☕️ PRN Johor: Surprised, but not surprised + public holiday

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

RM320.43 mil – According to Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing, the three-day Rain Rave Water Music Festival held around Labour Day brought in that much in economic returns. The minister said the festival attracted 150,000 domestic tourists and 100,000 foreign tourists from across Asia. The event attracted a total of 415,000 visitors and generated RM392.33 mil in economic returns across six states. The event cost a total of RM15 mil, of which RM11 mil was borne by the government, while the remaining RM4 mil was paid for by the private sector. The minister said this meant that RM35 was generated in economic returns for every RM1 spent by the government.

RM2.2 bil – The Department of Statistics reported that a total of 71,101 holiday homes (~RM30.9k average per home per year, ~RM2.6k per month) operating nationwide generated that amount in revenue in 2025. The Chief Statistician said the industry’s continued growth reflected increasing demand for alternative accommodation, and highlighted the segment’s growing contribution to tourism-related activities and the services sector. Selangor had the highest number of holiday homes at 19,095 units, which is more than a quarter of the national total. Selangor is followed by Kuala Lumpur with 8,207 units and Johor with 7,274 units.

RM3.35 bil – Malaysia’s medical tourism sector recorded that much revenue in 2025, an increase of 23.2% from 2024. The number of medical tourists also grew 15.6% to 1.85 mil in 2025, reflecting continued international confidence in the country’s healthcare services. This confidence led to Malaysia being ranked the world’s sixth-best medical tourism destination. According to the 2026 Global Top 10 Medical Tourism Destinations ranking published by Travel And Tour World, Turkey topped the list, followed by Thailand, India, Mexico, and South Korea with Malaysia taking sixth place. For the full list, see here.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

PRN Johor: No Surprises

BN won big
BN has done better compared to their 2022 state election performance, securing an additional 8 seats compared with 40 seats in the previous election. Based on official data, UMNO won 36 of 37 seats contested, three more than in 2022. MCA doubled its seat count from 2022, with eight seats won of the 15 seats it contested, while MIC won all four seats it contested. Overall, BN secured about 60% of the popular vote, compared with 33% by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and 5.4% by Perikatan Nasional (PN). Total turnout was 69.57%, compared with 54.9% in 2022. With the massive win of the water nation against the fire nation, this momentum will surely prop up BN in the upcoming Negeri Sembilan state election next month.

Some other key takeaways:

Total wipe-out for Perikatan Nasional (PN), MUDA, Bersama
PN failed to win any of the 33 state seats it contested, fielded 16 candidates from Bersatu, 11 from PAS, five from the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) and one from Pejuang. Plus, PN not only failed to expand its representation but also lost the three seats it won in the 2022 Johor state election. MUDA, which previously held the Puteri Wangsa seat, lost the constituency to Maszlee Malik, PH’s poster boy for the state election. Newcomer Rafizi’s Bersama saw all 15 candidates losing their deposits, as they did not achieve the minimum 12.5% of votes required. Bersama candidates obtained an average of 3% - 6% of the votes.

Bersama is spoiling PH
DAP disciplinary committee chief Tony Pua has accused Bersama of splitting the opposition vote in several Johor seats, arguing that the latter's presence in the race effectively helped BN pick up additional seats at Pakatan Harapan's expense. Bersama indirectly led to PH's defeat in Perling and Bukit Batu. A vote for Bersama is effectively a vote to let BN win more seats.

From DAP to MCA - Chinese voters shifting allegiance
Nationwide, DAP is on a trend of steady decline, after losing all its seats in the Sabah state election last year, and has now lost four incumbent seats in the Johor state legislative assembly. DAP, which contested 17 seats in the Johor state election, won just six of them, compared with eight won by MCA in this election round. Additionally, the seats were won with margins significantly reduced in several constituencies, all of which saw BN fielding MCA candidates.

Surprised but not surprised - as with many happy things that happened in Malaysia followed by unnecessary public holidays, the newly formed Johor state government has declared today a public holiday. Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the special holiday was declared to thank the people of Johor for fulfilling their civic responsibilities in the state election. Whether a holiday is a good idea aside, the timing of it can be a lot better. Perhaps, do it a week or two later so commercial activities won’t be abruptly cancelled or adversely affected tomorrow.

The Lindung 24 Jam flip-flop
After apparent pushback from the business owners, PERKESO Group CEO Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed announced that contributors who do not wish to continue with the Social Security Organisation’s (PERKESO) Employment Injury Scheme for Non-Work Accident (Lindung 24 Jam) must complete a liability release form. With this, the Lindung 24 Jam initiative is now optional rather than mandatory. At the moment, 207,000 employers, 1.92 mil local workers and 307,000 foreign workers had registered for the scheme, with total contributions received amounting to nearly RM58 mil. Malaysia has one of the lowest contribution rates in the world for the initiative, at only 0.75%. Not surprisingly, SME Association president Dr Chin Chee Seong welcomed the decision to make the scheme optional.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

World Cup: The Final Four FIFA Dreamt Of

Top four ranked teams make the semi-finals for first time
For the first time in World Cup history, the top four FIFA-ranked teams (Spain 1, Argentina 2, France 3, and England 4) have all reached the semi-finals. Turns out FIFA stacked the deck a little by placing them in separate quadrants of the draw, ensuring they could not meet before this stage, as long as they each won their groups, which they did. FIFA called it “competitive balance,” which is a fancy way of saying they wanted to save the blockbuster matchups for later. The expanded 48-team format made early clashes between group winners almost certain, so this tweak was their insurance policy. Now we get France v Spain and England v Argentina, the semi-final lineup FIFA literally drew up. The 2022 final rematch (Argentina v France) could be in play. As I can remember, one helluva match - rewatch highlights here.

England’s “got lucky”, “sloppy” win
England is through to the World Cup semi-finals after a gruelling 2-1 extra-time win over Norway in Miami, but manager Thomas Tuchel is not popping any champagne. The German boss tore into his players’ performance, calling it “sloppy” and admitting they “got lucky” against a Norwegian side that hit the bar, had a goal disallowed, and missed a sitter to go 2-0 up. Jude Bellingham’s brace (goals in the 47th and 93rd minutes) dragged England over the line, yet Tuchel was having none of the celebration vibes. “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves,” he fumed. “The result is fantastic... but not happy with the performance, in every sense.” Watch the quarterfinal England v Norway highlights here.

“Yeah well, whatever”: Bellingham, however, was not about to let his manager’s critique slide without a rebuttal. “Yeah well, whatever,” the 21-year-old shrugged, pointing to the brutal 122-minute shift in humid Florida conditions against the likes of Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard. “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions... You can’t win every game by popping the ball and making 1,000 passes, sometimes you have to win dirty and we did that today.” It is a spicy little rift, Tuchel demanding technical excellence and Bellingham defending the grind, but former England captains Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney backed the manager’s tough love, calling his honesty “spot on.”

England vs Argentina: a World Cup grudge match decades in the making
Football’s spiciest rivalry is back on the menu as England and Argentina face off in the 2026 World Cup semi-final. This is not just a game; it is unfinished business stretching from Maradona’s “Hand of God” in 1986 to Beckham’s red card revenge arc in 2002. Two nations with genuine geopolitical beef and a shared talent for footballing melodrama. Expect theatrics, expect controversy, and expect at least one English tabloid to mention the Falklands before kickoff. Some rivalries age like fine wine; this one ages like a vindaloo, hotter and more likely to cause regret the next day.

China has a technology for everything: land, water, air

Chinese ‘Noah’s Ark’ to flood rescue
China Anneng Construction Group deployed foldable, self-propelled pontoon barges to evacuate 6,000 stranded college students in Guigang, Guangxi, as Tropical Storm Maysak caused the Yu River to overflow. State media dubbed the vessel a “Noah’s Ark” (capable of carrying 500 passengers per trip) while heavy-lift cargo drones supplemented helicopter rescue efforts. Kelantan would find good use for it. The floods have displaced 130,000 residents and killed 39 people so far. As if raging waters weren’t enough, a snake farm near Nanning also breached, releasing hundreds of venomous cobras and kraits into the floodwaters, with one snakebite fatality already reported.

China demos its own SpaceX
Some say it’s Temu SpaceX. But it really did work. China’s Long March 10B booster returned to Earth vertically and was caught on a floating platform six minutes after separation, a first for the country’s space programme. The rocket lifted off from Hainan on Friday carrying at least 16 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, putting China in direct competition with SpaceX and Blue Origin. Reusable boosters slash launch costs dramatically; SpaceX’s Falcon 9 now flies about 150 times a year with reused hardware. China’s method is slightly different though: instead of autonomous landing, the booster uses hooks to catch a net on the platform. Shares in China Spacesat and China Satellite Communications immediately jumped 10% each, the daily limit.

Apple drags OpenAI to court over ‘show and tell’ trade secrets
Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its former employees, alleging a coordinated scheme to swipe confidential hardware designs, manufacturing processes, and supply chain strategies, all while the two companies were supposed to be partners. The complaint, lodged in a California federal court on Friday, names ex-Apple senior engineer Chang Liu and former VP of product design Tang Yew Tan, alongside the OpenAI Foundation and its hardware arm io Products.

The allegations read like a corporate espionage thriller. Liu allegedly kept his company laptop after leaving and exploited an authentication bug to download “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files” from the internal network. Tan, now OpenAI’s hardware chief, is accused of “methodically” emailing himself supplier details and internal industry summaries before jumping ship. The pièce de résistance: Tan reportedly encouraged Apple staff to bring physical parts to OpenAI job interviews for literal “show and tell” sessions. One candidate allegedly said he “didn’t even know we could take those from the office”.

Apple says more than 400 of its former employees now work at OpenAI, and while that brain drain is not illegal, using purloined trade secrets to fast-track a rival’s hardware ambitions certainly is. The lawsuit claims OpenAI even convinced one of Apple’s suppliers to use a secret metal finishing technique, under the mistaken belief that Apple had given permission. OpenAI bought io Products (founded by legendary Apple designer Jony Ive) last year in a USD6.5 bil deal, signalling its serious intent to move beyond software into consumer devices. Apple says it tried to raise concerns in February but got radio silence in return.

Shorts

1. Cracked airplane window, passenger sucked out halfway

   A Ryanair 737 Max from Greece to Germany U-turned on Friday after a cabin window dislodged 10 minutes into the flight, and a 61-year-old passenger was reportedly sucked out up to his shoulders before fellow travellers hauled him back in. The plane shares the CFM56 engine type with the 2018 Southwest Flight 1380 that killed a passenger in a similar partial ejection. View the aftermath here.

2. Death of former Qatar emir

   Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who transformed Qatar into a global energy and media power and launched Al Jazeera in 1996, died on Sunday at 74. He ruled from 1995 to 2013, deposing his father in a bloodless coup and later voluntarily handing power to his son, Sheikh Tamim. Qatar declared a four-day mourning period with flags at half-mast.

3. Indonesia’s anti-graft prosecutor quits

   Indonesia’s top anti-corruption prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah resigned after police raided properties linked to him and seized 74kg of gold bars, USD5.8 mil, and SGD17.2 mil in cash. He says the assets are all accounted for and unrelated to graft; the raids feed into wider probes at state utility PLN, and police say suspects will be named soon.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Cuti-cuti China

1. Jackie Chan now the Global Ambassador for China Travel for Trip.com. Cool ad.

2. A 300m karst turned into Temple Run at Monkey Ear Sinkhole, Guizhou Province of China. More about this place here.

3. Yandangshan Cliff Cafe - a cafe carved in the Yandang Mountain UNESCO Global Geopark in Zhejiang Province using “weak design” to leave the mountains untouched. A video tour here.

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