Morning Brief

According to Wisma Putra, there have been 301 reports on job scam cases in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand to date. Many are initially lured by ads promising easy work and extravagant perks, but are then held against their will by human trafficking syndicates and forced to conduct online criminal activity. What policy responses are needed to stamp out trafficking job scams? Adrian Pereira of the North South Initiative weighs in.

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With the newly launched National Energy Policy, the government targets to increase the use of electric vehicles to 38%. How achievable and practical is this? We hear from energy policy specialist Shahrol Halmi for his views.

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GLC and GLIC heads as well as the judiciary will now be required to declare their assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. We get reactions on this announcement from Cynthia Gabriel, Executive Director of C4 - Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism.

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President Biden declared in an interview with CBS that the pandemic is over in the US. Yet, CDC data shows that an average of nearly 400 Americans a day continue to die from COVID-19. So is the pandemic in retreat? Professor Dale Fisher, Senior Consultant in Infectious Diseases at National University Hospital Singapore tells us.

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The ringgit has fallen by 9% to the greenback on a year-to-date basis, levels not seen since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998. Some view the weakening currency as an indication that Malaysia’s economy is on the rocks, but is that necessarily the case? Business commentator Pankaj C. Kumar helps us make sense of the relative value of currencies, and also highlights the structural issues in the economy that underpin the value of the ringgit.

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo is barred from running for a third term as president, but rumours have surfaced that he may be considering a run as vice-president. We speak to Resty Woro Yuniar of the South China Morning Post on the political developments there as well as look ahead to the G20 Summit in November which Indonesia is hosting in Bali.

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The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development recently disclosed that there is a shortage of child protection officers, with one officer currently handling 50 to 100 cases of child abuse and neglect, compared to the target ratio of one to 30 cases. We discuss the challenges in hiring more child protection officers and other policy measures to strengthen the response to child welfare issues with Ananti Rajasingam of Yayasan Chow Kit.

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What’s the difference between brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals? And how can Budget 2023 help lower the cost of medication? We discuss the medicine procurement and Budget 2023 with Mark Cheong, Deputy Head at the School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia.

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India and China are among the states that continue to buy Russian exports, after the US, EU and allies imposed sanctions isolating Russia from the global economy. However both President Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to distance themselves from Russia’s offensive in Ukraine when they met during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Is this indicative of cracks in Russia’s diplomatic shield against countries opposed to the war? Dr. Pradeep Taneja of Melbourne University weighs in.

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How much has Malaysia’s economic recovery been hampered by the lack of foreign workers? And which listed companies are impacted or even stand to benefit? For some analysis on the impact of the labour shortage, we speak to Jeremy Goh, Head of Research, Hong Leong Investment Bank

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