Morning Brief

Thailand's General Elections were held on May 14th and more than 2 months later, the kingdom still has no prime minister. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward party which won the most seats, has lost his final bid after lawmakers blocked a second vote on whether he should be PM. Dr Greg Raymond, Senior Lecturer, Australia National University talks about what happens next for Thailand as conservative voices appear to trump the people's will.

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With just under a month before voters in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu head to the polls to elect their representatives for the next 5 years, political parties are positioning themselves for battle. Eyes are on how a Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional partnership might fare, whether or not Perikatan Nasional might make further in-roads post-GE15 and if MUDA's gamble to contest solo will bear fruit. Oh Ei Sun, Principal Adviser at Pacific Research Centre shares with us his views.

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With just under a month before voters in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu head to the polls to elect their representatives for the next 5 years, political parties are positioning themselves for battle. Eyes are on how a Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional partnership might fare, whether or not Perikatan Nasional might make further in-roads post-GE15 and if MUDA's gamble to contest solo will bear fruit. Oh Ei Sun, Principal Adviser at Pacific Research Centre shares with us his views.

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Singapore's 5th ranking in Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 is being tested after its Transport Minister S Iswaran was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. This probe also involved hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng. Additionally, two MPs have resigned resulting in a total of 5 constituencies without a people's representative. James Gomez, Regional Director, Asia Centre dissects these developments for us and how this impacts the performance of the People's Action Party that has been in power for 6 decades.

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Deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh has called for amendments to redefine a “mentally incapacitated” individual under the The Mental Health Act 2001. Dr Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam, Psychiatrist at the Hospital Miri Malaysia weighs in on this suggested amendments and if there should be any other changes.

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Deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh has called for amendments to redefine a “mentally incapacitated” individual under the The Mental Health Act 2001. Dr Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam, Psychiatrist at the Hospital Miri Malaysia weighs in on this suggested amendments and if there should be any other changes.

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The US economy has been resilient despite the record hikes in the Fed Fund rate. In the meantime China’s anticipating economic boom post the lifting of covid restrictions have not materialised. What then is the impact on Asia’s economies? Is the street still optimistic? Alex Holmes, Senior Economist At Oxford Economics weighs in on this

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The EPF has proposed a slew of reforms for its retirement scheme, including mandatory monthly withdrawals and a new Account 3 designed to strengthen income security. Alvin Tan, President of the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia breaks down the rationale for these proposals and whether it will have the intended effect. 

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The EPF has proposed a slew of reforms for its retirement scheme, including mandatory monthly withdrawals and a new Account 3 designed to strengthen income security. Alvin Tan, President of the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia breaks down the rationale for these proposals and whether it will have the intended effect. 

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The latest economic data coming out of China has further fueled concerns about the health of the world’s second largest economy. Exports sank by 12.4%, while imports tumbled 6.8%, worse than anticipated by economists. We get analysis from Bernard Aw of Coface on what options Beijing has to prop up the economy.

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