Morning Brief

Starting Jan 1st, 2024, a 10% tax will be levied on the online purchases of goods from overseas costing below RM500. This is ostensibly aimed at providing a level playing field for local retailers, who have received strong competition from overseas retailers on online shopping portals like Lazada and Shopee, while replenishing the nation's coffers. We speak to Senthuran Elalingam, Indirect Tax Partner at Deloitte for his take on how this new LVG tax would work.

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With concerns that the global economy may slow down in 2024, where will the aviation industry land, after having reached 98% of pre-Covid levels as at October this year? Ahmad Maghfur Usman, Equity Analyst at Nomura Malaysia also takes us through its outlook for the related energy sector, which recently saw a downward revision by the International Energy Agency.

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Malaysia’s energy sector has traditionally been dominated by state-owned enterprises. While this model of energy supply may be effective in providing reliable and affordable energy to Malaysian consumers, it is not equipped to effectively transition towards renewable energy. We speak to Dr Renato de Lima Oliveira, Senior Fellow with IDEAS and Assistant Professor at the Asia School of Business on the challenges faced by the local energy sector and his suggested reforms to make the industry more competitive.

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In the recent cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim separated the Communications and Digital Ministry into two independent bodies. Gobind Singh Deo reenters the cabinet as Digital Minister, while Fahmi Fadzil remains Communications Minister within this revised setup. We discuss the expectations and changes in the communication and digital landscape that stem from this division with Alexander Wong, Managing Editor and Co-Founder of SoyaCincau.

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With the two major superpowers - China and US trying to curry favour with Vietnam, how will the Southeast Asian nation put its 'bamboo diplomacy' into practice as geopolitics become increasingly complex? We speak to Phan Xuan Dung, research officer of Vietnam Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute about what this means for Vietnam moving forward.

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Government released data showing that the gender pay gap has widened since 2020, with women receiving 66 ringgit for every 100 ringgit their male counterparts earn, far from the 96 ringgit reported in 2021. Anis Farid, Research Project Manager, Women’s Aid Organisation shares with us the systemic issues women face in the fight for wage equality.

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Could President Joe Biden become only the 4th US president to be impeached? We discuss the latest move by the House of Representatives to authorise an impeachment inquiry and how this is impacting the presidential race with independent pollster John Zogby.

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Does the new Cabinet composition reflect a strengthened political presence of the East Malaysia bloc? We discuss this with Ariff Adi Putra of the Institute for Development Studies in Sabah.

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After two gruelling weeks, countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai have agreed to "shift energy systems away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner", the first time a transition away from fossil fuels has been included. Does this outcome go far enough to avert climate catastrophe? We get insights from Chee Yoke Ling of the Third World Network on what this means for the climate change agenda moving forward.

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Last Tuesday, former Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad was appointed as the Health Minister once again, taking over from Dr. Zaliha Mustafa. The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim believes that his appointment would strengthen the ministry, which has been burdened with many issues. We ask Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh, President, Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia on the reforms that Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly needs to address concerns within the Ministry of Health.

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