Month January 2021

How political mismanagement has fuelled Malaysia’s coronavirus surge

Dr Adham Baba, the new health minister, made a disastrous first television appearance on March 19 in which he told the public to drink warm water to “flush” the virus down to the stomach. The doctor, who used to run several small-town private clinics, was roundly panned on social media and instructed by Muhyiddin’s media operatives to disappear from public view.
Read MoreHow political mismanagement has fuelled Malaysia’s coronavirus surge

Malaysia’s two emergencies: why 2021’s freeze on democracy is not like the trouble of 1969

Under a state of emergency, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet now have powers to make laws without parliamentary approval. This essentially means Malaysia’s rendezvous with democracy – which only began with the May 2018 election that brought down the only ruling coalition the country had known since its independence in 1957 – is now fully frozen. So what’s next?
Read MoreMalaysia’s two emergencies: why 2021’s freeze on democracy is not like the trouble of 1969