Malayan Chinese muted response to the Malayan Union proposal in 1946 which promised common citizenship rights and equal opportunity to non-Malays have not been sufficiently explained by existing literature. This article suggests that such muted response is due to the presence of Chinese transnationalism that diluted and diverted the community’s
Continue reading
How does institutional quality dictate a bureaucracy’s ability to change? Should we see change as transformational? Or should we see change as incremental, one that takes place in small steps over time? Are institutional legacies great impediments to change? This is a newly released book that touches on various issues
Continue reading
This is a recent article I wrote for Critical Asian Studies. In the article I raise the point that any intervention in Myanmar should take careful note of the complexities of Myanmar’s political economy and the country’s institutional quality where democratic institutions are still at a nascent stage. ASEAN, specifically,
Continue reading
Malaysia is set to announce its budget for 2021 this coming 6 November. How will the Malaysian budget look like? How different will this budget be compared to the pre-covid 19 budget statements. One certainty is that Malaysia’s budget deficit is set to breach its self-imposed limit of 5.5% of
Continue reading
Singapore opened its 14th parliamentary session recently. This came on the back of a general election held in early July. By any measure of democratic elections Singapore’s recent election is a thumping victory for the People’s Action Party (PAP) which has ruled the 700 square km island- state since 1959.
Continue reading
The global economy is already in recession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conservative estimate is that the pandemic will cost the global economy at least some US$ 1 trillion dollars this year with the World Economic Forum estimating the world economy to grow by just 0.5 percent
Continue reading
No one, back in December 2019, would have thought that the Coronovirus flu that started in Wuhan, China, would have taken the devastating scale it is now exacting. The virus is paralysing national economies. Normal life has been greatly disturbed by a flu pandemic never seen in modern history. Countries
Continue reading
The World Bank has released a report on Malaysia ‘s public sector performance. In the report the Bank says that Malaysia’s civil service is doing better than most of its regional peers. However, the performance of the Malaysian civil service has plateaued from its peak in 2014 which, threatens the
Continue reading
I wrote this paper in 2016 when I spent some time as a visiting research fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. The article talks about the possibility of political change in Malaysia. I gave a pessimistic view of political change in Malaysia. I still hold that view.
Continue reading
Malaysia has embarked on several ambitious transformation programs to improve policy design and delivery. One of its policy initiatives is the National Transformation Programme (NTP) which comprises of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). This chapter examines the role of a unit tasked to carry
Continue reading