Morning Brief

The government is stepping up its fight against rent-seeking activities, or “Alibaba” culture, which is estimated to cost Malaysia losses amounting to 1% of GDP to corruption. We speak to economist Dr. Carmelo Ferlito, on the kinds of reforms needed to eliminate such activities in the country.

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The government is stepping up its fight against rent-seeking activities, or “Alibaba” culture, which is estimated to cost Malaysia losses amounting to 1% of GDP to corruption. We speak to economist Dr. Carmelo Ferlito, on the kinds of reforms needed to eliminate such activities in the country.

Image by: Shutterstock

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The two-day NATO Summit in Vilnius concluded yesterday, with mixed outcomes. Sweden will officially join the group after Turkey dropped its objections; but Ukraine’s membership path is far from certain, much to Kyiv’s chagrin. We discuss the key takeaways from the security summit with Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore.

Image Credit: EPA-EFE

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As we head into the second half of 2023, how are ASEAN economies faring? We check in with Chua Hak Bin of Maybank Investment Banking Group to find out the GDP prospects of the region and the pre-pandemic realities that ASEAN economies face.

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As we head into the second half of 2023, how are ASEAN economies faring? We check in with Chua Hak Bin of Maybank Investment Banking Group to find out the GDP prospects of the region and the pre-pandemic realities that ASEAN economies face.

Image by: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has given a three-month timeline for the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA) to effectively address the drug abuse problem affecting almost a million Malaysians. We speak with Professor Dr. Vicknasingam Kasinather, Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia to gets his insights on how NADA, the Police and Ministry of Health have been working to tackle the problem.

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In 2019 the Undi18 amendment was passed by parliament, and it was widely expected the young would vote for more progressive and reform minded parties. However, in last year's election, their vote was fairly split between PH and PN for the 18 to 40 age segment, dispelling the homogeneity of the youth. We’ll speak with Shahril Hamdan, former UMNO Information Chief and UMNO Youth Vice Chief, on how the youth might vote in the upcoming 6 state elections.

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In 2019 the Undi18 amendment was passed by parliament, and it was widely expected the young would vote for more progressive and reform minded parties. However, in last year's election, their vote was fairly split between PH and PN for the 18 to 40 age segment, dispelling the homogeneity of the youth. We’ll speak with Shahril Hamdan, former UMNO Information Chief and UMNO Youth Vice Chief, on how the youth might vote in the upcoming 6 state elections.

Image by: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thailand’s inflation rate has dropped dramatically to its lowest level down to 0.2% in June 2023, while the Thai baht has proven resilient against a year of US dollar strengthening compared to other regional currencies. We speak to Daniel Moss, Columnist for Bloomberg Opinion to understand the reasons behind this, and also how the Thai economy will respond to a new government and global headwinds.

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According to the latest data on global economies compiled by the World Bank, Malaysia remains an upper middle-income country; however Sarawak has joined the ranks of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Penang as members of the high-income economy club. We discuss what the data actually reveals with Distinguished Professor of Economics Dr. Rajah Rasiah of Universiti Malaya.

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