Before COVID-19, big cities such as London, New York, and LA attracted workers from out of town or other countries thanks to their thriving hospitality industry. However, lockdowns have caused substantial impacts on their economies.

Closer to home, The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) estimates that the local hotel industry has lost around RM9 billion in revenue in the first seven to eight months of this year.

This could exceed RM10 billion by December 31, 2021 if things don’t turn around soon.

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An article by Free Malaysia Today highlights that many Malaysians will not be able to retire comfortably and will be living in absolute poverty during retirement. Geoffrey Williams joins us today to expand more on the reason behind this and what could possible do done about it.

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Undeniably, the coronavirus pandemic has expedited digital transformation in Southeast Asia. And it’s clear that having highly transformative technologies would improve Southeast Asia’s economic competitiveness and society’s well-being, while ensuring inclusion and sustainability. So in order to keep up, how can SMEs stand out from the crowd? How can they improve their social commerce strategy?

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Small businesses need two things to survive the pandemic - digital adoption and obviously, steady profits. While being on e-commerce and delivery platforms helps in terms of reach and awareness, a portion of merchants’ profits are used for commissions and platform fees. We discuss the importance of proper digital transitioning as well as having a platform that allows merchants to keep all of their profits.

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We’re on the brink of a quarter packed with mega sales - 10.10, Singles Day, Black Friday… This at a time when global supply chain hiccups are starting to show warning signs that goods we buy online might not arrive on time.

In the midst of freight and inventory risks, what can businesses, especially those in ecommerce, do to address the challenges and bottlenecks of this period, mitigate negative impact, and reap the rewards? We discuss.

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In May 2021, start-ups, social enterprises, and social innovators applied for the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGiC’s) Social Impact Challenge Accelerator (SICA); as a result, now 25 Malaysian startups are moving into the second phase of SICA, an Impact Accelerator programme.

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This inspiring story of a food delivery rider finally getting his PhD after studying and working at the same time made us think about one’s effective use of time. While everyone has their own lifestyle choices, most successful people will name proper time management as one of their core disciplines. We speak to an expert about this concept and if it applies, and appeals, to everyone.

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A database that apparently belongs to the National Registration Department (JPN) has been put up on sale at a well-known database marketplace forum.

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More parties have begun to speak out against “highly prejudicial clauses” in requests for proposals (RFPs), tenders or pitches that explicitly demand automatic ownership of agencies’ intellectual property, regardless of if they subsequently win the job. We discuss this creeping trend, how all parties can safeguard their rights, and if there’s a win-win for creatives and advertisers in this situation.

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Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob launched the 12th Malaysia Plan in Parliament yesterday in the hopes that it would revitalise the country’s economy after a difficult couple of years due to the pandemic. With more focus given to healthcare, tech, green goals, and high-income jobs, will the 12MP finally get us to where we needed to be a year ago, in 2020?

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