The Breakfast Grille

Fastacash works with mobile operators and financial institutions to let users transfer 'value', be it money, airtime, coupons, through social networks and messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, SMS, email, etc. Vince Tallent, the Chairman and CEO of Singapore-based company discusses how Fastacash is changing the way users transfer funds. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Kevin Xayaraj, Co-Founder & CEO of the SGX-listed Sabana REIT, discusses the implications of managing what it claims is the world's largest listed Shariah-compliant Industrial REIT, the challenges of negotiating a master lease renewal program in the middle of trying economic times and competition from cheaper, equally connected industrial assets in nearby Muslim Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/li...

Malaysia is an underinsured and undercovered nation. U For Life is a company that tries to address this by selling cheap life insurance policies online. Coverage comes at for as little as just under RM10 a month. A high level of affordability is made possible by the sale of term insurance online which contrasts vastly with the bells and whistles of agent-driven whole life policies. We ask whether...

GiveDirectly is trying to help poor people in the developing world in an unusual way: by sending them money with no strings attached. But what of the proverb 'Teach a man to fish'? Michael Faye, the co-founder and executive chairman of GiveDirectly, shares how unconditional cash transfers have been proven to alleviate poverty in the long run. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

iFast Corporation, through its branding, Fundsupermart.com, has been selling unit trusts online for over 15 years. While they are big in Singapore and Hong Kong, they are striving to make further inroads into Malaysia. Listen to the podcast to find out what their plans and thoughts are on breaking through the Malaysian market. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LHN Group is in the business of optimizing spaces in Singapore, the world's most densely populated country. With over 7,000 persons per square kilometer, is the market huge enough to support this extremely niche business? Listen to the podcast to find out more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Morley, VP Asia Pacific of the NYSE-listed health and fitness wearables company Fitbit, discusses Asia-Pacific growth strategy and cheap Chinese competition. He also addresses challenges like faddishness, usefulness of fitness data, intellectual property infringement, data privacy concerns and skin damage complaints. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senator Paul Low, Minister in the PM's Department is in charge of integrity and good governance. We ask him about the political funding committee and how he intends to pass this law in parliament, knowing very well that it may not serve in the best interest of some politicians. Download this podcast to find out more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 30% Club was founded in Britain, and as per its name, the group’s goal is to boost the proportion of women on boards of directors to 30 percent in coming years. Elizabeth Passey, Steering Committee member of the 30% Club, addresses that age-old question: Are quotas the best way of getting more women on boards, and keeping them there? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hartmut Mueller, Managing Director of MAN discusses if the heavy vehicle industry is an accurate gauge of Malaysia's manufacturing sector. He also weighs in on the scandal plaguing MAN's parent company, Volkswagen.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Foley, president of President of Asia Pacific for global brand consulting firm Landor Associates, discusses the firm's involvement with the re-branding of Malaysia Airlines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With commission rates coming down in stockbroking PhillipCapital believes that they can rise up to the challenge of maintaining profitability. In this Breakfast Grille, we also gain insights from the founder about the Asean Common Investment Scheme platform, their unlisted status, competition with big banks and robo-advisors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No stranger to the local automotive scene, Roland Folger who steered Mercedes-Benz Malaysia to be the market leader in the luxury segment will be taking a bow as he hands over the driving wheel to his successor. Roland shares the key mile-stones of the group, as it also takes on new challenges to be more efficient and navigating weak sentiment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helmed by the grandson of Genting's founder, Lim Goh Tong, Donaco has set up in borders towns in Vietnam and Cambodia to capture business from neighbouring countries, especially China. Joey Lim also talks about how the casino business model is evolving beyond gaming into cultural, entertainment and the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) activities. We find out how Donaco is expl...

From Sarawak to Semenajung, whatever side of the political divide they are, young Malaysians are having to decide if they want to participate actively in re-imagining our nation’s political landscape. Today we speak to three young Malaysians, who having chosen to have a voice, must now learn to use a new vocabulary and grammar for politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Prudential BSN Takaful Malaysia is the market leader in family takaful, or Islamic insurance. We examine their business model, the Shariah governance on doing this business, and how they intend to use data analytics to improve their risk profile. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore-based startup, Page Advisor, wants to be the go-to app in connecting consumers to small- and medium-sized merchants. Fabian Lim shares the story of Page Advisor and how they plan to stand out amidst other startups offering similar services. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Camille Blackburn is a principal advisor to the Australian government in its Financial System Inquiry. She discusses what it takes to lay out a blueprint for the financial system for the next decade.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first woman Speaker ever of any state Assembly and its youngest, DAP’s Hannah Yeoh, speaks about good governance, being a Christian and her job in improving the quality of Selangor legislature. She picked-up the baton from her predecessor Teng Chang Khim who had pushed 2 initiatives: the  Assembly Services Commission Enactment Bill 2009 and the revival of local government elections...

Ericsson was one of the worlds leading mobile phone makers. Today, they lead the way in being the world's largest telecommunications and network equipment maker, beating traditional champions like Nokia and Huawei. Find out how they plan to sustain their business amidst a changing telco landscape and how they plan to introduce new technology in the 'Internet of Things' space. See omnystudio.com/li...

The electoral drubbing of the Liberal Democrats in recent UK polls suggests the decline of a party, which in the words of Lord Ashdown, is the only truly internationalist party. We speak to him about the future of global governance, violence in international relations and the rise of China. He presents us with the Liberal view of key contemporary issues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Enra Group Berhad, previously known as Perduren Berhad, is aggresively looking to become the next company servicing the downstream of the oil and gas sector. We ask if this is the right time to enter this industry, and question how their existing business in the property sector will perform with their newly refocused attention in the gas sector. Also, we take a look at their intresting history, an...

Swedish automotive manufacturer of commercial vehicles, Scania, is a big name in Europe. But can it make a name for itself here in Southeast Asia? Marie Sjodin Enstrom, managing director of Scania Southeast Asia shares her plans for the Malaysian market. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aemulus Holdings Berhad is a tech startup that went from being a company solely funded by founders, to being a publicly listed company on the stock exchange. Backed by popular VC firm, Teak Capital, Aemulus is in the technology sector, and has large MNC chip maker clients. Listen to this grille where we ask CEO, Ng Sang Beng, on whether this is the right time to list, and also what their expectati...

Widely regarded as India's Father of IT, Narayana Murthy is the visionary founder of multi-billion dollar technology firm, Infosys. We discuss his vision for the future of the group, that is currently managed by new CEO Vishal Sikka. Mr Murthy also talks about the existing red-tape in the Indian tech ecosystem, as well as how economic and social reforms in India are essential for the nations futur...