The Breakfast Grille

Pierre Cheyron, President, Malaysian French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discusses Malaysia-France trade. investment, bilateral ties and relations. He also discusses France's economy as well as Malaysia's 'soft' appeal. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, and senior fellow at Cambridge University, speaks to Melisa Idris about the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. He argues the upheaval sweeping Hong Kong is more complicated than it might appear on the surface. Listen to the podcast to find out what he thinks are the underlying reasons for the protests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Khailee Ng at 30 years old has become a very successful techpreneur. Looking into the modus operandi of 500 Startups offers insights into how high risks and returns are assessed. We also ask the question of whether Malaysian business ideas can stand out in a world dominated by Silicon Valley and other ecosystems in China, Japan and South Korea. Funding mobility has jumped by leaps and bounds with...

Tom Gearing, CEO of Cult Wines, comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the business of investing in wines. While investing in wine is not new, a few wine funds globally have run into trouble. As such some of questioned it as a form of investment, but Gearing says it can still be a part of an investor's portfolio. We ask him about the risks, whether it has gained traction globally and the outl...

Movenbank a US start-up, boasts itself as the world's first real-time mobile money tool allowing users to make payment from your mobile devices as well as providing instantaneous feedback to track expenditure and spending patterns. Technology futurist, Brett King shares why this model is disrupting the industry and consumer visits to physical bank outlets are numbered. See omnystudio.com/listener...

On the Breakfast Grille this morning is John Goodwin, the Executive Vice President and CFO of the toymaker Lego Group. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and still owned by the third and fourth generation of the family, Lego as at September had surpassed Mattel as the world's most valuable toymaker. Following the breakout success of the Lego Movie, the company seems to be riding high, but we...

The existence of a consultancy like ETFGI is interesting as it is testament to how far ETFs (exchange-traded funds) have come. The investing world in the west have lead in the conceptual development of these low-cost market-tracking instruments. We look into where Asia and in particular Malaysia stand in this area which has proven to be highly beneficial to investors. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Prof Gareth Evans, Co-Chairman of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect and former Foreign Minister of Australia, discusses R2P's principles and motives, responds to criticisms over its ideals, his position in the institution and the ongoing Syrian crisis (and the US' latest military incursion into the Middle East). He also answers detractors like Anthony Loewenstein and Noam Chomsky...

Wong Heang Tuck, CEO of U-Mobile, discusses CEOs appointments and the recent high turnover rate, aggressive branding and budget for A&P. He also discusses metrics like revenue share, prepaid - postpaid ratios, subscribers, coverage, penetration and market share. He also talks about its financials, listing plans, subscriber growth targets, capex, network spend, Berjaya network synergies and net...

The government seems to have achieved the unthinkable of implementing the GST and at the same time insulating the lower income group from it. The future of milking the GST potential has to come with addressing longer term structural issues like income-earning ability, education as well as reducing leakages. We look into whether this was achieved in the budget. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

In this Pre-Budget 2015 Grille, Tricia Yeoh of IDEAS & Azlan Awang of Blindspot discuss fiscal consolidation, key issues like GST, subsidies, wages, disposable income, risk of capital flight, bloated civil service, the idea of Small Govt, worker competitiveness, stagnating salaries, Supplementary Budgets and meeting deficit targets. He also discusses BR1M, affordable housing, cost of living, s...

Datuk Sri Dr Richard Ong, Vice Chairman for the Malaysian Franchise Association comes to talk about franchising as a form of entrepreneurship. The Malaysian Franchise Association or MFA, is tasked with being a bridge between the franchise industry and the government. The MFA not only works as a resource center, but also plays a role in helping the malaysian government's aim to encourage entreprene...

Cheryl Yeoh, CEO, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC), talks about her journey from PJ to San Francisco and then into the Malaysian government.  She then discusses how the collaboration -- a clash of cultures -- between the government and entrepreneurs -- might work in an ASEAN context.  Yeoh also talks about the expectations of her and MaGIC's KPIs - both company and...

Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar is a globally renowned Shariah scholar, and currently the chairman of FIVE Shariah advisory councils, including at Bank Negara, the Securities Commission, and the ISRA Council of Scholars. In 2005, he left the academic world set up Amanie Advisors -- the first global boutique Shariah advisory house for Islamic Finance. Melisa Idris asks him about the standardization of the...

Srirangam Srirangarajan, Managing Director Asean, ALTAIR, discusses its KL operations, involvement in the Malaysian and ASEAN auto sector and group plans to triple headline sales by 2020, vis-a-vis ASEAN's contribution. He talks about doing business in Malaysia, human capital issues, transparency in procurement and tenders. He also discusses the company's business model of computer aided engineeri...

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been at the forefront of research, and providing its course materials online for free. Professor Martin Schmidt, MIT's new Provost, talks about the future of research, academia and online education, and gives his views if the for-profit Minerva Project will succeed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Slavin, managing director of Estee Lauder Malaysia comes on the Breakfast to give an update on the environment of the cosmetics business. Founded in 1974, Estee Lauder is one of the most recognisable brands in the beauty business, and is the fourth largest in the world in terms of revenue. Its listed parent just reported its FY14 earnings pulling in USD10.97 billion in sales backed by its por...

With a world population set to exceed 9 billion people by 2050, the construction industry faces a major challenge in meeting the housing and infrastructure needs of the world's population, while ensuring that construction is ever more efficient and sustainable. Carlos Espina shares the latest developments of the Lafarge Group in balancing research funds to create affordable housing for the masses...

Ray Bauer, the managing director of franchise operations Asia for Darden International comes on the Breakfast Grill to talk about the expansion of its portfolio of brands into Asia as the company sets to open its first restaurant in KL. Best known in the US for its three main brands, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Long Horn Steakhouse, the company is not as well known outside the States. We ask him...

On the Breakfast Grille, Melisa Idris speaks to Nipun Mehta, founder of Service Space, an incubator for gift-economy projects. Ideologically, the Gift Economy is a way of doing business that allows the client to determine the value of the item or service. Ethically, it challenges the receiver to give back. Philosophically, it offers a worldview centered on relationship, instead of money....

Fong Wai Leong, CEO of main market-listed PanPages Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to address its current loss-making state and what is next for the company. PanPages is in the business of search and advertising and IT and it is the re-seller for third party online advertisement products for famous names Google, Alibaba and Facebook. We ask Wai Leong about what is next for the company, the recen...

Philip Rao, President, Malaysian Institute of Internal Auditors and a Partner in the global accounting firm Ernst & Young, discusses the under-appreciation of the IA function, implications on costs, fees and depth of audit and the possibility of corporate fraud. He discusses the outsourced function and the pros and cons thereof. He also discusses Silver Bird Bhd, the movement to impose auditor...

Australia has been and continues to be the land of milk and honey for thousands of Malaysians for decades, accepting many as citizens. Is Malaysia's shame, Australia's pride? It is a relationship that has had its rough patches and continues to have to negotiate challenging bilateral concerns, from Lynas to the alleged spying by the Australian Signals Directorate to Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Ag...

Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, Chairman, Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, PEMUDAH and Chief Secretary to the Government, discusses public-private sector parterships, the National Blue Ocean Strategy, corruption, education standards, corruption, ease of doing business, crime, taxi services and the sale of Penang Port to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin comes on the Breakfast Grille in his capacity as chairman of Battersea Project Holding Company Ltd to talk about what it will take for the project to be globally iconic. He gives a progress report on how he expects it to be different from other shopping districts. Tan Sri also talks about his involvement in Eco World, answers whether his previous second-in-command Datuk Voon T...