Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 25 November – 1 December 2019 edition. The World Bank Doing Business 2020 Report cited improvements in the ease of doing business in four ASEAN countries, with Singapore maintaining
Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 4 – 10 November 2019 edition. Whatever the next policy move or interim deal between Washington and Beijing, the days of friendly competition are over. And the massive street
Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 28 October – 3 November 2019 edition. Policy advocacy is hard work, in that it takes an excruciatingly lengthy engagement process to find common grounds with the rightful policy
As a speaker at the Smart Showcase Series – The Future of Fintech in ASEAN conference, organised by CIMB ASEAN Research Institute (CARI) in August, I realised that cooperation between France and Malaysia on
It’s fair to say that ASEAN is finding itself in between a rock and a hard place. With the trade war between the US and China seeing no sign of concluding, the region’s export-oriented
Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 19th – 25th August 2019 edition. I have recently been working in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), evaluating how the concept of the “eco-civilisation” – an objective of the
Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 29 July – 4 August 2019 edition. The controversy over the rare earths industry in Malaysia seems to have fallen down a rabbit hole of simplistic questions chasing simplistic
The people of Indonesia exercised their democratic rights when they participated in the general presidential and legislative elections on 17 April 2019. The presidential election, in particular, has been seen as arguably the most
Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 20th – 26th February 2019 edition. Countries do not have perpetual friends or perpetual enemies – only perpetual interests. That was as true in Lord Palmerston’s time as it
Originally published in TheEdge Malaysia, 18th – 24th February 2019 edition. The Chinese economy is not about to implode despite the alarming media headlines of late. Things are not that bad … but they