Morning Brief

There are two remedies practised by governments to kill political frogs. There is the well known anti hopping bill, which would disqualify any MPs who switched parties or were sacked from their party. The second one would be to have recall elections, which gives the right to fire politicians back to the voters. Danesh Prakash Chacko, Director of Tindak Malaysia tells us which works best for parlia...

On Friday, former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng was convicted for his role in the 1MDB financial scandal by a US federal jury. He is the second figure held guilty over 1MDB, following former Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak's conviction by Malaysian courts in the SRC international trial. We get reactions to the verdict and updates on the multiple ongoing trials in Malaysia from criminal lawyer...

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin last week announced the government’s plans to table a Drinking Water Quality Act to safeguard against health hazards due to unsafe drinking water. For reactions to the proposal and recommendations on what the law should cover, we speak to water quality specialist Dr. Zaki Zainuddin. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Meta has been exploring alternative revenue streams and the most recent venture is in the form of in-app tokens that draw similarity to Roblox's Robux or Fortnite's V-Bucks. But how would this be able to be monetized in the Meta ecosystem? Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer of Singlife with Aviva and Author of Singapore: The Fintech Nation tells us more. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystud...

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its final instalment of its 6th assessment report, focusing on mitigation efforts and warned the world that carbon emissions must peak by 2025 and decrease to net-zero by 2050. Darshan Joshi, Analyst at ISIS Malaysia breaks down the report for us and also gives his thoughts on areas where Malaysia need to focus on in order to do our...

With international borders now open and the path to endemicity in progress, the state of business confidence is in focus. Woon Khai Jhek, Co-head of Economic Research & Senior Economist, RAM Ratings, discusses the findings of their latest Business Confidence Index survey. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this month, Carrie Lam announced that she would not be running for a second term as Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Who are the potential successors to replace her? We discuss Lam's legacy in office and the challenges for the next leader of Hong Kong with political analyst Sonny Lo. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today marks one week since the reopening of the Causeway between Johor and Singapore after 2 years of pandemic closure. What's been the impact on businesses in Johor Bahru? We find out the situation on the ground from Teh Kee Sin of the SME Association of South Johor. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the stark inequities that exist in our healthcare systems, and the growing climate change impact also presents serious risks to human health. The WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes. On World Health Day, we discuss the nexus between planetary and human health with epidemiologist Ben...

Traditional Chinese Medicine is gaining traction thanks to the efforts of China's government as well as the need for alternative remedies to treat the symptoms and side effects of Covid-19. Shirley Lee, a practitioner at Thomson TCM, discusses the issues. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has agreed to a proposal by Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat (ALR), a private and “not-for-profit” company to restructure four Klang Valley highway concessionaires, which will ensure that toll rates will not rise until their concessions expire. But is the price tag of RM5.5billion fair and who actually stands to benefit? P. Gunasegaram, independent writer and consultant gives us the answers....

Our healthcare system struggled during the pandemic with the surge of patients and there have since been calls for reforms, even from within the industry. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted in Parliament that the nation’s public healthcare system was chronically underfunded and announced that a white paper health care reform paper will be tabled in November. So, what is needed in order to...

From outer space with SpaceX to his recent stake in Twitter, we ask Daniel Ives, Managing Director at Wedbush Securities what Elon Musk will conquer next and what his motivations were in acquiring a company famous for its 280 character limit. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With only 18 MPs having a perfect attendance record in parliament, we ask political scientist Dr. Wong Chin Huat about the consequences of missing parliament and why it's important for an MP to attend parliament sessions frequently. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pakistan has been thrown into political turmoil, after members of the ruling party led by Prime Minister Imran Khan blocked a no-confidence vote called by opposition MPs on Sunday, and subsequently moved to dissolve Parliament to pave the way for elections in 90 days. The prime minister was widely expected to lose the confidence vote, after a number of government coalition partners defected to the...

Tensions are heating up in Sri Lanka as it faces its worst economic and political crisis in decades. Protesters are calling for the resignation of President Gotobaya Rajapaksa, who came to power in 2019 with an overwhelming majority in elections, but has since seen a massive turnaround in popularity. We discuss the economic pressures driving public discontent and how the situation could unfold mov...

Khor Yu Leng, political economist from Segi Enam Advisers helps us unpack what the signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic workers between Malaysia and Indonesia mean and whether the planned One Channel System will be effective in facilitating the flow of workers cost effectively. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener f...

On Friday, April 1st the land border between Malaysia and Singapore was fully reopened for the first time after two years of pandemic restrictions. We discuss the impact of the prolonged border closure and how soon traffic could return to pre-pandemic levels with economist Walter Theseira of the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Image credit: Roninjin/Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/lis...

The oldguards of Malaysian politics, namely Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have been meeting separately, setting tongues wagging on the likelihood of potential collaborations ahead of GE15. We decode the signals with political analyst Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA). Image credit: Shutterstoc...

Bank Negara’s Financial Stability Review for Second Half of 2021 report revealed that household debt grew at a slower pace of 4.1% year-on-year as at December 2021 and the household debt-to-GDP ratio declined to 89%, however our household debt remains on the higher end as compared to our peers in this region. But what can we do to lift ourselves out of this debt situation? Dr Juita Mohamad, Direct...

While the US economy ended 2021 with its GDP expanding at a healthy 6.9% in the fourth quarter, the momentum has slowed significantly amid a surge in Covid-19 infections at the start of the year, disrupted supply chains and soaring inflation. All eyes are on the pace of Federal Reserve monetary tightening this year. We discuss the economic scenarios with Preston Caldwell of Morningstar. Image cred...

April 1st — April Fool's Day — sees Malaysia opening its international borders while loosening Covid-era restrictions, hopefully equating to more social activities, including at comedy clubs. Rizal van Geyzel, comedian & co-founder of Crackhouse Comedy Club, discusses. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara Malaysia, in the Economic & Monetary Review 2021 report released this week, said that the cost of living in Malaysia needs structural reforms on both income and cost aspects. It also stated that short term measures such as price controls may pose repercussions on a long term basis. But what structural reforms should we be considering? Dr. Geoffrey Williams, Economist at Malaysia Un...

PWC has recently released the findings of their Act Now to Recover (“ANTR”) survey, that was conducted between June and July last year, which revealed how the pandemic has impacted business owners in Malaysia and how they have navigated through the challenges of recovery. So, what are the biggest issues that keep business leaders awake at night and are the concerns still primarily cash conservatio...

Come April 1st, Malaysia begins its transition to the endemic phase of Covid-19, leading to much uncertainty over exactly what this entails. Associate Professor Dr Farhan Rusli, Public Health Medicine Specialist & Director, Selangor Task Force (COVID-19) Operation, shares his insights into the matter. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.