☕️ Malaysia's Future - Make it or Break it

Safe travels folks! We will be observing the public holiday tomorrow. We hope you enjoy The GE15 Break (get it, get it?). Let’s get ready for the next phase of Malaysia, come what may.

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1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

With the 2022 Qatar World Cup happening soon, Al-Jazeera has put together some interesting stats about the World Cup.

Only eight countries have ever lifted the trophy. Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (2), France (2), Uruguay (2), England (1), and Spain (1).

Germany’s Miroslav Klose holds the record for the most World Cup goals scored by a single player — 16, over a span of four tournaments between 2002 and 2014. France’s Just Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup, with 13 goals in 1958.

11,581 square kilometres — the area of Qatar, approximately the size of the metropolitan area of New York City. It is the smallest country ever to host the World Cup. Winners in the upcoming World Cup share a prize pool of USD44 mil.

The final of Qatar 2022 will be held in Lusail Stadium, which has a capacity of 80,000 spectators. Qatar spent USD6.5 bil on building eight stadiums for the tournament and a total of USD200 bil on infrastructure and other development for the purpose of hosting the World Cup.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

GE15 Updates

1. Political activities in Selangor are lively — 2,931 political ceramah (talks) were held throughout the state from Nov 5 until Nov 15.

2. The Johor and Kelantan governments, who observe weekends on Friday and Saturday, have announced that this Sunday (Nov 20) will be a replacement holiday in both states.

3. Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Padang Serai MP candidate and incumbent M Karupaiya passed away yesterday. The Election Commission (EC) will hold a special meeting on Friday (Nov 18) to discuss setting important dates for the seat’s election following the death of Karupaiya.

4. Caretaker health minister Khairy Jamaluddin clarified there would be no special lane allocated for Covid-19 positive individuals to vote in GE15.

5. The denying game continues — UMNO vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin said there are no discussions regarding Barisan Nasional (BN) working with any other coalition to form a government after GE15. The keyword here is a coalition — what about parties?

6. 70 Malay professors have endorsed PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister because he has the experience and integrity to lead a multiracial society and improve the image of Malaysia globally. The group of professors believe Anwar and his coalition would be able to overcome the current economic issues while upholding the position of Islam as well as looking after the welfare of the Malays and Bumiputeras.

7. Pollster Endeavour-MGC Research Centre believes Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), as well as Perikatan Nasional (PN) are more likely to cooperate with each other rather than Pakatan Harapan (PH). The trio would very likely surpass the 112-majority required, thus forming the next government of Malaysia. Back to square one.

A continuation of exposé from RafiziPandan MP candidate Rafizi Ramli revealed that the RM285 million reservoir sewerage upgrade project in South Klang was approved in a letter dated Oct 27, 17 days after the Parliament was dissolved. The letter is purportedly from the government procurement division of the Treasury to the Environment and Water Ministry secretary-general. Rafizi’s exposés are trying to accuse the caretaker government of trying to bulldoze contracts worth billions of ringgit for cronies. In other words, rakyat’s money to cronies.

Rafizi’s Invoke Solutions Sdn Bhd was raided by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). The Customs Department has also sent notice that it will do the same. He said this would be a good time for MACC to learn about start-ups and company valuation (most of Rafizi’s declared wealth is mostly ‘paper’ wealth derived from his company)

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) confirms the fire incidentA fire occurred at Petronas’s Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP) “near KP 132, nearby Lawas” due to a third-party contractor performing work. It was reported that one person was killed while two others were injured. Watch the explosion here (NSFW).

Najib Razak showed the Edge Media Group chairman the doorThe Edge Media Group chairman Tong Kooi Ong testified at the Kuala Lumpur High Court he told Najib Razak at Najib's Langgak Duta house the money meant a joint venture with PetroSaudi International was stolen by Jho Low but was shown the door. Tong explained to Najib that the evidence — emails of Xavier Justo (a former PetroSaudi executive) — was in their (The Edge’s) possession. Tong suggested to Najib that Low should be prosecuted.

Tong was also advised by Paul Stadlen, the then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media adviser, to be careful about its coverage of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The articles The Edge wrote at that point upset people at the PMO.

Another one bites the dustNationwide Express Courier Services Bhd is set to cease operations amid a challenging and competitive operating environment in Malaysia, becoming the latest last-mile delivery company to do so. The company was one of the country’s leading service providers. However, it wasn’t the only company in recent years to suffer from the challenging environment — KTM Distribution Sdn Bhd terminated its operations effective Nov 1 and CJ Century Logistics Holdings Bhd, formerly known as Century Logistics, was sold off last year.

It’s a tough market — Malaysia has granted 122 courier licenses. Thailand, where the population is more than double ours, only granted half as many courier licenses as Malaysia, while Indonesia has 42 for a nation of 273 million.

Read: What is last-mile delivery?

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

In the US: Making a presidential, lunar comeback

• It’s official — Donald Trump has announced his intention to be the US President again in the 2024 election, launching his third presidential campaign. Unlike his first attempt, this time around is going to be a lot harder with the 6 Jan Capitol insurrection and legal suits hanging around his neck and going up against a rising star in the Republican party, Ron DeSantis. 

• NASA is 1 out of 3 missions closer to sending humans back to the Moon in 50 years. The Artemis 1 mission with no astronauts on board was successfully launched on Wednesday. It will not land on the moon, it will orbit it as close as 60 miles from the moon’s surface and return in 26 days to Earth. The long-delayed Artemis programme has cost NASA USD40 bil and by the time it sends its astronauts back to the moon in the third mission in 2025, it will cost a total of USD90 bil. 

What happens when a member state of NATO gets attacked?

This would trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty that states an armed attack against a member state (Poland is a NATO member) is considered as an attack against all members, and other members should assist the attacked member with armed forces if necessary. 

The world nearly saw the Russia-Ukraine war escalating to a new level. Two Polish citizens were killed near the borders of Ukraine from an explosion after a Ukrainian-fired missile intercepted a Russian-made one. A preliminary investigation found the missile wasn’t fired intentionally, according to Polish President Andrzej Duda and was unlikely to have been fired from Russia, according to US President Joe Biden.

SpaceX: soaring valuation, resort operator Club Med: for sale, luxury brand Tom Ford: sold

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX is seeing its valuation soaring to the stratosphere as it is in talks to raise nearly USD1 bil in a round that would value the space company at USD150 bil, up from the USD125 bil valuation it achieved at the beginning of the year. 

• French luxury resort chain Club Med is up for sale by its Chinese owner Fosun International Ltd as the Chinese conglomerate seeks to reduce its debt, part of its USD11 bil asset sale plan, in the coming 12 months. The asking price — USD1.5 bil. Fosun bought Club Med in 2015 for a price tag of EUR939 mil. Club Med operates nearly 80 resorts globally.

• US cosmetic giant Estee Lauder Cos has agreed to acquire luxury brand Tom Ford for USD2.8 bil in its biggest-ever acquisition. Estee Lauder is under a licensing agreement with Tom Ford to sell the latter’s products, which generates around USD1 bil in revenue annually and will expire in 2030. An acquisition eliminates the risk of a negotiation. A bottle of Tom Ford 100 ml fragrance goes for USD550. The Lauder family controls 84% of the cosmetic giant, giving the family a fortune of USD24.3 bil. 

Grab, Sea quarterly earnings out. Takeaway: ‘improvement’ in losses

Grab reported revenue of USD382 mil in its third quarter, up 143% year-on-year (YoY), narrowing net loss to USD327 mil from USD970 mil loss YoY. Gross merchandise value (GMV) is up 26% to USD5.1 bil. The company redeemed USD750 mil of an outstanding USD2 bil term loan to create significant interest savings. It has a net cash balance of USD5.3 bil. In this customer, Grab spent USD277 mil (RM1.26 bil) on consumer incentives (i.e. promos, deals) to subsidise our lifestyle. Thank you for helping to ease inflation. 

View: Grab the Q3 2022 Result Presentation deck

Shopee parent Sea Ltd reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of USD358 mil in its third quarter, up by 116% from USD116 mil YoY on revenue of USD3.2 bil, up 17% YoY. The loss is an improvement of 29% compared to the previous quarter. This ‘improvement’ is enough to trigger its biggest-ever single-day jump in its share price of 36%, valuing the company at USD35 bil - a far cry from its peak of USD200 bil last year. 

View: Sea Ltd Q3 2022 Results Presentation deck and infographic

Shorts:

1. UK inflation hit a 41-year high since 1981, coming in higher than expected at 11.1% in October, with prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rising at the fastest rate since 1977.

2. Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek is preparing to write off between USD200-300 mil it has invested in the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. US lawmakers are scheduling a hearing in December on FTX collapse and authorities are arranging for the extradition of disgraced CEO Sam Bankman-Fried from the Bahamas.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Chinese President Xi Jinping lecturing Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at the Bali G20 Summit for leaking their private discussion to the media.

2. If you’re a fan of Mr Beast, this is worth the watch — Colin & Samir spent 24 hours with MrBeast to watch him in action during the inaugural opening of Mr Beast Burger. MrBeast has just hit a new milestone, becoming the individual YouTuber with the most subscribers (112 mil), overtaking Swedish creator PewDiePie, which held the record for nearly 10 years since Aug 2013. However, the biggest YouTube channel goes to T-Series, an Indian music video publishing company. with 229 mil subscribers.

3. Gen Z vs Boomers