General

With vaccination rates perhaps not rising fast enough and overloaded frontliners and ICUs, the President of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, Dato N Subramaniam, says that hotels in Malaysia are ready to act as low-risk COVID-19 quarantine and treatment centres.

Being in the fashion design industry for over 30 years and the Chairman for The National Art Gallery, Dato Tom Abang Saufi, speaks on her journey in incorporating traditional elements with the contemporary in her clothing line, her aspiration for arts in Malaysia and her appointment as the Chairman of The National Art Gallery.

In line with World Environment Day, we’re speaking to Sustainable Superheroes: causes or companies dedicated to upholding and promoting sustainable practices. In this episode, co-founder of Ocean Hero Conservation, Shirene Moong, discusses the importance of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 - Life Below Water; why she’s dedicated to educating the masses (especially the younger generations) about plastic pollution in oceans; and how the pandemic has not only had an effect on the operations of her campaigns, but also the impact of ocean-based plastic waste.

Brought to you by Volvo Cars; Redefining freedom to move in a personal, sustainable, and safe way.

With a lockdown in place, we speak to Loong Chee Wei, Senior Associate Director at Affin Hwang Capital, on the possible impact to the construction and property sector, as well as his top picks for both sectors.

The Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council issued a statement yesterday saying the RM5 billion direct fiscal injection under the Pemerkasa+ aid package is inadequate. They proposed instead a RM45 billion aid package to soften the impact of a total lockdown- so we speak to Subang MP Wong Chen, about what that plan would look like.

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About 1,000 private hospitals and GPs are expected to help the government administer the Covid-19 vaccine. This number could increase further as there are 8,000 GPs. Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh, President of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) discusses their involvement while the biggest challenge remains in securing enough vaccine supply.

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Dr Jon Danielsson from LSE's Systemic Risk Centre helps us understand how financial markets have been resilient during the pandemic and highlights the challenges of applying old remedies from previous financial crisis to the current situation we are in at the moment.

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With the imposition of a total lockdown for two weeks nationwide, how will members of the B40 community survive the loss of income and economic vulnerability that will result? Enter the Pemerkasa+ aid package, which is the government's attempt to ease the impact of the lockdown on the B40 group- but how effective is it? We speak to Dr. Juita Mohamad, Fellow from Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia to find out.

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China recently decided to allow families to have three children. Xing Zhaopeng, Senior China Strategist at ANZ Research discusses the challenges, possible measures, and implications if China fails to raise birth rates.

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The OECD has upgraded its global economic GDP forecast from 5.6% to 5.8% in 2021, we ask Bernard Aw, Asia-Pacific Economist at Coface, whether this is achievable. We also get his views on China's economic recovery as stimulus tapers off and also China’s finance ministry possible proposal to transfer its shares in Huarong Asset Management to a new holding company.