☕️ RM95 mil - largest jackpot in Malaysian history won by a Penangite

1. MARKET SUMMARY

Oil prices dropped yesterday after The White House announced the US will release 1 million barrels of oil per day from its reserves for six months to cut gas prices.

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

USD150 bil — the value of software services exports of India in 2021 as companies globally turned to them for help amid the disruption to operations and IT systems wrought by the pandemic.

RM95 mil — one lucky Penangite from Batu Maung won the talk of the town Supreme Toto 6/58 Jackpot on March 30. The winning numbers were 5, 12, 20, 22, 29, 41. Sports Toto said this is the largest jackpot in Malaysian history.

The world’s largest electric cruise ship, powered by a 7,500-kilowatt-hour marine battery, has made its maiden sail voyage cruising up and down the Yangtze River. The ship is mainly used for sightseeing trips. The Yangtze River Three Gorges 1 can travel 100km on a single charge, saving 530 metric tons of fuel.

3. COVID-19 SUMMARY

• More than 1,000 international tourists are expected to arrive in Malaysia today as the country’s borders open for them! It is a significant milestone as the country slowly transitions to the endemic phase.

• As the world heads into the third year of Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) laid out three possible scenarios:

  • The severity of the disease reduces over time because of vaccination.

  • A more virulent and highly transmissible variant emerges.

  • Occasional booster required for vulnerable people.

4. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday clarified further the details surrounding the MySejahtera app and its vendor in Dewan Negara. There were no major revelations as he reiterated his points from days earlier. Some highlights:

   1. The app is owned by the government. The transfer of the management of the app is only from the National Security Council to the Health Ministry, and there is no transfer from a private company to the Health Ministry but a transfer within two government agencies.

   2. KPISoft Sdn Bhd only manages the app and does not own the data. All data and information obtained through the app is the property of the government.

   3. The majority of the shareholders of KPISoft are Malaysians, despite the ultimate holding company being Singapore-based.

   4. KJ declined to reveal the estimated costs despite pressure from the senators. The cost negotiation is in the final stages.

   5. MySejahtera data is stored at a server in AIMS Data Centre, Kuala Lumpur, and uploaded daily to the cloud.

   6. The National Cyber Security Agency carries out a monthly security audit to detect unauthorised access and data extraction from the server.

   7. Check-in data is kept for 90 days, after which it will be erased through hard deletion.

2. Updates from the 1MDB audit tampering trial involving former PM Najib Razak and ex-1MDB CEO Arul Kanda:

   1. Former auditor-general Dr Madinah Mohamad told the High Court she was shocked to find out there were two versions of the audit report on 1MDB.

   2. She was also shocked by the instructions to amend and instructions to destroy the “original copies” with orders to alter the report first came from Najib.

   3. Two issues that were omitted from the second version were 1) an audit finding on 1MDB’s 2014 audited financial statement and; 2) the presence of wanted businessman Jho Low in a special meeting with the 1MDB board of directors.

   4. Madinah said her predecessor Ambrin Buang was “reluctant” to share his opinions of the 1MDB audit report with her. He remained tight-lipped and asked her to “read the report herself”.

   5. During Madinah’s briefing to the PH cabinet in 2018, she agreed with Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee, that the cabinet decided Najib was guilty even before he was charged. Madinah requested to elaborate prior to answering yes. However, Shafee told her to only answer “agree” or “disagree” and save her explanation for the re-examination.

3. Rafizi Ramli predicts that GE15 will be held in 4 months, sometime in August or September, citing several reasons, chief amongst them being the government’s MoU with PH not to dissolve the Parliament before 31 July and the close of the haj pilgrimage that month. He recently announced his return to politics and will run for the deputy president position, the No.2 post in the PKR polls in May.

4. Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir said Bersatu has reached out to Pejuang to work together in the upcoming general election. The leaders of both parties, Muhyiddin Yassin and Tun Mahathir, met two weeks ago after the state election to discuss. Pejuang, however, has not made a decision. Mukhriz said other opposition parties have also proposed to work with Pejuang in the next election and added that the party is willing to leave the past behind and work with Bersatu for the country’s sake.

5. CIMB is back under the spotlight again for the wrong reason. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) organised five protests that were simultaneously held in support of school cleaner Tamil Selvi after CIMB auctioned off her house for RM140,000, although only owing the bank a remaining RM2,567. Earning just RM1,200 a month, her husband suffered a stroke in 2019, but she still paid her loan. The couple requested payments via Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA), but the documents could not be found in the bank’s system. Malaysiakini sighted the docs that her husband purchased in 2001 that only expire in 2026. Compassion is part of doing business.

6. AEON Co Bhd plans to cut down on capital expenditure (capex) in the coming years as its shifts its focus to rejuvenating old malls and investing in a digital ecosystem instead of building new malls. Between 2012 to 2019, it spent RM400 - 500 mil on average a year to build malls as it strived to be present in almost every city and town in the country. The company’s market cap stands at RM2.22 bil.

5. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree saying foreign buyers must pay in roubles for Russian gas from Apr 1 and threatened to cut gas if these payments were not made. Buyers need to open rouble accounts in Russian banks. Energy is Russia’s secret weapon against sanctions as the country supplies about a third of Europe’s gas.

2. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) added Baidu Inc to a growing list of companies that may get kicked off American stock exchanges because Chinese national security law prohibits them from turning over audit papers to US regulators. The US and China have been at odds for two decades over the mandate.

3. Apple wants to prohibit thieves from stealing iPhones — by asking technicians at Apple stores or Apple Authorized Service Providers to consult the GSMA Device Registry to determine if the phone they’re working on has been registered as missing or stolen. The move aims to deter thieves from sending stolen iPhones to Apple for repairs.

4. Two-year Treasury note yields rose above those of the 10-year for the first time since August 2019, making investors worried about a potential recession as inversions typically signal malaise about the economy’s long-term growth prospects. Inversions have preceded every US recession in the past 50 years. However, after the inversion, the gap quickly widened, and the yield curve turned positive again.

5. Vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson has launched a new product, Dyson Zone. Dyson developed 500 prototypes before launching the product. The Dyson Zone is a pair of noise cancellation headphones with an air purifier. You’ve read it right, an air purifier that filers 99% of particles down to 0.1 microns. Is this April Fool’s?

6. Fun fact of the day — in South Korea, only medical professionals can do tattoos. Yesterday, The Constitutional Court in Seoul upheld the ban on tattooing. Despite the decades-old ban, the country has as many as 50,000 tattoo artists. They could be fined up to 50 million won (approx. RM173,000) and prison terms if caught violating the ban.

6. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Joy and laughter even in the worst of times. Shot taken in Gaza by international award-winning photographer, Emad S Nassar.

1. True love - ‘demi cinta lautan luas sanggup kuredah’

2. 1-minute lesson to learn how to use chopsticks the proper way