The Breakfast Grille

Aaron Hung, Trip Advisor's Director of Partnerships for Asia Pacific comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the business of travel and how Trip Advisor's well-known website plays its part. He talks about whether websites such as Trip Advisor resulted in the death of travel books, its new system and how it deals with competition such as AirbnbSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this 2014 interview, Dato' Redza Rafiq, Chief Executive of Northern Corridor Implementation Authority, discusses its twin mandates transforming the corridor into a “world class economic region” and its socio-economic objectives. He also discusses the initiatives and challenges in each of its four key areas: tourism, logistics, manufacturing and agriculture. He also addresses impediments such as (delays at the) Second Penang Bridge and the privatisation of Penang Port (to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Keith Schafer, Managing Director, Volvo Car Malaysia Sdn Bhd, discusses opportunities and challenges in the Malaysian car market, the National Auto Policy, sales outlook, brand challenges like maintenance costs and residual values. He also discusses Volvo's Geely ownership in regards product development, (and developing a subcompact car to enter the European market), cultural clashes, a new global platform, the China market, and a target to double global sales by 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 A sixth generation Falkland Islander, Mike Summers, is a member of its legislature as well as representative to the Commonwealth Games Federation. Despite the 1982 war over the disputed territory – the Argentine government calls the islands Isla Malvinas – which Britain won and which burnished Margaret Thatcher’s credentials as the Iron Lady, controversy remains, not least because of oil found off its coast in 2010. Summers, in town for deliberations of the Commonwealth Games Federation, also weighs in on the relevance of that grouping and disputed plans to shift the Federation's headquarters to Kuala Lumpur.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

M. Madani Bin Sahari, CEO of Malaysia Automotive Institute, discusses the country's third National Auto Policy, due for unveiling on Jan 20. In particular, he touches on issues such as protection of the national car projects, excise duties, the AP system and the vehicle end-of-life policy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ping Fu, chief strategy officer at 3D Systems and author of the book "Bend, Not Break" talks about surviving the Cultural Revolution in China, and starting afresh in the US with little money and speaking little English. Upon a friend's recommendation, the Chinese American entrepreneur studied computer science, and while working for the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), she supervised Marc Andreessen on the Mosaic project before he founded Netscape. Ping started a 3D modelling software company named Geomagic with her then husband, and the company was subsequently sold to 3D Systems. Ping has received numerous awards for her accomplishments. Fast Company has named her Fast 50 winner in 2004.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony Fernandes talks to us about the setting up of a British boarding school, Epsom College, in Malaysia. He also gives his views on the state of education in the country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nadia Hassan and Julian Ng take a retrospective look at the IPOs for 2013 who came on the Breakfast Grille, whether their debuts sizzled or failed to excite, and whether their promises came through down the line.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gudjon Reynisson, the CEO of Hamleys comes on the Breakfast Grille to share about the launch of the toy retailer’s new shop in Malaysia, and the company’s plans for the rest of the emerging markets. Hamleys' has the distinction of being the world’s oldest toy retailer, but in the face of thinning margins and intense online competition, he talks about Hamleys' strategy going forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After the acquisition of MAAKL, Manulife continues with a growth strategy. Group CEO Mark O'Dell also gives his views on the regulatory and competitive landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Iman Bibars is the Vice President for Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and the co-founder of ADEW (the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women), a nonprofit organization providing credit and legal aid for impoverished women. On the Breakfast Grille, she tell us how Ashoka is using the instruments of capitalism to orchestrate social change and the challenges in advancing the landscape of social entrepreneurship, especially in the Middle East.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite leading the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to a thumping victory in the recently concluded General Election, the leadership of Selangor by Khalid Ibrahim has been called into question. And the recent decision to raise salaries of members of the Selangor assembly is only the latest in storms he has had to weather. We ask him about his troubled relations with Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Backbenchers Club chief Azmin Ali, the Selangor Budget 2014, the ratio of operating to development expenditure, the state’s water assets, and whether government should be in the business of doing business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Power Corp is a special purpose vehicle set up by the government to oversee the liberalization of the power sector. Datuk Razak talks about the recent tariff hikes, the criticism and what is left going forward.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Auditor-General’s Report is greeted with increasing public and media attention. Revelations of inefficiency and wastage has a rousing effect, signaling problems in the management of public funds. But the AG’s Report is not often read in full and blanket assumptions are made, that all wastage arises from corruption. Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, a career civil servant, has lead his office since 2006 and speaks to us about how his report can best be utilized by larger society.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Azlan Abdullah weighs up complaints about unfair trading in the steel sector with the fairness of protection for his products and from tariff hikes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hitachi-Sunway's Group CEO Cheah Kok Hoong takes us through the thinking behind the JV and whether the Malayisan IT landscape is prepared for the onslaught of the mobile age.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this 2013 interview, UMW Holdings Bhd President and Group CEO Datuk Syed Hisham Bin Syed Wazir discusses its dominant auto businesses and sales of its mainstay Toyota and Perodua vehicles. He also talks about prospects at its 55%-owned newly listed UWW Oil and Gas Bhd subsidiary and ends the discussion with its PNB parent, GLC status and stake selldown issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Bradley, President of Ford Asean talks to us about Ford's growth in the Asean region as well as the Asean auto competitive landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alistair Elliott, Senior Partner and Group Chairman of Knight Frank discusses Malaysia's residential and commercial property markets, drivers of the London property market, the Battersea project, emerging property hotspots like Dubai, the 'Skyscraper Index', central banks, monetary easing, interest rates and the supply of money, market timing and Knight Frank's plans to double its turnover to £620 million by 2016.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Bettina Buechel of IMD talks about creating a high performance organisation in a globally competitive environment, and what we can learn from Indian managers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After bitcoins and freemium ecosystems, could peer-to-peer lending be another phenomenon that develops into something that may displace money and banks? We also suss out details of Zopa's fast-growing business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first policewoman in India and social activist, Kiran Bedi, talks about leadership, and how spirituality and detachment plays a part. She is most famous for transforming the notorious Tihar Jail of 10,000 inmates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UMW Oil and Gas Bhd's President Rohaizad Darus comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the company's recent successful listing, which has long been in the offing. Along the way the company saw a change of management and the strengthening of its business, which has inspired investors to participate in its IPO. Rohaizad talks about what the future holds for UMW Oil and Gas, what he feels are the biggest challenges and what will drive its growth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this November 2013 interview, Mark Mobius, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group discusses: his outlook for new and emerging markets, Malaysia's reform plans, his fund performance, the taper deadline and its effect on the EMs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd's president and CEO Syed Rahim Syed Jaafar comes on the Breakfast Grille to discuss the company's plans post-listing via an RTO. The company, which is in the business of pipeline commission, transport and installation and hook-up commissioning for the oil and gas industry talks about growing organically and how it expects to stand toe-to-toe with the big boys.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jesse Colombo, an independent economic analyst, investor and Forbes columnist, discusses emerging market bubbles among others he sees forming in Social Media companies, US colleges, US healthcare and housing in many European and North American countries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gone are the days of 'government knows best'. A sentiment echoed by many politicians, but can they walk the talk? Bantah TPPA's co-founder Anas Alam Faizli sees the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks as a litmus test. Thus far, the record has been dismal, according to Anas. He discusses the coalition's negotiations with the government and its efforts in increasing awareness of the TPPA issue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clint Laurent, Author of Tomorrow's World, joined us on the breakfast grille to discuss his book which studies the demographic and socio-economic structure of the world in twenty years' time. He speaks to Shiao Chan about why he chose to publish the book when he did, how projections are made 20 years into the future and the possible errors in extrapolation. He dispels commonly accepted myths and presents a different picture of the world that we live in, altering our perception of what it might look like in the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ABB Malaysia's President and Country Manager, Stephen Pearce, comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the company's plan for expansion in the power and automation space. He discusses ABB Malaysia's role in the upcoming the major power plant and rail projects, and how the mothership, the ABB Group, views the region.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian Ch’ng, Chief Executive Officer of JobsDB group discusses online recruitment trends and themes, sibling rivalry with Jobseek and industry challenges.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guests Datuk Seri Michael Yam, President, REHDA (Real Estate Housing Developers Association) and Yee Wing Peng, Country Tax Leader of Deloitte Malaysia delve deeper into the GST and RPGT that were included in the 2014 Budget.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mathijs Benink, Senior Manager of Supply Chain Solutions for APAC, Middle East and Africa, for the Holland International Distribution Council, discusses the economic and comemrcial proposition for companies that might mull using the country as a potential gateway into the matured but complex and diverse European market. In particular, Benink discusses the direct and indirect tax schemes at play and wether that might be specifically structured.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Breakfast Grille we have Westports Holdings Bhd's CEO Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, who came on to talk about the company's recently completed listing that raised just over RM2 billion for its major shareholders. The company is poised to expand its operations further. However, recent headlines about Westports biggest customer pulling out has caused the share price to skitter and the softening global economy continues to raise question marks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Breakfast Grille we have Chong Kim Seng, the CEO of Bursa Malaysia Derivatives giving his insight into these new financial instruments. Designed to enrich the market, most investors however are still wary of diving into derivatives. During the interview Chong Kim Seng talks about the future of derivatives for Bursa Malaysia, what is in the pipeline going forward and how they will continue to educate investors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Akhbar Satar, president of Transparency International Malaysia shares his thoughts about where the efforts of handling corruption in Malaysia are going. We also get his view about his predecessor's, Paul Low, move to the government and the controversy in TI-M's recent leadership selection.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired and bestselling author of The Long Tail talks about his latest book Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, and how 3D printing will change the world. He is also CEO and founder of 3D Robotics, makers of low-cost drones based on open-source technology. BFM spoke to him exclusively at the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kuala Lumpur.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Main Market-bound Karex Bhd has been pegged as the world's largest condom manufacturer with around 3 billion pieces produced a year. Once listed, Karex aims at doubling its output and strengthening its R&D operations. Karex's CEO MK Goh talks about getting to grips with new markets and how to get past the taboo of talking about sex.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Faris Yahaya, the MD of Cyberview Sdn Bhd, discusses the challenges besetting Cyberjaya (human capital constraint, policy inconsistency, multiple stakeholders, politicisation), as well as his plans for the future and meeting its original ambitions of being the 'Silicon Valley of the East'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consortium Zenith-BUCG Sdn Bhd Chairman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli discusses the project awarded by the Penang State Government to undertake the RM6.3bil Penang Road and Undersea Tunnel Project. Issues discussed include tender process, environmental impact, toll rates, Ewein's involvement and his BAFIA charge in 1994 by Bank Negara.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With rave review of his 2007 work “Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and South-East Asia” the Financial Times proclaimed him the “chief myth-buster for Asian business”. His latest offering is “How Asia Works", subtitled “Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region” in which he tries to explain the lessons which were learnt, or otherwise, in the formulation of development and specifically industrial models for growth. Listen to Studwell’s unvarnished view of the 9 most developed economies of East Asia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Datuk Loo Took Gee, Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) joins us on the breakfast grille. She talks about the ministry's goals to improve awareness of the environment, green technology, subsidies and consumption habits. The rising cost of fuel translates to an ever greater burden on the government as it subsidises water, electricity and fuel rates. We discuss what the ministry has actually achieved since it was established in 2009 and the approach to changing mindsets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Her Chor Siong, CEO of Cuscapi Berhad, joins us on the breakfast grille. He talks about the deterioration of margins despite rising revenues and why he is not concerned. He also discusses Cuscapi's plans for the next 10 to 15 years  to innovate and diversify, enter new markets and lead the point of sales sector into new technological areas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the Breakfast Grille is Paul Moung, CEO of IBM Malaysia. He discusses cloud computing, and how IBM intends to utilize this and other 'sexy' new technologies in its business. Additionally, he also talks about IBM offering Smarter Planet solutions to Malaysia's traffic problems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Teng Chee Wai, CEO of  Hwang-DBS Investment Management talks to BFM on the following topics: - Affin deal now subject to Bank Negara's approval- Appropriate valuations for HwangDBS- Factors in Affin winning the bid - more than pricing- Challenges of integration process- Opportunities to grow fund size to government agencies - Greater footprint in Asia - requires capable people - Not looking at cost-cutting but looking at growth- Addressing performance gap in Affin- Performance of HwangDBS thus far - fund growth, talent retention despite uncertain environment- Role of stockbroking operations that are experiencing falling margins - HwangDBS: Retail or Institutional focus?- Affin's funding and impact of earnings addition from Hwang- Teng's future role in the enlarged entity- Aiming for presence in Japan, Europe and Australia- Nikko Asset Management can help in foray into Japan, plans to stay invested in HwangDBS- Compeitition from product pricing in develop markets: strategy- Marketed as alpha and active management - Pricing in the unit trust industry on the back of normally mediocre performance- Maintenance of good performance as fund size grows- Developing markets offers opportunities to gain alpha (outperformance)- Closing funds if they get too big to protect performance- Fixed income strategy: hold on- High cash holdings in funds: expensive?- Problem of cashing up: uptrending markets- Public still needs more education on PRS- Problem of Malaysia over-investment in PRS and EPF- Appropriate fees for retirement products given long term market returns of 8-10%- Possibility for fee reductionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Glyn Davis, Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne is on the Breakfast Grille. He speaks to Melisa Idris about: -- the position of Australia in the global higher education industry -- the breakdown for the university’s student population -- competition from emerging international alternatives -- the impact of changes in the visa policy and the high Aussie dollar to student enrolment -- challanges in attracting and keeping quality faculty -- avenues of funding for the university -- higher education policy in Australia, post elections -- international partnerships -- the possibility of a University of Melbourne campus in Malaysia See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dato' Seri Suhaimi Abdul Rahman, CEO, Masers Energy Malaysia, discusses: - Masers inception- Story of entrepreneurship- Velchip - unlimited high speed Internet connection of 224Mbps - RM5 per user per month- Velchip company president - Wan Sarkawi Tuanku Jaapar Al-Yahya - issues - What Masers does - How Masers succeeded in winning coveted Malacca project - Whether concession? - Who is paying for this - sovereign guarantee? On what basis? - Govt- quasi-govt debt of nearly 70% of GDP at Q2 - issues - Affect ability to secure sovereign guarantees - Malacca - Potential - what's at stakeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ranjit Singh, President, Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia, answers on the following points: - Internal Auditors (IA) heretofore almost a backroom function - but no longer - as evidenced by your PR blitz - impetus to the PR blitz - BUT NOT mandatory internal audit function for all private companies? Nor Pre-IPO- Arguments for and against outsourced internal audit practice - Qualified talent - shortage of - implications of ommission - Getting the right people - worst case: not provide value - miss the fraud - planning process - must be able to capture - reputation damage - All listed companies must now disclose their IA fee .. - Efficacy of IA - Concern that IA going through crisis - ambiguity of their role- Internal audit as one of the four cornerstones of corporate governance - Ambiguity of roles and authorities - possibility for role conflicts to take place- IA influence - audit charter, a strong audit committee, a strong professional association, or policies - legislation - arguments for and against - No legal suits against IAs -- until Silver Bird - implications - Securities Commission (SC) deputy chief executive Datuk Nik Ramlah Mahmood suggesting a flexible framework - White Collar fraud - entry of Dato Paul Low to the governmentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BFM speaks to Jacques Santer, formerly the 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the 9th President of the European Commission – the executive body of the European Union. Topics covered include:- State of the European Union today.- Should the Union be maintained at all cost?- Quantitative easing and money printing – will another gigantic credit bubble be created, leading to another big crash?- Austerity vs. spending in Europe both side of the same coin to maintain both the welfare system and healthy finances- Reforms needed to increase accountability of the European Commission.- Advocating a Federal Europe, a federation of nation states.- Is a Federal Eurasia or a Federal World possible?- Views on the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement).- Should national sovereignty be given up to form a supranational body?- Is the European Central Bank’s Single Resolution Mechanism – supposedly for handling failed banks – acceptable?- Greece and Spanish riots: problems arising from decisions made by foreign officials- Fraud in the European budget.- Workings of single party rule- Luxembourg’s early election on 20th October, triggered by President Jean-Claude Junckers resignation due to a secret service spying scandal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BFM talks to Richard Duncan, an economist and author of books including The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures and The New Depression: The Breakdown Of The Paper Money Economy. Points covered include: - Not possible to go back to the gold standard - Credit has expanded 50x since 1968 in the US - Globalisation and economic prosperity resulted - But further credit expansion has the risk of spiralling into another depression - Should have stuck to the Bretton Woods system that would require exchange of dollars for gold - Occasional recessions could have avoided huge gold drawdown but would have resulted more subdued global growth - Tough spending choices should have been made eg. not spending of wars - Not easy for governments to make spending decisions given competing agendas - Things went well until the "creditism"of the late 2000s - Is capitalism a solution to the world's dire problems?- The handling of the bubble is very important and a reversal of that to a pre-bubble equilibrium as suggested by the Austrian school will result in a great depression that we would not live to see the recovery of. - Investment into trasformative technologies and not consumption would be a way to deal with the credit bubble - Policy responses for the global crisis has been largely correct but Fed still largely to blame for encouraging asset speculation - Recently tapering didn't happen because the market overshot on interest rate rises that threatened the weak recovering economy - Fed's challenge is to create enough money to support economic growth and some asset price inflation but not too much paper money that it causes the bubble to grow bigger - Governments should invest in technologies that support very long term causes like energy independence - Currency manipulation by China results in their version of a quantitative easing that dwarfs the Fed's QE - This played a key role in the economic bubble of the 2000s - Credit expansion over the last 4-5 decades has had enormous effects on poverty reduction but continued mismanagement of credit would reverse these benefits and cause a collapse into a new great depression - Difficult to preserve wealth at this pointSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Nicholls, Tea Ambassador, Twinings, discusses and answers the following questions: - Twinings is a small component of one of ABFs five divisions: Grocery, which comprises the groups consumer-facing businesses selling its premium teas and malted beverages in more than 100 countries.Ovaltine is the big hitter in the Asias, not premium teas. Clearly a gap then, for ABF .. - Developing markets appear to be more tea-affectionate than developed countries such as the United States, the EU and Japan, which are predominantly coffee consumers Comment - On a production basis, tea seems to be growing faster than coffee, according to the International Tea Committee Explain - In Malaysia, the 2 biggest tea companies are BOH (36% of market share) and Lipton (22%), both local, and both catering to the masses. Where does Twinings sit on the price-quality Malaysia? - Twinings 2 most popular brands are English Breakfast tea and Earl Grey tea ( Black Tea). BOH and Lipton biggest markets are actually their black teas, which are Twinings most profitable teas too. Is Twining competing with their black teas too even if the market is monopolistic as it is? - Twinings also offer green, herbal and fruit teas There have been talks and research that suggest these types of tea are gaining traction among Malaysian consumers. - Twinings market share currently in the Malaysian tea industry? - Most of Twinings teas are manufactured in the UK, with some in China and Poland. Are you looking to build a manufacturing plant in Malaysia? - Malaysia is in the top-third of tea consumers worldwide, ranking 49th out of 141 countries surveyed. Tastes seem to be 'going premium' -- is there a way to quantify it? - Is the growth sufficiently strong from the Twinings viewpoint - You own Nambarrie, an Irish tea company based in Belfast and in trade for over 140 years. Five years ago Twinings announced their decision to close the Nambarrie plant, with global competition being blamed .. A mass market where price and provenance matter for far less, clearly? - Having consolidated UK manufacturing operations and moved some production to China and Poland in late 2011, how have you maintained the quality and supply? - What of issues like skilled labour and management staff? - And away from Australian markets like Australia where u had a good 2012 - what of new markets like Asia?What of the marketing strategy here? - Not only is Twinings the holder of a royal warrant, it has since 1964 been in the ownership of the FTSE 100 firm Associated British FoodsAs a royal warrant holder what has this meant in terms of how business is conducted? - And as a member of a PLC what does ownership since 1964 mean in terms of how business is controlled from above - It is said that Twinings holds the world's oldest continually-used company logo, and is London's longest-standing rate-payer, having occupied the same premises on the Strand since 1706What does all this mean, from a marketing standpoint? How do you use this history - tradition - to your advantage, if at all?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.