☕️ No one escapes justice: Clever-clever squirrel jump, one day fall to the ground also

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

French footballer Kylian Mbappe won a battle for unpaid salary and bonuses against his former club Paris Saint-Germain, with the club now required to pay EUR60 mil (RM286.1 mil) in owed wages to the French national team’s captain, who now plays for La Liga club Real Madrid. Part of the wages includes over EUR1.5 mil (RM7.15 mil) in “ethics bonus” payments. But what is an ethics bonus? Simply put, it is a common part of a professional athlete’s contract, which is essentially a good conduct fee. In effect, the base wage and the ethics bonus together make up the athlete’s total salary. It is also a way for English football clubs to be able to fine players up to two weeks’ wages for misdemeanours, while skirting the French law that forbids any deductions from a worker’s salary.

Meanwhile, in something football-adjacent, the founder and CEO of sports betting platform Bet365, Denise Coates, marked another year of being among Britain’s highest-paid bosses. She received a pay package of at least GBP280 mil (RM1.53 bil), an increase of over two-thirds from almost GBP158 mil last year despite tumbling profits at the gambling firm. A Companies House filing revealed she was awarded GBP104 mil in salary to the year in March 2025, and she is entitled to at least half of the GBP354 mil dividend payment Bet365 declared this year. This pay package means she has earned over GBP2 bil over the past decade.

On other rich people, Elon Musk is now the first person in history whose net worth has surpassed USD700 bil (RM2.8 tril). The increase in fortune came after the Delaware Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s ruling invalidating Musk’s 2018 Tesla stock option package, now valued at USD139 bil. With the successful appeal, Musk’s net worth is now at a record USD749 bil. Musk was previously reported to have passed the USD600 bil milestone earlier this month. As recently as March 2020, Musk’s net worth was estimated at USD24.6 bil - that’s 30x in 5+ years. Then, in January 2021, he became the richest person in the world, surpassing the USD200 bil and USD300 bil milestones in the same year. 2024 saw Musk passing the USD400 bil and USD500 bil net worth milestones. The only other person who has reached the USD300 bil and USD400 bil net worth marks is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Langkah Perlis
Same same, but smaller scale

Perlis Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy chairman becomes the new Perlis Menteri Besar
Kuala Perlis assemblyman and Perlis Bersatu Chief Abu Bakar Hamzah took his oath of office before the Raja of Perlis to become the new MB. Abu Bakar took over the role from his predecessor Mohd Shukri Ramli, marking Bersatu’s ‘win’ in the latest PN internal struggle between Bersatu and PAS. The former MB, Mohd Shukri Ramli, who is from PAS, resigned from his position due to ‘health reasons’. Abu Bakar was the state executive for the portfolios of Tourism, Arts and Culture, as well as Rural Development.

What happened?
Turmoil within the Perlis state government led to Shukri Ramli’s unseating. Five Bersatu assemblypersons and three PAS assemblypersons had submitted statutory declarations (SDs) to the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail, stating that they had lost confidence in Mohd Shukri, who is from PAS.

By-election needed to fill three vacant seats
The act of mutiny by the three PAS assemblypersons led to them being kicked out of PAS, and subsequently pushed the Perlis state legislative assembly speaker, Rus’sele Eizan, to announce that by-elections needed to be held for all three seats (Chuping, Bintong and Guar Sanji). In GE15, PAS secured nine seats and Bersatu five, while Pakatan Harapan (PH), through PKR, won the remaining seat.

Not a good week for Najib Razak
After his house arrest bid was rejected, Najib got another L last Friday. Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that former PM Najib Razak was guilty of all 25 counts of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.2 bil of misappropriated funds from 1MDB. Consequently, Najib was sentenced to 15 years in jail and a fine of RM11.38 bil. Quoting Sequerah: “The contention by the accused that the charges against him were a witch hunt and politically motivated was debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence that pointed towards the accused having abused his all-powerful position in 1MDB.” Sequerah’s verdict concluded a trial that had stretched across 302 days over a period of six years.

Responding to the verdict, Najib’s lead counsel, Shafee Abdullah, told the media that this was the most unprecedented loss of his nearly 50-year legal career, akin to losing 100-0 in football. Despite his decades of experience, he never did learn there’s a first time for everything. However, Shafee stated that he is not surprised by the verdict and accused the judge of making “so many blunders”. Shafee added that he is more confident in arguing his case at the appellate level, as the more mistakes made by a judge, the better his chances. He said that one of the issues to be raised in the appeal is the acceptance of hearsay evidence throughout the trial. If Najib fails in all of his appeals, he could potentially be released in 2043, when he would be 90 years old. Watch Shafee’s press conference here.

The Malaysian Army Chief was put on leave
In a huge slap in the face to the Malaysian Army, Malaysia’s army chief, General Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan, has been put on leave due to ongoing corruption allegations against him. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had launched an investigation into alleged irregularities in army procurement projects from 2023 to 2025. A preliminary review found that several companies had repeatedly secured high-value army contracts after going through 158 projects worth more than RM500,000 and 4,521 projects below that threshold. It was also claimed that a ‘senior military officer’ and his family members had received a large amount of cash into their bank accounts, which were deposited from junior military officers’ own bank accounts. While we are still licking our wounds from the whole littoral combat ship (LCS) saga, now we have this new scandal. Military officers need to stop treating our ATM (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia) as their own ATMs (Automated Teller Machine).

With Najib and this army chief case, it’s good that we remind ourselves of this proverb: “Clever clever squirrel jump, one day fall to the ground also”. By Mark Twain  Mat Tuwen.

Shorts

1. KL, Selangor, Penang and Putrajaya top the cost of living index

   The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has recently released the Decent Living Expenditure Index, and unsurprisingly, Klang Valley states and Penang top the charts. By using Kuala Lumpur as the reference point at an index value of 100, for single-person households, Selangor recorded the highest index at 92 points, while the lowest are Kelantan and Sarawak at 53.7 points, and Kedah at 56.6. Similar patterns are observed for two-person households. The Decent Living Expenditure Index is a new indicator introduced to measure the level of spending required to maintain a reasonable standard of living across different locations. View the report here.

2. Stricter anti-littering law in 2026

   Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming sounded the final warning bell, stating that the community service order for littering offences will come into force on January 1, 2026. One minute after the mark of the New Year, anyone, including foreigners, who throws rubbish in public places will be fined RM2,000 and sentenced to 12 hours of public cleansing work. Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) and local authorities will become the main enforcement bodies of this new law. Meanwhile in Taiwan:

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Peace efforts

Zelensky proposes demilitarised zones (DMZ)
The US and Ukrainian envoys have agreed upon a 20-point plan in Florida last week, where Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky provided details of an updated peace plan offering Russia the potential withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the east and the creation of a demilitarised zone in their place. Also known as DMZ, it would be similar to the one established between North Korea and South Korea. The plan is said to be “the main framework for ending the war” and proposes security guarantees from the US, NATO and Europeans for a coordinated military response if Russia invaded Ukraine again. Zelensky explained that if Ukraine was prepared to pull its heavy forces back by five, 10 or 40 km in the 25% of Donetsk that it still held to create an economic zone and demilitarise it, then Russia would have to do the same “accordingly by five, 10, or 40km”. He also added that the zone has to be policed by Ukraine, not Russia. Russia is said to respond to the proposal by Wednesday, but President Putin might not quite like it.

New Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire begins
Thanks to the diplomatic efforts by China and the US, a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia has come into effect as of Saturday noon (local time), after almost three weeks of deadly clashes had forced nearly one mil people from their homes. The defence ministers of the two countries agreed to freeze the front lines where they are stationed, ban reinforcements and allow civilians living in border areas to return as soon as possible. After 72 hours, 18 Cambodian soldiers held by Thailand since July will be released, and an agreement has also been made to remove landmines. Thailand had been reluctant to accept the ceasefire, saying that the last one was not properly implemented. They also resented what they saw as Cambodia’s efforts to internationalise the conflict. How well the ceasefire holds this time now depends largely on political will, while nationalist sentiment has been inflamed in both countries.

Turkiye arrests 115 ISIL suspects planning for holiday attacks
Authorities in Turkiye have managed to capture more than 100 suspected ISIL (ISIS) operatives in Istanbul after a sweeping operation across 124 locations in the city. 115 suspects were arrested, while the hunt continues for 22 more suspects. It was said that the ISIL members were “planning attacks in Turkiye against non-Muslims in particular” during the holiday period. Turkiye has ramped up its effort to combat the armed group, which it regards as the country’s second-most serious “terrorism” threat. Turkiye has emerged as a primary target for ISIL activity given its demography and geography that shares a long border with Syria (view map here), where the armed group maintains a presence despite losing its territorial holdings in 2019. The group has since been expanding in Central Asia and has new affiliates across Africa. Between 2013 and 2023, authorities arrested more than 19,000 individuals for alleged affiliations with the group.

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland slammed across world capitals
Israel has formally recognised the state of Somaliland, a region in the Horn of Africa that declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 and has been pushing for international recognition for decades. Israel became the first country to recognise it as an “independent and sovereign state”, prompting Somalia to call the decision a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty. The Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the African Union (AU), and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have joined numerous countries and foreign ministers to decry the move. On Friday, Somalia demanded Israel reverse its recognition of Somaliland as independent, condemning the move as an act of “aggression that will never be tolerated”. Somaliland leader President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi hailed Israel’s decision as a “historic moment” and said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a “strategic partnership”.
Learn more about Somaliland here.

Shorts

1. BP sells stake in motor oil arm Castrol for USD 6 bil

   BP has struck a USD6 bil deal by selling a 65% stake of its motor oil division Castrol to New York-based company Stonepeak. Castrol is a renowned brand that makes lubricants for cars, motorcycles and industrial vehicles. The deal valued Castrol at USD 10.1 bil with BP receiving the USD6 bil in cash, which it will use to pay down debts and allow it to focus on its core business. In February, BP announced plans to sell off USD20 bil worth of assets in a bid to focus on its core crude oil and gas business and strengthen its balance sheet. Now it’s over halfway to meeting that target. BP is also shifting away from green energy and renews its focus on oil and gas, following pressure from some investors who were frustrated that its profits and share price had lagged behind rivals.

2. New York passes law for social media to display mental health labels

   In its effort to safeguard children against the potential harm of social media, the state of New York will soon require social media platforms with infinite scrolling, autoplay and algorithmic feeds to display labels about their potential harm to young users’ mental health, akin to warnings on other products like tobacco, which communicate the risk of cancer, or plastic packaging, which warn of the risk of suffocation for small children. The state law would allow the state attorney general to take legal action and seek civil penalties of up to USD5,000 per violation. Watch the below. Worth every minute. Even adults are not spared from social media addiction an its effects.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Mother nature

1. Rare ‘earthquake wave’ spotted off the coast of Western Australia, with the waves colliding and spraying up to 40m.

2. TIL: The Sahara Desert fertilises the Amazon rainforest - 100,000 semi-trucks of dust full of phosphorus to the Amazon every year. Watch the satellite imagery here of the journey of the dust by NASA.

3. Calm your soul as you reflect on your 2025. Practice breathing like this penguing.

4. A friendly reminder by LHDN to help you pay less taxes.