Morning Brief

Catherine Lim, Asia Consumer Senior Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, discusses retail trends in 2021 - what are the new trends, and who are the gainers and losers? Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Selangor has been the hotbed for Covid-19 infections. Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, former Minister of Health and Chair of the Selangor Task Force on Covid-19, discusses responses, other potential vulnerabilities, and vaccine distribution in the state. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prior to Covid-19, the property sector here in Malaysia was already looking sluggish. As soon as the pandemic hit, many Malaysians had to rethink plans, including future purchases and operation of retail spaces. Will this continue into 2021? To find out, we speak to Siva Shanker, CEO of the Real Estate Agency at Rahim & Co International. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanah seems to be positioning itself as the peacemaker within the opposition. Is this a sustainable strategy, or will they eventually be made to choose sides, given the current factions in the opposition? We speak to Dr Hamidin Abdul Hamid, Research Fellow at the Ilham Centre, for his thoughts here. He also gives us his assessment of Amanah's leadership and strength in the wider political landsca...

Peter Kiernan, Lead Analyst for Energy at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), discusses his predictions for the energy sector and milestones to look out for like the Glasgow Climate Change Conference in November 2021. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There have been many things for businesses to worry about this year, from the onset of a pandemic to a sudden change of government. Going into 2021, what are these business owners worried about? We reached out to Professor Mahendhiran Nair, Professor of Public Policy Engagement and Econometrics with the School of Business at Monash University Malaysia, to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

The government has launched its National Tourism Policy 2020-2030 with the aim of ensuring the continuity of the country's tourism industry, as well as bringing back Malaysia as the preferred tourism destination at a global level. But is this policy the solution? Nigel Wong, Honorary Secretary General of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), tells us. See omnystudio.com/list...

Unlike in the 2008 financial crisis, the financial sector has weathered the economic turbulence wrought by Covid-19 relatively well. However, the EIU predicts a challenging outlook for the sector in 2021, in light of ultra-low interest rates as well as mounting defaults by businesses and households. We discuss the forecast with lead analyst Steven Leslie. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystu...

The government has been in talks with various pharmaceutical companies on the vaccine procurement, but is there sufficient scrutiny of the process? Kelvin Yii, MP for Kuching and a member of the parliamentary select committee on health, science and innovation, weighs in on this, as well as what further transparency measures he hopes to see. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listene...

90 days after submitting its registration application to the Registrar of Societies (RoS), the status of Syed Saddiq’s Malaysian United Democratic Alliance party (MUDA) remains in limbo. This week, MUDA said that it would launch legal action to compel the RoS to register the party if a decision was not forthcoming in 7 days. We speak to lawyer and co-founder Lim Wei Jiet for MUDA’s per...

Glove makers have been one of the biggest corporate winners in the Covid-19 pandemic. But while they’re raking in profits, the pandemic has also revealed their failings in upholding employee safety and human rights. Top Glove's managing director, Dato' Lee Kim Meow, joins us to respond to allegations of worker mistreatment and poor employee accommodation. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See o...

Recently, a new and potentially more transmissible variant of coronavirus was discovered in the UK, but how dangerous is it, and what does it mean for us? To find out, we speak to Dale Fisher, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the National University of Singapore. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ministry of Education has decided to delay the 2021 school year to January 20th, which is notably later than usual. What impact might this have on students? Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, President of the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE), highlights some of her concerns. Image Credit: YM.Ku Shahril / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is rumoured to be planning a Cabinet reshuffle following the corruption charges against two ministers. Will this shake-up provide a positive boost for Jokowi's government, given the devastating impact the pandemic has had on the country’s economy and healthcare system? We discuss Indonesia’s Covid-19 response as well as its vaccination roll-out with Ben...

The F&B industry has taken a hard hit during the pandemic, but is there hope for recovery in the near future? For some insight into what 2021 might look like for the industry, we speak to Jennifer Ong, Founder and CEO of HAPA Group. Image Credit: Magic Orb Studio / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As tensions rise between Australia and China, can the former afford to stay the course in its spat with the latter? The Morning Run Team discusses this with Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute. We also get into how the trade tensions might backfire on China, which side might concede first, and whether China's "wolf warrior diplomacy" will resume under a Biden administration. Imag...

With straight losses at each round of the Budget debates, what is the fate of Pakatan Harapan? Is it time for a reset, or even a leadership change? Ibrahim Suffian, Programme Director at Merdeka Center, tells us what a reset would entail and whether there is an alternate leader for this coalition. Image Credit: Jasni / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Food needs and food security have really come into focus this year, as Covid-19 highlighted concerns about self-sufficiency and access to food. But what has Malaysia's focus been when it comes to agriculture? Sarina Che Omar, Senior Research Associate at Khazanah Research Institute, tells us. Image Credit: fiz_zero / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the US, Congress has passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which could see Chinese companies delisted from US stock exchanges for not complying with audit oversight rules. Considering there are more than 200 Chinese firms listed in the US with a combined market capitalisation of US$2.2 trillion, we ask Brock Silvers, Chief Investment Officer at Kaiyuan Capital, whether this move...

Reports have begun to emerge that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail plan may continue, with the track ending in Johor instead of Singapore as initially planned. Though the Singapore Transport Ministry has since come out to say that both countries are still in discussions over this, the reports have raised questions over the HSR's viability should the news turn out to be true. We speak to...

What’s the difference between the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac vaccines? What do we know about Malaysia's Covid-19 vaccination plan? We speak to Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy, on the differences between the various vaccines available, and the challenges of rolling out a mass vaccination programme. Image Credit: LookerStudio / Shutterstock.com See om...

The opposition's failure to vote down Budget 2021 has raised questions about its leadership, but who will step up to the plate? The Morning Run speaks to Warisan president, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, to find out if he would be open to leading Pakatan Harapan, his party's planned expansion into the Peninsular, and Warisan's political allies. Image credit: Dolly MJ / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.co...

News that a Top Glove employee was fired for voicing concerns over cramped dormitories has raised questions about the protections available to whistleblowers, as well as the new labour SOPs. We reached out to lawyer VK Raj for more insight. Image credit: YuriAbas / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Disney, the content colossus, has announced massive new content rollout plans, featuring Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar. The move catapulted its shares to a record $171 in New York trading and has raised the question of whether this is a long-term pivot towards streaming services. We speak to Geetha Ranganathan, Senior Media Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, for more. Image Credit: AFM Visuals / Sh...

Penjana Kapital announced this week that it had attracted eight international venture capital fund managers to take part in the Dana Penjana Nasional programme, with a total allocation of RM1.57 billion. We speak to Dr Sivapalan Vivekarajah of Scale-Up Malaysia on why local start-ups have reasons to cheer these developments. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...