Morning Brief

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was recently chided for being insensitive to the Indian community after quoting from the Hikayat Hang Tuah, using a term considered offensive to them. Praba Ganesan, Chief Executive of KUASA, a democracy outreach organisation, talks to us about the wider issues the Indian Malaysian community continues to face and why they remain one of the more marginalised. 

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2024 is a year of elections with more than 1/2 of the world choosing new leaders, including our ASEAN neighbor, Indonesia. Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran, Fellow at the Wilson Center and Founder of the weekly ASEAN Wonk Newsletter tells us what the geopolitical challenges that ASEAN faces are as it maintains its politically neutral ideology.

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Locals have been found to lease their business licences to foreign workers without fulfilling the required criteria. Due to this situation, the government is considering the implementation of an “Anti-Ali Baba” law aimed at Malaysians, to tackle this issue. Professor Emeritus Dr. Barjoyai Bardai, Economist at Universiti Tun Abdul tell us what strategy should be employed in managing this issue.

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Last month marked one year of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia's 10th Prime Minister. We review the year with Dr Oh Ei Sun, Principal Adviser at Pacific Research Center of Malaysia and discuss how political dynamics might play out in 2024.

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Singapore’s equity market has been far from stellar with no blockbuster IPOs lined up for 2024. However, manufacturing and export numbers like in the semiconductor sector show a more positive story. We spoke with Geoff Howie, SGX Market Strategist to look for the silver lining that can help build more investor interest in the Singapore equity market.

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The Malaysia Competition Commission has imposed a RM415 million ringgit fine on five major chicken feed companies, its largest fine to date. They were found guilty of forming a cartel aimed at increasing the price of poultry feed, consequently impacting chicken prices, a staple protein source for Malaysians. Iskandar Ismail, the CEO of MyCC breaks down the case for us.

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Interest in Bitcoin may rise further as the ETF approval comes closer to fruition. As the cryptocurrency leans to become a mainstream product, there will be more regulation and eventually acceptance by the investing public. We speak to Sam Reynolds, senior reporter at Coindesk for his thoughts on the matter.

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Every year, almost on schedule, parts of Malaysia get inundated causing untold damage and sometimes, tragically, loss of lives. This year is no different, with climate change playing a very noticeable part. Nora Kantin, an Orang Asli resident of Kampung Lambok in Kuala Betis, Gua Musang, Kelantan is among those deeply affected by this natural disaster. She shares her experience.

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Stronger non-oil export numbers and manufacturing activity drive Singapore’s economy to achieve stable growth in 2024. Positive tailwinds in the semiconductor space help propel it further. Adrian Loh of UOB Kay Hian shares his views on Singapore’s economic and market outlook.

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China has been experiencing strong outflow from its economy as foreign fund managers maintain only core exposure to their equity portfolios. Marvin Chen, Senior Asia Equity Strategist, Bloomberg Intelligence shares his views on why they are underweight on China and what will drive the country’s market in 2024.

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