These posts were featured by LinkedIn News among the Top Perspectives, which are posts and comments from members that are relevant to the topic and add insight or context on the story beyond the headline.

AI Conversations in Asia

19 June 2026

Exactly a year ago, I took an AI course in Singapore where my classmates included scientists, a retired grandmother, a train captain and a monk.

Some of them went ahead to learn a new technology even though it was unfamiliar – and perhaps scary – to them, and I told myself I had no excuse.

It’s been a trial and error with AI ever since. I use ChatGPT for research and scenario analysis, but Claude is superior on visuals such as building charts and converting images into my colours (it can also turn a screenshot into text). I dropped Perplexity along the way because its answers weren’t helpful enough.

AI is a double-edged sword. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I wouldn’t have been able to build Acrostics Asia in such a short time without AI. But I also read the recent headlines about AI-triggered layoffs with concern and empathize with those affected.

In a race to embrace the AI era, South China Morning Post reported that China’s universities are cutting 12,000 so-called obsolete degrees to align higher education with the nation’s development goals.

This may have an unintended side effect, as degrees such as liberal arts help to develop critical thinking and shouldn’t be dropped in favour of ‘hardcore’ tech subjects.

The one thing that differentiates humans from AI is judgment: knowing right or wrong, verifying the source of information, and understanding nuances.

For example, people should be able to assess whether AI-generated answers are accurate or an over-generalization – and not take them as incontrovertible facts.

I wrote early this year that in an age when AI permeates a myriad of industries and PR professionals outnumber journalists by six to one, being real is more precious than ever. This is still true now and I believe for a long time to come.

👉🏻 Read the rest of the conversations here.

Impact of AI on Originality

30 June 2025

I’ve been experimenting with AI to build multimedia packages (Leonardo AI, Lumen5, Canva, aiCarousels etc) and improve my research/brainstorming (mostly ChatGPT for now).

AI has been pretty mind-blowing and sobering at the same time, so I’ve been documenting my experiment.

AI is a double-edged sword and the net effect depends on who’s wielding it. Yes, it’ll take away a lot of jobs, but it can also help us to level up if we know how to use it.

The challenge is figuring out where AI fits into the production chain, so we have more bandwidth to focus on the areas where we can add value.

Templates exist because they are a tried and tested formula that can help us to complete our tasks more efficiently. If something works, why not do it again and again?

AI is the ultimate template machine as it can draw patterns from terabytes of data and churn out how-to guides on a massive scale. But I would rather not write from a template because my writing style – however imperfect it may be – was shaped by my own thoughts and experience.

Can we co-exist with AI and still retain our originality?

Perhaps one of the ways is to use AI for the commoditized tasks, such as building charts, so we’ll have more bandwidth to focus on what makes us unique. But I recognize that AI is getting more and more advanced by the day!

AI is a game-changer that’s fundamentally changing the way we operate and I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it – if that’s even possible.

👉🏻 Read the rest of the conversations here and here.

Acrostics Asia is a founder-led, independent credit intelligence provider that takes end-to-end ownership of its insights – from origination to production and distribution.

Acrostics Asia’s Founder Eveline Danubrata attended the 5th Singapore-China International Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference on 24 October 2025 and wrote an expert commentary for Asian Legal Business (ALB).

The conference was opened by Singapore’s Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong and coincided with Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s official visit to the city-state.

The event brought together government officials, legal practitioners, and business leaders from both countries. The theme that stood out throughout the conference was the importance for the business and legal communities in Singapore and China to bridge cultural barriers.

Acrostics Asia’s take on Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara’s planned issuance of “patriot bonds” was picked by LinkedIn News as one of the Top Perspectives.

💼 Brief Take: Danantara’s Patriotic Pitch

27 August 2025

• Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara has moved fast to build its capital structure.

• President Prabowo Subianto’s government is seeking to rekindle the patriotic spirit by asking local tycoons to buy Danantara’s low-yield bonds.

Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund Danantara has sounded out investors on a plan to raise IDR 50 trillion (USD 3.1 billion) by selling so-called patriot bonds at below-market yields, Bloomberg reported on 26 August 2025.

Eveline’s Take:

🔸 Half a year since it was officially established, Danantara has moved fast to build its capital structure. “National-scale projects demand diversified financing. Funds come not only from the dividends of state-owned enterprises, but also bank loans, co-investments with other investors, and many other possibilities,” the fund wrote in its “Danantara Diaries”.

🔸 I wrote in November 2024 that Danantara was designed to pool Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and leverage up to fund President Prabowo Subianto’s projects. Last month, Danantara appointed DBS, HSBC, Natixis, Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank to arrange a USD 10 billion unsecured loan, Reuters reported.

🔸 The drawdown of the loan is likely tied to specific projects and the fulfilment of the agreed conditions. While Danantara is set to tap SOE dividends to service the loan, I wrote in July that the fund would have to expand its base of lenders and construct a bridge to bonds for potential refinancing. However, I flagged that some offshore bondholders may ask tougher questions to Indonesian issuers including Danantara.

🔸 Enter the Indonesian tycoons. Danantara wrote in its diaries that even though the coupons of the patriot bonds are below market rates, the structure reflects the bond’s purpose. “It’s like impact-first funds: those willing to sacrifice returns if it pushes their cause forward. But impact investors understand that once the payoff arrives, it will dwarf the sacrifice.”

🔸 The concept of “gotong royong” – described by Danantara as “the tradition of communities working together toward a shared goal” – is not new. Former President Suharto once invited around 30 business leaders, including Salim Group’s late founder Liem Sioe Liong, to his Tapos ranch near Bogor in March 1990, according to a book authored by Richard Borsuk and Nancy Chng.

🔸 At the ranch (which included a cattle breeding station and a go-kart track), Suharto addressed the thorny subject of the widening income disparity in Indonesia and urged the tycoons to take concrete action to help narrow this gap, Borsuk and Chng wrote.

🔸 Three decades later, Indonesia’s current president who was Suharto’s son in law, Prabowo, is seeking to rekindle that patriotic spirit. The Indonesian government met a group of tycoons on 23 August to brief them about the bonds and some of them agreed to invest IDR 2 – 3 trillion (USD 122 – 183.5 million) each, The Straits Times reported.

Full Acrostics Asia Coverage

• 📚 Acrostics Anatomy: Danantara’s Genesis

• 📚 Acrostics Anatomy: Danantara’s Bridge to Bonds

• 🔮 Indonesian SOEs 2026 Outlook: Danantara

Indonesia’s Launch of Danantara

25 February 2025

Acrostics Asia’s Founder, Eveline Danubrata, was interviewed by BBC Chief Presenter Steve Lai about the launch of Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara.

These were some of the points that Eveline highlighted:

• Danantara – which was pitched as Indonesia’s version of Singapore state investor Temasek – aimed to consolidate state-owned assets and leverage them to fund President Prabowo Subianto’s projects.

• The scale of Prabowo’s ambitions and the speed at which he was trying to achieve them were hallmarks of his presidency, but he would likely have to balance his vision with the commercial reality.

• On paper, it made sense to consolidate the fragmented state assets and attract investments to grow the domestic economy. However, investors wouldn’t want Danantara to become a cash cow for political purposes.

China Evergrande

27 September 2023

Eveline made another appearance on the BBC Asia Business Report to speak about China Evergrande, one of the biggest developers at the epicenter of China’s deepening property turmoil.

These were some of the points that Eveline highlighted:

• The negative news on Evergrande would likely damage confidence even more and put a question mark over the company’s ability to generate fresh cash.

• If there was no cash coming in, everyone would essentially be fighting for a piece of a shrinking pie. The issue would be how to slice and dice it.

• Broadly speaking, there was a huge imbalance in China’s property sector, with massive oversupply and insufficient demand. This imbalance must be rectified for the Chinese economy to recover.

• To restore confidence, stakeholders must be assured that there was enough cash to go around. Otherwise, there would likely be a scramble for the developer’s remaining assets.

China Property Stress and Country Garden

15 September 2023

Eveline was interviewed by BBC Presenter Arunoday Mukharji about China’s property troubles and the liquidity crunch of major developer Country Garden.

These were some of the points that Eveline highlighted:

• The key ingredients for China’s recovery were to restore homebuyers’ confidence and improve the developers’ access to capital.

• The latest data showed that banks were still cautious about lending to the property sector. These banks preferred lending to state-owned developers that were seen as the safer companies.

• Country Garden’s creditors targeted its overseas assets to pursue recovery, but most of the project value was based on expected sales, which ultimately hinged on whether the developer could complete construction.

Acrostics Asia is an independent Asia credit intelligence provider that connects the dots across Asia’s credit markets.

5 December 2023

In Malaysia, Country Garden’s plan was to build an eco-friendly metropolis featuring a golf course, waterpark, offices, bars and restaurants. The company said Forest City would eventually be home to nearly one million people.

Eight years on, it stands as a barren reminder that you do not need to be in China to feel the effects of its property crisis. Currently, only 15% of the entire project has been built and, according to recent estimates, just over 1% of the total development is occupied.

“It’s a chicken and egg situation,” says Eveline Danubrata, from REDD Intelligence Asia. “A developer typically relies on pre-sales to help fund construction, but buyers won’t put their money in if they’re not sure whether they’ll get their apartment keys in the end.”

Court Gives Evergrande One Last Chance to Agree Debt Deal

30 October 2023

A Hong Kong High Court judge has given crisis-hit Chinese property giant Evergrande one last chance to come up with a new deal over its huge debts or face liquidation.

A winding-up hearing, initially scheduled for Monday, was adjourned to 4 December. Justice Linda Chan said it would be the last hearing before a decision is made.

Justice Chan said Evergrande had to come up with a "concrete" proposal otherwise it was likely the company would be wound up. A liquidator would still be able negotiate with creditors, she added.

“Even if offshore creditors manage to get Evergrande liquidated, the prospects of a recovery are still uncertain for them,” said Eveline Danubrata, Asia Managing Editor at REDD Intelligence.

“Most of Evergrande’s assets are in China. So the company will have to juggle multiple local stakeholders, including homebuyers, banks and government officials,” she added.

Acrostics Asia is an independent credit intelligence provider that connects the dots across Asian sovereigns, private credit and restructurings.