General

On the 9th of February, an investigation committee of the National Sports Council (NSC) and Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, made the decision to suspend a national hockey player, Hanis Nadiah Onn. The decision was made following Hanis’ disgusting racist comment about the recent AR Rahman concert. Basically, she said that the concert, which was jam-packed with ethnic Indians, must smell really bad. Separately, a teacher has been accused of encouraging a form three student at a school in Kuala Lumpur to embrace Islam, claiming it would boost his chances of becoming a national footballer. 

These are just a couple of examples of discrimination happening in schools and sports. 

But just how well are the relevant authorities addressing this issue? And what needs to be done to prevent these instances from happening again?

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A month ago, a new e-wallet player entered Malaysia -  TrueMoney, a Thai unicorn. That said, given that Malaysia already feels like such a crowded market in the cashless payments space, does TrueMoney really have a chance to gain traction here? And if so, how?

We speak to Dale Kim, the Managing Director of International Business at TrueMoney’s parent company - Ascend Group, to find out.

Among other things, we also get into:

-How TrueMoney plans to acquire and retain users

-When we can expect TrueMoney to plug into DuitNow

-TrueMoney’s partnership with Lotus’s hypermarkets and how it can tap into other Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group assets to expand.

-Whether TrueMoney’s entry into Malaysia is an entry point for other CP Group businesses.

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Currently, there are more opportunities to engage in games, more strong female leads in video games, and most crucially, more strong female leads in the gaming industry. Although there has been a noticeable increase in the number of women, it is also obvious that this business is still dominated by men. In addition, the bulk of the more well-known faces in gaming are male. Sophie Azlan, a young female game designer who has only 2 years in the game industry, was inducted into The Game Awards’ Future Class in 2022. We speak to Sophie to hear about her journey and opinion in the game industry.

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The need for cybersecurity has never been greater. Technology is everywhere and whether the digitisation of society is good, bad, or ugly, what is indisputable is that we are incredibly reliant on tech. According to research and advisory company Forrester, 68% of enterprises in Asia suffered from at least one security breach in 2021. While this is an incredibly scary problem, it’s also a giant opportunity that Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Blackpanda is looking to tap into

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2023 情人节特备节目 ②

有别于常见的石蜡（Paraffin）、豆蜡（Soy Wax）；蜂蜡（Beeswax）成为了 ANBO Candle 的卖点之一。在情人节翌日，我们请来为生活增添情调的蜂蜡香薰蜡品牌，来听听他们究竟何故，在冠病疫情失业后会相中香薰蜡产业。在生活步调紧凑的时代，消费者要如何用最个人的香气，享受最亲近的一抹恬静呢？

Khazanah released a report on Residential Settlements and Spatial Inequality: A Study of Greater Kuala Lumpur Neighbourhoods. The gist of the report is the widening inequality from not just a monetary standpoint but to other concepts of well-being associated with the various types of “freedom and function" that one might have access to. We speak to Dr Suraya Ismail, Director of Research at Khazanah Research Institute.

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RHB Research released an interesting regional report recently which was titled ‘ESG Diamonds in the Rough’, where the best companies that met the criteria based on ROEs, low gearing levels, cheaper valuations vs peers and a credible ESG score above the country's median were picked. Alexander Chia, Regional Head of Regional Equity Research, RHB Investment Bank helps us understand the methodology and what are the best picks in Asean.

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Minister for Education Fadhlina Siddique is helming a portfolio with enormous economic and social implications. As the academic year draws to a close, we discuss the policy signals so far from the government and priority areas that should be considered with Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim of PAGE.

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Switzerland-based Barry Callebaut is the world's biggest chocolate producer making supplying 1,000 tonnes of chocolate a day to companies like Nestlé, Hershey's, Leonidas and Neuhaus. But chocolate's raw material is cocoa which is mainly sourced from countries like Côte d'Ivoire and Mali - places not well-known for their human rights record. Robert Kotuszewski, Managing Director of Barry Callebaut in Malaysia talks to us about walking that balance between ensuring the confection they produce is ethical, sustainable and profitable.

团结政府即将在24号再度公布2023年的财政预算案，这一份的预算案也是新任首相兼财政部长，拿督斯里安华执政后的第一份财案。然而，随着今年全球经济不景气的问题，到底政府要怎么样在开源节流的预算管理上把关，既能够做到减少开支，又能够顾及经济成长？德勤大马的执行董事谭丽君将在节目中分享，到底我们能够期待2023财政预算案会出现什么内容。