Morning Brief

Not surprisingly, Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate of the charge of incitement to insurrection over the Capitol riot in the Senate. The votes stood at 57 to 43 with 7 Republicans voting to impeach. Robert Shapiro, Professor of Government at Columbia University, tells us what this outcome means for the Republican Party and whether this is the end of the road for Trump. Image Credit: Evan El...

Earlier this week, we saw reports that ministers travelling abroad on official trips now only have to quarantine for three days instead of the usual ten, causing an uproar among some Malaysians who see this as double standards. Health Minister Dato' Sri Dr Adham Baba stood by this, noting that it only applies to ministers who meet certain criteria like following a strictly-controlled itinerary and...

A disaster is at hand in the seas as the fate of seafarers who play a crucial role in keeping global trade flowing is being labelled a "humanitarian crisis at sea," as hundreds of thousands of crew are spending extended periods at sea, far beyond the expiry of their contracts. The Morning Run speaks to Guy Platten, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping, to get a better underst...

Unemployment among heads of low-income families in KL's low-cost housing doubled during the CMCO last year. A joint survey by UNICEF and the UNFPA found female heads of households and Persons With Disabilities also charted significant growth during the period, with poverty rates remaining high. We speak to Stephen Barrett, Chief of Social Policy at UNICEF Malaysia, about the government's performan...

Starting March 1st, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will have a new CEO, outgoing TNB CEO Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan. This once again brings to mind questions around leadership for Government Linked Companies (GLC) and Government Linked Investment Companies (GLIC), and the process and transparency of these decisions, especially considering there are public stakeholders. The Morning Run speak...

The number of SPACs in 2020 grew fourfold from 2019, and so far in 2021, there have already been more SPACs than the entirety of 2019. What’s driving this, what are the risks, and is a bubble brewing? The Morning Run gets into all this and more with Varun Mittal, Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader at EY. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Wong Ching Huat, Political Scientist at Sunway University, proposes codifying laws to ensure constituency allocations are fair and equal amongst all MPs. A government MP could apply for up to RM3.5 million while an opposition MP only gets RM100,000 a year. Image Credit: Oliver Le Moal / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A UKM survey of teachers found that online teaching has so far been less effective than face-to-face classes. Nina Adlan Disney, Executive Director of LeapEd, an operator of Trust Schools, discusses the challenges and opportunities to improve education. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the weekend, a video purportedly showing logistics workers throwing parcels amid a dispute over pay went viral. The incident spurred discussion over whether the workers' actions were justifiable, and what other recourse might they have had, whether it be strikes, or turning to trade unions for aid. So for a view on this, as well as insight into the role of unions in Malaysia, we speak to Datu...

China’s market regulator released new anti-monopoly guidelines on Sunday targeting internet platforms, tightening existing restrictions faced by the country’s tech giants. What are the short-term and long-term effects of these guidelines on Chinese tech? The Morning Run speaks to Brock Silvers, Chief Investment Officer at Kaiyuan Capital, about this, Kuaishou nearly tripling on their f...

Despite lockdowns in Malaysia and Indonesia, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin makes his first official visit as head of state to Jakarta to meet President Joko Widodo. The Morning Run team discusses with Siwage Dharma Negara, Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, the necessity of the trip and what more it could have achieved. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for...

A poll conducted by the USCI Poll Research Centre showed almost half of the respondents in the T20 income group used their i-Sinar withdrawal to invest in gold and stocks. This has raised the question of whether i-Sinar is truly effective in alleviating the effects of the pandemic on those in the lower-income bracket, who have been the hardest hit. We speak to Calvin Cheng, Analyst in the Economic...

A poll conducted by the USCI Poll Research Centre showed almost half of the respondents in the T20 income group used their i-Sinar withdrawal to invest in gold and stocks. This has raised the question of whether i-Sinar is truly effective in alleviating the effects of the pandemic on those in the lower-income bracket, who have been the hardest hit. We speak to Calvin Cheng, Analyst in the Economic...

A poll conducted by the USCI Poll Research Centre showed almost half of the respondents in the T20 income group used their i-Sinar withdrawal to invest in gold and stocks. This has raised the question of whether i-Sinar is truly effective in alleviating the effects of the pandemic on those in the lower-income bracket, who have been the hardest hit. We speak to Calvin Cheng, Analyst in the Economic...

A poll conducted by the USCI Poll Research Centre showed almost half of the respondents in the T20 income group used their i-Sinar withdrawal to invest in gold and stocks. This has raised the question of whether i-Sinar is truly effective in alleviating the effects of the pandemic on those in the lower-income bracket, who have been the hardest hit. We speak to Calvin Cheng, Analyst in the Economic...

A poll conducted by the USCI Poll Research Centre showed almost half of the respondents in the T20 income group used their i-Sinar withdrawal to invest in gold and stocks. This has raised the question of whether i-Sinar is truly effective in alleviating the effects of the pandemic on those in the lower-income bracket, who have been the hardest hit. We speak to Calvin Cheng, Analyst in the Economic...

Vinoop Goel, Regional Director of Airports and External Relations of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), discusses the digital vaccine certificate that travellers would require to travel abroad. It does not guarantee admission into a country as that is up to mutual agreements between governments. Image Credit: ronstik / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has outlined a national vaccination program for COVID-19 that aims to get everyone eligible vaccinated by February 2022. Is this timeline feasible or is it maybe not ambitious enough? The Morning Run speaks to public health policy specialist Dr Khor Swee Kheng on this, what Malaysia needs to learn from other countries, and the key challenges in the vaccine r...

Waqas Adenwala, Asia Analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says that Malaysia is four spots more democratic in 2020 from a year ago, despite a change in government sans elections, answering why that is the case. Image Credit: adam yusof / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We discuss with Dr Pradeep Taneja the pandemic budget of the 'pharmacy of the world' called India and the recent agricultural protests in New Delhi. Image Credit: PradeepGaurs / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cha-Ly Koh, of property data company Urbanmetry, suggests that policymakers focus on the primary objective behind affordable housing, where perhaps there might have been too many considerations in the equation, potentially obfuscating the issue. Image Credit: Laboo Studio / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Simon Evenett from the University of St. Gallen explains the far-reaching implications of the vaccine export control measures taken by the EU and its potential impact on the global vaccination programme. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the last few months, some Malaysian companies have announced their plans to distribute vaccines, even though their current expertise is not within the healthcare field. Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy, gives us his view on this whilst delving into the potential of other public-private partnerships that can benefit the vaccination rollout in the country....

Over 30 industry representatives have come out to voice their opposition to the extended movement control order (MCO) that was announced on Tuesday. Dato' David Gurupatham, legal advisor and spokesperson of the coalition Industries Unite gives us their wish list in terms of government support whilst telling us that clearer SOPs and recovery plans are needed. Image Credit: Afif Abd. Halim / Shutter...

Kuala Lumpur has over 30,000 families that earn below RM2,200 who are also in need of basic necessities. Hawati Abdul Hamid, Senior Research Associate at the Khazanah Research Institute, tells us what immediate assistance should be afforded to them with the extension of MCO 2.0 and what longer-term solutions should be considered. Image Credit: Try_my_best / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/list...