Enterprise Explores

The COVID-19 pandemic forced organisations to adopt remote working and today the hybrid working environment is still commonplace for many organizations, however this change has created significant work from home cybersecurity risks. With an average of 84 million cyber-attacks in Malaysia every day throughout the final quarter of last year according to Fortinet, it becomes quite clear why organizations and employees must understand essential security tips in order to safely adapt to hybrid working.To give us a clearer sense of how to better improve a business’s cybersecurity in a hybrid or remote working environment, we speak with Datuk Alan See, Co-founder and CEO of FIRMUS - a provider of cybersecurity solution and penetration testing services.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia’s youth unemployment rate is 10%.And according to our Economy Minster Mohd Rafizi Ramli, this is due to a skilled talent mismatch between what local training institutions are producing and the actual skills that the market demands.What is happening on the ground with our youths and students? And what can be done to boost employment among our youths?We speak to Camelia Loh, Founder of Kabel, a HR tech startup, and Sryee Inthran, Senior Vice President of the National Career Development Centre Association (NACDA Malaysia) to understand better.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

World Press Freedom Day has been celebrated for 30 years now, always trying to shine a spotlight on the importance of a free press, which has come under increasing pressure following challenges from multiple angles. While the political challenges get more attention, one of the biggest challenges facing news media is how the internet has changed the business model behind journalism, making it more difficult for news organisations to keep the business side in the black.Just this week, the New York Times reported that Vice Media Group is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy, which comes a few weeks after BuzzFeed said it would shutter its news division, a great illustration of the challenging environment.All of this increasingly points towards the fact that in order for news media companies to stay alive, they either need to be acquired by the big corporate players or go bankrupt. But are these really the only 2 options?Today on BizBytes, we take a peek behind the curtain and explore what it takes to run a news media business, the cost that goes into keeping journalism alive, and what the future of news media could look like with Premesh Chandran, co-founder and former CEO of MalaysiakiniSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Workplace bullying is an unfortunate reality that many employees face around the world, and Malaysia is no exception. With the recent attention brought to two cases of workplace harassment, it has become evident that bullying in the workplace is a pressing issue that deserves our attention.Today, we’ll be discussing the impact of workplace bullying on employees, its prevalence in Malaysia, and potential solutions to combat the problem.We’re joined on the show by Emillia Shariff from SpeakUp Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three days ago, Standard Chartered Global Research reported that Malaysia had the quickest tourism recovery among regional peers last year. Malaysia recovered more than 90% of tourist arrivals compared to 2019 levels, and this is driven by visitors from Singapore.Despite having a positive recovery, it is found that the number of tourists visiting Malaysia is still falling behind our neighbouring countries.Why is Malaysia still struggling to compete?We speak to Nigel Wong, Honorary Treasurer & Spokesperson, Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) to discuss why Malaysia’s tourism is still struggling to take off.Photo Credits: Freepik | freestockcenterSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The era of easy money looks to be over and with it the funding winter has arrived, impacting the private equity landscape, including venture capital. With this in mind, it’s understandable why we’re hearing that some startups are finding it relatively more difficult to raise funds.And this has come despite the fact that there’s plenty of investable funds. Bain’s Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2022 noted that in 2022, funds in Asia-Pacific reached a record level of US$650 billion. Looking at Malaysia, based on data reported in the Securities Commission Malaysia’s Annual Report 2021, total committed funds in private equity and venture capital rose over 26% to RM14.8 billion in 2021, of which, just over RM5 billion was for venture capital. So despite plenty of dry powder, 2022 was a tough year for startups to raise funds leading to the so-called funding winter. Today on BizBytes we explore the reasons why VCs have become more selective and how startups can survive in these conditions with ScaleUp Malaysia’s Dr Sivapalan Vivekarajah and Xelia Tong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Luno, a global cryptocurrency company, has been operating in the Southeast Asian region since 2016, with a strong presence in both Malaysia and Singapore. Offering a user-friendly platform for cryptocurrency trading, Luno has garnered a loyal customer base in both countries, playing a key role in the region's fintech industry.However, the recent announcement of Luno's decision to cease operations in Singapore from 20 June 2023 has sent shockwaves throughout the industry.With us to talk us through the decision to leave Singapore, and to quell any mystery is Aaron Tang who just yesterday was named APAC General Manager for Luno, and David Low, outgoing APAC General Manager.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A workplace without trust, is when you are working with people who are unreliable, uncommunicative and inconsistent in their work and moods.That’s why building trust at work is vital for any ogranisational success.So how should companies and organisations build trust at work? What can be done and what shouldn’t be done? How do we draw the line between professional and personal life when building trust?We speak to Cilia Rasasegram, HR Consultant and Chief Experience Officer, Kindler Employee Experience Project to understand more.Photo Credits: Freepik | wayhomestudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A survey by Bank Negara notes that 19% of local SMEs have struggled to access funding from traditional financial institutions. However, with the recent boom in fintech, businesses can now lean on other forms of financing, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. The Securities Commision of Malaysia notes that between 2020 and 2021, P2P markets continued to grow, seeing a 122% increase in total fundraising, as well as 48.6% increase in the overall number of successful campaigns and participating issuers in 2021. A great illustration of this take up is Funding Societies, considering that they are the biggest player in Malaysia based on volume in 2021. They helped MSMEs secure a total of RM 309 million, equivalent to 27% of all P2P funding raised in 2021. In more recent news, the platform announced that they have disbursed RM13.4 billion over more than 5 million transactions to SMEs across Southeast Asia, with RM2 billion disbursed in Malaysia since 2017.On this episode of BizBytes, we explore the role of P2P Financing in the SME and startup landscape with Chai Kien Poon, Country Head of Funding Societies Malaysia.We get into what you should know before taking it up, the kind of take up Funding Societies has seen in Malaysia, and what this tells us about the state of SMEs in Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While taxation for employed individuals is relatively straightforward, that can’t be said for those who are self-employed, in the gig economy, or running a sole prop or SME, who don’t have EA forms and have various income streams to declare.So today on BizBytes, we attempt to help demystify the wide and complicated world of taxation for self-employed folks, MSMEs, and SMEs. We explore how taxation differs for business income; be it MSMEs, freelancing, or gig-workers, and what you should know when it comes to filling, tax deductions, address common mistakes,and how to optimize the next tax season. Helping us with this conversation is Thenesh Kannaa, Partner and Tax Advisor for TraTax, an independent tax advisory firm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.