Morning Brief

The Home Ministry hopes to table the Drug & Substance Abuse (Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act in Parliament next year. The aim is to enable first-time or minor drug offenders to be rehabilitated, instead of being sent straight to prison as per the current practice. Ashwin Thind, Clinical Psychologist at PENGASIH and member of the Malaysian Drug Policy Reform Programme shares with us his thoughts on this matter.

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The latest quarterly results of the major tech firms were mixed overall, with Microsoft and Amazon exceeding expectations while Alphabet and Tesla disappointed. We discuss the trajectory of tech stocks moving forward with Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.

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The Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change is proposing a mechanism to set water tariffs that allows water operators to determine rates without the need of the Minister’s approval. Dr. Mohmad Asari Daud, President, Malaysian Water Association tells us why this is a step in the right direction and the state of our water assets.

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The Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change is proposing a mechanism to set water tariffs that allows water operators to determine rates without the need of the Minister’s approval. Dr. Mohmad Asari Daud, President, Malaysian Water Association tells us why this is a step in the right direction and the state of our water assets.

Image credit: Bernama

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With the US unveiling a new executive order on AI alongside an AI safety summit hosted by the U.K, we ask policy advisor and fintech expert Dr Jonathan Chang on how governments should try to chart a way forward alongside this emerging technology.

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As widely expected, Bank Negara maintained the overnight policy rate at 3% in its final meeting of the year. There has been no change to the rate since the last hike in May and with inflation at benign levels, it wasn’t a surprise. But there is competing interest with the ringgit, one the worst performing currencies in the region whilst growth is slowing. What then does this mean for our monetary policy? Woon Khai Jhek, Head of Economic Research and Senior Economist at RAM Ratings tells us.

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Do international boycotts work? We discuss the proposal by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal for Malaysia to boycott the APEC Summit in San Francisco later this month in solidarity with the Palestinian cause with political scientist Dr. Johan Saravanamuttu.

Image credit: Bernama

Do international boycotts work? We discuss the proposal by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal for Malaysia to boycott the APEC Summit in San Francisco later this month in solidarity with the Palestinian cause with political scientist Dr. Johan Saravanamuttu.

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The government launched the National Nuclear Technology Policy 2030 last month to spur national development including in healthcare, food and agriculture sectors. We speak to Professor Ir. Dr. Nahrul Khair Alang Md Rashid, of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for his views on the potential of nuclear tech for the country.

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On Tuesday, the Japanese yen declined sharply after The Bank of Japan re-defined the 1% cap on the 10-year yield as a loose "upper bound" rather than a rigid cap. They also kept its short and long term policy rates at ultra low levels even as core inflation in the country exceeded the stated 2% target for 18 consecutive months. William Pesek tells us what is holding them back from rate normalisation and the tolerance level before currency intervention.

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