☕️ Foreign Minister wrote an official letter in BM to US Secretary of State

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

86% out of over 500 SMEs surveyed by Ernst & Young are prepared to live alongside Covid-19 and 77% of them are prioritising technology adoption.

6 million Kenyans derive their income, directly and indirectly, from the world’s favourite beverage, coffee. More than a tenth of the population of 54 mil!

Fewer than 150 of the highly endangered Malayan tigers are left in the country, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan. The government established the National Tiger Conservation Task Force (MyTTF) to preserve the species. Malayan tigers are rarer than pandas — 1,864 left in the wild, according to WWF.

3. COVID-19 SUMMARY

• The Ministry of Health (MoH) asked the public to ignore the new Covid-19 vaccination appointment received via the MySejahtera app if they have already had their booster dose because of a technical glitch.

• Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Malaysia are urged to get a booster dose before Apr 1 or risk losing their fully vaccinated status. Approximately two million of them have yet to take their booster shot.

• All travellers vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to enter Singapore with just a pre-departure Covid-19 test from Apr 1, 2022, onwards. Travels between MY and SG via land gets an exception — no testing or quarantine required. Johoreans might face longer queues at their petrol stations from Apr onwards and also get to witness Singaporeans doing this.

4. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. Day 1 of the government’s post-SOSMA defeat by the opposition (first time ever in the history). If you miss the news, read our coverage yesterday here. Now comes the responses:

   1. Votes were recounted as BN-Besut MP was mistakenly marked as absent. That closed the gap by ONE vote - 85 against vs 84 for SOSMA to be extended and reduced absentees from 50 to 49.

   2. UMNO heavyweights, including its president Zahid Hamidi and deputy President Mohamad Hassan, has called for the MoU between PN and PH to be ended, as PH breached an agreement that the opposition must agree, or abstain, in any motion brought by the government. Annuar Musa, the Communications and Multimedia Minister, said had the situation is a ‘blessing in disguise’. A common theme amongst these 3 — all calling for the election.

   3. Anwar Ibrahim, PKR President, and Anthony Loke, DAP Secretary-General, both said the opposition’s rejection of the parliamentary motion did not breach the MoU as it is not part of the MoU. One says yes, the other says no — someone needs to scrutinise the MoU and pinpoint the exact clause or substance of the MoU and call out the technicalities of the ‘truth’ claimed by both sides.

   4. Pekan MP Najib Razak, one of the absentees, said he did not skip Parliament as he was attending court.

   5. Pontian MP and UMNO Secretary-General Ahmad Maslan said he was in the Dewan Rakyat but did not attend the voting process as others told him there was no voting due to the MoU. A list of other MPs who did not attend can be viewed here.Having no voting process does not mean he should be skipping Dewan Rakyat sitting. Curious on who were the others that informed him so and whether these ‘others’ did turn up for the voting.

   6. Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz believes the government ‘have no moral ground to be in the government’ after it was defeated and should return the mandate to the rakyat.

2. To elevate the status of Bahasa Malaysia to the international level, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah shared on his Facebook that he has sent an official letter in the national language to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (we can imagine Blinken shaking his head whilst receiving the letter knowing that Malaysia’s proficiency in English is relatively high yet chose to make it difficult for him to read it). PM Sabri will be using the language officially when speaking at the UN General Assembly and ASEAN Summit and also during official meetings on a working visit to Qatar and UAE next week (the Sheiks probably would also be shaking their heads during the meeting when both parties could converse fluently in English yet Malaysia’s PM choose to speak BM).Agreeable to promote our national identity but not at the cost of convenience towards others. There’s a right time and place to do so — but not in a context when effective communication is vital. Being able to converse in the global common tongue and especially in the receiving party’s native language(s). Learn from Korea - promoting their language through cultural exports.

3. Retailer MyNews Holdings Bhd reported its 8th consecutive quarterly loss of RM8.94 mil for Q1 ended 31 Jan 2022 (Q1FY22) on higher revenue generated. Since the start of the pandemic, MyNews had not made any profits and accumulated losses totalling RM64.5 mil in the past eight quarters. Despite that, the company is still worth half a bil - RM504.8 mil, to be exact.

4. Some ‘sunny’ business news:

   1. Solarvest Holdings Bhd has been appointed to provide engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) solutions by NEFIN Group for a rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) project involving hypermarket retailer, Lotus’s Malaysia. The total contract is worth RM20.1 mil, involving 12 stores and one fresh distribution centre with an estimated capacity of 7.98 megawatts-peak (offset about 6,633 tonnes of carbon emission annually, equivalent to planting 301,000 trees). On a per megawatt basis, it will cost about RM2.5 mil. Solarvest in 2021 completed a similar project involving 15 Lotus’s Malaysia hypermarkets.

   2. Proton will be installing solar panels at its Tanjung Malim plant. It will be built on a car park the size of 23.4 acres which houses 2,880 cars before being distributed nationwide. This facility is known as a bi-facial solar facility as it can generate energy from the direct sunlight on top as well as those reflected from the ground.The combined power will generate 12 megawatts-peak, sufficient to meet 25% of the plant’s power consumption and reduce carbon emissions of 11,536 tonnes per year. ESG aside, cents and dollars matter the most - it will help Proton save up to RM5.85 mil a year on its power bill.

5. Sun Life Financial Inc. is nearing a partnership agreement called a bancassurance deal with CIMB Group Holdings Bhd to sell the insurer’s products in PT Bank CIMB Niaga branches in Indonesia. Under such an agreement, an insurer will pay an upfront amount to the bank to sell its products. An undisclosed source said this deal is valued at about USD400 mil (RM1.68 bil) - that’s USD400 mil upfront into CIMB’s pocket.

5. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a timely request to the NATO, EU and G7 countries meeting in Brussels to help Kyiv fight Russia’s invasion. The three summits happened in a single day. The western leaders have united against the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine and will be doing three things:

   1. More military aid to Ukraine.

   2. Fresh sanctions against Moscow from the UK.

   3. NATO to deploy more troops for its eastern flank.

2. The US government formally accuses Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine and announced Russia should be prosecuted. Approximately 400 Russian individuals, including more than 300 lawmakers, will be sanctioned.

3. North Korea has launched a flurry of missile tests in recent weeks and its latest, a banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which reached an altitude of more than 6,000km. The test has been condemned by its neighbours and the US as it is seen as a major escalation. The US isn’t happy because the ICBM, designed for nuclear arms delivery, could reach as far as the US mainland.

4. The US Trade Representative’s office reinstated 352 expired product exclusions from US “Section 301” tariffs on Chinese imports, a move welcomed by China’s commerce ministry. The decision was beneficial to consumers and producers as it would normalise the trade flow of the affected products.

5. Updates on the China Eastern Flight MU5735 which took an unusual near-vertical dive on Monday evening right after it began descending.

   1. The Boeing 737-800 NG model that crashed is thought of as one of the safest aircraft ever made.

   2. Officials have not found any faults with the plane or concerns about flying conditions.

   3. The airline is grounding all its 737-800 jets.

   4. Two main theories — mechanical failure of the plane’s horizontal tail or sabotage.

6. Mercedes is confident in its new autonomous driving system, a Level 3 system (in the US), to the extent of being willing to accept legal responsibility when the system is active. Mercedes is the first automaker to do so. The Drive Pilot system will handle the car’s acceleration, steering and braking but only at approved highways.

7. Does bitcoin have no utility? Think again. One of many examples — a Ukrainian refugee was able to protect his hard-earned savings and fled with it to Poland in the form of Bitcoin, as the ATM was overcrowded. Bitcoin = Freedom Money.

6. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Buy seafood from Prawnhub, served by Prawn stars. Looking forward to Pawnhub (will someone start it?) to go up against the soon-to-be listed pawnbroker, Pappajack, on Bursa.

2. The huge contrast

3. The impending global food shortage - global food exports by Ukraine and Russia in 2019