Raphael Stevens

A man wearing a facemask as a protection against Covid-19 walks past two Malaysian flags in capital city Kuala Lumpur.Faris Hadziq | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty ImagesStocks in Malaysia fell Monday trade as the government announced a nationwide “total lockdown” to curb the rapidly rising daily Covid-19 infections in the country.The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index fell around 1.5% at the open before closing the session 0.7% lower — underperforming many Asia-Pacific markets.Malaysia has been struggling to control a surge in Covid infections. Last week, the country reported five-consecutive days of record increases in coronavirus cases, taking cumulative infections to more than 565,500 cases with 2,729 deaths as of Sunday, health ministry data showed.Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced Friday after market close that the country will enter a two-week lockdown starting Tuesday.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsDuring the period, individuals are generally only allowed to leave their homes to buy essential items or seek medical services. For companies, those offering essential services will remain open while certain segments of the manufacturing sectors can operate with a reduced capacity.Brian Tan, an economist at Barclays Bank in Singapore, estimated that the measures will cost the Malaysian economy between 0.5 to 1 percentage point every two weeks.Tan wrote in a Monday note that he has lowered Malaysia’s 2021 growth forecast from 6.5% to 5.5% — below the central bank’s projection range of 6% to 7.5%. More

Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister.Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty ImagesSINGAPORE — Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday that the country’s Covid restrictions may be relaxed after June 13 if the situation improves.”Barring another super-spreader or big cluster, we should be on track to bring this outbreak under control,” he said in a televised address.”If our situation continues to improve, and the number of community cases falls further, we should be able to relax the restrictions after 13 June,” he said.The Southeast Asian nation imposed tighter measures twice in May, after the number of local coronavirus infections climbed higher in April.The surge in cases also led to another delay of the travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong.’New normal’Lee said Singapore is fighting “more infectious virus strains,” and will need to inoculate as many as possible to reach “herd immunity” — which occurs when sufficient people in the community are infected or vaccinated, and the disease can no longer spread rapidly.”We must continually adjust our strategies, and raise our game to keep Covid-19 under control,” he said, adding that the country will need to test, trace and vaccinate its population more quickly.Singapore is using various types of Covid-19 tests along with polymerase chain reaction tests, which are widely viewed as the gold standard.”You should expect routine, large-scale, fast and simple testing to be part of our new normal,” Lee said.As for contact tracing, people who live with a close contact of an infected case will now need to be isolated. Previously, only the close contacts would need to be quarantined.”This more aggressive approach will help us to shut down clusters more quickly,” he said.Expanding the vaccination programFrom Tuesday, more than 400,000 students in Singapore will be able to book vaccination slots, the prime minister said. Graduating cohorts and special needs students will be given priority and can begin vaccination as soon as Thursday.Young adults 39 years and younger should be able to book vaccination slots around mid-June, with Singaporeans getting a two-week priority window, he said.Senior citizens above 60 years old will now be able to get vaccinated without needing to register in advance, and can walk into any vaccination center to get their shots, he said.As of Sunday, the country reported 62,028 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 33 deaths from the disease.Since May 8, Singapore lengthened quarantines for travelers arriving from overseas, closed indoor gyms and limited social gatherings to groups of five.It later announced a ban on dine-in, capped public gatherings to groups of two, and said all workers who can work from home must do so from May 16 to June 13. At that time, the government said it would review the measures two weeks later.Singapore’s government last week warned of “heightened uncertainties” in the months ahead because of the pandemic, but maintained its growth forecast at 4% to 6% for 2021. The country’s economy grew 1.3% in the first quarter of 2021, the fastest pace in more than a year. More

Covid-19 vaccination drive at a Government health centre during Covid-19 emergency in Kolkata, India, 03 May, 2021. Pfizer in talks with India over expedited approval for Covid-19 vaccine according to an Indian media report.Indranil Aditya | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesIndia’s economy is expected to have improved in the three months that ended in March — but analysts have trimmed growth expectations for the current quarter that ends in June.It comes as India continues to battle a devastating second wave of coronavirus outbreak.Gross domestic product for the January to March period — India’s fiscal fourth quarter — is due Monday around noon GMT. India’s fiscal year starts in April and ends in March the next year.Reuters reported that economists polled have a median forecast of 1% on-year growth for the March quarter — that’s up from 0.4% in the previous quarter. However, economists are less upbeat about the current quarter ending in June.We need to get to a critical vaccination level, immunization level, in India to stabilize the outbreak — and that is critical for economic growth.Frederic NeumannHSBCThe median growth forecast for the three months between April and June is 21.6% — down from an earlier estimate of 23%, Reuters reported. For the full fiscal year 2022, the median forecast is down from a previous estimate of 10.4% growth to a 9.8% expansion.India is the second worst-infected country in the world behind the United States. It has reported more than 28 million cases and over 329,000 deaths.Expected growth is ‘cold comfort’ for IndiaThe projected growth rate for the March quarter “will be cold comfort for India, which has recoiled back as COVID re-emergence has forced another wave of activity pullback,” Lavanya Venkateswaran, an economist at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a Monday note.The real focus will be on how India manages to get its economy back on track in the second half of the calendar year, following the expected setback in the current quarter, Venkateswaran explained.She added that the bigger concern is the scarring effects on the country’s informal economy and the banking sector that was already capital constrained and burdened with under-performing assets.Covid-19 cases in India began climbing in February and the daily infection rate accelerated in April and May, reaching a peak of more than 414,000 cases on May 7. The second wave forced most of India’s industrial states to implement localized lockdown measures to slow the virus’ spread.Though cases have come off record highs, with the daily reported number falling below 200,000, there are concerns around rapid transmission in rural India, where experts say the health-care infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle a surge in patients.Eyes on ratingsThe second half of the year is crucial for India to boost its Covid-19 vaccination program and minimize the impact of a likely third wave of infections, economists have said.”Ultimately, it comes down to vaccinations,” Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. “We need to get to a critical vaccination level, immunization level, in India to stabilize the outbreak — and that is critical for economic growth.”Neumann added that based on trends seen last year, the Indian economy tends to bounce back quickly once virus cases come off the peak. He said he expects the situation to improve by the end of the September quarter.A robust vaccination drive can also reduce risks related to any potential downgrade of India’s sovereign ratings, which has become a concern among investors, according to Kaushik Das, chief economist for India and South Asia at Deutsche Bank.Ratings agencies have said they do not see any imminent changes to India’s sovereign ratings yet. They expect the economic fallout from the second wave to be limited to the June quarter and predict it will not likely be as severe as last year, when India implemented a months-long national lockdown. More

Global Wellness expert Deepak Chopra has told CNBC that he is “devastated” and “heartbroken” about the Covid-19 crisis currently gripping India, saying he feels the country could have managed the situation much better.Chopra, who was born and raised in New Delhi before continuing his medical training in the U.S., said he hopes lessons have been learned.”I feel India could have done better. I think, as usual, political ideologies and conflicts and special interest groups have worsened the crisis,” he said.”India could have managed this much better and I hope they’ve learned, we’ve all learned a lesson from this, because, you know, there’s no way you can prevent Indians from traveling in the world, and what happens in India is going to happen elsewhere, if you’re not careful,” he added.’A very big mistake’Chopra told CNBC that he feels responsibility “ultimately rests with influencers and politicians and leaders because they set the rules. And it was, in my opinion, a very big mistake to allow the Kumbh Mela and all these religious gatherings only for political purposes.”India has faced a deadly second wave of the Covid-19 virus in recent weeks. According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported over to 27.5 million Covid cases and almost 326,000 deaths.Deepak Chopra, co-founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing and the founder of the Chopra Foundation.Adam Jeffery | CNBCChopra is not alone, and many have criticized lawmakers and vaccine suppliers inside the country. Prime Minister Modi has defended the government’s vaccination strategy, telling ministers in April that “those who are in the habit of doing (playing) politics, let them do so … I have been facing various allegations. We can’t stop those who are hell bent on doing politics. But we are committed to service to mankind, which we shall continue,” he said, the Times of India reported.He also noted that a previous peak in infections, last September, had been controlled at a time when vaccines were not available and track and tracing cases and mass testing had been relied upon.Pandemic ‘worsened our mental well-being’Chopra, a worldwide leading figure in integrative medicine and meditation, was speaking around the release of a new free 21-day meditation experience with multi award-winning singer-songwriter, activist and entrepreneur, Alicia Keys.Released on ChopraMeditation.com during Mental Health Awareness Month, the meditation, “Activating the Divine Feminine: The Path to Wholeness,” aims to “restore wholeness and bring peace and healing.”Chopra and Keys believe there is an imbalance in the world of masculine and feminine energy today, regardless of gender, which needs to be addressed.”Healing ultimately is the return of the memory of wholeness, and unless we are balanced in ourselves with both masculine and feminine energies, that imbalance is reflected in what we see in the world,” Chopra said.The wellness icon, who is also the founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit focused on the research of well-being and humanitarianism, also told CNBC that he believes mental distress remains “the number one pandemic in the world.””Something is wrong with our humanity right now that we are not addressing mental well-being, mental hygiene,” he said. “Everything from climate change, to pandemics to mass migrations to eco destruction to weaponized killing to wars and terrorism is actually a consequence of mental distress, stress, anger, hostility, fear. So we need to address this. This is an emergency,” he continued.He said the global pandemic had only “worsened” the situation.”The global pandemic has worsened our mental well-being, it has worsened our economic well-being, and it has brought out some ugliness such as racism and bigotry and hatred and prejudice and conflict,” he said.”Everywhere I see in the world, it’s not just Republicans and Democrats here, it’s, you know, it’s Protestants and Catholics, it’s Muslims and Jews and Arabs and Israelis and Indians and Pakistanis. I mean, if you don’t think this is insane, then you’re declaring your own insanity,” he added.Asked what individuals can do to make a difference and what he feels the solution was to all of these global issues, Chopra said: “If you want to change the world, you start with yourself.” “Today perform one act of kindness … when we all perform acts of love in action and we reach a critical mass, the world will be a different place,” he told CNBC.—CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this article. More

Health workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant on children during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus, on a deserted road in Kathmandu on May 3, 2020.Prakash Mathema | AFP | Getty ImagesNepal underestimated its second wave of Covid-19 infections and needs to step up its efforts to address the crisis, Nepali billionaire Binod Chaudhary said last week. The country also should not hold its elections until the situation stabilizes, he said.”I must admit, we probably underestimated, as a nation, the intensity of the second wave,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Friday.The South Asian country’s Covid cases surged in April and continued to hit new record highs in May.As of May 30, Nepal has reported 557,124 coronavirus infections and 7,272 deaths, according to data from local health authorities.The situation is similar to what’s playing out in neighboring India, which has the second highest number of cases in the world.India’s Covid crisisRead CNBC’s latest coverage of India’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic:WHO labels a Covid strain in India as a ‘variant of concern’ — here’s what we knowIndia’s worsening Covid crisis could spiral into a problem for the worldIndia is the home of the world’s biggest producer of Covid vaccines. But it’s facing a major internal shortageIndia’s economy will likely contract this quarter as Covid cases soar, economists warnChaudhary, chairman of Nepal-based CG Corp Global, said the first wave was bad enough and the country was “crippled” for around three months, though it managed to recover.”This time, it’s worse,” he said.Health-care systemNepal’s medical system is under immense pressure, with a lack of oxygen, ventilators and intensive care beds, he said.World Bank data shows that in 2018, Nepal only had 0.749 physicians per 1,000 people. That’s lower than 0.857 in India and 2.812 in the U.K. in the same year.Inoculations in Nepal have been hampered by supply, and only around 2.25% of the country’s 29 million residents are fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.”We were counting on India,” Chaudhary said.India is a manufacturing hub for vaccines and has donated shots to neighboring countries. Nepal also purchased doses, but India stopped exports in February to prioritize domestic demand.”We’re looking for other sources of supply,” he said. “We need to step up all our efforts rapidly.”This country needs to be kept safe and protected.Binod ChaudharyCG Corp GlobalHe added that CG Corp Global has mobilized its network and is helping to bring oxygen and ventilators into Nepal. The company’s nonprofit arm has donated around $1 million to help deal with the health emergency.Chaudhary called on the world to “give special emphasis to countries such as Nepal” when it comes to vaccines.”This country needs to be kept safe and protected,” he said. Nepal shares a border with both India and China, and is “strategically located, yet small,” he said, predicting that the problem could be solved “pretty quickly.”Various nations have sent aid in the form of medical supplies and personal protective equipment. China has reportedly donated 800,000 doses of its Sinopharm-developed vaccine to Nepal.General elections in NovemberChaudhary, who is an opposition member of parliament, said he wishes that all parties would put Covid-related challenges first and try to make Nepal safe.”Sadly, that’s not the case,” he said. Nepal’s parliament was dissolved in December, but the move was reversed after the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional.On May 22, however, President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the parliament and called for an election in November. Reuters reported that opposition Nepali Congress party said it will launch a political and legal fight against the dissolution.Most opposition parties find the timing unacceptable, Chaudhary said. It should be held when the country’s health and economic situation is back on track, he said.That could happen in less than six months, but only if vaccines and medical equipment are secured for Nepal, he predicted.As cases continue to rise, Chaudhary said calling for an election is ironic and unfortunate.”While the house is on fire, we are still fighting (over) who’s going to sleep in the master bedroom.” More

Fashion has a polyester problem.It’s the most widely-used clothing fiber in the world, but as a synthetic material made from plastic, polyester needs a lot of energy to produce and is highly water and air polluting, according to the Council of Fashion Designers of America.The fashion industry is trying to tackle the issue, but there’s no simple solution, according to the CEO of one of the world’s largest clothes manufacturers. “There isn’t so far (a) raw material that is as cheap and as versatile as polyester today,” said Roger Lee, who runs Hong-Kong headquartered TAL Apparel.As well as being inexpensive, polyester doesn’t crease and can be washed at low temperatures. However, the laundry process also releases tiny fibers known as microplastics, which can be harmful to marine life. While polyester lasts for years, longevity is a double-edged sword — clothes can be worn many times but will likely up in landfill, and don’t biodegrade.”Today, we rarely use virgin polyester,” Lee told CNBC’s “Managing Asia: Sustainable Future.” “What do I mean by that? Quite often, our polyacetal (fiber) that we use are actually from recycled bottles.”Over the past two years, Lee said there has been a huge acceleration in the use of recycled plastics in fashion. “The reason is because the cost of using that has come down to the same price as using virgin polyester. And that’s the key — if the price is the same … (it’s) a no-brainer. It saves environments (and has) the same commercial costs.”TAL Apparel manufactures clothing for brands including Burberry, J Crew and Patagonia and was founded by the Lee family who started in the fashion business with a cotton cloth shop in 1856. The firm was revived by Lee’s great uncle C.C. in 1947.CEOs need to say okay, what’s more important … a profit now or … a planet in the future?Roger LeeAt the moment, only about 14% of polyester is produced from recycled fibers, according to standards body Textile Exchange. How close to a breakthrough is the sector in terms of recycling used garments?”If you talk about pure polyester, yes, we are close. But the problem is a lot of materials are mixed materials, it’s a polyester blend with something else. And separating that has been an issue,” Lee explained.TAL is involved with the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel which is investigating new ways to make the fashion industry more sustainable. In November, the institute launched a “Green Machine,” developed with the H&M Foundation, which can separate mixed materials. The new machine works by decomposing the cotton part of the material and extracting the polyester, which can then be spun into garments.Preventing clothes going to landfill, or encouraging people to buy less, could go some way to addressing an excess of polyester garments — and that means looking at the fundamentals of the fashion industry.Custom clothingBrands currently “guess” how many pieces of each style they are going to produce, Lee said, and making the clothes takes three to six months before they are sent to stores or put online. What doesn’t get sold at full price is marked down. “When it’s so cheap, or 70% off, (people think) I don’t really need it, but you know what 70% is worth it, (so) I’m going to get that. And then you buy stuff you don’t really need,” Lee said.One solution is to make clothes that are made-to-measure, which TAL has been doing for 15 years. “In the last few years, it’s really taken off … you walk into the store, the garment is not there ready for you. But you say you know what, I like this fabric, I like in this style, you place the order and the shirt for example, in seven days, you will get it at your doorstep,” Lee explained. Before the coronavirus pandemic, TAL made around 600,000 dress shirts a year in this way.While making made-to-measure clothes is currently more expensive than producing them in bulk, that could change in the long term. “You don’t need (a) warehouse to store (garments) … you don’t need big stores to sell … But big brands that have a lot of brick-and-mortar can’t get rid of those overnight, so it doesn’t make sense,” Lee said.”What’s capturing the market are the up-and-coming people … we need more people to think about that way,” he added. In December, Amazon launched custom T-shirt service Made For You in the U.S., while San Francisco-based Unspun sells custom-fit denim.”Brands have to be committed to say: I’m going to eliminate this raw material polyester, for example, from my supply chain in five to 10 years’ time, forcing people to find alternative ways, which are more sustainable. It is the brands’ CEOs’ responsibility to do that,” Lee said.He also called for the industry to work together. “Our industry is highly competitive (and) sharing secrets about how we do things will give one company advantage over another,” Lee said. “But CEOs need to say: OK, what’s more important … a profit now or … a planet in the future. And I think planet in the future.”— CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report. More