☕️ Putrajaya prepares for haze emergency

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

10,000 – That’s the number of Formula One (F1) Bahrain Grand Prix tickets allocated for the Madani initiative. The tickets, priced at RM200 each, are already sold out, with Youth and Sports Minister Taufiq Johari saying there has been no decision to increase the allocation. Overall ticket sales for the racing event, which will take place from 2 Oct to 4 Oct, are already nearing capacity, with most segments sold out. Currently, the remaining tickets are for the C Hillstand, K2 Hillstand, and Main Grandstand areas, priced at RM809.60 for the two hillstand sections and RM2,083.40 for the Main Grandstand. Check out the ticket prices here.

HKD30 mil (RM15 mil) – Hong Kong-based Japanese singer-actress Hiromi Wada was once offered that amount to become a surrogate mother and carry the child of a wealthy businessman, an offer she refused on principle. This came up as part of a recent interview where she opened up about the darker side of the entertainment industry. She was also promised a six-figure sum and monthly earnings of several hundred thousand dollars if she agreed to accompany wealthy businessmen to meals and gambling-related engagements in Macau and Singapore. Wada refused this as well, as she disliked such a lifestyle.

Over 371,000 taels (19 tonnes) of silver – That’s how much the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty paid to commission a gold-inked collection of all of the Buddha’s sutras for his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuangwen. The result was a 108-volume manuscript, which took countless artisans and 171 lamas two years to complete. The manuscript, called the Tibetan Dragon Canon, was completed in 1669, and is said to bring seven lifetimes of good fortune to those who glimpse the 357-year-old scripture. Each volume is made up of between 300 and 500 pages of deep-indigo-dyed paper, with the sutras written in gold ink. The manuscript is currently on display at Taipei’s National Palace Museum. Check out the exhibition here.
Fun fact: the 371,000 silver taels paid would be worth more than RM165 mil today. 19 tonnes is about 610,864 troy ounces (the unit of measurement for precious metals), with the spot price of silver at the time of writing being USD66.09 (RM270.58).

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Putrajaya always prepared to declare an emergency
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said Putrajaya is ready to declare a state of emergency for any area that records an Air Pollution Index (API) reading above 400, in line with the country's standard operating procedure for haze management. He said the emergency declaration would remain in effect until API readings fall to a safer level. So far, Putrajaya has declared an emergency in the district of Serian, Sarawak, last Friday after the API reading reached 519. So, what happens when a haze emergency is declared? It activates coordinated crisis protocols under the National Haze Action Plan to protect public health and safety, which include - 

1. Workplace and school closures. However, essential services such as healthcare, utilities (water and electricity), police and rescue, public transport, supermarkets, banks, and fuel stations remain open.

2. Restricted movement rules. Residents are strongly advised to remain indoors with windows and doors shut tightly to prevent polluted air from entering. It is not a military lockdown or curfew like the COVID-19 Movement Control Order (MCO).

3. Cloud seeding protocol initiated. Authorities deploy aircraft to conduct cloud seeding over dry patches and fire hotspots to induce rain and clear the air.

The situation that is currently happening in Serian, Sarawak, is triggering PTSD to people in Muar and Tangkak, Johor, as they recall similar experiences back in 2013. On June 23, 2013, a state of emergency was declared in the districts of Muar and Tangkak after the API reading exceeded a whopping 750. The situation back then was so bad that even hanging laundry outside was impossible because clothes would be covered in ash and dust from the haze. 

Even more than a decade later, the issues of transboundary haze remain unresolved. Work on transboundary haze enforcement primarily relies on diplomatic negotiation and regional frameworks, as direct legal enforcement across international borders faces significant limitations. Singapore passed its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014. Unfortunately, the Act operated mainly as a symbolic measure and has yielded zero public convictions due to cross-border evidence barriers.

Delay in the supply of fertiliser locally = bombs in Thailand?
PM Anwar has ordered MACC to investigate the supply of fertilisers to paddy farmers after receiving multiple complaints about delays. It was previously reported that the delay in supplying fertiliser to padi farmers could hamper domestic rice production and lower the country’s rice self-sufficiency rate. At the moment, under the Paddy Production Incentive Scheme (SIPP), Malaysian paddy farmers receive physical allocations of fertilisers alongside cash subsidies of approximately RM3,465 per hectare each season.

However, there may be a more malicious reason why there are roadblocks for local paddy farmers in getting their respective supply of fertiliser, as in a separate event, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that both Malaysia and Thailand are currently investigating the allegations that our subsidised fertiliser was used to make bombs in Thailand. Previously, Thai authorities seized Malaysian government-subsidised fertiliser amid suspicions it was intended for bomb-making. The fertiliser sacks that were seized allegedly either have the National Farmers Organisation (Nafas) logo or Federal Government Paddy Fertiliser Scheme (SBPKP) markings on them. About 520 kg of urea fertiliser was seized during an operation in the Koh Sathon subdistrict next to the Malaysia-Thai border last Friday.

FYI : You must know the striking orange jumpsuit that all MACC detainees wear to court, right? MACC chief commissioner Abd Halim Aman has announced that the agency has suspended the use of orange lock-up attire for suspects brought to court for remand proceedings. Now, suspects are allowed to wear their own clothes when brought to court.

US Embassy vs PAS
Representative from the US Embassy in Malaysia, David H Gamble Jr, has dismissed PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang’s claim that the US offered to help PAS topple the then-BN administration led by former PM Najib Razak. Gamble added that the US has never sought to determine Malaysia’s political leadership. Although Hadi has a tendency to spew outrageous, unbacked claimes, However, his claims should not be taken lightly, as the US has that dark history of meddling in the affairs of other countries such as:

• Iran (1953), Operation Ajax - The CIA, alongside British intelligence, orchestrated a covert coup d'état that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had angered Western powers by nationalising Iran’s oil industry. The US successfully reinstalled the pro-Western monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

• Guatemala (1954), Operation PBSuccess - The CIA financed, trained, and armed a paramilitary force to depose the democratically elected Guatemalan President, Jacobo Árbenz. Árbenz’s aggressive land reform policies threatened the commercial interests of the American-owned United Fruit Company. The coup effectively ended a decade-long democratic period in Guatemala, replacing it with a series of US-backed military dictatorships.

Declassified documents, academic databases, and historical consensus point to at least 81 overt and covert US interventions in foreign elections between 1946 and 2000, alongside dozens of covert attempts at regime change during the Cold War era.

Hadi tells the encounter here.

Shorts

1. Thailand scraps 60-day visa-free entry to Malaysians

   Thailand's Foreign Ministry announced that it will implement a major overhaul of its tourist visa exemption, including reintroducing the 30‑day visa‑free entry scheme to countries including Malaysia, effective September 15. Department of Consular Affairs director‑general Mungkorn Pratoomkaew said immigration data showed the average stay for foreign tourists is under 15 days, making the blanket 60‑day exemption redundant.

2. Smart Durian Fast Track System explored

   Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), China Henan Aviation Group Co Ltd (CHAG) and Tropika Makmur Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (TMM) are currently exploring a fast track system that could allow Malaysian fresh durians to clear customs in China within three to four hours. MAHB said the initiative aimed to facilitate faster, more visible and better-coordinated movement of Malaysian durians and other time-sensitive agricultural products between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO).

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

South Korea considers joining fight at Strait of Hormuz
South Korea, an American ally, has been heavily pressured by the US to take part in the “freedom of navigation” fight against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, although an official statement by the presidential office has said that they are only in the middle of considering the option, without any solid decisions so far. South Korea has been heavily affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as it relied on the supplies transiting the waterway for 61% of its crude oil imports and 54% of its naphtha imports last year. The statement also said that South Korea may be able to make military contributions to global efforts to ensure free navigation through the strait, as long as such contributions do not compromise its military readiness. Not that the South Korean people are supportive of the decision - a Gallup ‌Korea poll from March found 55% of people were opposed to sending South Korean warships to the strait.

US man survived pig kidneys for record 271 days
A man from the US has survived with a kidney transplanted from a pig for 271 days before it failed and needed to be removed. Scientists who carried out the study hail it as a positive indicator, saying that it illustrates both the promise and the remaining challenges of clinical kidney xenotransplantation, where organs from other species are being used instead of human ones. It also shows that pig organs can be used as a "bridge" until a human transplant becomes available.

While pigs are seen as the ideal animal for xenotransplantation, not all pigs are meant for this purpose. Researchers have developed Yucatan miniature pigs that have gone through 69 genomic modifications to "humanise" their organs, where it becomes roughly the right size. The modifications strip out the features of a pig cell that cause the human body to reject it, add some human DNA that acts like camouflage netting to help hide the pig tissue from the immune system and disable viruses that hide inside pig DNA to prevent infection. Read more about the study in The Lancet medical journal.

More about Yucatan pigs here - sounds like the X-Men version of pigs.

Tech

Oura goes for IPO, revealing USD 1.4 bil in revenue
Smart ring maker Oura is one step closer to becoming a public company, as it filed its S-1 paperwork towards an initial public offering (IPO). The company pulled in USD 1.4 bil in revenue and USD 59 mil in net income in the one-year period that ended in June. The company said revenue had grown 74% year-over-year, comparing the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026 to the same period in 2025. It has 5 mil paid members as of June. The company said that its business relies on outside AI models, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, and on third-party data centres, adding that disruptions to the data centres could impact the company.

Thailand puts 49 data centre construction on hold
The Thai government has suspended the construction of 49 server farms as public concerns about the power-hungry facilities’ impact on communities intensify. An official has said that it is to give time to the government to develop new industry regulations, with clear and consistent standards in place to ensure the industry can grow sustainably. The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as a regional destination for AI and cloud infrastructure as global technology companies including TikTok, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon and Microsoft build out data centre capacity. The government approved 88 projects with a total investment of THB 886 bil (USD 27 bil) related to artificial intelligence and data centres in the first six months of the year.

Shorts

1. No more EU passport sales from the Caribbean

   Since 1984, more than 100,000 people have bought citizenship from the five Caribbean countries – Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda – largely because they offer visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) and dozens of other countries. But it could end soon as Europe, amid its security crackdown, has warned those nations must end the lucrative programmes by 2028 or lose their entry privileges. This leaves the nations vulnerable to an economic breakdown, as passport sales, aka Citizenship by Investment (CBI), are a critical source of funding for the countries (accounting for more than half of national revenue. Jho Low is a CBI client.

2. UN adopts new world map that shows Africa’s true scale

   Did you know the world map we have been seeing is out of proportion? The UN General Assembly has officially retired the 16th-century Mercator projection in favour of one based on the more accurate 2018 Equal Earth design, which displays a more accurate size of Africa. At the session, 164 countries voted in favour of the resolution, except for the US. There were 6 abstentions to the vote. Although the UN resolution is non-enforceable, the outcome is expected to result in an update of classroom curricula and everyday technology given the wide usage of the Mercator projection in education, technology and governance. Just how out of whack? The Mercator map shows Greenland to be same size as Africa, even though the latter is 14x larger. May the truth always prevail. Watch the comparison of the old vs new map:

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

The Science of Pain

1. Ear pressure pain during flight, but it’s your nose that causes it.

2. The pain on the side of your abdomen when you run.

3. The pain that all Malaysians can’t avoid - corruption. Mr Money interviews former MITI minister and now chairman of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).