The Breakfast Grille

France and Malaysia have had formal diplomatic relations ever since Merdeka, with the relationship growing significantly over the decades, leading to expanded cooperation in trade, higher education, and defence. HE Marc Abensour, Ambassador of France to Malaysia join us on this Bastille Day to discuss the evolution of Malaysia-France relations and its future.

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The big winner was Barisan Nasional going from 40 to 48 seats in the 56 seat House with UMNO’s partners contributing a large part to the extra eight seats to that boost. The MCA doubled its representation from 4 to 8, and the MIC increased from 3 to 4, giving them 25% of Barisan’s ADUNs. Biggest losers were Perikatan Nasional fielding candidates in 33 seats, but they won none, losing the three ADUNS they had. And finally Pakatan, which was in a confidence and supply agreement with the previous Barisan government, had its representation shrink from 12 to 8 ADUNs in the Assembly. We look at the depth of the Blue Wave, the Bersama spoiler effect, PAS’ ‘Malay-Muslim’ government strategy and the wake-up call for Pakatan.

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Johor goes to the polls on Saturday and Negeri Sembilan in a couple of weeks, and Melaka soon after: the country enters a period of domestic political volatility after three and a half years of relative stability. What harm will the current jostling for dominance between coalition partners do to the MADANI government? What does the future hold for the DAP as it holds its national congress after two state elections? And what new political realities and leaders will Malaysians wake up to in the coming months. All this against the backdrop of big power rivalries that are rocking the international stage and upending the rules-based order.

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More than half of finance professionals are quietly sweating over what AI means for their careers, and Gen Z graduates are the most anxious of all. But is automation destroying the profession, or simply clearing out grunt work to give humans a more strategic role?

Pulkit Abrol, Director of Asia Pacific at ACCA, joins The Breakfast Grille to look past the AI hype and talk about real human trust. We dive into "agency decay", the danger of younger professionals blindly trusting machine reports over their own judgment, and explore how corporate ethics must evolve as technology shifts.

We also unpack why massive corporate collapses are almost always failures of human courage rather than technical math, and break down the eye-opening data from ACCA's latest Global Trends report, including that 66% of Malaysian finance talent are unhappy with their pay, and 61% face severe workplace mental health strain.

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Malaysia's timber industry is at a crossroads. While it remains one of the country's largest commodity exporters, the sector is contending with weaker global demand, US tariffs, labour shortages, and mounting pressure to automate and meet stricter sustainability standards. As the government pushes the industry towards higher-value products and stronger global competitiveness, can Malaysia transform its timber sector into a modern, innovation-driven export powerhouse?

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As the Madani Government enters the home stretch of its tenure, the question is not only what's left of its legislative agenda but also what it has accomplished thus far, and how much time does it have for the remainder of its term. With the noise from the upcoming Johor and Negeri Sembilan elections increasingly obscuring the cooperation at the Federal-level can the government convince the public that it has accomplished the most important legislative tasks the country needs.

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Parti Keadilan Rakyat has been in the hot seat about their commitment to reform including its pace. But as a former PKR activist writes, “PKR did not become one of Malaysia’s mainstream political parties because it had the most sophisticated reform manifesto, but because it assembled a broad coalition spanning the urban middle class, wage earners, civil society, minorities, and voters seeking an alternative model of governance.” Arguing it's not only sloganeering over values, but coalition-building leading to taking Putrajaya that’s the real test for commitment to reform.

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The US-Malaysia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade that was signed in October last year remains in limbo as the Trump administration tries to sort out its tariff regime. What does the uncertainty mean for US-ASEAN business activity? We break down the latest developments on US tariffs and discuss what growing US involvement in critical mineral supply chains means for ASEAN with Marc Mealy of the US-ASEAN Business Council.

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The global Sukuk market entered 2026 with strong momentum after a record year in 2025, when global issuance grew 25% year-on-year to surpass USD 300 billion for the first time. Then came the US-Iran war, triggering a 35% plunge in first-quarter global Sukuk volumes, effectively grounding the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market to a halt in March.

Bashar Al Natoor, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Fitch Ratings, joins The Breakfast Grille to break down how the asset class is navigating this ultimate geopolitical stress test.

We dive into why global yields refuse to return to pre-war baselines, how Malaysia’s local, ringgit-denominated market acts as a shield against international volatility, and whether the future of Shariah-compliant capital will be powered by blockchain tokenisation.

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Malaysia's food delivery market has evolved beyond restaurant meals into a broader contest over groceries, convenience, and quick commerce. As rivals tap into larger ride hailing, e-commerce, and fintech ecosystems, foodpanda is pursuing a more focused strategy centred on operational efficiency and rapid delivery. With competition intensifying and its parent company undergoing global restructuring, can foodpanda build a sustainable and profitable business without the advantages of a super app?

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