Morning Brief

Singapore recently launched its Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs), which allows for quarantine-free travel between certain countries. Malaysia is also looking to reopen Langkawi to foreign tourists in mid-November. How soon could we see further restrictions on international travel lifted? We discuss the scenarios with aviation analyst Brendan Sobie.

We ask political commentator James Chin to address rife speculation that the Sarawak state assembly might be dissolved soon to make way for an election, as well as the recent developments on MA63.

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Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin this week said that the government will implement a National Digital Identity system by 2024. The National Digital Identity roll-out is part of the government’s ambitious MyDigital Blueprint launched earlier this year, with the aim of ensuring flexible and secure online transactions as well as reducing administrative costs while delivering more efficient services. Is Malaysia ready to go digital on this front? We discuss the challenges with data scientist Dr. Lau Cher Han.

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Dr. Sarena Che Omar from Khazanah Research Institute explains how the energy crunch is also affecting the price of fertilizer and how severe the effect will be on rice production and prices.

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Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin this week said that the government will implement a National Digital Identity system by 2024. The National Digital Identity roll-out is part of the government’s ambitious MyDigital Blueprint launched earlier this year, with the aim of ensuring flexible and secure online transactions as well as reducing administrative costs while delivering more efficient services. Is Malaysia ready to go digital on this front? We discuss the challenges with data scientist Dr. Lau Cher Han.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Dr. Sarena Che Omar from Khazanah Research Institute explains how the energy crunch is also affecting the price of fertilizer and how severe the effect will be on rice production and prices.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Malaysians who are eligible to receive Covid-19 booster shots have started to receive their jabs last week, with the roll-out beginning in Sarawak. How are third doses being administered and could this be extended to the rest of the population? We discuss this issue and other challenges of post-pandemic living with Azrul Mohd Khalib of the Galen Centre.

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The pandemic has triggered a dramatic increase in the number of Malaysians entering the gig economy, either by choice or forced by circumstances. Although they enjoy flexibility in their job, there are concerns on the labour rights for gig workers. As there have been calls to amend the Employment Act 1955 that was drafted over 60 years ago, what changes are needed to benefit the gig workers in the long term? Tan Zhai Gen of the Asia School of Business weighs in on proposed reforms.

Image Credit: Hasim Ramle / Shutterstock.com

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Tamma Febrian from Fitch Ratings guides us to how digital banks are transforming the landscape of the banking sector, how profitable will they be, and how it will impact the incumbent traditional banks.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pandemic has triggered a dramatic increase in the number of Malaysians entering the gig economy, either by choice or forced by circumstances. Although they enjoy flexibility in their job, there are concerns on the labour rights for gig workers. As there have been calls to amend the Employment Act 1955 that was drafted over 60 years ago, what changes are needed to benefit the gig workers in the long term? Tan Zhai Gen of the Asia School of Business weighs in on proposed reforms.

Image Credit: Hasim Ramle / Shutterstock.com