☕️ The Loke Updates: Bus lane abuse, LRT performance improvement, LRT3 competion status

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed to its highest in 33 years since the nation’s bubble economy era in the early 1990s. The index closed at 33,763.18, a level unseen since Mar 1990, lifted by a rebound in tech stocks. Nikkei 225 had an awesome 2023 — up by more than 25%.
Fun fact: At the height of the madness of the bubble economy era, the value of the 3.41 sq km Imperial Palace in Tokyo was worth more than all the real estate in California. Tokyo real estate could sell as much as USD139,000 (RM645k) per square foot, which was nearly 350x more than the equivalent space in Manhattan. Read more other crazy facts about the Japanese bubble economy here.

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

ESG has been the “in” thing for a while now, but Malaysian companies are still struggling to get the ball rolling despite their ESG aspirations. According to the 2023 Schneider Electric Sustainability Survey, while 95% of Malaysian companies have set sustainability goals or targets, only 49% have actually implemented a comprehensive sustainability strategy.

Chinese tycoon Chen Tianqiao, who founded Shanda Interactive, an online gaming company, turned out to be the second-biggest owner of US land, owning 198,000 acres of Oregon timberland. This also makes him the 82nd-largest property owner in the country. The biggest foreign owner of US land is the Irving family of Canada, with over 1.2 mil acres of Maine timberland. Based on recent data from the Department of Agriculture, Chinese entities own the equivalent of 0.03% of all US farmland.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, in collaboration with Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management, has reached a deal to purchase air rights from a historic Manhattan cathedral. The agreement involves paying USD312.50 per square foot for development rights ranging from 315,000 to 525,000 square feet on Park Avenue, potentially totalling up to USD164 mil (RM761.5 mil) — literally paying a truckload for just air. This transaction is part of their plans to construct a new 1.7 million-square-foot skyscraper in the renowned Manhattan district, with the building possibly reaching a height of 1,350 feet. What are air rights?

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

The murder case of Zayn Rayyan is moving to the next phase
After hitting a brick wall with the investigation of Zayn Rayyan’s murder, up until the point that the police had to seek assistance from Interpol, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said that the investigation is now pushing forward. This may include arresting suspects based on the intelligence that they gathered so far. However, the police still struggled to establish the motive behind the murder of the six-year-old autistic boy. So far, police have recorded the statements of 225 individuals and collected 248 DNA samples from residents and other individuals in the course of the investigation.

Water, water, water

• The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) CEO K Pathmanathan revealed that the replacement works that will be conducted during the four-day-long scheduled water cut could not be done earlier as PBAPP was underfunded before this. Pathmanathan also stated that the recently approved RM180 mil budget by the new directors of PBAPP for replacement works alone was the largest amount of funds that the entity had received year-to-date.

• After the Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir had been greeted by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students who complained about poor water supply during the former’s visit to Sabah’s capital, it left PM Anwar Ibrahim baffled by the situation. PM Anwar said that he had already approved RM3 mil to UMS, so the water supply issue was resolved when he visited the university last year. Consequently, PM Anwar requested a detailed report on what happened to the RM3 mil allocated. All in all, the recent students’ protest worked as Zambry announced an additional RM2 mil to solve the UMS water woes. RM3 mil, where art thou?

The continuing story of National Distraction: Dubai Move
Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain told the media that the police have opened an investigation paper into the scheme to topple the government dubbed ‘Dubai Move’ after receiving 43 police reports with regards to a circulated clip commenting on an ‘activity that would harm parliamentary democracy’. The police may summon Bersatu member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, also known as Chegubard, and blogger Wan Azri Wan Deris (Papagomo) to assist in the investigation.

In responding to the allegation that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) was one of the groups that signed the statutory declaration in supporting the ‘Dubai Move’, Cost of Living Minister cum Papar MP Armizan Mohd Ali denied the allegation. Armizan added that he has never been approached by any party regarding the matter.

After his audience with the King yesterday, PM Anwar Ibrahim said that Istana Negara will definitely not partake in any plot to topple the Government and has entrusted the Madani Government to manage the country. PM Anwar also responded to the rumour that certain individuals had forked out RM750 mil to buy over Government MPs by saying, ‘If there are any proposals from anyone to donate RM500 mil or RM750 mil it should be channelled to the poor.’

Loke in action - interesting updates on transportation stuff

• Transport Minister Anthony Loke is considering penalising any motorists that trespass on the bus lanes. This is because, according to Prasarana Berhad’s latest ridership data, the number of bus users in 2023 is nowhere near the pre-pandemic levels, with 241,000 ridership in 2023 compared to 473,000 in 2019 and one of the reasons for this situation is the rampant abuse of bus lanes by irresponsible car drivers.

  Loke also added that after the final delivery of diesel buses in March 2025, Prasarana must only procure electric buses to service its bus lines. Between 2025 to 2030, Prasarana plans to add over 1,100 electric buses.

• Transport Minister Anthony Loke also announced that the number of failures for all rail lines operated by Prasarana — Ampang LRT, Kelana Jaya LRT, KL Monorail and Kajang MRT lines — dropped by 60% in 2023 compared to 2022. Prasarana defines failures as technical disruptions lasting more than five minutes.

• According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the construction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT3) project, excluding the recently announced five new stations, had reached 91.86%. The project, which costs RM21.33 bil for a 37km rail line (RM576.5 mil per km), will be opened in two phases. Phase 1, with the existing 20 stations, will commence operations in March 2025, while Phase 2, where the five additional stations fall into, will start operations two years later in 2027. Regarding the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project, Loke estimated it will be completed on Dec 31, 2026.

  Speaking of the RTS project, Rohas Tecnic Bhd (view stock details here) has recently bagged an RM199.84 mil contract for the construction and completion of Bukit Chagar’s facade. Bukit Chagar is the RTS station on the Malaysian side of the two-station RTS project.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Tiger Woods broke up consciously uncoupled with Nike
Since Woods turned professional in 1996, he has used the brand’s products and equipment. Woods first signed a five-year contract with Nike worth USD40 mil as a 20-year-old in 1996. As Woods dominated the world of golf for more than a decade, he signed multiple further deals with Nike over his career, including a 10-year contract in 2013 worth a reported USD200 mil. Yesterday, Tiger Woods and Nike ended their partnership after more than 27 years.

Tim Derdenger, an associate professor of marketing and strategy at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said the partnership was a win-win for everybody because Nike wasn’t a household name in the golf industry back then. All good things come to an end. What’s next for Woods? He told his followers on Instagram that there will be a next chapter — in Los Angeles, where he is hosting the Genesis Invitational next month.

United Airlines: More loose bolts found on Boeing 737 Max 9s
Inspections have commenced following an incident where a fuselage segment fell from an Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 (Boeing 737 Max 9). United Airlines has stated that “installation issues” regarding door plugs must be addressed before the aircraft type can resume service. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded 171 planes of the same type. The door plug is a fuselage piece with a window designed as an emergency exit in specific configurations, and it was this part that detached mid-flight over Oregon, landing in a teacher's backyard.

There were no casualties from the incident. In fact, two phones survived the ordeal. Game designer Sean Bates found an iPhone in a bush Sunday that had fallen from the same flight — the phone was undamaged, still on, and had the end of a sheared-off charging cable plugged in. How did the phone survive though? Wired published a similar story in 2011 where an iPhone 11 dropped 1,000 feet from a plane and survived. It turns out that when an object is falling, it eventually meets terminal velocity — the maximum speed it can reach before the resistance of the medium it’s falling through (in this case, air) counteracts gravity. Of course, the landing surface was also important.

South Korea says no to eating and selling dog meat
South Korea’s parliament has passed a bill to ban the eating and selling of dog meat, marking an end to the centuries-old practice. The controversial tradition was once believed to boost stamina in the Korean summer but has become rare, with increasing support for animal welfare and a shift in attitudes toward dogs as family pets. The bill received overwhelming support in parliament, with 208 votes in favour and two abstentions.

However, there are concerns among breeders and sellers, with some planning to challenge the law’s legitimacy in the Constitutional Court and seeking compensation for potential losses. The agriculture ministry aims to provide support to affected businesses while ensuring a stable transition. Breeders and sellers are seeking at least KRW2 mil (USD1,520) per dog to compensate for losses over the next five years on top of the costs for facilities that will become defunct.

The war in Gaza may escalate further
Iran-backed Hezbollah launched a drone attack on an Israeli command band, which Israel retaliated with air strikes. The rise in attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border (see on the map here) is stoking fear that the war in Gaza threatens to spark a regional conflagration. The drone attack by Hezbollah was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah field commander Wissam al-Tawil in Lebanon on Monday.

Former British PM and current foreign minister James David Cameron answered in a parliamentary Q&A that he is worried that Israel “might” have breached international law. Britain has backed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas but also called on its military to exercise restraint. After more than three months the conflict erupted and tens of thousands of innocent lives gone, a “might” is all the UK could see so far regarding the destruction Israel inflicted onto Gaza. Mad.

Shorts

1. Taiwan issued air raid alert after China’s satellite flew over its southern airspace
   Ahead of Taiwan’s presidential election this coming Saturday, China, which has long claimed Taiwan as part of its own territory, flew a rocket carrying the Einstein Probe satellite over Taiwan. This prompted the government to flash an islandwide alert for the first time. Taiwan's defence ministry later apologised for its inaccurate reference to a missile in the message to mobile phones.

2. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) agreed to pay USD700 mil in settlement
   J&J has tentatively agreed to pay USD700 mil to resolve an investigation by over 40 U.S. states that it wrongfully marketed its talcum powder. 50,000 lawsuits were filed against J&J, alleging that the pharmaceutical firm failed to warn customers about cancer risks associated with its talc-based baby powder.

3. Who is on the Jeffrey Epstein list?
   Virginia Guiffre’s defamation lawsuit against late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxell for trafficking her as a minor took a dark turn — 950 pages of court documents identifying the associates of Epstein were made public. In the documents, there were 150 names — ranging from Prince Andrew to Michael Jackson to Stephen Hawking. However, the inclusion of a name on the list does not indicate that there are any allegations against the individual.

4. Apple’s Vision Pro is going on sale on February 2
   Apple is set to sell its VR/AR headset on February 2, 2024, in the United States at USD3,499. The company has given guidelines for visionOS developers who want to release apps, and there’s one odd rule. Instead of using the terms AR and VR for Vision Pro apps, the company prefers developers to refer to them as "spatial computing apps."

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. South Korea’s soft power can’t conceal the struggles of an average South Korean. NSFW — the video may contain suicide or self-harm topics.

2. Malaysia ranked 5th among Southeast Asian countries with games on Steam as of January 2024, according to Virtual Sea. Steam is a platform and app for distributing video games created by Valve, the creator of hit games like Half-Life, Counter Strike and Left4Dead games. The platform has 132 mil monthly active users and is estimated to generate USD8.5 bil in revenue this year - more interesting stats on Steam here.