Morning Brief

The 75th anniversary of NATO is being marked by a three-day summit in Washington D.C. with the spotlight on the challenges in supporting Ukraine in the prolonged conflict with Russia, deepening relations with Indo-Pacific partners amid US-China tensions, and how the next US president could shape the future of the body. We discuss these themes with Chong Ja Ian of the NUS. 

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Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul has ruled that the former 6 Bersatu MPs who pledged their support for Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can retain their seats. Does this then undermine the anti-party hopping law? We get reactions from political scientist Dr. Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University. 

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In the wake of the Sungai Bakap by-elections, former Penang deputy chief minister and Urimai chairman, P Ramasamy wrote in a Free Malaysia Today article that the level of support among Malaysian Chinese for the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the ruling government in general has fallen. Discussing this issue with us today is James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies, the University of Tasmania.

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Is China’s consumer spending showing signs of recovery or is it still beholden to a sluggish economy? We discuss what the trends in the e-commerce sector indicate about the health of the Chinese consumer and its major online retail platforms with Catherine Lim of Bloomberg Intelligence.

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Perikatan Nasional retained the Sungai Bakap state seat in Penang with an increased majority over the Pakatan Harapan candidate during last weekend's by-election, during which voter turnout was 63.45%. Ibrahim Suffian, Programme Director at Merdeka Centre analyses the outcome of the election and its impact on Malaysia's political landscape going forward.

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The second round of voting in the French elections resulted in a surprise outcome: the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, was the biggest winner, followed by the centrist alliance of Emmanuel Macron, with the far-right National Rally coming in third. However, with no bloc winning a majority of seats in parliament, what does this mean for the formation of government? We get an analysis from Prof. Rainbow Murray of Queen Mary, University of London.

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The ASEAN Express, a new international freight train service connecting Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and China, was launched this week to improve trade connectivity between the nations. How much could this contribute to economic growth? We discuss the impact with Dato Prof Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah, Vice Chancellor, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

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The Singapore government seeks to strengthen money-laundering enforcement with the new Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill being tabled in parliament. Do the amendments go far enough to deter illicit crime? We discuss the implications of the bill with Cliff Lim of Dow Jones.

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As ballots are being tallied in the UK, what do early results tell us about the outcome? We catch up with Patrick Diamond, Professor of Public Policy at Queen Mary, University of London on whether projections of a Labour landslide are hitting the mark.

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All projections for the UK elections indicate that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party are on the cusp of defeat - but the question is, will it be a wipeout? Ahead of the polls, we catch-up with Philip See who’s in London to gauge the mood of UK voters.

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