Morning Brief

With increasing raw material prices and labour shortages, Jeremy Lim, Vice-President, Persatuan Pemilik Restoran dan Bistro gives his perspective on how the F&B industry has fared in 2021 and what's in store for 2022 as the industry seeks to recover from the past 2 years. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is the biggest international trade agreement to date, covering nearly a third of the global population and about 30 percent of global GDP. The agreement officially came into force on 1 January for 10 of the 15 signatory states. However four countries have yet to ratify the agreement, namely Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar and Malaysia. What do...

Dr Mahesh Appannan, Head of Data of the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre, Ministry of Health allays our concerns about the MySJ Trace app as this voluntary tool helps us detect and exchange proximity information with another activated user. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaludin warned over the weekend that Malaysia could see an Omicron wave, similar to what other countries are undergoing at the moment. In response, the overall public health strategy is to slow down Omicron through various protective measures, including extensive booster jab coverage. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throughout 2021, pandemic recovery in Asia has been patchy at best, with the emergence of the Delta and Omicron variants as well as rising inflation putting pressure on the economy. Amid persisting challenges, can Asia manage the delicate balancing act between health and the economy in the new year? We discuss the economic outlook for the region with OCBC Bank's Selena Ling. Image credit: Shu...

If 2020 is remembered for the Sheraton Move, 2021 will likely be remembered for disastrous pandemic management that led to the fall of another Prime Minister, and later a landmark agreement between the government and PH opposition. Will we see more changes in the political landscape in the new year? We ask political commentator Dr. Hamidin Abd Hamid for the issues to watch in the coming months ahe...

The Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted education services, with Malaysian schools physically closed for 42 weeks of the year in 2021. Additionally, the pandemic also revealed gaps in system in terms of digital capacity, teaching skills and the ability to assist those falling behind in learning. What policies need to be considered to recoup for lost time? We discuss the outlook for education in 2...

After two straight challenging years, Tan Hai Hsin from Malaysian Retail Group shares his perspective on how the retail sector fared in 2021 and if there is light at the end of the tunnel in 2022? Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carmelo Ferlito from the Center for Market Education calls for more thoughtful and structural reforms in the economy in order to drive more private investment as the government grapples with dealing the short term financial pressures caused by the floods. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recent floods have left many car owners in despair with big bills but what are the options to ease the pain from the government and also the private sector. Danny Tan from www.paultan.org tells us. Image credit: Unsplash.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Azrul Mohd Khalib from the Galen Centre reflects on the challenges our healthcare industry faced and what the outlook for 2022 as concerns linger about the state of our healthcare infrastructure. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past 2 weeks, MUDA has managed to galvanize public support for its flood relief efforts, raising over RM2 million to date and involving over 10,000 volunteers. Will this translate into votes during the general elections? We speak to MUDA Information Chief Zaidel Baharuddin about their relief initiatives and measures to ensure transparency in administering funds. Image credit: MUDA See omn...

After the recent heavy rain, landslides are happening across the country. Datuk Ezumi Harzani Ismail, President of The Malaysian Institute of Architects tells us what the building safety codes are and what the rules are with regards to maintenance. He also tells us what we as individual homeowners can do to avoid landslides. Image credit: The Star See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

In the latest Hong Kong Legislative Council election, pro-Beijing candidates won an overwhelming majority out of the 90 seats. However the race was stacked against the opposition following the electoral changes introduced earlier this year. What do these political developments mean for the pro-democracy movement and Hong Kong's status as an international financial hub? China expert Prof. Steve Tsa...

State borders have reopened and domestic travel is encouraged with even the Government offering a tax relief of up to RM1000 for this. But is this enough to help the travel industry and can it compensate for the lack of foreign tourist. Nigel Wong, Honorary Secretary-General of The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents tells us whilst giving us his outlook for 2022. Image credit: Shutter...

Datin Noraida Saludin from the Malaysian Institute of Planners shares her perspective on the severe flooding that happened more than a week ago has taken away lives, livelihoods and homes. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year witnessed several changes in Middle Eastern political dynamics. As countries focus on economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a clear shift towards de-escalating tensions within Gulf countries. This has been taking place amidst a perceived withdrawal of US influence in the region under the Biden administration. We discuss key developments and issues to watc...

Liyana Yahaya from NielsenIQ shares her perspective on whether the double festive momentum of Christmas and Chinese New Year will sustain the uptrend for retail activity. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week it came to light that Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam experienced severe floods in the past, indicating that government authorities did have record of the flood vulnerabilities of the area. In light of increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change, what policy measures should be put in place to better cope with flooding moving forward? Water engineering expert Dr. Teo Fang Yen...

Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has reiterated plans to hold a fresh general election in August 2023 sticking to the military government’s timeline and defying pressure from the U.S. to hold polls earlier. Moe Thuzar from IISEAS, Yusof-Ishak Institute deep dives on this brewing crisis. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Director, Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) assesses how will the recent events affect the Prime Minister’s political cachet and does this change the calculations for GE15. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a series of studies suggesting it to be less severe, we ask Dale Fisher from the National University of Singapore on how severe the Omicron variant is and the efficacy of vaccines against this variant. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With confusion over the chain of command in addressing disaster situations, we speak to Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health and also the founder of Mercy Malaysia, with also more than 20 years of experience in helping governments prepare and respond to disasters on what went wrong. We also ask her how can fellow Malaysians help the community to recover. I...

Ooi Lean Hin, Chairman of the Shipping Association of Malaysia shares with us the impact the floods have had on the shipping industry as well as the extend of the damage on Port Klang, one of Malaysia key logistics gateways. Image credit: Pixabay.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apurva Sanghi, World Bank Lead Economist for Malaysia explains it economic growth projections of 5.8% by 2022 and why it urgently needs to address the widening learning gaps between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.