☕️ RM9.14 bil cost to treat smoking, vaping disease complications by 2030 without GEG - Health Minister

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Comm Kamarul Zaman Mamat, Johor's police chief, said over 1,500 cases of commercial crime have been reported to the police in Johor since the start of the year until end-May. This figure reflects a 12% increase compared to the 1,413 cases reported during the same period last year. 79% of these reported cases are scams, which recorded the highest loss at RM49 mil.

In the wake of a legal action taken by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Binance and its U.S. affiliate, investors have withdrawn approximately USD790 mil from the cryptocurrency exchange and its U.S. counterpart in the past 24 hours. Nansen, a data firm, reported this data. The SEC filed 13 charges against Binance, alleging Binance artificially inflated its trading volumes, diverted customer funds, failed to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misled investors about its market surveillance controls.

A recent study has discovered 5,578 previously unknown species residing in the deep-sea environments of the Pacific Ocean, of which 92% were new to science. These habitats are specifically located in an area called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which is a vast seabed spanning approximately 6 mil square kilometres between Hawaii and Mexico. Due to its limited exposure to sunlight, the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) has evolved into the largest mineral exploration site globally. Extensive research has revealed that this zone’s seabed harbours significant nickel, manganese, copper, zinc, and cobalt reserves. These valuable mineral deposits have attracted considerable attention for potential extraction and utilisation.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Dewan Rakyat turns into ‘Zoo Negara’ as PN MPs oppose the debate on the 2021 national audit reportPerikatan Nasional (PN) MPs ‘panas bontot’ and jumped off their seats to support the Opposition whip Takiyuddin Hassan’s objection against the debate on the 2021 Auditor-General’s Report. Takiyuddin quoted the Article 107 of the Federal Constitution, claiming that the debate motion by the Government was going against the Constitution. Takiyudin stated that the national audit report had been debated before this and the Parliament should not start to debate it now. Eventually, Dewan Rakyat passed the motion to debate, however not without the usual war of mouths.

The debate of the national audit report on the spending of taxpayers' money should be a thing of the norm. In the 2021 Auditor General’s Report Series conducted on RM66.86 bil of expenditures, it was revealed that, among others, RM812.91 mil of wastage was identified in the management of Putrajaya’s development, including the deferred monorail project and obsolete bus depot.

Housing news

1. PM Anwar Ibrahim told the Parliament that the construction of People's Housing Projects (PPR) will be compulsory in developing housing projects in Kuala Lumpur. PM Anwar stated that new projects will only be approved if they include the affordable housing portion in them. At the moment, Kuala Lumpur is experiencing a housing crisis where the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is only able to deliver 300 PPRs per annum, far below the 3,000 applications they received in a year.

2. Putrajaya managed to revive 118 ‘sick’ housing projects across the country as of April. Despite the achievement, the country still has a lot of ‘sick’ projects. According to the Ministry of Local Housing and Development’s special task force, as of April 30, there are 141 delayed projects, 481 ‘sick’ projects and 112 abandoned projects.

PJD Link secures RM922 mil fundingPJD Link (M) Sdn Bhd (PJD Link), the concessionaire of the proposed and controversial PJD Link Expressway, a 25.4-km, two-lane dual carriageway (four lanes) expressway, has secured RM922 mil in funding from an unspecified source. PJD Link will source the remaining financing of the project from the sukuk market. Apart from that, PJD Link also appointed MCC Overseas (M) Sdn Bhd as the highway project’s engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

Are we at the start of a vape crisis?

1. The Health Ministry has confirmed that a two-year-old girl in Bera, Pahang, had suffered acute nicotine poisoning after she was believed to inhaled or swallowed the liquid from a disposable e-cigarette device. The urine test from the kid also revealed the presence of a high level of nicotine. With the vape design becoming increasingly kid-friendly, this trajectory could lead to more incidents like this.

2. Putrajaya will be tabling the revised legislation on the tobacco generational endgame (GEG) for its first reading on June 12, after the Parliamentary Special Select polished the legislation to be less punitive and more educational instead. Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that the Government could not afford to not implement the GEG as it will cost the Government RM9.14 bil by 2030 in treatment costs for complications arising from conventional smoking and electronic cigarettes.

A Malaysian went on international news for the wrong reasonsFirst of all, congratulations to Ravichandran Tharumalingam (Ravi) for making the ascent for the third time. However, not crediting the sherpa who rescued you from death is not cool. Insider reported that the mountain guide Gelje Sherpa and his Chinese client were on their way to Everest’s summit when they saw Ravi at the mountain’s infamous “death zone,” where oxygen is limited, and temperatures can drop below minus 30 degrees Celcius. Gelje Sherpa convinced his client that they needed to rescue Ravi. Gelje Sherpa, in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, said he had to strap Ravi to his back and carry him down 600 meters for about six hours before another guide joined the rescue, Reuters reported.

What did Gelje get in the end? This Instagram post with no mention of Gelje. In fact, some netizens said Ravi had blocked Gelje from commenting on his Instagram post.

Business shorts

1. Malaysian-based insurance technology company, PolicyStreet, raised RM67 mil via a Series B fundraising round led by Khazanah Nasional Bhd under its Dana Impak mandate. PolicyStreet is a company that offers digital insurance solutions via both B2B and B2C business models and aims to increase the country’s insurance penetration rate (5.3%) to be nearer to other global peers such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) level of 9.4%.

2. Based on the Brand Finance Malaysia 100 2023 report, Bank Rakyat has been nominated as the fastest-growing brand in Malaysia, recording a 49% brand value increase to RM1.75 bil. The bank is also the 25th most valuable brand in the country. Guess what is the most valuable brand in Malaysia? One clue - Lewis Hamilton showcases the company’s logo at every Formula 1’s race. Find the list of rankings here.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Apple’s first foray into the VR gear space — Vision Pro. It can be yours for a cool USD3,499 (RM16,121)It is the talk of the town — the Vision Pro. What does it do? It is a virtual reality (VR) / augmented reality (AR) headset that gives the Black Mirror vibes. Around the headset itself, you’ll count 12 cameras, a LIDAR sensor, and a TrueDepth camera, as well as IR flood illuminators for your navigation. Regarding optics, the Vision Pro uses a proprietary three-element lens with dual 4K micro-OLED displays that Apple says deliver a total of 23 million pixels. Apple really outdid itself this time — and out-engineering and out-spending everyone else that’s tried. Apple CEO Tim Cook did the unveiling of this new device and at no point did he use the term metaverse.

Here’s an indicator of whether this would sell well.

After Binance, SEC went after CoinbaseThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency platform in the United States, by filing a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court. The lawsuit alleges that Coinbase violated regulations mandating registration as an exchange and oversight by the federal agency. The SEC alleged that Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities and should have been registered with regulators before they were issued. The SEC contends that by facilitating the trading of these tokens, Coinbase failed to comply with the necessary registration requirements.

The explosion of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam prompts fears of wide-scale floodingA dam and hydroelectric power plant located in a region of southern Ukraine under Russian control have been destroyed, resulting in a surge of water and raising concerns about extensive flooding in downstream areas along the Dnipro River. Authorities from Ukraine and Russia are urging residents of nearby communities near the Nova Kakhovka dam to evacuate the area promptly to ensure their safety. Amidst the destruction of the dam, both sides have accused each other of causing the dam to explode, although conflicting reports have emerged from officials installed by Moscow. Watch the destruction here.

Shorts

1. Following a recent announcement of substantial layoffs, Spotify intends to initiate another round of job cuts, specifically targeting its podcast division, as part of an overall corporate restructuring effort. In particular, the company plans to merge Parcast and Gimlet Studios. Approximately 200 positions will be affected by this change. Spotify acquired Gimlet in 2019 for a reported USD200 mil.

2. Twitter Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino reported duty to the social media company on Monday. Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal ad executive, is brought on to improve the company’s relationship with brands after losing business following his takeover and rollback of the site’s content rules. The New York Times reported that Twitter's US advertising revenue plummeted by 59% to USD88 mil in the five weeks from April 1 compared to the same period last year.

3. A tragic incident unfolded in China where an internet celebrity passed away due to alcohol poisoning following a live-streamed drinking contest. This marks the second fatality within a month from such a game. The 27-year-old streamer, known as Zhong Yuan Huang Ge or Brother Huang from the Central Plains, tragically succumbed to excessive alcohol consumption on June 2.

4. Singapore's longstanding tradition of horse racing is reaching its end as the country's only racecourse, the Singapore Turf Club, is scheduled to host its final event next year. The government of Singapore has decided to reclaim the 120-hectare site, which will be repurposed for the development of public and private housing. This marks a significant milestone, bringing an end to over 180 years of horse racing history in Singapore.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. Singapore’s investment in its education paid off and it smacked us right in our faces. The number of R&D researchers per million people in Singapore back in 1996 (2,503) is already more than Malaysia’s peak in 2016 (2,397). Based on Our World in Data, in 2017, Singapore had 6,803 researchers per million people.

2. The best way to use ChatGPT is to give it a role, ask it to perform a task and be descriptive of the outcome. Check out these 9 advanced ChatGPT prompt techniques by Twitter user Barsee here.

3. Meet Song Hoi See — the kampung boy from Malacca that turned down a cool USD1 bil (RM4.61 bil) offer to acquire his company, Plaza Premium Group, the operator of the airport lounge Plaza Premium Lounge. A hidden USD billionaire.