Morning Brief

Yesterday's parliamentary sitting was marked by shocking announcements from the Palace, as well as sudden postponements and claims of Covid-19 cases amongst parliament staff. As we try to make sense of the constitutional crisis the country is now facing, we speak to YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, PKR’s Organising Secretary, and Setiawangsa MP for an on-the-ground view of yesterday's proceedings in...

As companies and governments around the world begin mandating employees and contractors to be vaccinated, the Malaysian government has not yet made the vaccination mandatory, although there are discussions to do so. So questions remain whether employers can make vaccinations mandatory and what happens if employees refuse to be vaccinated? We ask Vijayan Venugopal, Employment & Administrative L...

Indonesia has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Asia, already charting 3.3 million cases and close to 89,000 deaths. The government has been under fire for not acting fast enough. Media Wahyudi Askar, Researcher at Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) analyses. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has said he is deeply disappointed with how the government acted. What are the political ramifications of this? The Morning Run speaks to Dr. Hamidin Abd Hamid, Research Fellow with the Ilham Centre, about this, as well as the biggest winners and losers, the growing UMNO tussle between Dato Seri Ismail Sabri and Dato Seri Zahid Hamidi, and where Dato Seri Anwar stands. Re...

Last November, an exemption allowing foreign vessels to conduct undersea cable repairs was revoked by the Transport Ministry - a move that has stalled efforts to make Malaysia attractive to investors as a digital hub. Despite assurances that the issue would be resolved by the end of April, to date, no resolution is to be found. We speak to Dr. Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff, Chairman, MDEC about the st...

Vaccine Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin said that we still have a long way to go to immunise 80% of Malaysians. Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy discusses the ongoing challenges especially in reaching out to niche groups like inmates and Orang Aslis, and other ways to measure the severity of the pandemic and make better decisions. Image credit: Shutterstock.com...

The year 2021 might be a record year for global IPOs (initial public offerings), according to a recent report by EY. But how will Beijing’s regulatory changes affect the pipeline of Chinese companies listing in the US and Hong Kong? And will investor interest in SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) hold? What are hot IPOs to look out for in Southeast Asia? Max Loh, ASEAN IPO Leader...

Day two of Parliament saw agenda items public health and the response to Covid-19 overshadowed somewhat by the revocation of emergency ordinances revealed on Monday. However, questions still remain over the government's strategy to fight the virus. We speak to Dr. Kelvin Yii, Bandar Kuching MP for more insight. Image Credit: Abdul Aziz B Mohamed | Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

From coffee to soybeans, and wheat to sugar, soft commodities around the world have seen sharp increases and that’s reflected in food prices at the market and grocery stores. The Morning Run speaks to commodities consultant Judith Ganes for reasons behind the rising prices and their implications. Image Credit: Bakhtiar Zein | Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

The Finance Ministry is placing Lembaga Tabung Haji, the pilgrim’s fund under the purview of Bank Negara Malaysia, saying it’s on an interim solution. Some political representatives are questioning this move. Dr. Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Economist discusses the merits and how best to oversee LTH going forward. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Britain's call to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol has once again brought post-Brexit talks with the EU to a standstill. The EU, meanwhile, says that Britain needs to respect its international obligations- particularly one which was such a key tenet of the original divorce from the EU. So where will post-Brexit negotiations go from here? We speak to Michael Gasiorek, Professor of Economics fr...

Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced there will soon be privileges such as interstate travel for those who have been fully vaccinated. Dr Vinod Balasubramaniam, Senior Lecturer and Co-Lead of the Infection and Immunity Research Strength, at the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine & Health Sciences, discusses if this move is premature. Image Credit: Holger Kleine | Shutterstock.com S...

De facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan told the Dewan Rakyat that the Emergency Ordinances have been revoked since last week, catching many by surprise. Wong Chin Huat, Political Scientist, at Sunway University discusses the lack of transparency and the implications of the revocation, one being that the Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak needs to be dissolved and state elections to be held within 60 d...

Parliament will convene for the first time this year for a Special Sitting, which will run until August 2nd. It's been a bumpy ride to get to this point, and expectations for the sitting are still in flux. So we speak former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, to help shed some light on the issue. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan physical infrastructure plan in the US failed to find sufficient support in the Senate last Friday, leaving Joe Biden's key legislative priority in flux. Will he be able to get this, and other stimulus bills, passed? We speak to Adrian Ang, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, to find out. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.c...

Tan Zhai Gen, Research Manager at Asia School of Business (ASB) discusses if the Self-Employed Social Security Scheme (SESSS) under Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) and PenjanaGig initiative are adequate to cover gig workers, and in the longer-term what actions should we consider to provide comprehensive social protection and strengthen the position of these workers. Image credit: Shutterstock...

The Public Accounts Committee, or PAC for short, which scrutinizes public spending and is supposed to improve accountability will reconvene on the 26th of July. Its chairman, Wong Kah Woh joins us on the Morning Run to talk about their plans during these 7 days. Image Credit: Abdul Aziz B Mohamed | Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of medical professionals has drafted a Health Emergency Action Plan (H.E.A.P), which was made public this week. It outlines several key areas and proposals for action to address the pandemic without resorting to lockdowns. We speak to one of its authors, Dato’ Dr. Amar-Singh HSS, Senior Consultant Paediatrician to find out more. Image Credit: Naeblys | Shutterstock.com See omnystudio...

As Disney Plus has tripled its user base y-o-y to 103 million in April, can Netflix still holds the lead in the streaming competition? We ask Geetha Ranganathan, Senior Media Analyst from Bloomberg Intelligence on the state of the movie industry. Image credit: Studio R3 / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Juita Mohamad, Fellow at ISIS Malaysia, discusses the rising incidences and the govt's policy response on the country's homeless, their plights considerably worsened by Covid-induced economic distress. Image Credit: Warith82 / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Cansino vaccine was given conditional approval for emergency use in Malaysia by the Drug Control Authority on June 15. We speak to Dato Mohd Nazlee Kamal, Deputy Group Managing Director of Solutions Group Berhad which entered into a deal with China’s CanSino Biologics to distribute the vaccine on their plans and the contributions to Solutions Group's bottom line. See omnystudio.com/liste...

The Tokyo Olympics will begin this week against the backdrop of rising cases in Japan and around the world. Already, more than 70 people associated with the Games have tested positive for the virus. And the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee even suggested that the Games could be canceled depending on case numbers. We speak to Tokyo-based journalist William Pesek for insight into the mood in J...

It’s been 52 years since the first moon landings, but the dream of human lunar habitation has yet to come to fruition. That may change in the coming years as NASA makes plans to return to the moon by 2024, amid a flurry of private companies entering the space industry and spurring innovation. We discuss the future of space exploration and international cooperation with Garvey Macintosh, NASA...

Covid has decimated road travel, hurting collections at more than 30 toll highway operators that include PLUS, Litrak, Ekovest, IJM, and Prolintas, prompting the possibility of renegotiating, postponing toll hikes, and even a restructuring of toll concessions. Transport planning consultant Rosli Azad Khan, discusses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has approved two Covid-19 self-test kits for import and distribution, which the public can purchase and use on their own. We speak to Ezuan Yaacob, CEO of MeDKAD, who are the brand owners of Salixium and distributors for one of the test kits as to how useful it will be in our fight against covid 19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.