What do job seekers in Malaysia really want in 2025? It turns out, it’s not just about salary anymore. While pay still matters, many are prioritising things like growth, flexibility, and a workplace that actually respects their time. And what they won’t put up with? Vague job roles, slow hiring, and toxic cultures.



In this conversation, Derek Toh, Founder and CEO of Hiredly Group, discusses the hard truths behind what’s driving people to accept (or reject) job offers today. He shares fresh insights from Hiredly’s latest Work Culture Report, what younger generations expect from employers, and why old-school hiring habits could be holding businesses back.

What do job seekers in Malaysia really want in 2025? It turns out, it’s not just about salary anymore. While pay still matters, many are prioritising things like growth, flexibility, and a workplace that actually respects their time. And what they won’t put up with? Vague job roles, slow hiring, and toxic cultures.In this conversation, Derek Toh, Founder and CEO of Hiredly Group, discusses the hard truths behind what’s driving people to accept (or reject) job offers today. He shares fresh insights from Hiredly’s latest Work Culture Report, what younger generations expect from employers, and why old-school hiring habits could be holding businesses back.

Helping you navigate the ever-changing universe of business, from headlines to the bottom line

Helping you navigate the ever-changing universe of business, from headlines to the bottom line

Enterprise Explores

From Salary to Culture: What Makes People Say Yes to a Job

2025 was a year of "stark contrast" for Malaysia’s private capital markets. While institutional commitments from GLICs like Jelawang Capital, Khazanah, and KWAP signaled continued government support, regional confidence faced significant headwinds. The eFishery scandal cast a long shadow over governance, while giants like Temasek signaled a bearish pivot, cutting back on early-stage investments in favor of safer bets.



Ng Sai Kit, Chairman of the MVCA, joins BFM to wrap up our 2025 Review & 2026 Outlook series. We discuss the regime of "normalisation and discipline," and why the association is rebranding to the Malaysia Private Capital Association (MPCA).



We discuss:


The 2025 Scorecard: Sai Kit characterises the year as one of "normalisation." While GLIC commitments (Khazanah, Jelawang, KWAP, PNB) provided reassurance, the industry’s core constraint remains: capital formation is scaling faster than exits.


The Temasek Pivot: With regional giants like Temasek scaling back on early-stage bets, Sai Kit weighs whether Malaysia can capture this flow or if the "void" signals a deeper structural issue in Southeast Asian VC.


The Exit Bottleneck: The traditional Silicon Valley unicorn model is failing locally. Sai Kit argues for a shift toward incentivising M&A and encouraging mid-sized companies to merge for scale.


What LPs Want Now: The free money is gone. LPs are now demanding "proof of underwriting discipline", treating follow-on investments as new checks rather than automatic support, and rigorous loss management.


Valuation Realities: Sai Kit explains why using headline numbers from funding rounds to calculate fair value is dangerous. We break down why different share classes (with seniority and liquidation preferences) mean the "paper value" often differs from reality.


The "Crowding-In" Strategy: Why Sai Kit believes that government-led funding is healthy for a developing ecosystem, provided it validates rather than replaces private capital.


The Rebrand (MVCA to MPCA): Why the association is dropping "Venture" and "Private Equity” from its name to embrace Private Capital as a whole, more clearly embracing Private Equity (given that it isn’t reflected in the short form name) but also including Private Credit and Venture Debt.


ASEAN Ambitions: Insights into the formation of the ASEAN Private Market Council, aimed at harmonising fragmented fund structures to allow seamless cross-border fundraising across Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.

2025 was a year of "stark contrast" for Malaysia’s private capital markets. While institutional commitments from GLICs like Jelawang Capital, Khazanah, and KWAP signaled continued government support, regional confidence faced significant headwinds. The eFishery scandal cast a long shadow over governance, while giants like Temasek signaled a bearish pivot, cutting back on early-stage investments in favor of safer bets.Ng Sai Kit, Chairman of the MVCA, joins BFM to wrap up our 2025 Review &amp; 2026 Outlook series. We discuss the regime of "normalisation and discipline," and why the association is rebranding to the Malaysia Private Capital Association (MPCA).We discuss:<ul><li>The 2025 Scorecard: Sai Kit characterises the year as one of "normalisation." While GLIC commitments (Khazanah, Jelawang, KWAP, PNB) provided reassurance, the industry’s core constraint remains: capital formation is scaling faster than exits.</li><li>The Temasek Pivot: With regional giants like Temasek scaling back on early-stage bets, Sai Kit weighs whether Malaysia can capture this flow or if the "void" signals a deeper structural issue in Southeast Asian VC.</li><li>The Exit Bottleneck: The traditional Silicon Valley unicorn model is failing locally. Sai Kit argues for a shift toward incentivising M&amp;A and encouraging mid-sized companies to merge for scale.</li><li>What LPs Want Now: The free money is gone. LPs are now demanding "proof of underwriting discipline", treating follow-on investments as new checks rather than automatic support, and rigorous loss management.</li><li>Valuation Realities: Sai Kit explains why using headline numbers from funding rounds to calculate fair value is dangerous. We break down why different share classes (with seniority and liquidation preferences) mean the "paper value" often differs from reality.</li><li>The "Crowding-In" Strategy: Why Sai Kit believes that government-led funding is healthy for a developing ecosystem, provided it validates rather than replaces private capital.</li><li>The Rebrand (MVCA to MPCA): Why the association is dropping "Venture" and "Private Equity” from its name to embrace Private Capital as a whole, more clearly embracing Private Equity (given that it isn’t reflected in the short form name) but also including Private Credit and Venture Debt.</li><li>ASEAN Ambitions: Insights into the formation of the ASEAN Private Market Council, aimed at harmonising fragmented fund structures to allow seamless cross-border fundraising across Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.</li></ul>

Temasek’s VC Pivot: An Opportunity or Warning for Malaysia?

For years, the Malaysian fintech story was about anticipation, waiting for digital bank licenses, waiting for regulation, and waiting for mass adoption. According to the Malaysia Fintech Report 2025, the wait is over.



Vincent Fong, Chief Editor of Fintech News Malaysia, joins BFM to review a year where Malaysia moved from "promise to delivery." 

We break down the explosive growth of DuitNow QR (where Malaysia ranks second only to China) and the 100 million+ transactions in the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sector.



However, execution comes with costs. With digital banks posting significant initial losses, 2026 is set to be the year of "Economics and Cost Control."



We discuss:


The "Execution" Pivot: How 2025 saw a surge in adoption, from RM967 million in cross-border transactions to the ubiquity of QR payments.


Digital Bank Reality Check: Why heavy losses in the first year are typical for the sector (the J-curve effect) and why the 2026 strategy will shift toward lending, insurance products, and AI-driven cost efficiency.


The End of the BNPL "Wild West": With SPayLater and Atome dominating the market, we discuss the implications of the Consumer Credit Act and the risks associated with a user base where 70% earn under RM5,000.


Cross-Border Connectivity: The role of the Nexus scheme (connecting 5 central banks) and Alipay+ in driving regional payment integration.


Open Finance: The next regulatory frontier. Vincent explains how API-based data aggregation will finally allow consumers to view their entire financial life on a single dashboard, provided incumbents get on board.

For years, the Malaysian fintech story was about anticipation, waiting for digital bank licenses, waiting for regulation, and waiting for mass adoption. According to the Malaysia Fintech Report 2025, the wait is over.Vincent Fong, Chief Editor of Fintech News Malaysia, joins BFM to review a year where Malaysia moved from "promise to delivery." We break down the explosive growth of DuitNow QR (where Malaysia ranks second only to China) and the 100 million+ transactions in the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sector.However, execution comes with costs. With digital banks posting significant initial losses, 2026 is set to be the year of "Economics and Cost Control."We discuss:<ul><li>The "Execution" Pivot: How 2025 saw a surge in adoption, from RM967 million in cross-border transactions to the ubiquity of QR payments.</li><li>Digital Bank Reality Check: Why heavy losses in the first year are typical for the sector (the J-curve effect) and why the 2026 strategy will shift toward lending, insurance products, and AI-driven cost efficiency.</li><li>The End of the BNPL "Wild West": With SPayLater and Atome dominating the market, we discuss the implications of the Consumer Credit Act and the risks associated with a user base where 70% earn under RM5,000.</li><li>Cross-Border Connectivity: The role of the Nexus scheme (connecting 5 central banks) and Alipay+ in driving regional payment integration.</li><li>Open Finance: The next regulatory frontier. Vincent explains how API-based data aggregation will finally allow consumers to view their entire financial life on a single dashboard, provided incumbents get on board.</li></ul>

From Digital Banks to Crypto: Fintech to Watch in 2026

For Malaysian SMEs, 2025 was a defensive year, graded a modest C+ (or B-) by SAMENTA. It was a year defined by uneven recovery, compliance shocks (from e-Invoicing to SST hikes), and the "Second China Shock" squeezing local businesses.



For 2026, Datuk William Ng, National President of SAMENTA, outlines a strategy of "Selective Offense”. We discuss why businesses must prioritise cash preservation over aggressive expansion, how to navigate the talent crisis exacerbated by minimum wage hikes, and why "financial hygiene" is the key to unlocking bank financing and private equity.



We also explore why branding is the only true leverage SMEs have left to regain pricing power in a market where costs are spiraling.



NOTE: This interview was recorded prior to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim delivering his 2026 New Year Message. After reaching out to Datuk William for his reactions, updated commentary on the extended e-invoicing transition period to 12months and SST revisions has been woven into the conversation.



We discuss:


The 2025 Review: Why export-oriented SMEs thrived while domestic players struggled.


The 2026 Strategy: Why "Selective Offense" and automation are the themes of the year.


The Talent Crisis: How minimum wage hikes and the gig economy are hollowing out the workforce.


The AI Reality: Moving from fear to practical use cases like ESG reporting and demand forecasting.


The Equity Question: What to know before selling a stake to Private Equity.

For Malaysian SMEs, 2025 was a defensive year, graded a modest C+ (or B-) by SAMENTA. It was a year defined by uneven recovery, compliance shocks (from e-Invoicing to SST hikes), and the "Second China Shock" squeezing local businesses.For 2026, Datuk William Ng, National President of SAMENTA, outlines a strategy of "Selective Offense”. We discuss why businesses must prioritise cash preservation over aggressive expansion, how to navigate the talent crisis exacerbated by minimum wage hikes, and why "financial hygiene" is the key to unlocking bank financing and private equity.We also explore why branding is the only true leverage SMEs have left to regain pricing power in a market where costs are spiraling.NOTE: This interview was recorded prior to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim delivering his 2026 New Year Message. After reaching out to Datuk William for his reactions, updated commentary on the extended e-invoicing transition period to 12months and SST revisions has been woven into the conversation.We discuss:<ul><li>The 2025 Review: Why export-oriented SMEs thrived while domestic players struggled.</li><li>The 2026 Strategy: Why "Selective Offense" and automation are the themes of the year.</li><li>The Talent Crisis: How minimum wage hikes and the gig economy are hollowing out the workforce.</li><li>The AI Reality: Moving from fear to practical use cases like ESG reporting and demand forecasting.</li><li>The Equity Question: What to know before selling a stake to Private Equity.</li></ul>

From Salary to Culture: What Makes People Say Yes to a Job

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