:00:10. > :00:19.What does it mean to be a woman in today's workforce? On International
:00:20. > :00:24.women's Day, we ask how Asia is faring. And meet the families who
:00:25. > :00:34.spend as much as a quarter of their income on their kids' education.
:00:35. > :00:39.Good morning, Asia, hello, world. Glad you could join us for Asia
:00:40. > :00:43.Business Report. It is Wednesday, I am Rico Hizon. This year, for
:00:44. > :00:49.International Women's Day, the call is to be bowled for change. But what
:00:50. > :00:55.does that mean for business and government? -- bold. What changes
:00:56. > :00:59.would make the world a better place, and work towards equality. We have
:01:00. > :01:04.been talking to women across the region about the challenges they are
:01:05. > :01:10.facing today. Definitely the pay packet has to change. That is where
:01:11. > :01:16.the discrimination comes in. They need to prove themselves 100% at
:01:17. > :01:20.home and 100% in the office so basically every single day they are
:01:21. > :01:24.proving themselves 200%. TRANSLATION: The biggest problems
:01:25. > :01:27.are when your child's School drop-off powers and pick up ours
:01:28. > :01:31.don't fit your work hours. TRANSLATION: Now the world has
:01:32. > :01:34.changed a lot. Women can help themselves, take care of themselves
:01:35. > :01:40.and their families. Because we all have equal rights now. Women have
:01:41. > :01:45.become stronger. They can earn as much as men, or even more than men.
:01:46. > :01:51.TRANSLATION: Women are at a disadvantage in the workplace. Men
:01:52. > :01:57.can pursue their career without taking care of others, but I think
:01:58. > :02:01.women are more stressed than men. TRANSLATION: The biggest challenges
:02:02. > :02:05.that I don't want to work. I want to stay home looking after my kid, but
:02:06. > :02:09.I can do nothing about it. I have to go to work. Every week and my it
:02:10. > :02:14.asked me to accompany him one more day, but I have to say sorry, I had
:02:15. > :02:19.to work and earn money. It is the most awkward situation. For more on
:02:20. > :02:24.women's writes, I spoke with the chairman of Shell in Singapore and
:02:25. > :02:28.asked if there is gender equality in her company. Oil and gas sector,
:02:29. > :02:32.there is a perception that there is some gender inequality there. But
:02:33. > :02:36.the oil and gas sector, because it is very conscious about the role of
:02:37. > :02:41.women in our sectors, there is a lot of effort put in to ensure that
:02:42. > :02:44.there is gender equality at all levels of the organisation. And
:02:45. > :02:50.before joining Shell you were at Procter Gamble and IBM, really
:02:51. > :02:56.large, multinational companies. Have you really seen an improvement in
:02:57. > :03:02.terms of women's rights and gender equality over the decades? Most
:03:03. > :03:06.generally, I don't want a repeat how many years I have been in the
:03:07. > :03:10.workforce but over the decades I have seen improvements. And what has
:03:11. > :03:14.happened is there is a lot more consciousness in the benefits of
:03:15. > :03:19.gender equality. You mean consciousness in terms of benefits,
:03:20. > :03:23.gender equality. Is this only for multinational companies? How would
:03:24. > :03:27.you compare that to local companies? Well, in terms of local companies
:03:28. > :03:32.that is an interesting question. I have spoken to entrepreneurs who as
:03:33. > :03:36.they have kids growing up, they have daughters, and this is when the
:03:37. > :03:41.consciousness comes in around the need for us to create equal
:03:42. > :03:46.opportunities, regardless of gender. In fact, regardless of race,
:03:47. > :03:50.nationality. Being the boss of a big company, if there is an open
:03:51. > :03:54.position for a job in your company, do you make sure that there is a
:03:55. > :03:58.woman in the short list? Oh yes, definitely. We have found some
:03:59. > :04:02.interesting things in that simple things such as the way we describe
:04:03. > :04:09.jobs has to be gender neutral. That would attract women, and women at
:04:10. > :04:12.times self select themselves out of jobs because there are descriptions
:04:13. > :04:19.in their that could be unfriendly for women. Be bold for change is the
:04:20. > :04:23.theme this year. What do you think other major challengers, briefly? Be
:04:24. > :04:26.bold for change, I think one thing companies need to do is lots of
:04:27. > :04:32.discussion about targets, quotas, and do we do it, do we not set the
:04:33. > :04:35.targets? That is what I would say. Be bold for change, one of them
:04:36. > :04:42.would be companies set the targets for genders. The chairman of Shell
:04:43. > :04:47.in Singapore. Moving to other business news making headlines,
:04:48. > :04:51.Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE will be paying more than 1 billion
:04:52. > :04:54.US dollars and pleading guilty to criminal charges for violating
:04:55. > :04:59.sanctions against Iran and North Korea. The company is accused of
:05:00. > :05:03.buying US components, putting them into ZTE equipment, and then
:05:04. > :05:09.illegally shipping them to those two countries. Brazil's economy
:05:10. > :05:13.contracting by 3.6% in 2016. The country has been in recession for
:05:14. > :05:18.two years, and the economy is now eight cents smaller than it was in
:05:19. > :05:22.December 20 14. Once one of the fastest-growing emerging economies
:05:23. > :05:28.in the world, Brazil was hit by a downturn in global commodity
:05:29. > :05:32.markets, and a political crisis which has undermined investor
:05:33. > :05:37.confidence. In India's dig cities about 85% of primary school children
:05:38. > :05:41.and up to 95% of high school kids attend extra classes after school to
:05:42. > :05:46.help boost their chances of getting into university. But the classes
:05:47. > :05:55.cost money, and for some households, it is a strain. And stress. As part
:05:56. > :05:59.of our 'S list of Kids series, we met two families who are doing the
:06:00. > :06:02.best they can for their children, regardless of the cost -- Business
:06:03. > :06:44.of Kids. TRANSLATION: If our kids come home
:06:45. > :06:49.after school, they waste time watching television and they become
:06:50. > :06:53.lazy. However, if they go for extra lessons, their knowledge increases.
:06:54. > :07:06.That is why we spend money and send our kids for these classes.
:07:07. > :07:12.TRANSLATION: It is important to send children for extra lessons, because
:07:13. > :07:21.in school there are about 30 kids in each class.
:07:22. > :07:30.When I was in school, in the 1960s and went into college in the 1970s,
:07:31. > :07:34.if you got a first class, my parents went about the tubing suites.
:07:35. > :07:40.Because it was a big deal that you got a first class, which meant 60%
:07:41. > :07:44.and above. Now, if you get 80, the parents behave like there is a
:07:45. > :07:51.definite family. Hence this absolute need to get your kids extra
:07:52. > :07:54.coaching, to penetrate that glass ceiling. Hence this frenetic crush
:07:55. > :08:20.that is there. And hence the boom. Extra tuition can really be
:08:21. > :08:23.expensive. The cost of renting an office in Hong Kong is apparently
:08:24. > :08:28.now three times higher than the cost here in Singapore. And the two are
:08:29. > :08:32.Asia's most competitive cities but when it comes to the property
:08:33. > :08:36.market, Hong Kong is in another league. So is this bad news for the
:08:37. > :08:41.city and the businesses headquartered there? I asked
:08:42. > :08:46.Nicholas Holt, a property expert, why rents are that high when the
:08:47. > :08:50.economy is slowing. Hong Kong rents continue to defy expectation but I
:08:51. > :08:55.think we need to define what were talking about here. Because we are
:08:56. > :09:01.really talking about premium office space just in Central, on Hong Kong
:09:02. > :09:04.island. If we go outside Central, rents drop significantly. If we go
:09:05. > :09:11.east to places like Quarry Bay, rents are half or one third of the
:09:12. > :09:14.price. With Hong Kong almost three times higher than those in
:09:15. > :09:19.Singapore, is the spread boosting Singapore's appeal as a regional
:09:20. > :09:25.headquarters, vis-a-vis Hong Kong? Certainly for many corporations
:09:26. > :09:28.looking for headquarters within the Asia-Pacific region, really you
:09:29. > :09:32.would be looking at Hong Kong or Singapore. Perhaps Shanghai but more
:09:33. > :09:36.likely Hong Kong or Singapore. The very attractive rents in Singapore,
:09:37. > :09:40.the lifestyle, the collectivity, all the things that Singapore offers
:09:41. > :09:44.provides quite an attractive package. The market has been slow in
:09:45. > :09:48.Singapore, but we do believe, long-term, a lot of multinationals
:09:49. > :09:54.will continue to choose Singapore given its geography and its
:09:55. > :09:57.favourable offers conditions. Asia property expert Nicholas Holt
:09:58. > :10:03.speaking to us from Beijing. Let's have a quick look at Asian stock
:10:04. > :10:07.markets. As you can see, all in the red, all slipping into negative
:10:08. > :10:11.territory after US equities declined overnight. Tokyo opening slightly
:10:12. > :10:15.lower, with investors cautious ahead of a key US jobs report later this
:10:16. > :10:22.week and an upward revision in Japanese data failing to spur buying
:10:23. > :10:26.in the markets. The Hang Seng also in the red, together with the All
:10:27. > :10:31.Ordinaries index. Thank you for investing your time with us. I am
:10:32. > :10:35.Rico Hizon. Sport Today is coming up next.