☕️ DAP to stay in unity government

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

GBP6.85 mil (RM37.88 mil) – The costs for a driver to climb the F1 ladder starting from the age of 8, assuming the driver is one of those who takes the minimum number of seasons needed to move up to the next stage. The karting series for eight-year-olds costs about GBP130,000 per season for five years, before increasing to between GBP220,000 and GBP260,000 for karting at age 13 for at least two years. The next series, F4, costs about GBP520,000 per season, which then increases to GBP1 mil for the FRECA series. After that is F3, which costs between GBP1.3 mil and GBP1.6 mil per season, then finally F2, which costs between GBP2 mil and GBP2.3 mil per season. Still, these costs do not include the other parts of being a racer, like securing sponsorship deals, finding a team, and securing enough experience at each stage to move up to the next.
Fun fact: there are actually more astronauts than F1 drivers, meaning it is actually easier to make it to space than into F1.

Over 15 mil – Indie video game Meccha Chameleon (watch gameplay here) sold that many copies in the month following its launch on 10 Jun, with a simple estimate placing total sales at about JPY10 bil (RM256.48 mil), considering each copy is priced at between USD4.69 and USD5.99. The game is essentially a version of hide-and-seek made for two to 10 players, but the hiders can paint and pose their avatars to blend in with their surroundings. The game, which ranked sixth for monthly active users among PC games in its first month, was made by a team of a grand total of two people from Japan – Lemorion_1224, who worked on planning and graphics, and Haganeiro, who handled systems and effects. Lemorion revealed that most sales come from the US, China, and other parts of Asia, with Japan accounting for around 10%.

Nearly 4,000% – Commercial revenue from front-of-shirt sponsorship deals has soared that much since the first time a brand was worn on the front of a player’s jersey. Back in 1979, Everton became the first club to wear shirts with a brand on the front, in this case Danish tinned meat firm Hafnia, at an official league match. They were followed by Liverpool, who signed with Hitachi, days later. Front-of-shirt deals were one of the biggest elements of commercial revenue, and as the Premier League’s broadcasting footprint increased, so too did the value of the deals. According to Kieran Maguire, professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool, commercial revenue has grown nearly 4,000% from about GBP58 mil (RM320.73 mil) to GBP2.4 bil (RM13.27 bil) in 2024-25. A new development in this field is that the clubs have voted to ban gambling companies from being front-of-shirt sponsors, 20 years after gambling firms were first allowed to.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

DAP voted to stay with the Unity Government
88.2% of the delegates that cast the secret votes during DAP’s congress yesterday has voted in favour of its Cabinet ministers remaining in Malaysia’s unity government. This news will be a big relief for PM Anwar, who is under immense pressure after its ‘friend’ at the federal level, Barisan Nasional (BN), went against them and won in two state elections - Johor and Negeri Sembilan. The defeat in the Negeri Sembilan state election was a bitter pill that needed to be swallowed, especially for DAP whose Secretary-General, Anthony Loke, lost his state seat to an MCA candidate. Coming back to the DAP Congress, a total of 4,264 delegates were eligible to vote, with 2,223 of them attending the congress. Initially scheduled for July 12, the congress was postponed due to the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections. Having DAP at his side is very important for PM Anwar as DAP holds 40 parliamentary seats in Malaysia’s 222-member lower house, the most seats in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and occupies five ministerial portfolios.

Reforms coming out of PKR Congress

AUKU will be repealed
PM Anwar announced that Putrajaya will repeal the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU), an infamous legislation that restricts students’ voice and led to the rise of various student leaders who opposed the law, including PKR’s own, Adam Adli. The announcement was delivered during the PKR Congress, and PM Anwar added that the removal of the law is timely as several amendments before this failed to address all concerns raised by university students. AUKU has been amended several times since it was introduced in 1971, including changes in 2012 that allowed students to participate in political party activities outside campus, and again in 2024 where student representative councils and student bodies were allowed to collect money and receive contributions subject to prevailing laws and regulations.

However, repealing a law in Malaysia is a long and tedious process, which requires passing a Bill through both houses of Parliament before it finally goes to the King for a Royal Assent. So, it is too early to celebrate it on the streets, and student bodies such as Liga Mahasiswa Malaysia are aware of this, where they urge the government to provide a clear timeline for the repeal and the introduction of a replacement legal framework.

Crackdown on Tabung Haji will intensify
PKR President Anwar Ibrahim also told the delegates at the PKR Congress that Putrajaya will pledge tougher action against corruption, and he also shared that the King instructed that anti-corruption crackdown should not stop with Tabung Haji. At the moment, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained a CEO of a shipping company, a company director, a former company director and four former senior Tabung Haji management officers to assist in its investigations into the Tabung Haji RCI report.

Apart from Tabung Haji, the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) is also under the microscope, once the world’s largest plantation company earning billions annually, but now faces debts of almost RM10 bil due to mismanagement and excessive political interference.

Awesome art by BFM - got to view in IG for full effect:

RM36.6 bil new energy efficiency investment opportunities
MBSB Research projected that Malaysia's push for greater energy efficiency under the National Energy Efficiency Policy and Action Plan (NEEAP) 2.0 and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (EECA) 2024 will unlock RM36.6 bil in investment opportunities, where RM9.1 bil will come from industrial and commercial projects, including energy-efficient motors, automation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and chillers, heat recovery, mechanical and electrical retrofits, and district cooling. Existing local manufacturers should capitalise on this opportunity while this multi-billion Ringgit golden goose should catalyse the creation of new startups. MBSB Research has identified a few companies that may benefit from this, which are Critical Holdings Bhd, KJTS Group Bhd, Solar District Cooling Group Bhd, AWC Bhd, BM Greentech Bhd, Solarvest Holdings Bhd, Pekat Group Bhd and Samaiden Group. Not financial advice.

Shorts

1. Six-month traffic diversion begins along Damansara-Shah Alam NKVE

   PLUS Malaysia Berhad announced that a traffic diversion will be implemented along the Damansara-Shah Alam route at KM13.60 to KM14.35, situated between the Shah Alam and Subang/Damansara interchanges, in both directions of the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) for six months. The traffic diversion is needed to make way for the construction of a pedestrian bridge across the highway.

2. Free 10GB Data for Merdeka

   Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced a 10GB free data initiative, in partnership with five telco companies - CelcomDigi, Maxis, TM, U Mobile, and YES. The first 5GB will be distributed on August 31 and a further 5GB on September 16. The initiative is available to both Malaysian prepaid and postpaid users. The redemption method and validity period will be announced by the respective telco companies soon.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

The United States of Hormuz
If you can’t beat them, well, you just declare it as your country’s territory. That’s the logic of Trump with regard to the Straits of Hormuz. Despite repeated claims that Iran is close to striking a deal with the US, the conflict rages on, and the strait is still blocked. So, Trump has switched strategies and is now threatening to claim the strait as a territory of the United States. It is unclear how he intends to do that, and it’s not like he can build embassies on the water or build islands in the South China Sea like China is doing. But he seems dead serious as he said, “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. Essentially, that’s what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.” Iran said it will not be intimidated as the strait remains under its authority.

Both the US and Iran are still not talking, and a peace deal seems far away again. Here’s a video of Trump saying all these things, and Al Jazeera is kinda calling his bluff in a very neutral way.

Prabowo wants to cut Indonesian SOEs down
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto wants to close about 750 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by year-end, reducing it to about 300 (curious about Malaysia’s - read below). He describes the situation as: “There are far too many unproductive state-owned enterprises, always reporting losses while claiming profits — those profits are just made up”. He has closed about 290 SOEs so far, and said that it has saved the country about IDR50 tril (RM11.5 bil) in overhead costs. That, combined with ‘improvements’ in how SOEs are managed, raised the country’s profits by 75% to IDR326 tril last year. He is also talking about creating a special court to investigate ‘unproductive’ boards reporting ‘made-up’ profits. Prabowo intends to improve the country’s image, which has been heavily associated with corruption and graft. It scored 34 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025. At the same time, Prabowo aims to save about IDR70 tril and targets an economic growth of 6.0% by the end of 2026. He might have a tough road ahead as the country faces a tanking currency and a cost of living crisis amid high global oil prices.

Prabowo was one of the top presidents in the world with an 81.2% approval rating in November 2025, but that number has fallen off a cliff to 51.1% in July 2026. The big question now is whether he can survive by year-end. 

Fun fact: Malaysia has up to 2,000 government-linked companies as of 2024., with 8x smaller population as compared to Indonesia. With Tabung haji, 1MDB, FELDA dan lain-lain, Malaysia really needs to ‘clean house’ too - aggressively.

Starbucks Korea struck from the stars and ‘tanked’
Well, Tank Day really tanked Starbucks Korea in the latest quarter. What was once the coffee star in the South Korean market now reports its first loss in 27 years of KRW18.4 bil (RM53 mil) in 2Q 2026. Starbucks Korea started operations in 1999, and is its third largest market outside the US and China. Revenue was down 6.1% to KRW747.4 bil (RM2.2 bil) from a year ago. Whoever thought running a ‘Tank Day’ promotion that offers discounts on large “Tank” tumblers on the anniversary of South Korea’s 1980 Gwangju uprising was a good idea needs to really study history.

An event that involved troops and tanks being deployed to suppress pro-democracy protestors is sure to be politically sensitive. A boycott ensued among South Koreans. Starbucks Korea’s CEO was dismissed, and Chung Yong-Jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group (operator of Starbucks franchise in South Korea), repeatedly bowed during a televised apology. Last week, Starbucks Korea was searched by police for the marketing campaign. For now, the company will ‘concentrate on business stabilisation by restoring brand trust’. On 22 June, it closed all of its 2,000 South Korean stores early for ‘modern Korean history and social sensitivity’ training. 

For readers interested in the Gwangju Uprising, view here. Getting cancelled is the new risk factor.

Mother Earth: Shaking and Heating Up

7.7 earthquake hits East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake has hit East Nusa Tenggara (view map here), Indonesia and killed at least 51 people, forcing 5,000 people to evacuate. The epicentre was located about 68km north-northwest of the city of Ende on Flores Island. The earthquake was followed by 341 aftershocks and is the country’s deadliest in years. A tsunami warning was issued but has since been lifted. Rescue efforts are complicated by the scattered geography of small islands, landslides, blocked roads, and disrupted communications. In 1992, a similar earthquake hit the same area and triggered a tsunami. It killed more than 2,500 people on Flores. Officials are now mulling whether to announce a state of emergency that could provide additional funding and aid. Our prayers are with Indonesia in these tough times.

Earth fever insurance
Europe’s fifth heatwave is here. And it is decimating the traditional 6-7 pm time slot for an early evening drink in outdoor settings. Customers are now going for air-conditioning indoors as they seek to escape the blistering heat. Business interruption insurance does not traditionally cover extreme heat circumstances, reducing sales for many hospitality businesses. Last summer, Moody’s estimated that businesses lost a total of EUR43 bil (RM203 bil) while generating only EUR500 mil of insured payouts. Meanwhile, a survey of 9,000 small and medium-sized firms found 28% held business interruption cover as part of their property insurance, while 17% had non-damage business interruption protection covering events such as strike action. This protection gap is widening with extreme heat occurring more frequently. It’s hard for insurance companies to price the damage from heat as it leads to a host of other events such as drought, wildfire and water shortages. 

Insurers are increasingly exploring new parametric insurance products that pay out automatically when temperatures exceed predefined thresholds. And the market for this product is expected to reach USD7.9 bil (RM32.2 bil) by 2031. However, businesses are adapting by investing in cooling technologies, redesigning workplaces and stress-testing supply chains. 

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. The perspective of a nepo baby. It was reported previously that Mamee received a big investment of about RM1 bil from a GLIC.

2. Another new trailer - Avengers: Doomsday.

3. Gen Y’s flex. Have a good start to the week!