Morning Brief

Graphic artist and activist Fahmi Reza is filling in the gaps in political literacy through his popular #KelasDemokrasi, both online and through in-person sessions at local universities. However, his classes have been disrupted at 7 public universities so far. We ask Dr Benjamin Loh, Senior Lecturer, School of Media & Communication at Taylor's University why and how should lessons on democracy...

The Titiwangsa federal parliamentary constituency will see a four-cornered race, with the two frontrunners being from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan. We speak to Amanah and PH candidate Khalid Samad on why he left his previous seat of Shah Alam to contest in Titiwangsa and what he brings to the table. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sleepy town of Kuala Selangor is the battleground for another showdown of giants this GE15. Caretaker Finance Minister Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz will make his maiden run here, going up against Amanah incumbent and former Health Minister Dato’ Dzulkefly Ahmad. How will voters decide this time around? Adib Zalkapli of BowerGroupAsia gives us his take. Image credit: Berita Harian See omnystudi...

The Hang Seng Index at one point last month was trading at 11-year lows. But it has rebounded strongly from the depths it reached in October and is up by more than 20%. Part of the gains as well as speculation that China may be gradually relaxing its stringent Covid-19 policies and the recent property rescue incentives. Recently China reduced the quarantine time for international travellers by two...

Malaysia’s economy registered a stronger growth of 14.2 percent in the third quarter of 2022 from 8.9 percent in the second quarter. The 14.2 percent is the fastest GDP pace posted by any Southeast Asian nation during the period, surpassing Vietnam's 13.7 percent. Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said headline inflation was likely to have peaked for the year at 4.5 per...

For GE15, 3 major coalitions are fighting to run the country, with a crowded field of 945 candidates contesting in 222 parliamentary seats. All of which makes the outcome harder to predict, thus raising the prospect of a hung parliament after every vote has been counted. New Sin Yew, Constitutional Lawyer, tells us what the Federal Constitution does say or doesn't say about such a situation. Image...

We speak to Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute, as to what the stakes are for this much anticipated meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping who will be having their first face to face meeting since Biden became the President of the US on the sidelines of the Group 20 summit in Bali. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FTX, which was at one time the 2nd largest crypto exchange, saw its fortunes take a dive after a series of bad decisions by its owner, Sam Bankman-Fried. It looked like a white knight in the form of a rival, Binance would come and save the day but that deal is now dead in the water. Bankman-Fried told investors that the company is facing a shortfall of up to 8 billion dollars from withdrawal reque...

With GE15 round the corner, what are the do's and don'ts for voters, candidates and parties alike? Thomas Fann, Chairperson of Bersih reminds us whilst dispelling the fake news that has been swirling on the voting process. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ampang P99 seat is a nine corner fight featuring five women candidates. Will this just be a toss up between former Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and incumbent MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin who will be defending her seat under the Parti Bangsa Malaysia ticket and Pakatan Harapan’s Rodziah Ismail? Will voters forgive her for the Sheraton move? Zuraida won the seat in GE14 under...

We speak to Steve Saxon from McKinsey & Company about China's travel and tourism industry as it grapples with rising Covid cases, while the government continues to enforce their zero Covid policy. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prasarana has announced the closure of 16 LRT stations until 15 November, causing massive disruption and inconvenience to KL commuters. We unpack why this has happened, what are the remedial actions that should take place and who is accountable for with Aziff Azuddin, Independent Urban Mobility Researcher. We also discuss which manifesto has the most comprehensive transportation solution for Malay...

No other seat exemplifies the dilemma between party and candidate that voters are faced with better than this seat. It’s a crowded field with 7 contenders for the seat, but all eyes are on caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaludin running for Umno, Barisan Nasional  and Datuk. R. Ramanan of PKR, defending what is long seen as the PKR stronghold. The incumbent MP, M. Sivarasa held this seat w...

Although Republicans eked out convincing wins in many states and gained control of the House of Representatives in the US midterm elections, it was by no means the bulldozing of the Democrats that some foretold. Meanwhile the race for control of the Senate remains on a cliff-hanger, with seats in Georgia and Arizona currently too close to call. How will these elections impact President Biden’s pol...

All three major coalitions for GE15 have finally released their election manifestos. We speak to Dr Tricia Yeoh, CEO, IDEAS to compare and rank their economic initiatives. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In politics, the Malay heartland of FELDA and FELCRA covers 90 parliamentary seats, or 41% of the total seats in the Dewan Rakyat. With the Malay demographic expected to split three-ways between BN, PN and GTA, who will succeed in winning the hearts and minds of the Malay heartland? Dr. Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate, Asia Research Centre, University of Nottingham Malaysia weighs in. I...

The world’s largest annual shopping event, Singles’ Day will see its thirteenth iteration this Friday and has evolved into a multi-day extravaganza. Last year, over the 11-day sales period, Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com set new records, and racked up around USD115 billion in sales across their platforms. With a challenging economic environment and no end in sight for China’s zero co...

Last week ahead of Nomination Day, the C4 Center presented a research paper highlighting the ways in which business and politics intermingle in Malaysia, and the potential risks that this can pose to our political system without transparency. What safeguards should be put in place to ensure that business in politics is kept corruption-free? We discuss the issue with independent business writer P....

The Gombak parliamentary seat, P098, will be closely watched because of the heavyweights in play. The incumbent MP is Dato’ Sri Azmin Ali, who is running under the Bersatu/Perikatan Nasional ticket. He’ll have to defend his seat against four other challengers, including PKR’s Dato Sri Amiruddin Shaari who is the Selangor Menteri Besar and Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin of Umno/Barisan Nasional. Ho...

Although most economies have reopened and port congestions have eased, there have been other snags to the supply chain, such as the war in Ukraine which contributed to the sharp rise in inflation. A few days ago, one of the world’s largest container shippers, Maersk, warned that demand for transport and logistics will fall as a global recession looms. How might this then impact global supply chain...

With a record 945 candidates, 108 independents and 39 political parties, we ask Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, Deputy Managing Director, Bower Group Asia about the latest political developments taking place as GE15 campaigning escalates following nomination day. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 21 million voters are eligible to decide the next government of Malaysia in the GE15 but the surge in new voters also means that there is a requirement for more poling agents. We speak to Danesh Prakash Chacko, Director at Tindak Malaysia as to the process to become one, why it's important for democracy and should the political parties have paid more attention to recruitment. Image credit: Sh...

Global vehicle sales have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels due to a slew of issues such as supply chain constraints, chip constraints and on-going sporadic lockdowns which shuttered factories and dealerships. However, one bright spot however has been in the electric vehicle space as global sales doubled in 2021 from the previous year to a new record of 6.6 million. So with less than 2 months l...

This month, there are a series of high-level meetings taking place - the COP27 in Egypt, as well as the ASEAN and APEC Summits in Indonesia - without Malaysia having a formal government to represent its views and interests. Is Malaysia missing out on a chance to influence global discussions and how do the various political coalitions differ on foreign policy issues? We discuss the intersection of...

This Sunday, leaders from government, business and civil society spheres will convene in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt for the United Nations Conference of Parties climate summit, or COP27. Although countries pledged to implement more ambitious climate change plans after last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, only 24 countries out of 193 have actually submitted updated plans to the UN. As the world experiences mo...