☕️ Medical insurance saga - BNM intervenes, caps hike

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

2.12 mil vehicles per day is the estimated traffic expected on PLUS expressways during the Christmas and year-end holidays, representing a 14% increase from the usual 1.85 mil on normal days. To manage this surge, PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) is activating 25 smart lanes and deploying over 4,000 personnel to ensure smoother traffic flow. Highway users nationwide will enjoy toll-free travel on Dec 23 and 24, in conjunction with Christmas celebrations — the cost to the government’s coffers — RM38 mil.

RM19 mil has been successfully blocked from being transferred in online financial fraud cases by the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), which has also seized RM6 mil to date. From another perspective — that figure is pathetic. From January to October 2024, RM1.224 bil in losses were recorded from various types of online financial fraud, including scams related to online fraud, telecommunications crimes, e-finance, love scams, e-commerce, non-existent loans, and fraudulent investments. Since its establishment, NSRC has received 140,474 calls, with 69,000 of those related to financial fraud cases.

320,000 young Chinese have signed up for the country’s annual tour guide certification exam in 2024, marking a 45% increase from 2023 and setting record highs in several provinces. This surge is driven by unstable job prospects in white-collar sectors, with many hoping that a domestic vacation boom will provide steady income. Additionally, foreign visitation to China is recovering, with inbound travel increasing by nearly 80% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the previous year, though it still remains below pre-pandemic levels.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

What’s up and down for 2025?

• Insurance premiums will still increase, but not that much
  BNM is intervening in the insurance and takaful industry by mandating that industry players spread premium changes over at least three years for affected policyholders until the end of 2026. This interim move is expected to increase the annual premium by less than 10% for at least 80% of policyholders. For policyholders aged 60 and above with minimum plan coverage, premium adjustments will be paused for one year from their policy anniversary. Another interesting point is insurers and takaful operators (ITOs) must also provide a cheaper product to those who wish to switch from their repriced plans, without incurring any additional underwriting or switching costs.

• Pension rate to increase again in 2026, not 2025 
  After enjoying a pension rate increase this month, another set of hikes (maximum 7% across the board) is expected for pensioners in January 2026, in line with the adjustments under the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA). Previously on December 18, all retirees enjoyed a maximum 8% increase based on their last drawn salary.

• No electricity tariff increase for Peninsular Malaysia
  The Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (Petra) announced that electricity tariffs for all users in Peninsular Malaysia will not increase from January 1 to June 30, 2025. However, Putrajaya through the Energy Commission is finalising a proposal to implement a new tariff schedule that would reflect the actual cost of electricity supply, which will come into force on July 1, 2025. The Government projected before the new tariff schedule will be adopted, for the first half of next year, Putrajaya will need to bear an RM2.388 bil of electricity subsidy bill.

OT and no Christmas holidays for Universiti Malaya (UM)’s Corp Comm team

• Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Mohd Isa confirmed that stray dogs are the culprit behind the death of cats at a local higher education institution, based on CCTV recordings. The Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) also confirmed that the injuries sustained by the cats were consistent with attacks by wild dogs. Previously, five cats were found dead in an obscure way, with their limbs mutilated. We are relieved that the death of the cats is due to the natural order of the animal kingdom and not the act of some university students practising to become a serial killer.

• Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir has instructed UM to launch an immediate probe into two sexual harassment allegations, including one where a member of UM’s academic staff allegedly sent nude photographs to several students. Is UM allegedly harbouring sexual offenders as according to a survey conducted by UM Feminism Club, one in five students had experienced sexual harassment. Sadly, instead of addressing the issue of sexual harassment at the university, UM Vice-Chancellor Noor Azuan Abu Osman’s attention was unfortunately directed towards the survey, claiming that there were several weaknesses in the survey’s methodology and sampling approach, requiring further scrutiny.

Malaysians are travelling north for the Christmas holidays
Based on the observations at the Bukit Kayu Hitam and Kota Putra checkpoints (both in Kedah), there is heavy traffic into Thailand, mainly due to the school holidays that start on December 21 and last until December 29. Malaysia is the second contributor of tourists to Thailand, behind China, with 4.6 mil visiting the Land of Smiles. Additionally, in conjunction with the Christmas and school holidays, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) is launching a special MySawasdee Penang Edition train service between Butterworth and Hat Yai, which will operate as a trial route from December 29 to January 5. This trial run is to gauge the user demand, given success, the train service could be expanded to other locations operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). The one-way ticket will cost RM45 and ticket sales will commence on Monday (December 23) at 10 am.

Malaysia’s Harimau Malaya failed to make it to the knockout stages of the Asean Cup
Due to the goalless draw with our southern neighbour, Singapore at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, the country’s football team was being kicked out of the Asean Cup tournament. Malaysia finished third in the group after managing only five points with one win and two draws. Their only victory was against Timor-Leste, who they beat 3-2. In the aftermath of the match at Bukit Jalil, Malaysian fans did not take the loss of the national team gracefully as 20 to 30 football fans were involved in a brawl at the Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT Station that led to damages to the station facilities, including a train’s doors and window panels on the platform. Fast-growing, local homegrown personal care brand Hygr whose brand was wrapped around the carriage didn’t miss the opportunity for this unique exposure — watch here. 

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Syria’s little-known USD 5.6 bil illegal drug empire
As Syria continues to rebuild itself, the rebel leaders will now be facing a possible struggle with the crackdown of Captagon, a mostly unknown drug outside the Middle East that has plagued the region over the past 10 years.

Popular among the wealthy youth of Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia as well as the working class in countries like Jordan, Captagon is an addictive, amphetamine-like pill, aka "poor man's cocaine". It appears that Syria has become the biggest producer of Captagon with evidence pointing to an illicit trade with an annual value of USD 5.6 bil according to the World Bank. Its production has multiplied in the country despite suffering from an economy broken by war, sanctions and the mass displacement of Syrians abroad.

It was suspected that the scale of the production is not simply the work of criminal gangs, but an industry orchestrated by Assad’s regime itself. Videos filmed by Syrians raiding properties allegedly owned by relatives of Assad showed rooms full of pills being made and packaged, hidden in fake industrial products. Investigations by BBC reported two major parties as having their hands in the trade - Assad's extended family and the Syrian armed forces, in particular its Fourth Division, led by Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad.

How will the new leadership address Captagon’s lucrative criminal enterprise after so many years when it was encouraged by the state itself? What effect will the loss of such a lucrative trade have on Syria's economy? The sudden crackdown on supply with no demand reduction might also risk shifting demand to other drugs.

Five people killed in a car ramming at Germany Christmas market
5 people including a 9-year-old child were killed, while 200 others were injured after a car brutally rammed a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg city, Germany last Friday. Watch the incident here (warning - graphic).

The suspect who surrendered to the police at the scene is a 50-year-old immigrant ex-Muslim from Saudi Arabia, who arrived in Germany in 2006. He described himself as an anti-Islam activist. German news identified him as Taleb A, and his X account was filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion. He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe” and also an avid supporter of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He is currently being investigated for five counts of suspected murder and 205 counts of suspected attempted murder.

Germany has suffered a number of attacks in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August. Friday’s attack also came eight years after a man drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

US $pending

• Trump slams Panama’s ‘excessive’ canal fees and threatens to reclaim it
  Trump has complained that Panama is charging too much for access to the Panama Canal, and has threatened the sovereign country that he would demand that the canal be returned to the US fully if Panama fails to manage it in an “acceptable fashion”. The US largely built the canal and administered the territory surrounding the passage for decades. It then fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration. Just another day of Trump using threats and hostile rhetoric in the name of American interest. The Panama Canal generated USD4.99 bil in revenue and USD3.45 bil in profit for the fiscal year ending Sep 2024.

• China slams USD571m US military aid to Taiwan, calls it a threat to sovereignty
  President Joe Biden had recently authorised spending of “up to USD571.3 mil in defence articles and services of the Department of Defence, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan”, less than 3 months after USD 567 mil was authorised for similar purposes. Despite not officially recognising Taiwan diplomatically, the US remains Taiwan’s strategic ally and largest supplier of weapons. The move has yet again upset China who has announced its firm opposition over the defence assistance for Taiwan, claiming that it has gravely infringed their sovereignty and security interests.

Shorts

1. Gaza ceasefire talks almost complete

   Ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas held in Doha are reported to be at 90% completion, in which a 3-stage deal could be agreed within days. It will include the potential creation of a buffer zone several kilometres wide along the length of Israel's border with Gaza, the exchange of prisoners and hostages, and civilians allowed to return to the North under a system with Egyptian/Qatar oversight, as well as access for 500 trucks per day to bring in aid.

2. Computer scientist convicted for repeatedly lying about inventing Bitcoin

   Computer scientist Craig Wright who never stopped claiming that he is the elusive Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, has blatantly breached a High Court order to stop doing it, resulting in a 12-month sentence in prison and suspension of 2 years. In his quest to prove that he is the founder, he had launched legal cases asserting he had intellectual property rights to Bitcoin, including a claim he was owed USD1.2 tril. Wright's actions were described in court as "legal terrorism" that "put people through personal hell" in his campaign to be recognised as Bitcoin's inventor.

3. Durian from China has some key nutrient missing

   Scientists studying the nutritional compound of durians grown in China have apparently found out that it could be missing or having an extremely low key nutrient content, compared to durians grown in Southeast Asia. Differences in climate and content of minerals and nutrients in the soil may have an effect on the accumulation of nutrients during the durian growth process, said the scientists. China has been the world’s biggest importer of durian, buying 95% of global exports. In 2018, it began large-scale cultivation of durian in Hainan province, the only tropical island with a suitable climate for the king of fruits.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. MrBeast goes from YouTube to Hollywood. Amazon Prime gave MrBeast a USD100 mil for this series.

2. Some of the biggest celebrities also enjoy being on YouTube.

3. It’s always easier to celebrate and congratulate.