☕️ Op Metal: Massive raids on illegal metal smuggling sydicates, RM183 mil assets seized, RM950 mil tax revenue lost

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Did you know that Africa has the most countries of any continent? 54 countries! Another interesting fact is that many of the country borders within the continent are straight in some areas and jagged in others, cutting through mountains, rivers, and even communities. This is due to these artificial borders being drawn back at the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference, when European powers carved up the continent between themselves with no African nations invited or represented at the conference. Worth reading the link, explaining some interesting geograpical peculiarities of the African continent.

Sadly, the continent also has high rates of partner-related femicide – the murder of women. In 2023, Africa actually had the world’s highest rate of that particular crime. This continues even now, with an example being South Africa, where a woman is murdered every 3 hours, approximately 8 women a day. A study estimated that around 7.8 mil women in the country have experienced sexual or physical violence. These gender-based crimes are a destructive effect of entrenched patriarchy, as “deeply ingrained societal norms and structures perpetuate male dominance and reinforce gender hierarchies”.

In Southeast Asia, only seven women have held the highest political offices, but only one is not the daughter, sister, or wife of a senior male politician – former Singaporean President Halimah Yacob. Aung San Suu Kyi, the deposed premier of Myanmar, is the daughter of the country’s founding father, while Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the daughter of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck, also served as PM. Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri is the daughter of the country’s first post-independence president. Former presidents Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines were, respectively, the wife of late senator Ninoy Aquino, and the daughter of a former president. While it is viewed as a good thing that more women are taking such high positions, it is not the best since these happened through a dynastic system.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

US ambassador nominee to Malaysia receives less-than-warm ‘Selamat Datang’
US President Donald Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to Malaysia, Nick Adams, has come under fire from various Malaysians. Nick’s background includes a brief political career as a Councilor in Sydney, before migrating to the US where he managed an NGO, dabbled in content creation, and most recently wrote a book on Donald Trump’s political comeback.

However, Malaysia’s real beef with this potential ambassador boils down to one issue: Nick Adam’s staunch ‘Zionist’ or pro-Israel position. (A Zionist refers to those who support a Jewish homeland in the historic land of Israel. Detailed explanation here. Not to be confused with Jewish (ethnicity) or Judaism(religion).

In addition to protests by PKR, Parti Amanah and former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, a group of NGOs wrote an open letter to PM Anwar Ibrahim urging him to reject Nick Adams, citing that accepting such an ambassador “could harm Malaysia’s reputation as a peaceful, inclusive nation and disrupt the positive relationship between our two countries.”

While many Malaysians have rejected Nick Adams based on his support for Zionism, how about evaluating his fitness for the job based on his aptitude for diplomatic service? (Hint: check out the links above.)

Also watch: US’ ambassador nominee to Singapore grilled by US Senator:

Kedah's proud ‘ricebowl’ title threatened by seawater invasion
Malaysians grew up learning in school of Kedah’s role as Malaysia’s ‘ricebowl’, producing approximately half of Malaysia’s total rice output. Even if you have never been to Kedah, one could easily picture the state full of paddy fields, with farmers bending over to harvest the paddy stalks.

This image, however, may soon disappear as the paddy fields are being flooded with seawater . According to farmers, the past few years have seen sea water further encroaching on farm land, and flooded low-lying areas along the coast. While the high-tide floods used to hit the fields once a year, it now happens three or four times a year. One farmer even described how the seawater flooding cost him an entire farm plot as the seedlings died out, and required him to wash the salt out and start over.

Even though the rising sea tides have been attributed to climate change, farmers can only do their best to prepare for it. While the Kedah Malays Cooperative have devised a makeshift irrigation system to deal with the saltwater intrusion, another has suggested a bold idea once proposed by former Kedah Menteri Besar Tan Sri Sanusi Junid - growing paddy on rooftops. Belum cuba, belum tau?

Perhaps, Malaysia might want to try tested ideas instead. Yuan Longping (aka Father of Hybrid Rice) of China and his team are perfecting a species of rice that can grow in saline and alkaline land.

MACC-led crackdown sees massive raids (and seized assets) in five states
Under the leadership of the MACC, the agency’s Special Operations Division teamed up with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, Inland Revenue Board, and Bank Negara Malaysia in a multi-agency task force aptly named Op Metal with a mission to crackdown on metal smuggling syndicates operating in Penang, Kelantan, Kedah, Johor and the Klang Valley.

In the two days since the raids started, the task force seized assets worth over RM183 mil. These include eight properties in Penang (including three bungalows, a penthouse in Tanjung Tokong, a shoplot, among others), 1,960 acres of oil palm plantation land in Kelantan, six luxury vehicles (a Porsche Cayenne among them) and branded watches!

According to the MACC, the syndicates appeared to have smuggled scrap metal and electronic waste out of the country via Port Klang and Penang Port, costing the government an estimated RM950 mil in lost tax revenue over the past six years.

The reach of these syndicates seem to be rather wide as the task force’s raids also hit factories and companies exporting scrap metal overseas, which include premises belonging to NationGate Berhad, a leading electronics manufacturing services provider. The shocking raid definitely jolted investors as NationGate’s stock price swiftly plummeted by 16% or 26 sen to RM1.49.

Shorts

1. Conference of Rulers expected to announce top judicial appointments today

   It’s official! After Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s “lengthy discussion with the Conference of Rulers”, Malaysians will finally know who the country’s new top judges are, with the announcement to be made by… the Conference of Rulers. It is hoped that this announcement will dispel Malaysians’ negative perception towards this issue. Former Attorney-General Tan Sri Terrirudin has been ruled out as candidate for Chief Justice.

2. Malaysian Media Council appoints 12 founding members

   The Malaysian Media Council announced its 12 founding members who will help spearhead the independent, self-regulatory body’s mission to uphold journalistic standards and media accountability. Aiming to achieve diverse representation, these founding members comprise media owners, media professionals and media public representatives. From Aug till the end of Sept, membership to the council will be opened with a nominal fee of RM10. To recap, the founding of the Malaysia Media Council was enabled with the passing of the Malaysian Media Council Act 2025, after over 50 years from the time it was first proposed in Parliament.

3. Malaysian Labubu distributor files IPO
   Popmart founder Wang Ning was recently reported by Forbes to be China’s 10th richest man, boasting a cool net worth of USD22.7 bil (RM96.3 bil). Perhaps wishing to jump on this success bandwagon, Semico Capital Berhad which distributes toys from 53 brands, including Popmart’s Labubu plushies, has filed for an IPO in Bursa’s ACE Market. According to its prospectus, Semico aims to issue over 92.67 mil shares, to raise funds for operations and expand its toys and collectables business. While Semico’s 2024 net profit of RM6.7 mil may grant it some merit to seek listing on Bursa, 26 out of the 68 companies that went public between 2024-2025 reported a decline in share prices since their IPOs. For context, Malaysia recorded a record-breaking 55 IPOs in 2024, with 1H2025 already recording 32 IPOs.
   View prospectus here.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

More weapons for Ukraine, more tariffs for Russia
It’s another U-turn move from Trump - on Monday, the US President announced a deal to supply more weapons to Ukraine, with hopes that it will bring a swift end to Russia’s more than three-year invasion of Ukraine. Trump apparently has grown more frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and he added that if Putin failed to sign a peace deal with Ukraine, he would impose “very severe tariffs” in 50 days, including secondary tariffs of 100%. The US is even considering secondary tariffs on countries who buy Russian goods.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Trump on Telegram for the move, although let’s remember that not long ago the US administration has pulled back from pro-Ukrainian policies and accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war, calling him a “dictator without elections”. It’s good news for NATO - the secretary-general commended Trump’s announcement, saying that it will mean that Ukraine can get its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment and most of the member countries are all for it. The top-of-of-the-line weapons will be sent to NATO and Washington’s allies would pay for them. Such is Trump’s madman game.

Air India crash: Pilot groups rejects human error claims
Following the preliminary investigations of the Air India Flight AI171 crash, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India) have issued statements rejecting claims that human error had caused the plane to crash. In the report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), it was said that the fuel control switches to the engines were moved from the “run” to the “cutoff” position moments before last month’s deadly impact. The ICPA said it was “deeply disturbed by speculative narratives, particularly the reckless and unfounded insinuation of pilot suicide”. It also said that it was made without any basis and at this stage insensitive to the individuals and families involved. ALPA India, which has 800 members, also accused the investigative agency of “secrecy” surrounding the investigation, saying “suitably qualified personnel” were not involved in it. The crash killed all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground. The investigation is still on-going.

Chips are back on sale, China!
It appears that the market for Nvidia’s AI chips will reopen for China, days after its CEO met US President Donald Trump. With that, Chinese firms are reportedly scrambling to purchase the chips as it is expected that the licenses will be approved soon. The world's most valuable firm is filing applications with the US government to resume sales of the H20 graphics processing unit (GPU). There also seems to be a “whitelist” of Chinese companies put together by Nvidia to register for potential purchase. The move to resume sales of the H20 chips comes amid easing tensions between Washington and Beijing, with China relaxing controls on rare earth exports and the US allowing chip design software services to restart in China. China generated USD17 bil (RM72.11 bil) in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending Jan 26, or 13% of total sales, based on its latest annual report. That is how “important” China’s market is to Nvidia.

Shorts

1. 30-nation meet up to discuss end of Israeli occupation 
   UN rapporteur for Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, Francesca Albanese vows to continue her work despite the US sanctions imposed on her recently. Her work proves to be fruitful as The Hague Group of 30 nations gathers in Bogota, Colombia, this week to set out steps they can take to implement a UN General Assembly motion mandating member states to take measures in support of Israel ending its unlawful occupation of Palestine. Albanese said that the meeting comes at “an existential hour” for Israel and the Palestinian people. The Hague Group was initially brought together by South Africa and Colombia, but since then support has grown and it now includes Algeria, Brazil, Spain, Indonesia and Qatar.

2. German “Dr Jekyll” on trial for killing with lethal injections 
   Mad doctors do not only exist in fiction. In Germany, a 40-year old doctor began a trial for allegedly killing 15 patients with lethal injections and acting as “master of life and death” over those in his care. The victims are believed to be aged between 25 and 94 years old, killed with deadly cocktails of sedatives and in some cases had their homes set on fire as the doctor attempted to cover up his crimes. The case recalls that of a serial killer nurse Niels Hoegel, also German, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 for murdering 85 patients in the early 2000s.

3. Football player accused of using dwarves for entertainment 
   Barcelona’s winger Lamine Yamal is now under investigation for allegedly hiring people with dwarfism to perform at his 18th birthday party. The Association of People with Achondroplasia and other Skeletal Dysplasias in Spain (ADEE) has filed a complaint against the act, describing it as "perpetuates stereotypes, fuels discrimination, and undermines the image and rights" of people with disabilities. However, a Spanish radio interviewed someone who claimed to be one of the entertainers at the party, in which he or she said that they worked in peace and without any disrespect and everyone had a great time. The entertainer also asked why can’t they do the work? Rings close to the dilemma in The Greatest Showman movie eh?
   This news aside - Yamal at less than 17 years old had achieved more than the legendary Lionel Messi at the same age. Check out the mad stats here and highlights of plays here.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. What does a DJ really do? The famous David Guetta explains.

2. When it rains on Mt Kinabalu, it turns into a giant waterfall.

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