Morning Brief

The government has allocated RM31.9 billion for the healthcare sector under Budget 2021. We speak to Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, former Minister of Health and MP for Kuala Selangor, for his views on whether this is sufficient, the effectiveness of the CMCO in Selangor, and how the federal and state governments are cooperating on this front. Image Credit (Dr Dzulkefly): S.O / Shutterstock.com Im...

This week, President-elect Joe Biden introduced his top economic advisers, including former Fed chair Janet Yellen, as his team prepares for a tough confirmation battle ahead in the Republican-majority Senate. We speak to Kathryn Dunn Tenpas about this, as well as what Biden's picks mean for the economy and foreign policy, and how he might navigate a divided Democratic party. Image Credit: Ron Ada...

Despite the uncertainties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and the geopolitical tensions between the US and China, Southeast Asian capital markets have managed to remain resilient. According to a Deloitte review, the IPO market in the region has so far bucked the overall economic downtrend, and may even be inching up to pre-Covid levels. We speak to Wong Kar Choon, Disruptive Events and Advisory...

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has expressed disappointment over the decision not to table their 2019 Annual Report in this sitting of the Dewan Rakyat. We speak to SUHAKAM Commissioner, Jerald Joseph, about the importance of the report, what it contains, as well as the engagement SUHAKAM has had with the government so far. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the eyes of the world were fixed on the US presidential elections, Ethiopia has descended into armed conflict, centred around its northern province of Tigray. Nearly 1 million people are believed to have been displaced from their homes into neighbouring South Sudan and Eritrea, with no end in sight. To find out more about this burgeoning humanitarian crisis, in a region that is one of the ma...

According to a recent report by the Department of Statistics, women on average earn 94 sen to every RM1 earned by a man. However, the wage differential needs to be seen beyond face value - there are a host of complexities underpinning the wage gap between men and women, and reconciling the differences requires a multi-faceted response. We speak to gender studies expert, Dr Shanthi Thambiah, on how...

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's leadership of the opposition has come into question following the last-minute strategy change to challenge Budget 2021. Is it time for new leadership, or maybe even for the coalition to break up? The Morning Run speaks to Dr Bridget Welsh of the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia about this, the divisions in the coalition, and Parti Warisan Sabah's...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday delivered record sales online. We discuss with Poonam Goyal, Senior US Retail Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, on the outlook for the retail sector. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the last few decades, better healthcare systems have led to longer life expectancies, yet at the same time, it seems that Malaysians aren't getting any healthier. And why are our lifespans still lagging behind countries with income levels comparable to ours? Khazanah Research Institute's latest State of Households Report looks to answer these questions, so we speak to KRI Researcher and co-au...

The government has introduced an Undocumented Migrant Worker Recalibration Programme to get employers to register undocumented workers. Take-up, however, has been slow. Khor Yu Leng, an economist at Segi Enam Advisors, discusses the obstacles. Image Credit: Aisyaqilumaranas / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can Australia survive a trade war against China? A new kind of trade war may be brewing in the East as tensions between China and Australia increased drastically over the past few weeks. Last week, China imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 212% on Australian wine, the latest in a slew of measures curbing imports from coal and copper to barley. This led to the Australian government hinting over th...

The Finance Minister had announced a slew of additional reliefs under Budget 2021 after taking into account feedback from MPs. One of them is to allow qualified EPF members to withdraw from Account 1. Dr Juita Mohamad, Fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), discusses the merits of these measures and the impact on GDP and fiscal deficit. Image Credit: Shutterstock.co...

After the opposition opted out of bloc voting on Budget 2021, the pressure is on Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim to show that he truly commands majority support. We discuss with Dr Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, on the likelihood of Anwar stepping down and Pakatan Harapan’s chances if a general election is called soon. Image Credit: AMRUL AZUAR MOKHTAR...

Last Wednesday, Carrie Lam delivered her longest policy address to bolster Hong Kong’s economy. Michael Frank, Senior Analyst of Public Policy at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), discusses key aspects of the speech, including the lack of engagement on the controversial national security law. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Budget 2021 was passed with a voice vote after a bloc gambit failed to get the necessary support to proceed. Ben Suffian, Programme Director at Merdeka Center, gives us his views on what might have happened behind the scenes. He also weighs in on the future of Pakatan Harapan and whether this political misstep is repairable in the eyes of their supporters and even party members. Image Credit: Bonm...

Muar MP and former Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq, tells us why he disagrees with the decision to revive the National Service Training Programme. He also explains what happened in Parliament during the first vote for Budget 2021 and why the opposition failed to follow through on their planned bloc vote. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, painted a dire picture for the UK economy as a result of the pandemic, in the government’s Spending Review, with an expected contraction of 11.3% this year. We speak to Patrick Diamond, public policy expert, on what the Spending Review says about the government’s priorities for the coming year. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

The revocation of cabotage exemptions for foreign ships to conduct undersea cable repairs has been lauded by the local shipping industry as an act of patriotism that will preserve domestic interests. We hear from industry leader, Dato’ Abdul Hak Md. Amin, on why he thinks the cabotage policy makes sense, and how it can promote the growth of the Malaysian shipping industry. Image Credit: hkht...

Will Budget 2021 be passed? Will this be Malaysia's first Unity Budget that receives multi-partisan support? Wong Chen, Member of Parliament for Subang, gives us an update whilst reminding us that the day-to-day work of the government still continues even if the Budget is not passed. Image Credit: S.O / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bitcoin mania is back, but will it last? Bitcoin breached its record high in 2017, surpassing $19,500 this week, and is up more than 40% in November alone, while more than doubling in 2020. While bitcoin did crash following the 2017 rally, this time around the cryptocurrency is backed by broader mainstream adoption. So is this time different? Is there more upside to the Bitcoin boom? Image Credit:...

Malaysia is becoming an ageing society, and according to The World Bank, this could have repercussions for the economy and our social protection systems. But is raising the minimum retirement age the answer? We speak to Laurence Todd of IDEAS about this and more. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although the Finance Minister Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz has said that no new taxes will be introduced until the economy recovers, it’s worth discussing the different options to fill government coffers that have been depleted by the pandemic. To this end, the Ministry of Finance has set up a committee to study various ways to enhance government revenues, including the proposal to rei...

Although the Finance Minister Dato’ Sri Tengku Zafrul Aziz has said that no new taxes will be introduced until the economy recovers, it’s worth discussing the different options to fill government coffers that have been depleted by the pandemic. To this end, the Ministry of Finance has set up a committee to study various ways to enhance government revenues, including the proposal to rei...

Fifteen Asia Pacific countries have signed the largely China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, otherwise known as RCEP. India, however, is not one of them. The country opted out after negotiations failed to address their concern on the elimination of tariffs, which would open India’s markets to imports and harm local producers. India’s reluctance to free trade agreeme...

After noting that the number of Covid-19 cases in Sabah has dropped in the last few weeks, the Health Ministry has lifted the mandatory 14-day quarantine for Sabah returnees moving forward. However, this comes on the back of news that the country has hit a new record high of cases nationwide. Azrul Khalid of the Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy talks to us about this move and shares his...