The Breakfast Grille

Listen to this podcast as Michael O'Keeffe, CEO of globally renowned skincare brand, Aesop, defends it's premium pricing  brand and how he sees this as the 'Ferrari' of cosmetics in the 21st century. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We find out whether Sime Darby, the world's largest palm oil planter, has a truly sustainable business in the plantation sector. Also, they are asked about the haze issue, and what we, as consumers, can do to beat this annual pain. Listen to this podcast, as Rashid Anwaruddin, Head of Sustainability, Sime Darby, responds to our questions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the rising phenomenon of online trading for everything, Cash Converters remains relevant because they offer customers the chance to touch and feel of a whole range of second-hand goods. Does Cash Converters have the special knowledge on the value of everything and do they exploit information unevenness for what is a highly profitable business? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Ahmad Hadri Haris, CEO of GreenTech Malaysia, discusses his mandate to 'green' the nation within the company's four pillars of green financing, green procurement, electric (vehicle) mobility and sustainable living -- and the challenges of succeeding in the context of the country's assorted challenges of vested interests and corrupt practices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dato' Muzaffar Hisham, CEO of Maybank Islamic leads the country's largest Islamic bank by assets and by branch network. Listen to the podcast to find out what it takes to rise to the top, and how they intend to stay there. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Philip Smith, CEO of Zurich Insurance Group, discusses ambitious Malaysian market growth plans, company KPIs, takaful plans, operational statistics (like claims and combined ratios), Group HQ challenges, marketing strategy, investment performance and the Malaysian economic outlook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corporate Malaysia is seeing a downturn in earnings and accounting firms like PwC are also coming under pressure to undercut fees. Sridharan discusses the firm's pipeline and the client-screening controls it has to protect the firm, as auditors also come under higher expectations to fulfill a more public role in ensuring financial reports are credible and the information contained within can be re...

On a panel discussion, we grille Dato' Nur Jazlan Mohamed and Tan Sri Samad Alias on why they vacated their posts, as PAC Chairman, and 1MDB Advisor respectively. Questions are posed to these gentlemen, who are Chartered Accountants themselves, on the Home Ministry and 1MDB. In addition, we also garner their views on improving transparency. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 The SME sector will be the driving force that will help propel the nation's growth.  But with much of the sector still unable to access adequate finance, will SME Bank step up to the plate and bank on these entrepreneurs to reach their goals? Listen to the podcast as SME Bank MD Datuk Radzif Yunus explains more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you look at a city’s skyline, chances are the global construction giant Turner, has had a hand in shaping it. It’s built the Burj Khalifa in the UEA, the Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan, and is now involved in the Tun Razak Exchange and the Warisan Tower here in Malaysia. Nick Billotti, chairman of Turner International, however, insists the company wants to do more than just build the...

We explore further the fairness of the personal asset injections by Datuk Tee who is the major shareholder of Fututech. Fututech will be specialising in the construction of property with the almost RM3b orderbook that comes with the new new assets. We ask Datuk Tee whether this is better than construction of roads and bridges. Fututech also has high client concentration risks with only 3 main cust...

Having served in the United Nations holding the position of a Senior Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, our guest today is well placed to clarify the often used but seldom interrogated notion itself. The editor of the journal "Perspectives on Terrorism”, his definition of text-book terrorism is well-known though not widely accepted with the notable exception of the Supreme Court...

Haida Shenny Hazri, Chief Executive Officer of Tok Bali Supply Base, talks about setting up an offshore oil & gas supply base in the depths of an energy industry slump, competition from its neighbors in Kemaman and the track record and expertise of its Kelantan royal family shareholders. She also talks about the fiscal wherewithal of the family and its foreign Le Mercier investors as well as i...

Despite its controversy and detractors, the GST is going to turn out to be a viable major revenue generator. And since the government has raised the inconvenient question of consumers funding the nation's coffers, is it now time to seriously explore other elephants in the room like corruption? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The haemorrhage in the ringgit and oil price would put more of a spotlight on Budget 2016. This is coming at a time when the rakyat is becoming ever more vocal about rising living expenses. We look for ideas from our expert panel about what can be done to fund these diverse needs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fitch Ratings, one of the “Big Three" credit rating agencies has maintained an A- rating for Malaysian government bonds. Ahead of the Budget Day tomorrow, we flesh out Fitch's viewpoint of our nation's financial health and ask how we can spend on much needed development while keeping ratings intact. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Fostier is the Group Deputy CEO of Colas Rail. They are involved in the MRT and LRT projects of the country. They are also bidding for the High Speed Rail Project connecting KL and Singapore. Listen to the podcast to find out if they play by the same rules as other rail companies. And what the future holds for a country that invests heavily in the rail projects. See omnystudio.com/listener...

The Premier of China is now in the United Kingdom, having only recently visited the United States. He’s crafted his message to the global public in carefully managed public relations campaign - a generous rising world power. Back home he’s promoted his nationalist credentials with some success. But critics also point out that his self-defined image as a consensus builder is contradicte...

Chew Chee Seng, the MD and CEO of Managepay Systems, discusses the need to create an aggressive cashless payment environment in Malaysia, and how it will benefit the nation in the long-run. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia's film industry is at a crossroads. While there are plenty of talent and creativity around, Malaysia is in dire need of entrepreneurial and business-minded filmakers. Listen to this podcast where Dato' Kamil Othman, the Director General of FINAS, explains his efforts in making this industry not only a commercially attractive one, but highly creative as well. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Logistics company Xin Hwa Holdings went for IPO recently -- at a time when not many companies would have been brave enough to do so. Chief Financial Officer, Kok Poh Fui, argues the strength of the company's business model gave them the confidence to list at such a volatile time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meor Amri Meor Ayob, CEO of Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia, explains the local bond market, the difficulty of pricing this asset class, the efforts and challenge of increasing retail participation, and the concept of implied market pricing, particularly in relation to Malaysian government bonds, which are currently being traded at significantly lower levels than its official rating . See omnystudio....

Since Mayland's management control of Land & General back in 2007, things have been looking up for the property group. Revenues and profits have grown sharply and the strength of its balance sheet makes it timely to expand further. We ask the question of how conflicts with Mayland which engages in its own property projects are resolved and also whether they are worried about the current soft p...

Bitcoins have gold- and money-like characteristics. Proponents would in fact say that because bitcoin supply is limited and its mining difficult, it is better than the QE-fraught endless supply of money. However, the high computing power required to prevent bitcoins from being duplicated has pushed mining from the home to the realm of profit-seeking mining companies like Bitcoin Group.  See o...

Leaders from over 190 nations will gather in Paris later in December to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and avoiding the real threat of global warming. H.E. Christophe Penot discusses the political will necessary for action, as well as how France is dealing with its worst migrant crisis amidst rising right-wing rhetoric i...