Top 5 At 5: The Government's War for Digital Sovereignty

The stories we covered today:

5. The resurgence of smoking being perceived as "cool" again in popular media, after more and more celebrities are photographed smoking. We reached out to Associate Professor Dr. Amer Siddiq, a consultant psychiatrist at the University Malaya Medical Centre for his comment on this.

4. The Malaysian Trades Union Congress has urged the government to review a new minimum wage for the private sector, noting that the last review was two years ago. Employers, however, have warned that such a move would burden their operational costs. We hear from Calvin Cheng, a Fellow in the Economics, Trade and Regional Integration Division of ISIS Malaysia, to give his two cents on this issue.

3. As Southeast Asia navigates increasing geopolitical tensions, ASEAN finds itself in the spotlight, especially with Malaysia set to take the chair next year. We got international diplomat and author Kishore Mahbubani to discuss ASEAN's role in a politically volatile world and what to expect with Malaysia at the helm.

2. Malaysian cyclist, "Pocket Rocketman" Datuk Azizulhasni Awang was disqualified in the keirin event at the Paris Olympics, after overtaking the motorbike pace-setter. We spoke with Scoop sports journalist Fabian Peter about the impact of this disqualification on Azizulhasni as an athlete.

1. Our top story: As the government advances its efforts to license social media platforms, Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil has downplayed the idea of developing a homegrown social media application for Malaysians. To gain deeper insight into this issue, we consulted Associate Professor Dr Sabariah Mohamed Salleh, Head of Programme of the Centre for Research in Media and Communication at UKM.

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