One of the defining developments of our time is the increasingly fractious relationship between the US and China. No one should underestimate the dangers posed by two nuclear-armed big powers pushing and shoving against each other. That is all the more the case for Southeast Asia, which will be o...

My Say: Is geopolitical turbulence really so bad for our region?

Seven years ago, in April 2016, Malaysia officially signed on to the Paris Agreement to pledge its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. But since then, there has been no sight of a definitive road map to achieve this national goal, leading to questions on whether this remains only an ...

My Say: Carbon pricing for our future

This year, even before the northern hemisphere hot season began, temperature records were being shattered. Spain for instance saw temperatures in April (38.8°C) that would be out of the ordinary even at the peak of summer. South and south-east Asia in particular were hammered by a very persistent heatwave, and all-time record temperatures were experienced in countries such as Vietnam and Thailand (44°C and 45°C respectively). In Singapore, the more modest record was also broken, as temperatures hit 37°C. And in China, Shanghai just recorded its highest May temperature for over a century at 36.7°C.

Why 40°C is bearable in a desert but lethal in the tropics

The term “middle-income trap”, as it applies to Malaysia, was given prominence in 2010 during the tabling of the New Economic Model and the rollout of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) under the Najib administration. The purpose of the ETP, according to its 2010 report, was to “lift Mal...

My Say: Escaping the middle-income mindset

New nations, by virtue of being “new”, suffer immediate ontological challenges. Not only does this concern its very existence as an integrated geographical entity, a national economy and a united polity, but also its acceptance by neighbouring countries and big global powers.

And so, on...

Picking On The Present: Why Malaysia always feels more likely to fail than succeed

At the upcoming parliamentary sitting in June, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to table the Health White Paper (HWP), which will set out the guiding principles and strategies to reform and strengthen the country’s healthcare system. As co-chairs and members of the 13-person H...

State Of Health: Now is the time for health reforms

Any visit by a Malaysian prime minister to China is a test of gumption, enterprise and judgment. When the leader of a country that is as strategically pivotal as Malaysia deals with a major power, every word and gesture is watched by audiences — both foreign and domestic — with abundant detail an...

My Say: Anwar’s China visit combines economic diplomacy with geopolitical hedging

As a parent of young children, I find myself occasionally (ahem, okay, quite often) blurting out “threats” when my children refuse to listen. A common refrain is this: “Don’t lie to me. Mummy knows, Mummy always knows.”

At this point in their little lives, as creative as they can get wi...

Coffee Break: The taxman always knows

YNH Property Bhd’s announcement on the sale of a piece of land in Kuala Lumpur on May 16 has raised more than a few eyebrows and even prompted two rounds of very targeted questioning by the stock exchange regulator Bursa Malaysia.

In the second batch of queries that was announced last T...

Frankly Speaking: A lesson learnt for YNH

The appointment of three new directors to the board of Bahvest Resources Bhd is an indication that the boardroom fight is over.

Yet, the problems for minority shareholders of the company, which has interests in the mining of gold in Sabah, are far from over.

In an announcement...

Frankly Speaking: More turmoil in Bahvest

Everyone makes mistakes, but a mistake that is repeated is no longer a mistake. It is a choice that one makes and the outcome will likely be no different.

The government has upsized the budget for the controversial littoral combat ship (LCS) project to RM11.2 billion from RM9.2 billion....

Frankly Speaking: Bigger budget, smaller deal, same contractor

Extraordinary demand for Coldplay and Jacky Cheung concert tickets recently provided golden opportunities for scalpers. According to reports, Coldplay tickets were being resold for up to RM43,000, with a fan said to be ready to even shell out RM111,111 for a concert ticket.

The brouhaha...

Frankly Speaking: We don’t need new laws; just fix the system

The Ministry of Home Affairs raided numerous Swatch stores in Malaysia over three days in May, seizing more than 170 rainbow-coloured timepieces under the Swiss watchmaker’s Pride Collection because of their alleged LGBT connotations. The watches were seized using the Printing Presses and Publica...

Frankly Speaking: Seizure of Swatch’s rainbow watches is ridiculous

Is American politics so dysfunctional that the US government can’t even pay its bills on time? That is the central question behind the latest debt ceiling drama playing out in Washington, DC. So far, efforts to increase the country’s borrowing limit suggest that the answer could very well be yes....

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