Morning Brief

With Indonesia’s population expected to grow to 269 million by 2030, millennials will become an increasingly important segment of consumers. For more insight, we speak to Enrico Tanuwidjaja, Economist, UOB Indonesia, about Indonesian private consumption, millennial spending patterns, and what goes into IMHENRY.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Indonesia’s population expected to grow to 269 million by 2030, millennials will become an increasingly important segment of consumers. For more insight, we speak to Enrico Tanuwidjaja, Economist, UOB Indonesia, about Indonesian private consumption, millennial spending patterns, and what goes into IMHENRY.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Indonesia’s population expected to grow to 269 million by 2030, millennials will become an increasingly important segment of consumers. For more insight, we speak to Enrico Tanuwidjaja, Economist, UOB Indonesia, about Indonesian private consumption, millennial spending patterns, and what goes into IMHENRY.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

0:05 - The Selangor state government has decided to withhold necessary approvals for developers who do not meet its affordable housing quota. According to the state government, any developments approved by its local councils, are required to prioritise the construction of affordable units. The state government has said that the option has always been available, adding that this action is a ‘last resort’ as Selangor has fixed a ratio of between 15% and 40% of each development be made up of affordable housing 4:40 - Human Resource Minister Kula Segaran is for studying MTUC’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65, and introduce the monthly cost of living allowance of RM500 or more for private sector employees. Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq on the other hand has disagreed and insisted that priority should be on jobs for young people and promotion based on merit not ageSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

0:05 - The Selangor state government has decided to withhold necessary approvals for developers who do not meet its affordable housing quota. According to the state government, any developments approved by its local councils, are required to prioritise the construction of affordable units. The state government has said that the option has always been available, adding that this action is a ‘last resort’ as Selangor has fixed a ratio of between 15% and 40% of each development be made up of affordable housing 4:40 - Human Resource Minister Kula Segaran is for studying MTUC’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65, and introduce the monthly cost of living allowance of RM500 or more for private sector employees. Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq on the other hand has disagreed and insisted that priority should be on jobs for young people and promotion based on merit not ageSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RapidKL's announcement that mini buses will be brought back to address  last mile connectivity to transportation nodes like the MRT is good news. This will be minus the life endangerment of minibuses of old because it will be more pleasant apart from being more efficient.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2019 Hays Asia Returnee Report conducted by Hays Asia showed that Malaysians who have studied or worked overseas usually return home to be closer to their families.The report said the biggest challenge that most employers face in recruiting such candidates is a mismatch in expectations in terms of offer packages. This plays into a larger issue of the brain drain problem in Malaysia and has adverse effects on its pull to draw talent or build talent in the country.We speak to Dr. M. Niaz Asadullah, Professor of Economics, Universiti Malaya on his thoughts of what will prevent Malaysians from coming back to work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:05 - Nitish Bhojnagarwala , Vice President - Senior Credit Officer of Moodys tells us the latest trends with the emergence of new issuers and green sukuk whilst taking a deeper dive on whether Malaysia is at risk of losing its market share. 09:02 - Axiata-Telenor merger still on the cards but roadblocks exist over questions of national self-interest and human resource arise.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brazil shouldn't reject global efforts to help put out the fires in the Amazon. This is because Amazon rainfalls are essential to the local industry. Longer term efforts should focus on more efficient usage of already cleared land to avoid further clearance of the rain forests.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Coalition for the International Criminal Court  has been relaunched in a push to get Putrajaya to ratify the Rome Statute. We speak to Andrew Khoo, Human Rights Lawyer, for more on this as well as the effects of pulling out from these international treaties.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked the Queen to suspend Parliament. As the Queen has now granted that request, Parliament will now have less time to decide on what to do about Brexit— only two and a half weeks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to Erlin Salim, Director of Fitch Ratings, to understand why it revised the outlook on Genting Berhad  from stable to negative. Fitch tells us that with a more aggressive investment strategy, the risk is higher-than-expected leverage and weaker earnings performance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s calls for a hate speech amendment to be made to the Sedition Act, we speak to Kua Kia Soong, Adviser from SUARAM, about how one legislates against hate speech, as well as the problem of too-broad legislation here in Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:05 - The recent glitch in KL International Airport's Total Airport Management System is estimated to have cost millions of ringgit worth of delays. A six member task force has since been created, including members of MAVCOM and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, to investigate. 04:01 - PTPTN has set up incentives for employers to repay PTPTN loans of its employees - we speak to Mastura Mohd Khalid, the COO of PTPTN, for more insight.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:05 - Parti Amanah Negara or Amanah is due to hold its inaugural party polls this year. In the run up to its party polls, the Islamist party is counting on younger members to plot a different political discourse which focuses on a more progressive outlook. It holds the least number of seats (11) in the Dewan Rakyat compared to the other major parties. One leader, Saari Sungip, the Selangor Amanah Deputy Chief says that Amanah needs to focus on “fact-finding exercises” and look beyond “political rhetoric” to move forward. We speak to Amir Fareed, Director of Strategy, at KRA Group on his take of the Parti Amanah’s party polls and direction. 08:59 - Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed that the government is negotiating another issuance of Samurai bonds. The Japanese government was offering to finance this at a rate lower than 0.65 per cent for the previous issue in March which will be used to repay debt and build infrastructure.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The blame game has started for the Amazon fires and this overshadows the climate crisis the world is facing today including how to set growth policies for developing economies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:05 - The Group of Seven meetings are ongoing in Biarritz, France. Trade took center stage with President Trump tweeting confusing tariffs on China while having a meeting with UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson who has very few cards in his hands over a trade deal with the Halloween Brexit deadline fast approaching 05:19 - With the D23 convention over, the list of new movies that Disney will be releasing over the next few years has been announced. But more significantly, we discuss if Disney+ will be a major competitor against Netflix with their catalog of content as the war on streaming heats up with Hulu, Amazon Prime and Apple Streaming "in the picture" as well.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia has made assertions that it has nearly eradicated poverty with the nation's official poverty rate falling from 49% in 1970 to 0.4% in 2016. We speak to Philip Alston, United Nations Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, on why he disagrees with the poverty statistics, what the true statistics look like and what Malaysia can do to alleviate it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The media industry is in flux, with financial problems plaguing big names like Bernama and Utusan Malaysia. For more insight into what's causing the problems at these longstanding institutions, we speak to Gayathry S Venkiteswaran, Assistant Professor of Media and Communications at University of Notthingham Malaysia, about political interference in editorial, and journalist protection.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amid talk about a cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has said he may consider changing portfolios of certain cabinet members, but that the existing line-up would remain.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With China's second quarter GDP slowing to 6.2%, the slowest in 27 years, we speak to Dan Martin, Regional Credit Officer for Asia Pacific, Fitch Ratings to tell us the impact of any further slowdown on Asian banks and the broader economy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is making the rounds of the EU leaders, beginning with Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, to discuss Brexit. We speak to Simon Tormey, Professor of Politics, University of Sydney about Johnson's progress since coming into power, as well as what other options there could be aside from a no-deal Brexit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Cabinet has agreed in principle to allow motorcycle ride-hailing services.The Transport Ministry has been given a month to submit a report on the direction and mechanism for motorcycle ride-hailing services to the cabinet. Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the ministry needs to look at the overall aspects to make the service successful, including looking at the models implemented in other countries. Meanwhile, the central issue surrounding this proposal remains the issue of safety. We speak to Sean Goh, Malaysia Country Head for Grab to get an industry perspective on this matter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest on the Brexit front comes from Matt Gertken, Geopolitical Strategist at BCA Research, particularly in terms of whether the UK will suffer a No-Deal exit and if so, what the repercussions will be, whether from a trade or immigration standpoint.  He also discussed the EU’s economic prospects and how important Germany is to the bloc.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Utusan's future uncertain, we speak to Jahabar Sadiq, Editor at The Malaysian Insight for his views on the future of media players in the country and whether they can survive as more people switch from reading to videos or podcasts. He also chimes in on he future of his own media outlet and what are the challenges they face in the adex race.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara has just announced the further liberalisation of the foreign exchange administration (FEA) policy for better business flexibility and efficiency. For deeper insight, we speak to Winson Phoon, Head of Fixed Income Research with Maybank Kim Eng about the implications of these changes, as well as how they will affect our chances to avoid exclusion from the FTSE Russell's World Government Bond Index.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPF has launched an online portal which totally destroys sales fees from 3% to almost nothing when members’ savings are used to buy unit trust funds. This is good news but members would still have to work out what funds to buy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With depressed circulation, 7 years of losses and hefty debt, it doesn't look like Utusan will be saved by either their tycoon shareholder or UMNO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the announcement that Lynas Malaysia has been given a 6-month license renewal to operate in the country, some 500 demonstrators turned out in protests in Taman Gelora, Kuantan. We speak to  Tan Bun Teet, Chairman, Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas about some of the conditions surrounding Lynas's license renewal, and why there have been allegations that these conditions favour Lynas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With WeWork targeting to raise US3-4 billion in their IPO, we speak to Calum Battersby, Equity Market Analyst with the investment bank Berenberg for his views how we should value this unicorn and if it's a landlord masquerading as a technology company.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia’s second quarter GDP posted economic growth of 4.9 percent, beating average analyst expectations of 4.6%. Bank Negara governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said that all economic sectors have expanded and the strong growth was on the back of higher household spending and private investment. The central bank still maintains its 2019 GDP projection of 4.3 to 4.8 percent for the nation, despite slowing global growth. We speak to Donald Hanna, Chief Economist with CIMB Group for his analysis on what this says about Malaysia’s economySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

0.05 - The Edge Financial Daily reports that Khazanah Nasional has pumped another RM300 million into the airlines’ holding company, Malaysia Aviation Group to help with the operation of the business. Under MRP, Malaysia Airlines was to have broken even in 2018, and be profitable and listed in 2019. CEO, Izham Ismail blames the poor performance on crew shortage, competition, volatility in fuel prices and forex. 4.04 - According to sources cited by New Straits Times, the government has a proposal to take over of 15 highways for a total amount of 43 billion ringgit. Khazanah Nasional will set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called a highway trust and will buy the concessions on the government’s behalf. This may prove to be a better alternative to the Finance Ministry’s highway buyout.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng expects Malaysia’s second quarter economic growth to plateau at 4.5 percent, the same as in the first quarter. However, economists polled by Reuters are slightly more bullish in their expectations. The median forecast from the poll of 13 economists was for growth of 4.8% in April-June, with individual forecasts ranging from 4.3% to 5.0%. We speak to Julia Goh, Senior Economist at UOB Bank for a preview on Malaysia’s GDP.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore's political landscape has been predictable for the past 54 years but could a new entrant shake things up? We speak to Thum Ping Tjin, Managing Director at New Naratif, about his thoughts on the newly formed Progress Singapore Party and whether it stands a chance in challenging the People's  Action Party.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (LPTA) announced that the Pakatan Harapan Government has officially renewed Lynas' operating licence for six months but subject to three conditions.The decision came after a public statement after the Cabinet gave its nod for the Australian-based company to continue operating its plant in Pahang. LTPA said the above terms are also based on the recommendations made by the Lynas Advance Materials Plant Executive Review Committee on Operations in its November 2018 report.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Argentina's primary election upset over the weekend set off a shockwave in financial markets as incumbent president Mauricio Macri lost to populist rival, Alberto Fernández. We speak to Abhijit Surya, Analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, about the Argentinian economy, and whether South America's second largest economy may be on track for another default.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The media industry is seeing several major consolidations, and the latest is the tie-up between most-watched US broadcast network CBS and Paramount Pictures parent Viacom. To take a deeper dive into the merger and the wider media sector, we speak to Tony Gunnarsson, Principal Analyst at Ovum, about the future of streaming services, and competition in the sector.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With tensions continuing to run high over in Hong Kong, how is the island's economy faring? We speak to Eric Dong, an Hong Kong Equity Strategist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities,  for his thoughts on the sectors that have been most impacted, as well as whether Hong Kong's economy will be able to stage a recovery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stashaway Malaysia estimates that less than 5% of young investors are placing their money into the local stock market. We ask why and what can be done to increase to investments as data shows that most Malaysians spend all their EPF savings within 10 years of withdrawal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Morning Run crew sink their fangs into yet another government payments provider, this time unimaginatively named 'MyPay'. CEO Nick Liew talks up his company's services and defends its independence and track record.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hong Kong's international aiport is experiencing disruption for the second straight day as protesters continue to block outgoing gates in a dramatic si-in. So how will China respond to this?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government is in the midst of consulting with stakeholders, on a bill to establish the Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission, after tabling the bill last month. We speak to Datuk Seri M. Ramachelvam, Co-Chairperson of the Bar Council's IPCMC Task Force, about police pushback, the current version of the bill, and the government's engagement with stakeholders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:05 - With 46 E-wallet players in Malaysia, are we ready to go cashless soon? We ask this question and also if there are too many players in this space fighting for market share with traditional banks also trying to get a slice of this pie. 08:18 - Dream Edge has been announced as the anchor company for the third national car but is this a government funded initiative or not? We discuss this and also whether this relatively unknown company is right for the job or would resources be put to better use in other project.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump's pause in tariffying tendencies has cheered markets and will be good for the Christmas shopping season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hong Kong airport is once again up and running, after another round of protests caused it to grind almost to a standstill yesterday. The peaceful rally was the latest move to disrupt transportation by pro-democracy protesters, following weeks of violent clashes with police, as well as subway and airport disruptions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government will discontinue the hiring of foreign workers beginning this year until 2021 for service sub-sectors.This proposal was put forward by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and was agreed upon by the joint committee of the Home Ministry as well as Human Resources Ministry on foreign worker management. We speak to Dr. Mohd Yusof Saari, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economics and Management at Universiti Putra Malaysia to get some insights on this matter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With disruption being the name of the game and traditional companies being challenged especially on the digital front, we ask if Board of Directors needs to be changed, moving from regulatory, supervisory and strategic oversight to being more agile and challenging the norms. We speak to Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Professor at Tilburg University in The Netherlands for his views on this.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US-China Trade War looks as if it's here to stay. The Evening Edition's Lee Chwi Lynn speaks to Matt Goodman, Senior VP of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, about where the trade war will go from here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflight connectivity is the next great frontier for the aviation sector, particularly as more tourists are expected to take to the skies. For more insight, we speak to Chris Rogerson, Asia Pacific Vice President of Inmarsat Aviation, about what internet connectivity could mean for airlines, and consumers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.