How a lie could bring down Singapore’s opposition

Singapore’s opposition Workers’ Party is ensnared in a controversy that could see its leaders fined and jailed

Less than 18 months after making historic electoral gains, Singapore’s largest opposition party, the Workers’ Party (WP), has been shaken by a controversy that threatens its credibility and puts its leadership at risk of being sanctioned with fines or jail by the city-state’s legislature, where the ruling party commands a supermajority.

The scandal has dominated political headlines in Singapore since November 1, when WP lawmaker Raeesah Khan admitted she lied in parliament about accompanying a sexual assault victim to a police station where the latter was allegedly mocked and treated insensitively by a police officer handling her complaint.

After sharing the anecdote in August during a debate on women’s empowerment, Raeesah came clean three months later, confessing she did not follow the victim to the police station, but heard the account in a sexual assault survivors support group she was part of, nor did she have the victim’s consent to share the account publicly.

Raeesah, 28, said she attended the group session because she had been sexually assaulted at the age of 18 while studying abroad. Telling the complete story, she implied in a tearful speech, would have required publicly outing herself as a sexual assault victim, an experience she had not told her parents about at the time.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Omicron stalks SE Asia’s post-Covid hopes and dreams

Caseloads and deaths are down and reopening gathering pace but the new highly contagious variant could scupper those plans

Southeast Asian nations have been eager to leave behind a year that saw record-high Covid-19 caseloads, skyrocketing death rates and economically debilitating lockdowns. With rising inoculation rates recently stabilizing the situation across most of the region, the rapid global spread of the vaccine-eluding Omicron variant threatens to reverse those gains.

The emergence of the highly mutated pathogen, first identified in South Africa and classified as a "variant of concern" last month by the World Health Organization (WHO), is stoking fears of a pandemic resurgence as several global countries, most notably the United Kingdom, face runaway transmissions linked to the ultra-contagious strain.

Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand have each detected Omicron cases, raising the specter of new waves of infections and hospitalizations, a scenario that threatens to delay or reverse reopening plans, prolong travel curbs and new rounds of economic and social pain after two years of widespread suffering.

A University of Hong Kong preliminary study showed the Omicron variant infects around 70 times faster than the Delta and original Covid-19 strain. The study found that the variant replicated less efficiently – more than 10 times lower – in the human lung tissue, which may signal a lower severity of disease, particularly among the vaccinated.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Ruling leaves Najib on the hook for 1MDB

Court rejects ex-premier’s appeal of a landmark corruption conviction in decision that deems his actions a ‘national embarrassment’

A landmark corruption conviction against former prime minister Najib Razak was unanimously upheld by Malaysia’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday (December 8), a ruling that could slow the ex-leader’s political comeback ambitions and sow new divisions in the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) where he remains highly influential.

The appellate court dismissed the former premier’s appeal to reverse a guilty verdict handed down last July in relation to the misappropriation of 42 million ringgit (US$9.9 million) from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a now-defunct investment vehicle of the scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund.

Najib, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and handed a 210 million ringgit ($49.7 million) fine on seven charges encompassing abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering. Appellate court Judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil said he agreed with the High Court’s earlier conviction and sentencing.

But the former premier’s avenues for appealing his guilty verdict are not yet exhausted. Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib’s lead defense counsel, said his case would be appealed next at the Federal Court, the country’s highest and final appellate court. The Court of Appeal then granted a further stay of execution for Najib’s sentencing and conviction.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Make or break for ASEAN to matter in Myanmar

Cambodia's chairmanship of regional bloc is not expected to bring a breakthrough in Myanmar's intensifying morass

After being excluded from last month’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in an unprecedented rebuke of Myanmar’s recalcitrant military regime, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was similarly conspicuously absent from two virtual ASEAN meetings with the European Union (EU) and China this week.

In what analysts viewed as the most severe sanction against any ASEAN member has ever been dealt by the regional bloc, ASEAN leaders barred the commander-in-chief, increasingly regarded as an international pariah, from attending an October 26-28 summit and called for a “non-political” Myanmar figure to participate instead. The junta refused.

Frustrated by Naypyidaw’s failure to honor pledges to allow an ASEAN special envoy access to deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected lawmakers overthrown in February’s coup, the decision to bar the junta chief was seen as a last-ditch effort to salvage credibility lost to the months-long impasse.

Now, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen taking the reins of ASEAN’s annually rotating chairmanship in 2022, debate is swirling over whether Phnom Penh has the mettle to display leadership by dealing sternly with Myanmar or instead defer to China, its closest political ally and economic benefactor, in its handling of the crisis.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Najib on the comeback trail with Melaka poll sweep

Corruption-tainted ex-prime minister leads UMNO to thumping state election win that could bolster his bid to retake the premiership

To those who celebrated the downfall of Malaysia’s graft-tainted and since criminally-convicted former premier Najib Razak at 2018’s watershed election, heralded at the time as a democratic new beginning, the results of the bellwether state election in Melaka on November 20 are sobering.

The ex-prime minister, despite being virtually synonymous with the globe-spanning multi-billion dollar the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, was the political face of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s resounding victory over the weekend, clinching a supermajority in the state legislature by capturing 21 of 28 seats.

Analysts see the decisive win for Najib’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the lynchpin of the BN coalition, as a sign that the historic ruling party could go on to once again dominate national politics after the upcoming general election, which is not due until 2023 but is widely expected to be held in the latter half of next year or even earlier.

The results are also being seen as proof that Najib, who governed Malaysia from 2009 to 2018, has shaken off the taint of graft he has always adamantly denied and retained his popularity with voters even after being sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption and other charges last year, a verdict he has appealed while mounting a political comeback.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Spotlight on Singapore’s propensity to kill

Mentally disabled Malaysian on Singapore's death row for drug trafficking sparks a global outcry

Activists, lawyers and rights groups are calling on authorities in Singapore to halt plans to impose the death penalty on 33-year-old Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a mentally impaired Malaysian man convicted of drug trafficking, after a court stayed his imminent execution until further notice after he tested positive for Covid-19.

The announcement on Tuesday (November 9) came less than 24 hours before Nagaenthran was due to be executed by hanging at Singapore’s Changi Prison and gave relatives and advocates a glimmer of hope that his life will be spared. The Court of Appeal has yet to grant a prohibitory order against Nagaenthran’s execution sought by his lawyers.

Prominent rights lawyer M Ravi mounted an eleventh-hour judicial appeal before the High Court on Monday, arguing that executing a “mentally disabled person” would violate Singapore’s constitution and its international obligations as a signatory to a United Nations-sanctioned treaty protecting the rights of disabled persons.

The court dismissed the plaintiff’s argument but granted a temporary stay of execution to allow for an appeal of that decision. “We have got to use logic, common sense and humanity,” said judge Andrew Phang as he stayed the execution prior to the court’s adjournment. It is still unclear whether his death sentence will ultimately be commuted.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Ismail on a spending spree to revive Malaysia

New prime minister advances nation's richest ever budget with an eye on post-Covid recovery and possible early elections

After nearly two years under Covid-19 movement restrictions that have stifled the economy and shuttered thousands of small businesses, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government is betting that the largest budget in the country’s history will ease unemployment and spur a robust post-pandemic recovery.

The ambitious 332.1 billion ringgit (US$80.2 billion) spending plan is Ismail’s first since taking the reins as the nation’s ninth prime minister in August. The 2022 budget includes increased developmental spending, support for businesses, subsidies and cash aid, and a dedicated fund for combating Covid-19 and boosting public health care capacity.

Having signed an unprecedented political ceasefire with the opposition shortly after taking power, Ismail’s budget will likely win approval when Parliament votes on the plan in mid-November, analysts say. Ismail’s predecessor, Muhyiddin Yassin, only narrowly passed the 2021 budget amid speculation at the time that his government would fall.

The expansionary spending plan and its various support measures for low-income earners set the stage for an early general election that analysts suggest could be called as early as the middle of next year. Malaysia’s next polls must be held by 2023.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Power price surge could zap Singapore’s recovery

Spiking LNG prices have knocked four power providers out of business and forced regulators to intervene in the market

A dramatic spike in global liquified natural gas (LNG) spot prices and other supply issues have sent shockwaves across Singapore’s electricity market, causing at least four power providers to exit the retail market and the city-state’s power regulator to announce pre-emptive measures to safeguard energy security.

So far there has been no disruption to local electricity supplies. But experts and analysts say the question is less about keeping the lights on and more about whether businesses and consumers will have to pay substantially more for power amid an ongoing global fuel crunch. Higher power costs would, in turn, diminish prospects for a robust post-pandemic economic recovery in the global business hub.

China, the United Kingdom and other bellwether global economies are likewise grappling with power shortages and supply disruptions linked to price volatility, which Singapore is highly exposed to as it generates 95% of its power from natural gas imported by pipeline or tankers. The city-state is also one of the few countries in Asia to fully liberalize its retail electricity market.

Gas prices have surged since the beginning of the year due to a confluence of factors ranging from rising consumption driven by recovering economic activity, increased heating needs from harsher-than-usual winter conditions and a series of unplanned global production outages. Industry watchers say it’s anyone’s guess how long current price volatility levels may last.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Highly vaccinated Singapore sets a worrying example

City-state has one of the world's highest vaccination rates at 84% but new Covid cases nonetheless recently hit a new record high

With 84% of Singaporeans fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the highest percentages worldwide, many had expected authorities would by now be easing, not maintaining, social distancing and other contagion-curbing restrictions. But that’s exactly what officials are doing as the island nation seeks to cope with its largest outbreaks since the start of the pandemic.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MoH) announced on Wednesday (October 20) that stricter curbs introduced in late September as part of a so-called “stabilization phase” implemented to minimize health care system strains would be extended for another month as daily cases have soared to all-time highs.

As other nations begin pursuing reopening strategies and treating the coronavirus as endemic, Singapore’s experience is now being looked upon as a sobering case study, particularly for countries that have until now kept cases low by relying on strict measures but are under mounting pressure to manage, rather than eradicate, Covid-19.

Singapore’s daily cases hit a record 3,994 on October 19, with the seven-day average number of new infections more than tripling in the last month. The overall death toll has more than quadrupled over the same period, rising to 280 on October 21 from just 65. Authorities, meanwhile, have attested to rising pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Criminally convicted Najib free to leave Malaysia

Convicted ex-PM and his graft-accused wife allowed to enter Singapore after facing travel bans under previous governments

Criminally convicted former Malaysian premier Najib Razak, 68, and his graft-accused wife Rosmah Mansor, 69, are set to travel abroad for the first time in more than three years after courts in Kuala Lumpur allowed the pair to temporarily reclaim their impounded passports to visit their pregnant daughter in Singapore.

Lenience shown to the ex-premier and his wife have arguably validated misgivings that with the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) – the long-ruling party Najib once led – now back in power, the corruption-accused pair have a better chance of wriggling out of their legal troubles either through appeal, acquittal or even an eventual royal pardon.

A ruling by the Court of Appeal on Monday (October 18) permitted Najib to travel abroad from October 20 to November 22, just days after the country’s High Court approved a similar application for Rosmah, both of whom were barred from leaving Malaysia after the defeat of Najib’s scandal-plagued coalition at a historic 2018 general election.

In his application to the court, the ex-premier said he needed to provide mental and emotional support to his daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib, who experienced serious complications when giving birth to her first child and is due to deliver her second child soon at a private hospital in Singapore, where she lives.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Singapore curbs meddling but not everyone’s happy

Observers see sweeping new legislation against foreign ‘hostile information campaigns’ as a counter to Chinese cyber-espionage

The passage of a controversial bill aimed at preventing “foreign interference” in Singapore’s domestic politics has sparked debate in the city-state, with some airing concerns that the broadly worded Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, or FICA, could negatively impact perceptions of Singapore as a global hub.

Others see the new legislation, approved by the country’s parliament on October 4 after a nearly 11-hour debate, as being at least in part a reaction to signs of increasing Chinese cyber-espionage across Asia and the risk it could pose to the multiracial city-state, which has a large Mandarin-speaking ethnic-Chinese majority.

Rights groups and activists, meanwhile, have argued that the law overreaches by giving broad powers to the government and limiting judicial review. Critics have described FICA as being crafted to stifle dissent and target political activists, community organizers and independent media outlets under the guise of defending national sovereignty.

Singapore’s powerful Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said in his parliamentary speech that FICA is part of a “comprehensive strategy to deal with foreign interference,” calling it a “calibrated piece of legislation to allow us to act surgically against threats” while describing the internet as a “powerful new medium for subversion.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Malaysia’s Ismail reverts to a race-based past

New PM's five-year plan will ramp up pro-Malay affirmative action policies that have long hindered growth and competitiveness

A historic bipartisan agreement between Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government and the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition will be put to the test on Thursday (October 7) when lawmakers vote on the newly installed administration’s first major policy initiative.

Ismail tabled his government’s five-year road map, known as the 12th Malaysia Plan, in parliament on September 27. The plan calls for 400 billion ringgit (US$95.53 billion) in spending on development projects including new highways and rail networks, affordable housing, as well as improvements in health, education and broadband connectivity.

The ambitious blueprint aims to reverse a pandemic-induced downturn while targeting high-income nation status by 2025, breaking free of the so-called middle-income trap that economists have long-regarded Malaysia as being stuck in, with its once high per-capita growth rate stagnating for at least a decade.

But a key plank of Ismail’s plan calls for dialing up of race-based affirmative action policies that critics have long argued are overdue for reform, a move that has been panned by economists, industry groups and opposition lawmakers who say such measures will only benefit “cronies” instead of poor and working-class ethnic Malays.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Singapore finding it hard to ‘live with Covid’

City-state set to tighten social distancing rules amid a record surge in cases despite a world-beating 82% vaccination rate

Singapore’s “living with Covid” strategy is being tested by a record rise in new daily cases, laying bare the challenges of moving from pandemic to endemic. But health officials in the city-state, which at 82% boasts one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, have said the surge is a “rite of passage” on a path back to normality.

The government has so far refrained from reimposing sweeping lockdown restrictions but has hit the brakes on further reopening measures while signaling concern over ballooning infection rates. To ensure that the healthcare system can cope with the climbing caseload, authorities recently took the step of tightening social distancing rules.

Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s finance minister and co-chair of a multi-ministry Covid-19 task force, conceded on September 24 that Singaporeans would be disappointed by the new curbs but said the city-state remains committed to its endemic strategy. Daily cases will eventually stabilize but remain “much higher” than previously, said the minister.

“We are not going back to a scenario of low daily cases anymore. It’s not going to be possible, because we are moving forward to learn to live with the virus,” said Wong. “That’s part of the adjustment we all have to make to prepare ourselves for the time when Covid becomes an endemic disease and learn to live with more daily cases.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Bipartisan deal puts Malaysia’s PM on safer ground

Newly appointed premier clinches deal with opposition coalition in a boon for political stability and reform

A historic agreement signed this week between Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government and the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition looks set to ease months of political instability and shore up the government’s position as it grapples with Covid-19 and an economy hit hard by the pandemic.

Following a decree for more bipartisanship by the constitutional monarch, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on “Transformation and Political Stability” was inked on September 13, which will see the newly appointed government implement several policies and institutional reforms sought by the opposition.

In exchange, PH has agreed not to obstruct the government on critical votes in Parliament that could have an implication on its survival, such as budgetary matters. The agreement, seen by analysts as a de facto a confidence-and-supply deal, is good news for Malaysia’s ninth premier, who leads the country’s third government in as many years.

The MoU is being seen as a form of political insurance for Ismail, whose administration will be better insulated from lawmaker defections that led to the collapse of the previous two governments. The premier, sworn in on August 21, presides over a government that commands just 114 out of 222 seats in Parliament, where two seats are vacant.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Ismail brokers a political ceasefire in Malaysia

New premier expected to preside over a period of political stability but its not clear his line-up will be any more effective than the last

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been in office for less than a fortnight with a mere four-seat majority at the helm of the nation’s third administration in just three years. While his rivals are plenty and political risks abound, not least the ever-present potential for a new round of parliamentary defections that bring down yet another government, signs for now point to a period of relative stability.

More stability than Malaysians have become accustomed to amid recent turbulent times, at least. Ismail’s rise has resulted in a political ceasefire between warring factions of the ruling coalition that brought down the predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin government, but have since recoalesced to support the new administration.

Ismail, a former defense minister, has taken the reins at a time of unprecedented turmoil as daily Covid-19 cases and deaths hit record highs, stretching health resources and battering the economy. With the same razor-thin majority of his predecessor, the premier is similarly beholden to the various parties and personalities backing him.

But the more Malaysia’s politics change, the more they stay the same. After announcing his Cabinet last week, Ismail faced criticism from within and outside his party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), for largely retaining the previous Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration’s line-up with only a minor reshuffle of personnel and portfolios.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Good optics, shallow vows for Harris in SE Asia

US Vice President's two-country tour aimed to reaffirm America's commitment to strategic region but China still has the upper hand

The Joe Biden administration has rarely missed an opportunity to stress the critical importance of Southeast Asia to its Indo-Pacific agenda of containing China’s influence and rise. But until a string of recent high-level visits to the strategic region, observers noted that little had been done to match its words with deeds.

Now, Washington hopes that Vice President Kamala Harris’ seven-day trip to Singapore and Vietnam this week will influence perceptions of America’s resolve and commitment following the administration’s slow start in engaging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its members’ leaders.

Some political analysts and observers see the vice president’s visit and her strong reaffirmation of partnerships in the region as a clear counter to earlier criticism of the administration’s foreign policy neglect. But the United States’ outreach is ultimately still seen as being heavy on symbolism and short on concrete and meaningful proposals.

With pointed criticism of Beijing aplenty, the Biden administration has to carefully frame its regional initiatives on their merits and as separate from any explicit agenda to confront China, which analysts say would dampen support from Southeast Asian nations seeking to balance their relations with Washington and Beijing.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Ismail’s rise puts UMNO back on top in Malaysia

Ismail Sabri Yaakob's ascent to the premiership brings nation's politics full circle since the tainted party's historic fall at 2018 polls

Ismail Sabri Yaakob, vice president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), will be sworn in as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister on Saturday (August 21), less than a week after his predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin resigned after lawmakers withdrew support for his government.

Few foresaw Ismail’s rise from a mid-tier party leader to Malaysia’s next prime minister prior to recent developments that put him in pole position to claim the top job. Ismail, 61, served as deputy premier in Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and broke ranks with his own party’s leadership to support the previous government.

But with a razor-thin governing majority, his new administration will be as vulnerable as the last to being toppled by a small handful of defectors. Ismail secured the support of 114 lawmakers, only three more than required for a simple majority, leaving him with the exact composition of PN’s previous legislative support.

The Istana Negara, or national palace, announced Ismail’s appointment following a special Conference of Rulers (CoR) meeting of the country’s nine royal households on Friday and issued a statement expressing hope that political agendas would be immediately put aside in the interests of dealing with the country’s severe Covid-19 crisis.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Deja vu dash for Malaysia’s premiership

Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation has sparked new rounds of cut and thrust politicking for the nation's top job

With royal consultations underway to determine who will lead Malaysia’s third government in as many years following Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation on Monday (August 16), Malaysians are bound to be struck with deja vu as aspirants for the top job once again race to form a governing majority.

Muhyiddin is set to stay on as a caretaker prime minister until Malaysia’s king determines his replacement. But the nation is now without a government as it contends with Southeast Asia’s highest per capita rate of Covid-19 infections and deaths, and the mounting economic costs of its prolonged political turmoil.

Nor is there a clear successor in sight given that no politician or political party is known to have clinched the majority support of legislators in Parliament. Amid the uncertainty over which parties could form the next government and whether it would even be viable, Muhyiddin could conceivably serve in a caretaker capacity for months until new elections can be safely held.

Among his most likely successors is former deputy premier Ismail Sabri Yaakob, opposition leader and long-time prime ministerial hopeful Anwar Ibrahim, and 11-term veteran lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who could emerge as a compromise candidate amid a factional split between supporters and opponents of the outgoing premier.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

PM’s resignation opens power vacuum in Malaysia

Muhyiddin Yassin says he was forced out for refusing to sacrifice his principles and cooperate with the kleptocrats

After weeks of political turmoil, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin handed his resignation to Malaysia’s king on Monday (August 16) after losing his legislative majority, bringing an end to a tumultuous 17 months in office marred by legitimacy questions, leadership challenges and a tragically mishandled pandemic response.

“It is obvious that I have lost the majority support, so there is no longer a need to ascertain my legitimacy as the prime minister in Parliament,” said the 74-year-old in a nationally televised speech. “I have therefore tendered my resignation as prime minister and also the resignation of my entire Cabinet as required by the federal constitution.”

A statement issued by the Istana Negara, or national palace, said that Muhyiddin would serve as Malaysia’s caretaker prime minister until the monarch, who is known as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, appoints a new prime minister from elected lawmakers on the basis of who he thinks is most likely to command a majority in the Lower House.

But it is far from clear who may form the next government. While opponents of Muhyiddin have succeeded in toppling his Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and forcing his resignation, no alternative candidate from any other political party has so far managed to cobble together a clear majority in Parliament, casting uncertainty over the transfer of power.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Singapore sees light at the end of Covid’s tunnel

City-state revises up economic growth projection to 6-7% while touting exemplary vaccination rate of over 70%

Singapore upgraded its 2021 growth projection on Wednesday (August 11) as its trade-reliant economy charted a stronger than expected recovery in the first half, a rebound that is projected to expand as the city-state looks to re-open more sectors and ease travel restrictions in the weeks ahead.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) revised its gross domestic product (GDP) for this year to a range of 6% to 7%, up from the previous 4% to 6%, putting the island nation on track to boost economic output above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. While mainly sanguine on Singapore’s outlook, economists still see potential downside risks on the horizon.

The improved forecast came as the city-state announced it achieved a target of fully vaccinating 70% of its 5.9 million population by independence day on August 9, giving Singapore one of the best vaccination rates in the world as it transitions to treating coronavirus as an endemic disease and advances its so-called “Covid-resilient” nation status.

“Today, we are vaccinating 1% of our population daily. A higher proportion of our population is now better protected. We are in a more resilient position. We can now look forward to a careful, step-by-step reopening of our economy. This is how we can move into the new normal,” said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a televised speech on August 8.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Muhyiddin holding on by thinnest of political threads

Malaysian premier's days could be numbered as coalition partner asserts he's lost a governing majority and calls for him to resign

Amid a deepening political quagmire, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is defying calls for his resignation while maintaining that his embattled government still commands a parliamentary majority following a bold bid to unseat him by leaders of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the ruling coalition’s largest party.

Flanked by 10 UMNO lawmakers, UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed on Tuesday (August 3) he had a sufficient number of statutory declarations from legislators who were withdrawing their support for Muhyiddin, asserting at a press conference that the premier had lost his governing majority and should resign.

It wasn’t the first time that Zahid had made such an assertion. On July 8, he declared UMNO had withdrawn its support for Muhyiddin, but UMNO ministers serving in Cabinet stayed on, refusing to toe the party line. At least one minister has so far resigned following Zahid’s latest directive, and speculation is rife that further defections may follow.

Unprecedented tensions between the government and Malaysia’s constitutional monarch, cited by Zahid as one of the factors behind his latest push to topple Muhyiddin, has given the premier’s opponents fresh impetus to bring down his wobbly administration amid talk of the country being on the cusp of a major constitutional crisis.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Emergency ends but crisis deepens in Malaysia

Monarch accuses government of sidelining his function and power, a royal rebuke the opposition claims is tantamount to treason

Malaysia’s constitutional monarch delivered an unprecedented rebuke of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration on Thursday (July 29), accusing the government’s law minister of “misleading” Parliament over the alleged revocation of emergency ordinances that have been in effect since January to stem a rising tide of Covid-19 infections.

A strongly-worded statement issued by the Istana Negara, or national palace, accused the government of issuing “conflicting and confusing statements” earlier this week in Parliament that had not only “failed to respect the sovereignty” of the nation’s laws, but “sidelined the function and powers” of the king as enshrined in the federal constitution.

King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was “very disappointed” in particular by the conduct of de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan and Attorney-General Idrus Harun, who the palace said had failed to fulfill their promise to table and debate the annulment of the emergency ordinances in a special legislative session that opened on Monday (July 26).

The emergency proclamation, which the king assented to earlier this year, effectively suspended Parliament and state legislatures, disallowed elections and gave the premier powers to enact emergency ordinances without legislative scrutiny, supposedly to enable the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to more effectively manage the health crisis.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Singapore not quite ready to live with Covid-19

City-state reimposes lockdown-like measures just weeks after saying Covid-19 would be treated as a manageable endemic disease

Wet markets, hawker centers and coffee shops have once again gone quiet after tighter Covid-19 restrictions were reinstated on July 22 to counter the highest incidence of community cases in 11 months, a development that health authorities say is a “huge setback” for the city-state’s reopening plans.

Despite making vaccination strides with the highest inoculation levels in the region, the threat of runaway infections fueled by the more transmissible Delta variant led the country to reimpose restrictions in place during May and June, prohibiting dining in at restaurants, closing indoor venues such as gyms, and limiting gatherings to two people.

After reporting very few locally transmitted cases in recent weeks, new infections rapidly mushroomed with major clusters at karaoke bars and a fishery port that soon spread to fresh seafood markets frequented by the elderly, a demographic given early priority for vaccination but with the lowest take-up rate among all eligible age groups.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told reporters on Wednesday (July 21) that stricter curbs were needed to prevent “an uncontrollable rise in cases, which could potentially result in many severe illnesses or even deaths” among unvaccinated seniors. He said that more than 200,000 residents over age 60 have yet to be immunized.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

China’s vaccine diplomacy falters in SE Asia

Regional nations are abandoning Chinese vaccines for Western ones as evidence mounts Sinovac is less potent against the Delta strain

As Southeast Asia grapples with a record-breaking surge in Covid-19 infections and deaths, regional nations are turning away from Chinese-made vaccines in favor of Western-made shots amid growing evidence the former are less effective against the highly contagious Delta variant.

Beijing’s leading vaccine developers, private biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech and state-owned Sinopharm, have shipped hundreds of millions of doses worldwide and are key to the World Health Organization’s COVAX scheme aimed at distributing shots to poorer countries.

China’s indigenously developed vaccines, studies show, offer a measure of protection and are still considered to be highly effective against severe disease and hospitalization. They also are more easily stored and transported than certain Western-made jabs, making them comparatively cost-effective.

But it is increasingly less clear how well Chinese shots protect against more transmissible Covid-19 variants, not least the fast-spreading Delta strain that is now causing runaway caseloads and pushing regional health systems to the brink of collapse. Emerging data shows diminishing efficacy levels against variants in several major Covid-19 vaccines.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Politics and plague make a noxious mix in Malaysia

The nation's political and health crises are deepening in tandem

As Malaysia’s political dysfunction worsens, so too has the country’s health crisis. Successive days of record-shattering Covid-19 caseloads have followed a political rupture between the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition government and its largest component party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

Daily infections hit an all-time high on Wednesday (July 14) with 11,618 cases. Despite a strict lockdown in force since June 1, the national infectivity rate, which stands at 1.16, is higher than it was before tough curbs on movement and economic activity were put in place. Record levels of severe illness and fatalities have been reported in recent days.

Noor Hisham Abdullah, Malaysia’s top health official, has attributed the surge to the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, now the dominant coronavirus strain in the country. Cases breached the five-digit threshold for the first time on Tuesday with 11,079 infections, ravaging Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Total cases now stand at 867,567 with over 6,385 coronavirus-related deaths. Malaysia has one of Southeast Asia’s highest per-capita infection rates, though with more than 400,000 vaccine doses now being dispensed daily, it also has one of its highest rates of inoculation. About 25% of its 32 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Muhyiddin on his last political leg in Malaysia

PM's top coalition partner withdraws support for his leadership as political splits threaten to upend his now minority government

Malaysians woke up to political turmoil and uncertainty July 8 with the president of the largest party in the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), announcing it has withdrawn its support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and calling for his resignation.

But it remains to be seen whether the regime change gambit will succeed or backfire, with the embattled premier’s survival now depending in part on whether UMNO ministers serving in his government follow or ignore their party’s directive, opening the way for a potential political realignment if dissenting legislators are sacked.

UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi issued the bombshell declaration at a late-night online press conference held after a meeting of the party’s supreme council, where he criticized the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and economy. Zahid said Muhyiddin had used a health-related national state of emergency to remain in power.

“UMNO urges Muhyiddin Yassin to withdraw honorably to enable a new prime minister to be appointed for a limited period,” said Zahid, adding that an interim premier should serve until the country achieves herd immunity, an 80% threshold that the government aims to reach through mass vaccination by December, and a general election is called.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.