Morning Brief

Malaysia is seeing a demographic transition, with projections indicating that about 15% of the population will be elderly by 2030 - consisting of individuals aged 60 and above. Chai Sen Tyng, a senior research officer at the Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeing), Universiti Putra Malaysia, discusses what should be considered with the Senior Citizen Bill expected to be tabled next year in the Dewan Rakyat to protect the welfare and rights of elderly individuals and their caregivers.

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Data from the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA 2022 showed a steep decline in performance of Malaysian students in all three domains, namely mathematics, science and reading. Chan Soon Seng, CEO at Teach for Malaysia analyses the data, what ails the education industry and how the government can do better to improve the future of Malaysian students.

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The Printing Presses Publication Act (PPPA) 1984 gives absolute power to the Home Affairs Minister to ban any publications which are deemed to be prejudicial to public order, morality, security, or which is likely to alarm public opinion. Sheena Gurbakhash, Writer and EXCO Member of PEN Malaysia explains why the powers of this statute is very broad, open to misinterpretation and may impede creativity in the writing industry.

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The MyDigital ID programme is set to launch for the public in July next year and is expected to be used for verification to receive targeted subsidies. However, there is also concern about the possibility of data breaches given past experiences of government portals. What's being done to assuage such concerns? We discuss the implementation of national digital IDs with Intellectual Property and Information Technology Lawyer, Foong Cheng Leong.

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It’s been 21 months since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and Western financial assistance is beginning to dwindle. On Wednesday, Republicans blocked a bill in the US Senate that would provide much-needed financial support to Kyiv. What impact might this have on the Ukrainian counter-offensive? We get updates from Denys Mykhailiuk, Chargé d'Affaires, Ukrainian Embassy in Malaysia.

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The government aims to say goodbye to toll gantries via a Multi Lane Free Flow (MLFF) system, thus making it easier for drivers to coast onto the highways. However, The Association of Highway Concessionaires Malaysia pushed a roadblock to the government’s move to directly award the project to a private company. To understand what obstacles this plan faces, we speak to Professor Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Transport at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) for his thoughts on the matter.

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The Global Carbon Budget report highlights that carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil, and gas continue to increase. This is despite recommendations that there needs to be a 45% decline in gas usage by 2050 to prevent temperatures from exceeding the critical 1.5°C limit. Dr Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, Head of APAC Research at Bloomberg-NEF discusses the implications if no consensus is reached.

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Malaysian students scored poorly on the Programme for International Student Assessment 2022 (PISA), even below the OECD average. The data showed that Malaysian students showed weakness in all three literacy measures that include reading, mathematics and science. Is there a weakness in the education system and what remedies are necessary? Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim of the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) discusses with us the implications the future of Malaysian’s talent pool faces.

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ByteDance’s TikTok has reportedly agreed to invest in a unit of Indonesia’s GoTo group to restart its ecommerce business while the soon-to-be-listed Shein and PDD’s Temu have been taking advantage of consumers’ love of a bargain. Nathan Naidu, Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence talks about this battle for Southeast Asian consumers' eyeballs and wallets.

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The Malaysian Bar filed for leave for a judicial review to quash the Attorney General’s decision to seek a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s 47 graft charges, even after a prima facie was established and 77 days of trial. The Malaysian Bar raises their concern that this matter is of public interest. Karen Cheah, President of the Malaysian Bar discusses why this pursuit is important to uphold the sanctity of the judiciary.

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