The Breakfast Grille

After 20 years of selling bus tickets online, Easybook is making a major move into government business, installing its own AI-powered cameras at terminals to catch off-the-books passengers and stop revenue leakages. William Lee, Founder and CEO of Easybook, joins The Breakfast Grille to unpack why the company is betting big on managing physical terminals and public infrastructure instead of just selling tickets online. He shares the tough lessons learned from trying to scale across Southeast Asia, and explains how landing higher-margin government contracts might finally clear the runway for their long-awaited IPO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Bursa-listed Censof Holdings has spent decades building a strong government financial-management software business. Now, it is looking to broaden that franchise through cloud, AI, automation and a new partnership with Microsoft. Ameer Shaik Mydin, Censof's Group MD discusses the firm's evolution and what investors can expect from its next phase of growth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia’s film industry is enjoying renewed momentum, with local productions attracting larger audiences and government incentives helping to bring international shoots to the country. But box-office success and foreign productions do not necessarily create a sustainable domestic industry. We speak to FINAS CEO Dato’ Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib about the effectiveness of public funding, developing local talent and intellectual property, and how FINAS balances its roles as both industry developer and regulator.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two days ago the US completed its withdrawal from Iraq, two decades after its invasion, in a move the American historian Paul W. Schoeder then called, “the fatal leap”. What will analysts be making of this American adventure in Iraq beyond the body count? And just as US President Donald Trump’s “war of choice” has put the Straits of Hormuz and the Bab El Mandeb on our lips, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad is now coming into view. Tucked between Poland and Lithuania, it is home to the Baltic Fleet and sits 600km away from the main body of the Russian Federation. President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO that Russia is prepared to use all weapons in its arsenal including nuclear options if this enclave is attacked. East Asia has its signs of rising tensions too. So where is the world headed?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nine years after Formula 1 last roared through Sepang, the pinnacle of motorsports makes a surprise return to Malaysia, not as the Malaysian Grand Prix, but as the Bahrain Grand Prix. Azhan Shafriman Hanif, CEO of the Sepang International Circuit, joins The Breakfast Grille to discuss what it could take to justify a RM300 million bill for a permanent slot on the F1 calendar.With ticket demand surging past 95,000 thanks to F1's booming global popularity, Shafriman takes us behind the scenes of Sepang’s unique commercial arrangement with the Bahrain International Circuit and the logistics behind pulling this off on a compressed two-month timeline.Plus, he tackles the ultimate question: does a single-weekend economic boost justify spending RM300 million annually on a regular spot on the F1 calendar?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.