Morning Brief

Bongbong Marcos has won the Philippine presidential election which sets the stage for the return of the Marcos family into the Malacanang Palace 36 years after they were ousted following the People’s Power revolt. Andrea Chloe Wong, a Philippines’ political analyst tells us what to expect from his rule. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mirza Iqmal Sariffudin from Transit Malaysia explains what has caused Malaysia, and especially Klang Valley, to be so car-centric as the number of motor vehicles in Malaysia stands equal to its population by the end of 2020. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We ask Hannah Pearson, Director, Pear Anderson, a research and tourism consultancy whether the worst is really over for the Southeast Asian tourism industry as markets begin to reopen post pandemic. Image credit: Pexels.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The charges against Serba Dinamik were withdrawn after the public prosecutor accepted the representation made to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. This resulted in the accused directors only receiving a fine of RM3 million each. P. Gunasegaram, independent writer and consultant tells us about the implications this has on capital markets and what reforms should be considered to avoid a repeat. Image...

The Ministry of Health is forming an independent task force to investigate the tragic death of a junior doctor attached with the Penang Hospital, amid allegations of a pervasive culture of bullying towards trainee doctors. We discuss whether the issue of workplace bullying is systemic in the healthcare sector and policy measures to address toxic work environments with clinical psychologist Dr Chua...

Ding Jo-Ann, advisor at the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), explains the myriad factors behind Malaysia's latest decline on the World Press Freedom Index. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twitter’s board has accepted Elon Musk’s offer last week and just yesterday it was announced that the Tesla CEO has secured USD7.1 billion in funding. While the deal looks set to complete, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will decide next month if an in depth antitrust probe is needed which could delay the closing of the transaction. Ashley Kim, Senior Associate Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligenc...

Bank Negara Malaysia finally announced the 5 successful applicants for the digital banking licences but many are questioning whether these new digital banks can actually co-exist with their conventional counterparts, or will they be seen as major threats to the current banking system? Chan Jit Hoong, Senior Analyst at Hong Leong Investment Bank tell us. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudi...

The Malaysian ringgit has recorded its steepest monthly drop since November 2016. Although generally a weak currency is good for exports as it makes selling of goods more affordable, a weak currency could also be challenging for the economy as it makes imports more expensive. Saktiandi Supaat, Head of FX Research, Global Markets, Maybank Singapore breaks down the cause of this Ringgit weakness wit...

We ask Steve Cochrane, Chief APAC Economist of Moody’s Analytics how realistic is China's GDP target of 5.5% for 2022 while maintaining a zero-covid strategy at all costs and what its repercussions on the overall economy in Asia Pacific. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Refugees are defined and protected under the “1951 Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees”. However, despite having policies and measures put in place to protect refugees, many are still vulnerable to poor living conditions, inaccessibility to education, employment bans, and other issues. Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch breaks down the situ...

Iskandar Ismail, CEO of Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), discusses their investigations into reports of political interference in the local poultry industry. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heavy traffic will be of no surprise over the next two weekends, with the Hari Raya holidays. PLUS is expecting two million vehicles on its highways in the upcoming long weekend, which is a 25% spike from the usual 1.6 million vehicles a day. With that, more accidents can be expected. Prof. Dr Kulanthayan K.C. Mani from the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety tell us how we can improve road sa...

China has an official growth projection of 5.5% this year despite ongoing lockdowns and a global supply chain and inflation crisis. Gary Ng, Economist from Natixis expounds. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political circles have been buzzing this past week over a document dubbed PASLeaks purporting to detail discussions between PAS chiefs and other Malay political party leaders. We ask Dr. Azmi Hassan, Senior Research Fellow at Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research as to the what, who and why's of it and does it have any repercussion on GE15. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/list...

There are clear ramifications to Malaysia changing most of its Covid guidelines, including the belief that Malaysians are able to practice self-regulation. Dr Khoo Yoong Khean, Managing Editor, Malaysian Medical Gazette, discusses. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Palm oil prices have been fluctuating on the back of news coming out of Indonesia on its export ban for palm oil. Earlier this week, the government clarified the export ban wouldn’t cover crude palm oil, relieving pressure on markets. But how much will elevated palm oil prices feed into global food inflation? We discuss the outlook for the edible oil market with Alvin Tai of Bloomberg Intelligence...

With residential property overhang increasing year by year, business commentator Pankaj C. Kumar helps us account for the mismatch between demand and supply. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Koh Cha-Ly from Urbanmetry identifies the root causes of flash floods and suggests preventive measures that we can deploy to mitigate the increasing occurrence in the future. Image credit: Free Malaysia Today/Bernama See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an effort to combat rising inflation, our government has put in place several programmes to help relieve the burden of people, including price control measures. But these measures have caused shortage in supplies and also profit margin squeeze. How is the government balancing the livelihoods of the people as well as businesses? Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, Minister of Domestic Trade and C...

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ismail Sabri announced that he would chair a Special Cabinet Committee for Protecting Vulnerable Groups to address gaps in the oversight and regulatory enforcement on care centres, among other issues. However, this move has raised eyebrows as the welfare of vulnerable groups has traditionally been seen as the purview of the Ministry of Women, Family and...

To combat the effects of Covid-19 and the fallout from the Ukraine war, Germany has increased its debt levels to unprecedented levels. Dr Frederick Kliem, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies tells us what impact this will have on the economy and if it affect the popularity of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

The probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)  into senior judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali has triggered outcry from legal experts who view this move could undermine the independence of the judiciary. We speak to SUHAKAM Commissioner Dato' Mah Weng Kwai about the processes in place to sanction judges and lawyers for ethics breaches. Image Credit: Arnain/Shutterstock.com Se...

Last week, Defense Minister Dato’ Sri Hishammudin Hussein announced that the Cabinet had unanimously agreed to proceed with the procurement of littoral combat ships for the Royal Malaysian Navy. This is a long outstanding project initiated back in 2011 with a price tag of RM9 billion ringgit for 6 ships, but has been beset with delays and allegations of corruption. We speak to Ridzwan Rahmat of Ja...

With Malaysia becoming an ageing nation earlier than expected after recording lowest fertility rate in four decades at 1.7 babies per woman in 2020, Dr Lee Hwok-Aun from ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute breaks down the figures and how the economy of Malaysia should prepare. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.