General

Was Malaysia snubbed when it wasn't invited to the US-organised Leaders Summit on Climate, which will be hosted by US President Joe Biden? The event will feature world leaders from 40 countries, and a statement from the White House said that invitees included the “heads of other countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, are especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy”. Does Malaysia not fit the bill? We speak to Meenakshi Raman, the president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, and the Head of Programmes at the Third World Network, about whether this lack of inclusion warrants attention, while also discussing Sahabat Alam’s ongoing work on climate change, how these organisations are battling climate inaction, and the deception of carbon markets and “net zero” pledges.

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Over the weekend, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, or better known as DBKL, announced that NGOs and individuals are prohibited from directly distributing food to the homeless community in the city centre during Ramadan. We look at why such a ban was needed in the first place, as well as how this will affect the homeless community and the work of soup kitchens in KL.

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Many technological and digital advances were fast-forwarded by COVID-19, with stores going online and new social media pages and websites popping up all over the place. In a hopeful twist for the hospitality industry, Marriott is charging ahead with brand new, shiny, contactless kiosks that eliminate the need for face-to-face check-ins or snack purchases.

The personal data of 1.3 million Clubhouse users has leaked online on a popular hacker forum, according to a recent report from Cyber News.

Online fitness classes were first thought to be a temporary placeholder at the beginning of the pandemic, but now they seem to be here to stay. However, are online fitness classes worth the same fees as in-real-life classes, or is that something that the fitness industry has to adjust?

A huge part of growing, learning, and improving is taking obstacles in your life and using them as stepping stones to achieve success.  Jonathan George, CEO of JG Entertainment, is also known as the “human hitmaker” for his achievements in consulting and brand development for musical talent; he speaks on his experience in supporting talents in the entertainment industry, his worldview of how your flaws can be your strengths, and how people can build confidence.

Used around the world to combat indirect contact transmission of viruses via infected surfaces, MagiCopper has seen a major spike in demand for its antimicrobial nano-copper technology film during this pandemic. We speak to the exclusive distributors of MagiCopper products in Malaysia, U1Jana Trading about battling scepticism about their offerings, and the impact their hero product has had on the hospitality, F&B and education sectors.

The global Covid-19 vaccine roll-out is providing yet another arena in which geopolitics is playing out. Countries like India and China have jumped at the opportunity to leverage vaccine diplomacy, while the richer countries are preoccupied with supply concerns resulting in vaccine nationalism. Dr. Lindsay Newman of IHS Markit gives her analysis on how political calculations are being made, as well as regional risks if vaccination programmes and recovery plans falter.

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Sudhir Vadaketh, a political commentator, discusses the implications of Heng Swee Keat’s decision to step aside as designated successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the likely leader to take over. Sudhir is also the co-author of Hard Choices: Challenging the Singapore Consensus.

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Demonstrations in Hong Kong. Protests in Bangkok. An insurgency in Washington, DC. What do they all have in common? Anger. While economists tell us that the human race has never had it better, on the ground it feels like people are only getting progressively more stressed, anxious, and angry. Why?

Angrynomics proposes that the root cause of all this increased populism and polarization comes down to wealth and income inequality. Anger that has boiled over with nowhere else to go.

So at what point does economics becomes angrynomics? And more importantly, how do we fix it? Roshan Kanesan speak to Angrynomics co-author Mark Blyth to find out.

Mark Blyth is the co-author of Angrynomics. He's also a Professor of International Economics and Director of the Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance, Brown University.

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