Hi Karan, thanks for the comment. As stated in the article, we have written to all parties involved and gave them a chance to respond. It's not speculation when we've reached out for comments on top of our source's statement. Hope this clear things up.

Ka Kay Lum

Hello Shasidharan, thank you for the feedback. The way I see it, the current leadership and MDEC's future are intertwined. Poor leadership will definitely result in poor execution and strategies. The views of former employees are to help readers to better understand what's going on internally in MDEC. Nevertheless, I appreciate you taking time out to pen down your thoughts on this article.

Ka Kay Lum

Thank you, Soham! Yes, Malacca Straits Acquisition is an interesting one to watch, especially when its objective is to de-conglomerate a business group in the region. Exciting times for Southeast Asia!

Ka Kay Lum

Thank you for the feedback, Karun. It's safe to say that almost every business is affected by Covid, including well-funded ones. But it's also a good time for companies like Grab and Gojek to work on redeploying resources to support surging demand in a different service and to deepen their relationship with merchants. Even if subsidies have waned, F&B businesses will surely rethink their perception towards food delivery in order to prepare for another rainy season like Covid or to simply diversify their revenue stream and reach out to new customer base. Like you said, the next few years will be very interesting to watch!

Ka Kay Lum

Thanks for the feedback, Rahul. It is still early days for ECF so do watch this space. For exits, generally the retail investors I spoke to are happy to get their money back - ECF is essentially a high-risk investment, so it's not entirely realistic for investors to put their money down and expect 10x returns as it is impossible for sustainable businesses to scale that much in one go.

Ka Kay Lum