☕️ Malaysia's bad weekend - sinking ground, sinking ship

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

The world's largest roundabout is in Putrajaya, Malaysia, measuring 3.4 km in circumference. The roundabout, Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, features 15 entry/exit points, with three inside the roundabout. At its centre are several landmarks, including the Istana Melawati, a royal retreat, a monument to Putrajaya's founding, the Putra Perdana Landmark, and the five-star Putrajaya Shangri-La hotel. Another reason to be proud of the country, which is celebrating its 67th birthday this weekend!

In Colombia's highlands, an innovative project uses rhinoceros beetle larvae to tackle trash buildup. These larvae consume organic waste, which would otherwise end up in landfills. Their waste, or "poop," is then collected and sold as fertiliser. This method addresses the global issue of trash, with the United Nations (UN) estimating that 11.2 bil tons of waste are generated annually. This approach not only reduces landfill waste but also turns it into a valuable resource.

The number of ultrarich individuals globally has reached a record 426,330, representing just 0.005% of the global population. These individuals, each with a net worth of at least USD30 mil (RM131 mil), saw a 7.6% increase in their population over the past year, amassing a combined wealth of USD49.2 tril. Nearly 75% of these ultrawealthy people reside in just 10 countries — six of those cities are in the United States. View the 10 cities here.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Not a good weekend for Malaysia

1. A tourist from India fell down a sinkhole at Masjid India

   On Friday, a 48-year-old Indian tourist named Vijayaletchumy fell down an 8-meter sinkhole near Jalan Masjid India, as she was en route to a nearby temple for breakfast. The local authorities pulled all stops to rescue her, including the Fire and Rescue Department, Indah Water Konsortium, the Civil Defence Force, the Police and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. After the initial effort to find the victim around the sinkhole failed, six manholes around Malayan Mansion were opened in stages on Saturday. Yesterday, the Fire and Rescue Department even pumped out the sewage at the Pantai Dalam sewage treatment plant to locate the Indian national. The Pantai Dalam facility is about 20 minutes away from the initial sinkhole site. Vijayaletchumy is still not found as of the time of writing.

   Deputy PM Fadillah Yusof commented that the sinkhole incident is ‘out of our control’ as the limestone soil composition in the area disrupts the flow of underground water, leading to soil instability and ultimately resulting in the formation of the sinkhole. It is an ‘open secret’ that some section of Kuala Lumpur sits on underground limestone caves and even the builders of the MRT Kajang Line stumbled upon this when they were constructing the underground alignment of the MRT Line. While Fadillah is correct that sinkholes are natural occurrences, he forgot to mention that sinkholes could also be man-made, triggered by over-development and poor drainage systems. While Jakarta may be under because of rising seas, Kuala Lumpur could suffer the same fate — but for us, it is because of sinkholes.
   Read: How and why sinkholes appear

2. Royal Malaysia Navy (RMN) Ship KD Pendekar partially sunken

   A RMN vessel dubbed KD Pendekar suffered severe flooding yesterday, off the coast of Tanjung Penyusop, Johor. The flooding was caused by a leak after the hull of the vessel collided with an underwater object. The crew failed to manage the flooding and they had to abandon the ship (watch incident here). All crew members were safely evacuated and RMN has initiated a salvage operation to recover the vessel. KD Pendekar is a fast attack craft built by the Krlskrona Varvet Shipyard in Sweden and was put in service in July 1979. RMN still has three other ships that are in the same class as KD Pendekar, where all the remaining three are about 45 years old. The typical service cycle of a warship is between 30-35 years.

Temperature check on UMNO after the conclusion of its general assembly

1. More cytos on social media, but not run by humans - Strategic communications consultant Raziz Rashid hinted that UMNO would utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to spread the party’s message more effectively across Malaysia’s diverse population. Humans are still needed though, as delegates were told to become more proficient in social media to fight off ‘fake news’ online.

2. Leverage the feel-good effect of the Nenggiri win - UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stated that the win in the PAS fortress, Nenggiri, is a turning point for UMNO to relive back its glorious past. Zahid added that the path towards making UMNO great again continues in the next by-election in Mahkota, Johor come September.

3. Still want Najib Razak to be free - UMNO is still UMNO as the party’s top leadership will still continue the fight for Najib Razak’s full pardon and prison release. The delegates seemed to be supportive of this notion, up to a point a delegate from Terengganu, where Umno was wholly wiped out in the last state election, said that Najib’s release would benefit Pakatan Harapan (PH). Apologies from our end as we did not include a warning at the beginning of this edition to have your bin nearby, just in case you puked.

As you can see, UMNO is more or less still the same. However, it does not stop some ‘analysts’ from being optimistic about UMNO. Tawfik Yaakub from Universiti Malaya supported UMNO vice-president Johari Ghani’s statement that UMNO may need two or three general elections to become dominant again. But with one caveat though, the old leaders must make way for newer faces, says Tawfik. Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan do not count as ‘new faces.'

How to solve flight delays and cancellations issues? - Reduce the number of flights
Suffering from multiple flight cancellations, delays and mid-air U-turns, Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the umbrella entity of Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Amal, will drop some routes that they are serving now, until at least until December. MAG managing director Captain Izham Ismail stated that ‘supply chain and technical issues’ are the main reason for this move and they will work closely with its aircraft and engine manufacturers to weather through this ‘storm’.

Previously, aviation regulator Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) reprimanded Malaysia Airlines and Firefly and warned that all airlines operating in Malaysia need to provide meals, telephone calls and internet access for flight delays of two hours or more. Mavcom added that if the delay is at least five hours, accommodation and transportation to and from the hotel need to be provided as well. According to Mavcom’s on-time performance (OTP) and flight cancellations data, AirAsia and AirAsia X beat Malaysia Airlines in terms of punctuality for both international and domestic flights at KLIA.

Shorts

1. REDtone Digital Bhd is now a substantial shareholder of Heitech Padu Bhd after spending RM15.35 mil to acquire 6.38% of the latter. The acquisition was funded by REDtone’s internal funds. Currently, REDtone is 47.46%-owned by Berjaya Corp Bhd and 17.34%-owned by King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor.

2. Other than being the co-host of the 2027 SEA Games, Putrajaya has crowned Sarawak to be the site of the country’s first rocket launch pad, accelerating the development of the local space industry. The decision to choose Sarawak as the satellite launching location was made due to Sarawak’s location, which is near to the equator. The surface of the Earth moves faster at the equator, so launching from the equator makes the spacecraft move almost 500 km/hour faster once it is launched. Less fuel needed, less cost spent. SpaceX (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. coming soon.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Life gets harder and harder for Afghan women
Afghanistan’s Taliban government formally codified a long set of rules in a 114-page long document, governing the morality of its people, essentially eroding whatever is left of women’s rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs. Here are some of the rules:

• Women are banned from looking at men and speaking loudly in public and inside their homes;

• Women are ordered to cover their face and body at all times in public to avoid temptation and tempting others;

• Women are banned from singing or reading the Quran in public;

• Taxi drivers are not allowed to transport women without hijab or those without an adult male guardian.

Also in line with the Taliban’s own delulu universe, girls in Afghanistan were banned from attending secondary schools as education goes against the group’s strict interpretation of Islamic law. The Taliban has also been prioritising Islamic knowledge over basic literacy and numeracy. 

Afghan men got it relatively easy - they are banned from looking at women’s faces in public and barred from shaving and trimming their beards. Since coming into power 3 years ago, the Afghan Morality Ministry officials said it had detained over 13,000 people without breaking down the alleged offences and gender of detainees. 

Telegram’s billionaire founder arrested in France
Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday. He was targeted by an arrest warrant in France over a preliminary investigation that the messaging app lack moderators, which police considered this situation allowing criminal activity to flourish on the app and accused Telegram of not cooperating with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud. Telegram has close to 1 bil users and made the 39-year-old a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of USD15.5 bil. 

Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on VKontakte, a social media Durov founded and subsequently sold for a reported amount of USD3-4 bil in 2014. Russia also blocked Telegram in 2018 (reversed in 2021), sparking mass protests in Moscow. Ironically, the Russian foreign ministry said its embassy in Paris is looking into Durov’s arrest and called on Western NGOs to demand his release.
Read Durov’s rare interview with the Financial Times back in Mar 2024. 

Chanel acquires Swiss watchmaker that made just 400+ watches last year
Luxury brand Chanel Ltd acquired a 25% stake in Swiss watch brand Max Busser & Friends (MB&F), providing the watchmaker financial security and independence and boosting the French brand’s standing in the high horology industry. MB&F is known for unusual designs that can resemble animals and objects and innovative movements. The deal terms were not disclosed. This stake sale came after MB&F, founded 19 years ago, tripled its revenue in 3 years. In 2023, it produced 419 wristwatches and generated revenue of 45.4 mil Swiss francs (USD53.3 mil). This translates to an average watch price of USD127.2k. 

The waiting list for MB&F’s watches peaked to nearly a decade during the pandemic-era boom that saw interest in independent brands surged but has now shortened to as little as 6 months. Chanel, mostly known for its luxury bags, makes about 75,000 of its own branded watches per year and generates about 400 mil Swiss francs (USD469.6 mil). Chanel has previously made minority investments in other independent Swiss brands like Roman Gauthier and FP Journe. Check out MB&F watches here. 

Shorts

1. North Korean athletes to undergo ‘ideological evaluation’ over Olympic selfie
   A heartwarming moment during the Olympics saw table tennis athletes from both South Korea and North Korea (both are still at war, in technical terms) taking a selfie on the podium. North Korean athletes were given special instructions not to interact with any athletes at the Olympics. Both North Korean table tennis players are said to be undergoing ‘ideological evaluation’,  a standard procedure to “cleanse” the team from “exposure to contamination” abroad, which could last a month to purge “non-socialist” culture. 

2. After political turmoil, Bangladesh hit with severe floods 
   The heavy floods have killed at least 18 people in Bangladesh, displacing 307,000 people who are in shelters and affecting more than 5.2 mil people. The hardest hit areas include the southeastern regions around Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar (view on map), home to about a million Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar. Bangladesh, with a population of 170 mil people,  is amongst the countries most vulnerable to disasters and climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index (view index here).

3. PwC China at risk of ban, fines over bankrupt Evergrande audit
   Sources said the audit firm will likely face a 6-month suspension and a fine of at least 400 mil yuan (USD56 mil), making it the harshest ever penalty handed out to a Big 4 accounting firm in China. PwC has been under heavy scrutiny over its role in auditing China Evergrande Group since the troubled property developer was accused in March over a USD78 bil fraud. PwC audited Evergrande for almost 14 years. 

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Happy Monday. Watch Boston Dynamics’ robot doing pushups (and in the near future, your work and rice bowl too). Countdown to Skynet. BD was previously acquired by Google X, which then sold to SoftBank, which then flipped it to Hyundai, valuing the robotics company at about USD1.1 bil.

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2. A government drone captured an insane footage of hikers dashing for their lives as Mt Dukono, an Indonesian volcano suddenly erupted, spewing a plume of ash thousands of feet into the air. Miraculously, everyone survived. If they didn’t, they only have themselves to blame — the group ignored a ban on entering a particularly dangerous zone on the mountain.

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