Edge S'pore vs Edge M'sia

Many blog readers in Malaysia and Singapore should also be reading Edge Malaysia or Singapore, but probably not both. In my current capacity, I get to read (have to read) both editions. Been biting my tongue for sometime but cannot-tahan already: have to say something. The Edge Singapore beats the shit out of The Edge Malaysia, hands down.

I wonder why, because the Singapore team is skeletal almost. A lot of credit must go to Assif Shameen, Sunita Sue Leng and Ben Paul for leading the content drive. (I guess I have to qualify that I do not know anyone at The Edge Singapore.) Here are my reasons:

Readability - Content has to be readable and digestable. As I am have been in investment for nearly half my life, I think I have decent investing experience. If I have trouble comprehending the thought-process of the writers or the gist of what they are trying to say, then a lot more readers should have trouble as well. Point A + Point B = Point C save for Point D. I have been reading both editions for the past year and a half, my readability ratings out of 10, Edge Malaysia 7/10, Edge S'pore 8.5/10.

Value Add Commentary - I d not want to be bashing up anyone as it is difficult to a good biz journalist, but page 6 (Random Thoughts) of Edge M'sia is totally wasted, and somebody please use another photograph for the column. Enough said. However, other columnists on both sides stack up quite well and most do appear in both editions. But owing to the irrelevant, inside-jokes-aside columns in Edge M'sia such as Random Thoughts and Coffee Break: Edge S'pore has my vote just slightly by virtue of having less irrelevant columnists. Edge Malaysia 8/10, Edge S'pore 8.5/10.

Market Pulse - As a biz weekly, it is very important to get at the market's pulse while at the same time appreciate the scheduling difficulty in getting articles onboard before the deadline. Edge M'sia tries harder. However Edge S'pore again gets my vote on overall attempt to get at the market's pulse. Just look at the announcements under COMPANIES, not only are snippets of corporate announcements delivered crisply, it has excellent value add commentary. Edge M'sia 8/10, Edge S'pore 9/10.

Look & Feel - If you have come across both, the M'sia edition is printed on quality soft card paper, doesn't rub off , but heavy like hell as they try to sell loads of adverts via various pullouts. Its like the LA Times Weekend Edition or Sun-Herald over the weekend, cumbersome. I prefer the S'pore edition anytime, light, glossy, colour pictures come out nicer. Edge M'sia 9/10, S'pore 9.5/10.

Stock Ideas/Tips - Edge M'sia does much better than its counterpart as I feel the Edge S'pore is way, way understaffed to do a decent coverage. Edge M'sia 9/10, Edge S'pore 7/10.

Macro Views - What I don't wish to see is too many syndicated articles as the bulk of the readers would have come across the same thing in other publications. Both could do better. Manu Bhaskaran's views are excellent, there should be more such type of views from regional economists and strategists. We don't need more gwailos sitting in Zurich or London telling us what's happening.

p/s my fav biz mags are Fortune and Business Week (Forbes is pathetic, and its Republican extreme-bias just kills off my interest in their biz articles)... it used to be I like Fortune a lot more than Business Week, but somehow the latter has improved markedly over the last 12 months to narrow the gap, well done Business Week...