Anita Gabriel

Anita Gabriel

DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Anita is BT’s deputy news editor, leading South-east Asian news coverage. A seasoned business journalist with over 30 years of experience, she specializes in capital markets and sectors ranging from energy and commodities to healthcare and utilities. Known for breaking scoops and providing sharp insights on corporate developments, she also moderates panel discussions on topics such as scaling up SMEs and embracing AI. Previously, she was Senior Business Editor at The Star and held leadership roles at The Edge and The Business Times in Malaysia.

As fuel costs rise, governments move to conserve supply and tighten flows. That is when a price shock starts to become a volume problem.
THINKING ALOUD

Emergency extinguisher full or empty? Crunch time for Asean’s fuel pact

This energy crisis will test whether the bloc’s emergency fuel-sharing pact is a gentleman’s agreement in disappearing ink

View of Sunway City Kuala Lumpur. If Sunway believes scale will define the next competitive edge in construction and property, the timing of its IJM bid is defensible.
THINKING ALOUD

Sunway, IJM and the politics of consolidation in Malaysia

The proposed takeover has sparked a brouhaha that goes far beyond commercial considerations

Johor has rejected up to 30% of new data-centre applications in 2025, industry guidance published this month indicated.

Johor data centres hit ‘time to power’ bottleneck

Approvals and grid delivery delays – not generation capacity – are determining which data centre projects move ahead on schedule 

A more disciplined way to keep the JS-SEZ grounded is to adopt a simple principle: property should follow jobs, not lead them.
THINKING ALOUD

RTS boom, JS-SEZ buzz: Are homes racing ahead of jobs – again?

Are we planning housing primarily around Johor-based employment growth or around cross-border commuting demand?

Jakarta is scrambling to rein in lower-grade nickel output by blocking new smelters producing nickel pig iron and ferronickel, in favour of higher-value processing.
THINKING ALOUD

Could Jakarta’s moving goalposts corrode investor faith in nickel?

The Indonesian government’s big push for downstreaming is delivering results, but it comes with trade-offs

Jho Low (left) and Chen Zhi pulled off colossal financial crimes because the system was flawed.
THINKING ALOUD

Jho Low, Chen Zhi: Two fugitives, two ecosystems

These high-profile frauds expose an uneasy truth about financial oversight in South-east Asia

This time, Trump came and went peacefully, without awkward optics and with a bit of groove – his trademark dance was even dubbed Joget Penumbuk (Boxer’s Dance).
THINKING ALOUD

Trump came, danced and left, leaving Asean (and Anwar) to carry on

The group must keep its focus as it weathers a choppy year of tariffs, political tensions, escalating costs and slowing trade

From Sep 30, the price of RON95 petrol will be trimmed by six sen to RM1.99 per litre for Malaysian citizens driving locally registered vehicles; but the subsidy is capped at 300 litres a month.
THINKING ALOUD

Subsidy reform a la Malaysia – one tiny step at a time

Such policy changes – on their own – may not move the needle in a big way, but they represent small nudges towards a sustainable fiscal path

In the latest sign of Japan Inc's growing appetite for South-east Asia's healthcare market, Mitsubishi Corp has acquired a strategic minority stake in Singapore's Fullerton Health.
THINKING ALOUD

Fullerton deal is no side gig for Japan Inc

Mitsubishi’s latest investment in Singapore’s Fullerton Health underscores how Japan Inc has been swooping in on healthcare assets across South-east Asia and reshaping the sector – block by block

The Trump-Powell feud is shaping up to be a stress test for global institutional credibility and Asean can't afford to tune out.
THINKING ALOUD

Could Asean be done waiting on the Fed?

Regional central banks have growing confidence in domestic-led monetary policies