Morning Brief

Its a tale of two halves for the tech sector with names like Amazon and Apple reporting better than expected numbers while chip makers, Intel and Qualcomm disappointing the street. Daniel Ives, Managing Director of Wedbush Securities helps us make sense of the results and who will be winners in 2022 despite the economic slowdown. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri confirming that UMNO has decided not to extend the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakatan Harapan, is GE15 upon us? Dr Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs gives his perspective See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Anti-Party Hopping Bill with a two-thirds majority, bringing to fruition a long-sought after political reform in the wake of the Sheraton Move. How much impact will this have on voter confidence as we head into GE15? We get reactions from Danesh Prakash Chacko of Tindak Malaysia. Image Credit: Lens Hitam/Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

Myanmar's military government which overthrew the elected civilian government in a coup d'état on Feb 1, 2021, remains in power today and is doing all it can to quash opposition. This includes executing 4 democracy activists recently. What does Asean have to say about all this clear violations of human rights? Thomas Daniel, a Senior Fellow at ISIS Malaysia talks to us about the intricacies of nav...

The annual Federal Budget gets a lot of attention from the public and stakeholders, but the same scrutiny isn't paid to state budgets. We speak to Alissa Rode of IDEAS to discuss the importance of state budget transparency and how the state governments stack up against each other. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month, Bank Negara Malaysia raised the overnight policy rate this month by 25 basis points to 2.25% as part of efforts to manage inflation.  We speak to Assistant Governor Fraziali Ismail about the calculations that go into an OPR adjustment and how BNM sees inflation trending in Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Dewan Rakyat passed the Independent Police Commission (IPCC) bill this week, to the disappointment of civil society groups for a much stronger body to address police misconduct in the form of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). Human rights expert Dato' Sri M. Ramachelvam explains why the IPCC is flawed, and also reacts to the extension of section 4(5) of...

The US Fed raised interest rates by 0.75% for the second consecutive time, in an effort to tamp down on skyrocketing inflation. In response markets rallied, but is it still sustainable. We ask Grant Bowers, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Franklin Templeton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The combination of a series of geopolitical and economic shocks, including the war in Ukraine, the flare-up of Covid cases in China and the consequent supply chain disruptions has sent inflation skyrocketing. The Fed is leading the charge of global central banks tightening monetary policy to bring inflation under control. How much will these factors continue to weigh down the economic outlook for...

The government plans to review the management of GLC-owned shopping malls to ensure more Bumi-traders in the tenancy mix. But with the retail industry being one of the most dynamic and competitive businesses, could quotas of this nature do more harm than good? We discuss policy measures to encourage Bumiputera entrepreneurship with Ahmad Yazid Othman of the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM). Se...

The prerogative to call for elections in Malaysia lies with the Prime Minister. However would it be better if there was a fixed term parliament. Wong Chin Huat, Political Scientist at Sunway University tells us the merits of such a system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We get some answers from Dr Khoo Yoong Khean, scientific officer at the Centre for Outbreak Preparedness in Duke-NUS Medical School following the World Health Organization declaration of monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern. Image credit: Poetra. RH / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the the Biden administration is pushing for a 52 billion US dollar bill to subsidise its domestic semiconductor manufacturers and its friend-shoring policy, we ask Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai, President, Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association how this will impact Malaysia's semiconductor industry See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tasik Chini is at risk of losing its World Biosphere Reserve status under UNESCO, following a preliminary report by the review committee. UNESCO has requested Malaysia to submit a detailed plan to rehabilitate the site by September. We speak to Datuk Seri Dr Mushrifah Idris, former Research Centre Director of the Tasik Chini Research Centre at UKM on what measures are needed to retain the status....

Zaidel Baharuddin, Vice President, MUDA explains what effective policy measures they would put in place to address youth unemployment and their struggles to keep up with increasing cost of living See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Undi 18 and automatic voter registration being made law in Malaysia, should we follow the path set by Singapore and Australia to implement compulsory voting. We discuss if this is the right way forward and what could be the impediments to this? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The dust is far from settled in China’s property sector, after the collapse of property giant Evergrande last year. In the latest turn of events, large numbers of homebuyers in China are withholding mortgage payments for homes that property developers have yet to complete. With China’s economy seeing a marked slowdown stemming from Beijing’s Zero-Covid policy amid an ongoing outbreak of cases, wha...

With Malaysia remaining in Tier Three in the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report 2022, we ask migrant rights activist Adrian Pereira why we continue to rank at the bottom on this issue Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The next British Prime Minister is now down to the Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. They have until September 5th to woo 180,000 Conservative party members. So far, the race to succeed Boris Johnson and to take over the legacy he leaves behind is neck and neck. Patrick Diamond, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Queen Mary University of London, ana...

Last week, the country was shocked by the surprise seizure of two Petronas subsidiaries in Azerbaijan by the purported heirs of the Sulu Sultanate. This was after a French arbitration court ruled in March that Malaysia has to pay the purported heirs at least 62 billion ringgit. Roger Chin, President of the Sabah Law Society helps us unlock the history of this case and what steps the Malaysian gove...

A recent report by the Malaysian Insight highlights the many bureaucratic challenges that F&B players face, particularly the lack of clarity in procuring operating licences and the yards of red tape involved. We get an industry perspective from Jeremy Lim of the Persatuan Pemilik Restoran dan Bistro on the business-friendly policies needed for the F&B sector to stay resilient. See omnystud...

Sri Lanka has fallen into a deep and unprecedented economic crisis that has sparked huge protests and seen its president quit after fleeing the country. This scenario could be replicated elsewhere, with the IMF warning that other countries could be at risk of similar troubles due to high debt levels and limited policy space. Prof. Hans Genberg, Professor of Economics at Asia School of Business tel...

After decades of advocacy, the Dewan Rakyat yesterday passed the anti-sexual harassment bill through a voice vote.  It most notably establishes a tribunal that will consider any complaints of sexual harassment in a closed-door hearing, with any award by the tribunal deemed to be a court-order; non-compliance could result in a criminal penalty. Does this law go far enough to protect all Malays...

The Malaysian fintech industry has boomed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with products like e-wallets, remittance apps and cryptocurrency trading platforms gaining traction across society. The Malaysian Fintech Report 2022 published this week by Fintech News Malaysia highlights progress in the financial tech sector over the past year. Chief Editor Vincent Fong goes through some of the main...

European countries are facing some of the most sweltering temperatures on record, as severe heatwaves affect the UK, France, Portugal, Spain and Greece. This phenomena isn’t unique to Europe - India and Northern Australia went through extreme heatwaves in March, while Japan had the worst heatwave in 150 years last month. Sustainability specialist Dr. Renard Siew explains the links to climate chang...