2025 sees Federal Court’s biggest refresh with nine new judges

In an unprecedented move, three Court of Appeal judges rose to take up administrative posts in the judiciary.

The judiciary is presently led by (from left) Justices Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh (chief justice), Abu Bakar Jais (Court of Appeal president), Hashim Hamzah (CJ Malaya) and Azizah Nawawi (CJ Sabah and Sarawak).

PUTRAJAYA:

 The year 2025 will be best remembered by the legal fraternity for the sweeping changes that came about with the appointments of nine judges to the apex court.

In an unprecedented move, three Court of Appeal judges were appointed to top judicial offices — Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh was made chief justice, with Justices Hashim Hamzah and Azizah Nawawi appointed chief judge of Malaya and of Sabah and Sarawak, respectively.

Their appointments as judicial administrators were made immediately upon their elevation to the Federal Court, marking a departure from the convention of appointing existing apex court judges to the positions.

Justice Abu Bakar Jais, appointed a Federal Court judge two years ago, was made Court of Appeal president, the second-highest position in the judicial hierarchy.

Wan Farid, 63, succeeded Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, the first woman to hold the post, who served as the top judge for six years.

Abu Bakar, also 63, took over from Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, the first East Malaysian to serve as Court of Appeal president.

Hashim, 64, replaced Hasnah Hashim, while Azizah, 63, the first female chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, succeeded Abdul Rahman Sebli.

In the process, three senior Federal Court judges — Justices Rhodzariah Bujang, Nordin Hassan, and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera — believed to have been proposed for the positions by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), were bypassed.

Article 122B(1) of the Federal Constitution states that all appointments as judges and to the top administrative positions in the judiciary are made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, acting on the advice of the prime minister, after consulting the Conference of Rulers.

Under the JAC Act, the commission may recommend candidates for appointment to the prime minister, who can request additional names for consideration.

No official explanation was offered as to why the JAC’s picks and the convention of appointing Federal Court judges to the top posts were disregarded.

All four top judges are expected to remain in office for between 30 months and 42 months, assuming they each secure a six-month extension to their tenure upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 66, as provided for by the constitution.

Wan Farid will turn 66 in May 2029, Abu Bakar in December 2028, Hashim in June 2028 and Azizah in July 2028.

Five judges appointed to apex court

The year also saw five Court of Appeal judges — Justices Lee Swee Seng, Che Ruzima Ghazali, Nazlan Ghazali, Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Azimah Omar — appointed in rapid succession to the Federal Court following the retirement of five apex court judges beginning April.

Justice Nallini Pathmanathan, the most senior of the current 10 Federal Court judges, will retire in February.

Two more appointments can be expected in the first quarter of 2026—one to replace Nallini and another to fill the vacant 11th seat on the apex court bench.

Lawyer A Srimurugan said Wan Farid, whose appointment was made in the wake of several controversies within and outside the JAC, should be given the chance to demonstrate his leadership qualities and bolster public confidence in the judiciary.

Srimurugan said the legal fraternity and public would be keeping a keen eye as the chief justice unveils his plans to further improve the administration of justice at the opening of the legal year on Jan 12. - FMT

2025 economic performance unexpectedly positive

Despite the justified caution due to external headwinds and disruptive trade and tariff negotiations the Malaysian economy performed above expectations.

The Malaysian economy performed well in 2025 due to good economic management and sound fiscal and monetary policy.

Economic growth has been strong despite global headwinds, and it looks likely that GDP growth will be around 4.7% in line with the new official forecasts. This will be a good outcome, above mid-year expectations.

Private spending was boosted by higher civil service pay, the increase in the minimum wage to RM1,700 per month and the STR/Sara transfers worth RM13 billion with RM2 billion more for the universal Sara scheme.

Nonetheless wages have still struggled and the monthly median wage fell from RM3,064 in January to RM2,864 in June.

High foreign direct investment (FDI) has been a success story of 2025. FDI is high in areas such as data centres but with few real economic spillovers.

Investment in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) will be localised and may be mainly property related. So these benefits must be captured to make a long-term impact.

Domestic direct investment (DDI) has been weak for many years because the returns in Malaysian business investments as well as financial investments in equities and fixed income Malaysian government securities are very poor.

Returns overseas are better. For example, year-to-date (YTD) returns on Bursa Malaysia are 0.08% and five-year returns are down 1.8% compared to the S&P500 which is up 16.1% YTD and up 86.4% over five years.

The real interest has been in trade with record exports and total trade, and a rebound in the trade surplus despite the concerns about US tariff negotiations, the outcome of which has proven largely positive.

The US has removed tariffs on more than 2,000 items from Malaysia, while exports to the US rose by 13.9% from January to November. Imports rose by 7.9% and the overall trade surplus with the US rose by 19.5%.

While headline inflation has been lower than expected many people still feel the pressure of the rising cost of living. This is the lingering problem of structurally low incomes and underemployment which are not being addressed especially for middle-income groups and pensioners.

Producer prices have been falling throughout 2025 compared to last year due to lower input costs, a stronger ringgit and greater competition.

While this is good in the short-term if lower prices are passed on to consumers, pressure on prices will squeeze margins and harm businesses if it is prolonged.

Part of this is an exchange rate effect. The ringgit has strengthened 9.2% against the US dollar and 3.9% against the Singapore dollar since January.

This makes exports more expensive and imports cheaper, forcing firms to cut costs and prices to compete. This cannot be sustained over a long period and suggests the ringgit is too strong.

The strength of the ringgit reflects positive economic management with four Madani government budgets improving confidence and setting sound fiscal conditions.

Taxes have risen, government spending has improved, RM15.5 billion in subsidy rationalisation savings have been locked in and changes in development spending, with the GEAR-up programme providing support, have all helped.

Bank Negara has supported this with sound monetary policy and financial regulation, even achieving a small cut in interest rates.

So while there is a good story to tell about overall economic management and performance the challenge for the government is to turn this into positive sentiment for businesses, consumers and investors.

There are lingering concerns that many people on middle-incomes, many micro, small and medium size companies and many financial investors do not feel the benefits.

Changing this narrative and managing the inevitable risks to come will be the main economic challenge of 2026. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect  those of MMKtT.

Mufti janganlah campur urusan politik

Mufti setiap negeri adalah penjawat awam. Ulasan, kecenderungan dan komentar politik daripada para mufti adalah preseden yang buruk.

Susulan kekacauan politik dan kekecohan antara PAS sesama PAS, dan PAS dengan Bersatu di Perlis, mufti negeri tersebut memilih untuk mencebur diri dalam perbalahan duniawi di atas. Beliau kemudian dikecam oleh ahli-ahli PAS kerana mengkritik PAS dan pimpinannya, dan tidak kurang juga yang menyahut dan meraikan kritikan tersebut.

Kebanyakan yang menyukai kritikan mufti Perlis terhadap PAS itu datangnya dari kem Pakatan Harapan tentunya. Mufti Perlis tersebut turut beroleh sokongan moral daripada mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, dengan alasan para mufti perlu ikut bersuara dalam ‘hal-hal tertentu’. Helo, hal-hal tertentu apakah yang boleh disentuh pihak mufti?

Ulasan, kecenderungan dan komentar politik daripada para mufti adalah preseden yang buruk. Mufti setiap negeri adalah penjawat awam, waima mereka itu dilantik oleh ketua agama Islam di negeri masing-masing. Mufti juga tidak seharusnya berpihak, kelihatan berpihak, mencampuri urusan politik kepartian, kerana mufti seharusnya menjadi mufti kepada semua umat Islam mengatasi parti, cara fikir, mazhab, gender, orientasi seksual dan tua muda. Jika nanti ada mufti yang cenderung kepada parti lainnya, adakah penyokong parti tersebut akan kecewa, merana dan kemudian mencari pasal pula dengan beliau?

Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan tidak sewajarnya mengikut jejak langkah Mufti Perlis. Ada banyak sebab untuk saya hujahkan begini. Misalnya Mufti di Perlis itu sendiri sudah terbiasa mengulas hal-hal di luar ‘urusan kerja’.

Asri Zainul Abidin antara mufti yang paling lama berkhidmat. Beliau sering dianggap sebagai tokoh kontroversi dek keberanian menyanggah pandangan mufti-mufti lain, seperti yang terserlah dalam perbahasan berkaitan penggubalan Rang Undang-Undang (RUU) Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan. Dalam erti kata lain, beliau juga biasa melakukannya dengan sesama mufti.

Para pengkritik kerap melabelkannya sebagai pendukung doktrin Wahhabi — satu tuduhan yang sukar ditolak sepenuhnya memandangkan karya-karya beliau mencerminkan kecenderungan Wahhabi/Salafi, seperti sikap menentang keterikatan kepada mazhab fiqh tertentu, kritikal terhadap hadis palsu, serta kecaman terhadap amalan-amalan tasawuf. Beliau menyifatkan fenomena-fenomena ini sebagai tidak selari dengan Islam yang ‘murni’ dan menyeru umat Islam kembali kepada ajaran yang dianggapnya autentik. Rujukan beliau sering selari dengan tokoh-tokoh yang digemari tradisi Wahhabi/Salafi, khususnya Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) dan Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (1292–1350), di samping kecenderungan kepada wacana anti-Syiah.

Bagaimanapun, penting untuk diperhatikan bahawa Asri secara konsisten menafikan dirinya Wahhabi, dan dalam banyak keadaan menggambarkan amalan Islam di Perlis sebagai berteraskan Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah (ASWJ).

Namun, kefahaman yang lebih mendalam membawa kepada program seperti Konvensyen Sunnah tahunan yang dilancarkan pada tahun 2015 dan dijenamakan semula pada tahun 2025 sebagai Perlis International Sunnah Convention (PISC). Dianjurkan oleh Jabatan Mufti Negeri Perlis dan dibiayai oleh Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat Melayu Perlis, konvensyen ini dipersembahkan sebagai platform untuk mempromosikan ‘ajaran Islam yang autentik’. Ia kerap menampilkan sarjana yang dikaitkan dengan Wahhabisme, yang sebahagiannya memperkenalkan diri sebagai ‘Salafi’ bagi mengurangkan kontroversi, sambil menolak orientasi Islam lain.

Persoalan mengenai identiti Asri dan takrifan kendirinya mencetuskan pelbagai pertikaian yang masih kurang difahami oleh masyarakat umum. Keadaan ini seterusnya membuka ruang kepada perbezaan yang kompleks, termasuk yang terserlah dalam penggubalan undang-undang dan akta perundangan. Sebagai contoh, Asri secara terbuka mencabar Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Hal Ehwal Agama), Na’im Mokhtar, serta bekas mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, Luqman Abdullah, berhubung RUU Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan. RUU tersebut menerima sokongan semua mufti negeri kecuali mufti Perlis. Ia diperkenalkan atas alasan keselamatan negara, khususnya bagi menghalang pelantikan mufti Wilayah Persekutuan yang orientasi teologinya menyimpang daripada Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah.

Asri juga kerap mencabar atau menjawab tuduhan yang dikemukakan oleh ulama lain dalam pelbagai kontroversi awam. Pertukaran pandangan secara terbuka ini, yang sering berlangsung melalui media, mencetuskan polemik lanjut dalam kalangan masyarakat Islam, terutama di ruang dalam talian. Perbezaan pendapat secara terbuka dengan rakan sejawat di negeri-negeri lain — khususnya melalui kenyataan di media sosial — menimbulkan persoalan kritikal: adakah hal ini mencerminkan ketiadaan platform dialog antara mufti, sehingga perbezaan pandangan terpaksa didedahkan kepada umum dan seterusnya menimbulkan keresahan? Adakah kenyataan-kenyataan ini secara inheren bersifat kontroversi, atau sekadar bertujuan menegaskan perbezaan? Atau adakah perbezaan ini berpunca daripada kerangka teologi yang benar-benar berbeza?

Salah satu faktor yang menyumbang kepada persepsi Asri sebagai tokoh kontroversi ialah kekerapan pendedahan media, sama ada kerana beliau dijemput memberi pandangan mengenai isu politik atau atas inisiatif beliau sendiri. Dalam banyak keadaan, kenyataan beliau mencetuskan pertikaian, khususnya dengan sebahagian ahli politik bukan Islam. Pendiriannya terhadap pelbagai parti politik turut berubah-ubah, namun beliau agak konsisten dalam menolak DAP, sambil menegaskan keutamaan identiti etnik Melayu.

Beliau juga kerap menyatakan pujian terbuka terhadap Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim, dan lantaran itu beliau akan dibaca atau ditafsir yang bukan-bukan, khusus oleh mereka yang tidak menggemari PMX.

Seorang mufti seharusnya berjenis damai, tenang, dan mengamankan umat. Politik kepartian berpotensi untuk mencetuskan perkelahian. Mufti yang terjun masuk campur, atau mencari lubang perli-memerli dalam urusan yang diluar fatwa tidak membawa kebaikan kepada masyarakat Islam. Dalam keadaan politik kita panas dan tidak reda suhunya, sikap begini tidak menyumbang apa-apa.

Nasihat saya kepada mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, mufti Perlis tidak memerlukan bekap enta, dan lebih baik menghindari diri dari gelombang dan tenaga negatif daripada sesiapa pun. Moga-moga 2026 umat Islam di Malaysia akan lebih bersatu, meskipun bersatu untuk Melayu itu lucu. - FMT

Artikel ini adalah pandangan penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili MMKtT.

We’ve built enough, now we must change how we move

What 2026 demands is courage in land-use decisions, road pricing and letting go of car-centric assumptions that no longer serve our cities or economy.

From Wan Agyl Wan Hassan

If 2025 is remembered for anything in Malaysia’s transport story, it will be as the year that the physical pieces finally fell into place.

After more than a decade of planning, construction and political debate, rail lines opened, buses returned to routes long abandoned, fares were stabilised, and long-delayed projects edged closer to completion. The hardware of public transport arrived and, for the first time in years, the direction felt broadly right.

But if 2025 was about building, 2026 must be about belief. Belief that public transport is not a fallback option for those without cars, but the backbone of how a modern, competitive and inclusive Malaysia moves.

The government deserves credit for several difficult but necessary decisions. The continuation of the My50 pass during a period of fiscal tightening signalled a clear recognition that public transport is a cost-of-living instrument, not merely a mobility product.

Ridership recovery across Klang Valley rail and bus networks did not happen by accident but reflects a conscious choice to keep public transport affordable while households remain under pressure. Outside the Klang Valley, the expansion of performance-based bus contracts under BAS.MY marked a long-overdue shift away from survival subsidies towards service delivery, reliability and accountability.

On the infrastructure front, MRT2 demonstrated that large rail projects in Malaysia can be delivered with discipline, ridership uptake and operational credibility.

The nearing completion of the Johor–Singapore RTS Link also reintroduced something that has been missing from Malaysia’s transport narrative for years: confidence that regional rail integration can actually happen. Even where projects such as the Gemas–Johor Bahru electrification struggled, the issues were no longer invisible. Delays were discussed openly and expectations were recalibrated more honestly than in the past.

Yet, 2025 also exposed a deeper structural contradiction that Malaysia can no longer afford to ignore. We continue to invest billions in public transport while simultaneously designing cities, approving developments and managing roads as if cars will always come first.

Public transport is still too often treated as an “add-on” – something to be retrofitted after land has been zoned, roads widened and parking minimums locked in.

This is why the conversation must change in 2026.

The next phase of reform is not about announcing new mega projects. It is about enabling more people to access public transport, whether they arrive on foot, by bus, by motorcycle, or yes, even by car. Park-and-ride should no longer be seen as a moral failure of transit planning, but as a practical bridge in a country where car ownership is deeply embedded.

The goal is not to punish drivers overnight, but to give them credible, dignified alternatives that actually work.

At the same time, future urban development must finally pivot towards transit-first logic. Too many high-density projects continue to receive planning approval without firm commitments to bus priority, pedestrian access or genuine first-and-last-mile connectivity.

When public transport is treated as an afterthought in land-use decisions, the system is forced to chase demand instead of shaping it. This is not a funding problem; it is a governance problem – one that sits squarely at the intersection of planning authorities, local councils and transport agencies.

2026 should also be the year that Malaysia stops being afraid of managing demand. Congestion pricing pilots, carefully designed, transparently communicated and geographically limited, are no longer radical ideas. Cities across Asia have shown that pricing road space fairly is not anti-car; it is pro-efficiency. Revenue from such pilots can and should be ring-fenced directly into bus lanes, service frequency and pedestrian infrastructure, making the social contract visible and defensible.

In parallel, the quiet success of multi-lane free-flow and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)-based tolling pilots should be scaled into a national conversation about how we price roads in the digital age.

A fully ANPR-enabled tolling system is not just about smoother highways; it is a prerequisite for smarter congestion management, fairer charging and, eventually, more integrated mobility pricing across modes. Technology is no longer the barrier. The question is whether we are ready to use it as a policy tool rather than merely an operational upgrade.

None of this requires abandoning fiscal discipline. In fact, the opposite is true. As transport budgets tighten, every ringgit must work harder; measured not by kilometres built, but by minutes saved, trips enabled and households reached. The most effective transport investments of the past year were not always the most expensive ones; they were the ones that made public transport usable in daily life.

The government has signalled, repeatedly, that it understands the direction of travel. 2025 proved that intent can translate into action.

What 2026 demands is courage at the edges: in land-use decisions, in road pricing, in letting go of car-centric assumptions that no longer serve our cities or our economy.

Malaysia has built enough to move forward. The task now is to let people actually move – not just with their cars, but beyond them. - FMT

Wan Agyl Wan Hassan is the founder and CEO of MY Mobility Vision, a transport think tank.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.