Da Vinci’s Singaporean founder in hot soup

First came damning reports by Chinese broadcaster CCTV that luxury furniture retailer Da Vinci manufactured their ‘imported’ Italian goods in China, sent them to Italy, and then brought them back again to obtain an ‘import certificate’.

Next came a chaotic press conference on July 13 where the Singaporean founder and CEO Doris Phua issued a press statement saying that all  furniture produced by her company are actually made in Italy. However, she was interrupted by an angry customer who “claimed that he had bought over 10 million RMB worth of furniture from DaVinci, and just wanted to know if he should believe the CCTV report or Da Vinci,” reported Shanghaiist. Read more

What’s Hot In China? Live from Shanghai – 19 Nov

What is the hottest now in China? Micro-blogging? Groupons? Find out more in this speakers session, LIVE from Shanghai! Brought to you by NUS Enterprise, Chinese Entrepreneurship Organisation Singapore and SHEN (NUS Overseas College students in Shanghai). Read more

Geeks On A Plane – 7 to 16 June

If you’ve been thinking of exploring the startup scene in Japan and China, check out Geeks On A Plane, a 10-day orientation tour of the Internet, Mobile and Gaming sectors in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. Organized by Web2Asia, The Founders Fund and Dave McClure, Geeks On A Plane will feature a crowd made up of international investors and technopreneurs. Read more