☕️ Merdeka just got better - Aaron-Wooi Yik won Malaysia's first-ever badminton World Championship

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

Seven (7) — the number of international airports that London will have after the UK government approved plans to redevelop a former military air base — Manston Airport, located on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. The redevelopment will cost £500 million. The airport is also the furthest from the city centre — 122 km away. Find out which are the remaining six airports here.

USD65 bil — the potential revenue to be earned by local suppliers if they undertake a green transition alongside their multinational company (MNCs) partners. Sustainable Finance Institute, Asia Ltd chief executive officer Eugene Wong, said the green sector in Southeast Asia would pose an additional USD1 trillion worth of economic opportunities by 2030. What is your organisation doing to take a slice of the pie?

Approx. RM500 per sq feet — the compensation to be received by homeowners of Kampung Sungai Baru, Kuala Lumpur. The 37 residents wanted a higher price since they had rejected Pakatan Harapan’s offer of RM1,000. The RM1,000 figure was disputed by the then opposition government — Annuar Musa — who said the price should be higher than PH’s. When Annuar Musa became the Federal Territory minister, he said the RM1,000 could not be matched.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Our Merdeka month keeps getting better as badminton duo Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik won Malaysia’s first World Champions in Tokyo on Sunday.

The world No. 6 pair secured a superb 21-19, 21-14 victory over Indonesia's three-time world champions Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. They are the first ever Malaysians to be crowned world champions in badminton. Congratulations! Thank you for making all of us proud.

First, the missing ships and now two tanks tanked. SG might just consider reducing their National Service period.

Last Friday, a tank used for the Merdeka parade broke down along Jalan Damansara. Then on Saturday, a low loader stalled in front of the National Museum. Netizens couldn’t help but question how will our defence vehicles fend for themselves should the need arise. The breakdowns spark concerns about the state of the country’s defence system. The Malaysian Armed Forces will issue a statement to explain the situation soon.

Be grateful you weren’t PM Ismail Sabri over the weekend because he got humiliated by UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s special address.

1. More than 1,000 party members in the Merdeka Hall at World Trade Centre (WTC) Kuala Lumpur booed in unison on four separate occasions when Ahmad Zahid referred to Ismail Sabri. The PM was missing at the special address. Ahmad Zahid had reiterated calls for the Parliament to be dissolved soon to pave the way for a general election (GE15). Yes, a political party’s president who is not the PM is asking for the Parliament to be dissolved.

2. During the special briefing, Muhammad Shafee continued to insist the RM42 million (in several tranches, btw) was a donation from Saudi royals. Shouldn’t Zahid jump at the chance to be a witness to save his “bossku” and provide the evidence that the donation was indeed from the Arab family, as he mentioned back in 2015? Get your facts together, guys — you were in the same hall.

3. Azalina Othman openly said during the special address that the PM should have appointed a new AG. She questioned why the attorney general (AG) appointed was not from “one of our own”. Idrus Harun, the AG, was appointed by Muhyiddin Yassin after Langkah Sheraton. Azalina was appointed as the PM’s special adviser on law and human rights in Oct 2021; why did she only bring up this issue now?

4. Ismail Sabri’s only saving grace — the Special Task Force on Jihad against Inflation — which the PM claims have begun to show positive results.

Lewd.

Celebrity preacher Ebit Lew will go on trial for 11 charges related to sexual harassment at the Tenom magistrate’s court, Sabah, next month. If convicted, he could face up to five years behind bars or a fine or both for each charge. He claimed that the allegations were nothing more than cruel defamation against him.

U-Turn, S-Turn, tables turned.

1. Just after one-day deputy finance minister Shahar Abdullah confirmed the Budget 2023 will be tabled on Oct 28, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Budget 2023 will be tabled on Oct 7.

2. Human Resources Minister M Saravanan announced that the enforcement of the Employment Act’s amendments has been postponed to Jan 1. A win for employers, a loss for employees.

A change of name doesn’t bring a change of fortune. 

Capital A Bhd (formerly AirAsia Group Bhd) made a wider net loss of RM931.22 mil in the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY22), compared with RM580.06 mil in 2QFY21. The US dollar’s strength hammered Capital A Bhd’s associate company, which suffered foreign exchange losses of RM480.3 mil. For 2QFY22, Capital A raked in revenue of RM1.465 bil — 84% from the aviation segment, 6% from the logistics business, 5.5% from digital and other businesses, and 4.5% from the engineering business.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Interest rates — up, up, up.

Top central bankers around the world descended on Jackson Hole for the annual retreat organised by Kansas City Federal Reserve. Key takeaway — central bankers remain hawkish and will continue their efforts to tame inflation that is running hot. US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell commented that the US economy will need tight monetary policy “for some time” before inflation is under control. He warned that the world’s largest economy will likely slow for a sustained period, calling it an “unfortunate costs of reducing inflation”, which will “inflict” pain on American businesses and families. His speech has sent all 3 US stock market benchmarks (e.g. S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow) more than 3% lower. 

Guess all of our portfolios will remain in the red for a long while.

Pakistan’s devastating flood, displacing 33 mil people.Pakistan on Friday declared the annual monsoon a national emergency as death tolls from the flood topped 1,000, reaching 1,033, with 119 killed in the past 24 hours on Sunday. This year’s monsoon flooding has affected over 33 mil people — 1 in 7 Pakistanis - destroying or badly damaging nearly a million homes.

CO2 in space, sending humans back to the moon.

1. Carbon dioxide detected - beyond our solar system.NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope conclusively detected evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet called WASP-39 b, a gas giant about 700 light-years away. The presence of CO2 is usually associated with signs of life. To understand how scientists measure the chemical composition of planets, they observe how starlight gets filtered by the atmosphere, which dips at very specific wavelengths that correspond to different molecules. 

2. NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to launch on Monday.NASA is set to launch the first of 3 Artemis programmes on its most powerful rocket ever - the Space Launch System (SLS) in an uncrewed test flight around the Moon on Monday. Artemis 2, expected to launch in 2024, will be a crewed trip around the Moon and by 2025, Artemis 3 will stage crewed landings on the Moon - the first time humans set foot since 1972. 

After more than a decade, China-US reached a landmark audit deal.

The US and China have reached a preliminary deal that would allow American regulators to inspect auditing records of Chinese companies listed in the US without any redactions and inspectors will have direct access to take testimony from all personnel at the auditing firms. Due to the earlier deadlock, more than 200 US-listed China-based companies were at risk of being delisted. 

China and Hong Kong have been the only two jurisdictions not complying with US auditing standards, whilst more than 50 others have met requirements.

Shorts:

1. Thailand’s oldest bank, SCB X Pcl, has terminated the proposed USD498 mil purchase of a 51% stake in Bitkub Online Co, the country’s largest digital asset exchange; though it said its due diligence did not reveal any significant abnormal issues,

2. Researchers observed from their study of 173 long-tailed macaques in Indonesia that these monkeys engage in tool-assisted masturbation - tapping and rubbing stones on their genitals and groin area. 

3. Volkswagen-owned Audi has confirmed its Formula 1 entry from 2026 and is expected to have a tie-up with Sauber.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. A safety diver shows how to react if approached by sharks in the water. First things first — don’ splash; it imitates what prey does.

2. The cameraman caught this during the Dota 2 tournament over the weekend at Genting Highlands.