With Cambodia-Thailand Peace Pact signed in Malaysia, Trump declares this to be a momentous day for South East Asia. In Trump’s speech - “I would also like to thank Anwar. I called him right at the beginning and said, ‘You have two countries fighting right next to you. We need a third place, a neutral place,' and he was there.” Does this mark the beginning of a golden age for Malaysia - a neutral nation advocating and facilitating peace?
It has been 1 month plus since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who is well known even among ordinary people in Malaysia. Some people said he was killed because of his Christian faith, but we believe he’s killed for his discussion of ideas.
Domestically, the issues remain the same - religion, racial, DEI (quota), economic sluggishness, competition among the different versions of Malaysia. Aat the end our focus remains - what kind of Malaysia do we want to see?
In a brilliant article by John Carney of Breitbart titled “Putting a Price on Admission to America’s Market”, we discussed in this episode as to how did we, Malaysian government, get from "I am not going to pay a single payment of tariff" to "thank you very much, 19% tariff is an excellent deal.” Tune in to find out more.
Article credit: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/07/29/breitbart-business-digest-putting-a-price-on-admission-to-americas-markets/
As Malaysia struck a deal at the eleventh hour with the Trump administration, we discussed in this episode what might have been the ideal tariff deals for Malaysia, especially when our Prime Minister has been recently labelled as “cukaiman” (aka tax man) with the introduction of sales and service tax even on the imported fruits.
In Zaid Ibrahim’s facebook post, he said, “Guided by its Council of Guardians - religious scholars with deep ideological conviction - Iran not only survived but asserted its independence despite decades of war and crippling sanctions from global superpowers.”
In this episode, we explored Nurul Izzah’s brave opinion where it is said that scholars have no influence in Malaysia; only religious bureaucrats. Will Malaysia be able to navigate through the “moderate” and less religious way of expressing freedom in this season where it is said that Malaysia’s halal certification is even more stringent than that of Saudi Arabia, an emblem of Islamic nation?
Framed as part of the Madani Government’s broader fiscal reform efforts, Malaysians have been thrusted into the supposed reform that are in fact patchwork fix for underlying ever expanding government expenditure. More and more, the Madani tax is looking like Mamdani tax that is aimed to redistribute wealth. Are we looking at waning support for PMX for the lack of fiscal reform? Tune in to find out more on the local news analysis.
Nations Realignment through Trump’s Middle East Visit (Ep.123)
In the recent visit to Middle East, Trump called out “Nation-building Neo-Cons” and liberal “Non-Profit” who had betrayed the ordinary people in the nation; and it was apparent that from the visit, Trump’s main focus remains to be putting America first.
In that visit, it came as a surprise to many when Trump was greeted with warm standing ovation when he told investors in Saudi Arabia that he was lifting sanctions off of Syria and opened the gates to Arab investment in Syria. At such important transition times for many nations, Malaysia included, how would the nations chart their way forward? Would it be like European Nation that is making non-committal negotiations to resolve trade deficits with the US or would other nations follow the pathway of the United Kingdom to strike the favourable deal for both nations?
Rafizi recently made a statement - "If Nurul Izzah loses, people would say Anwar has been rejected by his own party. So what choice do you have here?" In this episode, we explore the significance of this party election that may impact the general election.
Malaysia’s halal import restrictions and requirements for bumiputera equity in foreign-owned companies have been flagged by the United States as non-tariff barriers, which is viewed as a lack of reciprocity in the bilateral trade relationships between the two nations.
In this episode, we explored various topics, such as “Will the conclave elect a Pope that is different from the late Pope Francis who placed a heavy focus on social justice issues?” and “Will Malaysia, particularly under the leadership of PMX, choose right instead of the continual hold onto decades-old ineffective bumiputera policy?”
A master class in negotiation, Trump recognised a reality and perhaps predicted Beijing's belligerent approach to Trump's call for fairness in trade deals. In this episode, we discussed the recent trip that President Xi has made to Malaysia, and if Malaysia would remain neutral in trade deals with US and China despite the belligerent approach taken by China against the US.
Since the Liberation Day on 2 April, the world has been thrust into introspection of the unfair “free trade policies”, which is seemingly “without economic sense” as American Enterprise Institute bluntly declared.
Ahead of the scheduled visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Malaysia on 15 April, we discussed in this episode if Southeast Asia countries will remain truly neutral in the trade war as it grows in influence as emergent key market for China’s manufacturing powerhouses.
In this episode, we have a guest speaker, Ch’ng Xin Ying, with whom we discussed the nuanced assertions and counter-assertions on group preferences and quotas. Innumerable principles have been used to justify affirmative action programs, but are we able to hope for a better alternative to affirmative action in this rainbow nation of Malaysia?
The recent CEC election results have signaled a generational change with the rise of new crop of party leaders. In this episode, we discussed with our guest speaker, David Tiang, on the directional shift within DAP that would be more palatable to the voters before the next general election.
Ahead of the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) Election on 16 March, we have two special guests on this show as we discussed the key question surrounding the election as posed by Professor James Chin.
“Will the Lim family remain a dominant force or will a new leadership emerge?”
Many critics have equated Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship to a disappointing start, with possibility of supposed “neutrality” in ASEAN-US relations risks Trump’s ire as Anwar cosies up to Gulf nations and China.
In this episode, we also discuss Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar’s passive-aggressive stance on class war between the poor vs. the ultra rich” as he continues the position of Robin Hood locally and regionally in ASEAN’s summit.
With the federal protest on 19 February 2025 against Elon Musk’s “takeover” of public service jobs, we explore the dreaded topic by Malaysian politicians of waste and civil service inefficiency. While several political analysts have alluded to the idea of DOGE, will there come a time when implementation of similar “drastic” measures would happen in Malaysia?Credits:Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Rex/ShutterstockPhotograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Barely 3 weeks into the new American administration, President Donald J. Trump continues to attract and commands the attention of the world. It is not a hyperbole to suggest that every word, official decree issued by Trump (and of course his administration) commanded the attention of the world. Whether you are an aspiring super power like China or a smaller player like Malaysia, Trump is fundamentally challenging and changing the global system – for the better or the worse.
In his inaugural address, the 47th President of United States of America proclaims ‘The Golden Age of America Begins Right Now’. In line with the historic start to President Donald Trump’s second term, the President signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any president in history.
In this episode, we witnessed the Trump Effect where most importantly, common sense has been restored to the government, with executive order signed in ensuring the elimination of discriminatory DEI practices and ensuring merit-based hiring. With such tremendous effects, we are hopeful that Malaysia would begin to come out of an era of victimhood to becoming a champion of hiring based on competence, ability, and genius.
While 2024 was a year many conservative values were upheld, from Labours voters flock to Farage’s Reform Party over mass migration, to Trump’s impressive political comeback, we see in Malaysia, Christian MP was being persecuted on grounds of national security for a book on her faith journey that was released a decade ago. As we conclude 2024, we look forward to new theme for 2025 in this podcast.
As we come to a close of the chapter for 2024, we look at few significant events that took place, from Zelensky’s benefit from domestic corruption and geopolitical conflict with Russia for close to 3 years now, to UK election. Tune in for more on our continual discussion for self determination, small government and pursuit of happiness.
