☕️ Police bust ‘Geng Budak Sekolah’ linked to child sexual exploitation, run by a 12 y.o. girl

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

According to tech analysis and consulting firm Juniper Research, “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) loans surged five times in value to USD334 bil (RM1.4 tril) in 2024 compared to five years ago. In developing countries, the model is to charge sky-high interest rates to cash-strapped borrowers. While Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have been tightening regulations and warning consumers about the cost and risk of BNPL loans, other countries see companies offering high-interest loans to consumers under the guise of “opening up consumer finance in underserved markets”. While these firms – that make loans outside both traditional banking and the world of publicly-traded bonds – initially catered to SMEs, they have been expanding into consumer finance.

As of early Aug 2025, about 28 children are killed daily in Gaza, whether by Israeli bombardment or by starvation and lack of aid. The UN Children’s Fund offered these numbers and stressed that children in Gaza were in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine, protection, and “they need a ceasefire, NOW”. Israel has reportedly killed over 18,000 children – a rate of one child per hour – since the start of the war with Hamas in Gaza, with at least 61,000 Palestinians killed and over 150,000 wounded. The children also suffer from severe psychological trauma as a result of the war, having suffered the most under Israel’s military campaign.

Margin debt in the US stock market has jumped 18.5% from Apr to June 2025, the fifth-fastest increase since 1998. As of June, investors have borrowed a record high of just over USD1 tril (RM4.2 tril). This comes as investors borrow from brokers to buy stocks, in a bid to ride a series of highs on the stock market. Still, Deutsche Bank analysts are warning that the high may be getting too intense and that things are starting to look familiar. Dot-com crash and Global Financial Crisis levels of familiar, as the market also saw spikes in margin debt prior to the two crashes.
Learn: What is margin debt?

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Judicial Integrity under Tengku Maimun
Former CJ Tengku Maimun warns of political threats and interference in judiciary
Former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat has warned that politicians pose the greatest threat to the Federal Constitution, while reiterating that the PM should play no role in judicial appointments. She recalled that her tenure as chief justice saw “a semblance of attempted interference,” in contrast to her earlier years on the bench. Tengku Maimun stressed that allowing the PM to appoint members to the Judicial Appointments Commission risks undermining public trust, since “in the judiciary, perception matters.” She said that her past calls to curb political influence echoing remarks by the monarchy in 2022 had been blown out of proportion, describing the reaction as “a big hoohaa for no reason.”

In a continuation of her remarks, she reiterated that she only faced attempted interference towards the end of her tenure, and not during her time as a High Court, Court of Appeal, or Federal Court judge. She maintained that pressure could be resisted if judges stood firm: “There may be interference left, right and centre, but if you ignore them, nothing will happen, the judiciary will remain intact.”

Asked about the biggest threat to judicial independence, she quipped, “Personally, the biggest threat would be the politicians,” drawing laughter from the audience. Tengku Maimun, who served as chief justice from May 2019 until her retirement in Jul this year, said she hoped her experiences would remind judges of the importance of independence and resilience in the face of political pressures.

Tengku Maimun questions police inaction over Indira Gandhi’s missing daughter
Tengku Maimun has questioned why police have yet to recover M. Indira Gandhi’s daughter, Prasana Diksa, more than a decade after the courts ordered her return. Speaking at a dialogue on the Federal Constitution, she noted that police have solved complex cases such as the murders of Sosilawati Lawiya and Altantuya Shaariibuu, yet failed to enforce the mandamus order against Indira’s ex-husband, Pathmanathan (Muhammad Riduan), who abducted Prasana in 2009. Despite the Federal Court ruling in 2018 that the children’s unilateral conversion to Islam was void and awarding Indira full custody, Prasana, taken at 11 months old, remains missing at 17, with Indira’s RM100mil lawsuit against the IGP, police, Home Ministry and government still pending.

Court of Appeal strikes down vague terms in Communications Act to protect free speech
The Court of Appeal has struck down the use of the words “offensive” and “annoy” in Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, saying they go against the right to free speech under the Federal Constitution. Justice Datuk Lee Swee Seng, who led the three-judge panel, explained that such vague terms could be misused to silence people and even criminalise truthful comments just because they make others uncomfortable. The case was sparked by activist Heidy Quah’s challenge to a charge over a 2021 Facebook post about detention centre conditions. While the ruling will not affect past cases, it sets a new standard moving forward. The law itself still applies, but only to content that is obscene, false, threatening or deliberately meant to harass.

Police bust ‘Geng Budak Sekolah’ linked to child exploitation and swinger crimes
Police have dismantled a group calling itself Geng Budak Sekolah (School Kids Gang), which was allegedly involved in sexual crimes, including a shocking case where a 12-year-old girl is believed to have run a website selling explicit photos of herself. OF influenced, too early. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the girl and four peers managed the website with a WhatsApp group with over 700 members. She had reportedly left school after earning more than her parents. The case was handled under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 with the involvement of several agencies on sexual misconduct and ‘swinger’ crimes. Saifuddin said swinger activities fall under PDRM’s D7 division, while child exploitation cases are dealt with by D11 at Bukit Aman. He noted five existing laws including the Penal Code, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and shariah enactments allow authorities to act against such crimes.

Shorts:

1. Government mulls turning Tasik Kenyir into data centre and AI hub
   Malaysia is weighing the feasibility of turning Tasik Kenyir into a hub for data centres and artificial intelligence, with Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz stressing that a cost-benefit analysis is needed before moving forward. While Terengganu offers sufficient energy and water, current internet speeds fall short of data centre requirements, and concerns remain over high energy demand and water strain.

2. PTPTN to reopen loan exemptions for first-class graduates on Sept 1
   Applications for PTPTN loan exemptions will reopen on Sept 1 for graduates with first-class degrees. The scheme, introduced in 2001, has so far benefitted over 133,000 borrowers, wiping out RM2.9 bil in debt. His remarks came as PTPTN faces pressure over nearly 400,000 borrowers who have not repaid RM5 bil in more than a decade. Travel bans for defaulters scrapped in 2018 after public backlash are not being reinstated for now, though the option remains under review. PTPTN is instead focusing on loan restructuring and reminders, having issued 2.1 mil notices to delinquent borrowers as of January.

3. Skipping Friday prayers could mean jail or fine in Terengganu
   Muslim men in Terengganu who skip Friday prayers without a valid reason could now face up to two years in jail, a RM3,000 fine or both, under amendments to the Sharia Criminal Enactment (Takzir) 2016. The law, which previously applied only to those missing prayers three times in a row, can now be enforced after just one absence. The punishment would be a last resort if warnings were ignored, adding that this aims to instil awareness, particularly among the younger generation, and uphold the dignity of Islam, with reminders displayed on banners in mosque courtyards across the state.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Price of war

UN report: 383 aid workers killed in 2024, most in Gaza and Sudan
Humanity continues to stoop lower when even aid and health workers are not safe in this maddening world. The UN has reported that as many as 383 workers were killed in 2024, with provisional figures for this year equally alarming. The 2024 toll represented a 31% increase from the year before, driven mainly by relentless attacks in Gaza — where 181 humanitarian workers were killed — and Sudan, where 60 died. All aid workers killed either while on duty or in their homes, and state actors were identified as the most common perpetrators. The UN also reported that 308 aid workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped and 45 detained last year. As of Aug, the UN’s Aid Worker Security Database reported that 265 aid workers have already been killed, with more than 800 attacks on health care across 16 territories, leaving more than 1110 health workers and patients dead.

First group of sick Gaza children to arrive in the UK for treatment
The UK is said to be accepting a group of around 30 to 50 critically ill and injured Palestinian children for treatment with the National Health Services (NHS) soon, after a cross-group of 96 MPs wrote a letter to the government urging them to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK "without delay". This would be the first of such efforts organized directly by the UK government, coordinated by the Foreign Office, Home Office and Department of Health. The children will be selected according to lifesaving needs by doctors who treat them in Gaza, before the World Health Organization (WHO) coordinates the travel necessities. The children will be travelling with a family member and might enter asylum after completing treatment, given the challenges of returning to Gaza.

Tech
 
Intel luck: SoftBank to invest USD2 bil (RM8.45 bil), the US might take 10% stake
In what could be an attempt to rescue US chipmaker Intel, Japanese Softbank Group has agreed to buy USD2 bil of Intel stock, adding to an investment portfolio that already includes intelligence linchpins Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). This could also be SoftBank’s effort to realise its AI dreams - the company, which owns chip designer Arm Holdings, has for decades tried to become a central player in AI. Those ambitions sharpened in 2025 with the announcement of Stargate, a USD500 bil endeavour with OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi fund MGX to build essential data centres in the US. Intel aims to prove it can be a technology leader again after falling behind TSMC in contract chipmaking and Nvidia in chip design, and is also said to be holding talks with the Trump administration about a deal that would potentially turn the US into its biggest backer - a stake of about 10%, sources said. At Intel’s current market value, the stake would be worth roughly USD10.5 bil.

CEO impersonators rising with AI tech
Cybersecurity experts are calling for a more rigorous defence against deepfake impersonations, with cybercriminals now impersonating high-level personnel like company CEOs that fool workers into handing over millions of dollars in cash, critical data and other business assets. Deepfakes are not new, but with AI tech being more ubiquitous and easily accessible, it is far easier now to carry out such attacks. In the US, it was reported there were more than 105,000 deepfake-related attacks last year—or roughly an attack every five minutes—a massive jump from 2023.

What’s more worrying is that the reported numbers might be lower than reality as companies have the tendency not to report an attack to avoid reputational damage. The fast-growing sophistication of AI tools is already making current strategies to counter deepfakes less effective, but at the same time the growing threat has led to emergence of cybersecurity startups that specialize in deepfake detection, with early funding rounds ranging from USD5 mil (RM21.12 mil) to well over USD30 mil. Experts are also calling for more rigorous verification, staff training and technical defences in organizations to help combat these cybersecurity threats.

Shorts:

1. Kim Jong Un wants to ‘rapidly expand’ North Korea’s nuclear arsenal Pyongyang is getting more wary about the US-South Korea military exercises and it feels like it is an “obvious expression of their will to provoke war”, according to the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The latest drill, named Ulchi Freedom Shield, was carried out as a purely defensive exercise, according to Seoul and Washington, but in response to it, Kim Jong Un said his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament, noting that the exercises involved a “nuclear element”. North Korea plans to build a third 5,000-tonne Choe Hyon-class destroyer by Oct next year and is testing cruise and anti-air missiles for those warships - a sign that they are nowhere near denuclearisation despite pressure by the US and its allies.

2. Chikungunya is spreading with a vengeance 
   Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that can leave infected people debilitated, is spreading to more regions of the world, thanks to a warmer world, which creates the perfect environment for the mosquitoes to breed. More than 240,000 cases have been reported around the world so far in 2025, including 200,000 cases in Latin America and 8,000 in China, which never had the case before. The WHO is warning that current transmission patterns resemble a global outbreak that infected 500,000 people 20 years ago. As usual with mosquitoes, the best way to avoid infection is to eliminate breeding grounds and not get bitten - like how Disneyland does it.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. On the mechanics and creator of QR (Quick Response) codes. Read more here.

nshnv

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2. Charles & Keith - Made in Singapore. Now a USD1 bil business, with 600 stores in 30 countries.

There’s Snakes on A Plane, and there’s Elephants on The Road. Happy Mid Week!

themalaymail

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