Morning Brief

It has been 55 years since racial tensions boiled over marking one of the darkest moments in Malaysia's history. May 13th, 1969 saw hundreds of people killed, with exact figures still unknown to this day. Eddin Khoo, a historian and writer, shares his insights with us and how we, as Malaysians, can learn from this tragic event to ensure it is never repeated.

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A recent UNICEF report that studied the impact of the pandemic on women and children in low-income families in KL, has revealed that 80% of households are grappling with inadequate income levels to sustainably cover essential expenses. This is alarmingly higher than the 70% reported during the peak of Covid-19. Dr Amjad Rabi, a visiting expert at the Social Wellbeing Research Centre, Universiti Malaya, shares his insights.

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The Companies (amendment) Act 2024 came into force on 1st April this year. With that all entities have until 30th June to submit information on their beneficial owner to the Companies Commission of Malaysia. The Act also improves on previous regulations regarding the definition and also reporting framework of beneficiaries. Ranjit Singh, senior litigation partner of Ranjit Singh & Yeoh explains the mechanics of this and why this is a step in the right direction.

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We speak to Dr. James Dorsey, Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies to get some insights on the potential for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and how the recent attacks in Rafah complicate matters.

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The 1MDB chapter in the US court system came to a close this week, but Goldman Sachs still has unfinished business with the Malaysian government. We get a refresher with independent business writer P. Gunasegaram on where the 1MDB accountability process stands and the loose threads that need to be tied up by the 1MDB Taskforce.

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Electoral reform advocacy group Bersih has called out the Madani government for appointing two members of the Electoral Commission without an open and transparent process as promised in previous election manifestos. We speak to Ooi Kok Hin, Executive Director of Bersih on how the selection process should be reformed especially in light of the EC Chair becoming vacant today.

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A delegation of US Department of Treasury officials are in town this week to discuss concerns that counter-terrorism funding is being channelled through Malaysia's financial system. We discuss the potential implications and ways to improve our counter-terrorism financing response with Raymon Ram of Graymatter Forensic Advisory.

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This week President Xi Jinping is embarking on his first European tour since 2019, under vastly different circumstances. His visit to France, Serbia and Hungary comes at a time when tensions with the EU are at a high over Beijing’s support to Russia and contentions over trade practices. Will this visit succeed in reframing the narrative? We discuss the visit with political analyst Dr. Frederick Kliem of Episteme Consultancy and Adjunct Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. 

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Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index has been rallying and so far it has chalked up a tenth successive session, registering its longest winning streak since 2018, thanks to improving market sentiment. Peter Lewis, the founder and director of Peter Lewis Consulting (China) Limited helps us analyse what's been going on and if this upswing has more legs to it.

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Malaysia recorded a dismal performance, plummeting 34 spots to 107th place in the rankings with our overall score also falling by 10 points to 52, Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia tells us the reasons for this decline and what the government should focus on to improve those rankings.

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