☕️ FT Minister: Efforts to mitigate flash floods in KL showing results

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

287,411 — the number of bankrupt individuals in Malaysia as of March 2022, according to Malaysia’s Department of Insolvency. Learn more here on the circumstances one becomes bankrupt and the restrictions and disqualifications under bankruptcy.

Companies are spending 9.5% of their total revenue on marketing in 2022, according to technology and consulting firm Gartner Inc. The survey’s demographics are marketing leaders from North America and Northern and Western Europe. The majority of the respondents’ companies make more than USD1 bil (RM4.39 bil) in annual revenue. USD95 mil per annum! Is your company doing the same?

900 — the number of shootings on school grounds since the Sandy Hook Elementary School incident back in Dec 2012. That’s more than once a week on average, a horrible statistic. Gun violence — a uniquely American problem.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. Khalifa Affnan has been named the global winner of the 2022 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Awards, the first time a Malaysian won the awards at both global and regional levels. Affnan initiated a STEM project where he trains students in robotics, drones, coding, and other technology-based disciplines. His project led him to the awards. Congratulations, Affnan, well deserved!

2. Zuraida Kamaruddin has quit Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and will resign as Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister. The Ampang MP said she saw a lot of potential in PBM and believed in its struggles. Well, PBM also supports the government led by Ismail Sabri. Go figure. To recap, she was one of the key figures in Langkah Sheraton, jumping ship from PKR to Bersatu.

3. Former Sabah infrastructure development minister Peter Anthony has been sentenced to 3 years in jail and a fine of RM50,000 after being found guilty of forging a letter for a system maintenance contract awarded to his own company. He was found to have deceived Najib Razak, then Prime Minister and Finance Minister, and three other individuals to get the RM25 million contract to operate and maintain the mechanical and electrical (M&E) system at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Perhaps politicians should rescind themselves from holding positions of power in any private or public companies.

4. Federal Territories Minister, Shahidan Kassim, said the efforts to prevent and mitigate flash floods in Kuala Lumpur that began early this month have shown results. Kassim quipped the floodwaters on the roads dispersed in just 30 minutes and no vehicles were stranded. Any of such plans in place has to be able to withstand the changing weather patterns and growing urbanisation for the long term, not some band-aid solution. Recent recurring flash floods could be symptoms of KL’s infrastructure not being able to cope with time. 

5. MySejahtera will now be useful again as Monkeypox Health Alert will be implemented through the MySejahtera application starting today, according to the Health Minister. The government will also step up monitoring at all international gateways into Malaysia to prevent the spread of monkeypox in the country. Thus far, 100 positive cases of the virus have been reported globally, according to the World Health Organization.

6. The country’s largest lender, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), reported a lower profit of RM2.04 bil for 1QFY22 compared to RM2.39 bil a year ago as revenue fell and overhead expenses rose. Despite loan growth and reduction in impairment charges, Maybank said it has a cautious outlook owing to geopolitical tensions and market volatility.Whereas plantation counters, many of them enjoyed a bumper quarter as CPO prices shot up.

7. Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad has asked the government to pressure the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to approve more halal chicken suppliers to overcome the issues of chicken shortage. Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin said the government’s abolishing approved permits (AP) for poultry imports will not matter for grocery traders unless the move is taken.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. Twitter agreed to pay USD 150 million to settle allegations of misusing private information to target advertising to users despite telling that it would only be used for security reasons. The settlement covers allegations that the social media company misrepresented the “security and privacy” of user data between May 2013 and September 2019. The agreement also requires Twitter to improve its compliance practices. On another note, Elon Musk plans to front another USD6.25 bil of his own money, bringing it up to USD33.5 bil in his bid to take over Twitter for USD44 bil.

2. US romance novelist Nancy Crampton Brophy, who wrote an essay titled How To Murder Your Husband, has been convicted of killing her husband. The author of the Never Felt So Right series of novels shot her husband twice through the heart in June 2018 and had been struggling financially, according to prosecutors. She faces life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date.

3. Aston Villa and West Ham United joined the latest ranking of Europe’s 32 most valuable teams in the sport. Well done, Steven Gerrard and David Moyes! England’s football clubs account for almost a third of the most valuable teams. These clubs include Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. The most valuable team on the ranking is Spain’s Real Madrid, with a value of USD3.4 billion (RM14.9 bil).

4. On the topic of Russia, the Russian government would allow ships carrying food to leave Ukrainian ports in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. More than 20 million metric tons of grains have been stuck in Ukrainian ports since the start of Russia’s invasion in February. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of a global food crisis if his country is unable to ship the grains out from the ports.

5. Toyota’s trading arm will pay USD1.5 billion (RM6.58 bil) to acquire the remaining stake in Japanese wind and solar power company Eurus Energy Holdings from Tokyo Electric Power Co. The Japanese government aims to cut carbon emissions by 46% from 2013 levels by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050.

6. A female avatar of a 21-year-old researcher was allegedly sexually assaulted on Meta’s VR platform Horizon Worlds. The company told the BBC there were safety tools in Horizon Worlds to help people have a “positive experience”. Uh, they aren’t working? In February, Meta introduced new safeguards into its virtual worlds, such as Personal Boundary, which prevents avatars from coming too close.

7. After 19 years and 3,200 episodes, and much controversy, The Ellen DeGeneres Show comes to an end. The talk show, which has left an impact on American television, aired yesterday with the final three guests Jennifer Aniston (Ellen’s very first guest), Pink (who wrote the show’s theme song) and Billie Eilish.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Women are more prone to depression compared to men. To all, please take care of your mental health. If you need someone to talk to, drop us an email. We’ve been happily replying to tweets, so we could definitely spend the time responding to you.

2. The Rise and Fall of the invention that changed our lives forever, the iPod.

3. PM Ismail Sabri - promoting Bahasa Melayu on the international stage whilst wearing an RM5,500 British luxury brand shirt.