☕️ MACC huat-ah as CNY nears

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

USD1.3 trillion (RM5.77 trillion) — the net worth of billionaires that attended Donald Trump’s second inauguration on January 20th, 2025. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have a collective net worth of USD911 bil, a bit shy of three Luxembourgs). They even got better seats than the Cabinet. Only the Trump family sat between the tech moguls and the 47th President of the United States. Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH, a luxury empire and Europe’s richest man, and Mukesh Ambani, an Indian industrialist who is Mr Arnault’s Asian opposite number, also attended the inauguration.

194 schools in Bangkok were forced to close yesterday due to air pollution, affecting thousands of students. The closures accounted for nearly half of the 437 schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. The pollution levels, exacerbated by seasonal factors such as crop stubble burning and car emissions, pushed Bangkok to become the sixth most polluted major city in the world, according to IQAir. The PM2.5 pollutants reached 122 micrograms per cubic metre, a dangerous level that can cause cancer and enter the bloodstream.

USD15,000 (RM66.6k) will soon be the price to climb Mount Everest during peak season, marking a 36% increase from the previous fee of USD11,000, as announced by Nepal. Starting in September, fees for off-peak climbs will also rise by the same percentage, with the cost set at USD7,500 for the months of September to November and USD3,750 for December to February. Income from these permit fees is crucial to Nepal’s economy, with mountain climbing and trekking contributing over 4% to the country’s total revenue.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

RM190 mil savings from not giving free toll
Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi announced an RM190 mil angpow for the Chinese New Year, not for the rakyat but for Putrajaya instead, as it is the expected savings to be made annually after ending toll exemptions during festive seasons. The government is fine-tuning the method on how to give more targeted assistance towards the B40 income group and the abolishment of free tolls during the festive seasons is one of the steps in doing so.

Despite Putrajaya’s decision getting applause from the transport advocacy groups, MIC vice-president T. Murugiah thought otherwise and has urged the government to reconsider its move to abolish toll waivers during festivities. He added that thousands of Chinese will be travelling to their hometowns during the CNY period, so any bit of help is welcomed to ease the burden of high travelling costs.

Perhaps, Malaysians can use public transport to balik kampung as more and more public transport infrastructure will be developed. Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) confirmed to have bagged the Ipoh Sentral project. MRCB, in partnership with the Ipoh Sentral Sdn Bhd (ISSB), will develop Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) land behind Ipoh Railway Station to become a new transit-oriented development (TOD), with an estimated gross development value of RM6.25 bil. MRCB is not new in this TOD space as they have previously developed the Penang Sentral (with a total GDV of RM2.9 bil), KL Sentral, PJ Sentral and also Kwasa Sentral.

MACC huat-ah even before CNY!
MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki revealed that enforcement officers working at the Free Commercial Zone (FCZ) at KLIA allegedly pocketed daily payments of between RM4,000 and RM6,000 from a vape smuggling syndicate to secure the release of lorries used in their illicit operations. Azam Baki also added that the bribe amounts depend on the type of the lorries - RM150 for a one-tonner, RM300 for a three-tonne lorry, RM500 for a five-tonner and a bonanza RM750 for lorries over five tonnes. Based on the MACC investigation, the syndicate has been actively involved in vape smuggling since 2023. Given that there are deliveries for 300 days per annum (plus or minus the holidays), it has amounted to a staggering RM3.6 mil of bribes being rendered. A healthy side income for our enforcement officers we would say. Previously, MACC has detained 14 individuals and confiscated RM17.95 mil worth of goods as part of the investigation.

MACC, the US DOJ and the FBI have successfully recovered over RM90 mil of 1MDB funds that were tied to a solar energy project in Malaysia. An individual who was involved with the project, Frank White Jr., willingly handed over the money after learning that the money received for the project originated from misappropriated 1MDB funds. To date, Malaysia has successfully recovered RM29.82 bil linked to the scandal.

In another news related to 1MDB, during the RM2.27 bil 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial, former PM Najib Razak stated that the Hollywood movies that his stepson Riza Aziz made utilised ‘clean money’ from loans given by Aabar Investments PSJ, and Riza has repaid the loans. Red Granite Pictures, a film production company co-founded by Riza, produced movies such as The Wolf of Wall Street and Dumb and Dumber To. Both movies raked in USD576.8 mil from the box office on a USD150 mil budget.

One time zone for ASEAN?
Bursa Malaysia chairman Abdul Wahid Omar lauded that the majority of ASEAN countries should adopt the common time zone of GMT+8 (same as Malaysia) to further integrate ASEAN as a united economic bloc. This proposal is not new as it has been mooted a few times - in 1995, 2006 and again in 2015 when Malaysia last chaired ASEAN. Below is the current spread of time zones -

Time Zone Countries GMT+6.30 Myanmar GMT+7 Western Indonesia (including Jakarta), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam GMT+8 Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Central Indonesia (including new capital Nusantara), Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Western Australia GMT+9 Eastern Indonesia

What is our take on this common time zone idea? No, thank you. Although a common time zone has apparent economic benefits (sharing the same time zone with economic powerhouses such as Singapore and Hong Kong), changing time zone can adversely affect human life as studies have demonstrated that people living in regions with a time zone difference of more than one hour are more susceptible to sleep disruptions and insomnia. This is due to the disruption of the body’s internal clock, which regulates sleep patterns, by sudden changes in the time of day. Eventually, it will lead to issues such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. If economic giants such as Los Angeles and New York can have different time zones albeit being in the same country, ASEAN should be okay by having different time zones.

Malaysia Darul Green Energy
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, PM Anwar Ibrahim has announced that Australia’s global metal mining company, Fortescue has agreed to invest in green hydrogen alternative energy in Bintulu, Sarawak. PM Anwar added that an agreement in principle has been achieved and he has guaranteed several incentives and support so that Bintulu will become a hub.

At the WEF, Anwar told the media that Malaysia is not rushing towards adopting nuclear power in its power generation. Instead, the country sees the potential of solar energy and the ASEAN Power Grid (APG). However, PM Anwar is quick not to dismiss the nuclear power ‘card’ and it is still on the table, given the mushrooming of the power-hungry data centres in Malaysia. It’s not the tech we don't trust - it’s our lack of maintenance culture. It’s one thing to have a broken MRT escalator - it’s altogether a different thing to have a melting nuclear reactor,

Okay, we know all about nuclear power and solar energy, but what is the APG? The APG is a project that connects the electricity systems of the ASEAN countries. The APG is a key part of the ASEAN Vision 2020. The implementation of the APG is expected to be carried out in stages, starting with bilateral agreements between neighbouring countries. As of now, several bilateral cross-border interconnections have been established, such as those between Thailand, Laos, Singapore, and Malaysia.

A Litte Bit of An Extra Shot…
After a successful first day of trading on Bursa Malaysia, soaring as high as 124% and ended the day 98.9% over its initial public offering (IPO) price, Oriental Kopi decided to juice up their P&L a bit more as they allegedly announced an increase of the service charge during the first two days of CNY, from 10% to 15%. Bear in mind that the adjusted service charge excludes the 6% SST charge. Although there is no justification given for the temporary hike, one netizen argued that the practise is normal during festive periods as businesses need to pay double or even triple for their staff. Btw, $KOPI’s market cap now stands at RM1.75 bil.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

The Trump Ripple Effect Continues

Over in Russia
US President Trump’s threats of more sanctions and tariffs on Russia should Russian President Putin not sit at the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine is revealed to have a lot more bite, with sources indicating that Russia’s economy, which has been resilient in the face of sanctions and the war in Ukraine so far, has begun to falter, and Putin knows it. Ukraine has responded to Trump’s threat, welcoming it as diplomatic leverage and praising the move for sending a “strong signal” to Russia. Officially, the Kremlin responded that it sees nothing particularly new in the threat but reiterated that Russia remains ready for “mutually respectful dialogue”.

The Diversity Issue
Two major US state bar associations, namely those of California and Massachusetts, have started pushing back after Trump started going after efforts to promote more diversity in the legal profession with his executive order that stated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs “may constitute illegal discrimination or preferences”. In the government itself, the Trump administration has urged government employees to inform on each other and their departments in a bid to stop any attempts to hide diversity programmes. Employees were given a 10-day deadline to report such programmes, during which they were promised no adverse consequences. Hope they remember that snitches get stitches.

Immigration and Birthright Citizenship
As Trump stepped up the immigration crackdown, he has pointed prosecutors at officials who resist immigration enforcement efforts, with his Justice Department likely to back his agenda by expanding threats of criminal charges beyond immigrants to include city and state officials. Trump has also been sending more active-duty troops to the US-Mexico border, with the latest batch adding 1,500 to the 2,200 already there. Mexico has been preparing for a possible influx of Mexicans from Trump’s promised mass deportations by constructing tent shelters in the city of Ciudad Juarez, which will have the capacity to house thousands of people.

On Climate Change
After Trump declared that the US is pulling out from the Paris Agreement for the second time, the foundation of billionaire Michael Bloomberg stepped up to provide funding to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The move is to ensure that the climate change body remains fully funded despite the loss of contributions from the US.

A Rock Deal and ByteDance's AI-centred capex

• Hongshan Group nears acquisition deal for Marshall Group

  Sources indicated that Hongshan, formerly known as Sequoia China, is now the most likely buyer of audio equipment giant Marshall Group after outbidding other funds. The deal could value Marshall at about USD1.1 bil (RM4.89 bil), though there are no further details so far, including whether or not the founding Marshall family will retain part of its stake, as the agreement is still being negotiated.

• ByteDance plans USD20 bil (RM88.88 bil) capex, with half to go to AI

  The tech giant plans to spend half of its USD20 bil capex on AI-related infrastructure, primarily on data centres and networking equipment, according to sources. It was also revealed that the main beneficiaries are expected to be chipmakers Huawei, Cambricon Technology, and Nvidia. However, ByteDance has denied this, stating that the “information about our spending is incorrect”, with no further elaboration.

Puma Falls and Benko's arrest

• Puma loses 20% of market value from lacklustre profits

  The sportswear brand saw its shares plummet 20% after it reported lower-than-expected sales for its fourth quarter along with a drop in annual profit, shaking investor confidence as to whether it can compete with its rivals Adidas and Nike. While Adidas has reported strong sales and profitability, Nike has seen slowing sales due to the entry of new, fast-growing brands. This has led to the question of what Puma’s competitive advantage is, considering it is not growing when its lead competitor, Nike is losing ground.

• Austria arrests Signa founder Benko on suspicion of hiding assets

  Authorities made the arrest suspecting that Rene Benko was trying to hide assets from insolvency administrators and creditors, which the founder of fallen property group Signa has denied. His lawyer revealed that a court has 48 hours to decide whether Benko should remain in custody. Benko was a self-made billionaire who capitalised on low interest rates to quickly expand his business and acquire stakes in prestigious properties. However, Signa was the biggest casualty of Europe’s property downturn, leaving Benko bankrupt.

Shorts:

1. At least 11 dead, five injured after fire scare in India

   A false alarm over a potential fire on a moving train led to the victims jumping from said train, only for them to be hit and crushed by an oncoming train. Officials confirmed that an emergency alarm was pulled by a passenger, though it remains unclear whether there was actually a fire.

2. LA fires joined by new blaze, thousands evacuated

   The existing fires in Los Angeles was joined by a new, fast-moving wildfire called the Hughes fire, leading to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. The fire grew quickly due to winds and dry brush, reaching an area of over 4,000 hectares within a few hours. The estimate in insured losses from the wildfires is expected to reach about USD28 bil (RM124.43 bil).

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Well done ZUS Coffee for sapot-ing local artist
   Learn: Difference between artist vs artiste vs artisan

2. An astronaut currently in the International Space Station (ISS) casually changing his camera lens in zero gravity.

astro_pettit

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