SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim began his tenure with a pledge to enact structural reforms and boost investor confidence in Malaysia. But after eight months on the job, the veteran politician is finding it hard to pull the Southeast Asian nation out of a years-long economic funk. The local stock market saw foreign outflows of 4.19 billion ringgit (US$920 million) in the first half of 2023, with a benchmark gauge that is among the worst global performers so far this year. The...

JOHOR BAHRU – Malaysia is in the grip of a political impasse after a general election on November 19 produced a hung parliament with no clear winning party or coalition. More than four days since polling day, prime ministerial contenders Muhyiddin Yassin and Anwar Ibrahim have struggled to substantiate their conflicting claims of majority support. Opposition leader Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) won 81 seats at the polls, putting it ahead of Muhyiddin’s conservative Perikatan Nasional (PN)...

Singapore is finding itself at the epicenter of global media attention as the world waits to watch North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet US President Donald Trump at the first-ever US-North Korea summit, scheduled for June 12. The fact that the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state was chosen as the venue for the super high-profile summit was enabled by several factors – not least, North Korean trust. Singapore has hosted a North Korean embassy since 1975 and offers a top-down development model...

When US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un exchange their first-ever handshake at a resort hotel in Singapore, the city-state playing host to the historic meeting will be hoping for a breakthrough. Whatever the outcome of this week’s high-stakes summit, Singapore is pulling out all the stops to ensure its success. Casting Singapore as a prestige venue for high-security events, its top diplomat at the center of recent shuttle diplomacy suggests the city-state is also...