Morning Brief

Thailand's General Elections were held on May 14th and more than 2 months later, the kingdom still has no prime minister. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward party which won the most seats, has lost his final bid after lawmakers blocked a second vote on whether he should be PM. Dr Greg Raymond, Senior Lecturer, Australia National University talks about what happens next for Thailand as c...

With just under a month before voters in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu head to the polls to elect their representatives for the next 5 years, political parties are positioning themselves for battle. Eyes are on how a Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional partnership might fare, whether or not Perikatan Nasional might make further in-roads post-GE15 and if MUDA's gamb...

Singapore's 5th ranking in Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 is being tested after its Transport Minister S Iswaran was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. This probe also involved hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng. Additionally, two MPs have resigned resulting in a total of 5 constituencies without a people's representative. James Gomez, Regional Director,...

Deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh has called for amendments to redefine a “mentally incapacitated” individual under the The Mental Health Act 2001. Dr Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam, Psychiatrist at the Hospital Miri Malaysia weighs in on this suggested amendments and if there should be any other changes. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

The US economy has been resilient despite the record hikes in the Fed Fund rate. In the meantime China’s anticipating economic boom post the lifting of covid restrictions have not materialised. What then is the impact on Asia’s economies? Is the street still optimistic? Alex Holmes, Senior Economist At Oxford Economics weighs in on this Image by: Megan_Rexazin | Pixabay See omnystudio.com/listener...

The EPF has proposed a slew of reforms for its retirement scheme, including mandatory monthly withdrawals and a new Account 3 designed to strengthen income security. Alvin Tan, President of the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia breaks down the rationale for these proposals and whether it will have the intended effect.  Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

The latest economic data coming out of China has further fueled concerns about the health of the world’s second largest economy. Exports sank by 12.4%, while imports tumbled 6.8%, worse than anticipated by economists. We get analysis from Bernard Aw of Coface on what options Beijing has to prop up the economy. Image Credit: humphery / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

The government is stepping up its fight against rent-seeking activities, or “Alibaba” culture, which is estimated to cost Malaysia losses amounting to 1% of GDP to corruption. We speak to economist Dr. Carmelo Ferlito, on the kinds of reforms needed to eliminate such activities in the country. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The two-day NATO Summit in Vilnius concluded yesterday, with mixed outcomes. Sweden will officially join the group after Turkey dropped its objections; but Ukraine’s membership path is far from certain, much to Kyiv’s chagrin. We discuss the key takeaways from the security summit with Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

As we head into the second half of 2023, how are ASEAN economies faring? We check in with Chua Hak Bin of Maybank Investment Banking Group to find out the GDP prospects of the region and the pre-pandemic realities that ASEAN economies face. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has given a three-month timeline for the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA) to effectively address the drug abuse problem affecting almost a million Malaysians. We speak with Professor Dr. Vicknasingam Kasinather, Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia to gets his insights on how NADA, the Police and Mi...

In 2019 the Undi18 amendment was passed by parliament, and it was widely expected the young would vote for more progressive and reform minded parties. However, in last year's election, their vote was fairly split between PH and PN for the 18 to 40 age segment, dispelling the homogeneity of the youth. We’ll speak with Shahril Hamdan, former UMNO Information Chief and UMNO Youth Vice Chief, on how t...

Thailand’s inflation rate has dropped dramatically to its lowest level down to 0.2% in June 2023, while the Thai baht has proven resilient against a year of US dollar strengthening compared to other regional currencies. We speak to Daniel Moss, Columnist for Bloomberg Opinion to understand the reasons behind this, and also how the Thai economy will respond to a new government and global headwinds....

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visit to China seeks to mend strained ties with Beijing, with both nations engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war. Is the world big enough for these 2 superpowers? Will they share the spoils, or choose a winner-take-all strategy? We speak to Richard McGregor, senior fellow at the Lowy Institute to find out more on Yellen’s visit and will this set up a meeting between...

According to the latest data on global economies compiled by the World Bank, Malaysia remains an upper middle-income country; however Sarawak has joined the ranks of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Penang as members of the high-income economy club. We discuss what the data actually reveals with Distinguished Professor of Economics Dr. Rajah Rasiah of Universiti Malaya. Image by: KYTan / Shutterstock.com...

Negeri Sembilan is a unity government strong hold with all 36 seats held by BN and PH. On paper, it looks like it will be another clean sweep in the upcoming state elections but the poster boy for the Chief Minister has not been agreed upon. So will PN split the Malay vote and win a few seats themselves? We speak with Dr Azmi Hassan, Senior Fellow, Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research chimes to...

Fahizah Shamsuddin, Programme Director and Senior Lecturer, School of Media & Communication, Taylor's University Descriptor: On Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg launched a new platform, Threads, that is meant to rival Elon Musk's beleaguered Twitter. Will this result in a mass exodus from the blue bird app? Questions we pose to Fahizah Shamsuddin, Senior Lecturer at School of Media & Communicatio...

The 6 state elections will finally go to the polls on Saturday 12 August, 38 weeks after GE-15. 9.8 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots, including the 600 thousand first time voters from UNDI 18. But with political fatigue and apathy setting in, will we get a 70% voter turnout or will voters just avoid making the long trek home? We speak with Thomas Fann, Chairperson, Bersih to get h...

On Monday,  Israel unleashed one of its largest military operations in the Palestinian city of Jenin, withdrawing their forces yesterday. This two-day operation has killed at least 12 Palestinians, injured approximately 100 others and caused widespread destruction. We speak to Dr James Dorsey of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies on the implications of this latest escalation of...

3 NGOs have filed for a judicial review at the High Court to challenge the Health Minister and the Government on the decision to amend the Poison Act 1952. These amendments allow eCigarette and vapes to be sold to anyone without any legal consequences. So a child can now buy a vape as easily as a packet of nasi lemak. We speak with Sharmila Sekaran, Chairperson from Voice of The Children, on what...

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is visiting Beijing this week as the 2 superpowers continue to keep open communication channels through the tit-for-tat trade war and geopolitical tensions. This visit comes 3 weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden labelling Xi a dictator. We speak with Brock Silvers, CIO of Kaiyuan Capital, on what we ca...

Prime Minister Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim made a surprise visit to KLIA, for a first hand assessment of the credibility and integrity of the Immigration Department which has been recently criticised due to bribery allegations for foreign tourists to clear detention. We speak with Dr Muhammad Mohan, President, Transparency International Malaysia to get his views on the recent immigration incident and...

50 days after the May general election, the Thai Parliament convened this week and kicked off the process of forming a government. What are the key events to look forward to and can leading prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat see enough support for his premiership? We discuss expectations with Dr. Greg Raymond of ANU. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Three years after the killing of George Floyd by police officers in the US, France is facing a similar crisis after a 17-year-old boy was shot dead in a Paris traffic stop last week. The shooting sparked days of unrest, causing French President Emmanuel Macron to cancel a visit to Germany. We discuss the causes and consequences of the protests with Prof. Peter McPhee of Melbourne University. Image...

In the 2018 Penang state election, DAP, PKR and Amanah won 35 out of the 40 seats available. And in the run up to the state elections, Penang voters have been feted with news of project approvals, such as the Penang South Islands and the Tanjung Bungah Penang Airport LRT line. Will Penang remain a safe state for PH, or will PN spring a few surprises? We will speak with Dr Azmil Tayeb, Political Sc...