NRC was honoured to welcome Dr Ong Kian Ming as our Eminent Speaker, an accomplished thought leader, currently Executive Director of RGE Malaysia and an Adjunct Professor at Taylor’s University. His session, “Navigating the Relationship Between the State and Federal Government in Malaysia: Issues and Challenges,” is timely and strategically important because effective federal–state coordination shapes the delivery of public services, development planning, fiscal and administrative governance, and crisis response, ultimately influencing national cohesion, policy credibility, and Malaysia’s overall governance capacity. Through this discussion, course members gained sharper insight into how intergovernmental dynamics work in practice, the frictions that commonly arise, and how strategic leadership can strengthen collaboration across jurisdictions to achieve stronger national outcomes.
