Malaysia: News & Insights

Managing Director Ngu Tieng Ung of Malaysian copper wire producer Ta Win Holdings sees a promising future in supplying electric vehicle manufacturers. (Source photos by P Prem Kumar)

Interview

Malaysia copper company prepares for Southeast Asia EV boom

Ta Win bets on heat-, acid- and abrasion-resistant wire to give it an edge

9 February 2022

Malaysia Airlines planes parked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2020: The country is getting ready to welcome back tourists.

Coronavirus

Malaysia poised to 'completely' reopen borders from March

Eyeing economy, task force advises quarantine-free entry for vaccinated tourists

8 February 2022

The Malaysian government has recovered 19.1 billion ringgit in the 1MDB scandal, including a $2.5 billion cash payment from Goldman Sachs. (Source photo by Reuters)

Finance

Goldman banker goes on trial over Malaysia's 1MDB corruption scandal

Indictment of Roger Ng claims bank prioritized winning deals over compliance

7 February 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, visits Genting's ski resort with Chairman Lim Chee Wah, in the red jacket, in January 2017. (Courtesy of Genting Resort Secret Garden)

Beijing Winter Olympics

Malaysia casino giant Genting's ski bet pays off at Winter Olympics

Resort near Beijing hosts events starting Thursday, making good on Xi's orders

3 February 2022

Founder and group CEO Tony Fernandes speaks on Jan. 28 on the occasion of AirAsia changing its name to Capital A.

Transportation

Capital A, formerly AirAsia, to raise funds, start new operations

Budget carrier's group CEO Fernandes says it aims to be 'ASEAN airline'

28 January 2022

Animation by Arif Rafhan is woven into the Malaysian documentary "Perempuan Radikal." The film focuses on Wardah, a woman who was married to a Malaysian man who turned out to be involved with the militant Islamic State group in the Middle East. (Courtesy of Fat Bidin Media)

Life

Malaysian filmmakers highlight 'collateral damage' in fight against extremism

Documentaries seek to undermine appeal of militant Islamist groups

28 January 2022

Malaysia's Axiata Group sees promise in Indonesia's growing digital economy.

Telecommunication

Axiata buys majority in Indonesian pay TV operator

Malaysian telcom group views deal as way to solidify its regional position

27 January 2022

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, left, and Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen spoke by video conference on Jan. 25. (Source photos by Singapore Press/AP and Cambodia Government House/Reuters)

International relations

Malaysia to Hun Sen: Myanmar regime still not welcome at ASEAN

Ismail Sabri, Cambodian counterpart speak amid spat over latter's Naypyitaw trip

25 January 2022

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur, in March 2020.

Politics

Malaysia's former PM Mahathir admitted to cardiac unit

96-year-old recently had elective procedure; daughter says condition is 'stable'

22 January 2022

Health Care

Southeast Asian hospitals look to high-tech future in metaverse

Malaysia's IHH, Indonesia's Siloam see big opportunities in VR, other tech

21 January 2022

Consumers shop at a new Don Don Donki store that opened in Bangkok, in February 2019. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)

Retail

Japan retailers Nitori and Donki speed Southeast Asian push

Expansion comes as department stores fade from region due to e-commerce

21 January 2022

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob speaks in parliament last October. His term lasts until August 2023, but observers say he could come under pressure to call polls earlier.

Malaysia in transition

Ismail Sabri faces brewing tensions over Malaysia election timing

Sources say PM under pressure from within own party to dissolve parliament

20 January 2022

Malaysia's lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic depressed demand for restaurant dining.

Food & Beverage

Yoshinoya to offload stake in Malaysia's Sushi King chain

Japanese beef bowl purveyor to exit market battered by lockdowns

20 January 2022

In 2020, Singapore used Genting Hong Kong's idled Superstar Gemini cruise ship to temporarily house migrant workers amid a COVID outbreak in their dormitories.

Travel & Leisure

Genting cruise unit on brink of liquidation after court defeat

Malaysian gambling tycoon's Hong Kong business to seek restructuring

18 January 2022

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, with Myanmar State Administration Council Chairman Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on Jan. 7. His visit has provoked an angry backlash among critics, who say he is legitimizing the army's seizure of power. (An Khoun SamAun/National Television of Cambodia via AP)

Myanmar Crisis

Malaysia says Hun Sen's Myanmar visit did no good

Cambodian leader should have consulted ASEAN leaders: foreign minister

14 January 2022

A worker carries a palm oil fruit bunch at a plantation in Slim River, Malaysia, in August 2021.

Commodities

Malaysia to go on 'attack' to counter palm oil critics: minister

Commodities chief says strategy will look to Middle East, other markets

13 January 2022

The Global Dream, which would accommodate more than 9,000 passengers, is three-quarters complete.

Travel & Leisure

Genting's biggest 'Dream' dashed by fight with German government

Shares of Malaysian gambling tycoon's Hong Kong unit crash 50%

13 January 2022

IHH Healthcare CEO Kelvin Loh and Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital. The Malaysian health care group is expecting medical tourism to bounce back from pandemic travel restrictions. (Source photos by Kentaro Iwamoto and AP)

Interview

Malaysia's IHH says medical tourism to grow past pre-COVID levels

Hospital chain looks to M&As as Asia's aging population fuels health care demand

6 January 2022

Najib Razak, pictured in August 2020: the former prime minister is cooking up a second act as leader with the help of his United Malays National Organization.

Opinion

Najib's return is the last thing Malaysia needs

Disgraced former prime minister is plotting an unlikely comeback

6 January 2022

A Tsutaya Bookstore at a shopping mall in Nagoya. (Photo by Yuki Nagao)

Retail

Japan's high-end bookstore Tsutaya ready for ASEAN blitz

Owner CCC plans 55 stores in Malaysia, where Amazon yet to dominate

5 January 2022

Transportation

AirAsia to rename itself Capital A, showing sky is not the limit

Malaysian budget carrier has expanded into ride-hailing and fintech

5 January 2022

Amanda Woo, chief executive of AirAsia SuperApp, spearheads the budget carrier's nonairline businesses. (Photo by P Prem Kumar)

Transportation

AirAsia keen to unseat Grab, Gojek as ASEAN e-hailing champion

Executive says ride-sharing app, already in Malaysia, to enter Thailand this year

4 January 2022

A port terminal in Singapore. The city-state's exports jumped 24% on the year in November, the fastest rise in a decade.

Economy

Southeast Asia's soaring exports fuel hopes of recovery in 2022

Central banks seen shifting to rate hikes to protect home currencies

4 January 2022

Karex CEO Goh Miah Kiat says condom manufacturing plants in Malaysia and Thailand are running at near capacity as global orders rebound. (Photo by P Prem Kumar)

Interview

Malaysia's Karex: COVID lockdowns dented condom demand

CEO of world's biggest maker tries rubber gloves to boost bottom line

3 January 2022

"Pig-butchering" swindles, long run in the Chinese language, are targeted increasingly at Anglophone residents of nations in Asia and beyond, including in Europe, the U.S. and Australia. (Source photo by AP and screenshot from victim's WhatsApp message)

Society

Victims in Asia, Europe and U.S. fight back against online romance scams

Volunteer group says criminal networks originally from China target people abroad

31 December 2021