The Breakfast Grille

With rave review of his 2007 work “Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and South-East Asia” the Financial Times proclaimed him the “chief myth-buster for Asian business”. His latest offering is “How Asia Works", subtitled “Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region” in which he tries to explain the lessons which were learnt, or...

Datuk Loo Took Gee, Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) joins us on the breakfast grille. She talks about the ministry's goals to improve awareness of the environment, green technology, subsidies and consumption habits. The rising cost of fuel translates to an ever greater burden on the government as it subsidises water, electricity and fuel rates. We d...

Her Chor Siong, CEO of Cuscapi Berhad, joins us on the breakfast grille. He talks about the deterioration of margins despite rising revenues and why he is not concerned. He also discusses Cuscapi's plans for the next 10 to 15 years  to innovate and diversify, enter new markets and lead the point of sales sector into new technological areas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the Breakfast Grille is Paul Moung, CEO of IBM Malaysia. He discusses cloud computing, and how IBM intends to utilize this and other 'sexy' new technologies in its business. Additionally, he also talks about IBM offering Smarter Planet solutions to Malaysia's traffic problems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Teng Chee Wai, CEO of  Hwang-DBS Investment Management talks to BFM on the following topics: - Affin deal now subject to Bank Negara's approval - Appropriate valuations for HwangDBS - Factors in Affin winning the bid - more than pricing - Challenges of integration process - Opportunities to grow fund size to government agencies - Greater footprint in Asia - requires capable people - Not looki...

Professor Glyn Davis, Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne is on the Breakfast Grille. He speaks to Melisa Idris about: -- the position of Australia in the global higher education industry -- the breakdown for the university’s student population -- competition from emerging international alternatives -- the impact of changes in the visa policy and the high Aussie dollar to student...

Dato' Seri Suhaimi Abdul Rahman, CEO, Masers Energy Malaysia, discusses: - Masers inception - Story of entrepreneurship - Velchip - unlimited high speed Internet connection of 224Mbps - RM5 per user per month - Velchip company president - Wan Sarkawi Tuanku Jaapar Al-Yahya - issues - What Masers does - How Masers succeeded in winning coveted Malacca project - Whether concession? - Who is paying fo...

Ranjit Singh, President, Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia, answers on the following points: - Internal Auditors (IA) heretofore almost a backroom function - but no longer - as evidenced by your PR blitz - impetus to the PR blitz - BUT NOT mandatory internal audit function for all private companies? Nor Pre-IPO - Arguments for and against outsourced internal audit practice - Qualified talent...

BFM speaks to Jacques Santer, formerly the 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the 9th President of the European Commission – the executive body of the European Union. Topics covered include: - State of the European Union today. - Should the Union be maintained at all cost? - Quantitative easing and money printing – will another gigantic credit bubble be created, leading to another b...

BFM talks to Richard Duncan, an economist and author of books including The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures and The New Depression: The Breakdown Of The Paper Money Economy. Points covered include: - Not possible to go back to the gold standard - Credit has expanded 50x since 1968 in the US - Globalisation and economic prosperity resulted - But further credit expansion has the...

Mark Nicholls, Tea Ambassador, Twinings, discusses and answers the following questions: - Twinings is a small component of one of ABFs five divisions: Grocery, which comprises the groups consumer-facing businesses selling its premium teas and malted beverages in more than 100 countries. Ovaltine is the big hitter in the Asias, not premium teas. Clearly a gap then, for ABF .. - Developing markets a...

Derek Chang, Managing Director of Scripps Networks Interactive for Asia Pacific discusses the following topics: - Dealing with the rapidly changing landscape of the media industry    - Competing with user-generated content (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo)    - Competing with other forms of entertainment – social media, online gaming , online radio - Evolution of the distribution mod...

Peter Wee, Country Manager of Ricoh Malaysia, discusses the following questions: - Ricoh's involvement in three main business segments: Image & Solution - Industrial equipment (such as thermal media products and optical equipment - and ‘Others’ (like digital cameras and the operation of financial and logistics businesses) The Malaysia proposition? - Update on each business segment...

Delicious CEO Steve Allen talks about running a restaurant franchise in Malaysia and the country’s food culture. Points covered include: - E&O’s investment in Delicious    - Has it paid off?    - Consolidation and product consistency vs expansion - Singapore outlet    - Competitive advantages    - Costs - Price points - Volume & profitabi...

For this year's Malaysia Day we interview two young participants of the Young Enterprise Program on their views of the future of both themselves and the country. Topics covered include: -Introduction of respective students' respective business - Results exceeded expectations - Short term vs long term decision-making - Career choices - What will make money in future? - The environmental impact of b...

David Kershaw, CEO of M&C Saatchi, talks to Sharaad Kuttan about remaining on top of game in the uber competitive world of advertising, while still having fun. Topics covered include: - Development of the advertising industry - Personal introduction into the advertising career - Role as Chairman of the Cultural Leadership Programme - Advertising as ‘effective parasites’ of current...

Country President of ACE Jerneh Insurance, Stephen Crouch talks to BFM about the Malaysian general insurance scene and how ACE Jerneh intends to innovate. Points covered include: - Malaysian general insurance industry compared to the global market      - The acceptance level of malaysians to general insurance      - Premium pricing - Innovative policies for Small &amp...

In this 2013 Interview, Sigve Brekke, Chairman of DiGi Bhd & Telenor Asia, discusses the following questions: MARKET SHARE - COMPETITION - The latest mkt shr data shows that DiGi and Celcom continue to gain ground on Maxis, with DiGi’s slice of the mobile revenue pie rising to 27.6% vs. Maxis’ 37% and Celcom’s 35%... Are you happy with your current competitive position? - Whe...

Dr Amat Taap Manshor, CEO of the recently launched Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) talks to us about the FAA’s role in the finance industry. - Purpose - Is accreditation voluntary or mandatory? - FAA’s funding - Conflicts of interest? - Talent acquisition - The accreditation process - International recognition? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

- Background of the online crime scene - Lack of legal framework to prosecute cybercrime which transcend national jurisdictions - No "silver bullet" for addressing hacktivism - Sourcefire’s business model - Other players in the market - The rise of cloud computing and how it affects Sourcefire - Asian operations - Security for the US govt and private users - Sourcefire's open source platform...

Sia Tiong Heng, the Managing Director of SBC Corp., the Bursa-listed family controlled property development and construction company incorporated in 1954, answers the following questions: - SBC is one of Malaysia’s oldest property and construction firms - among the iconic buildings it has built: Bank Negara headquarters, Empire Tower, Wisma Lim Foo Yong, Wisma HLA and Bangkok Bank headquarte...

For BFM's 5th Anniversary Breakfast Grille, Ho Kay Tat, Group CEO and Publisher of The Edge Media Group and Malek Ali, Managing Director and Founder of BFM Media, discuss: - Malek - fifth anniversary - has it met financial and otherwise expectations - Expansion into non-broadcast avenues with B-school and B-Side - Kay Tat -- The Edge was in the news recently for having bought 23 percent in BFM. It...

Dominique de Soras, CEO of Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering on the Breakfast Grille discusses: - second quarter results with lower margins despite higher revenues - half year profits only 38% of consensus forecast, any chance of catching up in the second half of the year? - order book of only RM1.8bn currently. Needs replenishing - delays and postponement of tenders - expansion of capacity de...

Minor International is one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific region. It operates over 1,000 restaurants and 30 hotels in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions and Africa.  Based in Bangkok, Thailand, it operates hotels under the Anantara, Four Seasons, Marriott, Elewana and Avani brands, owns The Pizza Company and Thai Express restaurant franchi...

Through good fortune and the generosity of people around him a poor boy from Muar reaches the heights of the corporate world. Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, a man associated with building Institut Teknologi Mara talks about education in Malaysia in this Merdeka Special. He speaks about the need to reintroduce vocational studies, the importance of English in Malaysia, and the challenges ahead. See omnystudio...