Evening Edition

Details on the pilot project for bike hailing services, an update on the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, and the revelation that thousands of Malaysians have fled to other countries to seek aslyum were part of today's Dewan Rakyat round up.

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The UK arm of the baby goods retailer has just announced that it is going into administration, having failed to adapt to changes that technology has brought to the retail landscape.

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Reports have surfaced stating that Jho Low obtained a Cypriot passport back in 2015. We discuss what this means for the Malaysian government's attempt at bringing him back to the country.

After the publication of this podcast, BFM received the following note from Alina Morais, Head of Public Relations (South-East Asia) of Henley and Partners. 

"While we are aware of the numerous misleading articles that have mentioned Henley & Partners in connection to Jho Low, we would like to state that Henley & Partners was not approached to provide comment on the story by any media organisation in advance. We have not therefore had the opportunity to engage with the articles or the “evidence” presented, which has been taken entirely out of context to fit a narrative that does not represent an objective assessment of the situation.

Contrary to what has been stated in multiple articles, Mr Low has never been a citizenship client of Henley & Partners. Whilst he approached Henley & Partners’ in 2015, the firm declined to accept Mr. Low as a client. It is therefore false to state that “Henley & Partners helped Jho Low acquire Cypriot citizenship.

Over the past twenty years, Henley & Partners has invested significant time and capital in creating a corporate structure that is wedded to best practice governance and the highest levels of due diligence, even before passing a client over to the consideration of a sovereign state. It is also important to note in the context of the apparent acquisition of Cyprus citizenship by Mr Low as well as in all other cases, that it is the Government of Cyprus which is responsible for the processing and approval of applications for citizenship. Moreover, governments are in a position to annul any citizenships granted under their programmes if there has been any misrepresentation by applicants.

Secondly, we wish to make it very clear that Henley & Partners does not “own Cambridge Analytica”. We do not, and have never had, any formal working relationship with Cambridge Analytica or its parent company, Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL Group). We believe that the interaction between our firm and Cambridge Analytica/SCL has been consistently, and at times deliberately, misrepresented by certain parties. You can read our full statement on that here."

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Could kimbap potentially be a substitute for ketupat? We talk about specialized food and walking the fine line between erosion or evolution of culture.

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We look at analyst sentiments about Hong Kong's prospects in the long term and whether investors are still confident of its economy.

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We discuss whether our favourite childhood books have a profound impact on our worldview and psyche.

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Today's parliament highlights issues of the palm oil industry, the safety of Malaysian footballers and supporters as well as bauxite mining and export licences.

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The government will be launching the National Cleanliness Policy. We discuss our habits and attitudes, personal experiences and strategies to improve cleanliness in Malaysia.

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Is it helpful to have the feature, or will it ruin the integrity of the art of filmmakers?

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Ride-hailing services have helped make food ingredients cheaper in Indonesia, and this could affect inflation in the country.

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