Morning Brief

The Anwar Ibrahim administration has its work cut out as rising competition for a limited share of the FDI pie from Indonesia and Vietnam. So far, Malaysia has attracted RM54 billion in net inflows for the first nine months of this year. But what will the strategy for this new government look like as it banks on the existing strong infrastructure and a slew of incentives to attract multinational c...

A week after the US midterm elections, former President Donald Trump announced that he was making a bid to run as the Republican presidential candidate. President Joe Biden has also indicated that he intends to run again, thus setting the stage for a Biden vs. Trump rematch in 2024. Mark J. Rozell, Dean at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University tells us the likelihood...

After five days of post-election crisis, Malaysia has finally elected its 10th prime minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a news welcomed by businesses who yearn for political clarity. Businesses will also be closely watching the government for their tabling of the budget and in turn addressing their concerns as soon as possible. We speak to Jeremy Lim, Vice-President, Persatuan Pemilik Restoran da...

China has seen a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases, thus presenting a conundrum for the leaders to either have dial down on its Zero Covid policy or revert to its familiar strict curbs to halt the outbreak at the expense of the economy. Even so, China continues to astound with its economic measures on helping the property and infrastructure sector. Yet the question remains: is China caught between...

With Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) as one of the core components of the unity government under Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, what does this mean for federal-state relations with Sarawak? We discuss the political developments with analyst Dr. Arnold Puyok. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the shocking defeat of UMNO at GE15, winning only 26 seats, this party is now playing kingmaker in determining which coalition will run Malaysia. Dr Azmi Hassan, Senior Research Fellow, Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research helps us make sense of their statement which states that it would be part of a unity government not led by PN. He also delves into the future of current party presid...

Many of the pressures that businesses are currently facing like labour shortages, rising cost and supply chain disruptions still exist globally but in Malaysia, political uncertainty has been added to the mix. Chin Chee Seong, National Secretary General, of the SME Association of Malaysia tells us the consequences of this political impasse and what can the new government do to help businesses. Ima...

FTX’s collapse from grace this month has been swift and reads better than any work of fiction with the once upon time, second largest cryptocurrency exchange filing for bankruptcy. Arun Pai, Principal at Monk's Hill Ventures tells if there was fraud and what is the consequence of this collapse on the wider cryptocurrency space. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

In the past week after GE15, words like Unity and Minority government have been bandied as no coalition has been able to command a majority. Dr Lau Zhe Wei, Assistant Professor at International Islamic University Malaysia tells us what is the difference between the two both from a theoretical and practical perspective. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia continues to be in a political quagmire with no government but the economic problems still exist and are in fact exacerbated by this uncertainty. Dr Geoffrey Williams, economist at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology tells us what the new government's priorities should be. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The police have warned Malaysian social media users against uploading content that would threaten public safety and order, after it came to public attention that there were Tik Tok clips bringing up the May 13 racial riots in relation to GE15. Munira Mustaffa, Executive Director of the Chasseur Group tells us the reason for the rise of such damaging rhetoric and if there are organised forces behin...

The Disney empire saw a sudden change of leadership on Sunday, when the board announced that Bob Chapek was stepping down as CEO to be replaced by his predecessor, Bob Iger. Iger is taking over the company as it seeks to staunch billions of dollars in losses in its streaming business. Can Iger bring back the magic for Disney investors? Image credit: Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro / Shutterstock.com See...

As we enter the third day post-GE15, negotiations are still ongoing to form the next federal government. The two biggest coalitions, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan, are racing to build their numbers, to cross the 112 threshold of MPs needed to claim majority in Parliament. We discuss the political considerations at play with Dr. Francis Hutchinson of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Image...

Academic studies have placed Malaysia as the 13th worst malapportioned country, with unequal representation of voters across constituencies. How should the electoral map be redrawn for fairer political representation? We speak to Danesh Prakash Chacko of Tindak Malaysia to better understand the challenges of redelineation. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Qatar was awarded the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, thus making history with this World Cup being the first to be held in the Middle East. The Qatari government's goal may have been to bring international prestige, but it has also come under scrutiny for the country’s human rights practices. Adding to this are also long-standing corruption allegations hanging over the bidding process for the...

Whichever coalition eventually governs Malaysia, the road ahead will be a challenging one with a global recession impending. Dr Nungsari Radhi, Economist tells us what are the solutions and the consequences if we ignore the problems. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to Alizan Mahadi from ISIS Malaysia on the recently concluded COP27 negotiations in Egypt as delegates managed to pull out a resolution on Loss and Damage. The question is if this is enough to avert a climate catastrophe? Image credit: Pixabay See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With no single coalition able to win enough seats to form the government, Istana Negara instructed coalition and party leaders to notify the Dewan Rakyat Speaker of their numbers to form a new government and respective PM candidates by 2pm today. The Federal Constitution states the King has the discretion to appoint as prime minister the person he feels is likely to command the confidence of the m...

With GE15 looming soon, how do the different coalitions stack up against each other in their manifestos concerning women’s issues? We speak to Abinaya Mohan, Head of Campaigns, WAO on her thoughts on each manifesto, and what voters should consider when casting their votes on this issue this Saturday. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GE15 will see an electorate size of over 21 million, thanks to automatic voter registration and UNDI 18. A high turnout rate is crucial to give legitimacy to Parliament. Encouragingly, early voting on Tuesday saw an almost 95% turnout rate and we continue to hear stories of Malaysians abroad racing against time to ferry votes back to our country. So as the clock ticks towards the 19th of November...

For the past two weeks, politicians of all stripes have been campaigning in earnest to win the hearts and minds of voters. With many unprecedented factors at play, how does the mood of these elections compare with past GEs? We speak to SCMP's Hadi Azmi for observations from the campaign trail. Image Credit: IZWAN IS / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first time, Malaysians have a buffet of options when it comes to the Prime Minister candidate. Each of the three main coalitions have their designated PM - but each man has to first win their federal parliamentary seats on the road to Putrajaya. We discuss the prospects of the potential PMs with political analyst Dr. Kartini Aboo Talib @ Khalid of UKM. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio....

When Indonesia took over the chairmanship of the G20 last year, no one foresaw the outbreak of the war in Ukraine which would derail geopolitical ties between the largest economies in the world. The G20 Summit was successfully hosted in Bali amid ongoing developments in Ukraine - but was this event a case of form over substance? Bunn Nagara, Honorary Research Fellow of Perak Academy gives us the k...

In Malaysia where political debates are not the norm, we speak to three out of the 10 candidates running for the Batu constituency: PKR incumbent P Prabakaran, takes on independent candidates Siti Kasim and Tian Chua. We put them through their paces and ask them why they deserve to be the MP for this constituency. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, Russian troops withdrew from the southern city of Kherson marking the latest setback for Russia in the nine-month long siege of Ukraine. Does the liberation of Kherson mark another turn towards the end of the war - or will Russia strike back harder as the winter months turn colder? Prof. Rouben Azizian of Massey University weighs in. Image credit: EPA-EPE See omnystudio.com/listener for...