Malaysia

| CHINA – MALAYSIA

The Malaysian cabinet is sending one of its ministers to China to propose investments in a rare-earth refinery. It is unclear whether Beijing will make an exception to its ban on the export of technologies for the extraction and separation of rare earths. A local plant is also designed to cut a thriving illegal trade in critical minerals.

by Angeline Tan

A study conducted by the Kuala Lumpur government warns the country that 3 out of 4 Malaysians with high qualifications work in Singapore where they earn much more on average than in Malaysia.

| 23/02/2024
| MALAYSIA

The government set the deadline for 31 December. For some, the date leaves the federal parliament too little time to legislate in such a sensitive matter. Two visions confront each other as to the place of state secularisation and Islamisation.

| 20/02/2024
| MALAYSIA

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's plan is to get civil servants to pay into a non-government pension fund, an unpopular move with political risks among voters. Malaysia is not the only country in Southeast Asia facing hard decisions over retirement policies; few governments in the region are ready to deal with an ageing population.

| 19/02/2024
| MALAYSIA

Today's news: One million Palestinians at risk in Rafah ahead of the Israeli army's ground assault on Hamas. A growing number of Japanese expatriates in China and the US return for increasing racism and economic reasons. Modi 'enlists' young Muslims in universities to win the minority vote. Prison authorities ban prison visits and phone calls to Nobel Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.

| 10/02/2024
| ASIA TODAY
by Steve Suwannarat

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar took office yesterday, two days after being sworn in at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur. Hope for more "interventionism" from the ruler in the nation's turbulent political life. He wants to make his term a time of greater interventionism, including in the economic sphere.

| 02/02/2024
| MALAYSIA

Today's news: An archaeological report finds that the Varanasi mosque in India was allegedly built on the ashes of a Hindu temple; Chinese industrial profits fell by 2.3% in 2023; The director of the WHO described conditions in Gaza as 'hellish'; General strike in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan over rising wheat prices; Vladimir Putin visits the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on Polish territory on 'Russian Students' Day' (Tatjanin Den). Malaysia increases water tariffs.

| 27/01/2024
| ASIA TODAY
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| 22/02/2024
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“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”