Morning Brief

As Western economies move to "de-risk" from China amid geopolitical tensions with the US, how might this impact the world's second largest economy? We speak to Gary Ng of Natixis about the headwinds for China growth and the options Beijing has on the table to engineer a turnaround.  Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the dissolution of all 6 state assemblies this week, we focus on Terengganu, dubbed as the ultimate swing state, after being run by both PAS and Barisan Nasional in the past 3 decades. Incumbent PAS Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar appears to have the upperhand and is expected to win the majority of the 32 seats available. We’ll speak with Amir Fareed, Director of Strategy, KRA...

The Wagner Group, led by Prigozhin, marched towards the gates of Moscow, before making a U-Turn after Belarussian leader Lukashenko brokered a peace deal. But what will happen to the 50 thousand Wagner force? How have these events damaged Putin's reputation and his grip on power? And what does it do for the morale of the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine? We speak with Dr Malcolm Davis, Senior An...

Medical groups have lambasted the Ministry of Health over a statement regarding on-call allowances for public sector doctors. We discuss the root cause of doctors’ dissatisfaction and other pain points for the medical workforce with Dr. Timothy Cheng of the Malaysian Medical Association. Image by: 123rf.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Asia Pacific real estate sector is facing headwinds as declining property sales and record high office space vacancies in Hong Kong and China are expected to persist until at least the end of the year. We get analysis from Patrick Wong, Head of Bloomberg Intelligence Hong Kong on how global uncertainties will affect the region, and also on the outlook for the real estate market for the rest of...

Following the amendment to the Federal Constitution to allow Malaysian mothers to confer automatic citizenship on children born overseas, equal to Malaysian fathers, we speak to Suri Kempe, President of Family Frontiers for more details over proposed amendments that could exacerbate child statelessness Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Muda has decided to go solo at the upcoming state elections, putting an end to their relationship after being shunned by Pakatan Harapan. We speak to Syed Saddiq to find out why and how they will differentiate themselves from the main coalitions. Can they learn anything from the Pejuang defeat in the last elections and even win any seats, or will they just split the PH vote? Image by: Shutterstock...

There has been a changing of the guard in the Royal Malaysian Police, after the IGP Tan Sri Acryl Sani stepped down last Thursday. What do we know about his successor, Tan Sri Razarudin Hussain? We discuss the new leadership of the police force and recommendations for reform with Dato’ Sri M. Ramachelvam, President of the National Human Rights Society, better known as HAKAM Image by: fotoBERNAMA S...

President Vladimir Putin appeared to be in a precarious position after the the Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin staged an insurrection towards Moscow. The Wagner Group with close to 50 thousand troops is credited with the capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, and is considered one of Russia's most effective military units. We try to piece together what happened over the weekend and what...

The world reopened after the pandemic to hopeful economic recovery, but 2023 has seen countries grappling with much uncertainty. Inflation persist despite hawkish monetary policies while China which was supposed to be the poster boy for economic recovery proved disappointing. We speak to Lavanya Venkateswaran, Economist at OCBC Bank for an update on what to expect for the rest of 2023. Image by: S...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was feted by the US government in his state visit to Washington D.C. this week, with an address to congress and a state dinner. What are the aims of both sides for this visit, and is the US-India relationship a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”? - the common enemy here being China. We discuss US-India ties with political scientist Dr. Pradeep Taneja o...

Our Prime Minister has said that interns should be paid enough to cover their basic needs but did not go so far as to make it mandatory. We speak to Arulkumar Singaraveloo, Co-Founder & CEO, Malaysia HR Forum to find out what is the right balance? Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Malaysia losing out to regional peers when it comes to international concerts? This discussion comes as major acts like Coldplay and Taylor Swift announce multiple concert dates in Singapore, but shunning Malaysia. Is it all a question of money or is there more to it? Rizal Kamal, President of the industry association A-LIFE, weighs in on what’s needed to create a vibrant entertainment ecosyste...

Japan is seeing a renewed boom as its stock market rises to near historical highs and even attracted Berkshire Hathaway’s largest bet outside of America to date, following Buffet’s trip in April. However inflation remains stubborn and the yen has been declining against major currencies. We speak to William Pesek, Columnist from Nikkei Asia, to understand what’s happening in Japan and what the outl...

The government has announced plans to introduce an omnibus bill by January 2024 to create a centralised data management system that would facilitate the implementation of targeted subsidies. We speak to lawyer Kenny Lam of RDS Law on how such a legislation could take shape and what this means for data privacy and protection. Image Credit: 123rf.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

ChatGPT, Bard, ERNIE-Bot: these are some of the generative A.I. chatbots that have been rolled out by the major tech companies. How is this technology shaping the investment landscape of the sector? We get analysis from Mandeep Singh of Bloomberg Intelligence Image by: 123rf.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister announced yesterday a reduction in stamp duty for shares traded in Bursa Malaysia, along with some initiatives to boost the local capital markets. We speak to Pankaj C. Kumar, business writer on the reforms and what needs to be done to make Malaysian investments more attractive, and also turning the ringgit around. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

The US State Department issues an annual report on global trafficking in persons, and this year Malaysia has been elevated from the bottom rank, Tier 3 to Tier 2 Watchlist. What does this say about government efforts to eradicate human trafficking? We get reactions and policy recommendations from Adrian Pereira of the North-South Initiative. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

The latest economic indicators for May signal that China’s economic recovery is stalling, leading to many major banks downgrading their growth outlook for the world’s second largest economy. We speak to Prof. Tan Kong Yam of the Nanyang Technological University for insights into what’s holding back the animal spirits of China’s economy. Prof. Tan is a speaker at the Invest ASEAN 2023 conference or...

Khazanah is under scrutiny for its investment decisions over Kidzania Singapore, after news reports revealed it had made losses of up to RM160 million. We review Khazanah's investment track record with independent business writer P. Gunasegaram and whether the sovereign wealth fund is living up to its development mandate for the country. Image by: Unsplash See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

The Health White Paper was passed in parliament on 15 June, detailing the current state of our healthcare system, the gaps, issues and constraints plaguing the sector. The paper outlined reform strategies and proposals for the next 15 years but lacks details and data. Unpacking the details or lack thereof, we speak with Dr Farhan Rusli, Public Health Medicine Specialist at International Islamic Un...

Countries in the ASEAN region have been seeing a change of pace on their tightening cycles this year. So amid a challenging macroeconomic backdrop as well as volatility in the global banking markets, Rena Kwok of Bloomberg Intelligence shares with us whether banks are seeing deterioration in asset quality and the credit outlook for the rest of the year. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.c...

EPF launched the Belanjawanku Expenditure Guide, which provides estimations of minimum monthly expenditures. So should we stop talking about minimum subsistence wage and move the narrative to Living Wage? We speak with Director of Social Wellbeing Research Centre of Universiti Malaya (SWRC) Professor Datuk Dr Norma Mansor to understand the research, the issues, and the objectives of the whole Bela...

In early June, the US Securities & Exchange Commission filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, the world's 2 largest crypto exchanges, causing more volatility in an industry that is already accustomed to it. Juan Correa Ossa, Associate Vice President at BCA Research helps us understand if cryptos are a security like a stock, a commodity or neither, and are they a viable investment option?...

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, or Suhakam, is getting a boost as the government motioned to amend the Suhakam Act to give the commission more power. But over its 23 year history, the Suhakam annual report has only been tabled to Parliament twice. We get former commissioner of Suhakam, Jerald Joseph, views on making Suhakam more independent and how past annual reports have been altered an...