Morning Brief

• We’re taking a closer look at a document that will shape Subang Jaya for the next decade, that is, the Subang Jaya Local Plan 2035. It decides what gets built, how dense neighborhoods can be, and how the city evolves as it grows. We’ll be asking Michelle Ng Mei Sze, Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya, about what’s at stake, what rights residents have, and how transparent the process really is.

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Recent tensions between China and Japan have led to fewer tourists numbers from the Mainland . This might have a signifcant effect as 24% of all tourists to the Japan for the first nine months of 2025 were from China. Catherine Lim, Senior Industry Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence tells us what impact it has on retail and tourism names. We also look if consumer sentiment has improved in China using the Single Day sales as an indicator.

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Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Chief Minister of Sabah, unveiled his new cabinet, but some local assemblypersons have expressed anger over key appointments due to the inclusion of national party leaders, which they see as a betrayal of the “Sabah first” promise. We’ll discuss the stability of this new administration with Dr Vilashini Somiah, Senior Lecturer at University Malaya

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2026 appears to be a year of transition as the impact of tariffs and geopolitical tensions take hold with global growth slowing. However are there still bring spots in Asia's economy ? Lavanya Venkateswaran, Senior ASEAN Economist, OCBC gives us her perspective.

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The Finance Bill 2025 introduces new taxes that will directly affect business owners, professionals, and higher-income earners. We’ll speak with Dr. Veerinderjeet Singh, senior advisor on tax policy from KPMG, on what these changes mean in practical terms, who will feel them most, and what you should be preparing for ahead of the assessment year 2026.

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We speak to Vincent Fong, Chief Editor, Fintech News Network to discuss Malaysia's fintech industry, zeroing into critical segments like digital banks, cross-border payments and BNPL. As industry players seek to improve resilience of infrastructure and policymakers amending the Consumer Credit Act 2025, we discuss how these developments may impact the fintech industry.

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The government highlights that a third of Malaysia’s FDI now comes from the CPTPP economies. Is this genuinely improving Malaysia’s trade and investment outlook or is the CPTPP effect overstated? Dr. Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education answers this questions whilst we also look at the recent PMI figures for clues as Malaysia's trade outlook.

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DAP faced a wipeout in the Sabah state elections over the weekend, losing all 8 seats they contested in. Is this a trend that will be repeated in other state elections and GE16? And how can DAP win back its supporters? Professor Dr Ong Kian Ming, DAP member and Adjunct Professor at Taylor's University gives us his perspective.

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After a volatile year for bonds in 2024, returns have been good for this asset this year especially Malaysia where there was the additional forex gains. However what is the outlook for bonds in 2026, will this rally continue or is the uncertain US monetary policy a headwind. Winson Phoon, Head of Fixed Income Research, Maybank Investment Bank gives us his perspective and investment strategy to adopt.

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There is a rising wave of US involvement in Latin America, where public endorsements in Honduras’ election and military deployments near Venezuela might be reshaping regional dynamics. John Zogby, founder of Zogby Strategies, helps us understand the implications for stability, democracy, and the legality of it all.

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