The Breakfast Grille

Bitcoin's Long Path Into and Out of Your Wallets

06 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Xbit Asia's success as the country's first bitcoin exchange depends on ambitious plans to get consumers and merchants to buy into the cryptocurrency i...

Building An Empire Of Brands

01 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Recent months has seen leadership changes in IPG Mediabrands. Newly appointed CEO Bala Pomaleh joins us on the Breakfast Grille to share his insights ...

Nationwide Riding On The E-commerce Express

30 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Courier service provider Nationwide Courier Services Berhad is embarking on a turnaround strategy which includes a proposed bid to acquire Airpak Expr...

Selangor Water - Khalid’s Case

29 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Water Services Industries Act (WSIA) 2006 was meant to give states greater control over managing their respective water supply. But after nearly 8...

A Golden Opportunity to Gain Credit

23 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Any asset can be collateralised to raise funding. Pos ArRahnu takes it one step further by pawnbroking smaller denominations of gold as a versatile fa...

NanoMalaysia and the Internet of NanoThings

22 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

NanoMalaysia, the business entity under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, is mandated to be the lead driver for the nanotechnology i...

The Central Banker Who Worked For The Poor

21 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, the world was stunned by the brazen cyber-heist carried out on Bangladesh’s central bank from which $81 million was stolen. T...

Opening Up Digitalisation-based Learning

17 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We speak to Adam Brimo, founder & CEO of OpenLearning on the future of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in Malaysia. OpenLearning is an online l...

The Future of Money is Online, Mobile and Digital

16 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Lim Kok Hing, Founder & Executive Director of the online payments provider iPay88, says the smartphone will be the wallet of the future, as money ...

Putting Freshness In Your Home

15 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Holstein Milk Company is the appointed anchor company for Khazanah Nasional's NKEA Project in the Agrifood sector. We speak to their CEO, Loi Tuan Ee ...

Fund Managers Face the Robot Challenge

14 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Smartly, a robo-advisor set up in Singapore, allows customers to invest cheaply and speedily. The disruptive forces of fintechs will pose a great chal...

P2B Lending In Australia

11 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

ThinCats is Australia's first online market for secured business loans linking retail lenders and investors with SME borrowers. We speak with their CE...

Property and Plantation: One Up, One Down

10 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

MKH Berhad, formerly known as Metro Kajang Holdings, started out as a property developer of townships in Kajang and Semenyih but have now diversified ...

Who Will Be The Leader of the Free World?

09 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Today as polls closed across the USA we cross over to three Malaysians in the thick of the battle for political control of the world’s only Supe...

Robo Advising Stocks

08 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Stockspot is an Australian-based robo adviser disrupting the investment scene. By charging low fees for investing in Exchange-Traded Funds, they are c...

China - Giant Strides, Possible Missteps?

07 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The author of the best-selling book titled “When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order,”...

Malaysia-China - Our Strategic Move?

02 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

PM Najib Razak’s week-long visit has international observers taking note of the Administration’s agenda on trade and defense in terms of t...

Taking Consumer Rights into the Financial Arena

01 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Lee, CEO, Ombudsman for Financial Services comes under the radar for his dispute-mediation role in Bank Negara's newly formed division that was...

Hong Kong - Eye on 2047

27 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of the recent Legislative Council elections and the even more recent refusal by elected members to 'play by the rule book' at the swearing...

Watching the Watchdog: Structural Issues with MSWG

26 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Rita Benoy Bushon has been an illustrious, vocal advocator for the rights of minority shareholders during her 8-year tenure as CEO for the Minority Sh...

Re-skilling Ex-Malaysia Airlines Staff

19 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014, Khazanah introduced the 12-Point Malaysia Airlines Restructuring Plan. In it, Malaysia Airlines planned to shed over 6,000 jobs. The Corporat...

Finding Compromise - The Belgian Model

18 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Known as the de facto capital of the European Union, the biggest political & economic decisions are decided in Brussels, Belgium. H.E. Daniel Darg...

Defending the Biodiesel Policy

17 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

More needs to be done to clarify the rationale of the biodiesel policy which might have environmental, costs and inflationary considerations.See omnys...

Speed Queen Hits Market

14 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

BCM Alliance Berhad is involved in the distribution of commercial laundry equipments and supplies medical devices to hospitals. They are heading for a...

Hotels No Longer Need Plush Lobbies

13 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hanley Chew, CEO of Berjaya Hotels & Resorts, joins us on the Breakfast Grille to talk about how he plans to shake up the hospitality industry to ...

With the World Eyeball Deep In Debt, Might a Jubilee Await?

12 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Keen, Head, School of Economics, Politics & History at London's Kingston University, says massive global accumulation of private debt p...

Kuantan at the Centre of Malaysia and China

11 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Kuantan is quite literally and perhaps metaphorically at the centre of Malaysian and China relations. Kuantan port's strategic location saves 1 to 1.5...

Rethinking Islamic Economics

10 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Islamic economy is a scope that covers a wide range of sectors and issues. However, over the last half century, the topic on developing Islamic ec...

Daybreak On Islamic Private Equity

07 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Islamic fund managers are now in a dilemma. Having invested predominantly in the Oil & Gas sector, they have been forced to move their funds elsew...

Dialling The Future

06 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

REDtone International Berhad is a broadband and voice solutions provider. They are heavily focused on the digital future; discussing this and more, we...

A Bitter Pill for Premium Healthcare

04 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

From the people who brought you the Subang Jaya Medical Centre, cost-cutting will be a major strategy to deal with the competition as well as possibly...

Does Golf Have the Balls to Change?

30 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Golf has seen a steady decline in Europe since 2010 according to a report by KPMG. This also comes on the back of Adidas and Nike winding down the gol...

Tech Meets Property

28 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Dato' M. Murly, founder and CEO of Aspen Group, an affordable housing-focused property developer, talks about making the sector profitable, and how la...

CIMB Banking On Consumer

27 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Samir Gupta, CIMB's Group CEO of Consumer Banking explains how the banking institution will operate in the age of increasing digitalisation. From fint...

Axiata's Regional Assets May Be A Strategic Wildcard

26 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Strategy-wise, Celcom operator Axiata, has not received the kind of reporting prominence as Maxis and Digi, the local leaders in respectively in the p...

Dr Wolff Group: Keeping It In The Family For 111 Years

23 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Founded in 1905, German cosmeceutical company Dr. Wolff is now shifting its gaze to Asia as part of its new growth markets. Eduard R Doerrenberg, the ...

Inspecting The Microchip Sector

21 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Vitrox has a market capitalisation of RM 900 million. With customers like Intel, Fujitsu, and Cisco, they boast a niche business that is set to soar t...

Fine Tuning The Telco Business

19 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Tune Talk is one of the smallest virtual telco players in the country. However, they are tied to large and potential strategic partners in AirAsia and...

United States of ASEAN

14 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Karim Raslan, founder and CEO of Southeast Asian public affairs consulting firm KRA Group, has authored many books, including the long-running &l...

EPF Legacy Holdings Raise Opportunities

13 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The RM3.2b impairment losses EPF wrote down in the second quarter isn't so much about the losses itself but what it means for the fund's investing phi...

Women’s Agenda - Real Successes, Challenges Remain

06 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As the first woman Vice Chancellor, Dr Sharifah broke the glass ceiling on the professional trajectory of women in the country. We take a look at wome...

Stretching That Little Bit of Help from the Government

05 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The rubber gloves industry is a world leader, exporting over 135 billion gloves in an industry that is worth RM15b in 2016. And yet, MARGMA feels that...

Can You Legislate Unity?

01 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The National Unity Consultative Council was set-up to look into issue related to national-unity and our guest was deputy chairman of the initiative. W...

'Toothless' SUHAKAM Should Be Given More Bite

30 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Morning Run celebrates Merdeka and Malaysia Day with 'The Breakfast Grille Unity Series' - conversations with thought-leaders, to take stock of ho...

Marketing The Halal Business

29 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

DagangHalal is an e-commerce platform that allows for halal products to be searched and sold effectively over the internet, globally. We speak with th...

Secura Secures Singapore

26 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We live in fearful times with the twin threats of terrorism and cybercrime looming over our heads. Secura Group Limited is a listed Singapore based co...

All Bets Still On

24 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Low Chin Guan, the Managing Director of Adventa Bhd, explains the patience shareholders need to exercise with his company, which three years after dis...

Incubating Islamic Finance Talent

23 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The unprecedented growth in Islamic finance has put increasing pressure on the supply of good quality human capital in this industry. Already anticipa...

Eliciting Action on Illicit Acts

22 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It is interesting that the crescendo of rulings and proposals from regulatory authorities like Bank Negara and the Securities Commission on corporate ...

DBE Gurney: From Broiler Farming to Fried Chicken Retailer

19 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Integrated poultry company DBE Gurney Resources is making inroads to diversify downstream with its newly-launched HARUMi brand of fried chicken produc...

If You Build, They Might Not Live in It

18 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Demographics are driving strong property demand in Malaysia and we've seen our fair share of controversial projects that potentially destroy green spa...

Raising The Bar On Lawyers

17 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In April 2016, the Attorney General proposed amendments to the Legal Profession Act of 1976. The president of the Malaysian Bar, Steven Thiru discusse...

Blockbuster Ahoy!

16 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ahmad Izham Omar, CEO of Primeworks Studios Sdn Bhd, the content creation subsidiary of Media Prima Bhd, discusses accusations of divisiveness and seg...

Being All Things To All People

15 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sean Murphy, Global CEO, Procurri Group, communicates ambitious plans to be the global, independent sharing platform for data centre equipment an...

Eupe Berhad: More Than a Small Town Player

12 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Eupe Corporation Berhad is moving beyond its home base in Kedah to the crowded Kuala Lumpur property market, with its maiden housing development Novum...

Going Green Gets Around Govt Reliance

11 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

AWC is having a watershed year with a RM700m bumper contract renewal from the federal government, bringing total orderbook up to RM1.2b so far in fina...

REITs: Identity Crisis or Character Building?

10 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The MRMA-driven (Malaysian REIT Managers Association) proposals under the auspices of the Securities Commission want real estate investment trusts to ...

Gerakan Making Moves

09 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Keng Liang, Gerakan Youth Chief and Vice President, explains why and how Gerakan is still relevant in today's political landscape despite the heav...

Bringing the World To London's Door

05 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ahead of the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics, we take a trip down memory lane to the last Summer Olympics, the London Games in 2012. Lord Se...

Big Tree Grows Its Inventory

04 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Out-of-home advertising media company, Big Tree Outdoor, is set to gain more advertising space on RapidKL's new LRT extension lines. BFM speaks to Jef...

Conveniencing Malaysia, Store by Store

03 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gary Brown, CEO of 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Berhad, is excited about the future of convenience despite weak conditions and a shrinking ringgit, than...

Providing the Boost SMEs Need

02 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Based in Singapore, Kapital Boost is a crowdfunding platform which hopes to address the lack of financing option for SMEs, whilst allowing members to ...

Lending Credence To SMEs

01 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

SMEs are usually the heartbeat of a country's economy. However, funding them proves challenging since they carry different risk profiles compared to c...

Recruitment in a Challenging Climate

29 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Listed on NASDAQ in 1996, Monster.com was one of the first public online job search platforms. However, Monster.com had lost more than 90% of its mark...

A World Where Agents and Fintech Co-Exist

28 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

With an agency force of below 1,000 currently, RHB Asset Management plans to beef up the number to something that is closer to its competitors which r...

AEC: Late, But Still a Good Idea?

27 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Syed Nabil Aljefri, Secretary General of the ASEAN Business Council, discusses economic integration among the bloc's ten countries and the challenges ...

Packing A Punch

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

E-Commerce giant, Lazada is flush from a US$ 1 billion investment from Alibaba. We speak to Lazada Malaysia CEO, Hans-Peter Ressel on how Lazada inten...

GSK Flying High On Pharmaceutical Bill

25 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Malaysians are very familiar with GSK's products - Panadol, Horlicks and Eno. Today, we cover a myriad of topics with Ramil Burden, General Manager of...

CIMB's Push For Islamic Business

21 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

CIMB Islamic was once the world's fastest growing Islamic Banks. However, after years of enjoying unbridled growth, they now have to face reality, ope...

The Other MIT

20 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Manipal Group is a household name in India and Malaysia. The Manipal Institute of Technology is a globally recognised and respected educational in...

Credit Card Payments Made Easy

19 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Homegrown digital payments firm Soft Space has developed a device that works with smartphones to accept credit card payments. CEO Chang Chew Soon shar...

Has 1Malaysia Lost Its Shine?

15 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The slogan 1Malaysia was inaugurated in 2009 during Najib Razak’s debut Budget speech as Prime Minister. The slew of measures announced were des...

Soaring Upwards With Higher Education

14 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Malaysia has more graduates now more than ever, but does this make Malaysia a better nation that before? We ask the Minister of Higher Education on wh...

Becoming the Poster Child for Islamic Banking

13 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The world is preoccupied with size as a competitive factor and Islamic banking is no different. How does an entity like Hong Leong Islamic Bank survey...

Edotco's Pivot to Asia

11 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Telecoms tower firm Edotco is fast expanding in Asia, leveraging on increasing demand for data and connectivity in the region. Suresh Sidhu, CEO, shar...

Embedding Human Governance Principles

08 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Putra Business School, formerly the Graduate School Management at Universiti Putra Malaysia, sees the need for the principles of human governance to b...

Are MBAs Still Worth It?

05 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This year, business school INSEAD topped the rankings of the Financial Times' annual Global MBA Rankings for the first time - dislodging the previous ...

Brand Selangor - Bang For Buck?

01 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

ADUN for Sungai Pinang, a member of the Selangor state government Executive Committee as well as chairman for the Standing Committees for Investment, ...

Pos Malaysia: Can They Deliver?

30 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the age of digital communication, postal services around the world are trying to evolve to keep up with the changing times. Datuk Mohd Shukrie Sall...

It's a Kind of MaGIC

29 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) aims to nurture a vibrant entrepreneurial hub in Malaysia, while creating an ecosystem...

Bracing for Brexit In Asset Management

28 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Brexit has shocked markets around the globe. Malaysian asset management firms will be under pressure to relook at their asset allocation and restructu...

Detariffication: Slowly but Surely

27 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Bank Negara wants consumers to get a better deal out of insurance products. The liberalisation of insurance pricing, called 'detariffication' in indus...

Lay Hong Hatches New Plans

24 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Two years ago, Lay Hong Berhad, the public-listed integrated poultry player and the producers of the Nutriplus brand of eggs, was the target of an uns...

Delivering The Economy

23 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Damco Asia, a unit of Maersk Group, is a logistics and supply chain company. Delivering robust results for 2016 will be an ongoing challenge for them....

Motorola's Evolution is Mission Critical

21 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Motorola has undergone a business restructuring from mobile phones to focusing on mission critical and public safety communication. While new growth c...

World Refugee Day - Test Of Our Humanity

20 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Reports of Rohingyas arriving in boats and being turned away from Malaysian shores have put the country in the international spotlight. The United Nat...

In Good Company

17 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Parliament recently passed the Companies Bill 2015 , a much needed update. But what does it mean for companies, shareholders and directors? Today,...

From Tiles, To Property, To Medical Devices

16 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Public-listed Seacera Group started out in the tile manufacturing industry, but has since diversified into the property and construction sector. Now i...

Malaysia Shipping Master Plan: Creating Safe Harbours at What Cost?

15 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How strategic is the shipping industry? Do we need to bail out another industry?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Northern Star Of Malaysia

14 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Perlis, the smallest state in Malaysia, aims to punch above its weight. It is revamping itself to achieve developed status by 2030. Listen to Menteri ...

TA Global: Financial Transactions to Financial Assets

09 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

TA has come a long way from its stockbroking days to now an international investor in global property assets. A better share price performance will b...

Police - Politicised or Professional?

08 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

After a career spanning 40 years with Polis DiRaja Malaysia, Musa Hassan lead the force as the Inspector-General of Police from 2006 to 2010. In 2005,...

Incumbent Maxis Responds to Rising Competition

07 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The saga of the unfavourable viral post is a reflection of greater competitive pressures within the telco sector. The 2 new players added to the 3 inc...

Ringgit Bonds: Its a Wrap!

06 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Danajamin was born out of the 2008 financial crisis to help boost the grade of corporates raising funds in the PDS market. Their CEO, Mohamed Nazri Om...

Backbencher Front And Center

03 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chairman of Barisan Nasional's Backbencher Club and UMNO stalwart, Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad, earlier this year announced this will be his last term...

Telenor's Transformation: Not Just a Telco

02 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Norway's Telenor Group is one of the world's largest telecommunications company, with operations spanning across Europe and Asia. It also holds a 49%...

Industry 4.0 - Ready for the Revolution?

01 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

One of the themes of the World Economic Forum on Asean is “mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution” together with sustainable growth an...

Human Rights - False Choices?

31 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Inside the Shroud of Shariah

30 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 D...

Tapping Indonesia's Affordable Housing Rush

27 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

EthisCrowd.com claims to be the world’s first ethical and Shariah-compliant real estate crowdfunding platform, which allows investors to invest ...