The Breakfast Grille

The country’s political landscape might have been different had Tun Sir HS Lee not persuaded MCA to join Umno in the Alliance Party coalition instead of Dato’ Onn Jaafar’s Independence of Malaya Party. Lee was one of the founding fathers of Malaysia, and its first finance minister. In 1957, however, he was defeated in the Selangor MCA presidential election, and two years later, h...

FJ Benjamin is the brand owner of Raoul, and distributor of Gap, Guess, Celine, and a range of timepieces like Girard Perregaux and Bell & Ross, in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Nash Benjamin, the CEO of FJ Benjamin, talks about his portfolio strategy for the next 10 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of the most significant components that make Malaysia what it is today, was introduced during the tenure of the second prime minister. In spite of his brief tenure, the many attributes of Malaysia -- be it social, political or economical -- were Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein's handiwork. Under Tun Abdul Razak's premiership, the country saw the launch of the New Eco...

Aston Martin's Asia Pacific Regional Director Dr Matthew Bennett discusses: - Reasons for entry - Malaysia; - Whether late to the game; - JV with Berjaya; - Addressable market; - Market data - research; - Sales approach - Asia generally; - Targets - Malaysia; - Aston making far fewer cars than its peak in 2007 - issues; - Brand competition - rolls/Bentley/Ferrari etc - sales positioning; - Worldwi...

Richard Baraniuk, t he Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, and founder of Connexions talks about the future of online education. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sustainability for New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) Group Director, Dr. Simon Lord discusses: - Reportedly poor uptake of sustainable palm oil - demand issues; - RSPO - efforts - gauge; - Green Palm certificates - whether copout - stop gap; - Buyers - whether trend away from certificates approach; - Changing nature of consumption - new users - India and China; - Government - reducing trade levies...

Prof Tham Siew Yean is a professor in international trade and a principal research fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She has research interests and publications in foreign direct investment, economic integration and trade in services. In the interview, Prof Tham examines the trade's contributions to growth in Malaysia, current c...

Group M CEO and Leader of Mindshare Malaysia, Girish Menon discusses:  - Overall health - Malaysia advertising spend;  - Contrast with supposedly cooling economy - whether disconnect;  - Astro's return to the stock exchange;  - Catalysts - local media landscape- Growth areas - print - Mandarin - Maly vernacular; - Dynamics: Chinese - Malay newspapers;  - Drop in English li...

American-born author and Beijing-based consultant Robert Koepp discusses his new book, ' Betting on China: Chinese Stocks, American Stock Markets, and the Wagers on a New Dynamic in Global Capitalism'.   He explores the reasons and the means by which China, America, and the global economy reap enormous gains from the process of Chinese companies issuing equity shares on US stock mar...

Autodesk is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. V.R Srivatsan, the managing director for Autodesk's Asean business, discusses the business proposition in Asean, the surrounding eco-system and its channel partners. He also discusses some challenges Aut...

David Ng, Managing Director Malaysia & Brunei, DHL Express. He discusses: --  the impressive QoQ growth registered by DHL Express --  where most of its international shipments coming from, and where are they bound for --  if the slowdown in China,  prolonged turmoil in Europe and the slow pickup of the US economy has given them cause for concern --  if there any r...

Gunung Capital Bhd Executive Chairman / CEO Dato' Syed Abu Hussin discusses: - Path - civil service - UMNO politics - into the transport charter business; - Mode of buying ‘transport’ assets’; - APs 0 Connections; - Five-year contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply buses to the National Service (NS) Program to December 2014; - Mode of winning the project? Whether Open Ten...

Peder Bohlin, Managing Director of Jotun Malaysia and Regional Director of South East Asia. He discusses getting transferring the plant in Singapore to Nilai and getting the plant up and running. Peder also talks about strategies to increase market share and Jotun Malaysia's distribution strategy. He touches on how Malaysia is also Jotun’s regional hub for South East Asia...

Kowshik Sriman, Managing Director for SAP Singapore & Malaysia discusses: --  SAP's flagship Enterprise Resource Planning solution and the current business proposition --  evolution of the company --  Singapore and Malaysia markets under his purview --  SAP's support ecosystem in Malaysia --  contribution from Singapore and Malaysia business & growth stra...

Privasia Technology Bhd MD & Founder Puvanesan Subenthiran discusses: - Westports relationship - dependence - percentage contribution; - Orderbook update; - Local expansion - KK (Sabah) and Malacca -- Details, issues - impact; - Why the focus on Sabah and Malacca, these two states in particular; - Employee issues - Low Yat forums - vitriol - importance of workforce motivation; - Hiring - compe...

Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive of  Iskandar Regional Development Authority, discusses: --  update on Iskandar Malaysia as it is now in its second phase --  priority sectors with the development --  meeting investment targets --  breakdown of foreign and domestic investments --  maintaining a competitive advantage --  attracting talent and reversing brain dr...

Zurich Insurance Malaysia Berhad CEO Cheong Chee Meng discusses: - MAA - life and general insurance acquisition - integration process; - Price - bargain basement - issues; - Re-branding exercise -- - update - brand acceptance - issues; - Overall integration - people, processes - culture; - Malaysian insurance - Under-penetration - issues; - No Takaful business - issues; - Zurich’s goal - top...

In this 2012 interview, Daibochi Plastic and Packaging Industry Bhd MD Thomas Lim discusses: - Food packaging segment: new clients - sales orders - R&D efforts - new product lines, higher-margin items; - Raw material prices oil prices; - Room for more gearing - whether will do so -- growth pockets - CAPEX; - Branding: perception of low quality in premium markets like Australia; - Competition;...

Federal Furniture Holdings Group Managing Director and Executive Director, Choy Wai Hin, discusses: --  Federal Furniture Holdings' main businesses of manufacturing & export, interior fit-out, and retail --  the shift in their manufacturing business model following stiff competition from China --  their biggest export market and outlook considering the global slowdown --  t...

Ignatius Ong, CEO of FireFly, discusses: --  FireFly's ceased jet services and its sole focus on turboprop operations --  Why MAS took over FireFly’s jet ops --  If the move to cancel FireFly's jet operations was premature --  FireFly's target market as a 'community airline' --  New routes --  Plans for fleet explansion --  Increasing customer experience an...

In this 2012 interview, Yinson Holdings Bhd ED Lim Chern Yuan discusses: - Relative newcomer - market positioning; - Business seems good - strong Q1 numbers - sustainability; - Oil and gas: capex outlook - debt to equity ratio - expertise challenges - vessels maintenance - charter rates outlook - oil price volatility - oil major spending; - Earnings visibility - charter rates - outlook; - Vietnam...

Winnie Loo, the founder and chief creative director of 'A Cut Above' group of salons & academy She discusses: -- Her humble beginnings, starting out the business with only a tiny salon in KL -- Her family's reaction when she told them you wanted to pursue a career in hairdressing -- The business: the ubiquitous A Cut Above salons, the Re:Style studios and the X-Cut chain -- Expansion plans: Ne...

In this 2012 interview, Charlie Oropeza, CEO of Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd, discusses: - Branches - employees - agents - Wealth Planners - update and outlook; - Business update; - HQ - pressure - Prudential’s Asian business - biggest contributor - group; - General outlook - Malaysian insurance landscape - growth drivers; - Demographic - races - breakdown; - Sales strategy - Bumi - Ind...

Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid, CEO of MRT Corp discusses: -- the estimated cost of the MRT project -- an update on the current progress of construction works -- the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) agreement with MMC-Gamuda -- the final route alignment -- the possibility of accepting the realignment proposed by the Jalan Sultan stakeholders -- an update on the situation with the Jalan Sultan landowners ag...

Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the Oxford University and the author of The Arab Awakening: Islam and the New Middle East. He discusses: --  just how Islamic are the mass movements across the Middle East --  why he refuses to refer to the uprisings as the 'Arab Spring' --  that Western countries were involved in training the cyber-dissidents, while at the...