The Breakfast Grille

Still fresh from his re-entry into UMNO, we ask the former Minister and Youth Chief what role he sees for himself in the party ahead of GE16, and his views on the Barisan-Pakatan cooperation and what the Malay community wants. We also tap him for his views on great power rivalry, the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the global crisis it has created. Are our political elite up to the task of navigating the global crisis, or will they keep our house permanently divided?

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How is the US-China geopolitical rivalry affecting other countries also involved in the semiconductor space, like the Netherlands and Malaysia? We discuss the Dutch approach to semiconductor advancement and lessons that can be learned by Malaysia in growing its domestic industry with Michiel Sweers, Vice Minister for Foreign Economic Relations of the Netherlands.

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Putrajaya has been laying out strategies to deal with what is being called a “supply-side crisis” sparked by the American and Israeli attack on Iran on February the 28th. From the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, to the impacts on crude oil supplies and agriculture, leading to shortages of petroleum derived products and disruptions to manufacturing supply chains, to geo-political realignments and its economic consequences, the crisis is about to hit with increasing severity in the coming months. Are we ready for what it will demand of all stake-holders in the country?

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The European Union has not been spared geopolitical whiplash under the Trump administration as US-China competition, the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East upends the global order. How is the bloc navigating these challenging times and how is this shaping its relations with Malaysia? We catch up with H.E. Rafael Daerr, EU Ambassador to Malaysia on the eve of Europe Day.

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Is the world on the brink of a recession?

10 weeks into the paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz, the global market is still missing between 10 to 15 million barrels of oil daily, and the longer this goes on, the darker the economic scenarios look.

Dr. Gaurav Ganguly, Head of International Economist at Moody’s Analytics, joins the Breakfast Grille to unpack Asia’s ‘Two-Part Story’, where Asia’s weakness in energy is offset by a surge in electronics exports due to the AI boom.

We explore why Malaysia’s RM5 billion monthly subsidy bill is testing the absolute limits of fiscal resilience, how the supply shock could trigger a "wage-price spiral" that threatens to break the global labor market, and what this prolonged shock means for the permanent re-ordering of the global order.

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MARA Liner Group has been connecting rural communities across the country for decades, but with rising costs and low margins, can that model hold? New CEO Wan Agyl Wan Hassan discusses the challenges of transforming a legacy bus operator through digitalisation, diversification, and operational reform while navigating thin margins.

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The Warisan Kuala Lumpur initiative, which was launched in April last year with a RM600 million funding injection from Khazanah Nasional, is beginning to reap rewards with the reopening of heritage buildings in the city centre. We catch up with Dato' Hamdan Abdul Majeed of Think City on KL urban regeneration efforts and the potential economic multiplier of the upcoming Kuala Lumpur Festival beginning May 6th.

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The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for over two months following the outbreak of war in Iran. What are the implications of this prolonged closure for international trade, shipping, and the lobal legal maritime regime? We explore these themes with Prof Dr Jason Chuah, Chairman of the Board of Research with the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA).

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It has been two months since the start of the Iran War and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery carrying 20% of the world’s oil and 40% of Malaysia’s crude imports. Despite early optimistic projections of a four-week resolution, the deadlock has entered its ninth week, with global supply losses reaching 1 billion barrels.

So, is this still just a "temporary shock"?

Brian Coulton, Chief Economist at Fitch Ratings, joins The Breakfast Grille to audit the growing stagflation threat, a toxic mix of rising prices and falling output. We explore why Asia is uniquely exposed as a net oil importer, why equity markets are dangerously disconnected from energy realities, and why the "fragile" global job market is the real trigger for a 2026 recession.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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Islamic banking now makes up nearly half of Malaysia’s financial system but as it matures, questions around differentiation, sustainability, and global competitiveness are coming into sharper focus. Rafe Haneef, president of the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) talks about challenges going forward maintaining Malaysia's lead in this space.

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