Morning Brief

Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in a Miami Federal Court, after facing 37 charges including willful retention of national defence information. Is this enough to dent his Presidential campaign, where he faces off 9 other candidates including former allies Mike Pence and Ron De Santis? We speak with Dr Adrian Ang of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies on the road to the 2024 Republ...

The Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill which has been 13 years in the making is facing a critical juncture as it has now been referred to the Parliament Special Committee after its first reading instead of being debated and voted on. We speak to former Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin for this thoughts on this development and should the GEG be decoupled from the bill Image by: Sh...

Local Government Development minister Nga Kor Ming aspires to reach 100% home ownership. But with almost 600 sick and abandoned projects, Ministry of Local Government Development Deputy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir seeks to revitalise all these projects. We speak with Datuk N.K. Tong, President of REHDA, on his views of the projects and discussions to amend the HDA 118 Act. Image by: Shutte...

Last week, the Turkish lira fell to a record low after newly re-elected President Erdogan reshuffled his cabinet and appointed Mehmet Simsek as his finance minister. Does this mark a turning point for Turkiye's economic policy direction? We discuss the developments with Enver Erkan, chief economist at Dinamik Investments. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UMNO general assembly has just concluded. We check in with Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, Associate Director from Vriens & Partners on what were the key takeaways and is the party looking for a new direction Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After months of reinforcement from its western allies, Ukraine launched its counter offensive across a 1,000 kilometre front line. Will the summer offensive be successful or will it get bogged down by the floods caused by the collapse of Kakhovka dam? We speak with Dr Alexey Muraviev, Associate Professor of National Security and Strategic Studies, Curtin University to get the latest updates. Image...

Indonesian President Joko Widodo concludes a two-day visit to Malaysia, with six MOUs signed. We discuss the key takeaways from the visit and what kind of tone it sets for bilateral relations moving forward with Bunn Nagara, Honorary Research Fellow, Perak Academy Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh recently announced a proposal to introduce e-sports as part of co-curricular activities in school. Is this a good idea and what kind of policies can promote a healthy e-sports eco-system? We speak to Kenn Leandre of Kakuchopurei.com for his views Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Opec+ has committed to production cuts till 2024 but yet prices are still soft, we speak to Sean Lim Ooi Leong, Head of Regional Oil & Gas, RHB Investment Bank for the reasons why. We also delve into results of Petronas and their capex plans to know who stands to benefit from it. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil recently called out social media platform Telegram for not taking action on illicit activity on the platform. Does the MCMC have the authority and legal means to regulate digital platforms hosted overseas? We discuss the legal framework that applies and gaps in regulation with Intellectual Property and Information Technology Lawyer, Foong...

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has turned his sights on affordable homes, stating that the 30% quota imposed on developers is inadequate. We speak with Dr Suraya Ismail, Director of Research, Khazanah Research Institute, to find what defines a low cost home and what policies the Local Government Development Ministry could review to help affordable housing development. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystud...

CPO prices have declined by 18% on a year to date basis. This despite China's reopening story. We check in with Alvin Tai, Senior Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence as to when we can expect price recovery and the impact of EUDR on our planters. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Malaysian semiconductor industry is expecting slower growth for the second half of 2023 amid global headwinds and softer demand for consumer electronics. We speak with Dato Seri Wong Siew Hai, President of Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association (MSIA) on how business are navigating the situation, and how high demand for AI technologies will impact the local semiconductor industry. Im...

Malaysia’s politics is never boring with new parties mushrooming over the past few years. This week, former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has hinted that he may form his own political party, a sign he will be turning down the offer to join Perikatan Nasional. We speak with Dr Oh Ei Sun, Principal Adviser, Pacific Research Centre whether there are any secrets of success for new political partie...

The airline industry is booming, so much so that the International Air Transport Association or IATA recently upgraded its profit estimates for 2023, doubling from $USD4.7 billion projected in December to $USD9.8 billion this week. What accounts for the renewed optimism? We discuss aviation sector signals and trends with Shantanu Gangakhdekar of Frost & Sullivan. Image by: Shutterstock Se...

The annual Knight Frank Wealth Report showed that Malaysia is among the top 10 countries with the fastest-growing population of ultra-rich individuals, defined as having net wealth of at least 30 million US dollars. We discuss with Zouhair Mohd Rosli, Senior Researcher, DM Analytics whether this is a symptom of a widening wealth gap and the implications for policy. Image by: Shutterstock See omnys...

After the success of the first Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme, the Inland Revenue Board has launched the 2nd programme starting today. We speak to Sim Kwang Gek, Country Tax Leader at Deloitte Malaysia to find how this programme is an improvement and the IRB objectives for SVDP 2.0 to register new taxpayers and collections. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Defence ministers held forthright dialogues in Singapore’s Shangrila hotel over the weekend. Speeches and answers did not beat around the bush and were clearly directed at opposing parties. We speak with Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore on the no holds barred statements made, and how Asia Pacific can move forward. Image by: Shutte...

The Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli announced a shortened process of visa applications for expatriates with a new integrated system called Xpats Gateway, bringing 11 visa issuing government agencies under one roof. We speak with Daniel Bernbeck, Executive Director at the German Chamber of Commerce, and explore the details. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the focus, our round up of interesting stories you might have missed. Elon Musk's visit to China and who owns Penang are some of what we will be talking about later, including Malaysia’s richest.  Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Deloitte Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey revealed that 70 percent of Gen-Zs and 61 percent of millennials in Malaysia have experienced harassment or microaggressions at work. How does this impact the mental health of young employees and how does that in turn affect productivity? We discuss workplace mental health with psychologist Dr Anjhula Singh Bais Image by: Shutterstock See omnyst...

The US House has passed the debt ceiling bill. It now heads to the Senate before reaching President Biden’s desk. But does the bill tackle the hard questions facing the economy? We speak with Nancy Kimelman, Professor in Economics at Northeastern University on the political compromises made to get the deal through and what it means for the US moving forward. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.c...

A new report by the World Bank, made in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, highlighted that while some progress has been made, Malaysia has not met critical targets in the National Education Blueprint. We speak to Aija Rinkinen, Senior Education Specialist from the World Bank on the findings of the report and how early childhood care and education (ECCE) systems can be strengthened...

As six states in Peninsular Malaysia gear up for the state elections, what can be done to prevent hate speech and false information from spreading online? We discuss the findings of a recent study on GE15 social media trends for lessons learned with Watshlah Naidu of the Centre for Independent Journalism. Image by: VDB Photos / Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore Temasek Holding’s decided to cut the pay of the staff responsible for the failed 275 US million dollar investment in bankrupt FTX, in an unprecedented move for collective accountability and good governance. We speak with Elsa Satkunasingam from Asia School of Business, and what this could mean for Malaysia’s Government-Linked Investment Companies. Image by: Shutterstock See omnystudio.co...