One step at a time

Good Morning Dear Reader,   Do you remember the last time you read a good book? Like a really, really good book?   The last book I finished—not 'read', because I have too many books that I started but left unfinished—was Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I started the book without too many expectations but, boy, what an adventure it was. Love, family drama, life, death, identity crisis, and gender fluidity, this book has it all.   I'm not going to spoil it for you, but if you're looking for something to read, this Pulitzer-winning title is a wonderful choice. It was a difficult tale to tell, but the author's amazing dexterity in storytelling strung me along right from the beginning to the end.   Here, at The Ken, I find myself constantly looking for ways to improve my storytelling skills.   My editor would always remind me: "Why should someone care about the company/topic that you're writing about? Establish something that is relatable. Tell them why your story is worthy of 10-15 minutes of their day."   This week's stories are definitely worth your time.    On Monday, Jum wrote about the world's most valuable tech company's ambitions for Southeast Asia. Through its crown-jewel TikTok, ByteDance is testing out various strategies for the region, including financial services. But the fintech industry is a crowded one. Does ByteDance have what it takes to compete with the incumbents?   On Tuesday, we carried a shared story from our India edition, where Olina dived deep into the social media takedowns by edtech giants WhiteHat Jr and Byju's. It's hard to imagine that a startup could have so much power over major social media platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn, which played a part in silencing criticism of Byju's and WhiteHat Jr. It's a riveting read.   Moving on to Wednesday. I looked into Astro, which has a monopoly in Malaysia's satellite TV industry for more than 20 years. Now, its biggest challenge is to figure out how to fend off over-the-top (OTT) media platforms—the Netflixes of the world—and, at the same time, make sure its pay-TV business doesn't lose revenue.   For the first time since the launch of The Ken Southeast Asia in March, we have a story from a contributor! On Thursday, armed with two real-life examples, Annie wrote about how social enterprises in the region are pivoting to ensure their survival during the pandemic. The key to their pivot? Going digital.   And as usual, we wrapped up the week with our newsletter, Strait Up. For this issue, we looked at Indonesia's Omnibus Law, which triggered mass protests across the archipelago. We also wrote about the growing number of family offices in Singapore.   That's it from us for this week. Hope you're able to use this weekend to unwind from work and whatever that is troubling you. Take a minute just to space out. I guarantee it's worth it.   Take care and see you next week. Let me know if you've read Middlesex.   Sincerely, Kay kakay@the-ken.com What you just read is The Ken's weekly recap of its stories. Written by a different person each week. Often insightful, sometimes witty, and very rarely boring. Someone sent this to you? Sign up for free. Don't like these? You can unsubscribe. Want to manage your emails? Click here.