☕️ Important events this week: Najib'wfh', 1MDB-Tanore verdict, special ASEAN meeting over Thai-Cambodia conflict

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

67,735. That was the total number of online crime cases nationwide reported between January and November this year, with total losses exceeding RM2.7 bil (average RM39.9k loss per case). The Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department reported that non-existent investment schemes, which made up 9,296 of the cases, led to losses of over RM1.37 bil (average RM147.4k loss per case), the highest among all categories. This was followed by telecommunications crimes, which accounted for the majority of cases at 28,698, with losses incurred totalling RM715.7 mil. Next were e-finance crimes, with 5,853 cases and RM458.1 mil in losses incurred. The statistics reflect a worrying surge in cybercrime cases, and the public is urged to act swiftly if they fall victim to scams by contacting their banks to block any suspicious transactions and lodging a report with the police and the National Scam Response Centre (visit here).

Still on scams, the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department also reported that incidences of part-time job scams have sharply increased by 146% to 8,484 cases in 2025, leading to RM202.58 mil in losses (average RM23.9k loss per case). In 2024, the same period saw 3,451 cases with losses of RM118.83 mil. This spike in cases also shows that job scams are becoming more rampant, with syndicates typically using social media and instant messaging apps to offer part-time jobs that promise high payouts. Victims are usually asked to make upfront payments and transfer money into mule accounts. The police said that no legitimate employer would ever ask for upfront payment before employing anyone, and advised the public to remain vigilant.

In other crime-related statistics, a total of 4,079 cases of violence and 2,042 cases of sexual harassment involving children and caregivers were recorded nationwide from 2021 until November this year. To combat this, the Home Ministry works with Interpol and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to assist in investigations. Once a victim has been identified, the police also work with the Health Ministry and the Social Welfare Department to provide counselling, as well as medical and psychological treatment. The victims are then referred to a shelter as required by law.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

The annual Christmas carol - broken record version
Just one step away from being accused of being a broken record, Religious Minister, Dr Zulkifli Hasan, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, answers the one question that maketh a true religious minister - are halal-certified hotels and food premises allowed to display Christmas decorations? To those who still do not know the answer, the answer is YES YES YES. Dr Zulkifli added that there are no restrictions against halal certification holders from displaying festive decorations linked to religions other than Islam. He emphasised that mutual respect for Malaysia’s cultural and religious diversity is a defining feature of the country’s multiracial society.

Santa at toll booths: As Christmas is around the corner, Santa came early as Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi announced that Putrajaya will provide a 50% toll discount on December 23 and 24. The discount applies to Class 1 vehicles (Class 2 on the Penang Bridge) at all toll plazas except the Sultan Iskandar Building Toll Plaza on the North-South Expressway and the Tanjung Kupang Toll Plaza on the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link Express­way. Nanta stated that the government will fork out RM20.65 mil to compensate all highway concessionaires involved. Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (LLM) anticipates up to 2.6 mil vehicles daily during peak periods.

Mega year-end bonanza

The illegal: RM1.53 bil of drugs seized
Bukit Aman has scored big and given a big blow to a drug trafficking network after seizing RM1.53 bil worth of drugs in Klang Valley. The affected international drug syndicate had been operating since April, catering to the overseas market, specifically eastern countries. Malaysia was used as a hub for drug processing labs and storage premises. Specifically, a three-storey bungalow in Cheras and various premises were utilised as key facilities of the global drug syndicate. To date, Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Comm Hussein Omar Khan said 215 tonnes of drugs worth RM3.1 bil were seized following the dismantling of 270 drug syndicates. These outcomes were the result of 609 operations conducted by the police this year.

The legal: Biggest payout by PNB
Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) group chairman, Raja Tan Sri Arshad, announced that PNB’s unit trust, Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), has declared a total income distribution of 5.75 sen per unit for Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ending December 31 (FY2025). This marks the largest ASB payout, amounting to RM10.4 bil, benefitting 11.4 mil unitholders. Understand ASB and historical returns here. 

Important events to observe this week

December 22 - Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting
Kuala Lumpur will again host foreign ministers from the region to discuss the current situation between Cambodia and Thailand. The special meeting, which Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan will chair, might be Malaysia’s last contribution as this year’s ASEAN chairman and Putrajaya’s last hallelujah to salvage the Kuala Lumpur Accords. Since May 2025, at least 100 military personnel and civilians have been killed on both sides, and close to 300,000 civilians were displaced. The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) deployed F-16 fighter aircraft to conduct airstrikes against Cambodian military installations along the border, marking the first time RTAF had entered combat since the Thai–Laotian Border War in 1988.

December 22 & 26: Spotlight on Najib
The Kuala Lumpur High Court is expected to deliver its verdict on Najib’s royal addendum. If the decision is in Najib’s favour, he may ‘wfh’ - serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest. After that, the day after Christmas, on December 26, Najib will also learn his fate over his RM2.3 bil 1MDB case. If Najib is successful in his house arrest bid but is convicted in the 1MDB case, he would technically be allowed to return home to serve house arrest, as he can apply for a stay of sentence execution pending his appeal - also view fireworks for the New Year’s.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Violent World
Public violence and killing continues after last weekend’s shooting at Bondi Beach.

3 died in Taipei stabbing, smoke bomb attack
An attacker went on a stabbing rampage after setting off smoke bombs at Taipei’s main train station in Taiwan, killing 3 people and leaving 5 injured. He then ran to a nearby subway station in a busy shopping district, attacking people on the way and eventually jumped off the building and killed himself. Mayor Chiang Wan-an told reporters that the attacker had apparently jumped off the building “to evade arrest and has been confirmed dead”. Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai identified the attacker by his last name in a statement on Friday, citing that he had a prior criminal record and outstanding warrants and said his house has been searched. Violent crime is rare in Taiwan, though an attack in 2014 horrified residents when a man went on a stabbing spree on Taipei’s metro, killing four people. He was executed for the killings in 2016. View incident here. Warning - graphic.

At least 9 people killed in shooting in South Africa
9 people have been killed and 10 wounded after a group of armed men opened fire at a tavern in a township near the city of Johannesburg in South Africa. The group came in a minibus and a silver sedan and opened fire at tavern patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene. The police also said that the attackers also robbed victims after killing them. Investigations were underway at the time of writing, but the motive of the attack was not immediately clear. Shootings in South Africa, which faces high levels of violent crime, are often fuelled by criminal groups and competition between informal businesses. With almost 26,000 homicides in 2024, or more than 70 per day on average, South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

TikTok gonna be OK

TikTok signs US joint venture deal to end ban threat
It’s finally happening - TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi has announced that the company and ByteDance have signed binding agreements to create a US joint venture majority-owned by American investors, led by US tech giant Oracle. The deal is expected to close on Jan 22, 2026, where the US joint venture will operate as an independent entity that will control data protection, content moderation and algorithm security in the country. The deal values TikTok’s US operations at roughly USD14 bil as per what was outlined in September. The deal also requires ByteDance to license its AI recommendation technology to the newly created US entity, which will use the existing algorithm to retrain a new system on US data that is secured by Oracle, TikTok’s cloud partner.

ByteDance on track for USD 50 bil profit in 2025
On a separate development, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd is reported to be on track for profits of roughly USD 50 bil (RM203.85 bil) in 2025, after amassing a net income of about USD 40 bil over the year’s first three quarters. Revenue is unclear, but the company targeted growth of 20% in 2025 to hit USD186 bil. That would take the company’s earnings close rival Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (market cap stands at USD1.66 tril), which is projected to earn about USD 60 bil this year. This also caps a record year for TikTok being the social media leader making major inroads into e-commerce and new markets. Despite the struggle with Washington, TikTok has expanded rapidly on the global stage including the US, pushing aggressively into e-commerce and live-stream shopping, including partnering with major American tech companies such as Amazon.com Inc.

Shorts

1. Sony becomes Snoopy’s new majority owner
   Sony is set to obtain a majority ownership of the iconic Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts franchise featuring Snoopy and Charlie Brown. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ) have agreed to pay Canadian media company WildBrain CAD 630 mil (USD 457 mil) to acquire all of the 41% stake held by WildBrain in Peanuts Holdings LLC, making it the owner of 80% of Peanuts Holdings LLC. The remaining 20% continues to be owned by the Schulz family. Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the “Peanuts” crew debuted in 1950 as a comic strip and became a global hit ever since.
   Given the transaction value, this implies a USD1.1 bil valuation of the Snoopy brand. 

2. World Health Organisation to explore benefits of traditional medicines
   The WHO is now considering to study traditional medicine more seriously, with plans to establish a robust evidence base, develop regulation of treatments and practitioners and, where appropriate, integrate the practices into mainstream biomedical healthcare. Traditional medicine, defined by WHO as systems for health and wellbeing that predate “biomedicine”, typically lacks evidence, resulting in it being dismissed by many. Such initiative by the WHO could now mean that traditional therapies like acupuncture, yoga and the use of traditional herbs as medicine can safely be prescribed by medical practitioners in the future.

3. South Korean president urges public health cover for hair loss
   South Korean president Lee Jae Myung is calling for public health insurance to consider covering hair-loss treatments, citing that baldness problem has become a “matter of survival” for young people, instead of just an aesthetic concern. Such proposal highlights the intense cultural focus on physical appearance in South Korea, where the ability to match certain “beauty” standards could affect a person during job search and impacts their mental health. Priorities misplaced? Medical professionals and some conservatives are against this, citing that priorities should be given more to life-threatening diseases like cancer.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Talk business day

1. The rise and fall of Hooters - the restaurant chain famous for its wings, beer and waitresses. The chain popularised the term “breastaurants” to describe chains that build their brand around sex appeal.

2. An empire called Amazon. Do you know IMDb is owned by them?

3. Penang’s new 760-acre island.