The Constitution (Amendment) Bill passed in 2019 lowered the voting age of Malaysians from 21 to 18 years old. This resulted in approximately 5.8 million first-time voters heading to the ballots, a considerable number, given that the electorate consisted of 21 million eligible voters in...
Seeking Stability amidst Growing Tensions: Navigating Turbulent Waters in the Cross-Straits Relations Intensifying cross-straits friction and Taiwan’s structural politico-economic challenges underpinned the focus of a Boardroom Briefing organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) on 9 February 2023. The speakers were Professor Simon Tay,...
The onset of COVID-19 took the region by surprise, and countries have scrambled to formulate policies such as travel restrictions to combat the outbreak. Yet, regional economies are already feeling the strain. Tourism numbers have dropped significantly, and growth forecasts with them. The extent of...
Malaysia's Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is the biggest constituent party in the ruling Pakatan Harapan government, but also the most unstable. A virtual civil war has broken out between factions backing party President Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy President Azmin Ali, and recently came to the...
Indonesian President Joko Widodo unveiled his cabinet shortly after his inauguration on 20 October. Filled with a mix of politicians and technocrats, there are both familiar faces and new entries among the group of 38. They will be tasked with implementing the President's ambitious reform...
Malaysia's Budget 2020 was unveiled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Friday, 11 October. While not as ambitious in terms of spending as Budget 2019, it had a number of interesting features that warrant a closer look. In addition, concerns have been raised about...
Hong Kong’s Protests: Economic Damage and Long-Term Implications On 3 October 2019, we held a talk with Ms. Li Xueying, Enterprise Editor, The Straits Times and Dr. Steven Cochrane, Chief APAC Economist, Moody's Analytics, examining the implications of the protests in Hong Kong. The session was...
The strategic concept of the Indo-Pacific emerged in late 2017. Publicised by US President Donald Trump during his visits to Asian countries in November 2017, the core goal of the strategy is to prevent unfavourable shifts of power via close cooperation with US allies and...