General

Ten years ago, co-founders Melani Delilkan and Brian Gomez opened Merdekarya, a space for new artists to "carve their skill, to fumble and to make mistakes and most importantly, learn from them." The survival and success of Merdekarya hasn't come without a lot of personal and professional sacrifice, and we discuss the highs and lows of running an independent local music space like this with Brian, and also talk about how Merdekarya is keeping true to its aim of providing a space for everyone to discover grassroots Malaysian music.

Image Credit: Merdekarya

世界知名的会计事务所，资诚事务所（PricewaterhouseCoopers）近期针对4400位来自全球各地的CEO进行各项信心调查。结果发现全球73%的执行长预期未来12个月全球经济成长将下滑，是10多年调查以来最悲观的记录，并且跟2021及2022年的乐观气氛大不相同。

另一方面，根据世界经济论坛 （World Economic Forum），有2/3的私营和公共部门首席经济学家预测今年将出现全球经济衰退。收听本期节目，在农历新年来临之际和BFM财今以及经济学者兼主持，黄锦荣博士一起来聊聊2023年的经济局势，还有他对大马的经济有哪一些看法？

Psychosynthesis is a new dance production described as a powerful, dynamic, fast-paced theatrical show, which showcases the struggles faced by individuals and communities at large, during the pandemic. Presented by the Kenny Shim Dance Collective (KSDC) and Asia Ballet Theatre (ABT), the production features a fully local cast of established and emerging  talents, and we find out what's in store from the choreographer of the production Kenny Shim (Founder, Kenny Shim Dance Collective) and also performers Amirah Redza (dancer, Kenny Shim Dance Collective) and Robey Lim (dancer, Asia Ballet Theatre).

Bloomberg recently reported that Crypto startups are facing a terrible time attracting investment following FTX's collapse, with VC investments falling to their lowest in almost 2 years, round tripping back to pre-pandemic days.

That said, even before FTX fell, we saw big names in the space crumble. There was the meltdown of TerraLUNA, as well as the falls of crypto lender Celsius, crypto broker Voyager Digital, and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

And just yesterday there were reports that we could see a bankruptcy filing as soon as this week from Genesis Global Capital.

All this begs the question, where does the crypto ecosystem go from here?

We explore this question with Zhong Yang Chan, Head Of Research at CoinGecko, the world's largest independent cryptocurrency data aggregator, and Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer at Singlife with Aviva and author of The Fintech Nation.

Photo Credit : ShuuterStock | Hi my name is Jacco

It’s the first Weird Science of 2023. Inside our almanack of insane ideas are an elixir of youth, an insulating superwood and a system that creates a 3D surveillance system from your WiFi box.

Photo Credit : Kulturpop | MidJourney

MakeTimePay is a web and mobile app-based ‘on-demand work’ ecosystem that is designed to help job seekers and posters find on-demand tasks and opportunities that are matched to their skills, interests and free time. With the growing number of people getting involved with gig work platforms, how does ‘MAKE TIME PAY’ differentiate itself from other job platforms? Shahryn Azmi, Executive Director and Co-Founder of MakeTimePay joins us to talk about how they are changing the gig employment landscape. 

Photo Credit : Shutterstock | 4 PM production

On What's the Focus, we take a look at what’s happening at DAVOS, Microsoft, and also look at the reasons why Jacinda Adern resigned as New Zealand’s Prime Minister, and find out the meaning of Madani.

Bank Negara Malaysia surprised markets by keeping the overnight policy rate at 2.75 percent yesterday. It revealed that data showed Malaysia recorded economic expansion in the last quarter of 2022 and headline inflation moderated slightly from high levels in recent months. However, with the FED still sticking to its hawkish stance, will we see BNM hiking the OPR in the coming months? For answers, we speak Julia Goh, Senior Economist, UOB Malaysia.

Image credit: Shutterstock

We take time to reflect on the position and role of the Chinese in Malaysian society, business and politics with Ngan Teng Ye, President of The KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall which focuses on ensuring the voices within the Chinese community are heard while fighting for the benefits and rights of the community since 1923.

Selangor Menteri Besar recently announced plans to establish a Greater Klang Valley area comprising 4 cities in Selangor within the next decade. These four cities are Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, and Klang, which is still a municipality currently. What is driving this initiative and are there any synergies to be derived? For insights, we speak to Cha-Ly Koh, CEO & Founder, Urbanmetry.

Image credit: Shutterstock