☕️ UMNO welcomes back old members, PKR goes after more frogs

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

17 puppies – This is the largest litter that the UK has ever seen from a crossbreed between an Irish Setter and a poodle. The mother, Marigold, reportedly went into labour late one morning in January, with the last pup born around midnight that same day. Owner Miranda Pellecchia said the event was exhausting for Marigold, adding that she has “recovered well from her ordeal”. The world record for the largest litter of any dog breed belongs to a Neapolitan mastiff named Tia, who gave birth to 24 puppies in 2004.

RM4.99 mil – Human-wildlife conflicts involving monkeys caused that amount in economic losses between 2020 and 2025. In response, a compensation scheme was set up under the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry to assist communities impacted by human-wildlife conflict. Deputy Minister Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said there were 244 applications for compensation worth RM987,000 in 2024 and 314 applications worth RM1.49 mil in 2025 (that’s an average of RM4.75k per monkey business in 2025)

USD16.5 mil (RM64.5 mil) – Wrestler Logan Paul sold his rare Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card for that amount at auction, setting a new record for the auction price of a trading card. He previously acquired the card in a trade worth USD5.28 mil in 2021 (+212% ROI in 5 years), making it the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold in a private sale at the time. The card is believed to be one of only around 40 that were ever printed. The copy sold by Paul was graded 10 by Professional Sports Authenticators. According to auction house Goldin, this made Paul’s copy the only Pikachu Illustrator card to achieve the “virtually perfect” grade. Embed isn’t working properly, check out the card here.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

While some celebrated frogs, others despised them

UMNO: President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stated that the party welcomes any former party members who were expelled or suspended to come back to join the party. Zahid added that UMNO veep Mohamed Khaled Nordin will immediately coordinate the process in accordance with procedures outlined in the party’s constitution.

PKR: While UMNO opens its doors to kataks, in the spirit of Ramadan, PKR has filed suits against former MPs and assemblypersons who ‘lompat’ to other parties, especially during the Sheraton Move that eventually led to the fall of the PH1.0-led government. Among the counterparties in the lawsuit were former PKR MPs Baru Bian, Kamarudin Jaffar, Mansor Othman, Mohd Rashid Hasnon, Saifuddin Abdullah, and R Santhara Kumar. Former assemblypersons Abdul Yunus Jamhari, Azman Nasrudin, Dr Afif Bahardin, Dr Chong Fat Full, Dr Daroyah Alwi, Haniza Mohd Talha, Muhammad Hilman Idham, Muhammad Jailani Khamis, Robert Ling Kui Ee, and Zulkifli Ibrahim were also sued. Notably, former PKR deputy president and Gombak MP, Azmin Ali, was omitted from the hit list. PKR is seeking the return of the RM10 million bond from each former PKR MP and assemblyperson, or reasonable compensation under the Contracts Act 1950, plus interest.

The search for MH370 so far
The latest search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), now spearheaded by an Australia-based firm, Ocean Infinity, has covered an area of more than 7,500 sq km in the southern Indian Ocean (slightly smaller than the size of Palestine’s West Bank and Gaza combined), but still nothing has been found. Previously, Putrajaya signed an agreement, on a ‘no find, no fee’ basis, with Ocean Infinity on March 25, 2025, to undertake seabed search operations in a new 15,000 sq km area in the southern Indian Ocean.

While the search for the one aircraft resumes, another ‘aircraft’ seems to make its way back home as Germany’s national airline, Lufthansa, resumed direct services between Kuala Lumpur and Frankfurt, after nearly a decade of absence. Lufthansa will operate five weekly flights using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, becoming the 71st airline to call KLIA as its destination.

Source: Tony Fernandes wants the FAM top seat
According to the New Straits Times, AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes is aiming for the FAM top seat in his bid to overhaul the national football governing body. The speculation about future leadership comes amid a vacuum within the governing body following the mass resignation of FAM’s leadership on January 28, which left vacancies across all executive committee positions. If Tony Fernandes does contest for the presidency in Q4 of the year, it will not be his first foray into the football world. Below is the recap of Tony Fernandes’ football journey:

• The West Ham bid that fell through. Fernandes is a lifelong West Ham United supporter and attempted to acquire a 51% stake in the club in May 2011. However, the owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, rejected his bid.

• Buying QPR instead. Just months later, in August 2011, Fernandes purchased Bernie Ecclestone’s 66% stake in Queens Park Rangers, becoming majority shareholder and chairman right after the club had been promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 15 years. However, after an arguably failed and turbulent year owning QPR, in August 2018, Fernandes stepped down as co-chairman, handing the role to Amit Bhatia. By July 2023, he no longer owned any shares in QPR and was completely out of the club.

So, Tony becoming the next FAM president? A bold choice, but the gap between running AirAsia (where he had full control) and navigating FAM’s many factions is enormous. Malaysian football politics tends to chew up outsiders.

Shorts

1. One of the winners of the US-Iran War? Petronas Chemicals

   After suffering financial losses in 2025, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) shares have surged as much as 42% since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran last weekend, valuing the company at RM33.6 bil. The key advantage is that PetChem purchases its gas feedstocks from sources within Malaysia and does not rely on gas sourced from the Middle East. As a context, following the strikes by the US and Israel, the Strait of Hormuz has been rendered impassable due to a blockade staged by Iran, locking in 20%-30% of the world’s seaborne oil, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas trades. The Iran-imposed blockade will only allow Chinese vessels or China-bound vessels to pass through.

2. Putrajaya grants Ekovest a 54-year concession

   Ekovest Bhd has signed a 54-year concession agreement with the government for the Laluan Istana-Kiara Expressway (Like) section of Phase 2A of the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (Duke), granting the group rights to design, build, operate and maintain the highway. The construction cost alone for the Like section will cost RM2.32 bil and it is a part of the three links (Like, Kampung Baru Link and Kapar Link) connected to Duke that are privatised, spanning 75.2 km, with a total project cost of RM6.32 bil. Ekovest also owns DUKE, which it sold a 40% stake to EPF for RM1.13 bil in 2027, guaranteeing the fund a minimum internal rate of return of 10%.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Iran vows six months of ‘intense war’
As the war enters the second week, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said yesterday that the country’s forces could fight an intense war for six months against the US and Israel, at the current speed of fighting. Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far used “first and second generation” missiles, but will use “advanced and less-used long-range missiles” in the coming days. Day 9 witnessed more bombardments from Iran into the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, with Kuwait announcing a cut in crude oil production over threats to the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran accused the US and Israel of striking an oil depot in the Iranian capital on Saturday, but Israel said it struck “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran” that were used “to operate military infrastructure”.

Iran’s president apologises to “neighbouring countries”, IRGC disapproves
On Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered an apology to neighbouring countries that have been subjected to Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, but shortly after, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) expressed its disapproval of the president’s remarks and warned neighbouring countries that Tehran would continue attacks if the US and Israel use their territory to attack Iran. Such mixed messages sent the Gulf region into confusion, and still being attacked after Pezeshkian’s statement. A representative from Al-Jazeera said that Pezeshkian’s apology was overtaken by the Revolutionary Guard’s dominance, as the centre of power lies with the office of the supreme leader and with the IRGC, even during peacetime. He added that while political figures in Iran are responsible for running state affairs and non-strategic affairs, they don’t really have a say in the country’s foreign and security policies.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts decided on Khamenei’s successor
The clerical body choosing the next supreme leader of Iran has reportedly reached a majority consensus, according to Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammad-Mahdi Mirbagheri. Under the Iranian constitution, it is the 88-member Assembly of Experts that is authorised to choose the country’s supreme leader. Mirbagheri said “great efforts to determine the leadership” have been made and that “a decisive and unanimous opinion” has been agreed upon. He added that the selection was made based on the late Khamenei’s advice that Iran’s top leader should “be hated by the enemy” instead of praised by it. Ayatollah ⁠Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member ⁠of the Assembly of Experts, said that even the US has mentioned his name, days after US President ‌Donald ‌Trump said the late supreme leader’s son, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, was an “unacceptable” choice for him.

The economics of drone warfare
Iran’s signature Shahed drones cost between USD20k to USD50k to make whilst conventional interceptors cost 7 figures. making it an unsustainable solution to Iran’s strategy of sending fleets of drones to attack. Ukraine has come to the rescue as it has created its own solutions to handle this in its war with Russia (they get their drones from Iran). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered Saudi Arabia their expertise in intercepting the Iranian Shahed drones. Ukraine’s domestic arms industry was forced to innovate during the course of Russia’s four-year war, focusing on building low-cost drones to counter Russian attacks with imported Iranian Shahed-136s and homemade copies known as the Geran.

An Iranian-designed Shahed drone costs roughly USD30,000 while a single PAC-3 interceptor missile for the US-made Patriot air defence system costs millions. Kyiv’s low-cost interceptor drones are priced at roughly USD1,000 to USD2,000, and moved from prototype to mass production within months. Now, they are the world’s leading producers of interceptors. With the offer, Zelenskyy is hoping to increase Ukraine’s leverage with allies and obtain the expensive defence systems it needs to defend itself against Russia’s ballistic missiles.

Some interesting short videos on this drone warfare:

• Ukraine’s interceptor drones

• Iran’s Shahed drones

• Shahed drones in action

Shorts

1. A lot of human remains are still held in UK museums

   An investigation by the Guardian UK has found that UK museums are holding more than 263,000 items of human remains from around the world, including from former British colonies. Sadly, many of them are not recorded and kept in sacrilegious ways, with little or no regard to the spiritual sensibilities of the people from whom it was looted. The Natural History Museum in London holds the largest collection of remains, mostly from Asia and North and South America. The University of Cambridge has the second largest, with at least 8,740 items in its Duckworth laboratory, including the biggest collection (6,223) of remains known to originate from Africa.

2. Indonesia to ban social media for children under 16

   Indonesia is set to become the first country in Southeast Asia to restrict the access of children to social media. Gradually, from Mar 28, children under 16 will no longer be allowed access to high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live. The government said that it is taking this step as the best effort in the midst of a digital emergency to reclaim sovereignty over children’s futures. Earlier this week, Meta Platforms’ Jakarta received a surprise inspection by Indonesia’s ministry, where they were issued a stern warning regarding Meta’s low level of compliance with national regulations.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Your kids, your parents

1. Be strategic - what your kid needs to do when they get separated from you in a crowd.

2. Not all of us have a great relationship with our parents, but for those who are blessed with great parents, take a moment to read this reminder. We get caught up in life, and sometimes we forget that they are there. This hits hard, real hard.

3. Finance Minister II Amiz Hamzah took to LinkedIn to defend EPF’s 2025 performance.