Morning Brief

Tricia Yeoh, CEO of the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), discusses the importance of the to-be-launched 12th Malaysia Plan, what its priorities could be, and her reservations about any social re-engineering efforts and instead calls for an industry-needs approach. Image Credit: Abdul Razak Latif / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Umno has declared its political breakup with Bersatu. Bersatu has acknowledged, saying that it will move on. What's next for these two parties and where does this put PAS? The Morning Run dives into this with political analyst Dr Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate at the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute-Malaysia. Image Credit: Hafiz Johari / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio....

Umno has declared its political breakup with Bersatu. Bersatu has acknowledged, saying that it will move on. What's next for these two parties and where does this put PAS? The Morning Run dives into this with political analyst Dr Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate at the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute-Malaysia. Image Credit: Hafiz Johari / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio....

Development economist Dr Haniza Khalid unpacks the reasons for food price increases, whether this trend will continue, and what needs to be done to protect food security in Malaysia. Image Credit: YuriAbas / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok from the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association shares how the pandemic has impacted shopping malls and whether there is a future despite digital retail and more malls coming online in the foreseeable future. Image Credit: Ankor Light / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara Malaysia declined to lower Overnight Policy Rates in its latest confab, raising intriguing questions on the health of the local economy as the vaccination program kicks on. Julia Goh, UOB Malaysia's Senior Economist, discusses. Image Credit: zmpixes / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK’s Budget 2021, which was unveiled on Wednesday, has been labelled a ‘spend now, pay later’ budget. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is extending many economic measures including the furlough scheme but is also raising corporation tax in 2023 from 19% to 23%. Kenneth Wattret, Chief Europe Economist at IHS Markit, gives us his views on whether the Budget will help recover the economy, the...

The Department of Environment (DOE) announced that it will implement a pilot project for sustainable vehicle disposals called the Authorised Automotive Treatment Facility. However, Malaysia has had many false starts with the end-of-life vehicle policy, so will it really take off this time? Hezeri Samsuri, Managing Editor of careta.my , gives us his view. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystud...

After settling with AmBank for RM2.83 billion, the Malaysian government has now agreed to a settlement of about RM320 million with Deloitte in relation to the 1MDB scandal. P. Gunasegaram, Editorial Consultant at The Vibes and author of , tells us whether the settlement sums are fair and if we can expect more to come.1MDB: The Scandal That Brought Down A Government Image Credit: KeongDaGreat / Shu...

Antonio Fatas from INSEAD gives us an excellent primer on digital currencies, in particular CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies), progress made by governments and its impact on the existing financial services industry. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

YB Dr Ong Kian Ming vexes on the lack of clarity, data and logic from the government in their economic reopening approach and tells us whether he thinks politicians should be among the first to be vaccinated. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sarawak is confident in getting 2.2 million of its population vaccinated by August this year but isn’t sure when it can hold its state elections. The state assembly’s term expires on June 6th and a state election will need to be held within 60 days of dissolution. But with an emergency order in place that prevents elections from happening, what option does Sarawak have? For some insigh...

Sam Fazeli from Bloomberg Intelligence discusses the commercial aspects of vaccine pricing and the various considerations to ensure equitable distribution globally. Image Credit: ALDECA studio / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nell Omar from The Centre paints a comprehensive picture and offers practical solutions as to how we can support gig workers immediately and in the long-term. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laurence Todd from IDEAS discusses the merits and demerits of the tiered dividend being proposed for the EPF as well as brings up the broader conversation on the scale and role EPF has to play in providing social protection. Image Credit: syam fireshark / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hang Seng will be making major changes to ensure the index better reflects the range of firms listed in Hong Kong. The index will raise the number of constituents from 52 currently to 80 by mid-2022 with an eventual target of 100 companies. A stock’s weighting will also now be limited to 8% from 10%. Wong Chi Man, Head of Research at China Galaxy International, tells us the rationale for...

Dr James Chin, political commentator and Professor at the University of Tasmania, shares his perspectives on recent political developments in Sarawak and the different political movements taking place. Image Credit: Magic Orb Studio / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we celebrate the centenary of China's Communist Party (CCP), Gary Ng from Natixis gives us some colour on China's ambitious infrastructure plans to double its economy by 2035. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yap Lip Seng from the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) shares his concerns and solutions to get the hotel industry back to recovery mode following the news of the 70% vaccination threshold required before inter-state / inter-district travel resumes. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) declared a 5.2% dividend for conventional savings and a 4.9% dividend for shariah savings for 2020. Pankaj C Kumar, a financial market columnist and former Chief Investment Officer, gives us his views on whether the dividends met his expectations and the challenges in replicating these returns in 2021. Image Credit: Ismail Sadiron Pictures / Shutterstock.com See...

The onus now seems to be on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to call for a Parliament sitting, following remarks from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. How likely is it that we'll see a sitting and beyond that, what options does the PM have to ease the pressure on him? Dr Hamidin Hamid, Research Fellow at the Ilham Centre, shares his thoughts on this, as well as where PAS' allegiance lies, expecta...

One month since the military coup in Myanmar, it has become apparent that the economic costs are mounting. The government, now controlled by the military junta, are facing the possibility of further sanctions from Western countries, which would place a dampener on an economy already hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. We speak to Linda Liu, Economist at Maybank Kim Eng, about how the Myanmar econom...

Firdaos Rosli, Head of Economic Research at the Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC), discusses his report that investments in 2021 are unlikely to return to pre-Covid level and also his economic outlook for Malaysia. Image Credit: Abdul Razak Latif / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Helmy Haja Mydin, Internal Medicine Specialist at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, discusses measures to persuade “vaccine-hesitants” and anti-vaxxers to be vaccinated in order for Malaysia to reach herd immunity. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recent spate of cold weather, which crippled Texas’ energy and water infrastructure, has put a spotlight on ageing US infrastructure systems. DJ Gribbin, Senior Operating Partner at private equity firm Stonepeak helps us understand why the US underinvests in public infrastructure, the complexities of federal and state spending, and whether President Joe Biden will make headway in pushing...