The Breakfast Grille

REHDA National Council Member and Group MD of Bukit Kiara NK Tong, talks about issues pertinent to REHDA such as the low level of foreign investment in real estate, the role that the housing and property sector plays in the overall economy, household debt, NPLs, the government's "high impact strategic developments" such as the KLDIF, RRI Land in Sungai Buloh and Warisan Merdeka, urging the Governm...

Koh Joo Siang, General Manager at Cerebos Malaysia, tells how the company maintains market share lead for its core product, the Brand's Essence of Chicken, despite the plethora of health supplements and multi-level marketing companies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time dotCom CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim talks about the company's sixth straight quarter of profits against the backdrop of his 2-year-old turnaround plan, its growing global bandwidth business and the interplay between being a yield versus a growth stock and dividends. He also discusses its recent 339 million ringgit acquisitions of Global Transit and AIMS in the context of valuations, potential, prosp...

Ashild Kjok, First Secretary at the Embassy of Norway, talks about Telenor and Jotuns' investments in Malaysia. No figures are recorded for the services sector. On Norway's plans to cut CO2 emissions by 30% over the next 10 years, they will do so by participating in the CDM system (Clean Development Mechanism) by buying carbon credits from emerging markets, apart from using existing renewable ener...

Ahmad Hadri Haris Hadri, Chief Technical Advisor of National Malaysia Building Integrated Photovoltaic (MBIPV) Project, talks about the main objectives of Malaysia's Renewable Energy Program, the concept of feed-in tariffs (FIT) and how they practically work. He then discusses the progress of the legislation required to activate the Renewable Energy (RE) program such as the Renewable Energy Act &a...

Dr Hartini Zainuddin, General Manager and founder of Nur Salam, updates us on the crime situation in Chow Kit and how Nur Salam works with children who sleep in the streets, or are abandoned, or are stateless. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TMC Life Sciences Bhd Group CEO Francis Lim Poon Thoo talks about  the reasons behind the resignation of TMC's founder Datuk Dr Colin Lee Soon Soo and the entry of new substantial shareholder, Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim Eng Hock, as well as the implications, outlook for, and expertise he brings to the entity. He also discusses expectations of a return to profit this year, the 4 income...

Tan Sri Hj Ambrin Buang, the Auditor General of Malaysia, tells why the PTPTN fund has accumulated a huge deficit of RM50 billion, and why the tuna venture at Batu Maung has not net a single fish and has defaulted on its loan of RM240 million and needs a government bail-out. While the audit process is random and performance-based (non-performing contracts are hig...

Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, the Co-Chairman of Pemudah and Managing Director of Royal Selangor International, tells how Pemudah is making it easier for businesses to deal with the government in getting grants, licenses and permits. He says there is a time lag in showing improvements in international rankings. Companies with problems dealing with the government can write to Pemudah. See omnystudio.com/li...

HSBC Msia Deputy Chairman and CEO Mukhtar Hussain talks about the key differences between the regions in which he has worked, what brings him to this neck of the woods, and also define the thrust for the Malaysian franchise. He then moves on to the loans nbook and discusses residential among other loans issues such as growth and delinquencies. He also talks about deposits taking and capitalisation...

Hsiao Tung Wei, Market Development Manager of Ni Hsin Resources Berhad, tells how the company is reinventing its cookware brand, Buffalo, to stay relevant in a crowded market. One is to establish its own brand in Europe (Kit Zen) that is posiitioned as good quality and price affordably. It can't charge premium pricing unless it manufactures in Europe. Ni Hsin is also extending the c...

LBI Capital Bhd MD Dato' Jeffrey Ng talks about LBI as a family business, its shift from rubber mould products into property development, its positioning, landbank issues, launches and GDV. He also discusses whether there is a bubble in the sector, outlook for sales, feedback from customers and business partners regarding property outlook and recent government moves to cap speculation. See omnystu...

Andre Nair, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia, tells how the agency recruit and manage its talent (calls itself "talent obsessed), and how Malaysia's Talent Corporation can engage with talent. He also talks about how PNB should engage with the 200,000+ Facebook critics of its proposed 100-storey tower. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Geoffroy de Drouas, Business Development General Manager at Bonia Corporation, talks about the brand positioning of Bonia, Carlo Rino and Sembonia, and the company's expansion plans to achieve higher growth and international recognition. Bonia's main brands are its namesake, Carlo Rino and Sembonia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Curitiba's Mayor, Luciano Ducci and Secretary of International Relations, Eduardo Guimaraes, gives us insights into the public transportation system of Curitiba and how it is upgrading it to be more green like using biofuel. Curitiba in Brazil is said to be the most sustainable city in the world due to an efficient public transportation system and the Malaysian Institute of Planners have picked th...

Madeleine Yong, Executive Director and founder of PS (Protect and Save) The Children, gives us insights into child sexual abuse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CIMB Group CEO Dato Sri Nazir Razak starts off by offering an outlook for its financial performance for the rest of 2010, and which divisions are seeing the biggest gains. He then talks about how the CIMB of the future will be an entity that reflects its increasingly ASEAN earnings complexion and what he means by that operationally as well as from the standpoint of its ownership structure and its...

Dato' Haji Syed Zainal Abidin, the Managing Director of Proton Holdings, explains how the Inspira is not a rebadge of the Mitsubishi Lancer GT but a value-added version, how Lotus could be profitable by 2014, and why Proton does not enjoy government protection apart from R&D grants which are given out in other countries too. Dato' Zainal believes that consolidation is the way to go, which...

Brett Wigdortz, co-founder of Teach For All, tells us how the programme integrates with the local education system and preliminary plans for Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pieter Harting, General Manager of LSG Sky Chefs-Brahim Sdn Bhd, talks about company informations such as how many meals it prepares daily, who its clients are, staff numbers, how menus are formulated, the challenges of working with a diverse set of airlines,, offers some insights into the entire end-to-end process. He also discusses company financials and revenue contribution, its 25-year-concess...

Tim Harcourt, Chief Economist at the Australian Trade Commission, discusses AEAN and Malaysia - Australian trade issues, as well as currency and Aussie dollar issues. He addresses, also, issues eprtaining to China - Australia trade, and their benefits for Australia, namely export demand, direct investment and project financing. He also talks about the social and economic challenges of doing (a lot...

Professor George Kohlrieser, an organizational and clinical psychologist, talks about his early work as a hostage negotiator and how 35 years in that career prepared him to work in the corporate world, advising clients that mutual benefit and seeing the other point is critical at the negotiation table. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

i-Berhad CEO Eu Hong Chew talks about the transition and reasons from being an IT products and household appliances maker to IT City property developer, the progress of its i-City in Shah Alam, how it plans to address a property market that it describes as 'challenging', an outlook for sales (after revenues fell off a cliff in 2009). Eu essentially addresses concerns that I-Bhd's shareholders are...

Stewart Forbes, Executive Director of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Dr Veerinderjeet Sing, Managing Director of Taxand Malaysia, gives their views on whether Budget 2011 has done enough to attract investments, and to allocate for education. They also share their views on allocating RM5 billion on the proposed 100-storey building, expected to be the tal...

Dato' Dr. Mahani Zainal Abidin, Chief Executive of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies and Christopher Boyd, Executive Chairman of CB Richard Ellis Malaysia, discuss the upcoming 2011 budget in the areas of property, taxation, construction, subsidy reform, fiscal deficits, the Economic Transformation Program and moving into developed-nation status. See omnystudio.com/listener for...