Senior correspondent Joyce Lim's curiosity was piqued when she noticed that young Singaporeans were snapping up supercars.
"I began tracking prices and purchase schemes, and gained the trust of industry insiders who told me that more people are registering companies to buy supercars," said Ms Lim, who works at The Straits Times.
After digging deeper, she found a loophole that allowed buyers to get a bigger loan if they had registered a company before buying a car.
Her story ran in The Sunday Times last month, headlined "How to snag a supercar for just $38k".
For her work, Ms Lim received a Special Award in financial journalism yesterday at the 20th Investors' Choice Awards, hosted by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias.
In 2014, she was named Journalist of the Year in Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) English and Malay Newspapers Division's annual awards.
The Straits Times editor Warren Fernandez said of Ms Lim's win yesterday: "Joyce is one of our most enterprising reporters, with a well-honed knack for spotting a good story, chasing it relentlessly and telling it in a way that connects with readers."
Mr Fernandez, who is also editor-in-chief of SPH's English, Malay and Tamil Media Group, added: "She is a great asset to the ST newsroom, and we are thrilled that her work has been recognised with this special award."
Ms Lim was one of five SPH journalists who won awards yesterday.
The Business Times' senior correspondent Angela Tan was named Financial Journalist of the Year, while deputy news editor Kenneth Lim won Financial Story of the Year.
Chinese Media Group NewsHub's associate business editor Hu Yuanwen won the Investor Education Award, while business correspondent Lai Oi Lai won a Special Award.
Mr Lim had a scoop on the possible scrapping of the minimum trading price requirement for Singapore Exchange mainboard-listed companies. Ms Lai's award was for her reports on beleaguered water treatment company Hyflux.
SPH won a Singapore Corporate Governance Award in the diversity category, which recognises companies that have achieved high standards of corporate governance and supported aspects of board diversity, such as gender balance, experience and directors' backgrounds.
SPH chief executive Ng Yat Chung said: "A diverse board brings together a wider range of perspectives and insights for better decisions.
"Investors are increasingly placing more importance on board diversity as they recognise its contribution to a company's performance."
Aw Cheng Wei
