The Breakfast Grille

As Australia’s first woman Governor-General, Dame Quentin crowned a career of several firsts as the country expanded access to women. Today, on Commonwealth Day - with its theme of inclusivity - we explore the role of women, the republican challenge to Australia's constitutional framework, pressures on multiculturalism and women's place in global leadership. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

SC has done a great job in ensuring a level playing field for fund raising and investment and trading. New ground will continue to be broken as seen in the areas like equity crowdfunding. We discuss whether it is time to put more focus on the transparency of financial products especially in the areas of uninformed investor protection, product costs and conflicts. See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

M.K Goh, CEO of the world's largest condom maker, Karex Bhd, joins us on the Breakfast Grille to discuss the company's move into the retail business, expanding on their core activity of being suppliers to global condom brands like Durex. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara is in the middle of a 10-year financial blueprint to ‘modernise the payment landscape’ by 2020. They want see greater use of debit cards, displacement of cheques and more ubiquitous use of e-payments. The end result of this is disinflation: lower costs of credit/debit cards, a more fluid transaction process and generally lower costs of doing business. See omnystudio.com/lis...

Professor Mari Elka Pangestu was Indonesia’s Minister of Trade from 2004 to 2011, before moving to a tourism post in a cabinet reshuffle. She comes on the Breakfast Grille to discuss Southeast Asia's largest economy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chin Hin Group Berhad is listing this week and it's IPO oversubscribed by eight times. Listen to their Managing Director, Chiau Haw Choon explain the macro plans for the company as well as potential headwinds for the company See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spanning East and West - that imaginary division of the classical world - Turkey’s social and political dilemmas as well as the responses to them should be of keen interest to all of us. From the secularism of Kamal Ataturk, to dreams of European membership, the rise of the AK Party, the crackdown at Gezi Park and the brutal wars that have turned Turkey into a frontline state, each must give...

Established in 1942 as a tea merchant under the popular 888 brand, Thong Guan Bhd started off with modest beginnings in the F&B sector. It subsequently diversified into the plastics industry which grew with export volumes. It is now going back full-circle to expand on its consumption business.  Tying-up with COFCO group, it now has plans to tap into the organic noodles market in China. Se...

Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd, previously known as Instacom, is in the midst of diversifying their business from being a telco tower builder to now, a construction giant. We ask their Executive Director, Choo Seng Choon, how they plan to do this. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sarawak Cable Berhad is powering up this year, setting itself a lofty target to achieve RM1bil in sales and to further penetrate the Indonesian market. CEO Aaron Toh also discusses the company's diversification into renewable energy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just a short distance from luxe KLCC and the financial/diplomatic enclave of Ampang lies Kg Bharu where much needs to be done to usher it into the 21st century. Listen to Datuk Affendi Zahari, Chairman of Kg Bharu Development Corp, or Perbadanan Kg Bharu (PKB) as he explains how PKB intends to achieve their targets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crowdsourced translation platform Flitto’s entire business proposition is premised on the argument that machine translation will never as accurate as translation done by humans. Listen to the interview with founder and CEO Simon Lee, to see if you agree.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Viewers are not necessarily switching off TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9 for now. Media Prima is dealing with the competitive landscape by focusing on for instance vernacular content. Their online platform Tonton, which is among the most visited websites in Malaysia, buys them some time to think about an online model.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore Precious Metals Exchange (SGPMX) claims to be the world's first physical precious metals exchange that gives investors an online platform to buy and sell gold. Founder and CEO of SGMPX, Victor Foo, explains how the company aims to address all the problems that comes with owning physical precious metal: Where do you buy it? How do you move it? Where do you store it? And how do y...

In his third appearance on the Grille, Datuk Darrel Webber, CEO, Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil, discusses the RSPO's ongoing relevance, 'greenwashing' and competing certifications. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday a Memorandum for Understanding was signed in Dhaka, between the Bangladesh’s Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam and Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem. This agreement was called a G-2-G Plus deal. Today we ask what the Plus means, if the new recruitment system will bring an end to the problem of undocumented workers, the...

The RM6.3b Penang Undersea Tunnel project has courted much controversy with their high price tag, RM305m feasibility study and service bartered for land. We look more closely at the respective roles of the consortium partners, Zenith Construction Bhd and Beijing Urban Construction Group or BUCG.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sujatha Sekhar Naik, Chief Executive Officer of the Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Center (SIDREC), discusses her role in providing a free service for the settlement of disputes between investors and capital market intermediaries like brokers, unit trust management companies and fund managers.  She discusses the operational challenges of running SIDREC, her KPIs and the role it plays...

Victor Goon, General Manager of BonusKad Loyalty, discusses the business model and strategic plans for one of Malaysia's most-established loyalty cards. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SAAB intends to sell their Gripen fighter jets to Malaysia as replacements to the aging Russian MiG and Sukhoi jets. Listen to Thomas Lindén as he explains how they intend to do this while making procurement processes more transparent. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is commission-based advisory conflicted because it opens the door to product pushing rather than aligning adviser-client interests? We discuss whether it's time to explore other models remunerating financial advisers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atlas Copco is a Swedish industrial giant whose products are found everywhere but whose name is not well known to the public. Listen to their General Manager, Francis Liekens as he tells us more about this enigmatic company. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the once politically and socially significant community deals with changes brought about by a dwindling population, migration, shifting political allegiances, changing social priorities, we ask what the future holds for economically dynamic Chinese community. In recognising the diversity of the community itself - in terms of class, language, regional distribution - our panellists pose the quest...

The 155-year old Swiss watch brand, Tag Heuer, has seen a year of change. The company saw a leadership change; they readjusted their price positioning; and they joined the smartwatch game - partnering with Google and Intel - to combat the threat of the Apple Watch. Amelia Sillard, vice president of Tag Heuer Southeast Asia tells us more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tan Sri Lin feels that Bank Negara's role in handling of the 1MDB saga is very well defined and limited to exchange controls. He also feels that Malaysia needs reform and the separation of the roles of the finance minister and prime minister. Other views; the ringgit is undervalued and small banks have as much of a role to play as big banks. Tan Sri Lin also has some advice on how to pick a govern...