☕️ How bad was the Raya season flight delays? MAVCOM releases its initial findings

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

The world’s riskiest place for flying — Nepal, averages one disaster a year for the past 10 years. On Sunday, a plane carrying 22 people lost contact after taking off. The wreckage of the plane was found Monday and 21 bodies have been recovered thus far.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) had a budget of USD250 mil (RM1.09 bil) in 2020, far more than all the country’s gun control advocacy groups put together. The NRA lobbies against all forms of gun control and has a substantial budget to influence members of Congress on gun policy.

USD248 mil (RM1.08 bil) — the box office sales during the opening weekend of Top Gun: Maverick, giving Tom Cruise his first USD100 mil opening weekend. Cruise’s previous biggest opening weekend for a movie came with War of the Worlds (USD64 mil) back in 2005.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. How bad were the flight delays during the Raya season? The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) released its initial findings from its investigation:

   1. More than 6,000 domestic flights operated from Apr 29 to May 9.

   2. 8% (495 flights) were delayed beyond 1 hour

   3. 2.7% (167) flights were delayed beyond 2 hours. No stats for delays beyond 2 hours.

   4. Performance by airlines (total flights, number of delayed flights):

      1. AirAsia: 2,954, 13% (368)

      2. Malaysia Airlines: 1,447, 3% (44)

      3. MASwings (operates flights in Sabah and Sarawak): 656, 10% (64)

      4. Firefly: 680, 2% (15)

      5. Batik Air (fka Malindo): 555, 1% (4)

2. Shafie’s stories — the Parti Warisan president claims that former PM Muhyiddin Yassin communicated with him two months ago to obtain his support to become the PM again and that Muhyiddin told Shafie he has the backing of 119 MPs. Muhyiddin further claimed that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would be supporting Muhyiddin. Shafie’s response - “If you have the numbers, you go ahead. I won’t follow you”.

3. The Land of the Rising Sun will once again welcome tourists from 98 countries (blue list) beginning June 1, including Malaysia. On-arrival PCR test and quarantine are no longer required so long they pass their pre-departure PCR test, according to Japan National Tourism Organisation. The catch? Travellers can only set foot in the country via tour groups.

4. Former PM Najib Razak’s 1MDB audit tampering trial has been postponed from yesterday to this Friday as Najib’s ‘hotshot’ lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is down with a high fever and sore throat. There were two other instances court proceedings had to be postponed due to Shafee being in close contact with a Covid-19 patient and a dog-related injury (no joke, Shafee said his guard dog jumped on him).

5. The Ministry of Health has instructed the importer of Jif peanut butter to recall its product from the market due to potential salmonella contamination in the US. Salmonella is the common food poisoning people suffer from and is usually caused by raw and undercooked meat, fruits, vegetables, unpasteurised milk and dairy products etc.

6. Envictus International Holdings Ltd, the franchisee of Texas Chicken in Malaysia and Brunei will invest at least RM230 mil to open 115 outlets (RM2 mil per outlet on average) and will enter Sabah and Sarawak. Currently, it operates 85 Texas Chicken restaurants in Peninsular Malaysia and the planned 115 new outlets will take it to 200 outlets by 2030. 60% of its current outlets are in Klang Valley. Envictus is also the owner of the San Francisco Coffee chain.

7. Potentially the biggest ever quarterly profit announced by a Bursa-listed company — AirAsia X Bhd reported a net profit of RM33.62 bil for its Q3 FY2022. However, this is not profit in the conventional sense but an accounting profit — this massive profit was derived from the write-back it made on its provisions for default it made previously, which have been forgiven and reversed. Remove this one-off adjustment, AAX brought in revenue of RM113.01 mil and booked a RM6.08 mil loss - sounds more grounded. Read here to learn more about the various types of ‘profits’.

8. Troubled oil and gas company Sapura Energy Bhd has entered into an agreement through its wholly-owned subsidiary to dispose of its vessel for USD71.5 mil (RM311.74 mil). The company has more than RM14 bil in debt outstanding. Strip down your assets to save the company or get a distressed buy-out - not a government bailout. Capital/company owners can’t have the cake and eat it - privatising all the profits but socialising all the losses.

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4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. China loosens Covid-19 lockdown rules in Beijing and Shanghai, but residents have expressed confusion and scepticism about how far the reopening will go. Much of public transport remains suspended, and no private cars are allowed on the roads without prior approval. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly ruled out deviating from the “zero COVID” strategy.

2. In a bid to bring talent into the country, the UK is allowing graduates from the world’s top universities (outside of the UK) to apply for a work visa without needing to have a job. It’s called the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa, where bachelor’s or master’s degree holders get two years while PhD gets three years. One key criterion — they must have graduated in the past five years. They will have the option to switch to other long-term employment visas if they meet certain requirements. The list of universities can be found here.

3. The most bizarre thing happened at Louvre in Paris over the weekend — a man disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair threw punches and smeared cake at the Mona Lisa. Fortunately, the Renaissance painting had glass installed, so it was safe. The activist, who was also seen throwing roses in the gallery, was escorted out by security. He yelled out, “Think of the Earth”.

4. The European Union is struggling to agree to have an embargo on Russian oil. Landlocked energy importers such as Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic want to continue receiving their Russian oil via pipeline until alternative sources can be found.

5. Australia’s largest casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd was fined AUD80 mil (RM250.4 mil) by the Victoria state gambling regulator for enabling the illegal transfer of funds from China between 2012 and 2016. Patrons were allowed to use credit or debit cards to access funds (of nearly AUD164 mil) to gamble at Crown's Melbourne casino.

6. The world may need to look for carbohydrate alternatives as two of the world's top rice producers — Thailand and Vietnam — are in discussions to raise prices together. Wheat would be a good alternative, but it is looking gloomy with what’s happening in Ukraine.

7. The World Health Organization (WHO) can’t rule out monkeypox pandemic risk as it is still too early. Thus far, there are 435 confirmed and suspected cases in 24 countries. However, WHO believes there is currently a window of opportunity to curb rising cases. WHO has provided a guide to protect oneself against monkeypox:

   1. Avoid coming into contact with suspected individuals.

   2. Practice safe sex.

   3. Practice good hand hygiene.

   4. Use mask. (Not again…)

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. The King of The Road, Perodua Myvi made out of 1.27 mil pieces of Lego bricks.

2. LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) - how it works?