The Breakfast Grille

With global mobile operators facing a $1.2 trillion capital expenditure cycle alongside flat revenue growth, GSMA Director General Vivek Badrinath joins The Breakfast Grille to examine the changing economics of mobile connectivity. Vivek addresses who actually captures economic value as telcos fund the digital infrastructure, why regulators should not maximise monetisation on spectrum pricing and...

Over 137 thousand personnel are part of the force, about 100 thousand less than teachers in our country. But one troubling feature of the force is what the study called the “persistent challenge of police misconduct within our criminal justice system”. In a new study titled “Restoring Public Trust: A Policy Analysis of Police Misconduct and Governance Frameworks in Penang and Selangor, Malaysia” r...

Cartrack tracks 2.8 million vehicles across 24 countries, listed on the Nasdaq through its parent Karooooo, and has been in Malaysia since 2014. But just over two million of those subscribers sit in South Africa — a business built on a crime rate and an insurance market that don't work the same way here. So what actually makes a Malaysian operator buy, and where does Malaysia rank in the region? W...

Maersk is transforming itself from a container shipping giant into an integrated logistics business, with Malaysia playing a growing role through new warehousing capacity and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas. But geopolitical conflict, disrupted shipping routes, volatile freight rates and pressure to decarbonise are challenging the assumptions that have shaped global trade for decades. How resilient is...

As we celebrate the country’s achievements since Independence but also reflect on its shortcomings. But how do we do so without resorting to the now threadbare vocabulary and conceptual frameworks that have guided us thus far. And where are new frameworks and ideas being generated to drive the next leg of development. What intellectual resources do we have to draw on and what kind of leaders do we...

A single English adventurer with an inherited ship and a handful of crew became sovereign ruler of Sarawak in 1841, launching a dynasty that governed the territory for over a century before handing it to Britain after World War II. Oil struck at Miri in 1909 became the empire's only find within British-controlled territory, while a Foochow rubber boom that same year turned a failed rice experiment...

Despite mattresses being an infrequent, high-durability purchase, how are heritage bedding brands navigating aggressive price competition and changing consumer habits across Southeast Asia? Justin Lim Tiong Kiong, Managing Director for Southeast Asia at Hilding Anders, joins The Breakfast Grille to discuss how the Swedish-headquartered group is driving growth behind legacy brands like Slumberland...

With record profits driven by strong CPO prices and surging industrial development returns, how is SD Guthrie balancing its legacy plantation core with the race for high-value land monetisation? Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of SD Guthrie, joins The Breakfast Grille to discuss the strategic evolution of the 200-year-old palm oil giant. Haris outlines efforts t...

The demand for rules-based governance and the end of the arbitrary use of power is central to any functioning democracy. This has elevated the role of lawyers as a professional group in many democratic societies, as they emerged from feudal rule. The Malaysian Bar is no exception. Despite decades of authoritarian rule, our laws and legal institutions are being reformed to reflect democratic aspira...

Malaysia is now one of the world's four biggest net exporters of AI hardware, and Jabil is one of the companies that put it there. But while the group poured half a billion US dollars into North Carolina and signed a multi-gigawatt AI platform in India this year, Malaysia's headline was a leased logistics hub in Sungai Jawi. We ask whether 14,000 people, silicon photonics and a Perlis plant are bu...

Everyone's watching Johor. But 4,500 acres of free industrial zone is quietly going up 800 metres from the Thai border at Bukit Kayu Hitam. This is the gateway that moved over RM50 billion in goods in 2024. Phase one is already more than 90% taken up, and after seven years of waiting, the road linking Malaysia's side to Thailand's new CIQ complex finally opened this July. We speak to Razwin Sulair...

After three decades in Malaysia’s satellite industry, MEASAT is navigating a market transformed by Starlink, streaming and rapidly changing connectivity needs. COO Yau Chyong Lim discusses the economics of billion-ringgit satellite investments, the push into managed services, AI, IoT and telehealth, and why Malaysia still needs sovereign satellite capability. Can MEASAT move beyond its traditional...

Following its $26 million Series C round and hitting net profitability, how is insurtech PolicyStreet planning its next phase of expansion? Lee Yen Ming, Co-founder and Group CEO of PolicyStreet, joins BFM’s Breakfast Grille to discuss how the firm built a business model alongside legacy insurers, pivoting from its direct-to-consumer roots into embedded B2B2C distribution and offshore Labuan reins...

GDP figures across AI-focused Asian hubs look strong, but they mask a broader economic weakness as weak domestic demand, escalating energy costs, new US tariffs, and high interest rates weigh on the non-AI economy. Stefan Angrick, Head of Asia-Pacific Economics at Moody’s Analytics, joins BFM’s Breakfast Grille to break down the depth of the two-speed economy in manufacturing hubs like Malaysia an...

GTA Holdings is heading for the ACE Market, servicing helicopter and aircraft engines out of Subang — with about 95% of that work tied to the military. But the prospectus raises questions: RM46mil in dividends paid out just before asking the public to fund a RM37.5mil building, cash dropping from RM107mil to RM23mil in eight months, and consultancy and software contracts awarded to a company owned...

The colonial heritage of modern Malaysia is a complex one, in large part because the three major territories that now make up the country had distinct histories and came under the sway of different powers over the millennia. Over the last century of the half though the landscape is marked by the North Borneo Chartered Company in Sabah, the White Rajahs of Sarawak as well as Malaya’s mix of Straits...

Malaysia's durian industry has gone from struggling to meet demand to dealing with a glut but at the very heart of it, it is very much a part of Malaysia. Datuk Anna Teo, founder and Group CEO of Hernan Corporation, a durian grower, processor and exporter, discusses falling prices, rising costs, and whether Malaysia can build a truly world-class durian industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Pos Malaysia hasn't turned a profit since 2018 — 32 straight quarters in the red and close to a billion ringgit in accumulated losses. But the first half of 2026 hinted at a shift: losses narrowed to RM63 million, revenue grew 8%, and cash flow turned positive for the first time in years. Group CEO Charles Brewer joins us to explain the pivot from mail to parcels, the push into pawnbroking and dig...

Malaysia's development financial institutions are carrying RM193.9 billion in financing across 1.8 million accounts — and until now, nobody has formally measured whether that money actually did anything. Bank Negara's new framework changes that, testing DFIs on whether their financing would have happened anyway without them. We put the hard numbers to the man who chairs them: impaired loans runnin...

As Malaysia rapidly approaches aged-nation status, managing long-term care, rising healthcare costs, and a shrinking workforce are becoming critical economic and social priorities. Hiroyuki Murata, Professor at Tohoku University's Smart Aging Research Center, joins BFM's Breakfast Grille to discuss how societies can shift from treating demographic aging as a fiscal crisis to leveraging it as a gro...

Skechers has grown from a US comfort footwear brand into a global business, with Southeast Asia playing an increasingly important role in its growth story. Zann Lee, Managing Director of Skechers Southeast Asia, talks about the company's expansion, competition and how to deal with boycott calls it faced in Malaysia over its perceived links to Israel. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Malaysia’s trade with Latin America and the Caribbean remains relatively modest, but shifting global supply chains and stronger diplomatic ties are opening new opportunities for businesses on both sides. The Latin American and Caribbean Chamber of Commerce has set an ambitious goal of doubling bilateral trade within five years. What is holding companies back today, which sectors offer the greatest...

Four years after Liberty's merger with AmGeneral, the integration story is largely complete. But the next challenge is bigger than combining two businesses. Puneet Pasricha, CEO of Liberty General Insurance, discusses the evolving risks facing the industry, how tech and AI are reshaping insurance, and why building customer trust remains fundamental. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

The split within Bersatu and the emergence of Parti Wawasan Negara have reshaped the opposition, raising questions about how the two parties will navigate their relationship within Perikatan Nasional. On the Breakfast Grille, Sharaad Kuttan speaks with Dr Afif Bahardin, Supreme Leadership Council Member of Bersatu, and Tun Fiqa Mohammad, Wawasan High Council member, about the reasons behind the sp...

Dassault Systèmes built its global business on 3D design and virtual twins, but its ambitions now extend from manufacturing and mobility into healthcare, cloud software and industrial AI. That expansion comes as Asian businesses contend with tighter technology budgets, shifting supply chains and pressure to demonstrate tangible returns from digital investment. As industries accelerate their adopti...