Between a raging pandemic and a political crisis, it seems like there’s no good news to be found everywhere we look. “Doomscrolling”, the habit of continuously consuming bad news on social media, has been proven to impact mental health. But how do you stay in touch with what’s happening while staying relatively happy? Fortunately, there are a few ways to be in-the-know without sacrificing one’s sanity.

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Just last week, The Malaysian Shopping Malls Association (PPK) warned of more malls facing closure by year-end, amid the ongoing drought in business caused by the prolonged lockdown. But with some retail segments being allowed to reopen this week, does this offer mall operators and their retail tenants a lifeline? PKK President Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok gives us the details.

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Over the past few months, we’ve seen many different styles of communication coming from the Prime Minister’s Office, whether they be a live press conference, a recorded conference, and a multitude of Press Releases in the PDF format. We speak with Justin Then, Managing Director from Lumos Hill + Knowlton Strategies about the effectiveness of the communication of the outgoing administration and what we should be looking for with the incoming administration.

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Shifts on a government level, a common occurrence in the Malaysian political landscape, do not bode well for businesses in the country. Amidst the pandemic and continuous lockdowns, what businesses are yearning for now is a sense of consistency. We speak to Vernon Chua of InnergiaLabs, and Daniel Cerventus Lim from NextUpAsia about how the political instability affects business, their wishlist for the incoming government and how they think we can get the economy back on track.

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Whilst Prof. James Chin from the University of Tasmania joked that there’s a pre-requisite of being Male, Malay and Muslim to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia, just how much truth is there to this? Should we be electing our officials based on their personality, and what are the chances of Malaysia ever having a female leader?

We speak with Adib Zalkapli, Director at Bower Group Asia and Faridah Hameed, Political Communication & Leadership coach, to help us explore some of these burning questions.

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How does a political crisis impact the economy? Can policies be put in place to protect our nation’s financial health from future shifts at the top level? We speak to Professor Geoffrey Williams, economist at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST), about investor sentiment during a crisis, hiring fresh talent in parliament, and tabling the upcoming Budget.

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In our ongoing coverage following the resignation of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia, we caught up with Professor Rozhan Othman, Senior Partner at Human Capital Development to discuss how the civil service might be affected by the vacancy at the top, what happens until there’s an official handover, and the game-plan the incoming administration will need to have to get the government machinery working towards the nation’s economic recovery.

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Schools could consider alternating between physical and hybrid classes ahead of next month’s reopening to ensure continuity of the students’ education without compromising their health.

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs acting research director Wan Ya Shin said several factors should be taken into consideration before the government decides to reopen schools as the number of Covid-19 cases are still on the rise.

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With Klang Valley surpassing the 50% fully vaccinated rate, more business activities have been allowed to resume operations… with a few caveats.

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The Artisans HavenTM (TAH), a Malaysian e-commerce platform that seeks to provide a platform for talented Malaysian Artisans to showcase their handmade products and talents today launched #HandmadeisHeartmade Malaysia with a pledge of RM1 million in sales for its tenants in the next 12 months - supported by a transformed full- fledged e-commerce website interface and several major collaborations with corporates.

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