Morning Brief

This week the Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced a crackdown on tour buses after a fatal bus crash in Genting Highlands that killed two Chinese tourists. We speak to transport consultant Wan Agyl Wan Hassan about why it had to take a tragic accident to expose the lack of  regulatory oversight on tour buses.

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Malaysia is among the few countries that have yet to ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), despite its endorsement by 173 nations. The official explanation is due to conflicts with existing local laws. We ask Jerald Joseph, Chair of CSO Platform for Reform if this is indeed an impediment and what are the repercussions from this.

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Residents of Tokyo will be voting for their governor this week and the choice is down to incumbent Yuriko Koike of the Liberal Democratic Party, who is hoping to win the post for a third time, and Renho Saito from Japan’s main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party on the seat. William Pesek, a columnist with Nikkei Asia, helps us unpack what might happen in a very significant two-woman race in a very male-dominated political landscape.

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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that SPM students who score 10As, regardless of background, will be guaranteed entry to the matriculation programme without affecting the 90% Bumiputera quota. Will the lifting of restrictions for top scorers improve meritocracy in the education sector? We discuss meritocracy and fairness in pre-university pathways with Dr.Lee Hwok-Aun of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

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The first round of France's snap parliamentary election has concluded with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally leading with 34% of the vote, the left-wing New Popular Front coalition with 29%, and President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Ensemble third with 20.5%. Professor Peter McPhee, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Melbourne, analyzes what might happen when the second round takes place on July 7th.

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The first presidential debate between incumbent Democrat Joe Biden and his Republican challenger Donald Trump has concluded. Biden's performance was less than stellar as Trump spewed lie after lie, addressing few policy issues. Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science at Brown University, reviews what happened and what it might mean for the November presidential race.

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China responding to the tightening restrictions on advanced technology exports from the US and Europe by increasing its self-sufficiency. But are there limits to how much it can build its own advanced tech sector without outside input? We speak to Yoko Kubota of the Wall Street Journal to find out more. Read her exclusive report here: The Goal for China’s Chip Giant: Cut Out the U.S. 

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In May 2023, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) made the decision to withdraw Assunta Hospital’s tax exemption status,

because the agency believed that the hospital had violated several conditions of its tax exemption status. Dr Veerinderjeet Singh, Senior Advisor on Tax Policy, KPMG explains who and how to qualify for tax exempt status comes under Section 44 (6) of the Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA).

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Doubts lingered as China’s Chang’e 6 mission aimed to land on the far side of the moon. However, they’ve successfully brought back its rock and soil samples. This success has sparked an intense moon race with the US who has been prominently known to be at the top of its A-game in space exploration. We dive into the tensions of this space race with Clayton Swope, the Deputy Director of Aerospace Security Project at Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

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The U.S. presidential debate, which is happening three months earlier than the usual cycle is likely to be a fiery event but will the outcome make a difference in this tightly contested race? Dr. Adrian Ang, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies tells us what to expect and how these octogenarian candidates stack up.

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