☕️ KKB by-election kingmakers might just be the Indians

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Between January 1 and April 28, losses from commercial crimes surged by 62.1% to RM866.2 mil compared to the previous year. Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director, Comm Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, reported that losses totalled RM534.3 mil during the same period the year before. Comm Ramli commented that the public is still unaware of the CCID’s SemakMule portal, where one can search for accounts of individuals and companies that are involved in scam activities. There are 198,215 bank accounts tied to individuals and 315 company accounts linked to scam activities — can the banks do something at least?

In 2023, the median employee at Meta earned over USD379,000 (RM1.79 mil), according to a recent filing. This figure is significantly higher than the average tech position, which typically ranges between USD35,000 and USD120,000 depending on the role, as per data from a recruitment firm. Additionally, CEO Mark Zuckerberg's total compensation for 2023 amounted to USD24.4 mil. The best part about Mark’s compensation was that most of it came from security and logistical costs — Mark took home a salary of just USD1 last year.

Seems like buying a fighter jet isn’t too expensive. Instead, it is car cheap. The US has acquired 81 obsolete Soviet-era combat aircraft from Kazakhstan for a total of USD2.26 mil (RM10.7 mil), which works out to about USD19,300 (RM91.5k) on average per plane. That’s about the price of a Honda City (view prices here). The motive behind the US purchase remained undisclosed but it’s likely to be used in Ukraine, where similar aircraft are in service.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

KKB by-election updates
After Bersih, now Tindak Malaysia voiced out their disappointment as Putrajaya recently appointed the Election Commission (EC) chairperson and commissioners without consultation with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reform. Tindak Malaysia has reiterated its stance on constitutional amendments concerning the appointments of key members to the EC. Key members of the EC should undergo public hearings before a judge of the Federal Court nominated by the Chief Justice of Malaysia to determine whether the individuals are suitable to be appointed.

The Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) by-election may be deemed as a litmus test for PM Anwar Ibrahim-led administration on whether the rakyat is still supporting the current government. Who are the kingmakers in KKB? It may be the Indian voters as a low turnout of Malay voters is expected. In the current voting roll, Malays make up 49.6%, Chinese make up 30.6%, Indians 18%, and other races make up 2.1% of roughly 40,000 voters. So, let’s see which candidate managed to woo roughly 7,200 Indian voters.

Another by-election may be in the pipeline as Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin announced that Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman will be the first lawmaker to be axed from Bersatu for pledging his support to PM Anwar Ibrahim. Hamzah stated that according to the current laws, Suhaili will lose his MP status once he is expelled from the party. The anti-hopping law that came into force in October 2022 states that an MP will lose his or her seat if that person ceases to be a member of the party concerned.

Our sanctions work, says US Treasury
US Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson proudly made a statement that his country’s sanctions against four Malaysian-based companies last December for assisting in Iranian drone production works. Nelson added that the sanctions were meant to encourage behavioural change and they are still in place. Moving from drones to oils, now Nelson stated that the US is also monitoring allegedly Iranian oil ship-to-ship transfers in Malaysian waters. He mentioned that Washington is trying its best to find ways to make sure that this kind of illicit activity does not happen again.

Despite Washington’s best efforts to issue a warning to Putrajaya regarding the matter, according to Thomas Daniel from the Institute of Strategic & International Studies Malaysia, Malaysia may not have the capacity to act on it as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the agency responsible for enforcing the rule of law on Malaysian seas is severely underfunded. The US may need to lend Malaysia a hand in this and Uncle Sam does so at the moment as Malaysia is set to receive a US coast gourd cutter boat for free by the end of the year.

Despite the US and Malaysia’s good and warm relationship, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that Putrajaya only recognises sanctions put forward by the United Nations Security Council and not those by individual countries.

The court says no to Daim
A three-person Court of Appeal bench chaired by Azizah Nawawi unanimously threw Daim Zainuddin and his family’s appeal down the drain for leave to proceed with their judicial review targeting the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe against them. Azizah stated that criminal investigations by authorities are not open to judicial review, as allowing this would expose all investigation processes to numerous legal actions. This whole legal battle between MACC and Daim started when Daim and his wife, Na’imah Abdul Khalid, refused to abide by the asset-disclosure directive of MACC.

Auto news
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said that Volkswagen Group Malaysia plans to make this country an export hub for the brand. At the moment of time, Malaysia is moving in the right direction as this tanah tumpahnya darahku is the only country outside of Europe that assembled the Touareg model. Porsche, which is owned by Volkswagen, built its first assembly plant outside Germany in 2022 in partnership with Sime Darby. Oh wait, Porsche also owns Volkswagen. These two companies have a convoluted ownership over each other — watch here. Volkswagen Group also owns Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley — see its full list of brands here.

EP Manufacturing (EPMB) is targeting to produce at least 6,000 vehicle units at its RM100 mil factory in Hicom Pegoh Industrial Park in Melaka in 3Q2024. According to EPMB CEO Ahmad Razlan Mohamed, the factory will start producing cars of two Chinese brands — Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) and Great Wall Motor (GWM). Expect the domestic car market to get more competitive as soon as more locally assembled Chinese-branded cars flood the market.

Shorts

1. Preliminary report on the helicopters incident in Lumut
   The Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) confirmed that two of its helicopters that crashed in Lumut, Perak, back in April were airworthy at the time of the incident. The preliminary report on the tragedy that TLDM released stated that all the aircrew members were fit to fly. The final report is expected to be completed by May 29.

2. Pharmaniaga is not out of the woods

   Pharmaniaga Bhd has received a statement from its independent auditor that there is a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on Pharmaniaga’s ability to continue as a going concern in respect of the group’s financial statements for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023). The independent auditor, Messrs PricewaterhouseCoopers PLT, stated that apart from the group’s RM78.7 mil loss in FY2023, the company also has a capital deficiency of RM274.1 mil.

3. OPR maintained at 3%
   As expected, Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3%, a year after the last time the central bank raised the OPR back in May 2023. BNM cited the decision not to change the OPR because the current OPR level is supportive of the economy, which has expanded by 3.9% in 1Q2024 compared to the same period last year. The MYR could be weaker had it not been for BNM’s intervention (sell foreign currencies, buy MYR), as disclosed by BNM deputy governor Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Israel could push Iran to upgrade its nuclear programme to weapons-grade
Adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Kamal Kharrazi warned that it could change its nuclear doctrine to build a nuclear bomb should Israel threaten its existence. Iran and Israel are engaged in a shadow war that turned into an open confrontation when Israel struck Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus, the capital of Syria, back in April.

Iran has long claimed that it runs a peaceful nuclear programme. Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on the matter, banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa in the early 2000s, saying it is “haram”. It is currently enriching uranium up to 60% purity, whereas weapons-grade uranium is enriched to about 90%. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimated that Iran has sufficient material to build 2 nuclear weapons. There are 9 countries in the world possessing nuclear weapons, namely the  US, UK, Russia, France, China, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea, with a global stockpile of close to 13,000. 

Mother Earth, there’s good news, and there’s bad news - which one first? 

• The good news: This year marks the first time renewable energy will force the rollback of fossil fuels as the largest share of the global electricity market, which could spell the end of fossil fuels. As of last year, the world already produces 30% of its electricity from carbon-free sources. Renewables have been claiming almost all growth in the energy sector for the past five years, leaving fossil fuel development stagnant. This key finding of Ember, a leading energy think tank based in London, which published its first comprehensive Global Electricity Review on Wednesday, could be the tipping point for renewable energy. This is shown in a 2% rollback in the market share of fossil fuels this year.
  View report: Global Electricity Review 2024

• The bad news: Still, climate change continues to rear its ugly head, as the world’s oceans have broken temperature records every single day over the past year, according to a BBC analysis. Most of it is attributed to planet-warming greenhouse gases, though the El Niño phenomenon shares some of the blame. This increase in temperature has heavily affected marine life and led to a new wave of coral bleaching, including a recent case at the Great Barrier Reef. The ocean plays a big part in regulating Earth’s climate as it absorbs about a quarter of CO2 and also soaks up around 90% of excess heat, though this recent development is displaying concerning evidence that the ocean has hit its limit.

Deaf toddler hearing restored in groundbreaking gene therapy trial
About 1 in 500 babies are born with hearing loss or develop it during early childhood, where about 50-60% of this hearing loss is due to genetic causes. In the case of this British baby, she was born deaf due to a faulty gene. The toddler has auditory neuropathy caused by a faulty gene where her ear can detect sound but doesn’t transmit it to the brain properly, causing a certain degree of hearing loss. Auditory neuropathy isn’t usually detected until a child is 2-3 years old. Some symptoms include delays in speech. Fortunately for this baby, the case was detected early through gene testing as her older sister has the condition. 

In a groundbreaking gene therapy procedure, doctors injected the baby’s right ear with a harmless virus that carried a working version of the faulty gene in a 16-minute procedure. Within four weeks of the gene therapy, the baby could respond to sound. The World Health Organization estimated that unaddressed hearing loss incurs a global cost of USD980 bil a year due to healthcare and educational support.
Understand more about auditory neuropathy and its symptoms here.

Shorts

1. Hey Hey Black - the stinky tofu empire
   From a street stall in 2009, Lu Lucheng turned the stinky tofu business into a food chain with more than 1,800 locations nationwide. Made out of fermented soybean, it is a delicacy that smells somewhat odd but weirdly tastes delicious. The stinky tofu dates back to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and has since become a thriving street food culture. The company’s sales exceeded RMB500 mil (USD69 mil) last year. 

2. Apple’s latest iPad Pro ad disappointed many
   The tech giant announced its latest range of iPad and released a promotional video showing creative tools which Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted - cans of paint, a piano, a trumpet, a record player, books, vintage arcade video game - being slowly crushed by a hydraulic press to represent the thinnest and most powerful iPad ever. How thin is thin - check it out here. Although it was meant to show how great a tool iPad is, it struck the wrong chord as it fuelled the growing anxiety of AI replacing creative talents. 

3. Not easy being a beauty queen - Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resign
   Miss Teen USA resigned just 2 days after Miss USA announced her resignation on Monday. Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava announced on her Instagram that her personal values no longer aligned with the pageant’s organisation. This is the first time in its 72-year history the pageant has neither a Miss USA nor Miss Teen USA titleholder. Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Srivastava both made history as Voigt was the first Venezuelan American woman to take the Miss USA crown, whilst Srivastava was the first Mexican Indian to win the Miss Teen USA pageant. 

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Watch Muar MP Syed Saddiq’s first interview since he was convicted in November with Mr Money TV. Listen to his side of this story on the court case.

2. Another interview worth watching over the weekend - Harith Iskandar’s podcast with Prof. Tajudin Rasdi discussing the 2 of the 3Rs - race and religion. Got to give it to Prof for the courage to speak out about these issues plaguing the nation.

Something more lighthearted for the weekend - watch Liam Neeson play cupid in his Taken character. Have a good weekend folks!