGX Group.
“True to its mission, the SGX Orb Awards continues to bring together insightful content that helps the public make informed investment decisions. Our congratulations to the winners and finalists, and we look forward to expanding our work with the community to enhance financial education,” says Teo.
Submissions were shortlisted by a panel of independent judges comprising Ben King, country managing director at Google Singapore; Robin Hu, operating partner and vice chairman (Asia) of Temasek International; Susan Soh, chair of Investment Management Association of Singapore; and Wong Su-Yen, fellow and chairperson of the Singapore Institute of Directors.
This year’s SGX Orb Awards coincides with World Investor Week, a global campaign by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to raise awareness of the importance of investor education. On Oct 4, SGX Group marked World Investor Week with “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy”, an initiative by the World Federation of Exchanges.
Complete list of shortlisted stories for this year’s SGX Orb Awards
Story of the Year
Into the metaverse (Khairani Noordin, The Edge Singapore) — Winner
Is your financing really green? (Goola Warden and Jovi Ho, The Edge Singapore)
Spac-tacular! HK, Singapore welcome first deals (Jonathan Breen, Global Capital Asia)
Special Category: Collaborate to Compete
Asia's new food frontier: The rise of edible tech (Akito Tanaka, Dylan Loh, Jada Nagumo and Pak Yiu, Nikkei Asia) — Winner
Singapore As A Leading International Financial Centre In Asia: Financial Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025 (Angela Koo, Dollars And Sense)
Walking the energy tightrope (Jovi Ho, The Edge Singapore)
The Hidden Gem
Box office struggles (Jovi Ho, The Edge Singapore) — Winner
After SPACs’ Singapore debut, are they here to stay? (Jonathan Peeris, Money Mind, CNA)
Hafary gains from property boom, but higher interest rates may weigh on earnings (Raphael Lim, Business Times Singapore)
The Visual Treat
Carbon credit crash course (Kenneth Lim, Business Times Singapore) — Winner
A Tale of Two Cities: Hong Kong and Singapore’s Pandemic Pathways? (Millet Enriquez, Money Mind, CNA)
What do increasing interest rates mean for your investments? (The Woke Salaryman)
GoTo.com
The Woke Salaryman — Winner
Financial Horse
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