Key Takeaways: 1. Barisan Nasional has a good chance of retaining majority seats in the state elections if it is held in the next 2-3 months, although lower turnout could be a challenge for contesting parties. 2. Chinese community in Johor are generally pleased with the BN state government and the leadership of Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz. They have an impression that DAP is part of government even though the party does not have a role in the state administration. 3. General di

The modern warfare as we see it now not only involves tanks, guns or boots on the ground but it is a contest driven by information, intelligence, and tactical moves backed by solid data relating to coordinates, personnel information, movement of goods and strategic assets – all being recorded through logs and records stored in millions of computers and data depositories. Read more: https://www.factsasia.org/blog/minerals-to-memory-data-as-the-new-geoeconomic-frontier

12月18日，中国正式启动海南自由贸易港全岛封关运作。封关不是封岛，而是将海南岛建成一个海关监管特殊区域，实施以“‘一线’放开、‘二线’管住、岛内自由”为基本特征的自由化便利化政策制度。“封关”这一术语的字面表述，若不加解释，很容易让外界误读为“关闭边界”。但事实恰恰相反，这是一场制度上的开放升级，是对全球化与区域联动的新一轮实证检验。　 对普通外来游客而言，海南更便利的出入境手续、更宽泛的免税商品范围，意味着更好的旅游与购物体验。就中国深化改革开放的宏大叙事而言，海南封关意味着中国开放的大门正在越开越大。对于马来西亚和其他东盟国家的企业，尤其是外向型中小企业，海南则是进入中国市场乃至其他亚洲国家市场的“中转站”。