Morning Brief

Malaysia is tabling the National Climate Change Bill to give the federal government formal powers to regulate emissions and carbon markets. Climate change and sustainability expert Dr Renard Siew shares his insights into whether Malaysia’s emerging climate architecture can translate policy ambition into real-world outcomes.

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The government will table a Freedom of Information Act with free access to request documents and other information from government agencies. So, why does freedom of information matter and how will the act be implemented at the federal level that satisfies international standards and not just be a token reform measure? Professor Dr Joanne Lim, Digital Media, Communications and Cultural Studies lecturer and Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia gives us her insights.

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Malaysia has launched its National Education Plan 2026-2035, introducing earlier school entry, new centralised assessments and changes across the entire education pipeline. Danial Abdul Rahman, CEO of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, joins us to unpack what these reforms could mean in classrooms and for the future generations of Malaysians.

This episode of The First Look was brought to you by Emirates. Fly better, fly Emirates

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Vietnam’s 14th Communist Party Congress is ongoing in Hanoi and will determine the country’s leadership and policy direction for the next five years. Dr Nguyễn Khắc Giang, Visiting Fellow with the Vietnam Studies Programme at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, explains what’s at stake, and how Vietnam plans to manage growth ambitions amid rising geopolitical tensions.

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Kuala Lumpur MPs will now play a more significant role in the city’s administration, as Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh has announced the formation of five MP-led monitoring committees to oversee the DBKL 2026 Budget. We ask Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, MP for Setiawangsa as to how this plan will change the running of KL and also if there are any updates  to his plan for  a council-based governance model.

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China’s retail sector is showing signs of strain despite repeated stimulus measures. Catherine Lim, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence unpacks buyer fatigue, diverging spending trends between luxury and mass-market consumers, and what lies ahead for China’s household economy in 2026.

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President Donald Trump’s renewed push to acquire Greenland "the easy way or the hard way" has triggered a transatlantic crisis. Dr Benjamin Barton, Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, talks about the different scenarios that might unfold and what would happen in a post-Trump era for Europe.

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Over the past week, US President Donald Trump has floated a proposal he calls a Board of Peace, a new international body linked to Gaza that would sit outside the United Nations framework. Dr James Dorsey, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies tells us if this is a workable plan.

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China closed 2025 meeting its headline GDP growth target of 5%, but beneath the surface the recovery looks uneven with the final quarter, expanding at its slowest pace since Covid. Heron Lim, a lecturer of economics at ESSEC Business School, shares his insights into these numbers and what to expect when China's National People’s Congress convenes in March.

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The Federal Territories Ministry is partnering with Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia to redesign key urban infrastructure, encompassing public housing layouts and toilets to shower facilities aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles. Adrianta Aziz, the president of PAM, shares his insights into what this means for the future of KL.

This episode of The First Look was brought to you by Emirates. Fly better, fly Emirates

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