☕️ 'Musang King' brand IP renewed, proudly owned by Malaysia for the next decade

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Continuing drought leaves Amazon basin rivers at an all-time low. Of particular concern is that the low water levels worsened relatively early in the Amazon’s dry season, which suggests that the situation there may not significantly improve for some months. This also follows 2023 being the most severe drought seen in the Amazon basin in at least 45 years, which experts found was made more likely due to climate change. The local people have also seen their lives affected, as the drying rivers and lack of rain mean they are struggling to get vital supplies such as food and drinking water.

Aryna Sabalenka, 26, took home USD3.6 mil after clinching her first U.S. Open title. Known for her powerful game, her forehand speed averaged 80 mph (128.75 kmph), the fastest among both men and women in the tournament #womanpower. Additionally, her serve averaged an impressive 110 mph (177 kmph), further highlighting her dominance on the court.

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first person to hit 1 bil total followers across various social media platforms. This figure includes his followers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Chinese sites Weibo and Kuaishou. While this milestone is remarkable, it doesn’t represent 1 bil individual followers, as many fans follow him on multiple platforms, and some accounts are likely bots. Beyond sports, Ronaldo also surpasses entertainment giants like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and Selena Gomez. Even the top online personalities, such as YouTuber MrBeast, who has 543 mil total followers, can’t match his social media dominance. Ronaldo hitting the figure was partly propelled by his YouTube channel, UR Cristiano, who has 62.2 mil subscribers and counting. Lionel Messi, who started his channel back in 2011, only has a paltry 3.5 mil.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Malaysia is ‘green-loving’ on paper but Mother Nature says otherwise
During his keynote speech at the SDG Summit 2024 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, PM Anwar Ibrahim stated that the country has scored above average, achieving  43% of all 248 indicators of the latest Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), far above the world average of 17%. Despite the Asian in all of us would be proud of this, however, mother nature is feeling quite differently. As you know, harsh and extreme weather is the result of excessive pollution of nature and Earth has ‘voiced out’ its unhappiness quite loudly. According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), extreme weather in the northern states (particularly Langkawi and Pulau Pangkor) will persist until Saturday. The climax of this ‘unhappy’ story by Mother Nature is strong winds and waves up to 5.8 meters on Friday morning in certain coastal areas. These extreme weather conditions are the effect of three tropical storms: Bebinca, Invest 98w Gener (98W) and Pulasan (Helen).

GISB Updates

• According to Harian Metro, in a special operation by the police at several locations, several members of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings’s (GISB) top management, including its CEO Nasiruddin Ali and his wife, are among the 19 individuals that have been arrested. Their arrests were made to assist the police in investigating the alleged child abuse claims.

• Three employees at GISB-linked madrasah in Kuala Pilah were hauled to the Sessions Court in Seremban to face sexual assault charges against children. The trio were nabbed during the massive Op Global at 20 welfare homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan which led to the rescue of 201 boys and 201 girls, aged between 1 - 17 years old.

Certain factions of the public are still supporting GISB (watch here), stating that the issue shouldn’t be overblown by the media as GISB is an entity that promotes the good of Islam and what happened were isolated incidents. 402 children victims rescued isn’t an isolated incident. 

Retain and retake what’s ours

• To retain - Agriculture Minister Mohamad Sabu said that Malaysia still retain the ownership of the ‘Musang King’ brand after the Intellectual Property Corporation (MyIPO) has extended the local intellectual property protection certificate for at least another decade. The renewal of the ‘Musang King’ IP is timely as Malaysia has just started exporting fresh durians to China, the biggest durian market in the world where China imported USD6.7 bil worth of fresh durian in 2023. 1 Musang King can fetch a price of RM350 in China. At the moment, Pahang and Perak stand to benefit the most from the ‘Musang King’ brand as they are the top two largest producers of the durian variant in Malaysia.

• To retake - Deputy PM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stated that Putrajaya is currently working hard to recover ‘stolen’ artefacts that are in the possession of former colonial countries (know your history). Budget constraints have been the biggest hurdle but Zahid is calling up to GLCs and GLICs to pick up the bill. Among the soon-to-be retrieved artefacts are key documents such as treaties, official correspondences, and significant manuscripts. Do you know that PETRONAS has to fork out USD75 mil per year to sponsor the Mercedes F1 team while Malaysia Airlines paid allegedly USD40 mil per annum to become Manchester United’s official airline? So, Putrajaya you know which buttons to press.

Shorts

1. According to the ‘Transnational crime in Southeast Asia: A growing threat to global peace and security’ report by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Malaysians are among the key players behind the notorious human trafficking compound at the border of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. The suspected Malaysians are playing roles mostly in managing the operations and the proceeds of the fraudulent activities. We guess the talent brain drain is not limited to the white-collar jobs in Singapore but also to these new-age ‘white-collar’ jobs in Cambodia.

2. DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the Cabinet has decided to maintain the status quo and that halal certification will still be on a voluntary basis. However, Zahid stated that premises that do not serve pork or alcohol but are not applying for a halal cert should clearly state that they do not have a halal certification. Earlier, PM Anwar said that being halal is beyond the consumption of alcohol and pork. Let’s close this chapter and move on. 

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Palestine scores big win at UN, but as usual, don’t expect much out of it
The UN General Assembly has adopted a Palestinian-drafted resolution demanding Israel end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories. It comes with a deadline - within 12 months - and also “make reparation for the damage caused to all the natural and legal persons concerned”. Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967 after it captured this area in the six-day Arab-Israel war. 

Of the 193 UN members, 124 members approved the resolution, 43 countries abstained and 14 rejected it (view list here). No prizes for guessing who voted against. Almost all of Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America voted yes. India abstained, breaking with the rest of BRICS and with all of South Asia, except Nepal. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu counts Indian PM Narendra Modi as a close friend. Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Israel in 2017, and ties between both nations have grown substantially as New Delhi drifted away from its traditional support for Palestine. 

As for the US, they said it couldn’t vote in favour as it does not spell out Israel’s right to defend itself. Also, the US did not explain how the occupation was needed for Israel to defend itself. In classic US hypocritical fashion, the US said both Palestine and Israel should negotiate a resolution without external pressure - a standard that Washington does not apply to other conflicts (i.e. Ukraine vs Russia). 

All said and done, the resolution is non-binding and remains, as it is, symbolic. More than 41,000 Gazans have been killed since Oct 7, a tally that will keep going up as resolutions remain just symbolic and the US keep irrationally siding with Israel for inexplicable reasons. 

Lebanon Day 2: Exploding Walkie-Talkies
After exploding pagers on Tuesday, Lebanon saw a second wave of explosions on Wednesday involving walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 450 people. Some of the blasts took place during funerals for some of the 12 people killed by the exploding pagers on Tuesday. Wednesday’s explosion represents another humiliation for Hezbollah, suggesting that its entire communication network might have been infiltrated by Israel. 

The walkie-talkie has been identified to be manufactured by Japan’s ICOM, which it denied - it is impossible and that it halted production a decade ago of the models identified in the attack, though those on sale were counterfeit. Initially, it was suggested that Israel intercepted the pagers to plant explosives. Based on latest intelligence, Israel’s infiltration is more elaborate than expected - shell companies were formed to produce these communication-cum-explosive devices, the New York Times reported. 
Watch: NSFW - Moment devices explode across Lebanon (two-hour timelapse)

Wisma Putra confirmed that no Malaysians have been affected by incidents of exploding pagers (no updates on the walkie-talkie episode yet) at various locations in Lebanon. Although no Malaysians were harmed, the chaos from exploding pagers has made the UN peacekeepers, which also consist of Malaysian servicemen, into a target of hate. At least two Cendana Auto military vehicles were damaged by civilians.

How we age - gradually, then suddenly in 2 bursts at 44 and 60
A new study by Stanford researchers revealed that we don’t age gradually, as traditionally believed but instead, it happens over 2 significant bursts across our post-puberty lifespan: one in our mid-40s and the other in our early 60s. This study revealed why many people start to ‘feel’ their age suddenly due to molecular changes that occur during each period, explaining sudden signs of ageing. 

Over a period of 2 years, the researchers measured molecular activity in microorganisms contained in the body from 108 participants from various ethnic backgrounds, ranging from 25 to 75 years old across the 50-year age span of the participants. TLDR: the results showed that 81% of the molecules didn’t change continuously as would be expected with linear ageing - but instead transformed significantly at around ages 44 and 60. 

At age 44, some observed changes occurred in cells affecting metabolism, which explains the difficulty in absorbing and processing alcohol and caffeine as we get older; fatty tissue proteins, which explain sagging skin, wrinkles and muscle strain and injuries. At 66, molecules related to kidney function and immune function start to change, explaining why older adults are more vulnerable to diseases. View the research here.

In a piece of separate health news, slap fighting (where 2 people slap each other, literally), which has been gaining widespread popularity, has received health warnings that it could cause serious brain damage.

Shorts

1. After death sentence, another fraud trial for Vietnam tycoon
   67-year-old Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan, who was sentenced to death this year in the country’s biggest fraud case amounting to USD12.5 bil, has gone on trial for new charges of obtaining property by fraud, money laundering (USD18.1 bil) and illegal cross-border money transfers (USD4.5 bil). About 36,000 people have been identified as victims of her fraud. That’s how crooks should be treated. 

2. More trouble at Boeing — to start large-scale furloughs to save cash
   The troubled planemaker said it will start furloughs of professional and white-collar workers that could affect tens of thousands of workers to conserve cash amidst a stalled negotiation with the union. Boeing plans for selected employees to take one week of furlough for every 4 weeks for the duration of the union strike and the leadership team will take a commensurate pay reduction during the strike period as well. About 33,000 of its workers with the union in the Seattle area will walk off their jobs today after rejecting a contract renewal.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Malaysian car plates explained. Now we know why prefix for Perak is A, Selangor is B Pahang is C and Kelantan is D. Sabah and Sarawak gets complicated.

2. Rotiboy - proudly a Malaysian brand with more than 90 stores founded 26 years ago. Hear its history from its founder, Hiro Tan, below. Btw, the iconic outlet in KLCC has shut down.

3. We shared this before. Since it’s the weekend, lets reflect on it once again.