The Breakfast Grille

David Teo, CEO of Metrowealth International Group. Arguably one of Malaysia’s top film producers, he’s made 82 movies, more than half of which has hit box office status. His company, Metrowealth International Group, was behind 15 of the 53 movies released in Malaysia this year so far. So how do you win, in an industry so vulnerable to the whims and fancies of its audience? We pose...

Alvin Roth, Co-Winner of the 2012 Nobel Economics Prize, discusses: - Early work of Co-Winner Lloyd Shapley; - Misallocation of scarce resources; - Shapley's work in ‘Game Theory’ - evaluate, in a numerical way, decisions in games and other interactions between people; - Being drawn to a 'more useful purpose' for what could often seem arcane mathematical riddles; - Roth's chance to put...

Sapurakencana Petroleum Bhd Executive Chairman Dato' Mokhzani Mahathir discusses: - Kencana - Sapura - merger - progress - systems / workforces; - Wisdom of warp-speed merger and acquisition - justification; - Financial terms - Seadrill deal - valuation - issues; - High Debt/EBITDA ratio - issues; - John Fredriksen - billionaire major owner of Seadrill - join the board - issues; - Seadrill - doubl...

In this 2012 interview, Magna Prima Berhad CEO Dato' Rahadian Mahmud discusses: - CEO promotion; - Broad update on the property sector; - The Istana in Melbourne - maiden venture abroad - reasons; - Internal expertise; - Aussie property market - said to be on a downtrend - issues; - Pricing - insights; - Future - further investment in Australia - data points; - Malaysia Market for luxury / upmarke...

Iclif Leadership & Governance Centre CEO Rajeev Peshawaria discusses: - Impetus behind joining; - Financials - Opex - Staffing - KPIs; - Corporate Governance - Asia - CLSA Report -  transgressions - Sun Hung Kai - Olympus - Asia-wide CG remit; - Concentrated ownership - issues - board independence - CEO/Chairman Separation - Enforcement - ‘Unseen Hand’ - SC-Sime-E&O - indi...

Aker Solutions President for Subsea, Dave Hutchinson, discusses: - The Subsea business; - Investment in Malaysia - market share of subsea production technologies; - Clientele - target market; - $60m manufacturing plant - Pekan - reasons; - Contracts - Pipeline; - Asia - exploration - deal pipeline; - Politics - contract negotiations; - Exploration - deep and ultra deep water - impact - technology;...

His Excellency Chai Xi, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Malaysia, discusses: -- his tenure here in Malaysia and the changes he's seen -- substantial bilateral achievements this year -- trade and economic co-operation between Malaysia and China -- the imbalance in bilateral investment and what can be done to narrow the gap -- an update on the joint-venture project between...

McDonald’s Singapore and Malaysia Regional Manager, Sarah Casanova, makes a comeback on the Breakfast Grille! She give us an update on the latest from McDonald's -- the launch of the first McCafe in Malaysia, as well as their bullish expansion plans. She also answers YOUR questions: Find out if the popular GCB will be a permenant fixture on the McDonald's menu, if they plan to introduce...

Publicis Malaysia CEO Dean Bramham discusses: - “costdiving”; - client challenges - play agencies off against each other - client management - expectations - switching agencies - whether this is the biggest challenge for ad agencies?; - talent shortages; - salaries and remuneration; - rising wages - passing on to client; - Creative - 'sweatshop'; - ‘Idea Vultures’; - whethe...

SME Bank, a merger of Bank Industri and part of Bank Pembangunan, and 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance, is cleaning up its balance sheet, improving productivity, and trying to expand its services to include venture capital financing. Datuk Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus was appointed as managing director in 2010 to turn around the bank. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chen Tien Yue, Executive Director and fourth generation of the founding family of the iconic Malaysian brand, Royal Selangor. He discusses: -- The history of the company -- How the family has managed to keep the business within the fold -- What it's like working with family -- Evolution of the Royal Selangor brand -- The design and innovation of Royal Selangor products -- Its recent collaboration...

Ben Gomes, Vice President and Google Fellow at Google Inc., discusses:  - In years spent developing Search - the biggest challenges you faced - learning points;  - Adwords - downsides: manipulating search results - search engine optimization (SEO) industry - whether one of the unfortunate consequences of creation;  - Keeping search algorithms secret - difficulty;  - Changi...

Kelvin Tan the CEO of Southeast Asia for the Columbia Asia Group discusses its unique business proposition, bringing fast and efficient service and value-for-money treatment to residential areas in Malaysia. He talks about how their hospitals are relatively smaller in comparison to other private hospitals and how this makes them run more efficiently and helps keep costs down. Columbia Asia's...

John Clare Head of Country Management for market expansion service provider DKSH, discusses the Malaysian business: its operations, challenges within the industry and the opportunities for growth.  Also, recently DKSH released the Second Global Market Expansion Services Report, in a joint effort with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. In the interview, he discusses some of the key findings f...

Auditor General of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato’ Setia Haji Ambrin Buang, discusses:  --  why there was a delay in releasing the report --  if the Budget and A-G's Report will continued to be separated --  the process of auditing the government and the challenges --  why weaknesses in project planning, procurement of equipments, handling of contracts, and maintenance, were...

Russia has been emerging from the shackles of a Communist era to welcome foreign investors and trade partners. The market of 142 million people is irresistible and Singapore has been actively promoting trade between both countries and has direct flights. Malaysia appears to be behind the game. Lyudmila Vorobyeva, Russian ambassador to Malaysia, and Russia's only woman ambassador, talks about...

Thomas Heatherwick, the designer of the London Olympics cauldron, the Seed Cathedral for the UK pavilion in the World Expo Shanghai, and London's double decker bus talks about his inspiration and design philosophy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dato' Simon Foong, the managing director and CEO of Aquaria KLCC, shares the story of how an oceanarium -- right in the heart of KL -- came to be.  He also discusses:  -- the initial capital investment -- the design and construction of Aquaria -- revenue from ticket and retail sales -- expenditure on maintainance of the tanks, pumps and marine life -- how Aquaria gets the animals and fis...

Al-Rajhi Bank has established 25 banks in Malaysia. Financing and advances is RM3.7 billion as at end-2011. Total assets is RM6.1 billion. But profits are still small - RM472,000 in 2011, and reserves is a negative RM243 million. How will Al-Rajhi differentiate itself under Datuk Azrulnizam Abdul Aziz, the CEO who was appointed in early 2012? And will the US Senate findings that Al-Rajhi group had...

Datuk Jeffrey Ng Chin Heng, Managing Director of LBI Capital Berhad, gives us an update on their current projects in Bandar Saujana Putra, Petaling Jaya, Johor, and Puchong, among others. He also discusses the company's landbank, following the acquisition of land in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, as well as his outlook on the overall property market.  Click on the link to watch the video of the i...

K.H Lim, Managing Director, SGL Carbon Sdn. Bhd., discusses:  - How SGL - addressing global problems like energy efficiency, finding alternative energy sources or protecting the climate;  - August 2006 - announced Banting - electrode plant - expanded to include cathodes production - background to decision to locate in Malaysia;  - Banting production as a percentage of global sales t...

H&M, a Swedish brand and the world's second largest fast fashion retailer plays catch up with Zara and finally comes to Malaysia. Known for its affordable and fashionable clothes and large format stores, H&M differentiates by collaborating with designers, fashion names like Anna Dello Russo, and celebrities like David Beckham. Lex Keijser, the Country Manager of Greater China, Singapore an...

Alex Chew, the Executive Director of Main Board-listed industrial rubber hose manufacturer, Wellcall Holdings.  He explains Wellcall's business proposition and their approach to competition & growth. Alex also talks about the company's expansion plans, after announcing in June that it was planning to buy an additional 8 acres of lands near its existing factory. Wellcall has a dividen...

Dr Mazalan Kamis, the CEO of the Malaysian Innovation Foundation / Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM). He discusses how YIM plans to promote creativity and innovation at the grassroots level. He also shares his thoughts on rote learning in the education system and YIM's afforts to get children to be more creative, innovative and to think laterally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Sathis Manoharan, Regional Head for AirAsia & AirAsia X Cargo. He discusses how AirAsia Cargo got started, despite it being unconventional for a low cost carrier to have a cargo division. He also shares how he was roped in to head the AirAsia Cargo, even without any aviation or freight experience, and the steep learning curve that came with setting up a business from the ground up. With the ac...