☕️ Former PM Muhyiddin Yassin discharged, acquitted in his Jana Wibawa case

1. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Last year, government-appointed developers successfully completed 1,913 affordable housing projects using the Industrialised Building System (IBS) (think Lego in real life), which accounts for an impressive 91.5% of the total. This marks a significant rise from the 84% (1,180 projects) achieved in 2021, demonstrating the growing utilisation of this construction method. Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi highlighted this encouraging trend in affordable housing development.

In Q2 of 2023, iPhones claimed a solid 55% of the US smartphone market, while Android phones saw a decline in shipments. This was attributed, in part, to carrier promotions that helped Apple weather the challenging market conditions. Counterpoint Research noted that the entire US smartphone market experienced a 24% year-on-year drop in shipments, hitting major Android brands the hardest. With the iPhone 15’s impending launch next month, will Apple continue to dominate?

United Parcel Service (UPS) drivers are set to rake an impressive USD170,000 in pay and perks after a smartly negotiated five-year contract. This deal, deftly sealed on July 25, will pump up full-time workers’ earnings from around USD145,000 to the shiny USD170,000 mark over half a decade. By the end of the new contract, full-time UPS delivery drivers will make an average of USD49 per hour, which works out to pay nearly USD102,000 per year. Part-timers will see their hourly wage strut to a snazzy USD25.75, and the era of mandatory overtime will finally kick the bucket. Considering a career change?

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Muhyiddin’s acquittal spurs legal actions and appeals The Kuala Lumpur High Court granted Muhyiddin’s request to strike out the four charges related to allegedly obtaining RM232.5 mil for his political party Bersatu through abuse of power. Justice Jamil Hussin emphasised that the charges lacked clear disclosure of a legally recognisable offence and weren’t detailed enough for Muhyiddin to prepare his defence, rendering them defective. As a result, the charges were dismissed, and Muhyiddin was acquitted.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers is gearing up to appeal against the High Court’s decision to acquit former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin on four abuse of power charges. The appeal is set to be filed on Aug 15, according to Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.

Wan Shaharuddin also mentioned that the prosecution would request a stay of proceedings for three other money laundering charges against Muhyiddin, pending the appeal. Muhyiddin is not completely off the hook and if including his camp, there are still various other court cases.

In connection with the same case, Perikatan Nasional is taking legal action by suing the government and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after the High Court’s decision to clear former PM Muhyiddin Yassin of power abuse charges.

1MDB WatchZeti Akhtar Aziz, former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor, testified that BNM recommended charging three former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) executives regarding the scandal. During Najib Razak’s 1MDB-Tanore trial, Zeti named former CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, former executive director Casey Tang, and ex-chief investment officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil. BNM had sent an investigation paper to the then attorney general in 2016, suggesting criminal prosecution against senior 1MDB officers — seems like no actions were taken. Shahrol is in the country, while Tang and Nik Faisal remain at large.

In another aspect of the trial, Zeti addressed claims made during the New York criminal trial of former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner and Roger Ng Chong Hwa involving 1MDB. Leissner alleged that Zeti's husband, Tawfiq Ayman, received a bribe in exchange for BNM's approval of a USD1 bil remittance for 1MDB. Zeti denied the allegations, stating that her husband had no connection to Leissner and Ng and had never received bribes.

Upcoming Cybersecurity bill expected in ParliamentThe anticipated Cybersecurity Bill is set to be introduced in Parliament either by the end of this year or early next year, shared Fahmi Fadzil, the Communications and Digital Minister. The National Cyber Security Agency under the National Security Council is currently in the process of drafting the bill. Once the draft is ready, it will undergo Cabinet review before becoming public. The proposed amendment is expected to take place in October this year or March next year.

Business

1. AmBank aims for 6% growth in loan disbursementsAmBank Group wants to disburse RM7 bil of loans for the financial year ending March 31, 2024. The projection is based on the bank's assets valued at RM130 bil. Additionally, the bank aims to double its green financing to RM2 bil in FY2024, focusing on areas like electric vehicle financing.

2. Sunway to take over Iskandar Assets Sdn BhdSunway Bhd is set to acquire Iskandar Assets Sdn Bhd's 40% stake in their joint venture company, Sunway Iskandar Development Sdn Bhd (SIDSB), for RM85 mil. This takeover involves the mixed development project, Sunway City Iskandar Puteri, located on a RM412.73 mil land plot. Sunway's subsidiary, Sunway City Sdn Bhd, will purchase the stake from Iskandar Assets, which is a wholly-owned unit of Iskandar Investment Bhd.

3. Glostrext Bhd - IPO day wild rideGlostrext Bhd made an impressive debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia, opening at 65 sen per share, a significant 242% premium over its initial public offering (IPO) price of 19 sen. However, the gains were not sustained and collapsed 60.8% to close at 25.5 sen per share, still reflecting a 32% premium over its IPO price - quite a wild swing from peak to closing. Glostrext specialises in offering piling, structural, and geotechnical services, including instrumentation, testing, and monitoring, for construction projects, completed buildings, and infrastructure.

4. Country Heights defaulted on RM181.1 mil loansCountry Heights Holdings Bhd, the property developer founded by tycoon Lee Kim Yew, has defaulted on RM181.1 mil worth of Islamic term financing facilities provided by MBSB Bank Bhd. The default is attributed to cash flow timing differences resulting from delays in client payments, causing temporary cash flow constraints. The default is associated with indirect wholly-owned units Mines Waterfront Business Park Sdn Bhd (MWBP) and Mines International Exhibition Centre Sdn Bhd. MWBP faces a winding-up petition, and MIEC defaulted on payments as of August 1.

Shorts

1. Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor will be summoned by the police for displaying his ballot paper to the media after voting in the state polls on August 12. The case will be examined under Sections 5(1) and 26(1)(g) of the Election Offences Act. The decision on charges will be left to the Attorney General’s Chambers. A differing view here explaining why Sanusi did not break any law and other instances when Malaysian politicians revealed their ballot, which includes UMNO deputy president Mat Hassan in 2019.

2. PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar was sworn in for his second term as the Menteri Besar of Terengganu yesterday. Ahmad Samsuri, who also holds the position of elected assemblyman for Ru Rendang, was reappointed after PAS and Bersatu secured all 32 state poll seats.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Trump’s never-ending troubles - fourth indictmentFormer US President Donald Trump and 18 associates have been indicted in Georgia for their alleged involvement in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. Prosecutors have used a statute typically associated with organised crime to accuse them of operating a “criminal enterprise” aimed at maintaining Trump’s hold on power. The indictment, spanning nearly 100 pages, outlines various actions taken by Trump and his allies, including pressuring officials to change the vote count, harassing election workers, and trying to sway lawmakers to disregard the voters’ choice and appoint electors in Trump's favour. 12 tweets from Trump’s personal Twitter account have been considered part of his racketeering activity.

Can’t help but compare Trump to a local assemblyperson who has run into his share of legal troubles lately.

China’s evident slumpChina’s central bank has made a surprising move by cutting a key interest rate by the most since 2020. This unexpected decision aims to support the economy, which is grappling with new challenges arising from a deteriorating property market and sluggish consumer spending. The People's Bank of China has reduced the rate on its one-year loans, known as the medium-term lending facility, by 15 basis points to 2.5%, marking the second reduction since June.

Official figures published yesterday showed China’s overall unemployment rate had risen to 5.3% in July. Simultaneously, the government temporarily halted publishing data on youth unemployment without specifying a timeframe for this suspension - this figure hit a record high of 21.3% in June, and some speculated as high as 46.5% in March. According to a spokesperson from the National Bureau of Statistics, there is a need to reevaluate the methodology used to calculate unemployment figures among young individuals.

Last week, Country Garden, one of China's largest property developers, issued a warning of a potential loss of up to USD7.6 bil for the first half of this year. The announcement underscores the significant challenges confronting the world's second-largest economy.

The allure of the two-letter word — AIOne week after news of China’s internet giants rushing to secure high-performance Nvidia chips crucial for developing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have joined the foray.

Fueled by concerns of potential new U.S. export restrictions, Baidu, ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba have collectively placed orders worth a staggering USD5 bil. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has bought at least 3,000 of Nvidia’s H100 chips — a USD40,000 processor. The UAE, too, has taken a proactive step in obtaining access to numerous Nvidia chips, enabling the development of its proprietary, open-source large language model named Falcon.

Oh, it is also a great time to be an AI engineer — a product manager position for a machine-learning platform at Netflix lists a total compensation of up to USD900,000 annually.

Remember The Blind Side? There’s some drama to the actual storyMichael Oher, the ex-NFL tackle who inspired the 2009 sports drama movie “The Blind Side,” was blindsided. Oher lodged a petition on Monday in a Tennessee probate court, alleging that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy deceived him by having him sign papers designating them as his conservators, instead of his adoptive parents, around 20 years ago. He alleges that the Tuohys have benefited financially at his cost by persistently presenting themselves as his adoptive parents “up until the filing of this petition.”

The petition claims that an agreement was made to pay the Tuohys, including their children Sean Jr. and Collins, USD225,000 and 2.5% of future defined net proceeds, contingent on Oher's signature. Oher is seeking the termination of the conservatorship and a comprehensive report on the earnings from the use of his name and story. He also requests fair compensation, including interest, that he is owed.

Watch the trailer of the movie here.

Shorts

1. Lucasfilm bids its Singapore operations adieu as the studio’s parent company Disney wants to save billions in costs this year — USD5.5 bil to be exact. The company’s unit — called Industrial Light & Magic, or ILM, Singapore, has 340 employees. Lucasfilm Singapore began its operations in 2004.

2. SoftBank is taking legal action against IRL, seeking USD150 mil in damages. This comes after IRL's board determined that a staggering 95% of its users were fake, attributed to bots. IRL, a messaging app startup, had previously touted its “unicorn” status with a valuation of USD1.2 bil following a USD170 mil Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in 2021.

3. Japan's economy raced ahead in April-June, outpacing forecasts. Robust car exports and a boost in tourism countered the sluggish post-COVID consumer rebound. The 6.0% annualised growth translated to a hefty 1.5% quarterly expansion, surpassing expectations of 0.8% in a Reuters survey. This surge propelled Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) to a new record high, though concerns over global economic uncertainties linger.

4. Russia's central bank raised its key interest rate by a significant 3.5% points to 12% on Tuesday in response to the ruble's recent decline. The ruble rebounded to 98 to the dollar following the announcement, a recovery from its weakening to 102 on Monday. The central bank’s decision aims to bring down inflation to 4% by next year. Russia's annual consumer price inflation was at 4.3% in July.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Where does your monthly Netflix subscription go to?

2. How much do you need to spend to book the Eiffel Tower? MrBeast finds out. MrBeast’s video reach is so massive that many brands couldn’t afford or fairly compensate him for that kind of reach. How to solve this? Launch his own brands. Read the interview here.