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When Taiwan Tests Malaysia’s Strategic Balance

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For Malaysia, China is neither an abstract great power nor a distant geopolitical concept. It is the country’s largest trading partner, a major investor, and an unavoidable presence in regional security calculations. Yet when it comes to Taiwan, China also represents a strategic adversary not in the sense of inevitable hostility, but as a power whose actions could undermine the regional order on which Malaysia’s security and prosperity depend. This tension defines one of the most delicate challenges in Malaysia’s foreign policy today. From Kuala Lumpur’s perspective, the Taiwan issue has traditionally been managed through distance and ambiguity. Malaysia adheres to a one-China policy, avoids commentary on sovereignty questions, and prioritises ASEAN cohesion over bilateral confrontation. This approach was viable when cross-Strait tensions were relatively contained and military force remained a distant possibility. That era is ending. China’s increasingly assertive posture toward ...
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Digital Freedoms and Youth Civic Power

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For young Malaysians, civic participation today is inseparable from digital life. Political debate unfolds on social media, petitions circulate on messaging apps, and mobilization often begins with a hashtag rather than a town hall. Against this backdrop, Part II of the Federal Constitution guaranteeing Fundamental Liberties cannot be treated as a static post-independence document; rather, it must function as a living framework whose legitimacy depends on its ability to protect rights in the digital age. The question for the younger generation is not whether the Constitution promises freedom, but whether those promises meaningfully survive in a digital civic space increasingly regulated by the state. Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, assembly and association. For young Malaysians, this provision underpins digital expression: posting political commentary, organizing campaigns, or criticizing public officials online. In theory, these acts are mo...
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Festive Crowds, Enduring Terror Risks Worldwide

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From 2020 through 2025, global terrorism has repeatedly demonstrated that periods of celebration whether religious holidays, New Year’s festivities, or crowded cultural events remain attractive targets for violent actors seeking maximum psychological impact. Indeed, the strategic logic of terrorism increasingly exploits not only symbolic dates but also high-density public spaces where disruption can amplify fear far beyond the immediate victims. This evolving threat environment holds stark lessons for nations like Malaysia, which must balance open civic life with the imperative of public safety. A series of high-profile incidents highlights the ongoing and varied nature of the threat. In late 2025, an attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach left at least 16 people dead and many others injured, showing how violence can reach even public, family-oriented events despite prior security warnings that proved insufficient. Earlier in 2025, American authorities were conf...
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Global Lessons When Military Power Faces Scrutiny

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The decision to place Malaysia’s Army chief on leave pending investigation is far more than a routine administrative manoeuvre. It represents a moment of institutional reckoning that reaches into the foundations of governance, accountability, and civil–military relations. At stake is not merely whether misconduct occurred, but whether the state is prepared to subject even its most powerful and traditionally insulated institutions to the same standards of scrutiny that apply elsewhere. This question is not uniquely Malaysian; it echoes a global struggle over how democracies reconcile military authority with the rule of law. For decades, Malaysia’s armed forces have occupied a distinctive place in public perception. They are widely regarded as disciplined, professional, and largely untouched by the scandals that have undermined trust in political and corporate elites. This reputation has reinforced public confidence and legitimised the military’s role as a stabilising institution...
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Malay Coalition Realignment and DAP’s Exit – Part 2

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Recent political manoeuvring suggests that Malaysia may already be witnessing the early formation of a new governing alignment: one that quietly transcends the formal boundaries of the Madani government. The evidence does not lie in dramatic announcements or formal declarations, but in patterns of behaviour that, taken together, point toward a strategic recalibration of power. UMNO’s sustained pressure on DAP, PKR’s strategic silence, PAS’s calculated restraint, and the quiet normalisation of cross-party cooperation all suggest that a new coalition logic is being tested in real time. PAS’s conduct is particularly revealing. Despite positioning itself as the principal opposition force following GE15, PAS has noticeably softened its rhetoric against the Madani government and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The party’s attacks are selective, restrained, and often focused more on symbolic issues than on direct challenges to federal authority. This restraint should not be mis...
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DAP Under Siege in Madani Government – Part 1

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The Madani government emerged from GE15 as a political necessity rather than a coherent ideological project. It stitched together long-standing adversaries under the language of stability, reform, and national reconciliation after a hung Parliament left no single bloc with a clear mandate. While this arrangement succeeded in averting political paralysis, it also produced a coalition built on compromise rather than conviction. Nearly two years on, those compromises have hardened into structural fault lines. Among all its component parties, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) has become the most visibly weakened: politically constrained, strategically isolated, and repeatedly targeted particularly by UMNO, with little meaningful defence from its own Pakatan Harapan (PH) partners, PKR and Amanah. This weakening is not accidental nor episodic. It is the cumulative outcome of sustained political pressure, much of it publicly orchestrated, revolving around Malaysia’s most sensitive fault...
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Malaysia Must Not Ignore Weather and Water Warfare Threats

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The idea that wars could be fought not only with bullets and missiles but through rain, drought, and manipulated rivers may sound like science fiction. However, history and contemporary conflicts demonstrate that environmental systems have long been viewed as strategic tools of warfare. Weather modification and water weaponization challenge established norms of international law and ethics, while posing serious risks to civilian populations. For Malaysia, a country increasingly exposed to climate volatility, flooding, and water stress; ignoring these unconventional forms of warfare would be a strategic blind spot. One of the clearest historical examples of weather warfare was ‘Operation Popeye’ during the Vietnam War between 1967 and 1972. The United States conducted a covert cloud-seeding programme aimed at extending the monsoon season over key supply routes used by North Vietnamese forces. By inducing heavier and prolonged rainfall, the objective was to turn roads into mud, flood...
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