☕️ Melaka: BN-PN win, DAP steady, PKR wipeout

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

CNY1.78 tril (RM1 tril) – According to data provider Syntun, sales during China’s Singles’ Day shopping festival reached that total, growing 4.8%, compared to the growth of 14.2% from a year earlier. This comes amid a backdrop of subdued consumer confidence, which has been pulled down by a prolonged property downturn, weak income expectations, and job insecurity. While e-commerce platforms have used chatbots to drive sales of AI-related products and other discounted goods, it is not immediately clear how much of an impact those chatbots had. JD.com, as well as Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall, no longer release headline gross merchandise value figures, instead highlighting performance in selected categories, brands, and user metrics. Basically only sharing the good news.

USD1 bil (RM4.09 bil) – That is the annualised revenue run rate of ChatGPT Ads, which OpenAI launched nine months ago and rapidly scaled with new formats, partnerships, and tools. However, the effectiveness of the service has been called into question. According to e-commerce researchers Maximilian Kaiser and Christian Schulze, ChatGPT Ads generated USD0.89 in revenue across 102 advertiser sites, compared with USD2.45 for Google search ads. Search intelligence platform Adthena recently shared ChatGPT ad-performance results from 30 enterprise brands for Jul through Sept as well, revealing that 52% of those advertisers struggled to recoup their ChatGPT ad spend, while 26% matched or beat Google ads. However, OpenAI published a case study from note-taking app Evernote last month, showing that ChatGPT Ads delivered a trial-to-paid conversion rate of between 10% and 20% higher than the firm’s historical average across paid channels. Still, scale remains an issue, as the growth of ChatGPT Ads is limited by the size of ChatGPT’s free user base and the scarcity of ad-relevant conversations.

CNY10 mil (RM6 mil) – 54-year-old entrepreneur Zhang Hansheng from Hebei, China, earned that amount to settle all his debts by making AI videos, despite not having any filmmaking experience. Zhang is the one behind the viral hit “Entering the Song Dynasty with Weapons”, a time-travel series with more than 4 bil views and saved over 11 mil times. Zhang spent all of 2025 learning AI video production, often spending more than 10 hours a day picking up the skill. He has since assembled a 30-member team of fellow enthusiasts, including stay-at-home mothers, e-hailing drivers, delivery riders, and office workers.

Special item for this section:

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

BN-PN tsunami continues, another PKR wipeout
Tanjung Bidara assemblyperson Ab Rauf Yusoh has been sworn in as Melaka chief minister, starting his second term in the role. During the state election, he defeated Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Yunazri Mustamiri by a convincing 8,615-vote margin, up from his 364-vote margin in 2021. The BN-Perikatan Nasional formula continues to work in Melaka, as the coalition secured more than a two-thirds majority in the state assembly, with 24 of 28 seats

The blue-blue tsunami began post Johor state election in July this year. After BN secured 48 of 56 seats in the Johor state election, elements within BN and PN initiated formal seat-sharing cooperation for the Negeri Sembilan state election in August 2026, where the BN-PN alliance won 25 of 36 seats, flipped the incumbent state government, and secured a two-thirds supermajority. Now, the coalition did the same in Melaka. If the BN-PN’s blue-blue tsunami continues into the general election, unless some drastic move is made, PM Anwar may just become a one-term prime minister. One silver lining for PH was that, although it has one fewer seat than in 2021, its component party, DAP, managed to retain the same number of seats it held in 2021, while PKR suffered another wipeout.

BN-PN - on, off, on off
According to Bersama leader Rafizi Ramli, any political cooperation between UMNO, BN’s lynchpin and PAS, PN’s engine, will not last beyond three years, based on the history of their previous alliances. Rafizi said the pattern had been evident in both parties’ previous attempts to work together, arguing that their political differences would eventually resurface despite efforts to present a united front. Looking back through history, this is not the first time UMNO and PAS have worked together. The first partnership began in 1974 and ended in 1977, when a state of emergency was declared in Kelantan, and the PAS-led state government collapsed. Then, both parties worked together again in 2019 under the Muafakat Nasional umbrella, but the alliance broke down within three years as they clashed in the 2021 Melaka state election. Will the current BN-PN cooperation break up again in 2029? Only time will tell. Meantime, Malaccans can take today off as the newly minted chief minister declared November 16 a special state holiday following the BN-PN victory.

Throwback:

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar kembali ke pangkal jalan
Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Ismail Lasim and his ten sacked state excos have retracted their September 17 letter to the Conference of Rulers challenging Tuanku Muhriz's position as Yang di-Pertuan Besar. However, withdrawing the challenge does not automatically end the state constitutional crisis, as a court case over the excos' removal is still ongoing. Ismail is currently under immense pressure as he urgently needs Tuanku Muhriz’s consent to convene the legislative assembly and secure approval for the state budget.

The first visit by a French President to Malaysia in almost a decade
The last time a French president visited Malaysia was in March 2017, when then-President François Hollande made a two-day state visit. French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to arrive on November 16, 2026, for his first official visit to the country. Macron’s visit to Malaysia will focus on securing rare earth supplies for France, which are essential for its automotive, electronic and defence industries. Interestingly, although China dominates the global rare earth supply chain, Malaysia is a major player in this space. Negaraku hosts the largest commercial rare earth separation facility outside China through the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant, making it a critical link for Western and Asian manufacturers seeking non-Chinese supplies.

France was Malaysia’s 10th-largest economic partner and ranked third among the EU’s member states, with bilateral trade reaching approximately RM21.23 bil in 2025, up 11% from 2024. While it is an honour to host Macron in Malaysia, at home, he is considered a ‘lame duck’ president in his final months in office. With his second and final consecutive term ending in May 2027, Macron's domestic authority has been further questioned as he is facing a major protest in which more than 100,000 people have taken to the streets in France in another round of cost-of-living rallies organised by the ‘Yellow Vests’ and various youth movements. The mass protest has been ongoing since October 17, and the unrest has resulted in at least 1 death, more than 1,400 injuries, over 4,000 arrests across multiple weekends, and an estimated EUR1.1 bil in property damage.

Shorts

1. Putrajaya may introduce mandatory phone number verification for WhatsApp accounts

   To curb scam calls, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced that Putrajaya may require WhatsApp to verify the phone numbers linked to accounts. His ministry is currently conducting a feasibility study of introducing such measure, as the scam calls issue has been raised by several countries at a recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) meeting.

2. Malaysians doing well abroad

   Malaysian men’s doubles pair Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King clinched the Japan Masters title today, their second World Tour crown since teaming up last month. The world No. 57 pair defeated world No. 10 home favourites Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 16-21, 21-13, 21-15 in the final. They are the most successful of the new doubles combinations being tested by the Badminton Association of Malaysia as it prepares for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. On the other hand, Malaysian singer Aina Abdul finished in fourth place at the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026, held in Bangkok, Thailand. Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 featured singers from 11 participating countries, where the Philippines' representative, 19-year-old singer Carmelle, emerged victorious (watch here).

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Bring Jensen back
A petition to reinstate Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO has garnered over 151k signatures, with prominent tech leaders such as Elon Musk and Replit CEO Amjad Masad also signing the petition. A website for the campaign, dubbed "Stand with Jensen," said the list includes more than 58,000 shareholders, more than 5,600 current Nvidia employees, and over 1,000 former employees. 

The organisers said in an open letter to Nvidia's board that they believe the board removed Huang without an investigation and "meaningful due process”, and asked for Huang to remain CEO while the investigation continues. An employee said that despite any mistakes Huang had made, he was a singular leader in the vein of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, and has given employees a "surge of motivation" and surprised them with new ideas and products. StandWithJensen.com - check it out.

Traders on the prediction market Kalshi are betting that Huang will make a comeback, and that Nvidia will name him as its next permanent CEO before 2029. On prediction market Polymarket, trading implied a 6% chance that Nvidia would name Apple executive chairman Tim Cook as its next permanent chief executive by the end of 2028.

US, Friday the 13th

Back to work, people, Microsoft says all is OK now
US tech giant Microsoft has said on Saturday that the global outage affecting its Microsoft 365 applications has now ended. The outage began on Thursday, making it impossible for users to perform tasks such as sending emails and holding online meetings. Microsoft applications such as Teams, Outlook and Copilot were all hit. It marked the longest in Microsoft's history and the second this year. Altogether, more than 7.4 mil reports of problems worldwide were logged by Downdetector, which monitors online outages.

US air travel issues to persist well into Sunday, with thousands of flights affected
Coincidentally (or perhaps not), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US has issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours. It was the longest nationwide halt to air travel since the attacks of Sept 11, 2001 and one of the single worst US travel days ever. 

The head of the FAA predicted that air travel would not return to normal schedules until late yesterday, as the aviation system gradually recovers from the predicament blamed on routine maintenance gone awry. More than 6,150 US flights were cancelled and more than 7,300 delayed on Saturday, on top of about 9,200 flights cancelled and 7,500 delayed on Friday. The disruption is the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by ageing technology, equipment and communications problems and a shortage of several thousand controllers.

'Miracle on Mississippi' -  All passengers safe after cruise ship collision
A cruise ship named American Heritage was left lying on its side in the Mississippi River after it was hit by the cargo vessel Atlantic Asphalt when it was docking in New Orleans. 130 people have been rescued, with 32 people suffering non-critical injuries. Thankfully, no one was unaccounted for. The American Heritage had been finishing an eight-day cruise calling at destinations in Louisiana and Mississippi along the waterway. The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation at the time of writing. Straight out of a movie scene. Watch here POV of incoming vessel.

Shorts

1. Trump, Putin and Xi will possibly meet in China this week

   The White House has said that a trilateral meeting between President Trump, President Putin and President Xi Jinping has been planned during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit (Nov 18-19) in the southern city of Shenzhen, China, next week, although only Russia has confirmed the attendance so far. The respective leaders of the US, Russia and China will possibly discuss the topic of nuclear weapons and Iran, but not Ukraine. As for Trump and Xi, probably will be talking about Jensen.

2. Man jailed for grooming at least 70 girls online

   An Indian nationality student studying at the University of Chester, UK, Bilal Kazi, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of grooming at least 70 girls and manipulating them into sending sexually explicit videos and images of themselves. He posed as a 14-year-old white British teenage boy on apps like Snapchat, Wink and Roblox and targeted victims between age 10 and 17, making them believe they were in a relationship with him. Judge Stephen Everett said Kazi was a sexual predator who took advantage of "what appears to be a lack of proper security on social media sites".

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Space stuff

1. SpaceX made history with Starship returning back to Earth from orbit and caught for the first time with giant mechanical arms nicknamed “chopsticks”. Scenes from the ground here - like a sports event.

2. Starship was sent up to deploy Starlink satellites - watch the view above here. Very sci-fi but real. Matter of time asteroid mining for gold, platinum etc. becomes a reality - scientifically already WIP.

3. Malaysia had its own space drama too 2 weeks ago with the re-entry of debris from NASA’s space telescope and Southern Taurids meteor shower coinciding.