General

With China reopening its borders fully, what are the implications to its economy and to Hong Kong? These are questions we pose to Carlos Casanova, Senior Economist, UBP. We also ask if the era of King Dollar is over.

Image credit: Shutterstock

There's no denying that Matilda, the 1996 film directed by Danny DeVito, is a classic in every sense of the word. So, in order to justify a remake, Netflix threw a lot of money at a lot of stellar performers and got them together to make Matilda the Musical. Emma Thompson is unrecognisable as Miss Trunchbill, and Alisha Weir seems like a(nother) perfect Matilda, but does the movie work as a whole? We'll find out in this episode. 

A tweet illustrating the differences between bad, good and great bosses, all measured by how well they encourage employees to take time off from work, has been circulating on Twitter. People discuss the importance of taking time off, and how companies can vet for their employees to do this more often. We get into it.

Image source: Brian A Jackson, Shutterstock

The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry plans to introduce a programme named 'Rezeki Suri', which will allow housewives to sell 11 basic necessities direct from the suppliers. What's needed to ensure this initiative succeeds and how helpful will it be in the long term? We explore.

Image source: Tatyana Blinova, Shutterstock

2022年可谓多事之秋，除了疫情持续燃烧，今年2月底还爆发了俄乌战争，随即是全球性通货膨胀，导致多国为了抑制通膨纷纷调高利率，使全球景气走向萧条。马六甲证券研究主管刘礼誉将在节目中回顾2022年马股表现，并展望2023年投资前景。

中国在不久前宣布解封，当地政府将于2023年1月8日起，将新冠疫情从“乙类甲管”，降级为“乙类乙管”，疫情的传染源还有密切接触者不再进行严格的隔离管理，同时原本使用的“新冠肺炎”词语也改称为“新冠感染”。然而，中国经历了3年的清零防疫措施，在还没有实施完全的配套下宣布解封，是否会引发新一波疫情？本期节目，让我们关注中国解封所引发的疫情错乱现象。

In our last Earth Matters show for 2022, we catch up with Wong Siew Lyn and Law Yao Hua, the co-founders of environmental journalism portal Macaranga, who share some of the big stories that they covered throughout the year, on macaranga.org. We cover five main topics including food security and climate change, the impacts of African swine fever in Malaysia, calls to modernise Penang’s pig farming business, the need for coral restoration (and coral awareness in general), and also the strange beast that is forest plantations in Peninsular Malaysia.

Image Credit: Shutterstock and Macaranga

「油棕」是马来西亚引以为傲的天然资源之一；然而，常年来的传统收割手法却让油棕园主利润、效率受限。于是，TenAsia 抓牢市场需求，足足花了六年时间，研发出了 PALMPRO 伸缩式石墨纤维采摘手柄。本期节目，就让我们听听一根轻盈又便携的杆子，究竟对棕油乃至其他种类的果实收割，起到了多大的作用！

Being the last Wednesday of the last month of the year, we have the legal property clinic and in this episode Philip speaks to Chris Tan from Chur Associates about what he expects to be on the property legislative agenda of this new government following the formation of the PH - BN unity government. Will the Residential Tenancy Act be finally passed? Will there be more schemes to create more affordable housing or perhaps will there be a repivot towards supporting rental programmes?

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

The expected Santa rally for US equities did not materialise for a second consecutive year due to largely fears of a possible hard landing. In comparison, China and HK equities appear to have performed better in 4Q driven by the slew of relaxation of Covid-19 policies. Where are markets heading in 2023 and when will it bottom? For answers we speak to Jack Kouzi, Director for Strategy, VFS Group.

Image credit: Shutterstock