Morning Brief

The Madani government targets to table the Malaysian Media Council Bill by March 2024 and engagements involving industry players, civil society organisations and other stakeholders are ongoing. Wathshlah Naidu, Executive Director, Centre for Independent Journalism, one of those involved in this effort talks to us about the latest developments. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/list...

Electoral watchdog Bersih has been calling for constituency development funds to be given equally to all MPs irrespective of their support for or against the government of the day. The urgency of this issue has returned to the forefront after 4 opposition MPs declared their support for the Madani government citing the need for funding allocations for their respective constituencies. Bersih's execu...

The APEC summit, which has a membership of 21 countries, is ongoing in San Francisco. As a bloc, its members produce around 11.4 trillion US Dollars in exports. Calvin Cheng, Senior Analyst in the Economics, Trade and Regional Integration division at ISIS tells us what the benefits of joining this bloc especially from the Malaysian perspective. Image credit: Bernama See omnystudio.com/listener for...

The Indonesian embassy has reported that approximately 90% of complaints received are related to domestic helpers. To raise the standard of protection, the maximum recruitment cost for a new Indonesian domestic worker is RM15,000, and applications can only be done via Sistem Maid Online (SMO) and Sipermit owned by the Indonesian Embassy. We check in with His Excellency Datuk Hermono, Ambassador of...

The Economy Ministry is in discussions with banks and financial institutions to develop an energy transition financing mechanism for companies to participate in green projects. We ask Cedric Rimaud, Independent Sustainable Finance Consultant the difference between that and green financing and what have been the recent challenges in this space. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/list...

With the increased scrutiny on the constitutional validity of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, New Sin Yew, Constitutional and Human Rights Lawyer tells us to what extent are legal arguments based on the Constitution, considered absolute, and is it valid to consider this bill as unconstitutional. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

We dissect the second meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum after a rocky year of tensions between the two superpowers. We speak to Dr Pradeep Taneja, senior lecturer in Asian studies from the University of Melbourne on the outcome of this high-level meeting. Image credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.c...

Sirul Azhar Umar has been freed from detention in Australia. Convicted for the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, can he be extradited since the mandatory death penalty has been abolished? However, the death sentence can still be meted out, subject to the court's discretion. We ask Edmund Bon, lawyer from Amer Bon Advocates for his insights on the matter. Image credit: Shutterstock.co...

Malaysia will reach the status of a “super-aged nation” by 2056 as more than 20% of the population will be above the age of 65. Yet, EPF has highlighted that 45% of Malaysians do not have 100 thousand ringgit in savings upon retirement. Munirah Khairuddin, Country Head and CEO of Principal Malaysia tells us what are some the possible solutions to this structural issue. See omnystudio.com/listener...

With reports circulating that Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is considering an early state election, we ask Dr Oh Ei Sun, Principal Adviser at Pacific Research Center of Malaysia and Senior Fellow at Singapore Institute of International Affairs on what is the cause of the ground swell that is urging him to call for an early election. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com...

San Francisco will host the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, starting today till November 17th. This economic summit will also bring both US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping for their 2nd face-to-face meeting. We discuss the expectations of APEC 2023 with Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore. Image credit: EPA-EFE...

Langkawi has been receiving negative publicity of late ranging from tourists being stopped for allegedly dressing inappropriately, reports on a ban on alcohol and overpriced food. The island is also not easy to get to, especially for foreign tourists, with few international inbound flights and limited passenger ferry services. Shaharuddin Saaid, Executive Director of the Malaysian Association of H...

With the Meteorological Department warning of heavy rains till March 2024, how prepared is Malaysia this time to avoid the disaster of the 2021 floods. Amran Mahzan, Executive Director of MATCH Foundation gives us that answer and how we can also contribute. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The China's Singles' Day extravaganza concluded over the weekend after weeks of promotions across the country. Seen as the world’s most significant shopping event, 11/11 saw e-commerce leaders like Alibaba Group and JD.com reporting improvements in gross merchandise value and order amounts, but they declined to reveal actual numbers. Catherine Lim, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence shares...

In the last few weeks, four Bersatu MPs have switched loyalties and pledged their support to Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the unity government. We ask Dr Azmi Hassan, Senior Fellow from Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research as to whether this is the start of more defections, what does this mean for Bersatu and even PN. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

With Malaysia aiming to achieve a national recycling rate of 40% by 2025, the government already has several initiatives in place and is in the process of drafting a blueprint for solid waste management, with sights set towards a circular economy. We speak to Khor Sue Yee, co-founder and director of non-profit organisation, Zero Waste Malaysia as she shares her thoughts on the country’s sustainabi...

The world’s second largest economy has been showing mixed signs of recovery since its easing of pandemic restrictions in January. But it did not dampen the wanderlust in the Chinese as travel data during Golden Week has been better than 2019 figures while players like MGM Resorts has displayed strong recovery in China. Angela Han Lee shares with us what will drive continuous demand and which liste...

Putrajaya has again floated merging the Malaysian Aviation Commission, which oversees economic and consumer issues, with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, which is responsible for technical issues such as safety, maintenance and security. Khair Mirza, CEO of Integral Capital Pte Ltd breaks down how this move might improve the civil aviation sector, in light of the collapse of MY Airlines a...

Early this year, the government announced that the constitution would be amended to provide equal rights to Malaysian mothers to confer citizenship to children born abroad on par with Malaysian fathers. While the proposal has garnered support from the Malaysian public, controversy arises from the government’s plans to couple this with other amendments that some argue risk perpetuating statele...

McKinsey’s Global Insurance Report 2023 has revealed that Asia's insurance industry is at an inflection point, with the life and Property & Casualty sectors facing slowing growth and profitability concerns, among others. Bernhard Kotanko, senior partner at McKinsey & Co talks about the nuances of the report and what it means to the industry. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.co...

Deputy Finance Minister Dato' Sri Ahmad Maslan informed Parliament this week that the government was close to paying off the debts owed by 1MDB, with the remaining obligations of RM5 billion due to be paid in 2039. We go through the accounting with business writer P. Gunasegaram and also discuss the unanswered questions emanating from the long-running scandal. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See om...

The government has said it is not pursuing a transboundary haze bill, although it left the door open for the proposal in the future. We get reactions from Khor Yu Leng of Segi Enam Advisors and discuss available options for recourse to address the perennial haze. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Indonesian economy took a hit in the third quarter of 2023, with GDP growth slowing to 4.9%, the first time in seven quarters that the pace fell below 5%. We discuss the headwinds impacting ASEAN’s largest economy and whether there are bright spots on the horizon with Radhika Rao, Senior Economist at DBS Bank. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has been urged to establish a Charities Commission in response to growing calls for increased transparency and accountability in managing charity funds. What would be the mandate and composition of the commission? We discuss the proposal with Datin Wong Poai Hong, Executive Director, Childline Foundation. Image credit: Bernama See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the big achievements of last year’s COP27 was the agreement to set up a loss and damage fund that would channel money to the most vulnerable countries affected by the consequences of climate change. But ironing out the mechanism of the fund has bedevilled negotiators over the past year - will a blueprint that was passed in Abu Dhabi this last weekend pass muster when it is presented during...