Research 2023

In 2018 and again in 2022, Malaysians voted for reform, demanding greater transparency, democratic rights and a government that listens. That is why the public backlash to recent revelations about the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) mobile data request has been swift and entirely justified.
According to local and international media reports, such as The Edge Malaysia and South China Morning Post, MCMC issued directives to five major telcos requesting mobile phone metadata for the first quarter of 2025. The fields listed include anonymised user IDs (MSISDN), precise date and time stamps, base station identifiers, GPS coordinates, data type (calls or internet), service type (2G – 5G) and mobile country code. On paper, names or Identity Card (IC) numbers were excluded but in practice, metadata is never truly anonymous.

As Malaysia prepares to roll out a sweeping expansion of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) on 1 July 2025, policymakers must confront an uncomfortable question: Are we compromising national food security in pursuit of short-term revenue gains?

Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP) dengan penuh dukacita merakamkan ucapan takziah kepada keluarga Allahyarham Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke-5 yang telah meninggalkan kita semua pada 14 April 2025.

Tun Abdullah atau Pak Lah akan selamanya dikenang sebagai seorang pemimpin berwibawa dan berintegriti.

Kekal dikenang sebagai Bapa Pembangunan Modal Insan, konsep yang digagaskan Allahyarham menjadi titik tolak pembangunan negara berasaskan kekuatan pembangunan modal insan rakyat Malaysia yang mampan sehingga hari ini.

The N48 Ayer Kuning by-election on April 26 is more than a race to fill a vacant state seat, it is a reflection of Malaysia’s political undercurrents and a gauge of shifting sentiments among the Malay majority, the Chinese electorate, and the national coalition landscape. Though affecting only one constituency in Perak, its impact is national in scope.

Forget the rosy headlines and the politician-speak about ASEAN’s “resilience” or “strategic recalibration.” The numbers don’t lie and ASEAN is sliding into dangerous territory, and the signs are eerily similar to the 1997 financial meltdown that gutted the region. Back then, the Thai Baht crashed, dragging the whole neighbourhood down with it. Today, it’s the Indonesian Rupiah taking a nosedive in which worse than anything we saw in ’97 and it’s a screaming warning that no one wants to hear. Politicians and their ignorance are playing dumb, but the data is crystal clear: ASEAN’s economies are slowing, vulnerabilities are piling up, and the next global recession could hit harder than anything we’ve seen before. 

The global economic landscape is becoming increasingly uncertain, and Malaysia has reason for concern. On March 10, 2025, U.S. stocks took a sharp dive, with the Dow shedding 890 points and the tech-laden Nasdaq and S&P 500 recording their steepest single-day declines in over two years. This turbulence, coupled with President Donald Trump’s acknowledgment of a “period of transition” in the U.S. economy, has reignited fears of an impending recession.

The world is bracing for a seismic shift in global trade, and it’s coming from Washington. With whispers of a new tariff war brewing under a Trump administration, countries across Asia are scrambling to get ahead of the curve. Nations like Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia are already taking steps by diversifying supply chains, boosting domestic production, and locking in trade deals to cushion the blow.

With the end of Vision 2020, Malaysia faces a serious question: what lies ahead? The landscape has shifted significantly since the last financial crisis, exposing deep structural weaknesses that demand urgent reform. While the banking system has long been the foundation of Malaysia’s economic model, it is increasingly clear that this approach is unsustainable. Global financial shifts and internal inefficiencies have compounded these challenges, making economic transformation imperative. To secure sustainable growth, Malaysia must break away from debt-driven expansion, rethink its banking and investment frameworks, and embrace bold, strategic reforms that foster resilience and innovation.

The World Bank’s latest report projects that Malaysia will achieve high-income status, aspiring to finally break free from the middle-income trap and attain high-income status by 2028.1 For decades, the nation has demonstrated economic resilience, progressing from a lower-middle-income to an upper-middle-income country. However, the final leap towards high-income status is proving to be an arduous journey fraught with structural challenges. The question remains: is Malaysia truly on track to reach this milestone, or is the ambition more of an illusion than an achievable reality?