Morning Brief

It was always traditional for government departments, ministries and agencies to host lavish official events that included gift exchanges. However, this has raised risks of fostering bribery and compromising ethical standards over the years. Pushpan Murugiah, CEO of the Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4), shares his insights as the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission raised concerns over this practice.

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The UK is currently seeing its worst riots since 2011, sparked by online disinformation about a deadly knife attack in Southport last week. What is the Labour government doing to quell the unrest and what does this indicate about the socio-economic discontent within British society? Dr Benjamin Barton of the University of Nottingham Malaysia weighs in.

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In recent political news, Perikatan Nasional (PN) is dealing with internal tensions following a dispute with Gerakan over a school donation. PN Secretary-General Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin has assured that the issue has been settled, but the implications for the coalition's future are still unclear. Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Principal Adviser, Pacific Research Centre shares his perspective on how this situation could influence PN's cohesion and stability.

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The Bank of Japan raised interest rates for only the second time in 17 years last week to about 0.25%, despite patchy economic indicators. How might this affect the growth outlook for the sluggish Japanese economy? We discuss this with Stefan Angrick of Moody’s Analytics.

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The Second Finance Minister and Bank Negara Governor were in Singapore recently to meet with investors, the origins of the Asian Tiger economy conversation we’ve been having all week. Were investors convinced by this upbeat narrative? We get analysis from UOB economist Julia Goh, on the outlook for the Malaysian economy.

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The government recently announced plans to set-up a Data Commission as part of efforts to improve data protection and innovation in the country. What's needed for the commission to be effective in its role? We discuss this proposal and the amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act with Kenny Lam of RDS Law.

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MetMalaysia has issued a series of Level 1 heatwave alerts this week across the country, with the hotter temperatures and less rainfall also resulting in critical water shortages in the northern region. Sustainability specialist Dr. Renard Siew weighs in on the mitigation and adaptation policies needed for Malaysia to adjust to increasingly warmer weather.

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The era of high interest rates finally appears to be coming to an end with the Federal Reserve signaling their willingness to cut the Fed Fund rate from the current 5.25-5.5% levels. But what impact has this delay had on the investment book of Asean banks and are they issuing new debt ? Rena Kwok, Credit Analyst for Asian Financials at Bloomberg Intelligence tells us.

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Tensions in the Middle East on the Israel-Lebanon border have ratcheted, following the deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied territory of Golan Heights on Saturday. Dr. James Dorsey, Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies tells us if there is the potential of a wider war with Hezbollah.

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A recent comment from second finance minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan saying that Malaysia is making great strides to reclaim its Asian Tiger status, has elicited discussion about whether or not Malaysia ever was one. P Gunasegaram, an independent business writer shares his views on if this comparison with economies like those of Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong holds water.

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