The Breakfast Grille

Nick Foley, president of President of Asia Pacific for global brand consulting firm Landor Associates, discusses the firm's involvement with the re-branding of Malaysia Airlines.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With commission rates coming down in stockbroking PhillipCapital believes that they can rise up to the challenge of maintaining profitability. In this Breakfast Grille, we also gain insights from the founder about the Asean Common Investment Scheme platform, their unlisted status, competition with big banks and robo-advisors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No stranger to the local automotive scene, Roland Folger who steered Mercedes-Benz Malaysia to be the market leader in the luxury segment will be taking a bow as he hands over the driving wheel to his successor. Roland shares the key mile-stones of the group, as it also takes on new challenges to be more efficient and navigating weak sentiment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helmed by the grandson of Genting's founder, Lim Goh Tong, Donaco has set up in borders towns in Vietnam and Cambodia to capture business from neighbouring countries, especially China. Joey Lim also talks about how the casino business model is evolving beyond gaming into cultural, entertainment and the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) activities. We find out how Donaco is exploiting this as well as dealing with other challenges. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Sarawak to Semenajung, whatever side of the political divide they are, young Malaysians are having to decide if they want to participate actively in re-imagining our nation’s political landscape. Today we speak to three young Malaysians, who having chosen to have a voice, must now learn to use a new vocabulary and grammar for politics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prudential BSN Takaful Malaysia is the market leader in family takaful, or Islamic insurance. We examine their business model, the Shariah governance on doing this business, and how they intend to use data analytics to improve their risk profile.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore-based startup, Page Advisor, wants to be the go-to app in connecting consumers to small- and medium-sized merchants. Fabian Lim shares the story of Page Advisor and how they plan to stand out amidst other startups offering similar services.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Camille Blackburn is a principal advisor to the Australian government in its Financial System Inquiry. She discusses what it takes to lay out a blueprint for the financial system for the next decade. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first woman Speaker ever of any state Assembly and its youngest, DAP’s Hannah Yeoh, speaks about good governance, being a Christian and her job in improving the quality of Selangor legislature. She picked-up the baton from her predecessor Teng Chang Khim who had pushed 2 initiatives: the  Assembly Services Commission Enactment Bill 2009 and the revival of local government elections in the state. We also asked her about the recent controversies involving extraordinary payouts to the staff of the former Menteri Besar as well as the Darul Ehsan Investment Group (DEIG).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ericsson was one of the worlds leading mobile phone makers. Today, they lead the way in being the world's largest telecommunications and network equipment maker, beating traditional champions like Nokia and Huawei. Find out how they plan to sustain their business amidst a changing telco landscape and how they plan to introduce new technology in the 'Internet of Things' space.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The electoral drubbing of the Liberal Democrats in recent UK polls suggests the decline of a party, which in the words of Lord Ashdown, is the only truly internationalist party. We speak to him about the future of global governance, violence in international relations and the rise of China. He presents us with the Liberal view of key contemporary issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Enra Group Berhad, previously known as Perduren Berhad, is aggresively looking to become the next company servicing the downstream of the oil and gas sector. We ask if this is the right time to enter this industry, and question how their existing business in the property sector will perform with their newly refocused attention in the gas sector. Also, we take a look at their intresting history, and see how this will guide them into building a sustainable business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Swedish automotive manufacturer of commercial vehicles, Scania, is a big name in Europe. But can it make a name for itself here in Southeast Asia? Marie Sjodin Enstrom, managing director of Scania Southeast Asia shares her plans for the Malaysian market.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aemulus Holdings Berhad is a tech startup that went from being a company solely funded by founders, to being a publicly listed company on the stock exchange. Backed by popular VC firm, Teak Capital, Aemulus is in the technology sector, and has large MNC chip maker clients. Listen to this grille where we ask CEO, Ng Sang Beng, on whether this is the right time to list, and also what their expectations are with regards to utilizing the proceeds they receive from this listing exercise.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Widely regarded as India's Father of IT, Narayana Murthy is the visionary founder of multi-billion dollar technology firm, Infosys. We discuss his vision for the future of the group, that is currently managed by new CEO Vishal Sikka. Mr Murthy also talks about the existing red-tape in the Indian tech ecosystem, as well as how economic and social reforms in India are essential for the nations future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hasan Azhari, the CEO of Invest Selangor, discusses the group's plans in providing a self-sustaining ecosystem & infrastructure for potential investors and how volatility has dampened sentiment.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Schulte has served as an analyst, advising global banks and governments like the White House, International Trade Commission and the National Security Council on economic & policy matters. Schulte discusses his concerns of a brewing revolution in our economy in his latest book 'The Next Revolution in our Credit-Driven Economy: The Advent of Financial Technology'.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oud, Gaharu, Agarwood. We refer to them by different names, but they are all the same: the 'liquid gold' that comes from the Aquilaria tree species. While the fragrance industry can be a lucrative business to do, we explore this with Steve Watts, the Asia Pacific CEO of Asia Plantation Capital on how they do conduct their business. Other areas discussed in this interview include regulatory relationship, proprietary knowledge in maximising yield from the business, and also supply chain management and retailing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Westerman, the Managing Director for Malaysia and Asia Pacific Emerging Markets for Ford Motors, discusses the impact of GST and the weaker ringgit on sales in Malaysia. He also shares Ford's experience in penetrating the emerging markets of Asia-Pac.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Xentral Methods Sdn Bhd manages e-Sentral.com, an e-bookstore. Faiz Al-Shahab, the co-founder and managing director of Xentral Methods, talks about the challenges in ensuring the sustainability of his business in Malaysia's nascent e-book industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thailand's former finance minister, Korn Chatikavanij, talks about the 'timeout' the country is currently undergoing, as the country is presently under military rule. He also talks about concrete steps on the return of democracy in Thailand, and how this will affect the Thai policy making process. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Junior Cho, Chief Executive Officer of Tune Insurance was with us this morning on The Breakfast Grille, and we discussed the outlook for travel insurance in the wake of the QZ 8501 tragedy, performance of its non Malaysia business, cutting dependence on its AirAsia parent and implication of Tune's parent tube group reducing its stakeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investment guru Dr. Marc Faber built his career and amassed a fortune on anticipating the rise & fall of stock markets. His outlook for the coming years has caused many industry insiders and central bankers to second-guess themselves. Dr. Faber shares his thoughts on where global markets are headed amidst the volatility we see.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us as we speak to Fonterra Brands, the world's largest dairy producer and processor. Fonterra carries household name brands like Anmum, Anlene, Fernleaf, and Anchor butter. Learn how they work as a New Zealand based co-operative and how they navigate trying times for the dairy industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Affin Hwang Capital is the investment banking arm of Affin Holdings. They are among the largest securities firms in the nation. Have a listen to their Group Managing Director, Maimoonah Hussain, explain their strategy to win quality clients by leveraging on their relationship with Daiwa Securities and how the Hwang merger has synergised their business outlook.Also, we take a look at the recent land acquisition by Affin Holdings at TRX and how this will be the new home of Affin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Themed Attractions Resorts and Hotels Sdn Bhd is a Khazanah unit handling theme parks like Legoland, Kidzania and Sanrio Hello Kitty Town. What are the conditions that make it acceptable for the government to invest into theme parks or even invest at all in the face of massive developmental spending needs?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lau Kin-Wai, Chief Executive Officer of the ASX, Australia--listed Fatfish Internet Group, talks about how his listed venture capital investment incubator is able to fund high-growth opportunities in ASEAN.  He discusses potential strategic investment targets, the value of Australia's public markets as a home for Asian tech listings, as well as exit strategy options, including the upcoming IPO of his ICandy subsidiary.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Puvanesan Subenthiran, CEO of Privasia Technology Bhd, the ACE Market-listed IT Services company, talks about diversifying away from its core ports and logistics software business and into the satellite and communications business. He also talks about the considerable challenges of a deteriorating ringgit, GST's introduction and the attendant management concerns of cashflow management, receivables management and sales origination.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eureeca is the first online equity crowdfunding platform, where investors become shareholders in the chosen SME. Sam Quawasmi, the managing director and co-founder of Eureeca discusses the benefits of this model of crowdfunding, and addresses the dilution fears of businesses. Eureeca has also just received regulatory approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia to provide its services here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For over 150 years, the Ceylon tea you thought you were drinking was not really Ceylon tea. It was instead this impure mix of leaves from various sources of poor quality and of poor taste. All of that would change with Merrill J Fernando and his company Dilmah. He would go up against big tea companies, insisting that tea be picked, packed and shipped direct from Sri Lanka by pickers themselves — ensuring that the Ceylon tea you were drinking was actually Ceylon tea.  The 85-year-old also claims that Fair Trade certification is the "biggest fraud perpetrated on consumers". Listen to this podcast to find out why. Mr. Merrill J Fernando spoke with us at the NHRC Malaysia SME Congress 2015.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are South Korean Chaebols or conglomerates a boon or bane to the economy. And can they get away with murder? Image Source: Peter Schrank, the EconomistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why haven't doctors themselves stored their children's cord blood? Are there truths to stem cell research? Are private cell banks better than public banks? How many cases have stem cell regeneration helped? New mothers, is it your right to store this?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georg Chmiel, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the iProperty Group, talks about building an ASEAN Internet property classifieds business, monetising the digital migration of ad dollars, foreign currency challenges and the possibility that Rupert Murdoch might buy the company overSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Danny Gladstone, CEO of the Australia-listed gaming machine and software producer Ainsworth Game Technology, talks about the ever-evolving nature of casino gaming and how his company now sees itself more as a software company that builds games for a global audience, a sea change from its early days of making slot machines and one-armed bandits. He also talks about its biggest markets of North and South America and the importance of complying with government regulation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BFM's Sharaad Kuttan talks to Lim Eng Chong, Managing Director of the Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers about the budding local art scene, and the profitability of art as an investmentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alternative financier Borro provides short-term loans secured by luxury assets such as fine art, classic cars, jewellery, antiques, fine wine, etc. Tom McDermott, Chief Commercial Officer of Borro discusses some of the more interesting assets used as collateral, and why the company’s wealthy clientele keep coming back for more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this July 2015 interview, Tan Sri Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron, the CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), discusses the challenges of having a viable domestic palm market with B10 (and B15 farther out) and why it is that Indonesia has progressed further and faster than Malaysia. He also talks about Malaysia's largest market -- Europe -- its anti-palm lobby, environmental challenges and benefits, ongoing relevance of sustainability standards and indeed the definition of 'Sustainability', as well as the current debate on worker rights and conditions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julian Ng talks to Malaysian Investor Relations Association (MIRA) Chairman, Steven Tan about how the profession has evolved to meet the increasing information demand by shareholders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experian describes to us what data analytics is, and how they use your data to train banks to be better in credit, analytics, and risk. Learn how Experian, a data science company do their job better, so people like you can do your banking better.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the construction arm of the Sunway Group, the group will relist on the Bursa Malaysia Main Market at possibly one of the most volatile fiscal years for Malaysia. It originally made its debut on Bursa in 1997,  but subsequently privatised in 2004.  Kwan Foh Kwai discusses with us how the construction sector has fared this year and the group's new phase of growth in the era. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Microlink talks to BFM on their role in the IT world, by supporting the banks in Malaysia. They also talk about their outlook on the future of banking in Malaysia and beyond.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vijayakumar Tangarasan, the country manager of Regus Malaysia discusses how the traditional workstyle is being transformed by technology, replaced by greater flexibility in terms of hours as well as working locations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been more than 100 days since the implementation of GST, but the teething problems of the new tax system is far from resolved. Yee Wing Peng of Deloitte and Datuk Subromaniam of Royal Malaysian Customs jointly discuss the current push-backs that are faced by various industries and steps to further broaden the tax base, as well as advancing the transparency of the new tax regime.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Berjaya Auto's Executive Director and CEO Dato' Sri Ben Yeoh, talks about the company's impressive sales and financial performance this year, helped by a slew of capable new models, affordable prices thanks to its use of local content and a weak Yen against the ringgit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Landmarks Berhad sold Sungei Wang Plaza some years back to channel resources into the Treasure Bay Bintan resort. As a relatively quiet island off Singapore and with a targetted 5,000 rooms in the first few phases of the 850-acre resort, bringing up Bintan to the public eye seems an uphill task. Does Landmarks have a few tricks up its sleeve?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plaza Premium is a home grown business which specialises in airport lounges. The business model on the surface looks solid because it is too costly for airlines to setup their individual lounges globally. But rising competition could come from more entertaining consumer electronics, free wifi and increasing vibrancy of airports in providing eateries, restroom facilities and entertainment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Advertising isn't what it was decades ago. How is the advertising world changing to meet new demands?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BFM talks to TS Global Network, Malaysia's premier satellite company on what they do for a living, and how they inadvertently support the entire nation's consumption on satellite usage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pestech International is one of the local EPC (engineering, procurement and commissioning) in power transmission lines. The hunger of Asean and the greater Asian region for electricity drives growth for Pestech but can its small balance sheet handle it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John McKendry, the country manager of Pfizer Malaysia, discusses the cost of product development, the so-called 'patent cliff', and how to repair the 'trust deficit' between Big Pharma and consumers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.