☕️ 200 stabs - neck, lungs, legs

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

A UN report revealed that 158 countries were profiting from Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank. While most of the companies are Israeli, the list also includes multinational firms registered in the US, Canada, China, France, and Germany. These include Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and TripAdvisor. The report is actually an update that added 68 companies and removed seven from the previous publication in June 2023. It emphasised that businesses have a duty to avoid fuelling abuses. It also called for such businesses that have identified that they have caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts to provide for or cooperate in remediation through appropriate processes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that there are currently over 100 mil people, including at least 15 mil children, who are using e-cigarettes, fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction. Available global figures showed that children are, on average, nine times more likely than adults to vape. The e-cigarettes are marketed as harm reduction, but are actually serving to hook kids on nicotine earlier. The WHO Director-General accused the tobacco industry of aggressively targeting young people to make up for the millions of people who are either stopping or not taking up tobacco due to tobacco control efforts by nations around the world.

Overlapping land ownership of Malay reserve land can be quite the issue, especially when 256 individuals have overlapping claims to a single plot of land measuring 808 sq m (8.7k sq feet). The hereditary nature of the land, where it is passed from generation to generation, is what can cause a plot of land to be owned by hundreds of individuals registered under shared ownership. It is actually quite the hurdle for redevelopment efforts, according to the Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa, since even a single owner disagreeing with the offer could cause the commercial or redevelopment process to fail. As of this year, the total area of Malay reserve land in Kuala Lumpur is 2,480 acres.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

What is wrong with the public school system?
A statutory rape case was reported in Baling, Kedah, after the victim, who is a minor, had sexual intercourse with each of the four suspects on separate occasions, including in an empty classroom and at a palm oil estate. Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah reversed the earlier report that the incident was an alleged gang rape. Adzli confirmed that one of the suspects, a 17-year-old, was the victim’s boyfriend. Initially, there were concerns that the sexual act was recorded and the videos were being monetised, but the police found that there were no indications the videos were being sold. Statutory rape is the crime of sex with a minor when the sex is agreed to by both parties, not forced. The reason why it is considered rape is that the minor is considered to be too young to consent to have sex or sexual contact legally.

Putrajaya is in panic mode as all levels of leadership, up to the very top, are scrambling to get on top of this crisis.

PM-level - PM Anwar Ibrahim announced that a major decision will be made today by the Cabinet concerning recent incidents at schools.

Education Minister-level - Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has rolled out immediate major reforms to schools nationwide, namely stricter enforcement of the ban on dangerous items, enhanced student mental health and psychosocial support ecosystems, the delivery of a reproductive and social health education programme, and a continuous school physical safety audit across all schools nationwide. All 10,243 schools nationwide will be involved in this exercise, and the effectiveness of these efforts will be continuously evaluated every 15 days.

Communications Minister-level - Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that in order to protect children online, Malaysia will soon make electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) identity verification compulsory for social media platforms. This is to prevent children aged below 13 from making accounts on these websites and apps. This follows Fahmi making it clear that Malaysia would be making identity verification mandatory when he met with representatives from social media platforms last month.

Apart from that, Fahmi has also mobilised his ministry’s National Information Dissemination Centre (Nadi) to plan and deliver parent-focused online safety programmes within a week. He said the campaign must focus on preventing and limiting underage social media use. At the moment, there are 1,089 Nadi centres nationwide. These centres are being enhanced with an allocation of RM350 mil from Budget 2026.

A quick update on the Bandar Utama stabbing case. The mother of the 16-year-old female student who was stabbed to death told the media at her daughter’s wake that “she was stabbed 200 times - from neck to the lungs and also on her legs”.

The national embarrassment that never ends - KLIA Aerotrain
Both Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Aerotrains experienced a temporary power trip, resulting in a service disruption that lasted from 8.30PM until 9.27PM, when the trains were restored to service after multiple rounds of safety and operational testing. Shuttle buses were deployed immediately following the disruption to ferry passengers from the Main Terminal and Satellite Building.

Yet it was just earlier this week that Deputy Transport Minister Hasbi Habibollah confidently told the Parliament that, after experiencing 19 operational issues between July 2 and September 30, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Aerotrain system has now achieved full operational stability. Hasbi added that the new aerotrain system is currently under a two-year defects liability period, and the train manufacturer, Alstom, may face fines of up to RM190,000 a month if it fails to meet performance standards. Can we just start imposing the RM190,000 fine? The failures of the Aerotrain are not even funny anymore. The KLIA Aerotrain should count as one of the national embarrassments in a 2025 recap.

Shorts

1. The Sabah state election will be on November 29

   The Election Commission (EC) has announced that the Sabah state election will be held on November 29. Nomination day has been set as November 15, with early voting scheduled for November 25. A total of 33,002 election staffers will also be mobilised to manage the polls across 940 polling centres statewide. The EC has allocated RM116.8 mil for the exercise. According to the latest electoral roll, Sabah has over 1.78 mil registered voters.

2. Report coverage issues to the MCMC Nexus app

   Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching has urged the public to report network coverage issues in their respective areas through the MCMC Nexus mobile application. Once the report is submitted, MCMC will conduct on-site audits to determine whether the issues are isolated or if the area is indeed a blind spot. You can download the app on either Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Scam threats
Scam crisis sees South Korea banning travel to parts of Cambodia
South Korea has issued a “code black” ban for parts of Cambodia, a serious travel warning ordering its citizens to leave areas in which the government has identified surging employment scams and detention cases targeting its nationals. About 60 South Koreans remain detained by Cambodian authorities after a crackdown on scam operations in the country, while another 80 cannot be accounted for. Kidnappings of South Koreans in Cambodia have soared in recent months, with victims of scams typically lured with promises of high-paying jobs before being confined in compounds and forced to participate in online fraud operations in brutal conditions. The crisis has exposed how an estimated 1,000 South Koreans have become entangled in Cambodia’s sprawling scam industry, which also involves 200,000 people of various nationalities in online operations targeting victims worldwide.

Singapore tied to Cambodian multi-billion dollar scam case
Singapore is quickly becoming entangled in a multi-billion dollar scam case as it was revealed that the alleged head of a Cambodian criminal ring and his associates set up a family office in Singapore that claimed to receive tax breaks, while also building relationships with firms backed by state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. US prosecutors said that Chen Zhi, the chairman of Prince Holding Group, heads one of the largest transnational criminal organisations in Asia, which allegedly used forced labour in Cambodia to emotionally manipulate thousands of victims around the world, fattening their accounts and then draining them in a practice known as “pig butchering”. The case has prompted authorities and firms in Singapore to review the group’s financial ties to the business hub, and has also shone an unwelcome spotlight on Singapore’s role in the facilitation of criminal activity in the region.

Just business
MrBeast is looking into fintech
Famed YouTuber MrBeast, who has 445 mil subscribers, is said to be venturing into fintech, as per an application filed with the US Trademark and Patent Office on October 13. The application lists plans for a “mobile app and online services for a range of banking, financial advisory, crypto exchange, and other services” that would exist under the “MrBeast Financial” brand. Potential offerings include student loans, insurance, and credit insights, with MrBeast’s fintech firm partnering with another fintech company to leverage its existing infrastructure “while avoiding regulatory, credit risk, and capital requirement”. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, had previously dabbled in the fintech world. In 2024, fintech company MoneyLion sponsored a USD4.2 mil giveaway tied to his Amazon Prime Video show “Beast Games”. Donaldson has also spoken publicly about the topic of personal finance, including its relevance to his own life. Quite a risk to his brand if the venture goes wrong, but YOLO.

Nestle to slash 16,000 jobs as new CEO speeds up turnaround
Nestle’s CEO Philipp Navratil plans to cut 16,000 jobs, about 6% of the company’s workforce, over the next two years, saying that the “world is changing and Nestle needs to change faster”. Navratil became CEO in September after ousting his predecessor Laurent Freixe a year into his tenure for allegedly hiding a romantic relationship with a subordinate. Navratil is a Nestle veteran of more than 20 years who most recently ran the Nespresso business. Under his direction, the Swiss food giant also raised its target for cost savings to CHF3 bil (~RM16 bil) by the end of 2027, from a previous goal of CHF2.5 bil. On a call with reporters on Oct 16, he identified Nestle’s top priority as further increasing real internal growth and added that the company is evaluating everything in its portfolio. The F&B firm reported sales worth CHF21.6 mil for the third quarter of 2025. Check out the results presentation here.

GIC sues Chinese EV maker Nio
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, has sued Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio for allegedly making “materially false and/or misleading statements” about its ties to an affiliated company called Nio Battery Asset – or Weineng in Chinese – and failed to disclose key facts about its business and finances. According to the complaint, those misstatements artificially inflated the value of Nio’s securities, causing GIC to suffer “significant losses”. Nio, founded in 2014, was once seen as a rising star in the EV industry that could eventually rival Tesla. It’s known for its battery swap technology, which allows owners to switch out a depleted battery for a new one in minutes. GIC invested in Nio’s Series C round of fundraising in March 2017 when it raised CNY600 mil (RM356 mil).

Shorts:

1. Trump administration strikes boat off Venezuelan coast, killing six

   The US has carried out another air strike off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people, in which they claimed that air strikes were necessary to prevent “narco-terrorists” from reaching the US with their deadly cargo. This latest attack is believed to be the fifth such US bombing in the Caribbean Sea, although it was unclear of the details of who and what was on the boats. Experts and rights groups have described the US strikes as a clear violation of international law since drug traffickers do not qualify as armed combatants. The US forces are apparently building up in the Caribbean, prompting questions about possible attacks on Venezuela.

2. Deadly bear encounters hit record high in Japan

   Japan has hit the highest number of deaths by bears this year, believed to be due to climate change causing shortages of food and affecting the hibernation patterns of the animals. Hunger led bears to encroach into towns where the human population is ageing and dwindling. The new total of 7 deaths in the current fiscal year is the highest toll since 2006, with more than 100 other people left with injuries, including bites and deep gashes from the bears’ sharp claws.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Brands and their buildings

1. Take a tour inside Nike’s USD1 bil HQ.

2. Largest Chagee outlet in Malaysia @ Bukit Bintang.

kl.foodie

2M followers

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3. Sorry that we had to share this to end the week. Prepare tissues. Hoping for these kids to have a better future.

mothershipsg

1M followers

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