☕️ Purchasing power of Malaysian households declined by 69.1% over the past five decades

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Nigeria holds the sombre distinction of being the world's most dangerous nation in which to give birth. According to the most recent UN estimates, compiled from 2023 figures, a tragic one in 100 women in Nigeria dies during labour or in the days immediately following. This places the country at the top of an undesirable global ranking. In 2023 alone, Nigeria shockingly accounted for well over a quarter, specifically 29%, of all maternal deaths worldwide. This translates to an estimated total of 75,000 women dying in childbirth in a single year, a grim statistic that averages out to one death every seven minutes.

Cambodia apprehended 10,487 drug-related suspects in the first five months of 2025, marking a 12% increase compared to the 9,369 arrests made during the same period last year, according to a recent Anti-Drug Department (ADP) report. Among those arrested were 250 foreign nationals, including 20 women. While arrests rose, the volume of illicit drugs confiscated saw a significant decrease. A total of 1.78 tons of drugs were seized from suspects between January and May this year, a 62% reduction from the 4.71 tons confiscated over the corresponding period in the previous year. This indicates a shift in drug enforcement outcomes despite increased apprehension rates.

A stark paradox in global health reveals that while antibiotic overuse drives deadly superbugs, millions are simultaneously dying due to a lack of access to these crucial drugs. A new study by the non-profit Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) examined nearly 1.5 mil cases of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative (CRGN) infections—superbugs resistant to last-line antibiotics—across eight major low- and middle-income countries, including India, Brazil, and South Africa. Alarmingly, only 6.9% of these patients received appropriate treatment. India, facing the largest burden of CRGN infections, procured 80% of the studied antibiotics but managed to treat only 7.8% of its estimated cases, as reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

The Expensive and Unhealthy Malaysia
BNM Deputy Governor Marzunisham Omar revealed that for the Q1 2020 to Q1 2025, the Consumer Price Index cumulatively increased by 9.8%, while prices for food and beverages rose even higher at 17.5%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks the cost of 13 main groups of goods and services purchased by Malaysians, updated weekly (perishables), monthly (non-perishables), or quarterly (rents). The CPI is used to measure how living costs are changing, making it one of the most important indicators monitored by the government. Rising food prices are a critical issue, as according to the Statistics Department (DOSM), due to the pricier foods, the purchasing power of Malaysian households has declined by 69.1% over the past five decades. Every month, the average Malaysian household spent RM841 (16.3%) of their total average monthly household expenditure (RM5,150) on the Food & Beverage category in 2022. This was the highest average expenditure among all categories. As a comparison, Americans only spend 6.4% of their household income on food.

In contrast, nominal private sector wages per worker increased by only 7.9% over the same period. So, in real terms, wages per worker declined by 1.9%. It poses the question of why our wages do not grow at the same pace as the price of goods and services. Are Malaysians getting malas? Are the younger workforce prioritising the work-life balance mantra until it affects productivity? The answer is no and no. Data from Q1 2022 to Q2 2025 revealed that productivity per worker rose by 7.4%, yet real wages declined during the same period. To put it in simpler terms, at the micro level, the taukehs are stingy in increasing the pay scale. Additionally, on the ground, there are not enough high-skilled jobs available, as between 2022 and 2023, about 260,000 fresh graduates entered the job market, but only 150,000 high-skilled jobs were created annually at the time. That is why we see underemployment among graduates remaining high, about 36% of our graduates are working in mid- or low-skilled jobs, simply because they cannot secure high-skilled employment.

Apart from consuming more expensive food and beverages, Malaysians are also consuming less healthy food. Speaking at EPF’s International Social Wellbeing Conference, economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram told Putrajaya that it needs to rethink its government nutrition programs and public health policies, as at the moment, they are clearly not working. Jomo stated that the Government cannot rely on market mechanisms alone, such as the sugar tax, to reverse the chronic illness prevalence, such as diabetes, where nearly one in four adults are now living with the disease. Not saying to say that I also have diabetes, but at the moment, I am writing this article on my laptop that is parked on my dad bods fanny pack. I am pretty sure a few rounds of pickleball will not solve this health issue. Time for a radical change from the Government level down to the individual rakyat level like myself.

Penang to give a 5% discount to overhang property buyers
Instead of penalising the property developers for oversupplying the market, the Penang State Government has decided to extend a 5% discount for the purchase of overhang properties in the state to all buyers, under the Madani Home Ownership Campaign (MOC). However, the discount is only limited to participating developers registered with the Penang State Housing Board and for units identified as unsold as per the National Property Information Centre (Napic). For Q4 2024, a total of 2,796 residential units have been identified as unsold. Based on the first article, wage growth is one of the factors in determining the purchasing power of a household to buy a property. But at the same time, are property developers constructing property units that the market needs?
Learn: What is Residential Property Overhang?

Shorts

1. Chinese bypassing US chip ban by travelling to Malaysia to use data centre

   According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Chinese companies are bypassing the US chip ban by flying all the way to Malaysia to utilise the data centres equipped with advanced chips built by US-based Nvidia, to train their artificial intelligence (AI) models. WSJ reported that in early March, four Chinese engineers flew from Beijing, carrying a suitcase of 15 hard drives (80 terabytes of spreadsheets, images and video clips) and rented 300 servers at the data centre, to train the AI model. The Chinese company is allegedly leveraging a Malaysia-registered shell company to use the data centres in order to trigger less scrutiny.

2. Apex Court orders Public Bank to pay RM90 mil to NFCorp over leak of confidential information

   The Federal Court, chaired by Hasnah Mohamad Hashim, has ordered Public Bank Bhd to cough up RM90 mil to pay the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) and four others, for leaking details of their accounts and the proposed purchase of properties at KL Eco City. The Federal Court also stated that the Court of Appeal made an error after the latter had decided previously that NFCorp failed to prove the damages suffered, which stemmed from the leak of confidential information by Public Bank.

3. Spritzer’s RM100 mil capex
   Malaysia's own Spritzer Bhd will spend up to RM100 mil this year to upgrade and expand its production, which is based in Taiping, Perak. At the moment, the company can produce up to 1.25 bil litres of bottled water annually. The production expansion might be the prelude to the company’s intention to increase its market share in Singapore, where the company is targeting growth in on-trade and off-trade segments. On-trade refers to sales for on-premise consumption, such as in bars, restaurants, and hotels. Off-trade refers to sales for consumption elsewhere, typically at home, and includes retail outlets like supermarkets and liquor stores.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Really Israel? More killing?

Israeli forces kill over 50 at Gaza aid site
In a show of despicable brutality, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on crowds near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza, killing more than 50 and injuring over 200. While the Israeli military is looking into the matter, it should also be noted that almost all the casualties in Gaza in recent days are tied to the delivery of aid, rather than from Israeli strikes on Hamas targets. In the past 24 hours alone, at least 140 people across Gaza were killed by Israeli gunfire and strikes. However, with the focus of the world now on the air war between Israel and Iran, some Palestinians have raised concerns that their plight was being forgotten.

Iranian leader rejects Trump's call for surrender
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has rejected US President Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender, promising that any US strikes on Iran will have serious consequences, even as Iranians flee Tehran in droves. This also follows Israeli air strikes killing more and more of Khamenei’s main military and security advisers, leaving him with major holes in his inner circle and his decision-making process. Russia, a close partner of Iran, has stepped in to urge the US not to strike Iran, as any such move would “radically destabilise” the Middle East. Russia said the Israeli strikes alone already risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe. However, the US seems to be upping the numbers of its combat aircraft in the Middle Eastern theatre, though officials stressed that the deployment is “defensive in nature”.

Israeli PM Netanyahu's reason for striking Iran this time — “preemptive” move to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile:

Tech Stuff

xAI monthly expenditure about USD1 bil
The cost of building advanced AI models is starting to pile up for Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, with the firm burning through USD1 bil a month. To cover the gap, xAI is reportedly looking to raise USD9.3 bil in debt and equity, with plans already in place to spend more than half of the fundraising target in the next three months. A Bloomberg article reporting that xAI is expected to burn through USD13 bil in 2025 alone also reported that xAI’s fundraising efforts are barely keeping pace with expenses. While xAI has not responded to this, CEO Elon Musk has gone on social media, calling the Bloomberg article “nonsense”.

Bitcoin mining machine makers set up US production to beat tariffs
The world’s three top makers of Bitcoin mining machines are setting up manufacturing footholds in the US to dodge tariffs set by Trump. The reason? All three of them – Bitmain, Canaan, and MicroBT – are of Chinese origin. The three build over 90% of the world’s mining rigs, and setting up US bases shields them from the tariffs hovering over China. However, this also exposes them to the risk of stoking security concerns in the US, where over 30% of global Bitcoin mining takes place.

Shorts

1. Indonesian volcano erupts, alert now at highest level

   Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki (view map here), located in south-central Indonesia, spewed columns of hot ash into the air as it erupted, prompting authorities to raise the alert level to the highest level and expand the danger zone to 8km from the crater. The explosion of ash expanded into a mushroom-shaped cloud visible up to 150km away. While there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, dozens of flights to and from Bali have been cancelled.

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2. Vatican unveils fundraising video centred on Pope Leo

   In a bid to raise funds amid a serious financial crisis for the Catholic Church, the Vatican released a fundraising video centred on the new Pope, urging people to donate to Peter’s Pence, a papal fund used to support church activities and charity work. The fund received USD55.7 mil in donations in 2023. The last set of accounts, approved in mid-2024, showed a shortfall of USD94 mil. View the fundraising video here. Perhaps, the Pope might want to learn a bit from Trump and launch a $POPE coin. 

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. One-of-a-kind concert venue — apartment. Check out the video here.

2. Red Bull’s latest stunt — giant Tetris competition.