📰 Weekly Roundup (13-19 Jan 2026): Connecting the Circuit | Indonesian SOE State of Play | Hong Kong’s Office Upturn | Indonesia’s Textile SOE | Singapore’s Rental Car Wreck | Bright Spot #11
Weekly newsletter
Dear Valued Contacts,
In a world of information overload, one of the most common questions I’ve heard is paradoxically “What does it mean?”
This is because volume doesn’t necessarily translate to clarity, especially if the news comes in fragments without context.
“What will happen next?” is another question that people tend to ask – and answering that often requires connecting the dots across domains.
Indonesia’s mission to turn around its flag carrier is a prime example of why this approach matters.
Financial: Garuda Indonesia was squeezed from all sides – balance sheet, income and cashflow – by aircraft leases and maintenance.
Legal: The stakes are higher now because the airline had gone through a local in-court restructuring (PKPU) and risks being filed into bankruptcy in Indonesia if it breaches this agreement.
Operational: Garuda faces a long wait time for both planes and components because the aircraft supply chain hasn’t caught up with the post-pandemic recovery.
Political: President Prabowo Subianto ordered Danantara to save the national symbol, so the sovereign fund will have to find a way to make it work.
I spent most of last year building a verifiable file of forward-looking insights across Asia’s credit markets. Then I expanded the grid to include a website and a growing Substack distribution.
The next phase for Acrostics Asia is to build more collaborations.
What I have in mind is something like a lattice where signal can reach the end users, regardless of whether it comes from an individual or an institution. Unlike a fixed structure, this should be more flexible to create a win-win for everyone involved.
Apart from writing my takes and curating the news, I’ll be working towards these collabs over the coming weeks.
On the news front, I wrote an integrated analysis that should help you to make sense of Indonesia’s SOE landscape and anticipate what lies ahead, instead of having to decipher various news fragments.
📚 Acrostics Anatomy: Indonesian SOE State of Play
Danantara gave loans to flag airline Garuda Indonesia, steel maker Krakatau Steel and pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma.
Danantara can transfer some dividends from the healthier SOEs to support their ailing peers, but this is like a whirlpool unless the fund can get third-party capital.
Concerns about Indonesia’s widening deficit risk pushing up borrowing costs for Danantara in the international markets.
Acrostics Asia has rolled out a new format: Brief Takes on several news items in one go. I’ll still be writing longer analyses either as a Quick Take or Acrostics Anatomy, but sometimes a few concise paragraphs of commentary should be enough for busy, time-starved readers.
💼 Brief Takes: HK Office Upturn | Indonesia’s Textile SOE | Singapore’s Rental Car Wreck
Office leasing activities in Hong Kong seem to be picking up in certain pockets.
Indonesia plans to set up a new textile SOE but it’s unclear if this state venture will be more competitive than private enterprises.
Autobahn drivers may not get their deposits back in the Singapore rental group’s liquidation.
I created Bright Spot – a curated collection of good news – after getting feedback from a friend that my newsletters depressed her because they were full of defaults, disputes and debt restructurings.
Eleven editions later, Bright Spot has become a fixed feature at Acrostics Asia. I’ve also expanded it to include On the Move, which tracks recent appointments and other moves in the industry.
Citi Expands Australia Syndication Team
Eloise Matsui is IWIRC Chair for 2026
Gino Bello and Anna Bleazard Join Secretariat
Vanessa Capdevielle Sets Up Octopus Advisory
I welcome feedback as always – and feel free to share your updates with me. Have a good week ahead!
Best,
E