☕️ TuJu The Embarrassment

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

2.2% – That’s the proportion of US households that currently pay for an AI service as of Apr 2026, according to PNC Research data highlighted by Andreessen Horowitz in its Sept 2026 State of Markets report. Although this figure has climbed sharply from near zero in early 2023, it still means that roughly 98% of US households do not have a paid AI subscription. This comes despite about 41% of US workers reporting that they use generative AI for work-related tasks as of Nov 2025, according to Federal Reserve data. Non-work usage reached about 50% of the population during the same period. The 2.2% figure can be read as evidence that consumer willingness to pay for AI still has a long way to go, revealing a monetisation gap. PNC data further revealed that, among households that already pay for AI, monthly spending rose from about USD22 (RM89.82) in May 2024 to USD31 (RM126.56) by May 2026. This increase is minute compared with the hundreds of billions of dollars being committed to chips, data centres, and electricity infrastructure.

RM225.97 bil – That’s the estimated investment value of 27 data centre projects approved since the formation of the Data Centre Task Force (DCTF) last year (~RM8.4 bil per project on average), according to the Digital Ministry. Johor had the highest number with 16 data centres approved, followed by Selangor with 10 and Negeri Sembilan with 1. Of these 27, one is operational while the rest are still in the construction phase. Projects approved under the DCTF are required to have at least 30% of local domestic content. These data centre projects are forecast to create 4,053 job opportunities, including 3,523 high-skilled roles in the fields of mechanical and engineering, networks, cybersecurity, as well as the operations and maintenance of data centres. 89.21% of the high-skilled jobs, about 3,142, are expected to be filled by Malaysians.

371 – According to the Fire and Rescue Department, that’s the total number of children and teenagers who lost their lives in drowning incidents nationwide from 2023 to Aug this year. Of these deaths, 322 (86.8%) involved children aged seven to 19, while the remaining 49 involved children aged zero to six. For other age groups, 191 fatalities involved those aged between 40 and 59, while people aged above 60 recorded 97 cases. A total of 1,020 drowning incidents were recorded from 2023 to Aug 2026, resulting in 1,001 deaths. Of these, 889 involved males while 112 involved females. It was also reported that rivers and irrigation canals were the most common locations for drowning incidents with 616 cases, followed by beaches with 249, and lakes and mining ponds with 82.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

TuJu is a national embarrassment - Lim Guan Eng
While Indonesians have haze in their shame list, Malaysians have TuJu. Former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has called the locally developed TuJu navigation app a ‘national embarrassment’ and whoever recommended PM Anwar Ibrahim to promote it over Waze should be punished. Lim added that, ‘How can the National Cyber Security Committee (NSC) be expected to do its job to ward off evolving cyber threats, strengthen the nation’s preparedness and digital sovereignty when it cannot even fulfil users’ road navigation needs?’

@shazztzyyy

Lagi best apps tuju ni, straight je jalan dia. Waze tak best sebab belok belok #fyp #foryou

To make things worse, just a day after Putrajaya encouraged Malaysians to use it, TuJu temporarily disrupted its navigation function to make way for system upgrades. Only CCTV viewing and the app’s other functions remain available. PMX has drivers, most of us don’t.

However, before the app undergoes its system upgrades and becomes as useless as Manchester United, Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) Deputy Director General (operations) Dr Mohammed Ridzuan Jahidin said that more than 700,000 users have downloaded the app. One thing for sure - retention rates would just as be as big in the opposite direction. Don’t waze our time.

This Malaysian speaks for all of us on TuJu:

Fatal Bandar Utama student stabbing civil suit will not be a private trial
High Court Judge Anand Ponnudurai rejected the application to hold the entire civil suit proceedings over the fatal stabbing of a schoolgirl in Bandar Utama in-camera. (In-camera is a legal term that means ‘in private’ where the public and press are not allowed to observe the proceedings, or parts of it).

He added that while the identity of the minor defendant must be protected under the Child Act 2001 (Act 611), he dismissed a total ban on media reporting, stating that the public would benefit from knowing what transpired. Previously, on Sept 14, the Shah Alam High Court acquitted and discharged the teenager of the murder charge after finding that he was of unsound mind at the time of the incident. Subsequently, on Oct 1, the victim’s family filed a civil suit against several government agencies, defendant and his parents.

Biz
ParkCity Group acquires Hong Kong property for RM1.4 bil
Malaysia’s ParkCity Group became the white knight and acquired a massive hotel complex from a financially distressed Chinese property developer. The hotel complex includes Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel and the Four Points by Sheraton, which, when combined, have more than 1,300 rooms. The complex is the largest hotel in the area directly adjacent to Hong Kong International Airport. Familiar name ParkCity? It’s related to the developer known for developing Desa ParkCity township.

92-year-old biscuit maker closes down its Pontian factory for good
As part of its parent company’s restructuring exercise, 92-year-old Lee Biscuits Malaysia Sdn Bhd will close its Pontian factory by the end of the month. The closure marks the second Lee Group food facility in Johor to shut down in three years. The parent company, Lee Group, is looking to exit its snack manufacturing business to focus on its core holdings, including rubber and palm oil operations. Lee Biscuits is known for its products such as Marie biscuits, cream crackers, lemon sandwich biscuits, and iced gems.

Malaysia allows first export of raw rare earths
Under the new guideline released earlier this month, the Natural Resources Ministry has now approved the export of one batch of unprocessed rare earth, strictly for research and development purposes, to potentially encourage investments in local capacity. At the moment, Malaysia only hosts one rare earth processing company, namely Australia-based Lynas Rare Earths. Meanwhile, France’s Carester SAS plans to build a rare-earths separation plant ​in the northern state of Perak with Malaysia’s ‌Malaco Mining Group, and more than a dozen US firms are also exploring local opportunities.

Shorts:

1. Two former Tabung Haji executives claimed trial over RM3.3 bil case
   Two former Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) officials - former CEO Johan Abdullah and former CFO Rozaida Omar - pleaded not guilty in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to cheating the board of directors in relation to hibah payments totalling RM3.3 bil for the 2017 financial year. The duo allegedly deceived the board to approve a working paper that adjusted TH’s investment property values, which then artificially inflated TH’s total profit in its unaudited, non-consolidated financial statements for FY2017. Consequently, the whole situation facilitated the disbursement of approximately RM3.3 bil of hibah to depositors. The investment properties involved in the value readjustment include Bangunan TH Platinum Park, Bangunan TH Perdana and Bangunan TH Selborn.

2. High Court grants PN stay on RoS deregistration
   The Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Azizan Md Arshad granted PN a stay on its suspension and deregistration by the Registrar of Societies (RoS). This decision would enable PN to contest in the Melaka state election under its own name and symbol. The judge justified the decision by stating that exceptional circumstances warranted granting the stay, particularly the potential harm to PN's political activities and its participation in the upcoming election.

3. Open payment system for public rail will take up to 2.5 years
   Transport Minister Anthony Loke told Parliament that it will take about 30 months for public transport users in Klang Valley to enjoy more cashless payment options across Prasarana Malaysia Bhd’s rail network. Loke added that the cashless initiative is in the final stages of procurement and evaluation, with a decision expected by the end of this year. It took approximately 2.5 years for Arsenal Football Club’s home, the Emirates Stadium, to be built, by the way.

   Loke also launched Malaysia’s first Level 4 autonomous, driverless logistics vehicle, the RoboVan with license to operate on public roads:

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Trump attempts to blame EU unrest on migration
While France reels from protests and violent clashes, riots and looting, Trump tried to exploit the situation to send a message to American voters that the US will experience the same thing if the Democrats get elected in the midterms, blaming it on the European migrants and open-border policies. In a statement at the White House, Trump said that the situation in France and Italy is about the “people coming into countries that hate the country”. French leaders and protestors called the remarks “stupid talk” and “stupid comments”, possibly irked by the statement. Note that French authorities have never linked crime with migration, and under its constitutional laws aimed at equality, it is illegal to collect data on ethnicity and race. With all eyes on midterms, Republicans seem eager to capitalise on unrest in Europe to rally support for Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and its tough policies on immigration and border measures.

Meanwhile, France is maintaining a “maximum level of vigilance” ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for Oct 24 and has not ruled out banning further gatherings. Authorities said that number of security forces on Saturday would be “20% higher”, with Sentinelle forces deployed, along with special units such as the GIGN and RAID, France's two premier elite tactical and counter-terrorism units.

Travel stuff

Airbnb hosts can no longer ask guests to strip beds and wash dishes
Airbnb has updated its guidelines to limit what hosts can ask guests to do, including rules related to cleaning the house. The new guidelines state that guests who are required to pay a cleaning fee should not be asked to complete tasks normally done by a cleaner, including washing dishes and stripping beds. If a host's request does not follow Airbnb policies, it may be flagged, and the owner can appeal if they disagree. Airbnb guests have for years complained about unreasonable tasks they were required to complete before departure, especially as they are required to pay cleaning fees.

Booking.com under investigation by EU regulators
The European Commission has opened an investigation into Booking.com for a possible breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) with its “absolutely substandard” approach to tackling fraudulent listings and phishing scams. The platform is also being investigated for a possible breach of advertising-transparency rules because it may not have made clear to users that some accommodation providers had paid to make their business more visible on the website/app. Under the EU’s DSA, which aims to protect people from harmful and illegal internet content, a company could be fined 6% of its worldwide annual turnover if found guilty. Booking.com, which is headquartered in Amsterdam and claims to have 28 mil accommodation listings and reported revenue of USD26.9 bil in FY2025 - 6% fine of that would be USD1.6 bil.

Tech
OpenAI model discovers “critical” security flaw in websites using PHP
The National Security Agency’s cyber division has advised all web providers that use PHP, a widely used open-source language, to take their systems offline or update their software after OpenAI said one of its own AI models and another from another company found "critical" flaws in the language's infrastructure and this will affect around 70% of the world's websites.  

The advice came after cybersecurity researchers discovered a security flaw that could allow hackers to steal private user data or modify websites. While OpenAI said the vulnerabilities appear to have been identified before any attackers discovered them, it also warned that as cybersecurity researchers continue to probe software vulnerabilities using its ever-advancing frontier models, more security failures will emerge.

Meta to Zuckerberg: Please don’t leave California
Meta Platforms has signed a deal with Mark Zuckerberg, the world's sixth-richest person, to keep him living in California after the CEO warned he was considering leaving the state that houses the company's headquarters if voters pass the “California wealth tax bill” next month. In the agreement, Zuckerberg will get non-voting shares he can sell to potentially foot a multibillion-dollar tax bill in the event the proposal is approved, in exchange for a commitment to remain a resident of California, or wherever Meta maintains its headquarters, for eight years. Zuckerberg, who has a net worth of about USD240 bil (RM980.16 bil), can immediately sell 20% of the Class C shares he receives, representing 10% of his overall economic stake in the company, allowing him to pay a potential tax bill without losing voting control. However, analysts say that the bill is far from certain to pass. The state is home to as many as 250 billionaires collectively worth upwards of USD2 tril.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Good robot, bad robot

1. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang playing with cute Microducks (train your own robot to play with - get it here). They somersault for him.

2. Unitree introduces H2-X Kung Fu Legend Guardian that could dent a car with a knee strike. Apart from the kung fu stuff, Unitree also demo-ed its H2-X doing more practical, life-saving actions - bodyguard, saving a man from the bottom of a car. No matter how cool, ultimately, can they do housework?

3. Weekend reflection. Could our life be better with more serendipity? Happy weekend folks.