☕️ Sam Ke Ting acquitted by Court of Appeal in 'basikal lajak' case

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

138th — Harimau Malaya moved up seven rungs in the FIFA rankings with total points of 1,082.13. The ranking is higher compared to Indonesia (number 149 with 1046.14 points) and Singapore (number 158, 1014.04 points)!

Tiger Woods’ ball — golf ball — from the 1997 Masters was sold for USD64,124.40 at an auction that ended on April 8, 2023. The bidding for the ball Woods passed to a 9-year-old boy during the tournament started at USD500 on March 27. Why is it so special? The tournament was Woods' first major championship victory and made him the youngest player to win the Masters.

Every elected government wants the country to be a high-income nation. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that attaining a tertiary degree is associated with higher earnings in all OECD countries. However, that’s not the case in Malaysia, where the percentage of PhD degree holders earning less than RM3,000 increased over the last decade from 8.1% to 18.4%.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Sam Ke Ting is a free womanSam Ke Ting, who was previously accused of crashing into and causing the deaths of eight teenagers in the infamous ‘Basikal Lajak’ case, was acquitted by the Court of Appeal. A three-member bench found that the charge against her was defective and therefore illegal. Prior to this, she was sentenced by the Johor High Court to six years in jail and an RM6,000 fine for causing the deaths of eight ‘basikal lajak’ cyclists in Johor Bahru six years ago. The family of the deceased victims admitted the decision by the court was painful and said they will accept it.

Deputy FM I: Members can’t use EPF Account 2 as a collateral for personal loanDeputy Finance Minister I Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan clarified that the banks cannot use a borrower’s EPF savings if the (EPF) member or borrower fails to pay his or her loan instalments. The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Account Two support facility is not in the form of collateral offered by a borrower to a bank, which is contradictory of what was said by PM Anwar Ibrahim last month.

Why the sudden u-turn? It turns out, under Section 51 of the EPF Act 1991, contributions and deposits (of a member’s retirement fund) are not to be assigned or attached.

Zuraida vs Larry Sng for the minnow Parti Bangsa MalaysiaThe ousted former Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM)’s president filed a judicial review leave application to the High Court so that she could finally be recognised as the president. Responding to the news of Zuraida’s action, the current PBM president, Larry Sng, stated that Zuraida previously had signed a document recognising his position as the president. On top of that, via the document, she also agreed not to challenge the president’s post at least until the party’s triennial conference due next year. You can read how the katak mighty from Langkah Sheraton have fallen here - worth the read. Lesson: don’t betray.

A jog through business news in Malaysia

• The Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) 2023 in Langkawi this 23-27 May will be witnessing up to RM8 bil worth of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed. So far, 600 companies have registered to participate in the event, where 70% are international companies and the aerospace-to-maritime industry ratio is about 60:40.

• Stationery maker Pelikan International Corp Bhd stated that the company has received several interests from various parties to buy its assets and businesses. However, nothing is set in stone yet. It is rumoured that Pelikan is looking to divest up to RM500mil in assets that could see the company exit its core stationery business.The Pelikan brand was founded in 1838 in Germany. However, in 1996, a Malaysian company, Goodace Sdn Bhd, initiated a reverse takeover of the brand and took over the majority of Pelikan's holding shares.

• Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd recorded a super performance in 4QFY2023, registering an RM95.34mil net profit from RM23.38mil a year earlier. An incremental increase in revenue and bad debt recoveries are the main reasons why the company is faring well.

• Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) will be distributing RM250 in special assistance, benefitting 81,153 registered farmers in Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Selangor, amounting to RM20 mil. The RM20mil is part of the RM60mil donation by Bernas to farmers, as announced by PM Anwar Ibrahim last year.

Sustainability is well and alive in Malaysia

• A 50-50 joint venture (JV) between Citaglobal Bhd and Genetec Technology Bhd unveiled the country’s first locally built battery energy storage system that will be used to store and manage excess power from renewable energy (RE) generation. These guys are going up against Elon Musk’s Megapack.

• Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM) and YTL Cement inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will signal the beginning of the collaboration between the Government and the industry to promote sustainable construction.Read: What is sustainable construction and why is it important

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between JLand Group Sdn Bhd and Gentari Sdn Bhd, Petronas's clean energy solutions arm. Under the MoU, feasibility studies will be conducted on Gentari’s renewable energy solutions that can be adopted at Jland’s strategic assets and industrial parks.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Highly classified US documents leaked since early AprilWhile the authenticity of the leaked documents could not be ascertained, Wall Street Journal has said the leak could be one of the most significant in recent history. At least 50 documents with Secret and Top Secret classification markings have surfaced so far. The documents — mainly regarding the war in Ukraine — appeared to have originated from within the U.S. military and intelligence agencies.

The highlights from the leaks are:

• South Korean national security council contemplating selling ammunition that could end up in Ukraine.

• Communications of leaders of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

• The US government infiltration of the Russian government.

Household name Tupperware on the brink of collapseEveryone has heard of the name — Tupperware. It’s a sticky name. Almost every Asian family calls food containers tupperware. Unfortunately, shares in the 77-year-old firm plunged nearly 50% on Monday after it announced there was “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern*”. The company is scrambling for funding. Tupperware could be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange because it had not yet filed its annual report. In addition, the company has failed to appeal to the younger audience to buy its products, causing its downfall.

Tupperware was founded by Earl Tupper, an American chemist, in 1946 - learn more about its history here.

*In accounting lingo, ‘going concern’ means the assumption that an entity will remain in business for the foreseeable future.

The British Government wants smokers in England to vape insteadTo hit its commitment of getting smoking rates in England below 5% by 2030, one million smokers will be given a free vaping starter kit to encourage them to give up tobacco products. Health minister Neil O'Brien is expected to say the free vape policy - dubbed "swap to stop" - is the first of its kind in the world. The plan isn’t cheap — it will cost around £45 million. As of 2021, smoking prevalence in England was 13%, the lowest on record.

Singapore is spending SGD10 mil to expand its soft powerA joint initiative of the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Tourism Board is spending SGD10 mil to support international movies that showcase the city to a global audience, helping finance production and marketing costs where the island is featured. So be prepared for more Crazy Rich Asians. Local and international talents can participate in the project. Perhaps this would complement Singapore’s GHY Culture & Media Holding Co Ltd’s recent purchase of Iskandar Malaysia Studios Sdn Bhd (IMS) — buying this failed RM500 mil+ studio project by a sovereign wealth fund of its neighbouring country seems like soft power at play. 

Shorts

1. Former Twitter employees, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, ex-legal head Vijaya Gadde, and ex-CFO Ned Segal, have filed a lawsuit against Twitter Inc. over alleged unpaid legal reimbursements. The former executives are asking for over USD1 million for the legal bills they incurred while at the company to respond to requests by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.

2. The International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook slightly as higher interest rates cool activity but warned that a severe flare-up of financial system turmoil could slash output to near recessionary levels. The IMF is now forecasting global real GDP growth at 2.8% for 2023 and 3.0% for 2024 due to tighter monetary policy.

3. Alphabet’s Google has been fined 42.1 billion won (~ USD32 million) by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission for blocking developers from releasing mobile video games on a Korean competitor platform called One Store. Korea’s antitrust watchdog said the move is part of ensuring fair competition in the app market.

4. Merely hours after Alibaba released its ChatGPT-like bot, the Chinese government released a draft of measures to regulate services using artificial intelligence. China’s Internet regulator will screen through AI chatbots to ensure they will be in line with the country’s core socialist values. Tencent’s chatbots were banned in 2017 after there were remarks criticising the Communist Party.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. A graph showing how far humanity has come in tackling child mortality. Global child mortality rate dropped to 4.3% in 2020 from 27% in 1950.

2. This is how making RM180,700 in 2 minutes looks like — Khairul Aming sold 13,000 bottles of Sambal Nyet (RM13.90 per bottle) in 2 minutes