General

Skill-related underemployment has been increasing in Malaysia, and fresh job seekers have increasingly been turning to unrelated fields or the gig economy for employment. Also, some are still wary of companies that do not offer remote or at least flexible work arrangements. What does this mean for the hiring environment of the future?

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Focus on job creation, ease restrictions on economic activities, and extend a lifeline to consumers and businesses to increase the purchasing power of the people, stakeholders suggest.

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With all this talk about easing restrictions for the fully vaccinated, it’s made the prospect of returning to the office more real. But according to Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd, only one out of five Malaysian employees want to go back to the joys of full time office work. While this is understandable, it does pose a whole bunch of problems for organizations nationwide. We discuss the implications, and how to make things work with Anil Shivadas from EY.

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The Holstein Milk Company - the producer of Farm Fresh Milk - started with 60 cows and now has over 6,000. The founder, Loi Tuan Ee speaks to us about the journey thus far and ahead.

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While restaurants can now open for dine-in for fully vaccinated individuals, many restaurants have opted to remain close. Jennifer Ong, founder and CEO of HAPA Group discusses the reasons and initiatives to further protect workers and patrons.

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新冠疫情肆虐的这一年多以来，筛检测试“testing”这个词，无人不知，无人不晓，哪怕是对其背后的科学原理一知半解，但大家都了解一旦出现确诊病例，所有和确诊者有过接触的，甚至是当地社群都必须进行检测，以便展开跟踪和追踪，阻断传播链。但随着变异病毒的出现，就算是全剂量疫苗接种，也有可能出现突围感染，群体免疫的概念渐行渐远，在往后一段长时间里，检测也许就会成为群体生活作息的常态。但想要检测成为促进商业和日常生活作息正常化的工具，它就必须变得更廉价、更方便使用、更快速且准确地取得检测结果。

在此背景下，香港的医疗科技公司Prenetics从一家从事基因测试的公司，在疫情开始爆发后的三个月内随即推出核酸测试，今年初更是买下牛津大学的spinout Oxsed的分子测试技术 molecular-based testing，以推出迅速、及时、高效、便宜的测试盒，为香港和英国机场恢复跨境活动，甚至为新一季英超联赛做足检测准备工作。

该公司是如何在那么短的时间内，无论是技术或者市场覆盖层面，都能够扩大触角？一家从事医疗保健的私人公司，既为盈利，也在服务着公共卫生，到底要如何在盈利和非盈利之间取得一个平衡？   

这一集节目我们再一次进行跨境访问，并邀请 Prenetics Chief Financial Officer 首席财务官 Stephen Lo和我们聊聊他们从事核酸检测的心得。

Myanmar has been under a military dictatorship for more than 6 months, a period marked by civil disobedience movements and demonstrations which drew deadly and violent responses from security forces. This follows the February 1st overthrow of the elected National League for Democracy administration, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Today, lawmakers from the NLD have regrouped to form the National Unity Government, Myanmar's government-in-exile.

Keith Kam speaks to the Deputy Foreign Minister of the NUG, Moe Zaw Oo, to find out where the future lies for the country.

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The government has ended walk-in vaccinations for foreigners at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, citing crowd-control reasons. This however will make it impossible for undocumented workers to be vaccinated as they are ineligible to register themselves for an appointment in MySejathera. New Su Shern, founder of Project Liber8 discusses possible solutions.

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Despite prolonged lockdowns in several cities, Covid-19 cases continue to rise, raising questions about the sustainability of Australia's "zero-Covid strategy". Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signaled a shift to an endemic strategy once vaccinations reach the 80% threshold. However, the plan is hampered by a slow vaccination roll-out and lack of consensus with state governments on Covid-19 management. We discuss the state of play Down Under with Alyssa Leng of the Lowy Institute.

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Song Seng Wun, Economist with CIMB Private Banking in Singapore, discusses the region’s market outlook in the context of market-friendly Fed comments on its taper program which will be further added to at the Jackson Hole symposium later this week.

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