Practice of Tharma Pillai · Quasa Asia Reg. & Political Strategy · Kuala Lumpur

Most advisers help you follow the rules. I've spent ten years changing them.

I work with companies and institutions on regulation and politics in Malaysia and the wider region, usually where nothing is settled yet: new regulation, contested reforms, or political trouble that's spilled into public view.

Co-founder of Undi18, the campaign that lowered Malaysia's voting age and changed the Federal Constitution to do it.

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§ 01Of the practice and its principal

Most advisers help you comply with rules that already exist. I've spent my career changing the rules themselves.

Tharma Pillai, regulatory and political strategist, in Kuala Lumpur
Plate I · Tharma PillaiKuala Lumpur

Co-founding Undi18 taught me how rules actually change in this country. We got the voting age lowered from 21 to 18, which meant amending the Federal Constitution, and it passed unanimously in 2019.

So I understand the machinery that moves policy: the public pressure, the people inside government who actually decide, and the timing. I work across industries, not in one. My clients have been in fintech, energy, electronics, health, and a few others, but the sector is never really the point. The point is that the regulation is still being figured out, the politics around it are live, and they need someone who can read both and tell them what to do next.

It's a small practice on purpose. You deal with me, not a team of juniors.

§ 02Enactments secured, and one reform still in progress.

A record on the statute books

Art. 119 · Federal Constitution

Lowering the voting age to 18

Co-founded and led Undi18, the campaign behind the constitutional amendment that lowered Malaysia's voting age from 21 to 18. Passed by unanimous vote in Parliament, 2019.

Art. 49A · Federal Constitution

The anti-party-hopping law

Contributed to the constitutional amendment introducing anti-defection provisions, one of the most significant political-reform measures of its era.

Act 30 · UUCA 1971

Reform of the Universities and University Colleges Act

Part of the advocacy that reshaped the rules governing student political participation.

In progress · current advocacy

Separating the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor

An active campaign to split two roles still held by a single office, as a structural check on prosecutorial power. This reform is ongoing and not yet enacted.

§ 03The work, in four parts

What I do

(a)

Regulatory & policy strategy

Working out how to handle, and where possible shape, regulation that's still taking form, so you're aiming for the outcome you want instead of reacting to whatever lands.

(b)

Political crisis communications

When a normal commercial decision turns into a public or political fight, I take charge of the narrative and the stakeholders and bring the temperature down.

(c)

Fractional Head of Regulatory

Senior regulatory and government-affairs leadership for companies that need it but aren't ready to hire full-time. Set out below.

(d)

Political intelligence & briefings

Straight reads on what's really happening in Malaysian and regional politics, for firms and institutions that need to know before they move.

§ 04Principal engagement, on retainer

Senior regulatory leadership, without the full-time hire.

Every growing company hits a point where regulation stops being a box to tick and starts to matter a lot: a licence, a new market, a rule that could land in your favour or against you. That's where I come in, alongside your leadership, on a retainer, owning the regulatory and political side of the business.

Who it's for

  • Companies moving into regulated or contested territory: fintech, digital assets, electronics, health, mobility, energy, AI.
  • Founders expanding into new ASEAN markets they don't yet know.
  • Boards needing senior regulatory judgment in the room now, without a six-month search.

What you get

  • A clear picture of the regulatory risks facing your business and roadmap.
  • A plan for engaging regulators, ministries, and the people who shape your environment.
  • Senior counsel directly from me, in your meetings.
  • A business ready for the day an issue goes public.

How it works: a fixed monthly retainer for an agreed scope and level of access. I keep the number of these engagements low so each client gets proper attention. We start with a short diagnostic before either of us commits to anything.

§ 05Selected matters. Clients anonymised.

Selected work

Building the rulebook for an emerging industry

Malaysia's refurbished electronics sector has been around for decades, but until recently no company had managed to navigate the full regulatory pathway for importing, refurbishing, and reselling at scale. The sector sat across a handful of agencies, each responsible for one piece of the puzzle, with nothing tying them together.

I led a multi-year effort to change that. Working across seven agencies, including MCMC, the Department of Environment, SIRIM, Customs, MITI, KPDN, and NRES, alongside policy advisers to the Prime Minister, I helped establish real regulatory clarity for the sector. It produced the first approvals of their kind, formal recognition of refurbishment within the existing rules, and an ongoing conversation about how Malaysia builds a proper circular economy.

Today it stands as an example of how a fragmented regulatory environment can be turned into an investable industry through stakeholder alignment, policy engagement, and a clear strategy.

Crisis communications

Defusing a politicised divestment

A significant transaction became the target of an organised public campaign. I built the narrative and stakeholder strategy that got the conversation back onto the facts and let decision-makers proceed with confidence.

Public engagement

Communicating energy reform

Made a complicated liberalisation policy understandable to a young, sceptical public, working across government and industry, and beat the engagement targets we'd set.

Policy & health

Public-health work with the Ministry of Health

Built a youth-led health-advocacy programme that connected a company's work to public-health goals at the policy level.

ProvisoOn selectivity

I take on few clients, and I'm picky about which. Knowing which fights are worth having, and which to turn down, is most of the value.

§ 06Questions, answered plainly
What exactly do you do?

I advise companies and institutions on regulation and politics, particularly where the rules are still emerging, a reform is contested, or a commercial decision has become a political problem. That runs from regulatory strategy and government engagement to political crisis communications and intelligence briefings.

What is a Fractional Head of Regulatory?

A senior regulatory and government-affairs leader working with you on a retainer instead of as a full-time hire, owning the strategy, the engagement with regulators, and the political risk, embedded with your leadership team.

Which industries do you work in?

I'm not tied to one. Clients have been in fintech, energy, electronics, and health, among others. The common thread isn't the sector. It's that the regulation is unsettled and the politics matter.

Do you only work in Malaysia?

Malaysia is home base and where my record is deepest, but the work increasingly runs across ASEAN, including building regulatory frameworks in more than one market.

ExecutionWhere this gets signed

If your situation is genuinely high-stakes, let's talk.

Tharma Pillai Principal · Quasa Asia
Tharma@quasa.ai LinkedIn