Morning Brief

The FBI has raided former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump's lawyers say the FBI had broken into a safe and seized 15 boxes of documents. Reports say the raid is related to an ongoing investigation into whether or not laws were broken when boxes of White House records, some marked Top Secre, were not sent to the National Archives. Robert Shapiro, a Professor of Go...

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said the special cabinet committee on anti corruption had agreed in principle to a political funding bill but is there political will for it and what should it contain to create a fairer political system . Tricia Yeoh, CEO of IDEAS tells us. Image credit: shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara has had to raise interest rates to combat rising inflation, which is already a global phenomenon. This however impacts the people because with higher interest rates, financing costs go up - more expensive home loans, vehicle loans, credit card loans etc. Lower income households are particularly hit, especially those still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic impact. Jason Loh, Head of So...

More than a week since the arrival of Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan, we ask Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore how likely will tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate and what this will mean for US allies around the region See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interest rates are on the way up as central banks across the Asia Pacific use this tool to tame inflation. In Malaysia, Bank Negara has increased the Overnight Policy Rate twice so far this year from 1.75% in July 2020 and is now 2.25%. The ringgit has however softened - it is at its all-time weakest against the Singapore dollar. Willie Tanoto, Director at Fitch Ratings' Asia-Pacific Financial Ins...

Wong Kah Woh, Chairman, PAC and Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor unpacks the recent revelations from the Public Accounts Committee report on the littoral combat ship (LCS) project as not a single ship has been completed despite RM 6 billion being spent See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Singapore celebrates National day, we take a look at the reasons for its success and also its future challenges with Dr Oh Ei Sun, Principal adviser at Pacific Research Center. We also ask if PM designate, Lawrence Wong will bring a change to this city state in terms of leadership style. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is GE15 for BN to lose? Or will we see another seismic shift in our political paradigm? Dr Azmi Hassan, Senior Research Fellow, Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research helps us answer these questions as this watershed election looms See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has been accused by Meta of running a troll farm that sought to promote the current government coalition and to criticise its opponents. However, PDRM refuted the allegation claiming that they are gathering further information about it. For more details, we speak to Alexander Wong, Managing Editor of SoyaCincau. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in 2013-2015, multiple women’s groups came together and worked with the Attorney General’s Chambers and other parties to criminalise stalking. And after 10 years, progress is being made. But is this Anti-Stalking bill enough to protect Malaysians against stalking ? For a deeper dive, we speak to Yu Ren Chung, Deputy Executive Director of Women's Aid Organisation (WAO). See omnystudio.com...

With 10% tax on imported low-value goods, GST and global minimum tax of 15 percent on MNC, we find out what these new taxes mean for us and for the government coffers with Senthuran Elalingam, Indirect Tax Partner, Deloitte See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Foreign Ministers of Asean are meeting in Phnom Penh which was also attended by key officials from the US, China, Russia and Japan. With hot button topics of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, Myanmar and the South China Sea on the agenda, what are the expected outcomes? Izzah Ibrahim, Analyst, at the Foreign Policy and Security Studies Programme of ISIS Malaysia gives us her observations. Image...

Recent statistics from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry have revealed that in 2021 alone, 752 senior citizens were abandoned at hospitals by their family members. With Malaysia soon to become an ageing population by 2030, what should the Senior Citizens Act, currently being drafted, include to ensure both the protection of the elderly and the empowerment of their caregivers. Ha...

Malaysia has already lost more than 15% of her beaches with things set to become worse. In the peninsula alone, more than 30 beaches have experienced critical erosion of over 4 metres a year and the National Coastal Erosion Study 2015 revealed that many of these beaches could be lost in the next 10 years or so. Associate Professor Dr Effi Helmy Ariffin, Deputy Director at Universiti Malaysia Teren...

In the region, central banks have also raised rates but what does this mean for Asean banks? Will the economic slowdown eat into earnings? Thilan Wickramasinghe, Head of Research Singapore at Maybank Investment Banking Group tell us the important answer especially since banks are a barometer of an economy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi continues her whirlwind tour of Asia, moving onto South Korea and Japan. However the trip has been overshadowed by her visit to Taiwan which was the worst kept secret of her itinerary. We speak to William Pesek, columnist at Nikkei Asia as to what is her agenda. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Control of Tobacco Products and Smoking Bill 2022 has now been referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee to be finetuned despite some concessions made before it was tabled for second reading at the Dewan Rakyat this week. It is now expected to come up again at the next sitting. Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii is a member of this PSSC and he explains the intricacies of formulating...

Malaysia has agreed in principle to implement a global minimum tax of 15% on multinational companies. Currently, Malaysia's standard corporate income tax rate is 24%, with some MNCs granted tax exemptions and enjoy preferential rates of zero to 10% according to various concession. Dr Geoffrey Williams, Economist at Malaysia University of Science and Technology, talks about how this may impact fore...

With the Home Ministry officially launching the Sahabat Kita Demi Negara programme, we ask James Chai, Visiting Fellow, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute whether this programme wanting youths to be its eyes and ears for KDN has more sinister intentions Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few days ago for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion, a ship carrying Ukrainian grain finally left the port of Odesa. Will this lead to lower prices? Priyanka Kishore, head of India and Southeast Asia economics at Oxford Economics tell us her views. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To get a temperature check on the property market and even what to buy, Chan Ai Cheng, President, Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents helps us give a perspective on how the demand supply dynamics are evolving for the property market See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on a trip to Asia Pacific which includes Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan but with no mention of Taiwan officially. What is the implication to China- US relations if she does indeed visit Taiwan? Dr Adrian Ang, Research Fellow Coordinator of United States Programme, S S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies tells us. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Following the surprise power outage which for some areas lasted more than 2 hours in the middle of the day we speak to Shukreen Ma, Head Group Corporate Communications, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and what transpired and how can we avoid this situation from repeating itself See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill tabled for the second and third reading in parliament yesterday, we speak to Dr Helmy Haja Mydin, Consultant Respiratory Physician and Technical Advisor to Ministry of Health. about the lasting and impactful GEG will have on health legacy for Malaysia but understand the loopholes on the enforcement power issues in the bill itself See omnystudio....

With the poultry industry being a victim of government’s several policy u-turns and conflicting messages, we ask Ong Kian Ming how should the government assist local chicken farmers in the short and long term See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.