Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment
Last month the Malaysian and Southeast Asian media was abuzz with the dramatic twists and turns surrounding the trial of Anwar Ibrahim and the prospect of an early election in Malaysia.
Less noticed was an announcement by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, that it had sold its 47.2 per cent stake in the country’s national car company, Proton, to Malaysian conglomerate DRB-HICOM. Read more…
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, MIU, Malaysia
The Najib government has given renewed focus to Malaysia’s international economic relations, including liberalisation and increasing interaction with the global economy.
This approach is understandable for a small, open economy that is particularly dependent on export-driven growth, and faces considerable pressure to attract FDI and increase its exports. Read more…
Author: Mahani Zainal Abidin, ISIS Malaysia
After stating in 2010 his vision to transform Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib’s task in 2011 was to turn vision into reality.
The Government Transformation Programme made some progress on this front, improving the delivery of some public services. A number of Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects also delivered higher private-sector investments and successful large property joint ventures between the government and the private sector, both of which helped revive the investment climate. Read more…
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, MIU, Malaysia
The present and future quality of Malaysia’s human capital is of considerable concern for the country’s policy makers.
Human capital is not improving as it should, and it threatens to constrain Malaysia’s growth objectives. Read more…
Author: Arief Ramayandi, ADB
The slow resolution of the European debt crisis has evolved into a liquidity problem which threatens the global financial system.
And these long-drawn-out efforts to address the sovereign debt problems have heightened uncertainties about resolving the crisis and induced speculative activities, threatening the survival of many European banks. Read more…
Author: John Hemmings, CSIS, Honolulu
At both the APEC and ASEAN summits, attempts were made to deal with the building impasse over the South China Sea issue.
Tensions over the region have grown steadily since 2009, after China, Vietnam and Malaysia submitted their respective claims under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China’s naval exercises in the region and apparent willingness to showcase its military capabilities in favour of its claims have also exacerbated these tensions. Read more…
Author: Liu Shuguang, Ocean University of China
China’s central government approved Guangdong Province’s plan to build a national-level marine economic-development zone on 20 July, establishing a clear trend in this direction.
Guangdong’s is the third plan approved so far this year, following those for Shandong and Zhejiang. Read more…
Author: Nazry Bahrawi, NUS
A decade after 9/11, the pursuit of ‘moderate Islam’ as the antithesis to ‘radical Islam’ has changed the contours of Islamic theology in Southeast Asia in unimaginable ways.
But, while largely positive, this scramble for moderate Islam can run counter to the progressive ideal of pluralism if touted overzealously. Read more…
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, Manipal International University, Malaysia
As the US loses its AAA rating, and Japan takes a slide to AA-, can the Malaysian economy hold its candle in the global storm that is brewing?
In what is an already gloomy environment, there is no doubt that the weather ahead is likely to turn grey, and Malaysia’s credit rating slipping from A+ to A in early September 2011 is proving an ominous sign. Read more…
Author: Marianne Dickie, ANU
The recent High Court of Australia decision effectively ended the Australian Government’s ‘Malaysia Solution’, where the incumbent Labor government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard had agreed on a bilateral deal with Malaysia that would see 800 asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat be taken to Malaysia.
In return, Australia would accept 4,000 already-processed refugees from Malaysia over four years. Importantly the High Court case exposed the weakness behind the Malaysia Solution and the faulty premise upon which it was established. Read more…
Author: Ong Kian Ming, UCSI University
The heart of Kuala Lumpur is usually chock full of traffic on a weekend. But on Saturday 9 July downtown KL was eerily empty of cars.
Police presence, however, was very noticeable, in the form of roadblocks positioned at major roads leading into the city, fire trucks equipped with water cannons, and helicopters hovering overhead. Read more…
Author: Nurhisham Hussein, Economics Malaysia
An interesting experiment is going on in Malaysia. The administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak has embarked on an economic transformation plan that marks a clear departure from the development plans of Malaysia’s past.
In years past Malaysia’s development plans, while ostensibly focusing on economic growth and structural changes, had been in actuality little more than budget priorities for the federal government. Read more…
Author: John Funston, ANU
On 9 July around 50,000 Malaysians marched peacefully in support of free elections, defying a government prohibition and massive police effort.
Police eventually dispersed demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas and arrested nearly 1,700. Several were injured (including the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim) and one died from injury. Read more…
Author: Clark B. Lombardi, University of Washington
Islamic law is playing an increasing role in the Malaysian legal system. While many celebrate this trend, liberal Muslims inside and outside of Malaysia are concerned.
In particular, liberal Muslims are concerned about the recent application of strict Islamic law to women, Muslims who hold unorthodox beliefs, or religious minorities. Read more…
Author: Michael D Barr, Flinders University
The sudden retirement of Lee Kuan Yew from the Singapore Cabinet last month following the ruling party’s poor showing in the general elections is a tremendous victory for his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Ironically, the younger Lee’s moral stature in Cabinet has been given a major boost by the ruling party’s dreadful showing in the May 2011 elections as he has been able to shift all the blame onto others — notably his two predecessors as prime minister (Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong) and a few poorly performing Cabinet ministers, who also stepped down after the election. Read more…
