Episodes
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Can Malaysia Turn Rare Earths Into Real Gains?
With China controlling most of the world’s rare earth supply, Malaysia is drawing global interest as the world’s second-largest refiner, with an estimated 16.1 million tonnes of its own. Dr Tricia Yeoh joins us to talk about how realistic that opportunity is, from the investors lining up and the...
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How Gamified Campaigns Keep Customers Coming Back
AEON BiG’s latest Buy & Win campaign, Setahun Oyen Belanja, lets shoppers play a game without downloading an app, and AEON BiG says customers spent more per trip and shopped more often. Nazwan Effendy Choong and Jess Ross join us to talk about how the campaign works, what it costs, what data it...
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Malaysia’s Entertainment Tax Holding Back Live Events
Budget 2027 exempts local film and theatre in the Federal Territories from entertainment duty, but many concerts and comedy shows still pay as much as 25% of every ticket. We talk about why the tax varies from state to state, how it has hurt the creative industry, and what up-and-coming local...
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What F1’s Power Glitch Teaches Business About Risk
At a recent Formula 1 race, heavy rain and a mix of conditions nobody had tested for caused several cars to lose power, even though every part was working as designed. Professor Asad Ata joins us to talk about what businesses can learn from it, from spotting hidden risks across connected systems…
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When AI Belongs in the Commercial Kitchen
AI in the food and beverage industry is set to grow from US$19 billion this year to nearly US$80 billion by 2030. James Won and Peter Kua join us to talk about when and how AI should be used in commercial kitchens, and how F&B owners can see real returns without overinvesting.
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High Global Sugar Prices and the Impact on Malaysia
Raw sugar futures are up more than 25% since July, as El Niño, export curbs and the oil shock from the US-Iran war push the market from glut to deficit. We discuss how secure Malaysia’s sugar supply is, what higher prices could mean for businesses, and the biggest risks to the country’s food...
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2027 Outlook: Ringgit, Rates and Growth
RHB puts the ringgit’s fair value at around 3.80 to the US dollar by the end of 2027, helped by Budget 2027’s plan to cut the deficit to 3.3% of GDP, but a strong US dollar and the US bond sell-off remain real risks. We discuss where the ringgit is headed, what the bond sell-off means for…
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Malaysian Hotels Squeezed by Haze, Costs and Conflict
Malaysia’s hotels started 2026 with a record quarter, but the haze, rising costs and the conflict in the Middle East have since weighed on demand, while short-term rentals like Airbnb compete for the same guests. We talk about levelling the playing field between hotels and Airbnb, and the...
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Beyond IPOs: Raising Capital Through UPCs
For businesses looking to grow, raising capital can be a challenge. Bank loans, private investors, and possibly an IPO are the usual options. But there's another route that may not be familiar to many business owners: the unlisted public company, a public company that isn't listed on the stock...
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Is HYROX Good Business for Malaysia’s Gyms?
Malaysia will see its first HYROX race in December 2026. Tickets sold so quickly that organisers added an extra race day. For a fitness format that barely existed in Malaysia a few years ago, HYROX’s rise has been fast and global, and gym owners are racing to be part of it. So what does it take…
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E-Commerce: Can the New Bill Level the Playing Field?
E-commerce has become an important part of Malaysia’s economy, helping businesses reach more customers and giving consumers greater choice. But as the sector grows, so do concerns about unfair competition, rising platform fees, consumer protection, and accountability. The government plans to…
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Can AI Keep Carrying ASEAN’s Growth?
AMRO expects ASEAN+3 to grow 4.1% this year, with AI-related goods driving more than two-thirds of the region’s export jump in the first half, even as the war in Iran drags on and oil hovers around US$100 a barrel. We discuss how long AI can carry the region, what happens if tech spending slows…
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Internal Audit: Small Teams Taking On Big Mandates
A new report, The Inside Story of Internal Audit Malaysia 2026, jointly prepared by IIA Malaysia and Hays Malaysia, highlights several challenges facing the profession. We discuss: Keeping pace with growth: Whether internal audit and governance capabilities are keeping up as Malaysian businesses...
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How to Build a Global Fashion Brand
Building a brand is one thing. Building one that people want beyond their home market is another. What does it take for a homegrown fashion brand to earn a place on the global stage? We get into: Before you go global: What a brand must have in place before entering a new market, and what he had…
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Using AI as a Thinking Partner, Not Just a Prompt
Sylvia Avila, AI Adoption Partner and Corporate Trainer tells us why AI adoption is so hard to get right, even for people who work with it every day. She walks through a framework she uses with clients that, she says, shifts AI from a one-off prompt tool into an actual thinking partner. We also…
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Running a Franchise in Malaysia: The Real Challenges
Malaysia's franchise industry is worth RM46 billion today, with the government targeting RM100 billion in franchise sales by 2030. But the industry faces real problems limiting that growth, from cost pressures to what it actually takes for a franchise to succeed at all. Claudia Ng, franchise...
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Running a Franchise in Malaysia: The Real Challenges
Malaysia's franchise industry is worth RM46 billion today, with the government targeting RM100 billion in franchise sales by 2030. But the industry faces real problems limiting that growth, from cost pressures to what it actually takes for a franchise to succeed at all. Claudia Ng, franchise...
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Budget 2027: Digital and Tech Initiatives for MSMEs and SMEs
Budget 2027 sets out to make Malaysia an AI Nation by 2030. But is there enough focus on SMEs and MSMES ? We discuss: The strategy: What she sees as the core intent of Budget 2027. How it differs from Budget 2026, what she likes most, and what she would have liked to see. SMEs and skills: What...
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Budget 2027: What’s in It for Tech and Digital?
Malaysia’s Budget 2027 comes with a familiar challenge: how to invest in the technologies that will shape the economy while making sure businesses and the rakyat benefit. The government has outlined measures to accelerate AI adoption, support local businesses, and strengthen Malaysia’s position…
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Budget 2027: What It Means for Business
Budget 2027gives some money back to SMEs and the rakyat through tax cuts and targeted sector incentives. Government revenue is projected at RM380.8 billion in 2027, the deficit target is 3.3%, the minimum wage rises from RM1,700 to RM2,000 from June 2027, and Global Services Hub companies get a…
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Budget 2027: Can It Pull SMEs Out of Survival Mode?
SMEs have long struggled with rising operating costs, regulatory requirements and access to financing. Now they also face growing competition from suppliers in China. Beyond the usual calls for grants, tax relief and incentives, are government policies actually tackling the root causes? What…
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Budget 2027: Malaysia's Tech Industry Wish List
Malaysia's tech sector is heading into Budget 2027 with strong investment and export numbers. But how much of that growth is reaching Malaysian businesses, and what has actually been delivered a year after Budget 2026? Alex Liew, Chairman of PIKOM, joins us ahead of the Budget to discuss: The...
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Budget 2027 and Malaysia's Fiscal Tightrope
Higher fuel subsidies and a growing debt-servicing bill are eating into the country’s finances, while the possibility of an early general election makes fiscal consolidation harder to keep on track. Firdaos Rosli, chief economist at AmBank Group, tells us: What to expect from Budget 2027…
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Budget 2027: Can It Back Malaysia's Mid-Tier Firms?
SMEs get most of the attention when we talk about Malaysia's economy, but sitting above them is a group of companies that often gets overlooked: mid-tier firms. These companies contribute to economic growth and are often pushing into new markets, but without the grants and incentives given to…
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Budget 2027's Startup and SME Wish List
Budget 2027 will be tabled in Parliament on October 9, with the government has already highlighted the need to build more competitive home-grown businesses, with a focus on financing, technology, talent, and helping Malaysian companies enter regional and global markets. We get into: The startup…
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The Uphill Battle of Taking On Mental Health at Work
Malaysia's Parliament has put a number on the country's mental health crisis: RM25.3 billion in projected economic burden by 2030 without interventions. Yet unlike physical safety at work, mental health in Malaysian workplaces is still governed almost entirely by voluntary guidelines. Anita Abu...
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Building the Boards Malaysia's Companies Need
Across corporate Malaysia, board effectiveness is increasingly being linked to company valuation. Investors are paying attention to the capabilities and competencies of board members, including whether they have the skills the company will need in the future. We get into: Why boards now affect...
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PIDM's Blueprint for a Financial Crisis
After 20 years, Malaysia's Deposit Insurance Corporation, PIDM, has gone beyond simply reimbursing depositors if a financial institution fails. It is now also responsible for preparing for that failure, making sure essential banking services can continue, and working with other parts of the...
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Can Merchants Survive Online Platform Fees?
Shoppers are turning to e-commerce platforms for almost everything, from groceries and clothes to furniture and car parts. But is it easy for local merchants to do business on them? Are the platforms helping sellers find customers and fulfil orders, or are sellers being squeezed for every sen?…
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Business Coaching: Worth the Investment?
How does a business coach add value to a leader that a mentor doesn't? Every CEO is told at some point in their career to find a mentor. But some business leaders choose something different, a professional coach, with a different set of mechanics, expectations, and accountability. Adrian Ung…
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Climate Risk: The Hidden Business Opportunity
The haze is back, and it's a reminder of the real cost of climate risk. The World Bank says Malaysia could lose up to 8.3% of GDP by 2050 in a worst-case climate scenario, with roughly half of that impact already showing up in the data today. Malaysia is also estimated to need about RM3.5…
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What's Next for Oil Prices and Fuel Subsidies
Brent crude oil prices have swung sharply this year. They spiked past $110 in March, fell back to around $70 by July on US-Iran peace-talk optimism, then surged again past $100 through August and September as fighting between the US and Iran resumed. In Malaysia, unsubsidised RON97 and RON95…
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The Business Case for the Customers You Overlook
In the US, DEI programmes are being dismantled. But what if walking away from inclusion means walking away from your next big customer segment? Sudesh Thevasenabathy, Head of Inclusion for Asia and Global Lead of Inclusive Business at Manulife, makes the business case for designing around the...
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The Business Behind Europe's Rail Travel Boom
European rail holidays are on the rise, with demand also coming from Southeast Asia, where more travellers are booking multi-country European rail itineraries than before. Frank Marini, from Railbookers Group, joins us to unpack what's driving this trend, what appeals to travellers, and the...
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Conserving and Profiting: Sarawak's Food Heritage
Indigenous communities make up roughly 5% of the world's population, but they hold generations of knowledge about the plants around them. Historically, very little of that value has made its way back to the communities the knowledge actually came from. Chef James Won, a French-knighted chef and...
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The US Bond Sell-Off: What's Behind It?
The US 10-year Treasury yield breached the psychologically significant 5% mark in mid-September, and it could keep climbing. Is the sell-off of US bonds the start of a longer trend, or a storm that will soon pass? And what does it mean for Malaysia's own borrowing costs and bond market? We get...
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RM3 Million e-Invoicing Threshold: What SMEs Need to Know
If you're an SME owner, here's a number to pay attention to: RM3 million. That's the new e-Invoicing exemption threshold that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced during his Merdeka address at the end of August, the second time this threshold has moved in under a year. Soh Lian Seng, Head of…
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Sabah and Sarawak: What SMEs Need to Scale
As we mark Malaysia Day on September 16, we look at how businesses are growing across East Malaysia. Malaysian SMEs are often discussed as one broad group, but what does it actually take to build and scale a business in Sabah and Sarawak, and how different is that experience from Peninsular...
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When Good Mentors Give Bad Advice
Melvin Chee, Co-Founder and CEO of RPG Commerce, and Deepak Sharma, retail executive and mentor at Endeavor, talk about a tension entrepreneurs rarely talk about openly: how to tell good advice from bad, and when to trust your own conviction over someone else's experience.
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From Malaysia to the World: Malaysia's Halal Playbook
Malaysia has held the top spot on the Global Islamic Economy Indicator for 12 straight years, and other countries are now racing to build sectors of their own. MATRADE’s S. Jai Shankar joins us to talk about how Malaysia built its lead through platforms like MIHAS, and what it will take to…
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Sensitivity, Accountability, and the Modern Manager
Geeva Samynathan, Founder, Principal Trainer and Behavioral Strength Coach at ECTAA, and co-author of Social Sensitivity in the Changing Workplace, tells us social sensitivity actually means and how it differs from empathy or emotional intelligence. We get into how to give direct feedback without...
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Designing an AI That Knows How to Say Sorry
More businesses are letting AI make decisions that directly affect customers, including how they handle complaints. But does a bot apology land the same way as a person's? Alexander Eng, Associate Professor at Asia School of Business, tells us what an effective AI-powered complaints system should...
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A SME Survival Guide to a High-Cost Economy
Bank Negara Malaysia recently found that almost 80% of businesses it engaged with are feeling the squeeze of higher costs. Azfar Asa'ad from CPA Australia and CK Chang, Founder of homegrown apparel brand Ox White, give us two very different vantage points on the same problem, one from the...
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Behind Malaysia's Local Cinema Box Office Surge
Local films are outpacing Hollywood at the Malaysian box office this year. Finas data shows 7.55 million admissions for local titles through July, ahead of 6.94 million for Hollywood releases, with five local films crossing RM10 million each. Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib, CEO of Finas, and Lina...
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Using AI to Nudge Better Employee Behaviour
Can AI be used to encourage employee behaviour that aligns with company goals? Or to monitor employee happiness and wellbeing? Tareef Jafferi tells us how the intersection of AI and behavioural science can be applied in the workplace, and how nudges toward small actions, like giving feedback, can...
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AI Is Here. Are Retailers Ready?
Adyen's latest Retail Index found that 74% of Malaysian consumers now use AI while shopping, up more than 50% from last year, yet more than half remain uncomfortable letting AI complete a purchase for them. Lee Soon Yean joins us to unpack how retailers can prepare for this shift in consumer...
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Supporting Malaysia's Social Enterprise Ecosystem
Social enterprises are businesses, but they're built to solve social problems first. Azuar Zainuddin joins us to talk about the passion driving social enterprises, the biggest challenges they face in Malaysia today, and how programmes like Creative Sprint 2026 can help them access funding,...
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Rethinking Growth: The Humane Economy
Economic growth creates jobs, attracts investment, and raises living standards, but growth alone doesn't always tell us whether people are actually better off. Prof Saadiah Mohamad joins us to unpack the idea of a "Humane Economy," what it would mean for businesses and SMEs to put human dignity…
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The Business Cost of a Higher Minimum Wage
As the government reviews Malaysia's minimum wage, Rabin Nijhar of Cisco Security Systems joins us to share a business owner's perspective. He walks us through how his company absorbed the last minimum wage hike, what another increase would mean for a labour-intensive business like his and what...
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Rethinking Malaysia's Minimum Wage
The government is reviewing Malaysia's RM1,700 minimum wage, weighing inflation, the poverty line, median wages, productivity, and unemployment. Dr Juita Mohamad tells us why a minimum wage alone isn't the real goal: the bigger question is closing the gap between that floor and a genuinely decent...