03/02/2014 Asia Business Report

week old baby boy has been charged with his murder. Katarzyna Gacek,

who's 24 and from Oldham, was arrested after her son Thomas died

of serious head injuries last Monday. Now on BBC News all the

latest business news live from Singapore. The Thailand elections

disrupted by protesters leaving millions unable to vote. Will this

cast the country into political limbo? As millions of people

celebrate Chinese New year we look at and best predictions for the year

of the course. -- investment predictions. The tech -- we kick off

Thailand which held elections on Sunday. Despite the boycott from the

Opposition party, the electoral commission could tally the results

after anti-government protesters forced dozens of polling stations to

shut down, affecting half a million voters. We spoke to an expert and

asked if we could see an evolution to this three-month long conflict?

Coming out of yesterday, the good part there was no violence. We are

not looking at a military coup. What the Opposition is hoping for is a

judicial coup. They hope either the Constitutional Court comes in

through the election commission and declares the vote invalid or the

corruption commission proceeds with corruption allegation against the

Prime Minister and other Thai politicians. With those two options

you have put on the table, how will investors perceive this? They will

seek it as gridlock and a slow down for a while. The best opposition

they have now is that it is awaiting game. In three or six months, they

hope protest fatigue sets in. As the fatigue sets in, as the next

by-elections to fill the previous seats that could not vote, that is

the best friend of the government. With more political gridlock will

investors remain on the sidelines or will they see this in as an

opportunity to come in and look into the Thai economy and investment

opportunities over a more longer period of time? There is a milestone

they need to see within the next two weeks. If the corruption commission

comes in the next two weeks and says they will prosecute union

specifically over corruption issues, think things get worse for a little

while. More uncertainty sets in. We need to wait for that milestone

first before major action either positive or negative happens for

investors in tidal and. The Indian airlines sector has seen a jump in

bookings after slashing fares for domestic travel. The fairs cup a

time when many of the domestic airlines are running at massive

losses. -- domestic airlines. Gearing up for a holiday, this woman

is searching for hotels in -goer where she will be flying for a long

weekend with a friend in March. Last week she had no answer going a short

break. Then she saw that airlines were selling tickets at a huge

discount and she could not resist. The Flash sale is the reason I am

going away. I would love to go every weekend. If you take a train or bus

you waste a lot of time travelling. You have two plan and make your

booking is because those tickets have become very expensive now.

Thousands of ticket -- Travelers booked ticket recently. Online

travel portals is a bookings on some routes trebled during the same

period. But can Indian airlines afford to offer tickets at such low

prices? In 2013, the compliance loss of all domestic Indian airlines was

$4 billion. Why are they offering such huge discounts of a not making

profits? Every year between January and March school and university down

season. That means more people fly within the country. By offering

cheaper tickets, airlines hope they can tempt passengers and Phil Waugh

aircraft seats than they normally would. And he already has five

national domestic carriers. The Asia and Singapore airlines are also

planning to start flights within India this year. But the traffic has

been growing at a modest place every year. Most Indian airlines are

struggling to get money because of lower fares and higher taxes and

operational costs. Globally, aviation has been a notoriously

difficult industry to make money and squeezing every dollar out of

passengers helps the chances of a carrier. But the recent ticket sale

and the arrival of new airlines and the market means India will note

doubt see more airfare battles in 2014. Markets in China and Hong Kong

remain shut for the lunar New year celebrations. It is year the force.

It is a popular tradition -- it is a popular ritual to get your fortune

told. -- course. We talked about the thing Shui index which predict

investment trends for the year. This year it is the year of the horse. It

has a strong presence of fire. This year with the market going pretty

strong. We will see markets go galloping higher? Especially for the

first half. The second half will be a little bit galloping, little bit

of volatility. Which particular companies will do well in the year

of the horse? Sectors like wood and fire sectors. Companies in fashion,

retail software model to as well as Internet technology and telco

companies. Which particular companies will underperform? From

the Feng shui perspective, companies for property, construction and

resources will be more cautious. Your report predicts that the

Japanese Prime Minister will not only turn on the nuclear power

stations but he will confirm reports the nation is pursuing nuclear

weapons. How the jaw Feng shui index arrived at this prediction? Remember

the Feng shui index is quite lighted predictions. The Japanese Prime

Minister is a workhorse. We predict he will have a challenging year. At

the same time, the year of the course is a year of fire. They will

first drive the market but fire, combined with the yang metal could

indicate a new form of energy. We are also looking forward to nuclear

but from a geopolitical position, we are not advocating he do any of

this. Another common sight during the Chinese New year, lion dance

groups which are believed to bless businesses with good fortune. A busy

season for them with many companies wishing to pay as much as $4000 for

their services. We caught up with a popular dance group in Malaysia. The

Chinese lion dance rings good fortune to businesses. Over the

years, they have perfected it into a craft. This is one of the top lion

dance troupes in the country and they are going to do some incredible

acrobatics with two lines. Sitting next to me is one of the lion heads.

You can see his pants. These are the legs of the lion. A lot of people

are very excited and they are drawn to them all to watch this

performance. You excited to see the Lions? By? The line dance is

amazing. I hope they will bring me good luck. Cost of living is going

up, Chinese New year is like Christmas, a lot of people spend

money, have you held back on your spending? Somewhat. This year I

spent less than previous years. It is more towards, how do you put it,

family not spending money. How much less are you spending? I have cut

about 50%. Have businesses held back on hiring lion dancers? Yes. Because

they are cutting the Budget. They review things like that. This

particular performance lasted for 15 minutes and cost over $1000. If that

sounds like a lot of money, consider how the people they attract it to

the maul to watch this particular performance. This is also seen as a

blessing for businesses in the shopping maul. For this year when

people are cutting back on spending, businesses want as much luck and

fortune as they can get. It was Jennifer in Malaysia. A quick look

at the markets, Asian stocks are struggling in mid-morning trade

after a report released after the weekend showed Chinese factory

growth fell to a six-month low in January. With investors watching for

slow economic data.