☕️ Ismail Sabri, third ex-PM to be charged, admitted to hospital

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

RM12,946,225.55 – Or RM12.95 mil. Sports Toto celebrated its latest multi-millionaire, a 50-year-old housewife from Perak, who won the Toto 4D Jackpot 1 prize worth that amount in the Aug 1 draw. The win also marks her second jackpot success after she won RM1.4 mil with a Lucky Pick ticket three years ago. The housewife shared that she and her husband consistently bought Lucky Pick numbers over the past three years, after both lost their jobs during the movement control order period. The housewife plans to use the prize money as a retirement fund while setting aside part of it to support underprivileged communities and charitable causes.

RM4.4 bil – The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) raised that amount in additional tax assessments as of Jun 30, with LHDN CEO Abu Tariq Jamaluddin saying that the assessments were a result of the organisation’s audit and compliance efforts. He said LHDN would continue to focus on cases involving serious tax non-compliance, including tax evasion and aggressive tax planning, adding that strengthening tax compliance goes hand-in-hand with protecting taxpayers’ rights and ensuring that every taxpayer fulfils their responsibilities equitably.

RM34.97 bil – According to Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing, Malaysia’s business events industry is projected to generate that much cumulative economic impact by 2030. As of Jun 30, 2026, the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau had secured 416 business events to be held between 2026 and 2030, projected to have an estimated economic impact of RM8.27 bil. In the first half of 2026 alone, the bureau spearheaded 194 business events nationwide, attracting more than 341,000 delegates and generating an estimated economic impact of RM1.81 bil. Since its inception in 2009, the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau has secured 3,575 business events, welcomed more than 4.5 mil delegates, and generated RM26.7 bil in economic impact for Malaysia.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Former PM Ismail Sabri to become the third ex-PM to face criminal charge
In the short list of naughty former PMs, former PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who served as the country’s No.1 from August 2021 until November 2022, was believed to be charged related to his declaration of assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). However, his appearance in the Sessions Court last Friday had to be postponed after he was taken to the National Heart Institute (IJN) after suffering an irregular heartbeat and was scheduled to undergo a pacemaker procedure (politicians’ uno reverse move to avoid the court, apparently). August 27 will be the new court date for Ismail. The other two former PMs who faced criminal charges were, of course, Najib Razak (sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted in the SRC International case) and Muhyiddin Yassin (currently facing trial over charges of abusing his position to solicit RM232.5 mil in bribes for Bersatu and a RM200 mil money laundering charge).

The familiar scenes (genuine or not, only God knows):

PKR drama

Five PKR MPs warned PM Anwar that Malaysia is not his
Five PKR MPs - Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail, Subang MP Wong Chen, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung, Sungai Siput MP Kesavan Subramaniam and Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan have warned their chief that public allocations are neither party funds nor the prime minister’s pocket money. The statement was given after Rodziah became the third PKR lawmaker to be barred from accessing the MyKhas constituency allocation portal, after Wong and Lee. The group accused the government of sidelining elected representatives while allowing unelected coordinators to manage constituency funds. Rodziah especially is quite vocal, saying that it does not matter if PM Anwar does not like her, but he has no right to make the people the victims of his political dislike. One common denominator amongst them - they all attended Rafizi’s Parti Bersama launch.

Nurul Izzah’s bid to resign was rejected
PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil had announced that the party’s central leadership council had rejected its deputy president, Nurul Izzah Anwar’s (aka PMX’s eldest daughter) decision to step down from the role, in order to further her studies. The party instead granted her temporary leave. During her leave, PKR vice president Saifuddin Nasution Ismail will temporarily carry out the duties of deputy president, while Amirudin Shari will fully assume the role of party election director. Nurul Izzah has just entered over a year into her role as PKR deputy president, after defeating Mohd Rafizi Ramli in a closely watched party election. Her victory led to the domino effect of Rafizi’s quitting the Cabinet and subsequently forming Parti Bersama. All the chaos, in the end, was for nothing.

FELDA planned UK hotel sale rejected by PMX
PM Anwar stated that the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA)’s decision to sell a hotel it owned in the UK (United Kingdom, not Ulu Kelang) was rejected by him, adding that the proposed sale price, which was GBP100 mil (RM551 mil) was way lower than the purchase price of GBP160 mil (RM882 mil). PM Anwar said that he had refused to approve the deal and has since demanded a full report from the Felda management, explaining the decision to sell at such a low price. The said hotel in contention may be the Grand Plaza Kensington Hotel in London and the Grand Plaza Serviced Apartments in Bayswater, collectively for GBP158 mil, in 2014 and 2013 respectively. At the moment, PM Anwar keeps FELDA under his direct purview to personally monitor and resolve its massive financial liabilities, governance issues, and settlers' welfare until everything is fully stabilised.

Shorts

1. Singapore to import solar energy from Malaysia

   As part of Singapore's plan to import about a third of its energy needs by 2035, or about 6 gigawatt (GW) of low-carbon electricity, the island-state's Energy Market Authority (EMA) has recently granted conditional approvals to two companies to import 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Malaysia - namely Sembcorp Utilities and Ditrolic Energy Holdings. Both companies will supply power generated from solar and battery energy storage systems in Johor. Previously, Sarawak also has been granted conditional approval to export 1GW of low-carbon electricity.

2. Drugged-up pilot was not on duty during flight

   The 39-year-old MAS pilot who was arrested last week in Jakarta and tested positive for several illegal drugs was a second officer travelling in the cockpit jump seat as an observer and was not the pilot flying the aircraft, MAG said. The pilot has been off duty for two days, and the airplane was operated at all times by two qualified operating pilots.

3. Stats: Loke’s defeat wasn’t as bad as it seems
   According to Malaysiakini, despite DAP Secretary-General Anthony Loke losing his Chennah state seat, data shows that he made modest gains among Malay voters and the support from Chinese remained stable. Loke and Harapan’s support among Malay voters increased, from roughly 13% or 14% in 2022 to around 20% this time. But with BN absorbing most of PN’s support base, it enables MCA candidate John Siow to defeat Loke.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Thai mass school shooting tragedy kills nine
A 14-year-old Thai teenager killed his grandparents at dawn at home before proceeding to shoot teachers and students, and eventually himself, in his own school outside Bangkok last week. The tragedy became SEA’s worst mass killing in nearly four years. Those killed at the school were all teachers and staff, and the police confirmed at least 26 bullets came from a gun that belonged to his grandfather. More than 30 people were injured, with 9 deaths at the time of writing.

The case is now under investigation. Police found a knife in the boy’s bag, and other evidence at the crime scenes included a firearm, spent cartridge cases, and a personal computer. The killer’s motives remain unclear, but he was described as a quiet and not very sociable person who spends his time learning and playing shooting games at the end of the day until midnight.

Gun ownership and gun violence are not uncommon in Thailand, which has seen a series of deadly shootings in the past six years, with children among the victims. The country had an estimated 10.3 mil firearms held by civilians, equating to around 15 guns per 100 residents, as per a Small Arms Survey estimate. Thailand's worst mass killing by a single perpetrator in its recent history took place in 2022.

Timeline of the incident here. Video clips from the scene here.

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Pakistan sign defence deal
Saudi ⁠Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye have signed a ⁠joint defence agreement named “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement”, symbolically signed in the Muslim holy land of Mecca. The agreement declared a shared commitment to further strengthen collective security and to promote peace, security and stability in the region and beyond. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the pact meant an attack on any member would be regarded as an attack on all, adding it was “intended to strengthen collective deterrence”. The three countries are not strangers to each other - Pakistan has provided training and technical assistance to Saudi forces for decades, while Turkiye and Pakistan have exchanged warships ⁠and training aircraft. In 2023, Riyadh agreed to buy Turkish drones in what Ankara called its largest defence export contract.

An interesting mix: Turkiye has NATO’s second-largest military, Saudi Arabia is home to Islam’s holiest sites, and Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country.

AI can create memes, music, videos, photos - add virus to it now
New research published in the journal Science by researchers at Stanford University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has revealed the successful creation of new viruses using artificial intelligence (AI) using a naturally occurring virus that infects bacteria, aka a phage. While it does raise hopes for advances in medical treatments, such as in the antibiotics field, experts have concerns over the new AI capability, as the same ability to design whole, functional viruses could easily become a serious biosecurity risk if applied to harmful pathogens. The real worry should be more about AI being able to do it, and researchers are already calling for stronger biosecurity oversight as a forward-looking precaution rather than a response to any actual danger here.

Read the full paper here. 

Shorts

1. Typhoon Dolphin hits China's east coast, triggering flood warnings

   China braced for Typhoon Dolphin as it hit the east coast of the country yesterday, and it was said to be the most powerful typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year. The storm was expected to hit the coast yesterday evening with sustained winds of up to 162 km/h  before weakening and moving inland. Typhoon Dolphin has already swept through Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings and causing more than 1 mil people evacuated.

2. Nepal rescuers find bodies of five climbers killed last year

   Nepal rescuers have recovered the bodies of 5 mountaineers in a recent operation, which includes 3 foreigners who were killed in an avalanche last year. The avalanche hit the climbers on the lower flanks of the 5,630-metre Yalung Ri peak, near Nepal’s border with Tibet. Nepal welcomes hundreds of climbers and trekkers every year, and according to the Himalayan Database, an expedition archive, more than 1,000 people have died on peaks since 1950, with avalanches killing almost a third of them.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Mr Money x FAQ Show breaks down the Tabung Haji RCI findings. New format - conversational, podcast style. More engaging it seems.

2. 5 records broken by Khairul Amin, among them, RM2 mil sales in 1 minute, the highest product launch on the top floor of Merdeka 118.

3. Public Bank celebrates its 60th anniversary with fireworks at its HQ and also Malaysia’s largest drone show on Aug 6. Looking at its HQ from an altitude with all the lights on, it seems like a pineapple - ong lai (meaning here)!