The Breakfast Grille

Aspen Group is a young, ambitious company which will spearhead the Bandar Cassia development in Batu Kawan worth RM8b in GDV. The company wants to make a name in affordable housing. They address this by using Batu Kawan to meld new land with proximity to employment centres. A transportation blueprint is key for this purpose but that seems to be lacking in Batu Kawan at this point. The spotlight would also be Aspen's ability to execute given their very short track record.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On his second visit to strengthen relations between our two countries with a focus on education, trade and Islamic finance, Britain's Minister for Asia also had to engage with his counterpart on less than comfortable issues of concern like the jailing of Federal opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the Sedition Act and general questions of human rights. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Mahender Singh, CEO of Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation or MISI comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about its mission to develop and disseminate innovation in the realm of the supply chain and logistics.However, the global situation never remains static, so we ask him about the changing face of the supply chain, how factors like e-commerce and 3D printing changes things and what is the strategy in the face of black swans.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Some of the statements in the book would also make uncomfortable reading both for those in power and in the political opposition,” says one reviewer. Now a bestseller, Muhammad’s book takes on many common perceptions about the question of inequality and related policies like the New Economic Policy. But the real strength and contribution of the book is in the new research as well as an insistence to think more deeply about inequality beyond income.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Axis REIT believes that their status as a syariah compliant investment does not restrict their economic potential. Sukuk funding costs are comparable to conventional funding and readily available. Compliant assets are in abundance. In the scheme of things, this will be reflected in long term DPU (dividend per unit) growth which had been for 2014 lower than the likes of KLCC Stapled Reit, IGB Reit etc.Given the challenges in economic conditions, it is also going to be interesting how the focus on industrial and logistics will pan out growth-wise. In this vein, watch out for rental revisions for the over 40% of tenancy coming up for renewal over the next 2 years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After the mapping of the human DNA by the Human Genome Project, MGRC saw the need to fill what they believed was going to be a huge market in analytics. Even the government has high hopes in this area with a target of 15% contribution to GDP coming from the Bioeconomy. 40 patents and a few loss-bleeding years later, MGRC is beginning to see signs of profitability. The need to achieve greater investor understanding of the field of genetics is probably manifested in its poor share price performance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysians usually have a jaded reaction when it comes to big policies from the government: think Proton, Vision 2020, NEP, 1Malaysia etc. The intentions of the Bioeconomy Transformation Programme in raising employment and spurring growth are good but it should be another one of those areas receiving high scrutiny, not least due to the huge incentives given to the sector. We catch up with Dato Dr Nazlee on the achievements and prospects of the BTP.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us from Digi on the Breakfast Grille are its CEO Lars-Ake Norling and COO Albern Murty, who will take over the mantle of CEO from April 1. Digi is the third largest telco in the country with net profit for 2014 coming in at RM2 billion on the back of RM7 billion in revenue. However, Lars was appointed CEO just in August, hence his departure just six months later has raised eyebrows. Albern will be the first Malaysian CEO to head the telco, whose major shareholder is Norway''s Telenor. Albern takes over at a challenging time for the telcos as they switch from legacy services to data, so we ask about transition teething problems, the heavy expectations on both men's shoulders and the challenge of their former CEO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jakob Angele, head of business development for food delivery service, Foodpanda comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about its latest acquisition trail.Foodpanda states its ambitions as being the main food delivery platform, giving established names an additional delivery channel while giving a presence to those without a website. Most recently it announced the acquisition of competitor Room Service, inorganically expanding its footprint.We talk about whether Foodpanda has bitten off more than it can chew, the new markets it has broken into and whether there is more on the horizonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We discuss whether things like social safety nets, minimum wages, affirmative action policies and even protectionism are at odds with the quest for competitiveness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Piti Pramotedham, Executive Chairman and CEO of Kronologi Asia comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the growth prospects for the company following its listing on the ACE market last year. Kronologi, which had its start in Singapore, is in the business of providing enterprise data management (EDM) solutions, offering customers backup, storage, and recovery services for digital data. He talks about diversifying the company's business, what it hopes to accomplish going forward as well as the markets Kronologi is eyeing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CTOS provides data for assessing one's credit standing. On the one hand, this raises discomfort about privacy and freedoms. But on the other, information about credit quality protects the financial and banking system. It also speeds up the application process for financial products. Yet another concern is whether monopolistic tendencies and a dominant credit report agency would open other cans of worms.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

His Excellency Dr Makio Miyagawa, ambassador of Japan to Malaysia comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about building on the already steady relationship between the two countries.He also talks about how to grow trade between Malaysia and Japan, how Abenomics has been the game changer for many, and Japan's ambitious 20 million tourist target leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He also discusses Japan's perceived soft power push, which included its Cool Japan programme, and the difficulties in implementing structural reform in the land of the rising sun.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Undeterred by the repercussions of the oil price crash, Prinsiptek is soldiering on further into construction and property development. Having survived a major rights issue and share cancellation exercise with a price crash, investors will now ask the question of how the company will position itself against the big players who have the economic clout even in Prinsiptek's niches like affordable housing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jim Bujold, President of Honeywell South East Asia comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about growing its presence in this part of the world.Honeywell, which made its name in thermostats, is in present day a well-known conglomerate in US with headquarters based in New Jersey. For Honeywell Malaysia, the company is chiefly involved in the aerospace, avionics and automation services. We talk about the challenges of growing in SEA amid the current climate and what will drive the company going forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The falling oil prices have had a huge impact on the already struggling Venezuela economy, as oil accounts for more than 95% of its exports and 50% of the Goverment’s fiscal revenue. Analysts say for every $1 drop in oil prices, Venezuela will lose $700 million in export revenue. His Excellency Manuel Guzman, the Venezuelan ambassador to Malaysia, is on the Breakfast Grille. He talks about, among others, the future of the country amid falling crude prices, how Venezuela plans to use its new position on the UN Security Council, and potentially normalising relations with the US.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Both lifestyle aspirations and concern for fitness have expressed themselves into to the growth of gym memberships. Fitness First taps into both nicely with their comprehensive and premium offering. They have aggressive expansion plans which need funding. There is also at the margins rising competition no-frills concepts. But Simon Flint believes that the enlargement of the fitness pie is good for all operators.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eg Kah Yee, founder and chairman of Palette Multimedia Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the company's turnaround plan. Palette's business is as a solution provider of broadband, wireless and networking products and services. However, this ACE-listed market has been loss-making for the past six years, and now is banking its hopes on its mobile healthcare cloud system. So we ask him about bringing the company back to the black, its progress on its new system and whether it is a mistake to put all your eggs in one basket.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A career diplomat, Ajit Singh become Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, at a time of double-digit growth and tremendous optimism. He was the first to have a ministerial rank, unlike his predecessors with ambassadorial status; a development championed by Malaysia’s foreign minister. We speak to Ajit about the challenges that presented themselves during his tenure - Myanmar’s inclusion in the grouping, China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea, and the perennial question of Asean cohesion - some of which continue till today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite what we know about online-disrupting businesses and budget travel, the low-cost revolution actually began in the 70s when John Bogle conceptualised and pioneered the index fund. Today Vanguard has funds that charge only 0.05% as management fee with no sales cost and provide decent market returns to investors made possible by the passive investment philosophy. This is a stark contrast to high-cost funds where fees are a big portion of returns (or losses). We find out whether indexing will continue to have a future in a world dominated by trading and volatility.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E-commerce is set to take off given that it is currently only a small portion of the US$500b retail spending in Asean. How are online shopping websites going to emulate the trust and touch and feel aspects of brick and mortar shopping especially in an environment of high cybercrime and fraud? Enter websites like trustedcompany.com which seek to plug the online reputational gap.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Chang, the founder and CEO of Jobstreet comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about life for the company after it sold its online employment business to Australian-based Seek Ltd. Last year Seek, which is Australia's biggest online jobs ads company, said it would buy the remaining shares it did not own in Jobstreet's core business for RM1.73 billion. We ask Mark what is the latest concerning the acquisition, and more importantly, what lies ahead post-Seek.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, talks to us about how well the idea of happiness sits in this competitive world. Related to that are questions of whether capitalism is ethical when seen in the light of grave inequalities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Top diplomat Professor Mahbubani is renowned among intellectual and inner circles having served as President of the United Nations Security Council. He shares his views of the potential for Asean as an economic bloc and the creeping extremism we see in the region today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Simpanan Nasional, set up by an Act of Parliament in 1974, continues with the social objective of raising savings rates and savings awareness among schoolchildren and the young. A system of registered banking agents has also been launched for a few years to bring banking services to rural areas. These created a win-win situation which allowed BSN to raise deposits cheaply, fulfil social objectives and bring customer traffic to these agents. But in a very competitive banking landscape, is this enough?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Datuk Abdul Hak Amin, managing director of EA Technique (M) Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to discuss the future of his company post-listing. EA, which went, public just over a month ago, is mainly an owner and operator of marine vessels. The group has an orderbook of around RM1.2 billion, but the share price has been sluggish since its debut on concerns of oil. So we ask about EA saying that it is unfazed by the oil situation and what else it has in the pipeline to grow the business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Datuk Dr Chin Yew Sin, in his capacity as Secretary General of ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Promotion Association comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the relationship between the two parties and how it could develop. Established in 2010, the main aim of the Association is to extend the economic and trade cooperation between ASEAN and China and build a platform for interaction between the two parties. We ask about the relationship between the two amid the changing global economic landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melisa Idris speaks to Dato’ Charon Mokhzani, Managing Director of Khazanah Research Institute, as they dissect the institute’s State of Households report, which sets out some of the most pressing issues regarding household income, wages, housing, and debt.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster, Dr David Suzuki, breaks down in tears, as he talks about his fears over the future of the planet for his grandchildren. Suzuki also voices his long-time frustration at the obsession for economic growth at the sacrifice of nature, while urging us all to strive for better quality of life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Masers finds itself in the almost utopic situation of being in the business of renewable energy and ultra high broadband speeds. All this being done at reasonable pricing which for all intents and purposes is disruptive. We look into the viability of these businesses especially since the oil price crash makes renewables less competitive as an energy source. Also, will the availability of cheap and fast broadband face retaliatory actions by current playersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Chin, the group executive director for Minetech Resources Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the company's prospects as it attempts to streamline its business. Minetech is in the business of mining and civil engineering, but has been loss-making for the past two financial years. We ask Matt about the the return path to profitability and query him about the active trading surrounding the company's counter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WordPress which powers 22 percent of the world’s top 10 million websites is one of the world market leader in the web-publishing industry. Matt Mullenweg shares how the group is making the web a better place and his idea for an independent web making each site unique and originalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reckless bank activity leading up to the global financial crisis of 2008 resulted in great hardships that affected lives of ordinary people. Too-big-to-fail banks, by now cliches, that held the economy at ransom put the spotlight on the adequacy of the regulatory framework and indeed capitalism itself. In Lord Turner's words, "the financial crisis had challenged the intellectual assumptions on which previous regulatory approaches were largely built", It remains to be seen whether tighter regulation that framed things like Basel III and the Volcker rule will do the job of preventing another crisis and its related human fallouts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Headquartered in Singapore, Milaap is changing how social enterprise works through crowd-funding with its online fund-raising platform that enables people around the world to fund and impact communities that they care about. Sourabh Sharma shares the missions of the organisation and how its contributions is channelled directly to those in need whilst keeping its operations self-sustaining. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final episode of our Breakfast Grille round-up for 2014, we look into tech-related and new economy grilles that we have done for the year. Most memorably, we have seen tech players like Uber riling up the industry and even drawing the eye of our local transport regulators SPAD. We also dissect concepts like crowd funding which is no longer the domain of Silicon Valley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the second episode of our Breakfast Grille round-up for 2014, we look into oil & gas related grilles that we have done for the year. Current oil prices is pushing the industry to the brink and corporations are feeling the pain. Liaw Thong Jung shares his insights how long the nation can sustain the rout.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the first episode of our Breakfast Grille round-up for 2014, we look into property-related grilles that we have done for the year. The property industry was laden with government measures and policies as issues like affordable housing and curbing speculation come to the fore. Siva Shanker shares his insights of how the industry has performed for the year and its outlook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tan Yew Sing, first vice president of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the ups and downs of the Malaysia-China relationship. The MCCC aims to promote interaction, cooperation and investment, among others, between Malaysia and China. Currently MCCC's membership stands at 1,400 corporate members. Given that China is Malaysia's largest trading partner, we ask about the relationship between the two countries, how the current corruption crackdown impacts business and what more can be done to strengthen ties.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today CEOs are are increasingly likened to national leaders as their organisations command a sizeable part of the global economy with a GDP contribution of tiny nations. Linda shares the leadership challenges in the Asian context and also contrast it against local Malaysia power structures with your titles and honorifics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ian Angell CEO for Tamarind Energy comes on the Breakfast Grille to answer the question as to who Tamarind is. Tamarind Energy came into the spotlight when it formed a US800 million partnership Blackstone Energy partners to focus on oil and gas exploration in South East Asia. Private equity firm Blackstone needs no introduction so we ask Tamarind about the partnership, what are the conditions attached and given the current weakness in the oil and gas sector, the sheer challenges looming ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With pharmaceuticals playing such a big role in healthcare, innovation is a key focus for Novartis. But how are the high R&D costs paid for given that a lot of these disease-curing drugs are too expensive for the poor? We also discuss the controversial pharma clauses in the TPPA as well as the ethics of drug marketing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ecuador lies almost half way around the world, and is the 11th largest trading partner that Malaysia has in Latin America. Its turn towards Southeast Asia is part of it re-orientation away from its traditional markets and political partners of the United States of America and Europe. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty or ALBA-TCP by its Spanish acronym is an opportunity for Malaysian businesses. We exploreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his blog, former New Straits Times chief recently called on the Prime Minister to speak plainly about the country’s economy. It was the latest in a series of trenchant criticisms of the PM Najib Razak’s performance and style. Claiming that Najib’s “presidential” style has put him at odds with traditionalists in the party who value a consultative approach. For Kadir, Najib is likely to be unchallenged going into the 14th General Election but not necessarily with positive results for the ruling coalition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The international NGO known for its infamous sting operations to expose corruption and human rights abuses kept Malaysians engrossed with its revealing footage of the state of corruption in Sarawak. Established in 1993, the NGO has since grown in size from its early environmental causes and is now tackling wider issues within the global financial system to end corporate anonymity and use of shell companies to channel illicit funds. Patrick Alley shares how the organisation has evolved and if Malaysia is still on its watch list. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tan Sir Megat Najmuddin, joins us on the Breakfast Grille in his capacity as President of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance. Established in March 1998, MICG is a neutral non-profit body with a mandate to raise the awareness and practice of good corporate governance in Malaysia. Today is World Anti-Corruption Day so we ask Tan Sri about the state of corporate governance in Malaysia as well as his first role in the MACC. We ask about war on corruption and what battles we have won and the battles where we still need to soldier on. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The crowdfunding platform democratises funding access for good business ideas that may not fulfil IPO size or profitability requirements. Malaysia's Security Commission is taking the lead in this area. The wisdom of the crowds also turns the concept of a good business idea on its head as lines between profitability and desirability are blurred as seen in the tens of thousands of dollars that were raised for the whacky potato salad idea. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since taking the mantel of the country’s oldest public university, this ENT specialist has had the unenviable task to managing negative perceptions resulting from several controversies: the removal of UM’s Center of Democracy and Elections, the prosecution of student activists called the UM8, the sedition charge against law professor Azmi Sharom and its refusal to participate in the Times Higher Education university rankings. We also engage him on the question of the government’s plan to be the sixth largest higher education exporter by 2020. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tan Kay Yen, CEO of Green Packet Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about life after the divestment of its telecommunications arm P1 to Telekom Malaysia. He talks about what is next for the company, its working relationship with P1 and what is their growth strategy going forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Raj Lorenz, group CEO of GHL Systems Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the future direction of the company in the transaction payment acquisition segment. He talks about moving away from the the traditional hardware payment business and into the realm of services, as well as the challenges that the company may face. He also gives a snapshot of GHL's operations in Philippines and Thailand as well as what is in the company's M&A pipeline.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Loh Kok Chen, managing director of Tek Seng Holdings Bhd comes on to talk about the company's future direction as it branches into the new business of photovoltaic (PV) products. Tek Seng has been involved in the manufacturing and trading of polyvinyl chloride products for more than 30 years, so we ask Loh about why the company decided to foray into the PV, how the company hopes to grow the business and the what the entry of Taiwan's SolarTech means for its future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.