☕️ Anwar reshuffles Cabinet, drops two ministers in latest reset

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

Ringgit so strong. The strongest in nearly 5 years. The Edge explains here what’s up with the Ringgit and whether it’s sustainable.
View table: What drives exchange rates over the short-term, medium-term, and long-term?

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

The local edible bird’s nest industry is currently valued at RM1.5 bil, according to Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu. He said that the industry continues to show strong potential and highly promising growth. Notable progress was seen, with exports to China surging from 201 tonnes in 2023 to 484 tonnes in 2024, reflecting strong international market confidence in the quality of Malaysian products. A new export protocol was ratified between Malaysia and China last month for bird’s nest shipments, which is expected to directly benefit over 15,000 swiftlet nest farmers and 61 China-approved processing plants.

Meanwhile, a proposal is being examined that could see Sarawak emerging as a major pepper producer. The plan is to develop up to 10,000 hectares in partnership with smallholders and the private sector, leveraging the ample areas of suitable land for pepper cultivation in Sarawak. This, according to Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani, could restore Malaysia’s prominence in the global pepper market. The minister estimated that one tonne of pepper can fetch between RM25,000 and RM30,000, with one hectare able to produce 4.6 tonnes of pepper. Assuming all 10,000 hectares are developed, a back-of-the-envelope calculation shows this could bring in up to RM1.38 bil.

Myanmar, however, saw opium poppy cultivation hit its highest level in a decade, rising 17% to 53,100 hectares this year from 45,200 hectares in 2024. This marks Myanmar as the world’s main source of illicit opium, following declining production in Afghanistan. The reason for this surge is the ongoing civil war, with the conflict and economic hardships pushing more farmers into the illicit trade. The major expansion is a sign of how far the opium economy has reestablished itself in Myanmar, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Politics
Sabah by-elections set for Jan 24 following Bung Moktar’s death
The by-elections for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat and the Lamag state seat in Sabah will be held on Jan 24 next year, with nomination day set for Jan 10 and early voting on Jan 20. A total of 48,722 voters, including 196 police personnel, are eligible to cast their ballots, and the Election Commission estimates the polls will cost about RM10 mil. The by-elections were called following the death of Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin on Dec 5, less than a week after he was re-elected as Lamag assemblyman with a narrow majority of 153 votes. Bung Moktar, who was 66, had also served six terms as Kinabatangan MP and retained the parliamentary seat in the 2022 general election with a 4,330-vote majority. PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man confirmed last week that Perikatan Nasional will not contest either by-election.

Anwar plugs Cabinet gaps, drops two ministers in latest reset
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced a Cabinet reorganisation mainly at filling vacancies, appointing Johari Abdul Ghani as Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Johor Bahru MP Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir as Economy Minister (replacing Rafizi Ramli), and Hannah Yeoh as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories). Arthur Joseph Kurup is taking over the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability portfolio following Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad’s resignation. Anwar also reshuffled several other ministries and deputy posts, marking the second significant Cabinet reorganisation of his administration after the Dec 2023 reshuffle. With the reshuffling, there are now 32 ministers (including PM) and 30 Deputy Ministers.

Out: Mohd Na’im Mokhtar (Religious Affairs Minister) and Dr Zaliha Mustafa (FT Minister) were dropped from the Cabinet, with the changes largely driven by resignations and expired terms rather than a broad overhaul of the Madani government.
View table: Cabinet lineup and their parties

Sources: Cabinet appointments to fill gaps, not a full reshuffle
The new Cabinet line-up is meant to plug existing gaps rather than overhaul the government, sources said, after PM Anwar Ibrahim was granted an audience with His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, at Istana Negara today. Anwar had earlier stressed that any appointments would be made carefully, guided by public interest and the reform agenda, stating that the Madani government would focus on strengthening governance and improving policy delivery, while making clear this was not a major reshuffle given the administration has only about a year and a half left, with four ministerial posts currently vacant, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, Economy, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, and Investment, Trade and Industry, all of which are being temporarily overseen by other ministers.

Biz
TotalEnergies to power Google’s Malaysia data centres with solar deal
France’s TotalEnergies has signed a long-term deal to supply Google with renewable power for its data centres in Malaysia, committing one terawatt hour of electricity over 21 years from the planned Citra Energies solar plant, which is set to begin construction in early 2026. The supply is expected to kick in by the first quarter of next year, as Big Tech firms ramp up clean energy sourcing to keep up with soaring power demand driven by AI. The agreement follows a separate deal inked in Nov to power Google’s data centres in Ohio, underscoring how energy-hungry data centres are increasingly stretching local electricity systems worldwide.

Bjak eyes IPO as it gears up for Europe push
Bjak Sdn Bhd, Malaysia’s largest online insurance aggregator, is looking at a possible IPO within the next two years as it sets its sights on Europe. The company plans to enter Spain and Germany in 2026, building on its recent expansion into Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. Bjak’s gross written premiums grew by 20% to 30% this year. The company currently has nearly 200 staff worldwide and wants to double that by end of 2026. Bjak serves around seven mil users and works with 16 insurance brands, including Allianz SE and Tokio Marine. The potential listing would fund further overseas expansion and offer liquidity for employees.

Wily Weather 
Heavy rain warning out for East Coast and Johor until Dec 18
Continuous heavy rain is expected in parts of Terengganu, Pahang and Johor from today until Thursday, with MetMalaysia warning that several districts could face severe conditions. Areas under severe rain warning include Dungun and Kemaman in Terengganu, Jerantut, Maran, Kuantan, Pekan and Rompin in Pahang and Segamat, Kluang, Mersing and Kota Tinggi in Johor. An alert-level warning is also in place for all of Kelantan, wider parts of Terengganu, parts of Pahang such as Cameron Highlands and Temerloh, and several districts in Johor including Johor Bahru and Batu Pahat. The public is advised to stay updated through MetMalaysia’s website, the myCuaca app, its official social media channels, or the hotline at 1-300-22-1638.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Trump’s new lawsuit and order
Trump sues BBC for USD10 bil
The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation - not the other BBC you are thinking about) has been slapped with a fresh, new lawsuit from Trump’s legal team, seeking USD5 bil (RM20.43 bil) of compensation for each of the two counts that allege the media company with defamation, amounting to USD10 bil in total. The 46-page lawsuit alleges that BBC’s Panorama program "Trump: A Second Chance" presented a "false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction" of Trump. In Nov, Trump’s legal team wrote to the BBC to demand that it retract the "false and defamatory statements" made during editing and threatened to sue for USD1 bil. BBC did not comply and only sent an apology letter saying that Trump did not have a basis for a defamation claim. The dispute over the edited speech prompted a public relations crisis for the broadcaster, leading to the resignations of its two most senior officials.

Trump signs executive order labelling fentanyl ‘weapon of mass destruction’
A new executive order has been signed by Donald Trump that officially declares fentanyl and its core precursors as a “weapon of mass destruction” (WMD). This comes after Trump’s administration repeated references to drug smugglers as “narco-terrorists” and its designation of Latin American cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations”. Trump said that the drug smuggling groups are not criminal networks bent on profit, but organisations aimed at destabilising the US, and that the trafficking of fentanyl into the US, which he claims is an attempt to kill Americans. However, Trump’s war with drugs is largely with Venezuela and the rest of South America, where regional experts have noted that the country and the continent are not known hubs for fentanyl production or exports.

US “birth tourism” attracting rich Chinese parents desiring a US-born baby
There is a thriving “mini-industry” of birth tourism in the US, with a collection of surrogacy agencies, law firms, clinics, delivery agencies and nanny services, has arisen to accommodate the demand for surrogate babies. It permits parents to ship their genetic material abroad and get a baby delivered back, at a cost of up to USD200,000 (RM817,100) per child.
Learn: What is surrogacy?

Guess who their top clients are? Multimillionaires and billionaires from China.

Surrogacy is apparently illegal in China, so these elites go outside of China to quietly have large numbers of US-born babies, leveraging the US Constitution that deems babies born in the US are automatically citizens.

Founder and CEO of IVF USA, Nathan Zhang, said that these fertility clinics were once meant to cater to wealthy Chinese and partner with surrogacy agencies, to help them bypass China’s one-child policy. But recently, a new clientele has emerged who commission dozens, or even hundreds, of US-born babies with the goal of “forging an unstoppable family dynasty”, with some inspired by Elon Musk, who has 14 kids himself. Many won’t even need to set foot in the US to obtain their babies.

Some examples: A wealthy Chinese executive, Wang Huiwu, hired US models and others as egg donors to have 10 girls, with the aim of one day marrying them off to powerful men. Xu Bo, a fantasy video game maker, said he hoped to have 20 or so US-born children through surrogacy—boys, because they’re superior to girls—to one day take over his business.

Shorts:

1. Nasdaq gears up for round-the-clock trading 
   Nasdaq will soon allow for round-the-clock trading hours following increased demands for non-stop trading in US stocks, and to capitalise on global demand for US equities. It is now preparing to submit paperwork to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to enable trading beyond normal market hours. The US stock market represents almost two-thirds of the market value of listed companies globally, while total foreign holdings of US equities reached USD17 tril (RM69.45 tril) in 2024, according to data compiled by Nasdaq. Nasdaq plans to expand the trading hours of stocks and exchange-traded products from 16 hours to 23 hours, five days a week.

2. IJooz reaches USD2.5 mil in net profit in FY 2024 
   Singapore’s orange juice vending machine startup IJooz (visit site here) has more than doubled its revenue to USD49.7 mil (RM203 mil), according to its recent audited financial statements for IJooz AI Pte Ltd. For FY2024 (19-month period), the firm recorded a stellar profit before tax of USD2.5 mil. On an annualised basis, revenue for FY 2024 stands at USD31.4 mil, about 1.6 times its FY 2023 figure. Ijooz launched in Japan in 2023 when the country was facing an orange juice shortage. It now has 1,300 machines in Japan and 1,500 in Singapore.

3. ICC rejects Israel’s legal appeal to deny its war crimes
   Israel is still trying to derail their genocide case by appealing to the chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in which the ICC refused to overturn the case. A lower court of the ICC has allowed for Israel to be investigated for their alleged crimes in Gaza since Oct 7 2023 and subsequently issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Israel continues to deny the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and still repeatedly denies committing war crimes in Gaza.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Not everything has to be automated. Not everything needs tech. The Doorman Fallacy.

2. TIL: classic childhood chocolate Choki Choki is an Indonesian brand. Also, I learnt that Kopiko is an Indonesian brand from the same company as Choki Choki - PT Mayora Indah. The company recorded revenue of IDR36.07 tril (RM8.83 bil) and net income of IDR3 tril (RM734 mil) in fiscal year 2024.
   Fun fact: Kopiko made it to space, spotted in the International Space Station

3. The difference: exempli gratia (e.g.) vs id est (i.e.)