☕️ Expecto Petronas! Life after the Sarawak Petros fiasco

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

JPY207 mil (RM5.97 mil) was paid by sushi restaurateurs in Tokyo for a bluefin tuna weighing 276kg (608lb), the second-highest price ever at the annual New Year auction at Toyosu Fish Market. The tuna will be served at Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera restaurants and Nadaman restaurants across Japan. The Onodera Group, which placed the winning bid, has paid the top price in the Ichiban Tuna auction for five consecutive years. Last year, they spent JPY114 mil for the top tuna. The highest-ever auction price, since records began in 1999, was JPY333.6 mil in 2019 for a 278kg bluefin.

Shein’s success is driven by 75-hour workweeks for many of its workers, who sit behind sewing machines for long hours in factories that supply the company. These workers typically work 75 hours a week, far exceeding China’s legal limit of 44 hours. Despite Chinese labour laws stating that workers should have at least one rest day a week, most of these workers only get one day off a month. This labour-intensive model supports Shein’s deep discounts, contributing to the brand’s rapid expansion across more than 150 countries.

102,343 stuffed toys were thrown onto the ice rink in a world record event during a game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, marking a moment of “sweet, cuddly mayhem,” according to the Hershey Bears hockey team. The toys were tossed after the Hershey Bears scored against the Providence Bruins. This annual teddy bear toss, held since 2001, surpassed the previous record of 74,599 toys collected in 2024. The stuffed toys will be donated to 35 local charities.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Expecto Petronas*! Life after the Sarawak Petros fiasco
Petronas appears to emerge from the fight with Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) better than expected as Petronas will still retain the lucrative natural gas export business while Petros will get the domestic gas aggregation business. PM Anwar Ibrahim also reiterated that the Petroleum Development Act 1974 will still remain the ‘bible’ in any oil and gas matters, trumping any state-level legislation. The Petroleum Development Act establishes Petronas as the sole custodian and regulator of Malaysia’s petroleum resources. So, what are the next steps for Petronas after the nightmare with Petros?
* For non-Harry Potter fans, it’s a play on the spell Expecto Patronum that summons a guardian to protect the caster from dark creatures.

Papua New Guinea - Petronas and French O&G giant, TotalEnergies are planning to begin drilling work on Mailu-1 site starting from 2H2025. The site will be the country’s first deepwater exploration well, with depths of up to 2,100 meters.

Indonesia - Petronas has decided to develop the Hidayah field located off the coast of East Java. The decision to develop the site was based on the promising oil discovery in the North Madura II Contract Area, where the Hidayah field is located, in 2021. The development plant that will be established by Petronas will include a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) unit equipped with living quarters.

Malaysia - Petronas is also looking back towards the mature Malay Basin, situated off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where the company seeks to embark on a study to explore untapped resources. Even though 9 bil barrels of oil have been extracted from the area since the 1970s, there are still substantial new discoveries, apart from the potential for carbon capture and storage. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process that removes carbon dioxide from industrial sources before it's released into the atmosphere. The captured CO2 is then transported and stored underground in geologic formations.

Gamuda, YTL Group - flying high in the country of Kuala London
Gamuda Bhd and its UK’s joint venture partner, Castleforge broke ground on the RM6.59 bil redevelopment project of the iconic Winchester House, that used to host the UK headquarters of Deutsche Bank. Dubbed as 75 London Wall, the new development will increase the capacity of the building by 40%. 75 London Wall will set to become a grade-A sustainable top-tier office, targetting three sustainability performance ratings, namely BREEAM 'Outstanding', WELL Core 'Platinum' and NABERS UK 5 Star Design. Cheyne Capital also funds the project via a RM2.74 bil loan, on top of the RM823 mil loan given previously to the Gamuda-Castleforge JV for the acquisition of the Winchester House back in 2023.

Apart from Gamuda, YTL Group also taknak kalah in flaunting its investment capabilities in the UK via the launch of RM11 bil Brabazon new town, the largest brownfield development in the UK. Brabazon town will be developed on top of the former Filton Airfield on the Bristol and South Gloucestershire border and will include 6,500 new homes, a 15-acre park, a 19,000-capacity carbon-neutral arena, three schools, and more. YTL Group also committed to investing an additional RM22 billion in the UK towards its existing business over the next five years. As a comparison, the Malaysian consortium comprising S P Setia Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund invested RM48 bil to redevelop the Battersea Power Station in London, back in 2013.

While we are gaining ground at our former coloniser’s land, a survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organisation Kuala Lumpur (Jetro) suggests that business sentiments of Japanese companies towards Malaysia have significantly improved for the fourth consecutive year. Jetro added that the country’s profitability rate of 70.8% exceeded ASEAN’s average and we are the only major ASEAN country to record consistent growth over the past four years. As per the survey, in the post-Covid era, Malaysia has outperformed other major countries in several initiatives - local human resource development (58.8%), employment increase (35.8%), and the promotion of decarbonisation (24.9%).

Meanwhile, necessary cleanup at home…
IGP Razarudin Husain told the media that a former mayor was among four individuals detained under Op Ragada to assist in the investigation of a money laundering case involving a broadcasting company in Kuching, Sarawak. Apart from the four arrested, previously the police had arrested another five individuals to help police uncover the truth. Based on the initial probe, the police deduced that the modus operandi of the money laundering scheme was done via suspicious financial transactions, criminal breach of trust, tender fraud and awarding tenders to themselves or their family members.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has nabbed a company director for allegedly soliciting and accepting an RM1 mil bribe to secure a food & beverages supply contract worth RM900 mil. According to the police, the suspect who falsely claimed to be a Datuk, is not green in committing vice as he has a prior criminal record related to fraud.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Gaza ceasefire to begin on Jan 19
The world was greeted with good news yesterday morning, as finally a ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, US and Egypt has been established between Israel and Hamas. While it is by no means an end to the occupation, it brought relief to the people of Palestine who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

The ceasefire will begin on Jan 19, the first phase that would see 33 hostages - including women, children and elderly people - exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Negotiations for the second phase - which should see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli troop withdrawal and a return to "sustainable calm" - will start on the 16th day.

The Qatar PM said that, alongside the US and Egypt, they would work together to ensure Israel and Hamas fulfil their obligations. Nevertheless, like an act of last-minute atrocities, Israel continued to bombard Palestine despite the deal. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes killed up to 32 people following the Qatari announcement.

Meanwhile, Vincent Tan said that Starbucks Malaysia reports improving sales as customer boycotts subside, attributing it to the consumers who were now more ready to accept that Starbucks’ stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict has been distorted by online and social media content.

Firefighters are using seawater to fight LA fires, but it's far from ideal 
As of yesterday, it was reported that the Palisades Fire, which wiped out upscale communities on the western flank of Los Angeles, burned 96 sq km and was 14% contained. The Eaton Fire in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains east of the city consumed another 57 sq km and was 33% contained. A third fire, the Hurst, spanning 3.2 sq km was 95% contained, while three other fires in the county have been fully brought under control. The fire still continues to ravage Southern California.

Many are questioning why can’t firefighters use seawater to kill the fire. The truth is seawater actually brings more harm than good. Its saline composition is apparently corrosive and damaging to equipment, aircraft and pumps. The salt reduces water’s cooling effect and conducts electricity better than freshwater, posing additional risks for firefighters. Environmental health concerns are also a factor, as using seawater to fight fires could harm the surrounding ecosystem, affecting soil and nearby water streams.

Nevertheless, firefighters have been seen drawing water from the ocean on one of its USD25 mil (RM112.56 mil) water-bombers aircraft in its effort to tame the flame. The city is exhausting all available resources to combat the fires, and sadly all fire hydrants have been fully utilised.

Biden’s one last speech - beware of oligarchy taking shape in the US 
US outgoing President Biden had some words of advice for the nation - in his farewell address, Biden took the liberty to warn Americans about an oligarchy that would threaten the entire US democracy, basic rights and freedom. The term “oligarchy” refers to a government that is run by a handful of people, often for their own gain. “Oligarchy could bring in “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked", he added.

He then referred to the ultra-wealthy "tech-industrial complex" which he said could wield unchecked power over Americans, a veiled reference to Silicon Valley executives such as Elon Musk, the world's richest man who is close to Trump and provided huge financial backing to his campaign. Well, it's also quite obvious that tech bosses like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are making efforts to improve relations with Trump.

Besides that, Biden also warned about climate change and social media disinformation, as well as taking credit for the Israel-Gaza ceasefire agreement, an endeavour that he feels is the toughest in his career.

Shorts:

1. Temasek might be interested in buying USD3 bil sale of Bob Dylan, and Adele song rights 
   Blackstone, one of the world’s biggest asset managers, is considering selling its rights to music from Bob Dylan, Adele and Ariana Grande, in which a handful of financial companies including Singapore’s Temasek is said to be interested. The sale is expected to fetch USD3 bil (RM13.5 bil) or more. No comments were given by any of the parties so far.

2. Woman conned by AI Brad Pitt and lost EUR 830,000
   So powerful is the charm of Brad Pitt, that a French woman was conned out of EUR830,000 (RM3.84 mil) by scammers posing as an AI version of him. The woman, aged 53, genuinely thought that she was in a relationship with Pitt for a year and a half, eventually leading her to lose all her life savings and attempt suicide 3 times. While her story invited mockery from many, there are also people who took her side, saying that she is a “whistleblower” and that it exposed the danger of AI and deepfake - see the images here. It sounds so ridiculous, but it really shows that anyone can fall victim, especially those that are emotionally vulnerable.

3. Compulsory “robust” age verification on all porn sites in UK by July UK
   Regulator Ofcom has come up with a long-awaited guidance for pornography sites, intended to prevent children from accessing porn online. Beginning in July, all websites with pornographic content, including social media platforms, must introduce "robust" age-checking techniques such as demanding photo ID or running credit card checks for UK users. While the effort is a great step toward a safer Internet for children, some porn sites and privacy campaigners have warned the move will be counterproductive, saying introducing beefed-up age verification will only push people to "darker corners" of the internet.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. TIL: The 101 ways to use the word toilet in different settings and. context

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2. Found a new genre of standup comedy - roasting startup founds and the industry

3. There might be some truth in this, minus the subscription revenue