☕️ Survey: Gen Zs are not doing ok at workplace

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

529 – That was the number of trainee doctors who accepted housemanship placements from the Ministry of Health in Jan 2026. The kicker is that the number also marks a rejection rate of 89.5% for the 5,000 housemanship placements offered. Malaysia’s public healthcare sector is facing a critical workforce crisis following this latest mass rejection of placements by trainee doctors. But where did the graduates go? Across the Causeway to Singapore, of course. The city-state offers far more competitive remuneration for a start, with salaries reaching SGD110,000 (about RM385,000) per year. That’s between five and six times higher than entry-level offers from Malaysia’s Ministry of Health.

Nine in 10 – That’s how many Malaysian manufacturers expect to face hiccups in the coming weeks due to raw material shortages, rising energy costs, and logistics bottlenecks, according to the latest survey by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. 69.5% of Malaysian manufacturers believe that shortages could hit within just four weeks, with the raw materials shortage leading to cascading effects from upstream suppliers to downstream producers. In a bid to mitigate this, companies are actively seeking alternative suppliers from regions such as China, India, and Japan, despite the risk of numerous obstacles.

RM500,000 – That’s how much trolley thieves are costing Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd per year by bringing home trolleys belonging to the retail store chain, according to managing director Ameer Ali Mydin. Each unit is priced at about RM500, and none of the company’s 76 outlets was spared. However, the director said that most missing trolleys are actually carted away by customers who live near his stores. After moving their groceries home, they tend to discard the trolleys at road shoulders or in other areas, making them easy pickings for scrap metal collectors. Recovering the trolleys has its own costs as well, since the company has to hire workers to search for the missing trolleys and return them, and the recovered trolleys also need repairs if they were damaged. Inflation comes in many forms - sometimes our own doing.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Government to deploy cops at petrol stations
At the time of crisis, even petrol stations become strategic national security assets. Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Deputy Minister Armizan Ali announced that Putrajaya agreed to station police personnel at petrol stations to strengthen monitoring and enforcement to minimise fuel supply leakage. The petrol stations involved in this exercise are those that are located near border areas and other high-risk locations, involving about 157 petrol stations.

In related news, a Singaporean man became the first person to be arrested following the ban on the purchase of RON95 petrol by foreign-registered vehicles. According to the authority, the suspect was believed to be the driver and owner of a Honda Civic.  

Politicians’ next chapter

Hamzah Zainuddin: The Opposition Leader cum Larut MP, Hamzah Zainuddin, dismissed the possibility of him creating a new political party, but instead, he may be a part of an existing party. In fact, he resigned as the opposition leader. Hamzah added that the current political situation does not permit the existence of a new political party. Previously, Hamzah was sacked from the Bersatu party, allegedly due to his falling out with the party’s president, Muhyiddin Yassin.

Khairy Jamaluddin: Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin stated that he will not contest for the Kepala Batas seat in the next general election, the seat of his late father-in-law, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Khairy said that before Pak Lah passed away, he had entrusted his political son, the chairman of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), Reezal Merican, to lead the parliamentary seat. FYI, Reezal Merican lost the seat in GE15. As for Khairy, he is focused on re-entering UMNO again, and he is waiting for the party’s approval to accept his application to rejoin.

Survey: Gen Zs are not doing ok at workplace
According to a report by Jobstreet titled Workplace Happiness Index, it was revealed that while most Malaysian workers report being happy at work, Gen Z employees are feeling significantly more pressure than older generations. Gen Z, or 18- to 29-year-old employees, report higher stress and lower workplace happiness compared to Millennials, who are 30-44 years old, and Gen X, who are 45-59 years old. For Gen Z, pressure stemmed from early career demands like adapting to new environments, learning skills, and proving themselves. Not surprisingly, Gen Z prioritise work-life balance and company culture. View the survey here. IMO, we think it is more about the phase of life (being in 20s) than the generation they belong to.

From stress to hearing issues
One in five Malaysians has hearing issues. Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has pressed the red button and stated that 21.5% of the population has hearing problems, with 44,000 cases recorded in 2025 through the National Otorhinolaryngology Registry. Another number - as of February 2026, 50,413 individuals were registered as hearing-impaired with disabilities. Why does a fifth of Malaysians have hearing problems? Two reasons - because Malaysia is becoming an ageing nation, and prolonged exposure to noise at the workplace and in daily life. Dzulkefly added that infections and genetic factors were also among the causes.

Shorts

1. IOI Properties proposes REIT listing

   The abolishment of the preferential withholding tax for REITs apparently does not handicap the sector, as IOI Properties Group Bhd proposed the establishment and listing of a real estate investment trust (REIT) comprising retail, office and hotel assets worth a total of RM7.58 bil. Within the REIT, IOI Properties will also include its flagship IOI City Mall and IOI City Park. Proceeds from the exercise will be funnelled towards IOI Properties and are expected to be used mainly to repay borrowings accumulated from past acquisitions.

2. FELDA is pushing for a B100 Biodiesel policy change

   In the current climate where diesel is priced at RM6.72 per litre, FELDA chairman, Ahmad Shabery Cheek, is pushing Putrajaya to support the implementation of the B100 biodiesel. The price of B100 biodiesel is estimated to be below RM5 per litre, with a factory price of about RM4.50 a litre. The B100 biodiesel developed by FELDA has already been used within its ecosystem, involving vehicles covering over 50,000 km in a 12-month pilot period in 2025. Ahmad Shabery added that in order to roll out B100 nationwide, FELDA needs more supply of crude palm oil and to expand its biodiesel processing facilities. This is where the government support is needed.

3. MACC uncovers more power abuse

   After a former GLIC CEO was caught abusing his power, now the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said that a former CEO of a government statutory body has allegedly used public funds to buy shares, acting as both proposer and approver of the sale. The individual in question is believed to have set the terms and purchase price of the shares, cahooting with minority shareholders of the company involved in closed negotiations. MACC also found parts of the public fund, estimated at around RM30 mil, re-invested in public listed companies to disguise the whole transaction flow as legitimate.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

US x Iran talk in Pakistan: No deal

Unreasonable demands: The US party has reportedly left Islamabad after 21 hours of negotiations with Iran yesterday. Head of the US delegation, Vice President JD Vance, said that they have not reached an agreement and that Iran chose not to accept their terms. The US is demanding not just that Iran pledge that it will not develop nuclear weapons, but also that it will not even try to access those tools. Meanwhile, Iran said that negotiations ended because of the US’s “unreasonable demands” and that no one had expected the talks with the US to reach an agreement in a single session.

Israel disregards diplomacy: The US delegation and the Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had discussed how to advance a ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Lebanese group Hezbollah. But as the talks were underway, Israel’s Netanyahu said Israel’s military campaign against Iran was not over and that they will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies.

Trump announced closure of Hormuz (huh?): It was unclear if diplomacy had ended after the negotiations failed; however, Trump announced late yesterday that the US Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of ⁠Hormuz and would also interdict every vessel in international waters that had ⁠paid a toll to Iran. There was a clear threat: A blockade first, followed by the threat of further action if Iran does not back down.

China assists in ceasefire bid
There was one party that was apparently able to convince Tehran to de-escalate, and it was China. In the hours after a ceasefire publicly brokered by Pakistan was announced, Iranian officials reportedly credited a last-minute push by China with securing their acceptance, a claim soon after validated by Trump. China has not confirmed or denied any of this, but the decision to step in reflects Beijing’s ability to straddle strong ties with Iran, Gulf nations and Trump, and marks a departure from China’s long-held preference of staying on the sidelines.

Anthropic’s Mythos scare sparks warning to financial institutions
Wall Street leaders have been summoned to an urgent meeting by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell over concerns that the latest artificial intelligence (AI) model from Anthropic PBC will usher in an era of greater cyber risk. The meeting is to make sure banks are aware of possible future risks raised by Anthropic’s Mythos and potential similar models, and that the banks are taking precautions to defend their systems.

Anthropic’s Mythos is a more powerful system that the AI firm has said is capable of identifying and then exploiting vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser when directed by a user to do so. However, Anthropic itself has limited the release to just a few big tech and finance firms like Amazon.com and JPMorgan Chase & Co, as part of “Project Glasswing”, which will work to secure the most important systems before other similar AI models become available. Outside the US, the Bank of Canada and the country’s major banks and financial firms have also met to discuss cybersecurity risks raised by Mythos. The Bank of England will meet with top bank and insurance executives to discuss how they are preparing. BNM and SC, bile?

Men smuggling people a la ‘Tripadvisor’ jailed in the UK
Two Iraqi Kurdistan men have been sentenced to 19 years each in prison, after being found guilty of smuggling about 100 migrants to Europe weekly for two years, while doing it a la “TripAdvisor”, complete with reviews and ratings. According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), most of the people using the services were searching for a better life in Western Europe and are largely from Iraq, Iran and Syria. The highest tier platinum costs between GBP 10,000 and GBP 25,000, while the gold tier costs between GBP 8,000 and GBP 10,000. Bronze tier costs between GBP3,000 and GBP5,000.

The operation was run from a legitimate car wash business and was financed using a West Asian money-transfer system called Hawala banking. NCA said that the money was never actually received by the duo, and most of it is still in Iraq or Kurdistan, making it difficult for police to recover proceeds of crimes. The UK judge said that while the operation was done for financial gains, the pair provided the best service that they could to the migrants, and there was no exploitation of the migrants.
Fun fact: Hawala, originating in India, is the centuries-old informal ‘remittance’ based on honour of a huge network of money brokers

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Back then, it was an achievement to be on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Still an achievement now, but also somewhat an indicator of a potential fraudster in the making. 30u30.fyi tracks all the fraud committed by past recipients. Total damage - USD50.9 bil.

2. Back in the old days, women in many communities and tribes in Indonesia exposed their breasts, and it was considered normal and was not sexualised. But what changed? Western morality (aka colonialism) and religions. Embed not showing - learn here.

3. ‘Annie, are you ok?’ - how’s Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal and CPR related? The face on the CPR mannequin (deemed the most kissed face in the world) and the name in the practice of asking ‘Annie, are you ok?’ (part of Smooth Criminal lyrics) when conducting a resuscitation, it actually belongs to a woman who drowned in the 1800s. Her name - Resusci Anne.