☕️ Noisy neighbour, uncle sets fire

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

5 of 11 – Movies featuring Spider-Man took 5 spots among the 11 movies that made up the Top 10 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, according to critic site Rotten Tomatoes. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” took first place, followed by “Black Panther”, while “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” took third. 4th place was a tie between “Avengers: Endgame” and “Iron Man”, while 6th place had a four-way tie between “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, “Logan”, “Thor: Ragnarok”, and “Spider-Man 2”. In 10th place is a tie between “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”. So you see now how there are 11 movies in a Top 10 list.
For the full list featuring all 89 MCU movies, see here.

USD1.69 mil (RM6.83 mil) – That was how much a rare collection of notes by Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi sold for at auction in Mumbai recently. The notes, which were preserved by the family of Gandhi’s close associate, freedom fighter Anand T Hingorani, included 688 of Gandhi’s handwritten messages on truth, non-violence, and self-restraint written between 1944 and 1946. According to auction house Saffronart, the sale set a record for the highest price paid for an Indian historical document at an auction. The notes were part of an 86-lot auction that included letters, manuscripts, photographs, and personal objects preserved by the Hingorani family, with the collection spanning more than 20 years.
Check out the items here.

8 last meals – Francis Clifford Smith, who passed away in Jun 2026 at the age of 101, was the longest-serving prisoner in the US and also its oldest inmate. However, he died of old age, rather than by execution, as he was spared the sentence 8 times after having been served 8 last meals. Smith was convicted of murder in 1950 when he was 25, but always maintained his innocence. Still, cases of older inmates like Smith may become more common, as the US Census Bureau forecasts that at least one-third of the incarcerated population will be over the age of 50. Another study, conducted in 2025, also found that the number of people aged 55 and older in prison increased by nearly 400% between 1991 and 2021.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Tabung Haji ex-CEO detained
An unnamed ex-CEO of Tabung Haji was supposed to give a statement at the MACC headquarters last Thursday. But MACC has now detained him for alleged misappropriation involving investments and shares worth about RM190 mil. The remand will last until 27 August and was issued by the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court. The investigation has now snagged eight individuals, including a CEO of an oil and gas service firm, directors and four former senior executives of Tabung Haji.

A bit more on remand order
By law, authorities can hold a person for 24 hours without being charged in court, and any further remand requires a court order. But a ruling by the Court of Appeal in August 2023 has basically allowed MACC officers to continue using Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code to remand the suspect past the 24 hours through an application to the magistrate. For context, in June 2023, a High Court ruled that MACC can only use its powers under its own Section 49(2) of the MACC Act (not CPC) to remand individuals past the 24 hours, but this was ultimately overturned in the August 2023 ruling. This basically means that MACC has extensive powers to remand suspects for long periods of time. Even at remand stage, a suspect is still considered innocent.

Anwar wants Prabowo’s help for Felda’s RM2.5 bil potential loss
Corruption seems to be the order of the year for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He has written to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for help on a Felda investment in PT Eagle High Plantations, which could run into billions of ringgit in losses. Felda initially invested USD505 mil in December 2016, which was criticised heavily for being heavily overvalued by a nonsensical 300% compared to market value. But now, Felda might be facing a potential loss of RM2.5 bil and could only recover about RM200 mil. During a meet-and-greet session with Felda’s senior management and managers, Anwar said that ‘this situation is an example of mismanagement’. Though he is not keen on pointing fingers at managers, as he said, ‘I want the managers to understand how difficult the recovery will be. This is not a problem caused by the managers.’

If not by managers, then who? Najib - more story here. The seller of the stake is The Rajawali Group, belonging to Tan Sri Peter Sondakh, an Indonesian businessman and close associate of disgraced convicted plundering crook Najib.

Penang enforces private homestay by-laws
Penang is taking the lead in Malaysia by introducing and enforcing private short-term rental property by-laws, with its Private Homestay By-Law 2026 coming into force on 1 Aug. Penang received a total of 388 complaints between 2020 and March 2026, most involving public nuisance and safety concerns. If you have lived beside an Airbnb, you would have known about the noises that come with it if the renters intend to throw big and loud parties. Operators must now obtain a license and comply with requirements covering cleanliness, safety, operating conditions and prohibited activities, similar to how a hotel needs to comply with regulations also. Here are the fee structures.

1. License application: RM50 each

2. Annual license fee: RM1,000 for premises with up to 3 rooms. Additional RM200 for every extra room, capped at two additional rooms. 

3. Separate annual fee: RM1,800

Generally, short-term rental operations are allowed in general residential, business and limited business zones, subject to planning requirements. There are additional regulations also, and differs according to the Penang city councils

1. No short-term rental operations in government, healthcare, childcare, workers’ hostels, and private educational premises. This also includes low-cost and low-medium-cost housing, controlled-price homes and People’s Housing Projects.

2. Penang Island City Council (MBPP): No short-term rental operations in all stratified residential properties. Allowed for commercial properties, serviced apartments, small office home offices (SOHO), shops, shophouses and shop offices may be considered for short-term rental use. Detached, semi-detached and terrace houses with individual titles may also be considered.

3. Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP): Short-term rentals allowed in residential and commercial areas. 

Klang Valley and Johor might be next to consider this.

Shorts

1. Government not acquiring Datasonic

   It could have been another episode of Felda. Well, for now, the government has come out to say ‘no’ to a plan to buy out Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB). If you don’t know what it does, just know that it provides MyKad, Malaysian passports, MyTentera, and MyPOCA to Malaysians. Apparently, NexG Bhd, which holds DTSB, was reported to have valued the company at RM7.5 bil after receiving a government request for an indicative price - an astronomical 600% more than its market cap. Instead, the government will continue to regulate the matter through a ‘framework encompassing legal, financial, governance and security aspects’. If the whole Tabung Haji RCI dragnet did not occur, wonder would it have gone through.

2. Don’t make so much noise, or uncle come burn your house

   Fight noise with fire? That’s apparently a 77-year-old uncle’s thought process when he allegedly set fire to his neighbour’s home in Temerloh, Pahang. He wasn’t happy with the loud radio noise being played by his neighbour for a long time. He took a piece of paper and a bottle of petrol, and proceeded to light it up. The fire was put out, and police arrested him shortly after; no one was hurt. But what a way to burn all bridges with your neighbour. Watch the arson here.

3. Rempits do ‘road block’ to race

   Apart from corruption running rampant, rempits are hard in action now too. Apparently, a group of rempit riders blocked the Leburaya Linkedua Senai-Indahphura in Kulai, Johor, so that they could have a race at 7 a.m. Motorists thought it was a police roadblock or an accident, but it wasn’t. In the social media video that went viral, two rempits in Superman poses can be seen riding at high speed on the highway. After that, they set off fireworks in the sky. Police are still investigating the incident and will provide a full account of it when completed. Watch their stunt and fireworks here.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

When hatred is in the core

Ben-Gvir shares exclusive gallows site for hanging Palestinians
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a gloating video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offences will be hanged. The site is also said to be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings. Note that the gallows is only meant for Palestinians convicted of terror, not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes. 

Reports of the construction of the gallows follow the passage of a new Israeli law earlier this year. The law requires military courts to apply the death penalty as the only available sentence, unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment. Jewish Israelis are in effect protected from the death penalty by a provision that applies the law only to murder committed with the “intent to deny the existence of the state of Israel”. Ben-Gvir, one of the main drivers of Israel’s new death penalty law, has a long history of extremist statements and provocations. His 50th birthday cake in May was a birthday cake decorated with an iced image of a noose.

Israel’s Chief Rabbi denies Palestinians' existence
Separately, Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef in a speech at the Gush Katif Museum in West Jerusalem has openly denied the existence of Palestinians as a people and declared that they “have no rights”. The chief rabbi even went further, laying Jewish claim to the Gaza Strip and cities throughout the occupied West Bank, as well as calling for the destruction of Gaza and the establishment of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian enclave. Coming from a religious leader.

Children’s rights

Six-year-old child died after being slapped by his teacher
A six-year-old child in Andhra Pradesh, India, collapsed and reportedly died after he was slapped by his teacher in a school classroom, triggering an uproar around corporal punishment practices in the country. The incident was captured on a security camera and went viral, and police said that they are investigating the case following a complaint from the child’s father.  A 2018 study by the Indian NGO Agrasar found that roughly 80% of low-income school children in India experience corporal punishment from teachers, despite it being officially illegal.
Watch incident here.

Mountain madness: Father left son on Mount Fuji and continued on ascent
A father has decided to leave his 7-year-old son on active volcano Mount Fuji as he proceeded with his 5-hour ascent up the mountain, reportedly due to his son being too tired to continue. The child was found by authorities near the sixth station of the Fujinomiya trail at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres. Thankfully, he was okay. The man was reprimanded by the police officers for his neglect and has apologised deeply for his rash decision. Mount Fuji is a popular hike during the summer, but its weather is unpredictable due to its own microclimate, posing serious risks of hypothermia even in the hotter months.

Shorts

1. Bali jails Swiss tourist for insulting sacred Nyepi Day

   A Swiss man has been sentenced to a year in prison for insulting Bali’s sacred religious event Nyepi back in Mar, where people have to stay home and refrain from making loud noises for one day, including tourists. The man had violated the restrictions and filmed himself walking on an empty beach during the Nyepi day, commenting on how “crazy” it was. His action triggered widespread anger among Balinese who, of late, have to endure a surge in tourism and misbehaviour among their foreign visitors. During Nyepi which takes place in Mar, essentially everything shuts down in Bali for 24 hours, even the airport.
   Learn more about this day here.

2. Beautiful Borneo is burning, smog is coming

   Indonesia has deployed an additional 1,500 soldiers to the land to combat raging wildfires in Borneo, home to pristine rainforest and vast plantations. Authorities reported that fires between January and July have burned over 200,000 hectares of land — an area three times the size of the capital Jakarta- as dry conditions driven by a powerful El Niño weather pattern take hold. The burning has created smog in neighbouring areas including Malaysian Borneo. This probably contributes to the bouts of cough going on lately. Stay safe.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

As you start the week, here’s some thinking to face the week ahead

1. Psychological warfare - how military strategist Zhuge Liang turned away its enemy with an empty city.

2. Stuck somewhere in life (e.g. like your ‘desk’ now)? Neuroscience explains, using Odysseus and the nymph, Calypso.

3. Applies to adults too. Note to self.

Happy holidays!