This week, the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or SIAS, celebrates its 20th anniversary with a series of commemorative events. In 1999, the group that now came to be known as SIAS was the voice that campaigned for the interests of more than 170,000 retail investors in Singapore who invested in stocks on the Malaysian-run Clob (an over-the-counter trading platform) and were left stranded after Malaysian authorities suddenly banned trading and implemented capital controls. Today, SIAS continues to serve retail investors in three main areas: investor education, championing investors’ rights (working things out with management in the boardroom, and not the courtroom) and encouraging good corporate governance among listed companies. To recognise excellence in these three areas,

Food Empire Holdings Limited (SGX: F03) is a branding and manufacturing company in the food and beverage sector. The group’s products include instant beverage products, frozen convenience food and snack food. Its products are exported to over 50 countries, and the group has eight manufacturing facilities with 24 offices worldwide. Food Empire has seen its share price climb more than 140% from a low of S$0.21 in early 2016 to the current S$0.50, giving the company a market capitalisation of around S$268 million. The group has seen its fair share of challenges as it is one of the few companies on the local bourse which was able to successfully penetrate the Russian market, and has been selling its proprietary MacCoffee and Petrovskaya Sloboda brands there for many years. Investors may