☕️ Malaysia crowned men's champions in Badminton Asia Team Championships

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

689 — the average number of days Australia holds its asylum seekers, according to Human Rights Watch. Novak Djokovic spent five days in a Melbourne facility after his visa to play in the Australian Open was cancelled because he was not vaccinated. Other the other hand, the refugees are not as lucky as some claim to have been detained for years.

8 million Yemenis will likely lose all humanitarian aid in March unless urgent funds are delivered, according to United Nations. Yemen has been at war since 2014, with the UN saying it is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

13.5 Mbps — Malaysia’s download speed in Q4 2021, the second-lowest amongst Southeast Asian countries.

3. COVID-19 SUMMARY

• The death rate for unvaccinated patients between ages 40 and 49 was 92.09 for every 100,000 people, compared to 3.08 for patients who have completed their vaccinations and 3.18 for those who have taken their booster shots, according to data shared by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

• Australia will welcome international tourists after sealing its borders for nearly two years.

• Queen Elizabeth, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, tested positive for Covid-19. The monarch is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Medal Tally

4. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. For the first time ever, Malaysia was crowned the men’s champions of the Badminton Asia Team Championships after exacting sweet revenge on Indonesia with a dominant victory 3-0 in front of home fans in Setia City Convention Centre. Malaysia was beaten 1-3 in the previous round in Manila 2 years ago.

2. Bersatu president and former PM Muhyiddin claimed the country is in more financial trouble than what is led on by the UMNO-led federal government and said he would reveal details soon. Would such drastic changes happen just six months after Muhyiddin stepped down as the PM, or things have already been in motion since his time in power? In response to Muhyiddin’s statement, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul through his official Facebook account, Zafrul referred to a report given to Muhyiddin in Muhyiddin’s capacity as the chairman of the National Recovery Council and that he has ‘never hidden anything in any press statement, explanations in any forum, answers in Parliament or in reports to agencies like BNM.’

3. Three interesting court updates last week:

   1. Charged: Celebrity Muslim preacher Ebit Lew, 37, has been charged with 11 charges of sexual harassment under Section 509 of the Penal Code. if found guilty, he could face up to 5 years in jail or a fine, or both. Ebit says he is taking this ‘as a test from God.’ A challenge caused by one’s own wrongdoing is not necessarily a test from God, but one’s fault.

   2. Sentenced: A senior officer in the MACC, Shahrum Nizam Baharuddin, was sentenced to 3 years’ jail and two strokes after pleading guilty for misappropriating RM25 mil in cash evidence linked to a major corruption case in relation to the investigation of former Malaysia spy chief, Hasana Abdul Hamid, for criminal breach of trust involving RM50 mil (she was discharged not amounting to an acquittal [DNAA]).

   3. DNAA: Former Sabah Water Department deputy director Teo Chee Keong has been given a DNAA, who was facing a total of 146 money laundering charges amounting to RM32.92 mil. He has been ordered to pay a RM30 mil fine. The judge made the order after the MACC prosecuting team decided not to proceed with the case. Sabah Law Society demands the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) and MACC to provide reasons behind this DNAA. So is one guilty under a DNAA? In Malaysia, one can’t be charged twice for the same crime (this is called double jeopardy) if the court has decided on the case. Asking for a DNAA allows the prosecutor to charge the accused again in the future should there be new evidence. So they are not entirely off the hook yet. An interesting and short explanation here by AskLegal.my

4. Johor PKR has officially announced all of its 20 candidates for the Johor state election on Mar 12, closing all doors on any further negotiations with MUDA. MUDA president, Syed Saddiq, has said that should the clash with PKR can’t be avoided, ‘MUDA will leave it to the decision to the people in Johor’. MUDA, not part of Pakatan Harapan, has negotiated with the other 2 PH component parties, Amanah and DAP, to avoid a clash and MUDA is given six seats to contest. With the level of disunity in the opposition camp, there seems less of a chance for them to win as compared to the relatively more united BN. Another episode of ‘Salah DAP lagi’ - PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has claimed that MUDA was a creation of DAP aimed at baiting Malay Youths, likening it to the PAS splinter party, Amanah, which Hadi also claimed was the creation of DAP.

5. BNM has made life easier for us to access eCCRIS - you can now easily register for eCCRIS online here (site is down at the time of posting) effective from last Friday without visiting any authorised office (ie. BNM offices or Agensi Kaunseling & Pengurusan Kredit [AKPK]) to validate your identity. For the uninitiated, CCRIS is the database that tracks our borrowings and repayment behaviour with financial institutions. Learn more here about CCRIS.Here’s the hack BNM is implementing to validate your identity - make a RM1 online transfer to a designated BNM account, as the owner of sending account would have already been verified by the banks. In case you are wondering, the RM1 will be refunded within two working days.

6. Edisi Siasat, an anonymous-run Twitter (account suspended after the following news went viral) and Telegram account that publishes expose and dirt at the highest level has made another revelation, made allegations that former Attorney-General, Tommy Thomas, received a bribe to drop charges on Vincent Tan’s son who was arrested for drug-related charges in 2019. Tommy Thomas has vehemently denied the allegations and said he recalled that charges were reduced after reviewing relevant legal provisions.

7. Berjaya Food Bhd (BFOOD), the owner of famous franchises in Malaysia namely Starbucks, Kenny Rogers, and Jollibean, is planning to invest RM300 mil in the next three years for store expansion, including 16 new Starbuck stores and about 3 to 5 stores for others brands under BFOOD. The company also does not rule out further mergers and acquisitions (M&As) - it recently acquired a controlling stake in vegan ice cream maker, Kelava. The group owns the Kenny Rogers Roaster franchise worldwide after its parent company Berjaya Group Bhd acquired KRR International Corp in the US in Apr 2008. As of Jun 2021, there were a total of 75 KRR restaurants across Malaysia. Its market cap currently stands at RM1.32 bil - its stock price appreciated by 63.7% from RM2.15 from a month ago to RM3.52 last Friday after reporting a record-breaking quarter.

8. Palm oil plantation company Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) hit an all-time high as crude palm oil (CPO) futures breached RM6,000 per tonne for the first time on Thursday at RM6,050. Its stock hit a high of RM26.40, valuing KLK’s market cap at around RM28.5 bil. Analysts expect CPO prices to remain at elevated levels in the next few months, given tight global vegetable oil supplies and constraints for palm oil in the top 2 producing countries.

5. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. Logistics company J&T Express raised USD2 billion from investors, including Temasek Holdings Pte, in its latest funding round — valuing J&T Express as USD20 bil. The funds would be used to support the expansion of its global delivery network and cross-border businesses and to digitise its warehouse centres and business operation. Bloomberg reported back in August that J&T Express is mulling a first-time share sale in Hong Kong this year.

2. Russia and Belarus are extending military drills that were due to end yesterday (Feb 20), a step that further intensifies pressure on Ukraine. NATO says Russia has up to 30,000 troops in Belarus and could use them as part of an invasion force to attack Ukraine, but Russia continues to deny such intention. US President Joe Biden said on Saturday he believed Russia could launch an attack “at any time.” Let’s hope for the best and the crisis to be solved diplomatically.

3. Furniture giant Ikea has been under the spotlight after The New Republic revealed Ikea’s quest for timber harms some of Romania’s ancient forests. The report also claimed Ikea began buying up Romanian forestland in 2015 and became the country’s largest private landowner. A spokesperson for IKEA said, “Under no circumstances does IKEA accept illegally logged wood.”

4. Felicity Ace, a 650-foot, 60,000-ton cargo ship, was on fire and drifting off the coast of the Azores on Thursday after its 22 crew members were rescued from the vessel. The mammoth vessel is said to be carrying Volkswagen Group’s vehicles, including 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys. It is unclear how much of the inventory was lost in the fire.

5. On Friday, a US judge decided Donald Trump could be prosecuted for his role in the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. The former president is the target of three lawsuits by elected officials and police who accuse him of being directly responsible for the violence on Jan 6, 2021. Meanwhile, his new social media venture, Truth Social, is set to launch today in Apple’s App Store. The launch would restore Trump’s presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and Youtube following the riot.

6. The US Trade Representative’s office included e-commerce sites operated by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in its “notorious markets” list of entities that allegedly sell or facilitate the sale of counterfeit goods. The list identifies 42 online markets and 35 physical markets.

7. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, believes the crypto market welcomes another winter as cooling prices are seen to be helping more sustainable projects. Buterin added he’s “surprised” by how the market has moved since last year, mirroring mainstream financial markets. The co-founder has also shifted his focus to scaling Ethereum in recent years.

6. FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE 👁👁

1. Genius advertising uses shadows to promote BBC’s ‘Dracula’ TV series. Browse the images as it evolves throughout the sun’s direction.

2. Snow leopard camouflage level - 9999. Can you spot it?

3. The complex question of which country you are in when you are in an international airport.