Morning Brief

Singaporeans on 1 September will elect their 9th President. There are 3 candidates to choose from, with Former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam touted as the front-runner in the race. But with the People Action Party’s clean image taking a hit from recent scandals, will this have any bearing on voters' decisions? We speak with Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor, Department of Political Scienc...

We take a look at Bersatu’s performance in the state elections. It managed a win rate of 50% taking 40 seats across the 6 states, and performed better than PKR and UMNO. But when compared to PAS’ 83% win rate, perhaps there is still more work to be done for Bersatu. We speak with Dr Afif Bahardin of Bersatu, who narrowly won the Taman Medan in Selangor seat by a mere 30 votes. See omnystudio.com/l...

The US recorded its deadliest wildfire incident in over a century when the Hawaiian island of Maui was razed last week, killing at least 100 victims. What caused the Maui wildfires to be so deadly, and how must we adapt to an environment more prone to wildfires due to climate change? Bushfire scientist David Bowman discusses the policy actions needed to mitigate wildfire risks amid climate change....

PKR won 26 out of the 58 contested seats in the state elections with losses in Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan and even Penang while winning no seats in Terengganu. Wong Chen, MP of Subang and KEADILAN Central Leadership Council Member explains this outcome to us whilst telling us what will be the Unity Government's focus to win the hearts and minds of voters. Image Credit: Facebook/Wong Chen See omnyst...

Why did the High Court quash the four charges of abuse of power against former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin? Criminal lawyer Tiara Katrina Fuad unpacks the procedural rules at play and what might happen next in the trial. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

VinFast, a Vietnamese Electric Vehicle company has barely exported 3 thousand units to North America and has just started constructing a plant in North Carolina that won’t be ready until 2025. But on the day of its Nasdaq listing, it was valued at 85 billion US dollars, making it more valuable than US giants Ford and General Motors. We speak with Ken Foong, Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence to fin...

Mention sovereign funds and names like Norway’s Government Global Pension, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional come to mind. Starting next year, Sarawak’s Sovereign Wealth Future Fund will join the mix. We speak with Elsa Satkunasingam, Senior Business Development Advisor, Executive Education, of the Asia School of Business to understand the best practices that go into s...

The sun continues to shine on Japan, as it recorded an impressive 2nd quarter GDP growth of 6%, driven by surging exports. However, not all is well as the yen continues to fall and the domestic economy remains weak. We speak to Vishnu Varathan, Head of Economics & Strategy at Mizuho Bank for an economic outlook, and whether its central bank will intervene on the Yen. Image Credit: Shutterstock...

Gerakan, won 1 out of 36 seats it contested in at the recent state elections. Datuk Dr Dominic Lau, it's President reviews their performance and their role in the Perikatan Nasional despite being a multi-racial party. Image by: Dr. Dominic Lau Hoe Chai | Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Country Garden, one of the largest property developers in China, saw its shares plunge by more than 16 percent after it missed bond payments and warned of multibillion-dollar losses for the first half of the year. Louise Loo of Oxford Economics tells us what options are left for the builder to avoid collapse, and what this could mean for the broader Chinese economy. Image by: Shutterstock See omny...

On paper, DAP was one of the winners of the state elections, winning 46 of the 47 seat they contested in. But what strategy should they adopt for GE16 and what are the lesson learnt from these state polls as PN made significant inroads into Selangor whilst dominating Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. Liew Chin Tong, DAP secretary-general and Strategist tells us his views whilst weighing in on the lo...

The Minister of Education Fadhlina Sidek recently announced that the government is looking to make secondary education mandatory in a bid to curb school drop-outs. How would this policy be implemented? We speak to Shahnaz Al-Sadat, Chairperson of LeapEd Services for her views on how and when this should be rolled out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil has been on a 7-week winning streak which has surprised pundits as demand conditions are still soft with China facing deflation and global growth slowing. We go behind the headlines with Ho Pei Hwa, Regional Energy Analyst at DBS Bank for the reasons for this price appreciation and who will be the listed winners. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Saturday, all of MUDA’s 19 candidates suffered heavy defeats and lost their deposits. It appears the decision to part ways with the Pakatan Harapan coalition and go solo has backfired. With no signs that it can win any election as a stand-alone party, what can the party do from now till GE16? We’ll be speaking with MUDA’s President Syed Saddiq to share his thoughts and analysis. See omnystudi...

Penang has been a stronghold for Pakatan Harapan since 2008, with DAP holding the biggest share at 19 out of 40 seats in the state assembly. However, following the shake-up in DAP candidates and a recent high-profile exit from the party, can PH retain control of the state or could PN make inroads?  We speak to Dr Azmil Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia for his projections in Penang. Image by...

We take a close look at the battle for Malaysia’s richest and most developed state, as its outcome will be closely scrutinised by the local and international community. Dr James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania tells us if the tried and tested PH government can safely keep Selangor. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Negeri Sembilan is a unity government stronghold with all 36 seats held by UMNO and PH parties. But can the PH-BN coalition afford to be complacent as PN seeks to make inroads into the state? We speak with Dr Azmi Hassan, Senior Fellow, Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research to gauge the prospects of both coalitions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the role of a lead prosecutor in a criminal case? We discuss this and other procedural matters with criminal lawyer Sreekant Pillai in light of the change in the prosecution team in the Yayasan Akalbudi trial involving Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.  Image Credit: Shahjehan / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trio Singapore banks of DBS, OCBC and UOB have all concluded their second quarter earnings recently with record profit thanks to rate hikes. We speak to Sarah Jane Mahmud of Bloomberg Intelligence for her take on which bank is outpacing peers and whether growth prospects are sustainable amid weak global economic conditions. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Perikatan Nasional completed their launch of state election manifestos last Friday, the final coalition to do so midway through the campaign period. Can PN win voters with its manifesto promises and how confident are they of making inroads in states beyond the Green Belt of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah? We discuss this with PN Deputy Youth Chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal. Image Credit: Shutter...

With almost 3 million youth votes at stake in the state elections, political parties have been working hard to convince this cohort that their needs and demands will be addressed. Dr. Syaza Shukri, Associate Professor and Political Science Researcher from the International Islamic University Malaysia discusses how the youth experience could influence voting trends on August 12th. Image by: Shutter...

As part of BFM's debate series for the Selangor state elections, we feature all the candidates of N34, Bukit Gasing. In the hot seats were VKK Raja (Muda), Nallan Dhanabalan (PN) and Rajiv Rishyakaran (PH) as we uncover where they stand on the critical issues like development, environment and local council elections. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Early voting starts today in the state elections for approximately 97 thousand Malaysians, mainly those serving in Armed Forces and Police. The remaining 5 days of campaigning will see intensified efforts to entice voters to the ballot box - with ceramahs and tik tok platforms thrown in the mix. We speak with Thomas Fann, Chairperson, Bersih for his observations on the election campaign, why your...

Economy Minister, Rafizi Ramli launched Phase 1 of the National Energy Transition Roadmap, also known as NETR with 10 flagship catalyst initiatives. With 25 billion ringgit in total investments and 23,000 job opportunities in the pipeline, who are the beneficiaries? Anand Pathmakanthan, Regional Head of Research at Maybank Investment Bank will tell us. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/lis...

Perikatan Nasional has launched its manifesto with the theme of ‘Selangor Baharu Kita Bangkit’. With all coalition party manifestos announced, the battle to win over the 3.7 million Selangor voters intensifies. We speak with Datuk Dr. Marzuki Mohamad, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, International Islamic University Malaysia and former Principal Private Secretary to the 8th Pr...