General

Under phase 1 of the national recovery plan, 11 business activities were restarted which has been much welcomed by retailers. But is this enough and too late for mall operators? We ask Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok, President of the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association for views and also what the industry would like to see from Budget 2022.

Image credit: Kevin Khoo / Shutterstock

A total of 114 MPs will be meeting the Agung today, is this a sign that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri will be PM9? And is this game over for Pakatan Harapan? We also ask Dr. Hamidin Hamid, Research Fellow, Ilham Center on the future of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the Morning Run.

Image credit: msyaraafiq / Shutterstock

The Land of Smiles is feeling a little sullen. As the pandemic continues to ravage the tourism industry globally, Thailand is certainly a country not spared. The tourism industry is the lifeline to Thailand's economy. Philip See speaks to the Thailand Tourism Authority on how the tourism industry has been badly impacted and its recovery strategy following the launch of its Phuket Sandbox program.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com & pata.org

We ask Ross Tapsell from Australian National University what does the world thinks about the latest political developments in Malaysia and whether there is a grave concern of political instability or acceptance that this is part and parcel of the messiness of a parliamentary democracy.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

As Indonesia celebrated its 76th anniversary of independence and President Jokowi announcing the 2022 budget, we ask Krystal Tan from ANZ Bank how the region’s biggest economy plans to navigate through the pandemic

Image Credit: Bimo Pradityo / Shutterstock.com

Despite the country being in various stages of lockdowns, the economy and market may surprise on the upside towards year-end. Michael Lai, Executive Director for Wealth Advisory at OCBC Bank tells us why.

Live4Malaysia - a new live concert series by Live Nation Malaysia is scheduled to take the stage between August 31st and September 16th. The four-part concert series will feature Malaysia’s prominent talents Zee Avi, Zainal Abidin, Muzza, and Insomniacks. Ahead of the curtain raiser, event organizer Para Rajagopal joins us to share further about the event and their efforts to help fellow Malaysians who are affected by the pandemic. More info can be found at liveformalaysia.veeps.com.

IMAGE SOURCE: Bandwagon Asia

On this week's show, we have Kristin Tan, a vegan recipe developer and content creator that has had breakout success over the pandemic, drawing people with her catchy videos on Instagram and TikTok, making vegan versions of many popular Malaysian dishes like currypuffs, kuihs, and even char siu!

IMAGE SOURCE: @eatwkriss / INSTAGRAM

In this week's show, the local Automotive Industry breathes a sigh of relief as it reopens, and Singapore's postal service Singpost announces their full commitment to electrify their entire fleet by 2025.

As for car launches, we discuss the lovely new Mercedes-Benz E 300 Coupe, the highly-anticipated return of the Nissan 'Z', and two new RM20 million (each) limited-run hypercars for the Top 0.0001%: the all-new Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 and the Bugatti Bolide.

We're a little more sensible for our Used Car Reviews this week as Daniel tells us about the 2002 Toyota Camry. Now worth between RM10-20k, it's a perfect synonym for the words "dependable", "unoffensive", and "boring".

The latest in the “American faces peril in a foreign locale” trope, Beckett sees John David Washington playing an American tourist in Greece, who unexpectedly finds himself the target of a manhunt and must now clear his name. The film also stars Alicia Vikander, Boyd Holbrook, and Vicky Krieps. We review the movie, and see how it holds up as a modern thriller.