Current Affairs

As protest movements sweep through the Middle East, few countries exemplify the opportunities and potential pitfalls of political change as well as Syria.

On March 15th, Syrians took to the streets in large numbers, demanding a more responsive and democratic government. After an initial promise of reform, the government of President Bashar al-Assad has cracked down on protestors with increasingly brutal force.

Melisa Idris speaks to Dr Patrick Seale, a leading British writer on the Middle East and author of several books on Syria and the Assad leaders on the situation in Syria and what the future looks like for the country.

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This week, Bahrain holds its national dialogue on reform demands made by pro-democracy protesters, who, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, took to the streets in February in protest of the current Sunni ruling coalition.

The government’s crackdown on protestors has resulted in an estimated 30 deaths, while its treatment of those arrested has come under fire by international human rights groups.

Kathleen Tan speaks to Michael Hudson, director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore on the uprising in Bahrain.

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Yemenis continue to protest  in the capital city, most recently accusing the government of plotting the takeover of extremists by the Southeast province of Abyan in a desperate attempt to keep President Ali Abdullah Salleh in power. 

Kathleen Tan speaks to Charles Schmitz, Professor of Geography at Towson University, and president of the American Institute of Yemeni Studies on the conflict.

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Four months after the uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi began, and three month after the first NATO air strikes, Melisa Idris gets an update on the situation and what the future holds for the country. She speaks to Shashank Joshi, Associate Fellow with the Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) in the UK.

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42 parties will be contesting in the July 3rd General Elections in Thailand, with opinion polls expecting a two horse race between Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's .Democrat party and Puea Thai, the main opposition party headed by Thaksin Shinawatra's sister, Yingluck.

Melisa Idris speaks to Dr Michael Montesano, a Thailand expert at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, for his views on the upcoming Thai elections.

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Former International Trade and Industry Minister and AirAsiaX Chairman Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz presents her views on the government's recent decision to introduce a gender diversity policy for at least 30 percent of listed-company boards and senior executives to be female.

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Malaysia has announced that it will implement a massive legalisation and amnesty exercise for the estimated 2 million illegal foreign workers in country. The programme, which is codenamed "6P", will focus on Registration, Legalisation, Amnesty, Supervision, Enforcement, and Deportation.

Melisa Idris discusses the potential effects of the labour amnesty exercise with Nilim Baruah, the Chief Technical Adviser for Migration, with the International Labor Organization in Bangkok.

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Food price volatility and food security were among the main concerns raised at the Group of 20 meeting in Paris this week, on the back of global food prices soaring to levels seen in the 2007-2008 food crisis earlier this year.  

BFM’s Kathleen Tan talks to Sumiter Singh Broca, policy officer at Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific, on the issue of rising food prices and its implications on the region.

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The proposed reforms to the Basel Accord are expected to have a significant impact on banks in the Asia-Pacific, according to a survey conducted by KPMG and Oracle in September 2010. Areas of concern include high compliance costs, reduction in the bank's competitiveness and higher cost of capital, which may become more difficult to access.

Melisa Idris discussed the potential impact of the proposed reforms on banking models with Eckart Koerner and Anita Menon, with the Financial Risk Management Services Advisory at KPMG Malaysia.

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Thomas Hogue, Asia news editor of energy and metals data and pricing provider Platts, discusses:

- His views generally on shale oil in the context of complexity and costs;
- Whether he finds (Petronas’ Canadian shale gas investment) an expensive endeavour and whether Malaysia is punching above its weight;
- What expertise Petronas needs to find, to productively explore for shale;
- His views on Petronas cutting back on foreign ventures and instead banking on marginal oil fields in Malaysia;
- Divided global opinion on 'peak oil';
- Expectations for Petronas' output gap of 32 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030;
- The future of nuclear in the context of Malaysia and Indonesia;
- How long a horizon countries will need before meaningfully switching to alternative energy sources.

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