☕️ Selangor eyes nuclear power in 5 years, but still in the “study first” stage

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

USD2.5 bil (RM10.4 bil). Top YouTube creator Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, holds a stake of that value in his company, Beast Industries. In a deposition last Nov, he revealed that he owned a little over half of the company, which was valued at about USD5 bil in its most recent funding round. This year, Beast Industries is looking to raise another USD200 mil as an extension to its USD300 mil Series C round, which could have diluted MrBeast’s ownership stake. MrBeast has over 400 mil subscribers, but has expanded beyond YouTube, with numerous ventures such as a chocolate bar company and an analytics firm, among others. In 2024, Beast Industries saw over USD400 mil in revenue, but was not profitable, due to high costs in its media segment.

58%. That’s US President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating as of mid-Nov. This is also its lowest level since Trump began his second term earlier this year. This is according to an online poll that surveyed 1,200 US adults nationwide. The poll also saw the Democrats being more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans, but this was attributed to a slew of recent wins for the Democrats.

USD878 bil (RM3.7 tril). That’s the size of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s pay package, the largest in history, which could make Musk history’s first trillionaire. However, he needs to meet certain performance targets to get the full pay package. These include manufacturing 20 mil vehicles over the next 10 years, getting 1 mil operational robotaxis to the roads, and attracting 10 mil subscriptions to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature on its cars. Other than that, he must generate profits of up to USD400 bil and get Tesla’s market valuation past USD2 tril to reach other milestones, the highest of which is for Tesla to reach a valuation of USD8.5 tril by 2035. Should Musk fail to meet any of these goals, he would get nothing. Also, he will not be paid in cash, but instead in Tesla shares.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Biz
Chubb Insurance gears up for IPO as parent trims stake for BNM rules
Chubb Insurance Malaysia is gearing up for a Main Market listing, with a proposed IPO that will see its US parent sell a 30% stake to meet Bank Negara’s long-standing requirement for foreign insurers to trim their ownership. The company won’t be raising new funds as all proceeds go to the American shareholder, but the move comes as part of regulatory commitments dating back decades. Chubb, which bought Jerneh Insurance in 2010 from tycoon Robert Kuok for USD200 mil, reported a 38% dip in net profit last year to RM73.76 mil on revenue of RM703.5 mil (up 1.8% year-on-year) due to higher claims and lower investment income, though revenue edged up on stronger policy numbers. The IPO will offer both institutional and retail shares, with Maybank Investment Bank leading the exercise. View its prospectus here.

IOI Properties mulls dual REIT listings worth up to USD 8bil
IOI Properties Group is weighing dual REIT (Real Estate Investment Trusts) listings in Malaysia and Singapore that could collectively house up to USD8 bil (RM33.31 bil) in assets, according to sources familiar with the plan. The developer is in discussions with advisers on launching a Malaysia REIT on Bursa Malaysia in 2026 and a Singapore REIT on SGX the following year, with the former expected to comprise RM7- RM8 bil in local assets and the latter SGD7 bil- SGD8 bil (RM22.38 bil-25.58 bil), potentially including high-profile properties such as South Beach and IOI Central Boulevard Towers. IOI Properties, which was spun off from IOI Corp in 2013, holds RM46.9 bil in assets across Malaysia and Singapore, and has a market cap of RM11.6 bil.

Not-so-good transport stuff

ECRL scaffolding collapses onto MRR2
Scaffolding from the ECRL project came crashing down onto the MRR2 near Batu Caves, landing right on top of a passing car. According to Selangor Fire and Rescue Department, a woman was inside at the time but thankfully members of the public managed to get her out before firemen arrived. She escaped without any injuries and didn’t need to go to the hospital. View the incident here and the positioning of her car - how fortunate!

LRT3 delayed again
The LRT3 line won’t be opening anytime soon, confirmed Transport Minister Anthony Loke saying the launch has been pushed to Dec 31 or later depending on how ongoing tests go. The 37.8km Shah Alam Line is now in its final testing and commissioning phase, and Loke stressed that safety and reliability come first before any opening date is confirmed. Authorities have been running free-float trials without passengers and still need to complete several more checks on stations, signalling and staffing. Rapid Rail has already hired nearly 1,000 people to prepare for operations, but the line will only open once every verification box is ticked. Originally launched in 2016 with a RM9 bil price tag, the project has gone through cost revisions, station cancellations and later revivals, bringing today’s total cost to RM21.93 bil with an expected daily ridership of around 67,000.

FIFA upholds FAM sanctions, kicks off deeper probes and possible legal fallout
FIFA’s appeal committee has upheld sanctions against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven naturalised players after confirming they used forged birth certificates to claim Malaysian ancestry. Investigators found that FAM submitted documents falsely stating the players’ grandparents were born in Malaysia, while official records from Spain, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands proved otherwise. FIFA rejected claims that the players acted in good faith, noting they signed naturalisation papers without checking them, and said FAM failed to verify lineage or address repeated requests for clarification. The committee ruled that the forgery provided Malaysia with an undue sporting advantage and saw no grounds to reduce penalties, maintaining the 350,000 Swiss francs fine on FAM and year-long bans and 2,000 Swiss franc fines for all seven players.
The full damning report here.

Selangor eyes nuclear power in 5 years but still in the “study first” stage
Selangor may start tapping nuclear energy as a clean power source within the next five years, with Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari saying the state is still in the exploratory phase and focused on building technical know-how, including training officers and working with universities like UKM. He said nuclear studies are still underdeveloped in Malaysia, pushing students to look abroad, but the state wants to be prepared as fossil fuels become less sustainable. Still, he noted that safety concerns, leak risks and public perception must be addressed first, pointing to lessons from countries like Germany.
Such bad idea. It’s not that we don’t trust the technology - we just don’t trust the maintenance culture and mindset we have in Malaysia. If we can suddenly create water feature in our national airport and our highways frequently turn into action movie scenes, no surprise if a nuclear reactor in our backyard will become Chernobyl.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Nestlé accused of still adding sugar into baby cereals sold in Africa
Nestle is back in the scandalous spotlight - a recent investigation by Public Eye, a Swiss group that calls itself a global justice organisation, has revealed that the company is still adding sugar to most baby cereals sold across Africa. Public Eye researchers worked with activists in more than 20 African countries to buy 94 samples of Cerelac products marketed for babies aged six months and above, which were sent to a laboratory for analysis. They then discovered added sugar in more than 90% of baby cereals, with an average of 6g, or one-and-a-half teaspoons, per serving. Note that the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on foods for children under three recommend they should contain “no added sugars or sweetening agents”, in part because of the risk of creating long-term preferences for sweetened foods.

Nestle responded to the allegations by saying that the investigation is “misleading”, with a company spokesperson saying that having cereals sweet enough to be palatable to infants was vital in combating malnutrition. The firm said their recipes were well within limits set by national regulations in the countries concerned. Back in Apr 2024, Public Eye also did an investigation on the similar products and found that Nestlé was adding sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in Asia, Africa and Latin America, when equivalent products in richer countries had no added sugar. Read the full report of the 2025 investigation here.

South Korea confronts its ‘workplaces of death’ as labour crackdown tests big business
Ever since taking office, South Korea’s new President Lee Jae Myung has vowed to lower the country’s above-average rate of industrial accidents. Lee himself is a victim of an industrial accident - he crushed his finger and arm making rubber and later baseball gloves when he was a child labourer. So far, his administration has raided companies, increased spending to prevent industrial accidents and expanded workplace protections to subcontracted labourers, among other initiatives. In its KRW37 tril (RM112 bil) budget for 2026, the Labour Ministry increased spending to prevent industrial accidents and said it would fine companies up to 5% of their operating profit if they recorded three deaths or more in a year. According to International Labour Organisation (ILO) data from 2023, South Korea had 3.9 deaths per 100,000 workers, well above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 2.6.

Will this policy work? Labour Minister Kim Young-hoon said the new policies would not be effective unless attitudes change about work, and it seems like there is a perception in South Korea that casualties are “necessary” in order to push the country to grow faster.

UK school bans KPop Demon Hunters songs
A school in the UK, Lilliput Church of England Infant School in Poole, Dorset, has decided to ban the hit Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters songs over concerns they are not in keeping with its "Christian ethos". The decision came after some members of the community are "deeply uncomfortable" with references to demons, but have since received feedback from parents highlighting positive messages from the songs. Some also said that it had helped their children learn about teamwork, courage and kindness. The school’s acting head said that while they fully respect the rights to make choices about the contents children engage with at home, they also want to be mindful of the diversity of beliefs within their school community.

Google rolls out AI ‘Flight Deals’ tool globally
Google had announced its new AI-powered feature “Flight Deals” in Search last Monday, which enables users to quickly find affordable destinations and organise travel plans with its “Canvas” tool in AI Mode. Users simply need to describe where, when, and how they want to travel and the Flight Deals will use AI to display the best bargains available. Flight Deals is now rolling out to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, including the U.K., France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea. The tool is also getting support for more than 60 languages. As for Canvas, users can now utilise it to plan their travel, including making comparisons and building itineraries. Check out Flight Deals here.

Roblox to block children from talking to adult strangers
As Roblox continues to face lawsuits alleging that it was exploited by child predators, the popular gaming platform will start enforcing facial age estimation to allow children to chat with strangers only if they are in their broad age group beginning next month. Roblox said it would be the first online gaming or communication platform to require age checks for communication. Users will be placed into the following groups: under nine, nine to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, or 21 and over. Children will be able to chat only with others in their age group and similar ones. Founder of children’s digital rights 5Rights Foundation said that Roblox’s announcement claims that what they are introducing will set best practice for the sector - a bold assertion from a company that has been slow to address predatory behaviour and has allowed adult strangers and older children, easy access to millions of younger users.

Shorts:

1. US to sell F-35 stealth jets to Saudi, Prince Mohammed visits the US
   Saudi’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman touched down in the US yesterday and was warmly welcomed by Trump, who anticipated that it would lead to the sale of highly advanced US F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf monarchy. They are primarily manufactured by the US defence contractor Lockheed Martin and cost about USD80 mil to USD110 mil (RM333 mil - RM458 mil) each. This also marks the first delivery of the advanced fighter jets to a Middle Eastern state apart from Israel, whom they exclusively supply to give the country an advantage against its neighbours.

2. Pay up, Thaksin
   Former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra has been ordered by Thailand’s Supreme Court to pay THB17.6 bil (USD542.37 mil or RM2.26 bil) in taxes from a 2006 share sale. Thaksin had sold shares in Shin Corp, a telecommunications firm he founded, to Singapore's Temasek, raising concerns about a conflict of interest as well as allegations of tax evasion. Of course, he said that everything was compliant with the rules, but it was the thing that triggered the Bangkok protests that eventually ousted him. The ruling is the latest blow against Thaksin, who is currently serving a one-year prison term for a separate matter. Just few days ago, Najib and his son got their appeal dismissed by the court to stay (in normal people's lingo, stay in legal context is to stop) bankruptcy proceedings for failure to settle tax arrears of RM1.69 bil and RM37.6 mil, each.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Fun day today

1. Good activity by physical education teacher Maria Haverlova for kids to train their reflexes and motor skills, instead of sitting in front of a screen and exercising their fingers. In fact, some of us adults need this too. Kinda disappointed that we didn’t get to see any kids getting whacked in the head.

2. Year-end holidays is coming up - some out-of-office replies inspiration.

3. Tokyo Drift - skate version. Be grateful to be alive, and enjoy any silly moments today with people around you.