Morning Brief

Malaysia has made a good start in the Fintech space but needs more to increase adoption and encourage consolidation in an already crowded space, says Mohammad Ridzuan Abdul Aziz, President of Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM). We also spoke to Harjeet Baura, Asia-Pacific Digital Banking Leader at PwC, about virtual banking and its potential. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Malaysia has made a good start in the Fintech space but needs more to increase adoption and encourage consolidation in an already crowded space, says Mohammad Ridzuan Abdul Aziz, President of Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although the EU and the UK have come to an agreement on Brexit, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson still has to brave his own House of Commons in order to push the deal through. With both the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist party and the opposition Labour party against Johnson's deal, it looks like it will be an uphill struggle as we head into the home stretch of the October 31st deadline. See omn...

The government has just launched the National Transport Policy, an ambitious holistic plan but we ask Laurence Todd, Head of Research and Development from IDEAS if this will resolve the many issues including the loss of GDP. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has just launched the National Transport Policy, an ambitious holistic plan but we ask Laurence Todd, Head of Research and Development from IDEAS if this will resolve the many issues including the loss of GDP. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The National Transport Policy will debut today hopefully to better lives soon. Chaly Koh believes that instead of selling more cars and building more roads in our landlocked urban centres, the government should use data to see how they can not only solve transportation woes but give people something they actually don't mind using. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US House of Representatives has passed several bills lending support to ongoing protests happening in Hong Kong. As these bills move on to the Senate, we ask how this move could affect the ongoing trade talks happening between the US and China. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US House of Representatives has passed several bills lending support to ongoing protests happening in Hong Kong. As these bills move on to the Senate, we ask how this move could affect the ongoing trade talks happening between the US and China. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Rookmaaker, Director in Fitch Ratings’ Sovereigns tells us that for the moment Malaysia is not at risk of a sovereign downgrade but progress has to be made in debt reduction as GDP to debt remains high at 65% vs. regional peers at 48%. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Rookmaaker, Director in Fitch Ratings’ Sovereigns tells us that for the moment Malaysia is not at risk of a sovereign downgrade but progress has to be made in debt reduction as GDP to debt remains high at 65% vs. regional peers at 48%. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the threat of US sanctions now hanging over several Turkish officials, how will Turkey proceed with its military incursion against Syria? We speak to James Dorsey, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the Middle East Institute in Singapore , for more insight into possible IS resurgences, Turkey's options, and the position of Russia as the kingmaker. See omnys...

It's been 6 months since the FELDA White Paper came out, so we take stock on the progress of its reforms whilst also looking at its listed vehicle FGV and who is eyeing the company. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chong Tjen-San, Senior Vice President of Research at Alliance DBS reminds us of Budget 2020 goodies for the construction sector and who stands to benefit from the push of development in East Malaysia and also the big ticket projects in Peninsula Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lee Ju Ye, Economist at Maybank Kim Eng, gives a 101 on Singapore's monetary policy and how the regulators use currency instead of interest rates to cushion a slowdown. She also weighs in on how the island's GDP will look in 4th quarter of 2019 despite external headwinds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Rent-to-Own schemes to a tweaked Real Property Gains Tax, a number of new things were introduced for the real estate sector in Budget 2020. To shed some light on them, we speak to Loong Chee Wei, Senior Associate Director at Affin Hwang Capital, about his take on the budget, and whether some controversial measures will wind up having a positive impact on the property sector.  See omnystu...

A number of new initiatives were proposed under Budget 2020, including an expansion of the Bantuan Sara Hidup programme and details of a new fuel subsidy. For a dive into this, we speak to  Calvin Cheng about the long-term effect of subsidies, and how we wean ourselves off them.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:05 - The Budget 2020 was tabled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in Parliament last Friday, with the theme 'Driving growth and equitable outcomes towards shared prosperity. We look at some of the numbers put forward in the budget. 13:17 - Also at stake: PLUS's future, with the government now saying they are considering the possibility of taking over the country's largest toll concessionaire. 22...

Malaysia's government is spoilt for choices where the fate of their highways are concerned: four takeover proposals and one to buy them over in totality.  It's decision time -- but chief among all considerations should be the country's most important stakeholder: its people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The October extended deadline for e-hailing drivers to obtain their Passenger Service Vehicle Licences ends tomorrow, with the government maintaining that no further extensions will be given. For some insights into the current state of the industry and what happens next, we speak to Daryl Chong, President of the Malaysian E-Hailing Drivers Association, about communication with the taxi industry, p...

Geopolitical risks have thrown the global market into flux, as we enter the final quarter of 2019. So for some insights into whether we should ride out this storm, we speak to Stephen Dover, Executive Vice President & Head of Equities at Franklin Templeton, about recessions, changing investment landscapes, and what advice he has for global investors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Peck Boon Soon, Chief ASEAN Economist at RHB Research Institute tells us what he expects from Budget 2020 in particular how the government intends to implement its Shared Prosperity Vision whilst looking at bigger problems the government faces today in light of the slowing global growth impacting trade flows and business sentiment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The National Union of Journalists blames political interference for Utusan's demise. But in truth, UMNO was a mere catalyst. Utusan needed much, much more than sub-par politically tinged 'stories' to overcome competition, digital disruption, dwindling ad revenue and volatile newsprint costs to avoid meeting its maker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Selvaraj, CEO of Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA), talks up FOMCA's wishlist for poor Malaysians, including reasonably priced groceries, cheaper public transport and better salaries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Selvaraj, CEO of Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA), talks up FOMCA's wishlist for poor Malaysians, including reasonably priced groceries, cheaper public transport and better salaries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ahead of an informal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we take a look at the possibility that the rising threat of US tariffs may draw these two long-standing rivals together. For more, we speak to  Professor Kanti Bajpai the  Professor of Asian Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy for perspectives on the conflict between I...