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Rising Costs and Coverage Gaps: The Diverging Medical Insurance Landscapes in Hong Kong and Singapore

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As Hong Kong witnesses a burgeoning interest in health insurance, Singapore grapples with the challenges of rising medical costs and financial risk management.

  • Budget Priorities: Respondents in both regions allocate significant portions of their budgets to Family, Finance, and Health. Notably, there is a strong intent to increase health budgets in 2025, particularly among the middle-income segment, with 31% in Singapore and 26% in Hong Kong planning for such increases.
  • Insurance Coverage Gaps: While a majority of respondents in both markets benefit from medical insurance, Singaporeans exhibit higher levels of protection, with 49% having personal plans and only 10% uninsured, compared to 19% uninsured in Hong Kong.
  • HNWIs Driving Demand: A substantial percentage of HNWIs in Hong Kong plan to purchase new medical insurance in 2025 (48%), contrasting with a smaller proportion in Singapore due to existing extensive coverage (30%).
  • Motivations and Barriers: Hong Kong respondents are driven to purchase insurance to address coverage gaps (44%) and rising medical expenses (36%), while Singaporeans focus on mitigating financial risks (43%). High costs remain the top deterrent in both markets, affecting 62% in Hong Kong and 52% in Singapore.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2025 – A recent survey by MDRi, which engaged 1,000 respondents across Hong Kong and Singapore, has unveiled a diverse array of health and medical insurance needs as the Year of the Snake approaches. The findings highlight the contrasting priorities of individuals in these two markets, revealing distinct trends in their insurance requirements.

Health has emerged as the paramount life priority for residents of both Hong Kong and Singapore. With a growing aging population in both markets, this shared emphasis on health underscores significant growth opportunities within the healthcare industry.

Middle-Income Segment Intends to Increase Health Budgets in 2025

In examining budget allocations for 2024, respondents from Hong Kong prioritized Family (23%), Finance (22%), and Health (15%). Singaporeans similarly allocated their budgets, with Family (22%), Finance (20%), and Health (16%) as top priorities.

Notably, 21% of Hong Kong respondents plan to increase their health budgets in 2025, particularly among the middle-income segment, where 26% intend to allocate more. In Singapore, 23% of respondents plan to boost their health budgets, with a striking 31% among the middle-income group.

Significant Differences in Medical Insurance Coverage

While the majority of individuals in both Hong Kong (81%) and Singapore (90%) have medical insurance coverage, notable differences arise in personal coverage. In Singapore, approximately 49% possess personal medical insurance, with 36% opting for additional coverage beyond company plans. In contrast, only 15% of Hong Kong respondents rely solely on company medical insurance without personal coverage, and about 19% of individuals in Hong Kong lack any medical insurance, compared to just 10% in Singapore. This disparity highlights Singapore’s population having better protection levels in terms of medical insurance relative to Hong Kong.

HNWIs and Future Insurance Plans

Looking ahead to 2025, 30% of individuals in Hong Kong are projected to acquire new medical insurance, with a significant 48% of HNWIs planning to purchase new policies. Conversely, only 24% of Singaporeans intend to secure additional coverage, reflecting their already extensive insurance ownership.

Motivations and Deterrents in Medical Insurance Decision-Making

In Hong Kong, motivations for purchasing new medical insurance are driven by the need to address coverage inadequacies (44%), rising medical expenses (36%), and reducing future financial risks (36%). In Singapore, the focus shifts toward mitigating financial risks (43%), exploring diverse coverage options (39%), and managing escalating medical costs (37%).

For those without insurance, high costs remain the primary deterrent, with 62% in Hong Kong and 52% in Singapore citing expense as a key barrier.

Growth Opportunities in Medical Insurance

Hong Kong presents substantial growth opportunities for insurance companies, particularly as many individuals remain uninsured. By positioning medical insurance as an affordable solution against rising medical costs, insurers can tap into this potential. Surprisingly, despite lower coverage rates, HNWIs in Hong Kong are actively considering new insurance purchases in 2025. In contrast, while the Singaporean market shows lower demand due to widespread coverage, there remains an opportunity to attract individuals by emphasizing the reduction of future financial risks and exploring low-cost solutions for those without medical insurance.

Simon Tye, CEO of MDRi, emphasizes the importance of these trends: “Insurance firms must recognize the distinct landscapes of Hong Kong and Singapore. In Hong Kong, the opportunity lies in catering to an eager market looking for new insurance options. Meanwhile, Singapore’s focus should be on providing diverse coverage solutions that effectively mitigate financial risks and address the concerns of rising medical expenses.”

Notes to editors:

  • The press release result is based on a survey conducted by MDRi during 31st December 2024 – 6th January 2025, measuring the sentiment and happiness level of both markets of Hong Kong and Singapore towards the year 2025, including ownership of medical insurance.
  • The survey engaged a total of 1,000 participants, with an equal sample size of 500 individuals from each market, to ensure a balanced representation of the demographic distribution within the respective territories.

For further information, interviews, or comments, please contact [email protected].

Hashtag: #MDRi

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About The Mishcon de Reya Group

The Group is an independent, international professional services business with law at its heart, employing over 1450 people with over 650 lawyers. It includes the law firm Mishcon de Reya LLP and a collection of leading consultancy businesses that complement the firm’s legal services.

Mishcon de Reya LLP is based in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Singapore and Hong Kong (through its association with ). The firm services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply. Its work is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex, spanning seven core practice areas: ; ; ; ; ; ; and .

The includes consultancy businesses , (in London, Singapore and Dubai), , (in Hong Kong) and . The Group also includes , which invests in the most promising early stage legaltech companies as well as the Mishcon Academy, its in-house place of learning and platform for thought leadership.

Earlier this year, the Group announced its first strategic acquisition in the alternative legal services market, flexible legal resourcing business Flex Legal. It also acquired a majority stake in Somos, a global group actions management business.

About MDRi

Based in Hong Kong and with operations in London and Singapore, MDRi is a leading provider of business insights, empowering organizations with data-driven advice to make informed decisions and drive growth.

Through advanced analytics, industry expertise, and innovative methodologies, MDRi uncovers strategic opportunities, mitigates risks, and helps businesses stay ahead in a rapidly evolving marketplace. With a commitment to excellence and client-centricity, MDRi is revolutionizing the way organizations harness insights for success.

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Woodfibre LNG Marks 2025 as a Year of Construction Progress, Environmental Stewardship and Community Partnership

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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 24 December 2025 – Woodfibre LNG recently marked 2025 as a year of significant progress across construction, environmental protection and community partnerships, as the project moved deeper into its development phase toward delivering responsibly produced Canadian liquefied natural gas to global markets.

Over the past year, the project advanced from planning into visible, on-the-ground execution. Major construction milestones included the pouring of foundations for key modules, continued progress on marine piling, and further implementation of modular construction techniques designed to reduce on-site footprint while accelerating delivery timelines.

These advancements were achieved through close collaboration with project partners, suppliers and contractors, and in partnership with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation).

In 2025, Woodfibre LNG, a member of the RGE group of companies founded by Sukanto Tanoto, continued to operate its floatel workforce accommodation solution, designed to minimise pressure on local housing and community services. As of November, two floatels were in active operation, providing high-quality, safe and comfortable living conditions for the project workforce while supporting construction efficiency.

Environmental protection remained a central focus throughout the year. The project’s Marine Mammal Monitoring Programme, which includes hydroacoustic monitoring, exclusion zones and shore-based observation posts, delivered measurable outcomes by enabling real-time operational decisions, including pauses to marine activities when marine mammals entered exclusion areas.

In parallel, remediation of legacy materials from the former pulp mill site continued, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of historical waste removed. These efforts have contributed to improving site conditions for both local communities and marine and terrestrial ecosystems in Howe Sound.

Woodfibre LNG’s Operator Training Programme, delivered in partnership with the Squamish Nation Training and Trades Centre and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), progressed throughout the year. The programme’s first cohort of graduates transitioned into full-time roles, supporting the development of long-term, skilled local employment opportunities linked to the project.

Through its Community Partnership Programme (CPP), Woodfibre LNG continued to invest in local communities across the Sea-to-Sky corridor. In 2025, the programme surpassed $1 million in total grants since its inception, supporting initiatives in sports, healthcare, emergency services, arts and culture, and youth development.

Luke Schauerte, CEO of Woodfibre LNG, said, “2025 has been a year of significant progress for Woodfibre LNG. We are proud of what our team and partners have accomplished together and look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead.”

With more than half of the project’s development now complete, Woodfibre LNG remains focused on advancing construction safely and responsibly, while maintaining strong partnerships with Indigenous communities, local stakeholders and regulators.

As the project looks ahead to 2026, Woodfibre LNG continues its work toward delivering lower-carbon, responsibly produced Canadian energy to international markets.

Hashtag: #RGE #PacificEnergy #PacificCanbriamEnergy #WoodfibreLNG #LNG #environment #partnerships #LNG #liquefiednaturalgas #energy #sustainability

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Woodfibre LNG

The Woodfibre LNG Project is owned by Woodfibre LNG Limited Partnership, owned 70 per cent by Pacific Energy Corporation (Canada) Limited and 30 per cent by Enbridge Inc. The Woodfibre LNG facility is being built on the site of the former Woodfibre pulp mill site, which is located about seven kilometres southwest of Squamish, B.C. Woodfibre LNG will source its natural gas from Pacific Canbriam Energy, a Canadian company with operations in Northeastern British Columbia. Pacific Canbriam is an industry leader in sustainable natural gas production. Woodfibre LNG and Pacific Canbriam Energy are subsidiaries of Pacific Energy Corporation Limited. Woodfibre LNG is the first industrial project in Canada to recognise a non-treaty Indigenous government, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), as a full environmental regulator.

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New Opportunities in Southeast Asia’s Digital Shift: Thailand Emerges as the New ASEAN’s AI Hub

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BANGKOK, THAILAND – Media OutReach Newswire – 24 December 2025 – As global attention remains fixed on the AI race, Thailand is now carving out a new identity as an emerging “AI Hub for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).” The government is steadily advancing its “Thailand 4.0” initiative, positioning the digital economy as the key driver of national transformation.

The expansion of AI and data centers (DCs) in Thailand is driving several transformative trends:

  • Changing data traffic patterns. As DCs multiply in Bangkok, Chonburi, and beyond, Thailand is evolving from a traditional data “transit point” into a regional “convergence hub.” East-west digital traffic is accelerating, with Thai DC clusters increasingly meeting the computing demands of Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific.
  • Optimized data routing. Data flows that once relied on submarine cables via Hong Kong and Singapore are gradually shifting to land-based digital corridors linking China, Laos, and Thailand. This route reduces data transmission latency from southwestern China to Southeast Asia.
  • Elevated business expectations. Demand is shifting beyond “sufficient bandwidth” toward “high-quality experience.” Thailand sits in a “latency sweet spot” for key Asia-Pacific markets, with latencies to Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia falling within an optimal range—a crucial advantage for latency-sensitive sectors like autonomous driving, telemedicine, and fintech.

New opportunities inevitably bring new challenges, and Thailand also addresses the following three challenges:

1. Massive traffic impacting existing networks: Compared with mature hubs like Singapore, Thailand has insufficient international submarine cables. A large volume of cross-border data still needs to be transmitted through detours. Meanwhile, as DC investments continue to accelerate, traffic will keep rising. Analysis shows that by 2029, Thailand’s DC capacity may reach 2000 MW, with cross-region traffic surging to 630 Tbps. The current network architecture is no longer capable of supporting such heavy traffic.

2. Latency advantages not fully realized: Despite its geographic advantages, Thailand’s network latency performance has yet to reach its full potential. Routes to key markets, like China, still require third-party transit. What’s more, traditional network scheduling lacks intelligent route selection capabilities, making it difficult to provide deterministic assurance for latency-sensitive services like financial transactions and real-time AI interactions.

3. Potential risks in network reliability: Thailand’s network reliability faces structural challenges. Single points of failure have previously caused hours-long interruptions to critical services, directly undermining enterprise users’ confidence.

To overcome these challenges, Thailand can take a systematic approach to upgrading its digital infrastructure, aiming to build next-generation AI-ready networks.

1. Building ultra-high-bandwidth “sea-land” connectivity. By actively introducing new submarine cables, Thailand can significantly enhance its connectivity with the Asia-Pacific region and the world. Meanwhile, accelerating the construction and expansion of key terrestrial cable routes—such as China-Laos-Thailand and Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore—will transform Thailand’s geographic advantage into a tangible connectivity advantage.

2. Optimizing network routes to create a regional low-latency core. Strengthening the Kunming-Laos-Thailand terrestrial cable route will continuously reduce transmission latency between China and Thailand, meeting the needs of real-time applications. In addition, the introduction of autonomous networks will enable automatic selection of the optimal, shortest route, shifting from “best effort” to “deterministic low latency.”

3. Designing a “never-interrupted” high-resilience architecture. Deploying active-active DC networks with millisecond-level switchover capabilities ensures the continuity of core services. Meanwhile, AI-driven intelligent O&M can reduce fault detection and diagnosis from hours to minutes.

Thailand’s booming AI and DC industries are driving rapid growth in regional and cross-border business demand. In this trend, network infrastructure construction centered on DCs is the core engine that drives AI transformation, propelling Thailand toward its vision of becoming the new AI hub for ASEAN.

Hashtag: #huawei

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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MyRepublic Launches Card Sub, Singapore’s First Subscription Service for Trading Card Game Fans

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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 December 2025 MyRepublic today announced the launch of Card Sub, a new subscription-based service designed for Trading Card Game (TCG) enthusiasts. Card Sub offers subscribers a convenient way to receive Magic: The Gathering (MTG) products monthly, including access to premium booster packs not typically available through standard retail purchases.

MyRepublic Launches Card Sub, Singapore’s First Subscription Service for Trading Card Game Fans

Card Sub introduces a structured monthly subscription model in which customers pay a fixed monthly rate and receive up to 3 Play Booster packs or 2 Play booster boxes from the current MTG release. In addition, subscribers will receive free premium booster packs or boxes. These premium boosters may include Collector Booster Packs or Boxes, such as the highly sought-after Final Fantasy Collector Booster, which is constantly sold out worldwide which features the extremely valuable serialised Golden Chocobo card
“The trading card community in Singapore is incredibly passionate, and Card Sub is our small way of adding value to that ecosystem,” said Terry Williams, Head of Consumer at MyRepublic. “As TCG players ourselves, we wanted to offer something to the community to provide an easier access to the latest release every month, and the chance to secure premium packs that might not be readily accessible to players. We see Card Sub as a community-driven initiative, open to all who share a passion for growing the hobby.”
The subscription tiers available at launch are:
MyRepublic Card Sub Plans
MyRepublic Card Sub Plans

Card Sub will be available to both MyRepublic and non-MyRepublic customers. All product redemptions will take place in person at the upcoming Card Arena by MyRepublic, located at Suntec City. Customers will redeem their Premium booster or box in-store.

Card Sub is positioned to serve cost-conscious TCG consumers by providing reliable monthly access to boosters with the added benefit of premium packs or boxes at no additional charge. The inclusion of Collector Boosters in the premium pool provides an opportunity for subscribers to obtain higher-value products through a predictable monthly model. MyRepublic also plans to expand Card Sub to additional TCG franchises, including Pokémon.
Card Sub is open for sign-up at cardsub.net and available to everyone in Singapore. Monthly redemption of subscription items will be fulfilled exclusively at:
Card Arena by MyRepublic
Suntec City, 3 Temasek Boulevard, #02-323/324

Hashtag: #CardSub, #MyRepublic #MyRepublicCardSub #CardSubSG #TCG #GeeksUseUs





The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

MyRepublic

MyRepublic is an award-winning telecom operator whose values lie in the future of connectivity, the next opportunity to disrupt, and innovations that will make a real difference. The provider’s priority is to redefine broadband and mobile connectivity in the markets it operates and empower customers to understand what a true modern connectivity experience can be.
For more information, please visit
cardsub.net

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