Morning Brief

The lockdown in Malaysia started on 18 March 2020 but what were the gaps in our healthcare system? Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO, Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy does a review with us whilst making recommendations for the future. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cryptocurrencies have garnered significant attention amidst the war in Ukraine. As Russia becomes more excluded in the global financial system, many have raised questions as to whether Russia will turn to cryptocurrencies to bypass the sanctions imposed. Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer of Singlife with Aviva and author of Singapore: The Fintech Nation tells us more. Image credit: Unsplash.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The final piece of connectivity in the Kuala Lumpur public transport system, or MRT3, has been recently resuscitated with limited information from the government. While waiting for more details to be shared by the government and the open tender in May, we ponder on what can be improved upon to ensure that the project is future-proofed. Chung Yi Fan, Independent Transport Policy Analyst shares his analysis on this. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government will once again allow Malaysians to withdraw up to 10,000 ringgit of their retirement savings from EPF, to help rebuild their lives after two years of virus restrictions. According to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri, the decision was a difficult one to make, as it involves citizens’ retirement funds. But what are the consequences of this? Pankaj C Kumar, Business Commentator gives us his views. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hong Kong is struggling to contain the omicron wave after being the poster child of handling the Covid crisis. Michael Frank, Senior Analyst of Public Policy at Economist Impact tells us what the situation is like on the ground and why things went so wrong. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia will be opening its borders to international travellers on April 1st. The move comes as relief to the ailing tourism sector, which has relied heavily on domestic tourism for the past two years since borders were shut in March 2020. We catch-up with Nigel Wong of MATTA on the outlook for travel and tourism in light of the reopening. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the disastrous Johor, Melaka, and Sarawak state elections, we ask Rafizi Ramli what he plans to do to transform the fortunes of PKR as he vies for the no. 2 post. Image credit: https://rafiziramli.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FBI agent, Eric Van Dorn testified in the US courts alleging that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho had stolen USD1.42 billion from bond transactions that Goldman Sachs arranged for 1MDB while former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also allegedly received USD756 million dollars from the same bond deal. P. Gunasegaram, Independent Writer and Consultant tells us if any of these revelations were new and why the ex- PM still has his fans. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We think of plastic pollution when we say ocean pollution, but a recent report by the Economist Impact titled “The Invisible Wave” also highlights the problem of chemical pollution to the marine environment. How much awareness of and action on ocean preservation is there in the Asia Pacific region? Charles Goddard, Editorial Director with Economist Impact tells us more. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the PM launching the GLC open day with much fanfare, Dr Nungsari A. Radhi provides his assessment on the clarity of the role of GLCs and GLICs in nation building and driving more investments into the country. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite winning 10 out of 14 seats, questions still arise as to whether DAP has lost the support of their traditional voter base and whether the PH coalition is weak. Syahredzan Johan, Political Secretary to Lim Kit Siang, DAP helps us answer these questions. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jill Shah from Bloomberg News gives us her take on how sanctions are impacting the ultra rich in Russia and how they intend to preserve their wealth as governments and members of society try to track them down and seize their assets. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our country’s international borders are reopening with relaxed restrictions come April 1st and will this be a boost for the tourism sector? Yap Lip Seng, CEO of Malaysian Hotels Association shares his views, and it may not be as straightforward as we think. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talks to save the Iran Nuclear Deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, and to bring Iran back into the deal’s compliance began in the beginning of 2021, but has been facing many obstacles. Just before the weekend, it was announced by the EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell that the talk in Vienna has been suspended due to external factors. Dr. James Dorsey, Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute of National University of Singapore helps us to understand what has taken place and if a deal will be eventually struck. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil prices increased more than 40% on a year to date basis and the Malaysian government's oil subsidies have skyrocketed to RM2bn just for the month of January alone. The government is studying a more targeted fuel and cooking oil subsidy mechanism. But will a targeted fuel and cooking oil subsidy mechanism effective in optimising our resources? Dr. Juita Mohamad, Director of Economics and Business and Acting Research Director of Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) shares her perspective with us. Image credit: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the omicron wave, will retail sales do better in 2022? What are the catalysts that we should keep an eye out for? Tan Hai Hsin, Managing Director at Retail Group Malaysia tells us his views. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parti Bangsa Malaysia, previously known as Sarawak Workers Party, went through a rebranding in October last year led by Julau MP Larry Sng. It's making its debut in the Johor State elections, contesting in 4 seats. Haniza Mohamed Talha, Johor state election director and deputy president of Parti Bangsa Malaysia tells us what the party stands for and its chances this election.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia was officially registered as a political party in 2008 but currently has no representatives in either Dewan Rakyat or any Dewan Undangan Negeri and will be contesting for one seat in Kota Iskandar state seat where we will see a five-cornered fight. How does PSM plan to champion through? R. Arangkannal, PSM's one and only candidate and contesting for Kota Iskandar seat tells us more. Image credit: Parti Sosialis MalaysiaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yoon Suk-Yeol, who is a member of the People Power Party and former prosecutor, has won the neck-to-neck Presidential race against ruling Democratic Party member and ex-mayor and lawyer Lee Jae-myung with a less than 1 percent margin. Jonathan Berkshire Miller, Senior Fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs tells us what to expect from his reign. Image credit: EPA-EFESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has made revisions to the negative list with only nightclubs to remain closed during this transition to endemicity, as nightclubs are thought to be at high risk for the transmission of Covid-19. But nightclubs have remained closed since the beginning of lockdowns in March 2020. How should nightclubs navigate through this? Jeremy Lim, Vice-President of Persatuan Pemilik Restoran dan Bistro tells us more. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warisan is contesting 6 seats in the Johor state elections on its own. Will this east Malaysian party make headway and what does the party stand for? YB Suhaimi Salleh, Johor Chief of Warisan, tells us. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was reported in the press, that the Government may be considering a U-turn over its proposed SWN (Single Wholesale Network) model. Alexander Wong, Managing Editor at SoyaCincau chimes in on which model will be better for Malaysian consumers and does a U-turn delay a rollout of 5G services in the country? Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PKR will be contesting in 20 seats in the upcoming election in Johor, which is the largest number of seats in the Pakatan Harapan coalition. But why the breakaway in logo usage and is cohesion really a matter of concern? We speak to Johor’s PKR Chairman, YB Syed Ibrahim to understand it all. Image credit: Facebook.com/Parti Keadilan RakyatSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the country segues to the endemic phase on 1st of April, There will only be one SOP but 9 guidelines. Dr Vinod Balasubramaniam, senior lecturer and co-lead at the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine & Health Sciences gives us his views on this important transition. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the start of the Ukraine war, President Vladimir Putin ratcheted tensions by threatening to use nuclear weapons. Should this threat be taken seriously, and how should the West be reaping? Pavel Povdig, Senior Researcher in the WMD Programme at UNIDIR, lets us into this opaque world of nuclear arms. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will Johoreans once again vote for DAP in the upcoming state elections? Or are the voters going to choose stability over change? Johor DAP Chief, Liew Chin Tong, tells us. Image credit: Twitter.com/DAP MalaysiaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pejuang is contesting 42 seats in the Johor state elections, with an ambitious target of securing more than 30 seats. Although headed by a political legend, can this minnow party make headway in a crowded race? Datuk Dr Shahruddin Md Salleh, Johor Chief of Pejuang tells us the party's campaign strategy. Image credit: EPA-EFESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia’s rental market has long been viewed as lacking proper regulation to safeguard both tenants and landlords.The absence of specific rules on rental tenancy means that contract law becomes the default means of settling disputes, but is a Residential Tenancy Act, the solution? Siva Shanker, CEO of Estate Agency, Rahim & Co gives us his view. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russia has become the world's most heavily sanctioned country following international response to its invasion of Ukraine. What has the impact been on the economy thus far, and what options do Russian authorities have to cushion the fall-out? We discuss this with economist Tatiana Orlova. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MCA will be looking to redeem the party in this Johor elections and they are contesting in 15 seats. One of their agenda is to lessen the economic burden of people in Johor but how will MCA carry this out and has it accurately judged the mood of the people? Dr. Pamela Yong, Deputy Secretary General of MCA, shares their strategies with us. Image Credit: Gwoeii/Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz, PAS candidate for Parit Yaani, shares with us PAS's strategy to wrest more seats from its current one seat as the Johor state election looms. Image credit: Harris Hamdan/Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we celebrate International Woman's day, we examine the effectiveness of policies In Malaysia to empower and elevate the role of women in society. Anis Farid, Research and Advocacy Officer at the Women's Aid Organisation, gives us a channel check on this. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) convening in Beijing, we ask Peiqian Liu, China Economist from NatWest Markets, whether China's GDP growth target of 5.5% for 2022 is too optimistic? Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anne Abraham, the Chairperson and Founder of LeadWomen, tells us about women representation in leadership roles and also about what needs to be done to encourage more women participation in top positions in the corporate world. Image credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The game changer for Johor elections will be UNDI18 and automatic voter registration which was gazetted last year. 700,000 new voters aged 18 will add to the electoral role but how will they vote and will they turn up? Ben Suffian, Programme Director at Merdeka Center, gives us his views. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Johor, the birthplace of UMNO, will see a very crowded field of candidates and political parties in the state elections. But is it to UMNO's advantage? Dato’ Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, Youth Chief of UMNO, tells us whilst giving us a clue of their campaign strategy. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There stakes are high for Perikatan Nasional and its anchor party Bersatu in the Johor state elections. With erstwhile allies Umno in competition for dominance of the state, can Bersatu put up a good showing? We speak to the Bersatu candidate for Larkin, Zulkifli Bujang, on his foray into politics and what Bersatu stands to offer to the constituents of Johor. Image Credit: EPA-EFESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The proposed amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act, also known as Act 342, ignited public backlash when it was first tabled in December over the disproportionate penalties for healthcare violations, among other changes. We speak to CodeBlue's Boo Su-Lyn on why penalizing the public for healthcare violations is ineffective, as well as the significance of the proposed Tobacco and Smoking Control bill which will introduce a generational smoking ban for those born after 2005. Image Credit: EPA-EFESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian economy rebounded strongly in the last quarter of 2021 with an expansion of 3.4% of GDP, but will the coming months turn cloudy for this lucky country with geopolitical risks from the Russia Ukraine crisis and severe floods affecting parts of Australia? Catherine Birch, Senior Economist of ANZ Research tells us more. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All eyes will be on political newcomer MUDA as they make their debut in the Johor state elections. MUDA is contesting 7 seats in the Johor state elections, including going head-to-head with PKR in Larkin. We check in with VP Zaidel Baharuddin on the progress of their campaign and expectations for the polls. Image Credit: Twitter.com/Syed SaddiqSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A survey conducted by business consultancy Forrester revealed that Malaysian businesses were losing momentum in digital transformation, despite the pandemic accelerating the shift to digitalization. How might this impact ambitions to become a high-income nation by 2030 built on the digital economy? We speak to principal analyst Achim Granzen on the findings of the survey and what policy areas should be emphasized to help businesses back on track. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Asian rivals India and China often find themselves on opposing ends of the geopolitical table, but they both abstained from voting at the United Nations on the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Political expert Dr. Pradeep Taneja contrasts the positions of the two countries. Image Credit: YashSD/Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPF CEO, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah has recommended that Malaysia implement a living wage as that would raise the EPF savings rate. But what would be the challenges of implementing this? Firdaos Rosli, Chief Economist at MARC Ratings tells us while weighing in on the decision by Bank Negara Malaysia to keep the OPR at 1.75%. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) declared a 6.1% dividend for conventional savings and 5.65% dividend for shariah savings for 2021 which was even better than pre-pandemic times. Pankaj C Kumar, Business Commentator tells us whether this figure was better expectations and what are the challenges to replicate this performance in the years ahead. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has set in motion seismic shifts in EU and German foreign policy, including the direct arming of weapons to countries in conflict. We discuss the reasons and implications of increasing militarization in Europe with Dr. Frederick Kliem of RSIS. Image Credit: EPA-EFESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 6th assessment report issued this week by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) gave a grim prognosis on the impact of global warming, warning that temperatures were rising faster than our capacity to adapt. We speak to Ahmad Afandi of ISIS Malaysia on the state of Malaysia's preparedness to mitigate and adapt to climate change risks. Image Credit: Frederick Hornung/Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the Federal Government set to table a landmark amendment bill to make gig workers formal employees, we speak to Edwin Goh, policy researcher at The Centre on how the amendments of the Employment Act 1955 will impact stakeholders and if it can safeguard the welfare of all workers. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Western countries have unleashed a series of heavy sanctions aimed at crippling Russia's financial sector in response to its assault on Ukraine. We discuss the impact this has had on Russia's overall economy and whether its linkages with China can provide a buffer with Swedish economist Anders Aslund. Aslund is a Senior Fellow at the Stockholm World Forum and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. Image Credit: Pixabay.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With over 25,000 people displaced from their homes in the east coast due to one of the worst floods in Kelantan and Terengganu, Dato’ Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus, President, MERCY Malaysia provides an assessment of the situation. Image Credit: Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Global and local volatility begs for more policy clarity, further adding impetus for Malaysian Parliamentary reform, not to mention much-needed legislation on anti-party hopping and gender equality. Aira Azhari, Manager, Democracy and Governance Unit at the think-tank IDEAS, discusses. Image Credit: Calvin Chan/Shutterstock.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.