☕️ Drug rehab officers supplied drugs to drug rehab patients

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

More than CNY471 bil (RM267.53 bil) – A brutal price war in China’s auto market wiped out that much in industry-wide revenue over the past three years. Carmakers and dealers have borne heavy costs from price cuts offered between 2023 and 2025, after the first salvo of the price war was fired by Tesla in 2023. China is the world’s largest car market, and Tesla’s initial discount spree forced both homegrown and foreign car brands to follow suit by marking down their line-ups. A researcher noted that the price war is “definitely not a short-term marketing campaign”, as it has “profoundly reshaped the industry’s competition landscape”. The price war eventually caught Beijing’s attention, leading to a regulatory crackdown last June, with authorities warning carmakers against fierce price reductions and mounting unpaid bills to suppliers.

GBP50 mil (RM262.88 mil) – That’s the price tag for the right to use the Aston Martin name on the Aston Martin F1 Team. The British carmaker, facing tariff pressures and weak demand in North America and China, is looking to sell the F1 perpetual naming rights deal with AMR GP Holdings to bolster its finances. Aston Martin has been trying to shore up capital throughout 2025, including a USD162 mil (RM629.78 mil) injection from chairman Lawrence Stroll. In its upcoming annual results, the carmaker expects an adjusted operating loss below the lower end of market consensus, which stood at GBP139 mil. Aston Martin also reported delivering nearly 10% fewer cars for the year. However, the carmaker expects a material improvement in 2026, driven by around 500 deliveries of its Valhalla hypercar and ongoing cost-cutting measures.

Around 20% – That’s the proportion of road accidents in the country attributed to microsleep each year. According to the deputy director-general of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), Prof Dr Siti Zaharah Ishak, microsleep, or briefly dozing off while driving, occurs due to fatigue and drowsiness. The condition is also influenced by the body’s biological clock, especially during festive seasons, due to long-distance travel, extended driving periods, and changes in driving patterns. She said microsleep happens when we drive without being aware for a short period. There are even cases of drivers still keeping their eyes open, but who were effectively unconscious for two to 10 seconds. Early signs include fidgeting in the seat and inconsistent speed.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Milk mooted to be subsidised
The Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women, Children and Community Development’s chairman, Yeo Bee Yin, said that the committee has proposed that milk subsidies be introduced to address the problem of stunting among children. Yeo added that milk is an effective and affordable source of nutrients essential for healthy growth. According to the 2022 National Health and Morbidity Survey, the stunting rate among children under five rose to 21.2% from 17.7% in 2015. Malaysia is the only Asean country to record an increase in stunting between 2000 and 2024.

According to multiple key studies, increased dairy consumption is especially critical for children between 6 and 23 months of age, as it could reduce stunting by up to 10.4%. Additionally, this presents an opportunity for Putrajaya to subsidise locally produced milk and boost the domestic milk industry. As of Dec 2025, Malaysia’s self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) for fresh milk is at 66.7%, with 36.9 mil tonnes of fresh milk imported in 2024 to meet domestic needs. Perhaps this subsidy could be the ‘push’ needed for us to become self-sufficient for fresh milk.
Want to profit from this through 13,000 cows? $FFB perhaps. #notfinancialadvice

Business

Royalty-backed Mawar Setia to acquire a controlling stake in U Mobile
Affin Group and MBSB Bank Bhd, which is controlled by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), have agreed to syndicate a RM3.8 bil facility to support Mawar Setia Sdn Bhd in acquiring over 50% in U Mobile Sdn Bhd. For context, Mawar Setia is an investment holding company co-founded by Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim and tycoon Vincent Tan. Her father, the King, Sultan Ibrahim, owns a 22.3% stake in U Mobile. Mawar Setia does not plan to purchase the shares from the King but instead intends to buy shares from Straits Mobile Investments Pte Ltd, the largest shareholder of U Mobile, which holds a 48.3% stake. If successful, the Johor royal family would gain almost significant control of U Mobile, Putrajaya’s chosen operator to roll out the country’s second 5G network.

AirAsia X 4Q profit triples
AirAsia X Bhd posted a fourth-quarter net profit of RM78.6 mil, up by almost 3.5 times compared to its performance for the same period last year. AirAsia X benefited from average base fares rising 15% to RM568 and ancillary revenue of RM299 mil for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2025. For the full year, net profit was RM191.7 mil, slightly down from RM229.1 mil, while total revenue increased to RM3.3 bil. 2026 will be an interesting year for AirAsia X as the company aims to establish itself as the world’s first true low-cost network carrier by expanding its network in Asean and positioning Bahrain as its global hub to the European and Middle East markets. The group is aiming for a full-year revenue of RM25 bil for 2026, with RM5 bil in earnings before interest and a 5% net operating profit margin. View earnings here.

Shorts

1. Indonesia looks to expedite discussions to bring nurses to Malaysia

   Jakarta is looking to expedite the government-to-government (G2G) discussions with Putrajaya to bring Indonesian nurses to Malaysia’s private healthcare sector. According to Indonesia’s ambassador to Malaysia, Iman Hascarya Kusumo, the current talks are informal. Previously, the proposal was initiated by the Indonesian consulate to bring in nurses to alleviate the shortages at hospitals in Johor, where nurses manage up to 14 patients per shift, more than the recommended 1:6 ratio. Iman added that Indonesia’s nursing board had also been asked to engage with its Malaysian counterpart to ensure that professional standards are met.

2. “Single window, single offer” system for tertiary education

   Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir announced that the “single window, single offer” system for pre-university education covering matriculation and Form 6 will commence in 2027, once both pre-university pathways are transferred to the Higher Education Ministry later this year. At the moment, his ministry is focusing on the legal provisions and frameworks that need to be established, ahead of the full rollout next year.

3. Drug rehabilitation officers turning into drug dealers?

   The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) found that officers at the Serdang Drug Rehabilitation Centre brought prohibited substances, allegedly drugs, into the facility, resulting in 47 clients testing positive for methamphetamine. EAIC has submitted its recommendations on the next steps to the disciplinary authority of the National Anti-Drugs Agency, including that a police report should be filed regarding the incident.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Bill Gates opened up about Epstein ties in staff meeting
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, 70, addressed his links to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a Gates Foundation staff meeting, saying he was taking responsibility for his actions and answering several questions in detail. Gates apologised to the staff and admitted to two affairs with Russian women that Epstein found out about later, but claimed that he did not commit or see anything illicit. Gates told foundation staff he met Epstein in 2011, years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. He said that he was aware of some “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein’s travel, but he didn’t properly check his background. He continued to meet Epstein through 2014 and spent time with him abroad, but said that he “never stayed overnight” or visited the island - even as his ex-wife, Melinda Gates, expressed doubts about the relationship.

Throwback 2014 - more context here:

North Korea vows to make more nuclear weapons, AI‑enabled attack systems
As North Korea wrapped up its week-long Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party on Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un announced that the country would focus on expanding its nuclear arsenal and thoroughly exercise its status as a nuclear state. Kim also laid out North Korea’s plans to develop more advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles, including ones that can be launched from underwater, attack systems using artificial intelligence, unmanned drones, and weapons that can hit enemy satellites. However, he left the door open to improving relations with the US, saying that North Korea will try to get along if the US withdraws its policy of confrontation and respects its status. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated that North Korea has assembled around 50 warheads, possesses enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more, and is accelerating the production of more fissile material.

Senior US Army official: China to take Taiwan by 2027
According to a New York Times report, US federal officials have warned top tech executives that China was making plans to retake Taiwan for years, with two presidents having tried and failed to persuade the US tech industry to change. The inaction by some of Silicon Valley’s most important companies risks destabilising the global economy, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that “the single biggest threat to the world economy, the single biggest point of single failure”, is that 97% of high-end chips are made in Taiwan. If Taiwan were blockaded or saw its chipmaking capacity destroyed, it would be an “economic apocalypse”, Bessent said.

The clock is ticking for the US tech industry to respond, especially since a senior US military official has warned them that Chinese President Xi Jinping wanted his army to be ready to take Taiwan by 2027. However, the biggest challenge was getting tech companies to buy US-made chips, which could cost more than 25% more compared to those made in Taiwan. The chips would also be a generation behind, since the Taiwanese government has an unofficial rule requiring Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) to put its most cutting-edge technology on the island first.

Should Taiwan suddenly be unable to supply chips to the world, the gross national product for the US would drop by USD2.5 tril, with China’s dropping by USD2.8 tril. Other studies suggested that a conflict would cost the global economy more than USD10 tril. As it is, Taiwan enabled roughly USD10 tril of the world’s gross domestic product.

As an aside, Polymarket is already taking bets on whether or not China will invade Taiwan before 2027.

Tech
Nvidia defies AI concerns with record USD215 bil revenue
American chipmaker Nvidia has reported a record annual revenue of USD215.9 bil (RM838.99 bil), beating analysts’ forecasts as sales for the last three months of its financial year jumped by 73% compared to 12 months earlier. Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, with a stock market value of around USD4.8 tril. The performance defies widespread investor scepticism over the massive amount spent on artificial intelligence (AI) and the company’s ever-expanding web of deals with other companies. Critics have raised the possibility of “circular financing”, suggesting Nvidia may be clouding perceptions about how robust AI demand truly is through its investments. Circular financing is a system where investors give money to a company, which then buys the investor’s products in a self-reinforcing loop.

DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers
China’s AI lab DeepSeek has reportedly excluded US chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD from previewing their upcoming flagship model for performance optimisation, breaking away from the standard industry practice. Instead of US companies, DeepSeek has granted early access to domestic suppliers, including Huawei Technologies. Experts said the move is likely part of a broader strategy by the Chinese government “to try to keep US hardware and models disadvantaged” in China. DeepSeek’s models have been downloaded more than 75 mil times on the open-source platform Hugging Face since the company debuted in January 2025, triggering a wave of Chinese open-source models competing with US AI labs.

Shorts

1. Thailand to impose sodium (aka salt) tax

   After the sugar tax, the Thai government is now looking to impose a sodium tax on manufacturers of packaged food, a move that could make it the first country in Asia to impose levies on both salt and sugar. The proposal follows Thailand’s 2017 sugar tax aimed at curbing obesity and marks a new push to combat rising salt-related diseases such as hypertension and kidney disorders in the country. A 2024-2025 National Health Survey revealed that Thais aged 15 and above consume an average of 3,650 milligrams of sodium per day, nearly double the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit of less than 2,000 milligrams. The country spends an estimated THB1.6 tril (RM200.53 bil) a year in healthcare expenses for salt-related diseases. Perhaps Malaysia could learn a thing or two from this?

2. Sperm swim faster in June and July

   A study published in the journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology has found that sperm quality, particularly sperm motility - the ability of sperm to swim effectively - was consistently highest in June and July, and lowest in December and January. The levels remain consistent across different climates, instead of changing with the seasons. The study said that by understanding these seasonal patterns, fertility treatments can be improved by optimising the timing of treatment and fertility testing to provide better guidance to couples trying to conceive. However, it is important to note that while sperm’s ability to move effectively does vary by season, the time of year doesn’t impact the number of sperm produced. Check out the full study here.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Weekend reflection

1. Alex Honnold, the man who recently scaled Taipei 101 (101-storey) without safety gear and livestreamed on Netflix explains why people should face actual fear, especially actual physical danger, to build a stronger mind.

2. Want to achieve greatness and success? Everything comes with a cost the Four Burner Theory.

3. The Donkey Principle from Sahil Bloom, with an additional dose of wisdom from Keanu Reeves.

Last CNY weekend. May you huat like this!