Morning Brief

The Indonesian government is moving to ease public concerns over economic hardship and lawmakers’ housing perks. Lavanya Venkateswaran, Senior ASEAN Economist at OCBC, expects the economy to stay on track with 4.7% growth, supported by another policy rate cut from the central bank.

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As Malaysians face rising living costs, the government has rolled out the SARA cash aid program and is set to introduce a targeted RON95 petrol subsidy for eligible households and motorists. Are these initiatives enough to ease the economic burden? We speak with Prof. Emeritus Datuk Dr. Norma Mansor, Director of the Social Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Malaya.

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President Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to the notion of Federal Reserve independence by putting immense political pressure on the central bank to cut interest rates. How might the loss of an independent Fed affect the US economy and market sentiment? We discuss this with Mark Spindel, Chief Investment Officer of Potomac River Capital. He co-authored the book "The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve.

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Despite having an estimated 16.1 million metric tonnes of rare earth elements, Malaysia has struggled to build a competitive industry. With China offering technical assistance, can the country boost its position in the global REE market? To explore this, we speak with Trung Ghi, Partner and Head of Energy & Utilities at Arthur D. Little Asia Pacific.

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Protests have broken out in different parts of Indonesia and have grown increasingly violent and chaotic, even deadly. Erin Cook, a journalist for Southeast Asian Affairs based in Jakarta shares her views on how demonstrations over the government's spending policies escalated after the accidental death of a food delivery rider and where we are today.

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The Segamat area in Johor was hit by six earthquakes over the past week, raising concerns about whether Malaysian buildings, especially high-rise ones can withstand these seismic movements. Prof Dr Daniel Looi, Head of the School of Engineering at Sunway University, shares his thoughts on how Malaysian building laws address these issues, if at all.

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On Tuesday, the Federal Court unanimously dismissed a company’s application to reclaim part of a land acquired by the government about two decades ago for the Old Klang Road upgrade project. To help us understand the significance of this ruling, we speak to Aufa Radzi, Partner at the law firm Skrine.

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Nvidia posted record second-quarter earnings, but its outlook is clouded by stalled China sales under U.S. export curbs. George Chen, partner and co-chair of the Digital Practice at The Asia Group, shares his take on the road ahead.

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Despite an opposition walkout during the reading of the controversial Government Procurement Bill 2025, the bill was passed. Alissa Rode, Senior Manager for Research at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), pointed to loopholes in the bill, including provisions that concentrate procurement decisions in the hands of the Finance Ministry.

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In light of the Public Accounts Committee report highlighting land development issues in Kuala Lumpur, a group of MPs are pushing for local government elections to be revived in the capital city. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, MP for Setiawangsa details the rationale for the proposal.

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