☕️ Personal Loan Syndicate: RM700 mil loans, 4k+ civil servants benefitted

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Malaysia’s highest-ever jackpot prize — RM121,732,139.70 — has been won by four punters. Three won almost RM35 mil each, while the fourth person won nearly RM17 mil. The previous record for the highest jackpot amount was reportedly RM97 mil in 2022, won by two punters from Penang and Selangor. One thing’s for sure — no more long queues or fights at the betting stores.

USD2,000 (RM9,010) per kilogram is the price saffron can sell for, making it the world’s most expensive spice. Despite this, climate change is severely impacting production in Kashmir, a region once home to about 30,000 families reliant on saffron farming. That number has now roughly halved, as many farmers have turned to apple orchards or walnut cultivation due to the challenges posed by changing weather patterns. Last year, saffron prices in India rose by over 20% in the wholesale market and about 27% in retail outlets, driven by strong demand.

2,000 Iberian lynxes are now in the wild across Spain and Portugal, a significant recovery from fewer than 100 at their lowest point, with only 25 of those being females of reproductive age then. Thanks to conservation efforts, the species is no longer considered endangered, and it is hoped that by 2035, the population will reach a favourable conservation status. To achieve this, the lynx population needs to grow to between 5,000-6,000 in the wild.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Useful information to know

1. Police cannot simply check your phones — Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution stated that police are not ‘Little Napoleons’ and do not have the authority to check the phones of the public without any valid reasons. Saifuddin’s statement was given in response to what the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Razarudin Husain said on January 14 that the police have the power to check any Tom, Dick or Harry’s phone on ‘reasonable suspicion’ and a search can be conducted without a warrant if the officer believes that the delay in procuring a warrant could compromise the investigation. The Royal Malaysian Police is an agency under the Home Ministry. So, I guess Saifuddin’s statement trumps Razarudin’s.

2. Ipoh is looking to widen its ban on alcohol — Already enforced in the satellite town of Manjoi since 2021, Ipoh mayor Rumaizi Baharin announced that the city is considering expanding the alcohol ban to other Malay-Muslim majority areas within Ipoh such as — Ulu Chepor, Rapat Setia and Kampung Sungai Rokam. However, Ipoh City councillor Wong Kar Keat clarified that the proposal for the alcohol ban was just a mere suggestion in a meeting that did not get unanimous support. Even Perak state executive councillor for housing and local government Sandrea Ng added that the proposal has not been discussed at the state executive council level.

Excessive loans are the bane of the society
According to a source within the MACC, under its Op Sky investigation, the agency found out that up to RM700 mil in bank loans had been approved by a syndicate that enabled civil servants with bad debts to obtain personal loans from local banks. This practice by the syndicate started way back in 2020 when the profit of their modus operandi came from service fees and fees for settling bad debts. MACC estimated that more than 4,000 public servants ‘benefitted’ from the service provided by the syndicate. That is a staggering RM175,000 amount of loans per individual (nearly 1 Tesla Model 3).

Interestingly, the Insolvency Department recently released some information that stated some individuals abuse their bankrupt status to avoid burdensome loan repayments for large debts. The department’s director-general, M. Bakri Abd Majid said that once a person declares themselves bankrupt, the department would decide the monthly loan repayment according to the individual’s capacity. Usually, the monthly repayment set by the department was not enough to cover the full amount of the loan. Additionally, Bakri also mentioned that based on the department’s data, he was puzzled about how a Gred 29 public servant (who earns a basic salary of between RM1,600 to RM6,000 per month) can obtain a loan of more than RM700,000. Bakri suspected that the individual may have gotten help to get the ‘approval’. Does Bakri’s comment have any correlation to the victims of the syndicate mentioned in Op Sky? Jeng, jeng, jeng.

Berjaya Group news flow

1. U Mobile Sdn Bhd’s chairman, Vincent Tan Chee Yioun announced that the company will go solo in rolling out the second 5G network, without the need for government funding or new local partners. Tan estimated that the rollout will commence in the next 15 - 18 months. Tan stated that U Mobile will instead look towards Chinese telco giants such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp to supply the 5G equipment and provide financing. Previously, U Mobile inked an agreement with CIMB Bank Berhad for the latter to provide financing support to the former’s 5G network rollout. Based on RHB Investment Bank Bhd, U Mobile needs to fork out between RM3 - 4 bil for the rollout’s CAPEX.

2. In another matter, Vincent Tan also said that with the imminent Gaza ceasefire, there will be no more reasons for the Malaysian public to continue boycotting Starbucks Coffee, a brand under the Berjaya Group. Tan even added that — ‘If you boycott Starbucks, how does it affect Israel? The US will send more money to them.’ Although the connection between Starbucks Malaysia and Israel is unproven, business owners can sometimes be ignorant. When the war in Gaza broke out about 1.5 years ago, not just Starbucks Malaysia, but McDonald Malaysia also suffered the same fate. However, instead of being deaf and ignoring the consumers’ plight, McDonald's improved their public relations by contributing back to the community, especially the Malay-Muslim.

MOT to integrate with the industry’s ‘Motor-some’
During the launch of the mobile app for the buying and selling of used motorcycles, dubbed Rider Gate, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that his ministry and the Road Transport Department (JPJ) will discuss the possibility of integrating existing mobile applications for the selling and buying of used motorcycles into their mySIKAP system. MySIKAP is an online system that allows users to perform transactions related to driver's licenses and motor vehicles, that is run by JPJ. Loke added that this proposal would reduce any incidents involving the transfer of ownership and outstanding summonses. Currently, for cars, there is the eAuto system, which enables car owners to transfer ownership. Motorcycles do not have it yet.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Gaza Ceasefire Begins
After 15 months since the war started, the ceasefire in Gaza has finally taken effect yesterday as of 11.15 am local time, after some hiccup at Hamas part due to “technical and field reasons” that delayed it by around 3 hours. The ceasefire began once Hamas disclosed the names of the 3 hostages that were released yesterday.

Within the hours of delay, Israel continued to attack - Gaza’s civil defense reported 13 Palestinians were killed since Sunday morning in a wave of Israeli airstrikes and shelling.

The Qatari and Egyptian-mediated deal backed by Washington stipulates an initial six-week truce during which 33 hostages will be freed by Hamas in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel. The first swap of three hostages meant a return of around 90 Palestinian detainees.

Palestinians were documented moving on foot from Gaza City to the northern parts of the enclave in which Israel has been operating over the last several months. Residents of northern Gaza who have fled to the enclave’s southern regions will not be permitted to return home until the seventh day of the ceasefire — initially on foot and later, on Day 22, by vehicles.

Note that Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel has US guarantees to go back to fighting if negotiations on a second stage of the ceasefire falter.

Trump Taking Office

Call with Xi: Trump is officially taking office today, but amid souring ties between Washington and Beijing, he apparently said that he had a “good” phone call recently with Chinese President Xi Jinping that suggested that both nations will work to resolve various issues going forward - including the issue of TikTok. The incoming US president expressed optimism about the future of the relationship with China. But, the irony is that Trump has also pledged to impose steep tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese imports once he returns to the White House.

China’s rep at Trump’s Inaug: On the other hand, President Xi has decided to send his vice-president to Trump’s inauguration instead of attending it himself. Trump had extended an unusual invitation to Xi more than a month ago, a break from tradition since no heads of state have previously made an official visit to the US for the inauguration. The announcement nevertheless came with a diplomatic tone, stating that China is ready to pursue “healthy and sustainable China-US relations and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other”.

Trump launches $TRUMP memecoin: To celebrate his win and mark his inauguration as the US 47th President, Trump has launched his own cryptocurrency named $Trump, which quickly soared in market capitalisation, now worth USD11.9 bil (fully-diluted value: USD59.7 bil). Some 200m of the digital tokens have been issued and another 800m will be released in the next three years.

Anti-Trumpism protest: Meanwhile, 2 days ahead of the inauguration, thousands of protestors who were mostly female had taken to the streets of Washington DC to protest against “Trumpism”. Smaller protests against Trump were also held in New York City and on the other side of the country in Seattle.

How different is Trump’s 2nd term compared to his first? A lot, with wind at his back - read here.

TikTok goes dark in the US
Americans now can no longer access TikTok beginning yesterday, as the law banning the app in America has finally taken effect, following its parent company ByteDance’s failure to sell it to an American company in order to stay available in the country. That’s 170 mil TikTok US ‘refugees’ flocking to Xiaohongshu, another Chinese social media app. ByteDance fought hard to have it reversed, however the US Supreme Court has refused to rescue TikTok from its predicament, stating that Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.

Will Trump, who seems to have a soft spot for TikTok, reverse it later? Trump aides did suggest that the president-elect is assessing options to save the popular platform from the federal ban and it is actually up to him to make the next move.

Interestingly, the CEO of TikTok ​​Chew Shou Zi (Singaporean btw) has been invited to Trump’s inauguration, to sit in a position of honour on the dais, where former presidents, family members and other important guests traditionally are seated. Chew plans to attend, possibly joining tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos at the event.

Shorts

1. Goldman Sachs CEO said they use AI to do 95% work on IPO prospectus

   10 years ago, it took Goldman Sachs a team of about half a dozen people to draft an IPO prospectus for a potential client. Today, the company admits that they are leveraging AI to bring in more efficiency to their processes, including giving workers a kind of information superintelligence (AI) that would boost the already booming firm, which brought in more than USD53 bil in 2024. Goldman is one of the top banks that take companies public, along with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan. It's also just one of the ways Goldman is using AI to reduce grunt work and move more efficiently.

2. Bumble’s new CEO resigns as shares fell 54%

   Dating app Bumble’s CEO Lidiane Jones has apparently ended her stint at the company only after a year, in which she led an overhaul of the app which changed how men and women initiate conversations. Bumble was built on the premise of women making the “opening move”, but the overhaul that allowed men to message first had resulted in a plummeting share of 54%. The company’s stock cratered further in August 2024 after quarterly revenue and guidance for Q3 of 2024 came in below estimates.

3. People scavenging for fuel killed in a tanker explosion

   Up to 70 people were heartbreakingly killed and burnt beyond recognition, after a fuel tanker carrying 60,000 litres of gasoline exploded in central Nigeria. The truck had an accident that caused it to flip, attracting a flock of people to collect the spilling gasoline. The price of gasoline increased five-fold in 18 months amid the nation’s economic crisis, leading many to risk their lives to recover fuel during tanker truck accidents, which are common in Africa’s most populous country. Free, but deadly.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Interstellar is now more than a decade old. This Instagram account — filmtourismus — takes photos of locations where the films were made. Pretty cool.

2. SpaceX Starship Flight 7 blew up midair, sending debris lighting up the sky. No, it isn’t Autobots coming to Earth. Looks cool but the explosion could be deadly as it caused fewer than 10 diversions of flights in that area. 

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3. The one major upgrade that CCTV dearly needs is an offensive function - the ability to attack. Meet PaintCam EVE, the CCTV that comes an AI paintball firing security system. Check out its site here.