☕️ Deepfake AI audio causes unrest in a society, destroys life of an innocent man

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

After more than 180 years, horse racing in Singapore officially came to an end on Saturday as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day. The 120-hectare site will be repurposed for new public and private homes, as the government prepares to accommodate the nation’s growing population, which recently surpassed six million. The land is expected to be returned by early 2027. Despite the initial shock in the racing community when the closure was announced last year, the sport had been in decline, with race-day spectatorship falling from 11,000 in 2010 to around 6,000 in 2019, further hit by the pandemic. 10,000 people attended the final event, filling only a third of the stadium’s capacity.

Nearly half of the members of the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) reported having unsold completed residential units as of June 2024. A significant portion of these unsold homes are Bumiputera lots, with 33% remaining unsold even after three years. In the first half of 2024, 47% of these unsold Bumiputera lots were priced between RM500,000 and RM700,000, while 29% were in the RM300,000 to RM500,000 range. Besides the Bumiputera quota, low demand and high property loan rejection rates—averaging 31%—were also cited as key reasons for the housing glut.

The US is expected to face a shortage of six mil workers by 2032, driven by retirements, workforce participation declines, and job mismatches, according to a study by Lightcast. A major factor is the retirement of older workers, with four-fifths of the five million people who left the workforce since 2020 being over 55 years old. Another challenge is the mismatch between available workers and industries in demand, like health care, construction, and trades, as the workforce is projected to become younger, more educated, and increasingly female.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Crisis for the Malaysian Armed Forces
The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) has been safeguarding the sovereignty of our nation since 1933, even before we achieved independence, boasting 113,000 active personnel and consists of three main branches - the Malaysian Army (MA), the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). Despite outgunning the enemies in multiple conflicts from the Communists Insurgency up to the Lahad Datu standoff, MAF was only allocated RM19.7 bil in 2024, way below the recommended 2% defence spending to the national gross domestic product (GDP). This lack of spending on defence has led to MAF breaking as it seems:

1. MA — The MA still has yet to receive its four leased UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters from the local company Aerotree Defence & Services Sdn Bhd, with a five-year lease contract worth RM187 mil. Initially, Aerotree supposedly needed to deliver the helicopters by April of this year. Subsequently, the Defence Ministry gave a hard deadline to deliver the Black Hawks by October but the helicopters still remained ‘stealthy’ like the infamous littoral combat ships (LCS). Now, the Chief of Defence Force Mohammad Ab Rahman will give until the end of the month for the choppers to be delivered. Do we not do enough due diligence before awarding defence contracts to any Tom, Dick or Harry?

2. RMN — At the back of the still-invisible LCS ships, Mohammad stated that 63% of our 53 navy ships have passed the service life limit, with 28 ships exceeding 40 years of service age. KD Pendekar, which sunk off the coast of Johor during non-combat exercises, was one of the vessels that almost reached the milestone of operating for half a century. Apart from dying vessels, RMN is also in dire need of replacing its 6 British-made Super Lynx helicopters that have been flying for more than 20 years and are set to be retired by 2026, if God allows as you know we cannot trust these politicians to make rational decisions.

3. RMAF — Only the Air Force will be receiving good news as Putrajaya will be replacing the 24 Nuri helicopters in phases, with 12 Leornado AW149 helicopters slated to be procured, announced during the Budget 2023 presentation. At the moment, RMAF has been leasing four units of AW149’s sister aircraft, the AW139 as an interim measure. 

Malaysia to prioritise Bangladeshies for foreign labour opportunities
As a result of the meeting between PM Anwar Ibrahim and Bangladesh Interim Government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus during the former’s visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, PM Anwar will give major consideration to increasing the intake of workers and skilled professionals from the South Asia country to Malaysia, that has been left unemployed due to political developments in their country. Based on an unofficial estimation in 2016, there are 5.5 mil of migrant workers, regardless of their documentation status, where Bangladesh is one of the main source nations. 

Undocumented migrant workers or migrant workers working in different sectors compared to what was initially approved are major problems in Malaysia. So, before we open the door to more migrant workers, these issues need to be nip in the bud. The infamous Taman Sri Muda, which is known to be a flood-prone area and the centre for businesses run by foreign nationals, has been raided by the police and the Selangor Immigration Department during the weekends. A total of 1,091 individuals of various nationalities were inspected and out of them, 602 are illegal immigrants. Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said that this operation will continue on an ongoing basis to ensure strict actions are taken against those violating the country’s laws.

Amidst VEP uncertainty, Singaporeans still cross the bridge to Johor Bahru
Despite the uncertainty of the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) enforcement after the October 1 deadline, Singaporeans, whether they have VEP or not, still crossed the Causeway to Johor Bahru. This is because Putrajaya has delayed the strict implementation of the VEP regulation as the authorities rushed to ensure more Singapore-registered vehicles get their permits. At the moment, Malaysian authorities will not issue fines for VEP non-compliance, but just a written warning. Even with the lax enforcement, it was reported that inbound traffic from Singapore was down by 20% on October 1.

Shorts

1. MCA vs LHDN — who will prevail?
   The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) stated that Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and UTAR Education Foundation are two different entities and only the latter received tax exemption status since 2003. That is why LHDN has issued outstanding taxes and penalties amounting to RM83 mil to UTAR. However, UTAR council member cum MCA president Wee Ka Siong iterated that UTAR is owned by UTAR Education Foundation, thus inheriting the tax exception status from its mother company. Dr Wee had met with PM Anwar Ibrahim twice to explain this matter.

2. Furniture store along LDP burned down
   The two-storey furniture factory in Petaling Jaya along Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP) has been engulfed in a fire during the weekend (emphasise the two keywords — fire and furniture). The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department Operations Centre said it took 44 personnel and 14 fire engines to contain the fire. After the fire was extinguished, 90% of the 20,000-square-foot premises were destroyed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Hopefully, the burned site will not turn into a 30-floor condominium tower after this. Quite a scene - watch here.

3. Bersatu top guns remain
   Bersatu has announced that Muhyiddin Yassin has retained his presidency unopposed and Hamzah Zainudin will fill up the deputy president seat without contesting, for the 2024 - 2027 period. Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi also won unopposed for the positions of Srikandi chief and deputy chief respectively. For the remaining of the positions, a total of 276 nominations forms have been received and the results of the party election will be known by the end of the year.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Israel-Gaza: A Year On

Protests going on to mark a year of Israel’s war on Gaza, Biden not sure if Israel intends to influence the upcoming US election
Protests condemning the Israeli military operations in Gaza are unfolding across the world, as the strip continues to be bombarded by Israel and enters a full year of Israel attacks, today. Ten of thousands of people have taken it to the streets in major cities around the world, including in Indonesia, Philippines, South Africa, Venezuela, Italy, the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, the US, Germany, Switzerland, and other countries across all continents.

The war in Gaza began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

It has displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people, who have been subjected to widespread hunger and disease, leading to genocide allegations against Israel by several countries at the International Court of Justice.

Meanwhile, President Biden, when asked about the delays of the ceasefire talks, said that he is “unsure” if Netanyahu is holding up the Gaza deal to influence the US election. Despite what Biden has “done” for Israel, apparently Donald Trump has long been Netanyahu’s preferred occupant of the White House. Democrats have increasingly questioned whether Netanyahu could have an eye on the US election and the possible victory of former President Donald Trump in his military calculation.

Read: What did Al Jazeera’s investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza reveal?

AI audio deepfake that fooled and divided a community
Somewhere outside Baltimore, US, an audio clip appeared to show a local school principal making derogatory comments that went viral online, which sparked death threats against the educator and sent ripples through the community. The speech contains racial slurs that struck the nerve of the people in the community who happened to be the subject of the remarks. 

It turned out that the clip was AI-generated and fake, created by the school’s athletics director who allegedly intended to discredit the principal. The end result: Social media hate targeted the principal, magnified prejudices dividing and causing fears in the community and nevertheless, more people consuming it and not realise that the clip was a deepfake as it continues to spread online.

Because the clip was audio-only, it means there were no visual giveaways, like robotic movements that normally reveal AI manipulation. In fact, AI actually only needs several minutes of a real recording to generate a sound clip that sounds like a particular person.

Then, it only takes a share button to spread the fire. 

AI, amid its advancements, can be easily abused and used as a tool to spread hate, misinformation and divide, subsequently damaging people and communities.

Shorts

1. Wynn Resorts given green light for commercial gaming in UAE
   UAE’s General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority has awarded its first commercial gaming operator’s licence in the country to Wynn Resorts, a Las Vegas-based casino firm that is now developing a luxury resort on Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah. The project is a joint venture between Wynn, Marjan and RAK Hospitality Holding. The company said in August that it had invested USD 514 mil so far in the project, and it is expected to open in 2027.

2. Meta announces data-sharing pact with UK banks to counter scams on its platforms

   Meta has announced their collaboration with two UK banks in an information-sharing agreement to help them prevent customers from falling victim to fraud. The soc-med giant has long faced calls from banks in the UK to do more to stop scammers from running rampant on its platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Through the expansion of its Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE), Meta enables the banks to share unique information that can be used to train their systems to take action against more scams globally. In a test, Meta said that they were able to take down 20,000 accounts from scammers engaged in a concert ticket scam network targeting people in the UK and the US. Malaysian banks have to look into this ASAP!

3. Steve Jobs said that consultancy work is missing critical elements of a meaningful job

   “You should do something” was what the late Apple founder Steve Jobs advised to a group of consultants, during his talk at MIT in 1992. He was not really a big fan of consulting work, stating that it is missing the critical elements of a meaningful job — autonomy, the space for failure, and growth opportunities. He said that it is just a two-dimensional experience when it comes to building a career, which may resonate with younger Gen Z consultants who are searching for more meaningful careers these days, even if it requires sacrificing the stability and high pay that comes with a consulting job. This is indeed quite valuable advice.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Collection of funny signages spotted during the Standard Chartered KL Marathon over the weekend

2. So there’s a formula for composing Linkin Park songs as shown here by Leoniden. In the process of doing so, he accidentally created quite a banger and was liked by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda himself!

leonidenleonidenleoniden

View more on Instagram