Kuala Lampur, April 30 -- As 2025 unfolds with unsettling global undercurrents, three elections in the Asia-Pacific-Singapore and Australia on May 3, followed by the Philippines on May 12 - have taken on outsized significance. These votes are not mere domestic political events.

They are unfolding in the context of the worst US market instability since the 1970s, with Wall Street reeling from the second coming of Donald Trump. His return has triggered fresh tariffs, fiscal unpredictability, and growing talk of recession - with the Dow down 6.8 per cent, the S&P 500 down 7.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq falling a dramatic 11 per cent in his first 100 days.

Although the Trump administration recently announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs, mar...