Lee Hwok-Aun

Dr Lee is Senior Fellow of the Regional Economic Studies Programme, and Co-coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He was previously Senior Lecturer in development studies at the University of Malaya. He authored Affirmative Action in Malaysia and South Africa: Preference for Parity (Routledge, 2021), co-edited The Defeat of Barisan Nasional: Missed Signs or Late Surge? (ISEAS, 2019) and has written various ISEAS Perspective and Trends articles on Malaysia’s affirmative action, inequality, education and labour. He led an unprecedented field experiment on hiring discrimination, published as “Discrimination of high degrees: Race and graduate hiring in Malaysia” (Journal of the Asia-Pacific Economy, 2016).

Malaysia’s Pemerkasa+ Package: More Subsidies Might Be Needed

Lee Hwok-Aun

Malaysia’s recently-launched Pemerkasa+ aid package seeks to provide cash handouts to workers and income support to companies. If the economy suffers from financial hits to segments of the economy, rather than mass job losses, Malaysia would be better served with a structured reprise of higher per-worker subsidies for small companies.

15 Apr 2021

Harnessing a Rising Economic Tide to Lift All Boats

Lee Hwok-Aun

As the Malaysian economy switches into recovery mode, the country must ensure that growth benefits all households, especially those at the bottom.

COVID-19 Malaysian Economy

Ditching Malaysia’s Bumiputera System: Three Utopian Scenarios To Consider

Lee Hwok-Aun

A cold hard look at ways of departing from Malaysia’s long-held Bumiputera system throws up three scenarios, one of which is persuasive.

Malaysia’s New Lockdown – But Where Is the Help for the People?

Lee Hwok-Aun|Kevin Zhang

It is puzzling that the Prime Minister neglects to give assurance that relief will be delivered, if necessary, during this lockdown. Perhaps his government genuinely believes that the broader scope of essential services, along with stimulus programmes introduced in Budget 2021, will translate into a minimal downturn.