The Breakfast Grille

Amnesty International is one of the world's most established human rights NGO's, having been founded in 1961. As co-chair of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN being held in Kuala Lumpur this year, Shetty challenges the conventional wisdom and "false choices" governments in the region often give their citizens when framing human rights debates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Islamic finance might be known to many, the life and minds of the Shariah scholars of Islamic finance have been shrouded in mystery. Listen to Datuk Dr. Daud Bakar, author of Shariah Minds In Islamic Finance as he tells us about the role Shariah scholars play in Islamic Finance and how they come about to make certain decisions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EthisCrowd.com claims to be the world’s first ethical and Shariah-compliant real estate crowdfunding platform, which allows investors to invest in socially responsible projects. Umar Munshi, founder of EthisCrowd.com discusses the group's affordable housing projects in Indonesia -- a market with a lot of potential but also many challenges. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The newly-launched Malaysia Aerospace Industry Association aims to promote and develop Malaysia as the aerospace hub of choice in Asia. Pro-tem President Naguib Mohd Nor joins us on the Breakfast Grille to discuss how the association plans to achieve this goal. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the Grille that ties up a series of previous grilles. UDA Holdings is a well known name. It has business relationships with previous firms that we've interviewed, including the Kg. Bharu Development Corp , MIDA , BBCC and more. Listen to Datuk Ahmad Ahmad Abu Bakar, CEO of UDA Holdings Berhad defend how this company helps the Bumiputra agenda of the country using property development as a...

Sasbadi is a household name in the education publishing sector. We pose some tough questions to co-founder and Managing Director, Law King Hui, and ask him how Sasbadi plans to stay relevant in the digital age. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is challenging for a big company like Petronas Chemicals to deliver high growth as the company has become entrenched in the olefins and fertilisers divisions. PChem's share price is at about the same level over the last 5 years save for oil and currency related volatility. Projects like SAMUR and Rapid give the company some hope. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volatile business environment has not only affected corporate Malaysia and large conglomerates. Smaller businesses are also feeling the pinch. These include coffee-shops and mamak stalls - a staple and big part of Malaysian food culture. Post-GST, operators are also having to cope with increased costs from foreign worker levies, reduced subsidies and weak consumer sentiment. We discuss how the...

Inaugurated with the Lima Declaration - promoting the free circulation of goods, services and people - the Pacific Alliance is a Latin American trade bloc which comprises Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru with Costa Rica and Panama in the process applying for membership. With over 40 countries with Observer status, and 3 out of 4 of in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the bloc is claiming a...

Dato' Ilyas Mohamed, Chairman of Koperasi Amanah Pelaburan Berhad (KAPB), explains how KAPB intends to transform this sleepy organization into a force to be reckoned with in the world of investment funds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The global defence industry is big business. We speak to Stephen Phipson, Head of UKTI-DSO, a body tasked with promoting British defence companies, their products and services to the world. Listen as we uncover the ethics of marketing weapons of war, as well as the use of taxpayers funds for this purpose. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sweden-based JAK Members Bank is a member-owned, cooperative enterprise that operates on an interest-free savings and loan system. It's been called the safest bank in Sweden. Can a bank operate successfully if it does not charge interest on its loans? Sammy Almedal, CEO of JAK discusses the similarities of its model of interest-free banking with Islamic finance. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Christoph Mueller's concealed reasons for his resignation raises more questions about the restructuring and future of Malaysia Airlines. Certainly great strides have been made in the short term by targeting low hanging fruits through cost rationalisation. But Malaysians would ultimately want to know whether they would have to continue funding a national identity indefinitely. Listen to the full in...

The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement brings about various changes to our IP laws, from copyrights, trademarks and patents, right down to the methods of valuing our IP. Listen to MyIPO's Deputy Director General, En Abdul Aziz Ismail and the Director of Ella Cheong Malaysia, Mr. Soh Kar Liang break down the complicated issues surrounding the IP laws in relation to the TPP. See omnystudio.com/list...

U Mobile is the smallest of the four mobile telco players and positions itself as a “challenger” to the Big Three incumbents - Maxis, Celcom and Digi. Can they keep this position amidst talk there could be a new entrant to the market? Wong Heang Tuck, the CEO of U Mobile joins us on the Breakfast Grille to discuss this and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waze is an Israel-based mapping and navigation company, which was acquired by Google in 2013 for over $1 billion. Malaysia is the biggest Waze markets in the region, with over 2.5 million monthly active users in KL alone. So why has Waze done so well in Malaysia? Amir Mirzaee, Business Development Lead for APAC, EU & US for Waze, joins us on the Breakfast Grille to discuss the reasons. See omn...

Briand Greer, President of Honeywell Southeast Asia joins us as we explore at length the business of Honeywell Asia. We discuss their aeronautics, electrical and electronics business, as well as their oil & gas division among others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPF has made great strides in diversifying into foreign assets as well as upping its equity allocation. But retirement adequacy is still a huge problem. EPF is now having dialogues with the government for some kind of national income policy. There also appears to be an existential crisis of how to deal with the sharply devalued ringgit over the last few decades and how to move away from the mindse...

Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim, Chairman of Awqaf Holdings is never shy about his opinions regarding the shortcomings of GLCs and "Malaysia Inc". He proposes a more equitable way that balances religious obligation and corporate acumen that seeks to redistribute wealth from the top 1% back to the majority of the people, particularly to the poor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Engineering firm Surbana Jurong has played a huge role in developing city master-plans for over 30 different countries including its home-base in Singapore. Group CEO, Wong Heang Fine discusses some of its successes in urbanising the city's landscape and the future of cities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In conjunction with World Press Freedom Day, we interview one of Malaysia's most influential press companies, Utusan Melayu Berhad on their thoughts on press freedom in the country. Listen as we have a frank discussion with Utusan's Group Managing Director, Datuk Mohd. Noordin Abbas, and ask what he thinks about the selective prosecution of journalists, leeway given to government press organs, and...

BHIC Bofors Asia is a joint venture company between BAE Systems and Boustead Heavy Industries. Listen to their Deputy CEO, Nils Ove Gustaffson explain their plans on expanding their business here, and how technology transfer happens, between three countries; Sweden, Britain, and Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Synonymous with credit cards, Visa is charting a new path as a payments solution company. Head of Products for Southeast Asia, James Lim discusses some of the new frontiers the group is embarking on, as it faces stiff competition from more nimble technology firms.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Yeo is a veteran politician having served in 4 senior Cabinet positions after a career in the Republic’s airforce where he earned his stripes as a Brigadier-General. Since losing his parliamentary seat in the 2011 General Elections, has been associated with the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy and more recently was elected Cha...

Heineken Malaysia Berhad, formerly known as Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB), has been in sharp focus recently, following the government's move to change the excise duty structure. Managing Director Hans Essaadi discusses the impact of GST on its operating costs and what this will mean for the selling prices of its products.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.