☕️ More public servants expected to be declared bankrupt due to financial consultancy syndicate

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

JPY1.51 trillion (RM43.2 bil) – Japan’s agricultural, forestry, and fisheries exports hit a record high for the 12th consecutive year in 2024, driven by strong demand for wagyu beef and prepackaged foods like curry roux. The total export value grew by 3.7%, with agricultural exports rising 8.4% to JPY981.8 bil and forestry exports increasing 7.4% to JPY66.7 bil. However, fishery exports declined by 7.5% to JPY360.9 bil, reflecting shifting global consumption patterns. This growth underscores Japan’s success in promoting its premium food products worldwide.

460 words – The average length of political speeches (in the UK) has dramatically declined over the decades, from nearly 1,000 words in 1938 to just 460 words in 2023. This shift accelerated after 2015, when Twitter (now X) introduced video functionality, reflecting the growing influence of social media on communication styles. In contrast, former UK Chancellor James Callaghan’s 1965 budget speech spanned 19,000 words, a stark contrast to today’s concise, tweet-like addresses. This trend highlights how modern political discourse has adapted to the fast-paced, attention-scarce digital age. Malaysia’s political speeches probably have a lot of exclamation marks or repetitive use of “Tarik balik!!!”

70-80% of Bollywood reviews are paid – A senior executive from Yash Raj Films (YRF) revealed to Al Jazeera that the majority of film reviews in Bollywood are paid for, with costs ranging from INR5 mil (RM253.3K) to INR50 mil (RM2.5 mil). Over 20 industry professionals confirmed that paying for positive reviews is standard practice, though they acknowledged that reviews alone cannot turn a flop into a hit. However, reviews can influence a film’s box office performance by 10-15% in the first week, particularly as they often go viral before release. Paid reviews are seen as a strategy to generate word-of-mouth buzz, which is crucial for a film’s initial success.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Teresa cannot rest now
After the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested two former staffers of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Teresa stated she is willing to cooperate with the authority. The arrest of the two individuals was related to the alleged price inflation of the LG brand smartboard purchase. Teresa said that she did not approve the allocation for the purchase of the smartboards, which were directed to 16 schools in her constituency, where each school will receive RM99,000 worth of goods each. On top of that, Teresa revealed that the company that issued the invoice for the smartboards does not exist and is a fake entity. To grasp how big this alleged corruption scandal is, the actual cost to supply the smartboards to the 16 schools was only RM884,784, instead of the invoiced RM1.584 mil. This resulted in an alleged RM699,216 of public funds going into the pockets of those involved in this scandal. The two individuals detained by MACC so far were Edmund Teoh and Ng Yoot Kuen.

Within the four walls of Putrajaya

1. Not to rely on Petronas in the future — Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan stated that Putrajaya will reduce its reliance on Petronas to beef up its revenue coffers, from an estimated 19%-20% contribution to government revenue by Petronas in 2023 to about 15%-16% in the coming years. How will Putrajaya do it? As stated in the Budget 2025 announcement, the expansion of the sales & service tax (SST) will bring an additional RM5 bil in revenue. Other taxes such as the low-value goods (LVG) tax and the service tax on digital services will help to plug the revenue gaps. On an annual basis, between 2020 and 2023, Petronas has contributed on average about RM37 bil per year to Putrajaya. Perhaps it is high time to not force Petronas to give too much as our sole Fortune 500 company needs the funds to rebuild itself after being wounded by the Petros spat. Talking about Petros, after managing to partially kick out Petronas from Sarawak, now the Sarawak state-owned oil & gas company has submitted a proposal to Petronas regarding a potential cooperation. Oh well, how the table has turned.

   For the nth time we are producing this here:

2. More public servants expected to be declared bankrupt — Malaysian Department of Insolvency director-general M. Bakri Abd Majid said that more government staffers will be declared insolvent soon as the MACC managed to dive deeper into the financial consultancy syndicate uncovered via Op Sky. Bakri added that civil servants who obtained unusual bank loans would likely default once the syndicate stopped making payments on their behalf. He added that civil servants could face disciplinary action if they were found to have engaged in serious financial misconduct. Currently, the investigation into the syndicate has involved singer Ziana Zain, actor Jalaluddin Hassan, and Malaysia's first astronaut, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor as they received payments for serving as brand ambassadors for the financial consultancy company, but were not involved in the company’s operations.

Shorts

1. Saudi Arabia is interested in AirAsia

   According to The Edge, Saudi Arabia’s investment arm, the Public Investment Fund (PIF)  is set to pump USD100 mil (RM442.4 mil) into the Malaysian carrier group AirAsia, a move that will deepen our ties with the Gulf state. If PIF’s investment materialises, it will be the single biggest contributor to the RM1 bil of funds AirAsia intends to raise to reboot its growth ambitions after years of Covid-induced losses. The low-cost airline group is offering outside investors a stake of as much as 15% at a valuation of USD2 bil.

2. Meta 🤝 DNB
   Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc are set to work together in establishing a joint innovation lab in Malaysia to support real-time communication (RTC) services. The joint innovation lab aims to optimise network performance and develop cutting-edge technologies to enhance RTC's quality of experience. Previously, DNB had signed another agreement with Ericsson, aimed at advancing enterprise digitalisation, enhancing connectivity, and fostering innovation.

3. Sabah’s flood situation worsening

   The number of flood evacuees in Sabah increased by 73% on Sunday to 1,748 victims as the districts of Keningau and Sook became the latest districts to be affected by the flood. According to the authority, a total of 24 villages have been affected – 10 each in Beaufort and Membakut, and two each in Keningau and Sook.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

US effects: Disease outbreak, quitting NATO

• Trump’s USAID cuts are setting the stage for disease outbreaks
  Scientists are saying that Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid has halted crucial programmes that prevent and snuff out outbreaks around the world, leaving people everywhere more vulnerable to dangerous pathogens such as monkey pox and Ebola. In 2023, USAID has apparently invested about USD900 mil to fund labs and emergency response preparedness in more than 30 countries. The pause on these foreign aid means dangerous pathogens left unsecured at laboratories across Africa, halted inspections for infections at airports and other checkpoints and millions of unscreened animals shipped across borders. The USAID agency used to have more than 50 people dedicated to outbreak responses, but now it only has 6. Foreign aid also helps to prevent, detect and treat diseases that can endanger Americans, including drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis and malaria, and bacteria that do not respond to available antibiotics. Much of that work has stopped, and other organisations or countries cannot fill the gap.

• Musk calls on US to quit NATO and stop spending for EU’s defence
  The future is murky for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO, or in some cases No Action, Talk Only), and then along came Elon Musk, Trump’s senior adviser, who decided to echo a suggestion by a conservative commentator that the US should leave both Nato and the United Nations on X. Within NATO, Europe is reliant on the US for communications, intelligence and logistics, as well as strategic military leadership and firepower. Trump in March was reported to be discussing calibrating US engagement with NATO in a way which favours members of the alliance that spend a certain percentage of their GDP on defence. The European Union is hot in its seat now, with its leaders recently meeting to discuss a bigger increase on its defence, including as much as EUR150 bil in loans to member states and plans to allow countries to use their national budgets to potentially spend EUR650 bil on defence over four years without triggering budgetary penalties. Note that under a 2023 law, a US president can’t unilaterally withdraw from the alliance without a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate or an act of Congress.

Nuclear talks

• Iran’s Khamenei calls the US a “bully”, rejects Trump demands for nuclear talks
  Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that the US is not really seeking negotiations with Iran, but being a “bully government”, its definition of “negotiation” is a means to introduce new demands that is “not aimed at solving issues, but to dominate and impose their own expectations”. The statement came after Trump said earlier this week that he had sent a letter to Iran to initiate talks on a nuclear deal, in which officials in Tehran reiterated that they had not yet received. Since taking office in January, Trump has expressed an openness to a new deal with Tehran, but he also reinstated an aggressive sanctions campaign and promised to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero. Nuclear-wise, Tehran continues to develop its uranium enrichment to near weapons-grade, which they insist is for peaceful purposes, but according to the UN intelligence agencies, Iran has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so”.

• North Korea unveils nuclear-powered submarine for the first time
  Meanwhile in East Asia, North Korea continues to display its nuclear prowess, this time announcing a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US. The Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, released photos showing what it called “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile” submarine, which experts said meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons. The naval vessel appears to be a 6,000-ton-class or 7,000-ton-class one, which can carry about 10 missiles.

Shorts

1. No more letter deliveries for Denmark

   400-year-old Denmark state-run postal service, PostNord, has announced that they will be ending all letter deliveries by the end of 2025, no thanks to a steep decline in letter usage since the start of the century, from 1.4 bil to 110 mil last year. Although the country has gone largely digital, including a Digital Post service, the move will still affect around 271,000 people who still rely on physical mail and are mostly elderly. 1,500 PostNord workers face losing their jobs, out of a workforce of 4,600.

2. Myanmar junta chief announces general election in Dec or Jan

   War-torn Myanmar may finally have its general election come Dec 2025 or Jan 2026, as announced by its junta chief senior general Min Aung Hlaing recently. The country has been in turmoil since early 2021 when Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted by the military, which triggered a protest movement that became an armed rebellion against the junta. However, the election may risk more violence as the junta and its opponents push to increase their control of territory in Myanmar, where the widening conflict has left the economy in tatters and displaced over 3.5 mil people.

3. WhatsApp group admin shot dead for allegedly removing member

   A WhatsApp argument had turned deadly after a man decided to kill the group admin for removing him from the WhatsApp group. The admin, Mushtaq Ahmed, was shot dead on Thursday evening in Peshawar, after both arguing parties had arranged to meet and reconcile but apparently the removed member turned up with a gun and opened fire. Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is a province that borders Afghanistan, which has a history of bloody sectarian violence and easy availability of firearms, hence the frequency of similar incidents.

4. Chat app Discord eyeing IPO

   The chat app with 200 mil monthly active users is in early stage talks to IPO, though this isn’t the first time it mulled over an IPO. The startup walked away from a USD10 bil offer by Microsoft in 2021. It was last valued at USD14.7 bil in a 2021 fundraise for USD500 mil.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Learn how to communicate better — not all disagreements lead to arguments.

quinlanwalther

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2. A very interesting video demonstrating how pickpocketing works. In a way, it’s a form of communication too.

3. Food for thought — do you think life is meant to be difficult?