☕️ Najib Razak SRC Int'l #nevergiveup - files review application of Federal Court's decision

1. MARKET SUMMARY

MYR drops to its worst level against the USD since the Asian Financial Crisis to 4.5015, the weakest since Jan 1998. What’s Jihad Against Inflation Taskforce game plan to address inflation caused by currency depreciation? 

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

Hornsea 2, with a capacity of 1.3 gigawatts across 462 square kilometres, is the world’s largest offshore wind farm situated roughly 89 km off the coast of Yorkshire, England is now fully operational and covers the size of more than half of New York City. Its 165 turbines are able to power more than 1.4 mil UK homes.

Fun fact: One revolution of its 81 meters blades can power an average UK home for 24 hours

15,880 cars - the number of cars sold by Proton Holdings Bhd, both domestic and export, in August, marking its best sales month in 9 years since July 2013, a gap of 109 months. The national carmaker retains its number two position in the domestic market with a market share of 23.7% in August. Seems like Malaysians are buying more cars even in the absence of SST exemption.

JPY1.1 tril (RM35.87 bil) - Kumamon, the promotional mascot for Kumamoto prefecture in Japan created in 2010 to draw tourists to the region after the opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened has generated billions in sales in the past decade through Kumamon-themed merchandise. Interestingly, the intellectual property is owned by Kumamoto’s regional government and has largely allowed the images of Kumamon to be used for free.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Najib Razak: SRC International #nevergiveup, combined card limits believed to be one of the highest ever given by AmBank

After filing a petition for pardon for his SRC International case, now Najib Razak already filed an application for the review of the Federal Court’s decision to uphold the conviction and sentencing of the case. A review bid is basically a rehearing of the final appeal, but with a different set of judges, in order to review the appeal decision.

As for his misappropriation of RM2.3bil of 1MDB funds, one of the prosecution witnesses in the trial and also a former Ambank executive, Yeoh Eng Leong told the court that Najib Razak once had two credit cards with a combined limit of RM3mil (one of the highest given by Ambank), where he would then spent RM98,013.63 at a hotel in Italy, Westin Excelsior R Roma, in 2011. Baller.

Another witness, former Finance Ministry Sec-Gen Datuk Siti Zauyah Mohd Desa told the court that 1MDB’s management went cold on the ministry after securing a USD3 bil loan through a letter of support issued by the government as the ministry tried to seek the latest information on 1MDB’s plan on utilising the USD3 bil.

"Public servants cannot receive political donations...tak boleh, tak boleh tak boleh” - Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran, DPP on Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s trial

In Zahid Hamidi’s Ultra Kirana’s corruption case, the prosecution lawyer, Raja Rozela Raja Toran said in her closing submission that political donations could not be used as a defence strategy, as what Zahid Hamidi’s team has been doing in this trial. In justifying her statement, Raja Rozela told the court that a political donation should be a one-off thing, not a regular monthly payment, like what Ultra Kirana had been with personally to Zahid, (amounting to RM42mil) instead of with the party for a period of four years.

GE15: election eligibility for criminals, MUDA x PH - WIP

Individuals standing trial for misappropriation or corruption cases can contest in the next election, said the law minister

Minister in the PM’s Department Wan Junaidi said that only individuals who are convicted and sentenced to jail for not less than one year or fine not less than RM2,000 and did not obtain a pardon, cannot contest in elections, citing Article 48 of the Federal Constitution. Otherwise, you are eligible to be an election candidate.

MUDA wants to join PH as a component party

MUDA has begun preliminary discussions with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to become one of the coalition’s component parties. Previously, both MUDA and PH have clashed against each other before in the Johor state election that eventually split the votes in the Larkin state constituency seat, much to the delight of Barisan Nasional that won the seat. Not too late to learn.

Truant teacher: leaking examination papers, on top of ‘chronic’ absence

In the suit by a group of students against their teacher at a high school in Sabah for the latter skipping class for 7 months, it was revealed by a former student in the court that the teacher also leaked examination questions to his students. However, no action was taken by other teachers when the issues were brought up by the students. The problematic teacher, known as Jainal or ‘Mr JJ’ has been accused of failing to exercise his duties under the Education Act and had violated the students’ constitutional right to an education.

Sexual assault - father counter-police report his daughter

After a 15-year-old actress lodged a police report against her biological father for allegedly sexually harassing her between 2013 and 2017, the father has done the same and followed suit by filing a police report in Kedah. You can watch the interview below, where the said child actress explained in detail how his father 'failed in being a good dad’.

De-factor religious minister in PM’s Department, Idris Ahmad, also gave his two cents on the issue by saying that it was right for the child actress to lodge a police report but further stated that the child actress should not expose the incident to the public as she should preserve the dignity of her dad.

What dignity is left when one sexually harmed the very person they have to protect? Comments from PAS individuals have a close to 100% hit rate of increasing one’s blood pressure - a higher percentage than their win rate in GE14 of 11.5% (won 18 seats, contested 157) and their aspiration of a 50% win rate in the upcoming GE15 (plans to contest 80 seats and win 40).

All the upside, none of the downside - no penalty for LCS mismanagement and irregularities

Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), the parent company of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS - controlling 27.77% stake), which is also the contractor for the LCS project, will not be penalised for mismanagement and irregularities related to the troubled LCS project. BHIC stands to lose a whopping RM890mil as a result of poor governance of the LCS project.

Corporate leadership reshuffling:

1. Majuperak CEO and executive director Nizran Noordin is on garden leave from 2 Sept based on a mutual agreement between the board and Nizran, as clarified by the company. Garden leave is when an employer requests that an employee, upon submitting their notice, need not return to the office.

2. Jennifer Wong has jumped ship from Celcom Axiata to become the new chief financial officer (CFO) of Maxis Berhad. She previously held the same position at Celcom Axiata.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Adele and her EGO

Adele picks up her first Emmy for best outstanding variety special One Night Only. The show was a combination of an interview with Oprah Winfrey and her performance at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. Will she go for the Tony next to complete the EGOT? The term EGOT refers to stars who've won the grand slam of US awards - an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, covering TV, music, film, and theater respectively.

Jennifer Hudson became only the 17th star to achieve EGOT status in June, winning a Tony award for her role as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop. Other EGOT winners include Lord Lloyd Webber, Rita Moreno, John Legend, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Check out some highlights from Adele’s One Night Only - an amazing concert, became an Adele fan after watching it.

Russia’s weapons supplier - North Korea

According to declassified US intelligence obtained by the New York Times, North Korea is supplying Russia with weapons. Russia has bought millions of artillery shells and rockets from Pyongyang. With North Korea being sanctioned by the West, they have sought to deepen ties with Russia. US and EU believe that Moscow's ability to resupply its military has been impaired.

Australia’s 5th consecutive month rate hike

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.35%. This marks the fifth month in a row that RBA has raised rates. The RBA started the rate hike cycle in May to combat high inflation, which is seen to be running at its highest pace since 2001. Inflation is expected to peak at 8% towards the end of the year. If you are not familiar with the relationship between interest rates and inflation, learn more here.

HappyFresh’s not-so-happy financial situation

The online grocer has hired turnaround firm Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC and conducting a review of its financials. This move comes after the company failed to raise additional capital (it has raised at least USD97 mil in capital), and even some senior executives stopped handling their day-to-day duties.

Bed Bath & Beyond CFO died by suicide

Gustavo Arnal, CFO of Bed Bath & Beyond, died by suicide on Friday, according to New York City medical examiner’s office. Arnal fell from an iconic skyscraper known locally as the “Jenga Tower”. Shares of Bed Bath declined Tuesday as investors weighed the company’s leadership crisis following Arnal’s death. BBBY shares, more commonly referred to as “meme stock” by the Reddit community, were among stocks that experienced wild price swings. In August, Bed Bath had multiple days with price moves of more than 20%.

Shorts:

1. China’s drug regulator approved CanSino Biologics Inc inhaled version of its Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use as booster, making it the first needle-free booster option.

2. A bit too heavy to have pizza for breakfast? Maybe not - pizza giant Domino’s is collaborating with Heinz to create a breakfast pizza, aptly named Domino’s x Heinz Big Brekkie Pizza. Too bad - only available in the UK.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. The oldest Malaysian to scale Mount KInabalu - 90 years old Buatin Blandong. What are you doing with your life?

2. PM Sabri’s fashion collection continues to be on display. New brand in the collection, it seems.