General

KLPAC's popular Golden Oldies series returns, just in time for an early Valentine’s Day celebration for all. Yesterday Once More 4 promises classics by crooners and soul singers ranging from The Platters to Aretha Franklin, and the concert has something for everyone and will be performed cabaret-style. We find out what's in store from Joel Wong, a singer in the upcoming performance.

Last week, Malaysian-based fintech HelloGold announced that they would be closing down its consumer businesses in Malaysia and Thailand, its core business.

In an email to depositors last week, HelloGold said that the “business in its current form is no longer commercially viable in the current market conditions,”

Today on BizBytes we speak to Robin Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of HelloGold on how it got to this, what comes next for HelloGold, and what startups and founders can learn from this.

Many Malaysians own pets and are always on the lookout to provide the best service and care for their ‘fur babies’. Petotum is looking to revolutionise the pet care ecosystem by using technology to connect both pet owners and pet businesses on a single integrated platform. We speak to Afifah Basir, Co-founder and CEO of Petotum to hear about her unique platform and motivations behind starting a pet community ecosystem.

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The Morning Run crew condenses the top conversations from the week, and keeps you clued in on the stories you might have missed. In this episode, we discuss the two year anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar; the findings of the latest Corruption Perception and Democracy Indices; and the unveiling of Perikatan Nasional's shadow cabinet.

The KL Construction Index kicked off 2023 on a strong footing, up 8% on a year-to-date basis. However the outperformance has mostly been seen among smaller cap names, while the larger capitalisation companies like Gamuda, IJM and Sunway Construction have been laggards. With Budget 2023 on the horizon, what's the outlook of the sector over the next half-year? Loong Chee Wei of Affin Hwang Investment Bank gives us his analysis and top picks.

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Local university UCSI released rather alarming research recently which found that 73% of close to 1,100 Malaysians aged between 18 and 40 are in debt. The key driving factors for taking on more leverage were financial constraint (42%), inflation (22%) and luxurious lifestyle (21%). This would imply that three-quarters of Malaysian youths do not have sufficient capital for financial commitments. For insights, we speak to Associate Professor Dr. Hassanudin Mohd Thas Thaker, Head of Research and Postgraduate Studies UCSI University.

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The Boba craze might have died but Loob Holding, parent of Tea Live and Bask Bear Coffee has grown exponentially despite the pandemic. We ask their CEO and founder, Bryan Loo how was this achieved, maintaining brand relevance and is going public still on the cards?

美股1月份反弹走势让市场惊叹连连，相信你心里也有大大的疑惑：牛市真要重启了吗？在不同的股市周期里，包括熊市、牛市、震荡市，散户该秉持什么样的持仓管理策略？投资机构又是如何审时度势，抓住转势契机呢？

听听专业投资组合经理 #梁佳满 分享内部操作心得！

With rising inflation hitting the lower-income segments doubly hard, what can the government do to alleviate cost-of-living burdens beyond economic theory? We assess government action with economist Dr. Shankaren Nambiar, senior research fellow from the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.

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The Narendra Modi government laid out a slew of measures in the federal budget tabled this week to bolster job creation and attract investment ahead of elections due in the next 15 months. However overshadowing the budget tabling is the ongoing market rout of Adani Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates; billionaire founder Gautam Adani is known to have close ties to Modi. We discuss the implications of the budget and the Adani saga with economist Vishnu Varathan.

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