https://www.scmp.com/rss/500774/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com It certainly has been an eventful year. Not only did 2020 usher in a world-stopping pandemic that has killed more than 1 million people globally and upended international travel, it also tested Asia geopolitically, with tensions in some areas reaching record highs while in others potentially game-changing trade pacts have been carved out. And that’s not to mention the events you might have missed. Here are 10 of our picks for the region’s most significant stories of the year. ASIA’S COVID-19... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3115161/covid-19-south-china-sea-here-are-10-stories-rocked-asia-2020?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3115161/covid-19-south-china-sea-here-are-10-stories-rocked-asia-2020?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Dec 2020 04:30:18 +0000 Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and erstwhile rival Razaleigh Hamzah held a joint press conference on Monday to announce they were ready to form a “unity government” if the country’s parliament fails to pass a budget on Tuesday. The pair distanced themselves from the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition and said they were not working with any MPs belonging to the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) who are being tried in the courts. In Malaysia, second ally of Najib... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3113912/malaysias-mahathir-says-ready-form-unity-government-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3113912/malaysias-mahathir-says-ready-form-unity-government-if?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Dec 2020 13:09:27 +0000 After decades in the background of Malaysia’s national politics, the monarchy has moved to centre stage to fill a power vacuum this year. King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad, who ascended the throne last year, stepped into the political fray back in February when a two-year-old government abruptly collapsed. He resolved the impasse by tapping Muhyiddin Yassin to become the next prime minister without a parliamentary vote. Since then Muhyiddin’s majority has regularly been questioned, and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3108028/malaysias-king-sultan-abdullah-emerges-major-political?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3108028/malaysias-king-sultan-abdullah-emerges-major-political?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Nov 2020 03:58:40 +0000 Malaysia’s political uncertainty continued on Tuesday as scandal-tainted former leader Najib Razak warned his party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), that it risks defeat at the next elections if it continues to cooperate with current prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Najib, who is appealing a 12-year jail term a court handed him in July for corruption and abuse of power, shared his concerns that the party would be criticised for collective government decisions and gaffes, despite... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3107302/malaysias-political-turmoil-najib-warns-umno-preserving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3107302/malaysias-political-turmoil-najib-warns-umno-preserving?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Oct 2020 13:43:08 +0000 A call made by Malaysia’s king on Friday for an end to the country’s power struggles has raised questions among commentators about whether the monarch, who is obliged to stay neutral, may be backing the embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Giving rise to such thinking was his lament in the statement that the country should “never again” be subject to prolonged political uncertainty in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. One analyst who spoke to This Week in Asia suggested this was a tacit... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105871/malaysias-king-taking-sides-current-political-turmoil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105871/malaysias-king-taking-sides-current-political-turmoil?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2020 12:00:29 +0000 Last month, Anwar Ibrahim – leader of Malaysia’s opposition – announced he had the parliamentary support required to unseat current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. It is not the first time he has made such a claim, however, having promised much the same in 2008, 2013 and earlier this year. On every previous occasion he has failed, but this time Malaysians are torn between hope and scepticism as on Tuesday, Anwar will meet the king, who has the constitutional power to appoint a new prime... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3105185/anwar-ibrahims-prophecy-power-could-come-true-last-malaysia-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3105185/anwar-ibrahims-prophecy-power-could-come-true-last-malaysia-it?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Oct 2020 10:28:47 +0000 The months of fierce turmoil in Malaysia’s federal-level politics ultimately played only a minor role in the outcome of the weekend’s state elections in Sabah, but nonetheless it was Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who has emerged as the biggest winner following the polls. And in coming out on top in the closely watched state-level battle, the 73-year-old leader’s strengthened hand gives him a good chance of winning a snap general election if he calls one soon – despite a recent threat by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3103404/after-sabah-election-muhyiddin-sitting-pole-position-hold-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3103404/after-sabah-election-muhyiddin-sitting-pole-position-hold-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2020 13:33:06 +0000 A former senior judge now prosecuting Malaysia’s disgraced leader Najib Razak for corruption is under scrutiny after an ex-attorney general’s explosive claims that he was acting under the instructions of elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad. Lawyer Gopal Sri Ram, who has led the prosecution in three of the five cases in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption trial, was recently the target of an affidavit from ex-attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali, which claimed Sri Ram had tried to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3089141/malaysia-najib-razak-corruption-trial-prosecutor-gopal-sri-ram?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3089141/malaysia-najib-razak-corruption-trial-prosecutor-gopal-sri-ram?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jun 2020 12:30:13 +0000 June 9 marked 100 days since Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as Malaysian prime minister. The next 100 days until Malaysia Day are likely to be the most intense period in the nation’s history. The battle for Malaysia’s soul is more than just a numbers game in Parliament. It is about our collective future. The Old Order (Umno), which sneaked back into power through the Sheraton coup, will not give up without a fight. This means that every one of us opposed to the Old Order (Umno) must join together... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3088469/why-next-100-days-are-crucial-battle-malaysias-soul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3088469/why-next-100-days-are-crucial-battle-malaysias-soul?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jun 2020 12:00:21 +0000 Veteran Malaysian politician Mahathir Mohamad said he would seek to oust Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin at every turn, scolding his successor for bringing back into power a corruption-tainted party rejected by voters in a historic election two years ago. The prospect of more political and policy uncertainty in Malaysia comes at a time when the multi-ethnic Southeast Asian nation is grappling with the health crisis and economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, the 94-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3085345/malaysias-mahathir-promises-seek-successors-ousting-every?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3085345/malaysias-mahathir-promises-seek-successors-ousting-every?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 May 2020 15:14:12 +0000 It has been the craziest and longest week in Malaysian politics, as its own Game of Thrones unfolded, sending the nation on a roller-coaster ride. With Muhyiddin Yassin sworn in as prime minister on March 1, many think it spells the end of the Mahathir Mohamad era. Mahathir, whom United Malays National Organisation (Umno) members refer to as “atok” (grandpa in Malay), is upset and said he felt most betrayed by Muhyiddin, who is also the president of Mahathir’s Bersatu party. There are no signs... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064764/what-mahathirs-endgame-malaysias-game-thrones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064764/what-mahathirs-endgame-malaysias-game-thrones?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 03:00:16 +0000 An opposition win may be on the cards for a closely watched by-election in Malaysia’s southernmost state, with analysts predicting a return to form for the recently ousted Barisan Nasional coalition as ethno-religious dog-whistling goes into overdrive a day before polling. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), which was decimated in national polls last year when it managed to hold on to only one of 222 parliamentary seats, is tipped to clinch Tanjung Piai in Johor when voters head to the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037992/malaysias-barisan-nasional-opposition-tipped-comeback-racially?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037992/malaysias-barisan-nasional-opposition-tipped-comeback-racially?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2019 13:15:18 +0000 As Malaysia’s Pakatan Harapan administration reaches the 18-month mark in power, human rights watchdogs have questioned the slow pace of the government’s reforms. Last year, the government said it had identified 113 laws to be repealed, amended or drafted, including laws that Malaysian civil society had long claimed violated fundamental liberties and international human rights standards, such as the colonial-era Sedition Act and the Security Offences Act. On Tuesda, Prime Minister Mahathir... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036789/malaysian-leader-mahathir-vows-fix-draconian-laws?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036789/malaysian-leader-mahathir-vows-fix-draconian-laws?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Nov 2019 12:27:41 +0000 There are still unknowns in Malaysia’s now infamous sex-video scandal, which pitted political heavyweights Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali against each other, but analysts are sure of one thing – the big winner of the messy saga is Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Observers said the premier’s latest comments on the episode offered the clearest evidence yet that he was throwing his weight behind economic affairs minister Azmin, viewed in some circles as Mahathir’s blue-eyed boy and preferred... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3019810/malaysias-sex-video-scandal-pits-anwar-against-azmin-mahathir?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3019810/malaysias-sex-video-scandal-pits-anwar-against-azmin-mahathir?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jul 2019 12:30:09 +0000 As Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad turned 94 on Wednesday, well-wishers marvelled at his political staying power, while analysts wondered what new tricks the elder statesman of Asian politics might have up his sleeve. Mahathir’s return to the apex of power last year – after a famous election victory over one time protégé Najib Razak – was widely seen as the greatest feat of a political career that stretches back to the 1940s. That achievement came about because Mahathir quit the United... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3018011/94-mahathir-has-new-goal-reunite-malays-what?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3018011/94-mahathir-has-new-goal-reunite-malays-what?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:00:10 +0000 Just over a year after a watershed election heralded a new era for Malaysia’s democracy, dirty politics are back with a vengeance, sex videos and all. So serious is the fresh round of political mudslinging that it threatens to sour newly-minted alliances and chip away at the public’s restored faith in the country’s institutions, according to Malaysia political watchers. The shock leak last week of a sex video allegedly featuring Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and party worker Haziq Abdul... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3014699/gay-sex-video-leak-new-malaysia-bit-old-one-politics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3014699/gay-sex-video-leak-new-malaysia-bit-old-one-politics?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jun 2019 07:45:57 +0000 The appointment of the first female head at Malaysia’s federal anti-corruption body has drawn flak from both sides of the country’s political divide following accusations that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad went against his coalition’s manifesto by making the decision alone. The leader on Wednesday said he had decided to install tough-talking lawyer Latheefa Koya as chief of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) without discussing the matter with the cabinet or parliament. His... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3013644/mahathirs-pick-malaysias-anti-corruption-chief-check-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3013644/mahathirs-pick-malaysias-anti-corruption-chief-check-anwar?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Jun 2019 04:00:13 +0000 Euphoria over the surprise victory of the Mahathir Mohamad-led Pakatan Harapan coalition in Malaysia’s elections last year has been swiftly replaced by surprisingly bitter disappointment For the past two months, Team Ceritalah has been criss-crossing the country: everywhere from Kuala Kangsar to Penampang. It’s been a Herculean effort for the young team: listening to and recording stories on the ground. We tried to revisit all the people we interviewed before last year’s polls. Team Ceritalah... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009982/one-year-pakatan-harapan-still-grappling-realities-delivering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009982/one-year-pakatan-harapan-still-grappling-realities-delivering?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 May 2019 05:34:26 +0000 It’s been one year since Mahathir Mohamad, the nonagenarian comeback leader won the Malaysian election. Galvanised by the public’s frustration over government corruption and a dwindling economy, the Pakatan Harapan party’s landmark victory ended the uninterrupted 61-year rule of the Barisan Nasional coalition. With Mahathir’s win came many promises, chief among those was to get to the bottom of the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, which has since resulted in former prime... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3009587/malaysia-election-anniversary-five-must-read-opinions-mahathirs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3009587/malaysia-election-anniversary-five-must-read-opinions-mahathirs?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2019 11:42:38 +0000 If there is one lesson to draw from the Pakatan Harapan government’s first year in office in Malaysia, it is that change takes time. In May 2018, the coalition – of which I am a part, representing the constituency of Klang as a Member of Parliament – swept to power against the odds. Our victory ended 61 years of uninterrupted, and increasingly authoritarian, rule by the Barisan Nasional coalition. There is no denying that the vote was the electorate’s way of expressing disgust with the alleged... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009575/mahathirs-pakatan-harapan-has-mixed-track-record-changing-human?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009575/mahathirs-pakatan-harapan-has-mixed-track-record-changing-human?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2019 10:38:31 +0000 It was a mixed bag of emotions in Malaysia on Thursday as the country marked the first anniversary of a dramatic election that swept former strongman leader Mahathir Mohamad back to power and toppled a regime that had governed the country since the 1950s. Online, supporters of Prime Minister Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan were revelling in nostalgia for their audacious victory over the Barisan Nasional coalition led by Najib Razak, who is currently on trial accused of involvement in a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3009475/malaysiabaharu-one-year-new-malaysia-same-old-mahathir-mohamad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3009475/malaysiabaharu-one-year-new-malaysia-same-old-mahathir-mohamad?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2019 04:28:23 +0000 Pakatan Harapan took power in Malaysia on promises of economic relief and stewardship. The people fervently asked for it. The coalition and its predecessor, Barisan Nasional, both pledged to help Malaysians cope with rising costs, provide social assistance, sustain economic growth and manage public spending. Barisan Nasional sought a mandate to do more of the same, and on some of those elements Pakatan Harapan converged, notably cash transfers, job growth, and the minimum wage. In sharp... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009436/pakatan-harapans-election-win-was-one-ages-next-four-years-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009436/pakatan-harapans-election-win-was-one-ages-next-four-years-will?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2019 04:00:04 +0000 The concept of “New Malaysia” is rife with sentiments of change. But since the Pakatan Harapan coalition won the country’s general election on May 9 last year, taking power from a party in place for 60 years, one problem has remained unchanged – the threat of terrorism. The new government took the helm amid a terrorism landscape shaped by a militarily weakened Islamic State in Syria and the southern Philippines. A five-month conflict between jihadist groups and government forces at Marawi in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009291/malaysias-terrorism-threat-must-be-addressed-community-level?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009291/malaysias-terrorism-threat-must-be-addressed-community-level?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 May 2019 08:30:12 +0000 On May 9, 2018, after more than six decades in power, Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional was voted out of office. Just a few years prior, democracy and the rule of law in the country almost died. At the height of the scandal involving government fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), then prime minister Najib Razak fired dissenters in his cabinet, sacked the attorney general and suspended the permits of media companies. But the rot synonymous with a toxic one-party system runs deeper and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009059/malaysia-back-brink-one-party-rot-mahathir-and-pakatan-harapan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009059/malaysia-back-brink-one-party-rot-mahathir-and-pakatan-harapan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 May 2019 06:30:09 +0000 The “New Malaysia” is one year old. It has been a time of high expectations and mixed results. On the one hand, the economy had a lacklustre year and promised political and institutional reforms did not happen. On the other, crony capitalism is in retreat, while freedom of speech and transparency are on the up. On the economic front, the Pakatan Harapan leadership went for a record-breaking 315 billion ringgit (US$76 billion) budget for 2019. The market remained watchful on the back of concerns... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009066/we-politicians-need-do-more-secure-our-new-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009066/we-politicians-need-do-more-secure-our-new-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2019 06:30:06 +0000 As we near the first anniversary of Pakatan Harapan’s historic electoral victory on May 9, many will write about the achievements and failures of the new Malaysian federal government. I want to reflect instead on three lessons I learned in the past year, especially from this vantage point of being in federal government for the first time. First, people do not vote out of material interests alone. Many politicians tend to think that economic interest drives voters, and they thus promise... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008904/lessons-learned-year-malaysias-levers-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008904/lessons-learned-year-malaysias-levers-power?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 May 2019 06:30:26 +0000 There is nothing like a dream to create the future – Victor Hugo Courage is grace under pressure – Ernest Hemingway I am a child-rights activist in Malaysia. I say this with pride and defiance, as my foray into advocacy in Malaysia has had its “ups and downs” and has been bittersweet. After every election, activists like me are forced to dance around new politicians, who sometimes don’t prioritise the needs of children. We become out of step with the new players, and have to start again each... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008866/change-happening-child-rights-malaysia-slowly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008866/change-happening-child-rights-malaysia-slowly?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 May 2019 06:30:03 +0000 M AY 9, 2018 will probably be remembered as the day Malaysians registered to vote were all doing the same thing: out queuing up to cast their ballot, and then waiting until 3am to know the results. Then waiting again for another 18 hours for the new government to be sworn in. Everybody has their own story of that day, of the camaraderie among voters at the polling stations, of the tensions and frustrations of the slow results and the utter joy at realising a new government had been elected,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008821/new-malaysia-reality-bites-year-after-historic-pakatan-harapan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008821/new-malaysia-reality-bites-year-after-historic-pakatan-harapan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2019 06:30:11 +0000 A year on from Malaysia’s watershed general election, its new opposition forces are scattered and weak, a far cry from their previous power. But this may soon change if the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) succeeds in its unofficial rebranding, turning itself from a party led by blue-blooded elites into one helmed by rough and tumble grass-roots leaders. Last May, Umno and its partners in the Barisan Nasional coalition lost to Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan after 61 years of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3008820/umno-malaysias-main-political-opposition-eyes-everyman-image-key?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3008820/umno-malaysias-main-political-opposition-eyes-everyman-image-key?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2019 04:00:06 +0000 As the Mahathir Mohamad administration prepares to celebrate the first anniversary of its audacious election victory, a controversy over a savings fund for Muslim pilgrims provides a sobering reminder that the perennial issue of race relations is still the most daunting challenge facing the “new Malaysia”. A rescue plan the Pakatan Harapan coalition devised last December to revive the struggling balance sheet of Lembaga Tabung Haji was meant to be anything but controversial. Soon after taking... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3008819/mahathirs-malaysia-was-built-promise-diversity-year-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3008819/mahathirs-malaysia-was-built-promise-diversity-year-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2019 00:30:15 +0000 As PRIME MINISTER Mahathir Mohamad nears his first anniversary back at the pinnacle of Malaysian politics, his bumpy history with the country’s royal houses is resurfacing – and proving to be one of the biggest headaches for his fledgling administration. The Pakatan Harapan government, the victor in last year’s historic election, has found itself mired in skirmish after skirmish with the country’s hereditary monarchs. The clashes span a range of issues, but political observers say the crux of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3007911/royal-tensions-resurface-malaysias-monarchy-takes-mahathir-battle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3007911/royal-tensions-resurface-malaysias-monarchy-takes-mahathir-battle?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Apr 2019 01:00:09 +0000 “It won’t be a celebration, more of a reflection.” That is how a senior member of Malaysia’s government described the televised speech Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is expected to deliver on May 9, the first anniversary of the Pakatan Harapan coalition’s stunning election win. The government official said the address – yet to be publicised – would be billed as a “state-of-the-union type of speech” and would list the administration’s successes since it toppled the Barisan Nasional bloc that had... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3007910/year-victory-can-mahathir-run-malaysias-economy-without-blaming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3007910/year-victory-can-mahathir-run-malaysias-economy-without-blaming?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Apr 2019 01:15:13 +0000