Challenges Facing Malaysia’s New Government

MALAYSIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
Malaysia in Transition Seminar Series

About the Seminar

This talk will examine some of the key challenges facing the new government including: the difficulties of governing as a loosely-bound coalition; dealing with the GLC ‘monsters’, as well as the elephant in the room: the affirmative action program.  These challenges present themselves in the context of rising youth unemployment, dwindling private investment, rising cost of living and declining living standards, high levels of inequality, premature deindustrialization, and weakened governance and institutions. What are some of the key reforms required, and how should they be implemented? And what kind of change can we really expect? Or, how will heightened expectations play-off against the many constraints (history, plurality etc.) impeding change?

About the Speaker

Dr Jayant Menon is Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he works on trade, international investment and development issues. He joined the ADB in 1999 and has worked on the India Desk, the Regional Economic Monitoring Unit, the Southeast Asia Department, and the Office for Regional Economic Integration. He also had a stint at the ADB Institute in Tokyo between 2005 and 2008. Prior to joining ADB, he worked as an academic at Monash University in Melbourne, the University of Melbourne, Victoria University, and the American University in Washington, DC. Dr Menon holds adjunct appointments with the Australian National University, University of Nottingham, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. He also serves on the editorial board of several academic journals. He has authored or co-authored more than one hundred academic publications, mostly on trade and development in Asia.

Registration

For registration, please fill in this form and email to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 11 December 2018.