Morning Brief

In France, Prime Minister François Bayrou has become the fourth to fall in just three years. This marks a deepening of a crisis that threatens President Emmanuel Macron’s ability to steer the country through mounting economic and geopolitical pressures. Dr Benjamin Barton, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia tells us what to expect next and is France doomed to repeat this political deadlock again.

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Google dodged a major penalty last week as a US court stopped short of breaking up the company in the case regarding its search engine monopoly. We speak to Dr. Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications from the University of Sydney, about what this ruling means for parent company Alphabet and the wider tech industry.

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Malaysia’s two pre-university pathways — STPM and matriculation — may need reform, as the tougher and longer STPM syllabus puts its students at a disadvantage. Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin suggests short-term solutions such as introducing a common entry exam for both streams or giving greater weighting to STPM results.

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The Urban Renewal Bill 2025 has sparked debate as it may concentrate too much power in the minister, favour developers, and leave homeowners vulnerable. Acknowledging these risks, seven PKR MPs have called for the Bill to be reviewed and only retabled when the Dewan Rakyat reconvenes in October. We speak to Dato' Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, MP for Balik Pulau, who is among the MPs that co-signed the call for review for his reservations on the URA and how this bill can be improved to benefit all.

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Bank Negara Malaysia has kept the overnight policy rate unchanged at 2.75% in its second-last review of the year, as widely expected.

The decision follows a pre-emptive 25-basis-point cut in July, the first since July 2020. Firdaos Rosli, Chief Economist, AmBank Group tells us his monetary policy expectations and also the economic outlook for Malaysia.

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Paetongtarn Shinawatra became the latest casualty of Thai politics in her family after she was removed as Prime Minister by the Thai Constitutional Court last week. What does this mean for the once-powerful Shinawatra dynasty and can the new Prime Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul of the BJP steer the country to steadier waters? We discuss this with Dr. Greg Raymond of ANU.

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Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo has announced that all liabilities of Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) will be fully borne by its three shareholder telcos — CelcomDigi, Maxis, and YTL Power International — once the government divests from the company. To unpack the implications of this move, we’ll be speaking with Ng Zhu Hann, CEO and Founder of investment firm Tradeview Capital.

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China has hosted world leaders including Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un for its 80th Victory Day parade in Beijing, marking the end of World War II and Japan’s surrender. It was intended to showcase China's military might and global influence. Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute, talks about what a potential Beijing-led new world order might look like.

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Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah announced that the government is drafting a new tax incentive framework to attract more high-value investments. Dr. Veerinderjeet Singh, Senior Adviser on Tax Policy at KPMG. With the shifting global order and intense competition among governments for capital, are tax incentives the best tool for Malaysia to position itself as a preferred investment destination? We discuss this with tax expert Dr. Veerinderjeet Singh.

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Widespread protests in Indonesia have stretched on for a fortnight, while uncertainty over who will lead Thailand after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed last week, have rocked these two nations' economies. Rena Kwok, a credit analyst for Asian financials at Bloomberg Intelligence, shares her insights into how financial institutions in this region are reacting.

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