Morning Brief

Despite government assistance offered since the start of movement control orders in the country, the E&E sector - a major contributor to the country's GDP - is still seeing some disruptions, not helped by the recent reimposition of the CMCO. We speak to Siew Choon Thye, President of The Electrical and Electronics Association of Malaysia, for more insight into the industry, as well as what they...

Despite government assistance offered since the start of movement control orders in the country, the E&E sector - a major contributor to the country's GDP - is still seeing some disruptions, not helped by the recent reimposition of the CMCO. We speak to Siew Choon Thye, President of The Electrical and Electronics Association of Malaysia, for more insight into the industry, as well as what they...

What does the life insurance sector want in Budget 2021? We speak to LIAM CEO, Mark O'Dell, to find out. Earlier this year, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) and the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) announced the option to defer the payment of life insurance premiums/takaful contributions from April 1st to Dec 31st. With that, it was reported in early September that more than a...

Myanmar is set to hold elections this week, only the second semi-democratic elections the country has seen. However, the leader of the National League of Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under fire for failing to address the Rohingya crisis, dashing hopes for her leadership. We speak to Kyaw Win, Executive Director of the Burma Human Rights Network, for his perspective of the NLD Govern...

Khazanah Research Institute released its second 2020 State of the Household report. Siti Aiysyah Tumin, author of the report and Research Associate at Khazanah Research Institute, helps us understand the numbers and underlying issues on growing disparities between labour groups and regions in Malaysia. Image Credit: Azami Adiputera / Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

As polls close across the United States, we discuss why results may not come out on the election night itself, as well as the key swing states that will influence who wins 270 electoral college votes. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara Malaysia maintained the overnight policy rate at 1.75% on the back of better economic prospects despite the CMCO. Woon Khai Jhek, Senior Economist at RAM Rating Services, discusses his economic predictions. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Certain UMNO leaders are championing to allow EPF contributors to withdraw from Account 1 to survive the current economic hardship. Firdaos Rosli, Head of Economic Research at Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, weighs in from a macroeconomist perspective. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How will the US election impact capital markets? US markets have had a rough few weeks, with the Dow Jones closing out October with a 4.6% loss, marking its worst monthly performance since March. Beyond that, the S&P 500 fell 2.8% and the Nasdaq slipped 2.3% last month, both suffering their second straight negative month. Aside from the Presidential elections, the Senate election could also be...

With borders to remain closed for the foreseeable future, things are not looking up for the tour and travel industry. To make matters worse, tourism industry players have now been saddled with claims from consumers, after failing to make refunds for cancellations brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. To help us get a better sense of the situation, we speak to Nigel Wong, Honorary Secretary Gener...

Political jockeying continues with UMNO demanding for more political positions and power. We catch up with Dr. Hamidin Abdul Hamid, Research Fellow at the Ilham Centre, as Parliament sitting commences today. Will the motion of no-confidence against Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (TSMY) see the light of the day? What concessions will TSMY make to appease UMNO warlords? If a Deputy Prime Minister is picke...

Last week, oil prices hit their lowest point since May, with Brent crude dipping below $37 per barrel. After some initial promising signs of recovery due to economies reopening and production cuts, Brent had been trading steadily between $40 to $45 a barrel for much of the summer, but now we’re seeing fresh restrictions placed on parts of Europe such as the UK and France. Here in Malaysia, B...

Last week, oil prices hit their lowest point since May, with Brent crude dipping below $37 per barrel. After some initial promising signs of recovery due to economies reopening and production cuts, Brent had been trading steadily between $40 to $45 a barrel for much of the summer, but now we’re seeing fresh restrictions placed on parts of Europe such as the UK and France. Here in Malaysia, B...

Local tourism saw a slight boost when the economy re-opened. During this CMCO, however, stepping inside hotels, you don’t see too many people. Yap Lip Seng, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, tells us what he hopes for Budget 2021 to save hotels from going down south. Brought to you by Mah Sing. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

The A-TEAM of tech: Amazon, Alphabet and Apple, released their results last night along with Facebook and Twitter. Daniel Ives, Managing Director for Equities Research at Wedbush Securities, gives a detailed breakdown of their results and answers the million-dollar question of whether the sector is overpriced and ripe for a correction. Image Credit: Koshiro K / Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/list...

The economic crisis brought on by Covid-19 has meant unemployment rates have risen around the world. Malaysia is no different, with an increase of 5% seen in our unemployment numbers this year. Nevertheless, a survey by human resources consulting firm, Mercer, recently found that Malaysians' salaries are still expected to increase by 4.5% this year. We speak to Koay Gim Soon, Consulting Leader for...

For the next five years, it appears that China will be looking to emphasize quality growth over speed, in its quest to build itself into a self-reliant, technological powerhouse. Beijing's efforts are gaining urgency, particularly as the US has sought to curb its advancement, pressuring allies to shun equipment from Huawei and barring dozens of China's largest tech companies from buying American p...

According to the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2020 released last week, Malaysia ranked 19th out of 39 countries in terms of how well its retirement system functions. Dr Amjad Rabi, Visiting Fellow at the University of Malaya Social Wellbeing Research Centre, tells us how we can improve our rankings and what are the potential issues that Malaysia will face as the percentage of the agei...

Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency, better known as AKPK, has noted that debt repayment has been moving towards pre-pandemic levels this month. We speak to Nirmala Subramaniam, Manager at the Financial Education Department, to find out what are the existing pain points that Malaysians are facing especially with the re-imposition of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). Image Cr...

Japan wants a cleaner, greener future, aiming to be carbon-neutral by 2050. But according to William Pesek, a Columnist at Nikkei Asian Review, that timeline could be more demanding and urgent, while also being contingent on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga lasting the course in his role and his clean ambitions. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ongoing shift towards e-commerce has birthed a fiercely competitive logistics industry, with 109 courier license holders in operation in Malaysia as of October 2020. On the back of the fact that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have suspended issuances of new licenses for two years, we speak to Cheong Yen Li, Associate Director at PwC, to give us a picture of the s...

Political intrigue continues in Malaysia with UMNO concluding their supreme council meeting with a reaffirmation of their support for the Perikatan Nasional government. We speak to Dr Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, on the future of this coalition and what options Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has to secure bipartisan support for Budget 2021. Image Credit:...

Questions always arise over what is fair remuneration for directors and what should it be based on. Is there a sweet spot? We speak to Foo Lee Mei, Chief Regulatory Officer at the Securities Commission Malaysia, for her views. We also ask about the recent findings of their Corporate Governance Monitor 2020 report. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Google will release its third-quarter results on Thursday and as we look ahead to that, a shadow looms over the company as it is faced with a landmark lawsuit from the US Department of Justice in what will be the biggest antitrust suit in 20 years. The Justice Department argues that Google is a monopoly, is illegally maintaining that monopoly, and that Google’s dominance may stifle innovatio...

Although a state of emergency was not declared, what is the impact on the Malaysian economy and market? What is the perception of foreign investors and international rating agencies? Stephen Innes, Global Chief Market Strategist at Axi, gives us his views on the matter and also whether he is a bull or bear on the Malaysian market. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.