☕️ Melaka state election on Nov 14, Sarawak's turn coming soon.

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

50 years – It has been that many years since world-renowned rock band U2 formed after a notice was posted at the Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland in 1976. In celebration of their 50th anniversary, the band gathered to play a gig at the school where they met, treating students and teachers to a setlist with tracks spanning their entire career. U2, who were initially called Feedback, then The Hype, dedicated the performance to school counsellor Jack Heaslip, and paid tribute to the school, thanking their teachers for their support as the band found their footing. The band also has its 16th studio album coming up, set to be released in Nov, titled Carnaval de Luz. The album features 12 tracks, including Torn, a song co-written by Dolly Parton before her death in late Aug 2026.

Once they performed on the rooftop of a street shop:

RM1 – That is the special rental rate that has been granted to 53 existing tenants situated on land owned by the Railway Assets Corporation (RAC). Announced by Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the rate came into effect on Oct 1 and comes under RAC’s CSR initiative to support institutions vital to community well-being and societal development. The 53 tenants include 49 places of worship and four government-aided schools. The new arrangement has a tenancy period of three years, with options for renewal for two subsequent three-year terms. This means the tenants are effectively allowed up to nine years to rent at the same RM1 rate without the need for reapplication at each interval. However, the land remains reserve land, and can be reclaimed for government development projects, such as rail infrastructure expansion. Previously, tenants were on three-year contracts and had to reapply every time, with inconsistent rental charges in the past that had no clear standardised basis.

4.27 seconds – That is the new women’s world record for the 3x3 Rubik’s Cube average solve, and it was achieved by six-year-old Lian Yunzhi from Chengdu, China. Nicknamed “Zhizhi”, she is the first female speedcuber to average under 4.5 seconds. Lian was first introduced to the Rubik’s Cube after being enrolled into a class as a child, with her mother “gradually realising” that cubing was an “excellent activity for fostering a child’s comprehensive abilities”. Lian has gone on to win multiple trophies and has mastered over 1,300 Rubik’s Cube solving algorithms with daily practice sessions of two to three hours.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Melaka to choose its new state assembly members on Nov 14
The Election Commission (EC) has set Nov 14 as the day for almost 700,000 voters in Melaka to cast their ballots. The campaign period will run for 14 days after the nomination of candidates on Oct 31, with early voting set for Nov 10. The election will need an estimated allocation of RM28.45 mil, according to the EC. Melaka caretaker Chief Minister-cum-Barisan Nasional (BN) State Chairperson, Ab Rauf Yusoh, stated that BN intends to retain all 21 seats that it won in the 2021 state elections, and the coalition was open to discussing seat swaps with potential partners but would not compromise on the total number of seats it contests. BN’s partner at the federal level, Pakatan Harapan (PH), however, has decided to go solo and will not form any electoral pact. DAP would contest eight seats in the upcoming state election, leaving the remaining 20 seats to be negotiated between PKR and Amanah.

Budget 2027 is tabled today and Bersama unveiled its shadow budget yesterday
Bersama released its shadow budget, with key features such as reintroducing the goods and services tax (GST) capped at 5% for the next 10 years, which the party believed could add RM76.1 bil to the government’s coffers, or RM16.7 bil more than SST. Bersama also mooted the removal of the Budi Madani fuel subsidy, which will save their version of Putrajaya another RM34.2 bil.

It also proposed creating a new ministry, dubbed the Ministry of Social Security, to administer and govern a series of new social assistance programs, such as child allowance, fuel allowance, cost of living allowance, and the senior citizen social pension scheme, if Bersama came to power.

How realistic is Bersama’s shadow budget? Not up to us to judge, but a strong check and balance to the current government is always welcome, especially one that argues on solid economic and social propositions instead of just playing the racial and religious cards. Even if former PM Najib proposed GST first and everybody fought tooth and nail against it at one point not too long ago. Read more on Bersama’s shadow federal budget here.

All things Sarawak
After Melaka, Sarawak’s turn soon
Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that the Sarawak state assembly could be dissolved in Nov or within two weeks after the 2027 Sarawak Budget is passed. If the current term runs until its expiry, polling would therefore have to be held by Feb next year, he added.

126 objections to Sarawak’s proposed electoral boundary changes
The Election Commission (EC) Secretary, Khairul Shahril Idrus, said that 126 out of 133 representations were against the proposed electoral boundary changes in Sarawak, which would see the creation of 17 new state constituencies in Sarawak and increase the total number of state seats from 82 to 99. Among the possible points of contention were unequal seat sizes (malapportionment). While the proposal narrows the gap between the largest and smallest seats from about 7:1 to 3:1, it still has serious problems, which are unequal voting power, oversized urban seats, and too little weight given to local community ties. Allegedly, both the ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and the opposition, Pakatan Harapan (PH), rejected the current proposal.

Shorts:

1. Myanmar to pay for the repatriation of its own nationals
   PM Anwar Ibrahim announced that Myanmar is prepared to facilitate the repatriation of its nationals on a large scale, with the country ready to bear the associated costs. At the moment, more than 10,493 Myanmar nationals have been deported back to Myanmar via flights and naval ships, with another 3,000 - 4,000 Myanmar nationals currently at immigration depots who would be repatriated. Combined, both figures are equal to the population size of the town of Kuala Lipis, Pahang or the town of Kundang in Selangor.

2. RM345 mil generated from the Formula 1 weekend
   Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim announced that the Formula 1 (F1) Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia generated RM345 mil for local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) via increased tourism spending and demand for local products and services. He also added that spectators attending the event were projected to spend 2.17 times more than those attending regular events.

3. SQ Advanced Interconnect plans RM300 mil IPO in early 2027
   Malaysian semiconductor firm SQ Advanced Interconnect Bhd is considering raising about RM300 mil via an initial public offering (IPO) in Q1 2027. SQ Advanced Interconnect is seeking a valuation of up to RM1.5 bil, banking on its main base in Penang and a plant in China. Previously, Penang-based SkyeChip Bhd raised RM352 mil in the country’s third-biggest IPO of the year. Its share price jumped 151% on their first trading day in May and is now up about 230% since the IPO.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

AI love/hate in South Korea
China-based hacker used AI tools to attack South Korean banks
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said in a report published Wednesday that the suspect behind the recent cyberattacks on South Korean banks could be a 26-year-old based in China's Guangdong province - but a real amateur hacker who left clues pointing to himself. The agency said that the suspect used ARTEX, a recently released Chinese-developed open-source penetration testing tool, alongside large language models such as Claude. The individual also asked Claude where threat actors typically sell Korean data breach information, and requested Claude to create a security researcher resume, which included details such as a Telegram account, age, educational background and a location in Maoming, which CrowdStrike said likely belonged to the attacker. Amateur with big dreams.

Samsung delivers world’s largest tech quarterly profit
The world’s largest memory chipmaker, Samsung Electronics has estimated an operating profit of KRW107.4 tril (USD80.17 bil or RM328 bil) for the Jul-Sept period - a world first for a technology company. The estimate marks a nearly nine-fold jump in third-quarter earnings as booming demand for AI chips drove strong memory sales. The forecast shows Samsung's fourth straight quarter of record operating profit, underscoring a deepening global memory chip shortage as AI infrastructure investment outpaces supply growth, which has driven chip prices up sharply.

Another Sardinian village may be the new centenarian “blue zone”
A little village named Bolotana, located in the Margine area of central Sardinia, has emerged as a new potential candidate for the centenarian “blue zone”, as researchers discover that it is generating women centenarians every year.

A study by professors at Sardinia’s University of Sassari and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ageing, found that 13.8% of women in the village who reach the age of 70 will live to 100 – placing it second in the world for female longevity after Hong Kong. The village is located around 110 km from the island’s original blue zone. The researchers analysed records of people born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925 and found that 38 had lived beyond 100, putting their longevity rate at 57% higher than the Italian national average.

There could be a lot of reasons why centenarians could live to 100 or beyond. Furthermore, scientists do note a “very intense and very real social relationships” maintained throughout the women’s lives, with absolutely no sign of cognitive decline. The mayor of Bolotana theorised that it could be because of a clean, fresh diet and the “uncontaminated nature” surrounding the village, as well as their physical activities that usually involve a lot of walking daily.

Shorts:

1. China got hold of US’s F-35 jet parts due to a missed email
   China has reportedly managed to gain access to some of the US’s most sensitive military technology - the F-35 stealth fighter jet parts - through a shipping mishap that proved to be an embarrassment for the Pentagon and for Lockheed Martin. The shipment of the F-35 cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door coated in radar-absorbing material was originally meant to travel to San Francisco via South Korea and Taiwan. However, the shipment was late leaving Australia and was mistakenly routed via Hong Kong in an effort to speed up delivery. An investigation revealed that the United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) employee had missed an email warning not to route the shipment through Hong Kong. Now, how would China know what exactly was shipped?

2. WHO has no ‘full picture’ of suspected plague death in Russia
   The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that it does not have the full picture from Russia regarding the death of Darya Shipilova, a laboratory worker in an anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk, Siberia, who was suspected as having died of the plague. The Russian authorities have denied a connection with the institute and said that Shipilova died from “pneumonia of an unknown aetiology”. They insist there is no danger of a plague outbreak and have described the “sanitary and epidemiological” situation in the region as stable. Nevertheless, according to the Baikal Medical Journal, health officials in Irkutsk have taken extensive measures to stop a potential outbreak from spreading.

3. No entertainment at Singapore Grand Prix if haze worsens
   The Formula 1’s governing body, Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), has said that there might be some restrictions on outdoor activity such as entertainment during this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, but not on the race. Singapore’s tourism board said it was monitoring pollution levels and would inform those within the circuit of the latest haze developments and make medical assistance and N95 masks accessible on-site if required.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. MrBeast on Shark Tank. Cool toy product was pitched too for both kids and adults! Coming soon to the nearest Temu Walmart.

2. How to be a certified sky diver and the cost of doing so.

3. Lady Gaga - ❌ Brand Ambassador ✅ Recruitment Ambassador. Family Mart Japan got Lady Gaga to attract more part-time workers. Full video here.

Happy weekend! Stay safe, breathe well!