☕️ Another series of alleged corruption cases involving public agencies to be revealed soon

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Ekrem Imamoglu is the opposition mayor of Istanbul and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival. Imamoglu is currently in jail, charged with being the founder of a vast corruption network that allegedly cost Türkiye TRY160 bil (USD3.7 bil or RM14.6 bil) over 10 years. As such, the Istanbul chief prosecutor has demanded a prison sentence of more than 2,000 years for the popular mayor. Imamoglu and his party have denied the accusations, calling them politically motivated.

Iranian state television has released the first official death toll from the recent anti-government protests, reporting that 3,117 people were killed during the crackdown. Iran’s Martyrs Foundation released a statement saying that 2,427 of those killed were civilians or security forces. However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that 4,519 people were killed during the wave of demonstrations: 4,251 protesters, 197 security personnel, 35 minors, and 38 bystanders who were neither protesters nor security personnel. The agency also said that a further 9,049 deaths were under review.

In Russia, authorities have detained the chief doctor and the acting head of the intensive care unit at Novokuznetsk’s Hospital No. 1, a Siberian maternity hospital. This follows the deaths of nine newborn babies earlier this month, all of whom died during Russia’s long New Year holiday. No official causes of death have been disclosed so far. The doctors were detained on suspicion of negligence and causing death through negligence. This incident has provoked shock and anger in Russia, where standards of medical care can vary widely from world-class to poor, depending on location.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

AGC weighs action against Shafee over Najib comments
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) is reviewing whether lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah may face contempt of court over comments made after the High Court rejected Najib Razak’s bid for house arrest. Minister Azalina Othman Said told Parliament that the matter will be examined to see if any contempt elements exist, responding to a question from Ramkarpal Singh (PH–Bukit Gelugor). The issue stems from the KL High Court ruling on Dec 22, 2025, when the judge said a supplementary order by the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong could not be enforced, as the King cannot act independently of the Pardons Board. Najib, serving a commuted six-year jail term at Kajang Prison after the Federal Court dismissed his final appeal in the RM42 mil SRC International Sdn Bhd case in Aug 2022, had sought to serve the remainder of his sentence at home. Shafee said the ruling could undermine the Malay Rulers’ authority over pardons. This is not the first time he faced possible contempt action; the AGC had earlier said on May 30, 2025, it would act against him for describing court proceedings on the royal addendum matter as a Nazi Germany kind of hearing.

Govt seeks RM800 mil for Year One age change, 18k teachers to be hired
The government is in talks with the Finance Ministry to secure an extra RM800 mil to support the transition for children entering Year One at age six. The funds will cover urgent needs, including hiring 18,000 new teachers and expanding government preschool capacity to 110,889 places across KEMAS, relevant government departments, national integration preschools (JPNIN), and the Education Ministry (KPM).

137 countries, over 71% worldwide, have adopted Year One enrolment at age six, according to UNESCO. The rollout will be gradual to ease pressure on parents, for the 2027 academic session, six-year-olds will start Year One between Feb 15 and Mar 31, while five-year-olds may optionally start preschool from Apr 6, 2026. To support the policy, educational infrastructure is being expanded, with 10,514 preschool classrooms across 6,469 institutions already upgraded, 150 new classrooms completed in 2025, and 350 more planned for 2026.

Three Malaysian fugitives in Mumbai to return under heavy police escort
Bukit Aman is set to enforce the highest level of security when three Malaysian fugitives currently detained in Mumbai, India, are brought back after extradition procedures are completed, with sources saying the trio are linked to a crime syndicate connected to Op Jack Sparrow and wanted to assist investigations into murder and arson cases in Malaysia. These men were deported from the UK after being denied entry into Manchester and sent back to Mumbai, where they turned aggressive and brawled with Indian security personnel at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport before being overpowered and placed in a high-security detention room.

Their return to Malaysia in the near future will be escorted by 10 police officers, and handed over to Malaysian police before the flight home. There are concerns over the suspects, believed to be senior leaders or key members of the Captain Praba gang, which police said was dismantled in 2025 with the arrest of 17 suspects aged 19 to 44 under SOSMA, linked to violent crimes including murder, arson, armed assault and gang robbery across Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Perak.

Shorts

1. Corruption scandals involving a public service agency and a state-level zakat centre to be exposed soon

   Port Dickson Bersatu chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin (aka Chegubard) will submit details on two alleged corruption cases to the MACC, involving a public service agency and a state-level zakat centre. One case concerns questionable property ownership by a public service agency head, the other alleged misuse of zakat funds to buy land. In Dec 2025, Badrul was also the one that exposed alleged corruption by senior army officer Hafizuddeain Jantan and his family, delaying Hafizuddeain’s appointment as armed forces chief.

2. No more physical road tax slips for Malaysians

   Starting Feb 1, 2026, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) will stop issuing printed road tax LKM slips for Malaysian-owned private vehicles, as the system fully shifts to the digital road tax e-LKM via the MyJPJ app. Motorists who still want a physical copy for personal keeping can request one when renewing road tax and insurance at Pos Malaysia post offices and kiosks nationwide before the Feb 1 deadline, subject to stock availability. This only applies to private vehicles owned by Malaysians, and JPJ will continue issuing printed LKM slips for vehicles owned by non-Malaysians.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

US-Iran tension rising again
The prospect of a US attack on Iran is stirring again, after it was announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has now deployed key assets to the region. Over the weekend, the US military announced that it would carry out an exercise in the region “to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower”. Regional powers, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), declared that they will not allow their airspace or territorial waters to be used to attack Iran. But the presence of the carrier strike group in the Mediterranean means permission will not be needed for an attack.

It is thought that Washington has the firepower alongside Israeli aircraft to mount an attack aimed at toppling the government, accused of brutally suppressing protests and killing thousands of Iranians. Unlike the 12-day war in June 2025, this time the objective is to end Iran’s political leadership and bring the protesters angered by falling living standards back into the streets.

Trade deal and tariff

India, EU establish free trade zone
Leaders of India and the European Union (EU) have announced a major trade deal that creates a free trade zone for 2 bil people to benefit from. Indian PM Narendra Modi said the deal will cover about 25% of the global gross domestic product (GDP), under which India opens up its huge, protected market to free trade with the 27-nation EU, its biggest trading partner. Bilateral trade between India and the EU in goods has already grown by nearly 90% over the past decade, reaching EUR 120 bil in 2024, according to EU figures. Under the agreement, tariffs on 96.6% of EU goods exports to India would be eliminated or reduced, saving up to EUR 4 bil a year in duties on European products. The trade pact, which EU officials said was the most ambitious India had ever agreed to, comes amid a push by Brussels and New Delhi to open up new markets in the face of tariffs imposed by the United States and Chinese export controls.

Trump tariff on South Korea back to square one
In another episode of tariff threats on X, Trump announced that he was increasing tariffs on South Korean exports, from 15% to 25%, over the failure of South Korea’s legislature to ratify the trade pact struck between Washington and Seoul last year. He added that the higher tariff rate would apply to automobiles, lumber and pharmaceutical products, as well as any goods covered under his baseline “reciprocal” tariff. In July 2025, the US and South Korea announced a framework trade deal under which Trump agreed to lower his reciprocal tariff on South Korean goods from 25% to 15%. Trump agreed to extend the same rate to South Korean auto exports following the summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Gyeongju, South Korea, in Oct 2025. Under the agreement, Seoul agreed to invest USD 350 bil in key US industries, including semiconductors and shipbuilding.

Tech

Meta testing premium subs for its family of apps
Meta has announced that they are planning to offer premium experiences on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp that would give users access to special features and more control over how they share and connect, while keeping the core experiences free. The subscriptions will potentially launch after a round of tests in the coming months, where they will test with a variety of subscription features and bundles, and app subscriptions that have a distinct set of exclusive features. Meta also shared that it plans to scale Manus, an AI agent it recently acquired for a reported USD2 bil, as part of its subscription plans.

Micron to invest USD24 bil in Singapore to boost chip output
Idaho-based chipmaker Micron Technology Inc said that it will provide an additional USD24 bil (RM95 bil) in Singapore over the next decade to expand its manufacturing capabilities amid an AI-induced memory chip shortage. This is on top of the USD7 bil investment that they announced in early 2025. The additional funding will be used to build a new facility for NAND, a replacement for hard disk drive storage with faster access speeds that has grown in demand with the AI infrastructure build-out. The new investment will create around 1,600 jobs, and wafer output is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2028. To mitigate the memory chip shortage, Micron also just broke ground on a USD100 bil facility in New York state, and recently announced plans to pay USD 1.8 bil for a facility in Taiwan. The stock is riding the AI wave hard - up +348% in the past 1 year, and year-to-date, it’s up a staggering +29.35%.

Shorts

1. Bangladeshi jobseekers duped into the Russian army

   A recent investigation by the Associated Press news agency has revealed that Bangladeshi workers were lured to Russia under the false promise of civilian work, only to be thrust into the battalion to fight for the nearly four-year war with Ukraine. The investigation spoke to several victims, who said they were threatened with violence, imprisonment or death. Besides Bangladesh, men from other South Asian countries including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa, Jordan and Iraq have also complained of being duped into signing up to fight by Russian recruiters promising jobs.

2. SIM card “gold digger”

   A man from China with the internet handle “Qiao the Hakka Gold Refiner” went viral on the Chinese internet after he shared a video of how he extracted more than CNY 210,000 (RM120,662) of gold, just from processing discarded SIM cards. Apparently, SIM card chips have an extremely thin layer of gold plating on their pins and circuit connections to improve conductivity and resistance to corrosion. Industry experts say that a single ordinary SIM card contains only 0.006 to 0.01mg of gold, making the refinement process economically viable only through long-term, large-scale collection. Bank card chips, identity cards and other electronic components also share a similar design to SIM cards. Add SIM cards to your Pokemon collection.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Meet 79-year-old Dr Charlotte Lim (aka Pullup Grandma) - yes, she can do chin-ups at this age. She’s prepared to be teachable. 

2. One favourite author on a podcast with another favourite author, sharing money wisdom. Listen here.

3. Gold price chart in the past 100 years.

4. Bonus as we end the week early. Public Bank celebrates 60th anniversary with drone show.