☕️ PAS President: non-Muslims, non-Bumiputeras the root of corruption

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

Sept 7 — mark your calendars. Apple is set to unveil its iPhone 14 line and multiple other devices.

1 TB data plan — U Mobile becomes the first telco to offer a 1TB (1,000 GB) data plan for just RM98 and another 100 GB plan for RM68 per month. It comes with unlimited calls to all networks and, interestingly, free 15 GB of roaming data in 63 countries, including Singapore, Thailand and Japan. Check out the plans here.

4 people — the number of Najib Razak supporters that turned up at the court on the fourth day of his appeal. The below video could have captured all his supporters present that day. Where were the rest of his supporters that truly thinks he is innocent?

The US announced a new USD775 mil military aid package for Ukraine, bringing the total assistance to USD10.6 bil and will continue to defend Ukraine from Russia’s aggression “for as long as it takes”.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Good and bad from the corridors of law during the weekend

1. Putrajaya is not likely to make any changes soon when it comes to automatic citizenship for children born overseas by Malaysian mothers. Attorney General Idris Harun said that they could instead make an application for their children to be Malaysian. He acknowledged that the process is lengthy but the processes are being reviewed by the Home Ministry at the moment.

2. On the other hand, the government is looking into making amendments to relevant laws related to caning as a punishment in a bid to put discretionary powers to judges or even removing caning as a punishment altogether. Law minister Wan Junaidi said that caning is inhumane and is an archaic form of punishment inherited from the British colonials’ times. A technical committee will be formed to study the laws and make appropriate recommendations.

PAS in the limelight

1. PAS deputy president said that the party is not ruling out the possibility of going solo for the next general election. However, on the same note, he highlighted that the people need to be prioritised, and it can be done via a stable and just government. At the moment, PAS is lending its hands to the Perikatan Nasional coalition in preparing for GE15.

2. Now, PAS started to be in the limelight for the wrong reasons. Recently, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang blames the non-Muslims and non-Bumiputeras as being at the root of corruption. Malays are also not being spared too, as he blamed some of the Malays for allowing the non-Malays to gain power in the last general election by abstaining from voting, among others. Need to be reminded that the former premier, Najib Razak, allegedly channelled RM90mil to PAS leaders in return for their support in the 14th general election, citing reports from a Sarawak Report article.

3. As the whole country is starting to return to their pre-pandemic life, more concerts and entertainment shows are held to feed the rising demand. However, this situation has irked some factions, including the PAS youth leader, Ahmad Fadhli. He said that the organisation of many concerts will bring the wrath of Allah. Why doesn't he include corruption too? According to his boss, Abdul Hadi Awang, rasuah is not part of Hudud law since corruption is taking property and wealth voluntarily.

Najib Razak’s lawyers may face disciplinary actions.

After the whole country witnessed the antics presented by Najib Razak and his team during the SRC International final appeal, the Malaysian Bar released a press statement stating that Najib Razak’s lawyers should have faced disciplinary action due to their unprofessional conduct, which has consequently led to the undermining of the justice system and the abuse of the court process.

However, according to Syahredzan Johan, a lawyer and also the political secretary to Lim Kit Siang, a formal complaint needs to be lodged first to the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board, a body separate from the Bar Council, highlighting that the press statement should not be seen as a precursor to disciplinary action.

Trade unions are crying foul and say that amendments to the Employment Act should be postponed.

Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM) president Oliver Wee Hiang Chyn said that the Employment Act’s amendments, which are due to kick off on Sept 1, should be postponed, stating that businesses will not be able to swallow the additional cost incurred from the introduction of the new laws. He said that the new laws should be put off until the economy recovers fully. Among the new amendments of the Employment Act are:

• Provision regarding flexible working arrangements;

• An increase in overtime costs for employees with wages up to RM4,000 per month;

• A reduction of working hours from 48 hours to 45 hours;

• 60 days of hospitalisation leave per year in addition to non-hospitalisation sick leave;

• An increase in maternity leave from 60 days to 98 and;

• Paternity leave of seven continuous days per birth.

Shorts:

1. During the seven-day state visit by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong to Turkey, the Queen expressed interest in purchasing a rock-cut place in the Cappadocia region, stating that she loved the beauty of the place and wanted to live there. I wonder which GLC needs to issue bonds to finance this purchase.

2. PSA – please be aware of online scams, especially the ones looking to gain access to your bank account. This comes after a famous doctor on social media, Dr Rafidah Abdullah, complained that RM13,000 was taken from her CIMB without her knowledge, and no TAC is needed to approve that transaction.

3. After making a RM33.62bil net profit in the previous quarter, much thanks to its debt restructuring, AirAsia X Berhad, still a PN17 company, registered a RM652.52mil loss in its 4QFY22. The company attributed the loss due to the high fuel price, weak Ringgit compared to US dollars and regulatory hurdles in approving new routes.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Finland’s partying Prime Minister

Finnish PM Sanna Marin is facing backlash after a video of her seen partying hard and, in her own words as “pretty wild” was leaked. She was aware that she was being filmed and was disappointed that the videos became public. For her own “legal protection and to clear up any doubts”, she was tested for drugs on Friday and the results will be out in a week’s time. She denied that drugs were consumed at the party. Back in Dec 2021, partying got her into trouble as well as reports said she went clubbing until 0400 despite having been exposed to Covid-19.

Btw, Marin is 36-year-old, making her the world’s youngest PM when she was appointed in 2019. Read more about her and her modest upbringing here. If no elements of crime or impropriety are involved, anyone is free to party. Having a PM who parties hard beats one that makes global headlines for kleptocracy. 

Putin, Zelensky, Xi and Biden all in the same room? Potentially happening soon.

Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo said Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are both planning to attend the Group of 20 Summit in Bali this November. China and Russia declined to confirm their attendance. Biden has been calling to remove Russia from the G-20 and has been pressuring Indonesia to exclude Putin from the summit. Even if Putin didn’t turn up, still going to be an awkward gathering as the tension between US and China has been rising lately over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in early August. 

When one invests 5x more than another - who would you listen to?

China IPOs and its zero-Covid policy

1. China Tourism Group Duty Free, the world’s largest travel retailer, has raised UD2.1 bil in its secondary listing in Hong Kong, making it the city’s biggest IPO this year. The share price was priced at a 28% discount to its Shanghai-listed shares. Unlike other secondary listings, CTGDF HK shares are not fungible to its Shanghai shares due to capital controls and investor perceptions across the 2 markets.

2. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Proton’s owner, plans to list its ride-hailing arm Cao Cao Mobility in Hong Kong, which could take place as soon as next year. Cao Cao operates using its own fleet of vehicles and taxis as well as services from concierge and car rental and is available in more than 62 cities in China. Established in 2015, For those that are familiar with the classic Chinese literature “The Romance of The 3 Kingdoms”, the name Cao Cao was derived from the warrior character in it. If this is the first time you have heard of this classic literature, lots of military strategies and gems in it. Check out this trailer, “Red Cliff”, starring Tony Leung (the bad guy in Shang-chi) and Takeshi Kenishiro, which depicts one arc in the literature.

3. China is leaving nothing to chance in its zero-Covid policy - freshly caught fish, crabs and shrimps have to be tested for Covid-19 in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen following an outbreak. A tourist in a Xiamen quarantine hotel posted a video of their pillows, phones and suitcases getting tested too. 

Warren Buffett’s biggest bet — Occidental Petroleum

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has obtained approval from US regulators to buy up as much as 50% of Occidental Petroleum after it has spent months snapping up its shares — it now owns a little more than 20% of the company. Reaching 50% ownership entails tens of billions of dollars more, which shouldn’t be an issue for Buffett as his company holds more than USD105 bil of cash on its balance sheet. Occidental is the best performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, rising 146% vs the index declining by 11%. A quick breakdown here of why Occidental is so attractive to Buffett. 

How Janet Jackson inadvertently crashed laptops

A laptop manufacturer made a key discovery on what caused the crash on some of its laptops and also its competitors and on different devices too - Janet Jackson’s 1989 hit single Rhythm Nation. Part of the song matched perfectly with the natural resonant frequency of the 5,400 rpm hard drives used in the laptops and could potentially damage the hard drives. Check out the song here — it should be safe to listen to already as a fixed, or rather workaround, has been found. At your own risk!

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Starbucks’s replacement in Russia reopened months after it pulled out under its new owners with a new name — Stars Coffee, bearing similarities to its logo. Tsarbucks would have been a lot better name. Tsar refers to the emperor of Russia until the 1917 revolution or one having great power.

2. If you got RickRoll-ed before, you might know how to appreciate the next content. Rick Astley recreated his iconic 1987 hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ into an insurance advertisement. The original video here — 1.2 bil views.