The Breakfast Grille

ASEAN - Look Back in Wonder

27 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

A career diplomat, Ajit Singh become Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, at a time of double-digit growth and tremendous o...

Thrift as the Investing Strategy

26 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Despite what we know about online-disrupting businesses and budget travel, the low-cost revolution actually began in the 70s when John Bogle conceptua...

The Online Shopping Trust Ecosystem

22 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

E-commerce is set to take off given that it is currently only a small portion of the US$500b retail spending in Asean. How are online shopping website...

Jobstreet Starts its New Chapter

21 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Chang, the founder and CEO of Jobstreet comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about life for the company after it sold its online employment busi...

Addressing Decency in a Competitive World

20 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, talks to us about how well the idea of happiness sits in this competitive world. Related to that a...

The Great Convergence

16 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Top diplomat Professor Mahbubani is renowned among intellectual and inner circles having served as President of the United Nations Security Council. H...

Banking with Commercial and Social Objectives

15 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Bank Simpanan Nasional, set up by an Act of Parliament in 1974, continues with the social objective of raising savings rates and savings awareness amo...

EA Technique Unfazed by Oil Rout

14 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Datuk Abdul Hak Amin, managing director of EA Technique (M) Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to discuss the future of his company post-listing. EA, w...

The Changing Face of China

13 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Datuk Dr Chin Yew Sin, in his capacity as Secretary General of ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Promotion Association comes on the Breakfast Grille to t...

Saving Malaysia’s Bottom 74%

12 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Melisa Idris speaks to Dato’ Charon Mokhzani, Managing Director of Khazanah Research Institute, as they dissect the institute’s State of H...

David Suzuki Cries For His Grandkids

09 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster, Dr David Suzuki, breaks down in tears, as he talks about his fears over the future of the p...

Mastering the Twin Engines of the Future: Renewables and Broadband

08 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Masers finds itself in the almost utopic situation of being in the business of renewable energy and ultra high broadband speeds. All this being done a...

Minetech Cleans House

07 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Chin, the group executive director for Minetech Resources Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the company's prospects as it attempts ...

Powering The Web, One Site At A Time

06 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

WordPress which powers 22 percent of the world’s top 10 million websites is one of the world market leader in the web-publishing industry. Matt ...

Who's to Blame for the Crisis: Addressing Culpability of Banks

05 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Reckless bank activity leading up to the global financial crisis of 2008 resulted in great hardships that affected lives of ordinary people. Too-big-t...

Every Little Bit Counts

02 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Headquartered in Singapore, Milaap is changing how social enterprise works through crowd-funding with its online fund-raising platform that enables pe...

New Economy In-Review 2014

31 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In the final episode of our Breakfast Grille round-up for 2014, we look into tech-related and new economy grilles that we have done for the year. Most...

Oil & Gas In-Review 2014

30 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In the second episode of our Breakfast Grille round-up for 2014, we look into oil & gas related grilles that we have done for the year. Current oi...

Property In-Review 2014

29 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In the first episode of our Breakfast Grille round-up for 2014, we look into property-related grilles that we have done for the year. The property in...

MCCC Aims to go Beyond the Traditional

26 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Yew Sing, first vice president of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the ups and downs of the Mala...

Miles To Go For Our Asian Leaders

24 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Today CEOs are are increasingly likened to national leaders as their organisations command a sizeable part of the global economy with a GDP contributi...

Who is Tamarind Energy?

18 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Angell CEO for Tamarind Energy comes on the Breakfast Grille to answer the question as to who Tamarind is. Tamarind Energy came into the spotligh...

An Insight Into Big Pharma

17 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

With pharmaceuticals playing such a big role in healthcare, innovation is a key focus for Novartis. But how are the high R&D costs paid for given ...

ALBA-TCP, An Opportunity

16 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Ecuador lies almost half way around the world, and is the 11th largest trading partner that Malaysia has in Latin America. Its turn towards Southeast ...

UMNO’s Unhappy Scribe

10 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In his blog, former New Straits Times chief recently called on the Prime Minister to speak plainly about the country’s economy. It was the lates...

Eye In the Sky - Wrongdoers We're Watching You

10 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The international NGO known for its infamous sting operations to expose corruption and human rights abuses kept Malaysians engrossed with its revealin...

Miles Still to Go in the Corruption War

09 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Sir Megat Najmuddin, joins us on the Breakfast Grille in his capacity as President of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance. Establishe...

Crowd's a Company

05 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The crowdfunding platform democratises funding access for good business ideas that may not fulfil IPO size or profitability requirements. Malaysia's S...

UM – Knowledge Stifled by Power?

02 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Since taking the mantel of the country’s oldest public university, this ENT specialist has had the unenviable task to managing negative percepti...

Green Packet Looks Beyond P1

01 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Kay Yen, CEO of Green Packet Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about life after the divestment of its telecommunications arm P1 to Telekom...

GHL Looks Forward to 2015

28 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Raj Lorenz, group CEO of GHL Systems Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the future direction of the company in the transaction payment ac...

Solar Shines on Tek Seng

27 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Loh Kok Chen, managing director of Tek Seng Holdings Bhd comes on to talk about the company's future direction as it branches into the new business of...

Finding Meaning in Property Measures

24 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

DIBS, RPGT, LTV... These are just some some of the alphabet soup of measures that have been unleashed on the property sector over the last two years. ...

Rethinking the Hospital Model

21 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The low-cost and no-frills revolution has permeated a great part of society. A revamp of the healthcare provision model not only reduces costs for pat...

Making Money While Saving the World

19 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Alexandra Boakes Tracy, Non-Executive Chairman of the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASRIA), discusses her epiphany...

An SGX Listing With a Firm Eyeball on Regional Growth

18 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Wong Jun Shyan, CEO of International Specialist Eye Centre (ISEC), discusses his SGX listing, use of listing proceeds and growth plans, pipeline of...

Going Beyond the ASEAN Concept

17 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Sri Mohd Munir Majid, joins us on the Breakfast Grille in his capacity as chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council Malaysia. The ASEAN Bus...

Democratizing Education

14 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Coursera occupies a unique space in the education sector with its online education platform enabling students worldwide to sign up for its online cour...

A Minor Impact

12 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The coup which gripped Thailand earlier this year has had a limited impact on Minor International. Occupancy in their very high end hotels suffered bu...

The You in iMoney

11 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The digital economy is said to be the great equaliser. Companies like iMoney serve as a go-between that raises awareness for the public looking for th...

Good Governance - Championing Accountability

10 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

“Calling a spade, a spade,” says Nur Jazlan Mohamed when we asked him how he deals with criticism from his fellow party members on issues ...

Talam Asks for A Chance

07 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

On the Breakfast Grille is Yaw Chun Soon, executive director of Talam Transform Bhd. Formerly a prominent property developer, backed by well-know...

Manipal Makes its Mark

06 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Arun Kumar, director of Manipal Group Malaysia, comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the group's plans to expand into the private healthcare...

The Role of Business in Education

05 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Amit Sevak, CEO, INTI Education Group and also CEO of Laureate Malaysia, discusses Inti's performance, the country's education sector and answers bric...

In a Tough but Growing Industry, A Bigger Stake Sought

04 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Emmanuel Nivet, CEO of AXA Affin General Insurance, discusses the JV's performance, challenges on agency workforce and upskilling (among sales distrib...

DNV-GL Talks the Challenges of Low Oil

31 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Raza Amin, managing director of DNV-GL oil and gas Malaysia comes on the Breakfast Grille. Although not a familiar name to those outside oil and gas, ...

Ever-Warming Malaysia-France Business Ties

29 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Pierre Cheyron, President, Malaysian French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discusses Malaysia-France trade. investment, bilateral ties and relation...

Hong Kong's Identity Crisis

27 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, and senior fellow at Cambridge University, speaks to Melisa Idris about the pro-democracy protes...

Startups Boosted by Funding Ideas

24 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Khailee Ng at 30 years old has become a very successful techpreneur. Looking into the modus operandi of 500 Startups offers insights into how high ris...

Wining and Dining Investors

23 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Gearing, CEO of Cult Wines, comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the business of investing in wines. While investing in wine is not new, a ...

Mobility Rebooting Banks

21 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Movenbank a US start-up, boasts itself as the world's first real-time mobile money tool allowing users to make payment from your mobile devices as wel...

Lego Aims to Maintain its Awesome

17 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

On the Breakfast Grille this morning is John Goodwin, the Executive Vice President and CFO of the toymaker Lego Group. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kr...

Investing Bitten By The Low Cost Bug

16 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The existence of a consultancy like ETFGI is interesting as it is testament to how far ETFs (exchange-traded funds) have come. The investing world in ...

When Diplomacy and Niceties Fail, the Military Exists

15 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Prof Gareth Evans, Co-Chairman of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect and former Foreign Minister of Australia, discusses R2P's princi...

Berjaya's Stealth Approach to Mobile, Data

14 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Wong Heang Tuck, CEO of U-Mobile, discusses CEOs appointments and the recent high turnover rate, aggressive branding and budget for A&P. He also d...

Budget 2015: Balancing Act

13 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The government seems to have achieved the unthinkable of implementing the GST and at the same time insulating the lower income group from it. The futu...

Small Govt and Equitable Treatment: Big Wishes for Budget 2015

10 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this Pre-Budget 2015 Grille, Tricia Yeoh of IDEAS & Azlan Awang of Blindspot discuss fiscal consolidation, key issues like GST, subsidies, wage...

Making Business and Sense of Franchising

09 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Datuk Sri Dr Richard Ong, Vice Chairman for the Malaysian Franchise Association comes to talk about franchising as a form of entrepreneurship. The Mal...

Weaving MaGIC, Like Climbing Everest

08 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Cheryl Yeoh, CEO, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC), talks about her journey from PJ to San Francisco and then into the Malaysia...

Meet the Scholar

07 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar is a globally renowned Shariah scholar, and currently the chairman of FIVE Shariah advisory councils, including at Bank Negar...

Using Software to Build Cars Faster and Cheaper

03 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Srirangam Srirangarajan, Managing Director Asean, ALTAIR, discusses its KL operations, involvement in the Malaysian and ASEAN auto sector and group pl...

Finding the Sweet Spot in Online Learning

02 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been at the forefront of research, and providing its course materials online for free. Professor M...

Estee Lauder Talks Business and Pink CSR

01 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Slavin, managing director of Estee Lauder Malaysia comes on the Breakfast to give an update on the environment of the cosmetics business. Founde...

Building Sustainability

30 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

With a world population set to exceed 9 billion people by 2050, the construction industry faces a major challenge in meeting the housing and infrastru...

Darden Takes On Asia

29 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Ray Bauer, the managing director of franchise operations Asia for Darden International comes on the Breakfast Grill to talk about the expansion of its...

Would You Pay It Forward?

26 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

On the Breakfast Grille, Melisa Idris speaks to Nipun Mehta, founder of Service Space, an incubator for gift-economy projects. Ideologically, the Gift...

PanPages Confident of Future Prospects

25 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Fong Wai Leong, CEO of main market-listed PanPages Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to address its current loss-making state and what is next for the...

Internal Audit, Underappreciated and Wrongly So

24 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Rao, President, Malaysian Institute of Internal Auditors and a Partner in the global accounting firm Ernst & Young, discusses the under-app...

Australia-Malaysia: Fair Dinkum?

23 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Australia has been and continues to be the land of milk and honey for thousands of Malaysians for decades, accepting many as citizens. Is Malaysia's s...

Bridging the Chasm Between the Private Sector and the Government

19 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, Chairman, Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, PEMUDAH and Chief Secretary to the Government, discusses public-private se...

Battersea, Eco World and Beyond

18 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin comes on the Breakfast Grille in his capacity as chairman of Battersea Project Holding Company Ltd to talk about what it will tak...

At The Gate of Liberalisation

17 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

With trade blocs like TPPA and the Asean Common Market being much talked about, competitiveness and trade issues will come to the fore. Where does MIC...

Defining the Nation Beyond Vision 2020

15 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The year has seen one of the most impressive economic figures for Malaysia where we have seen the economy grew  beating market expectations. But ...

Knowledge Is Everything

12 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Established in 1957, INSEAD has been widely considered as one of the top business schools. Apart from its main campuses in France, it has also establi...

No Child's Play

11 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Combining children's education into theme park elements is a unique and challenging proposition. We look into Kidzania's business model to gather insi...

Asia Still Suffers From Power Distance Inertia

10 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this 2014 interview, Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO, Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, discusses leadership in the context of the ongoing RHB-CIMB-MB...

Betting the House on Tocotrienol

09 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this 2014 interview, David Ho, Chairman and Managing Director of the pharmaceuticals firm Hovid Berhad, discusses global M&A fever in Big Pharm...

Every Little Bit Helps for Tesco

08 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Georg Fischer, the CEO of Tesco Malaysia, comes on the Breakfast Grille to give his insight on the highly competitive hypermarket space and how the co...

A Cog In the Massive Oil & Gas Space

05 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Petronas's major capital expenditure running into the hundreds of billions is expected to bring joy to oil and gas players like Icon. We assess the is...

Charity & Innovation?

03 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

NESTA which stands for the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts in the UK occupies a unique space within the ecosystem as a charity ...

Managing the Nation's Talent Stock

29 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

TalentCorp is tasked to manage the country's talent base which is needed to achieve economic transformation. However, the poor perception coming from ...

ABN Strives to Expand its Footprint

28 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Sreedhar Subramaniam, director of the ABN Media Group and CEO of Asian Broadcasting Network, comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about how the group...

New York, London, Geneva and .. Kuala Lumpur

27 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this August 2014 interview Zainal Amanshah, the CEO of InvestKL updates listeners on his investee targets in Kuala Lumpur, time taken to convert, i...

Multifaceted growth

22 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The entry into a integrated logistical solutions will bode well for GDEX. E-commerce features prominently as the shift from offline to online purchase...

Towards Unconflicted Fee-Based Advisory

21 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The field of financial advisory is a contentious one. How do you take investment advice from somebody whose income comes from selling investment produ...

A Tale of Two Blocs

19 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

After having come through a decisive election victory, India is now being watched even more closely than before by investors, business people and gove...

Malaysia Is Not Yet Asia's Weakest Link

15 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

We ask Shields to defend her economic report stating that Malaysia is a more risky prospect than Indonesia. This also led Bloomberg's William Pasek to...

A Long Ride

14 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Theme parks have emerged as a policy tool to energise tourism and the local economy, which is music to the ears of a solutions provider like Sanderson...

BFood Builds Starbucks Momentum

13 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Datuk Francis Lee Kok Chuan, CEO of Berjaya Foods Bhd comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about its recent move to wholly-own Berjaya Starbucks and ...

Water Under the Bridge, Working For a Better Future

12 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim, President of the Malaysian Islamic Chamber of Commerce and former CEO of Johor Corp, discusses his clashes with Johor sta...

Sweet Dreams

11 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Hershey's has seen strong growth in China over the years and the investment into Malaysia will be a launchpad into the greater Asia Pacific region. &n...

Having Ads Real Good

08 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The business of matching free content with ads shouldn't be underestimated. It is a win-win situation that sells traffic to advertisers while allowing...

Striving for Financial Planning Excellence

07 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

It can safely be said that despite the crucial importance of it, awareness of financial planning is still low in Malaysia. We explore FPAM's value pro...

One Tiny Step for Malaysia

06 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The wonders of nanotechnology have been much touted. Apart from the commercial aspects, there could also be positive effects on the county's knowledge...

Efficiently Mobilising ASEAN Trade Flows

05 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Ong, Managing Director of Malaysia and Brunei at DHL Express (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd., discusses operating metrics, business drivers, challenge...

To Your Health

01 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Private healthcare has come a long way. The government in partnership with the private sector has managed to reduce the ratio of doctors to patients i...

Reaching for the Bottom

31 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Reach Energy would be the fourth SPAC or Special-Purpose Acquisition Company to be listed and the biggest in terms of funds raised. They aim to quickl...

New Money for the Under-Banked

30 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The 80% of the world's population that don't have access to banking services effectively cuts them off the economic system in a big way. Performing si...

The Coming of TREC

25 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Cher Ng, founder and managing director of TREC comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the development of what he hopes to be the new lifestyle hu...

L'Oreal Explains Why It's Worth It

24 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Ashwin Rajgopal, managing director of L'Oreal Malaysia comes on the Breakfast Grille to talk about the business of beauty. L'Oreal is one of the most...