Morning Brief

The Burmese junta marked the annual Armed Forces Day this week with a military parade and a rare speech by General Min Aung Hlaing, who reiterated the pledge to hold elections when the state of emergency ends. What is the junta's version of democracy and can the international community exert any influence? We discuss the latest developments with Hunter Marston of ANU.

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The government is proposing the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link elevated highway, to disperse traffic from Bandar Utama to Bandar Kinrara as part of the attempt to ease the congestion along the LDP. But is another highway the solution? David Yoong, Chairman, of Stakeholders cum Residents Against PJD Link (SCRAP Highway) gives us the reason why they are against this project.

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The government is proposing the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link elevated highway, to disperse traffic from Bandar Utama to Bandar Kinrara as part of the attempt to ease the congestion along the LDP. But is another highway the solution? David Yoong, Chairman, of Stakeholders cum Residents Against PJD Link (SCRAP Highway) gives us the reason why they are against this project.

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The government is hard at work to fulfil its election manifesto pledge of dismantling monopolies and putting a stop to profiteering. But are all monopolies bad? Economist, Dr Nungsari A. Radhi gives us that answer whilst we also discuss government appointments at Statutory Bodies and GLICS.

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There have been high hopes that Chinese consumers will spend with a vengeance once the zero-Covid policy is lifted, providing a much needed boost to China's economy. Have these expectations materialised? We discuss consumer trends in China with Catherine Lim of Bloomberg Intelligence.

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The enactment of the Sexual Offences Against Children (SOAC) Act in 2017 was a significant achievement, but the intervening years have revealed shortcomings in the law. Hence the government is proposing to introduce amendments to the SOAC Act to strengthen the child protection framework. Dato' Sri Azalina Othman, Minister for Law & Institutional Reform explains the rationale and implications of the legal changes.

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The enactment of the Sexual Offences Against Children (SOAC) Act in 2017 was a significant achievement, but the intervening years have revealed shortcomings in the law. Hence the government is proposing to introduce amendments to the SOAC Act to strengthen the child protection framework. Dato' Sri Azalina Othman, Minister for Law & Institutional Reform explains the rationale and implications of the legal changes.

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The Biden administration recently unveiled tight new restrictions on operations in China by semiconductor manufacturers that obtain federal funds to build in the U.S. Louise Loo, China Economist at Oxford Economics tells us what impact these raft of measures have on China's attempt to be 70% self sustaining in this critical sector by 2030.

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Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim held a three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia last week, coinciding with the start of Ramadhan. However, the visit oddly concluded without any meetings between Anwar Ibrahim with the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman or King Salman Abdul Aziz. Is there anything to read from these developments and what does this bode for the future of Malaysia-Saudi bilateral ties? Middle East expert Dr. James Dorsey weighs in.

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There are serious gaps in the government’s housing policy for the urban poor, as revealed in the latest study by Khazanah Research Institute. We speak to Dr. Suraya Ismail on the main findings of the study and policy recommendations to consider.

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