☕️ Stabbing, death, gang-rape, and bullying: are our schools safe?

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

The New Zealand government will be paying the Samoan government WST10 mil (USD3.5 mil or RM14.8 mil) at the request of Samoa after a Royal New Zealand Navy vessel sank off the coast of Samoa in 2024. New Zealand recognised the impact of the sinking on the environment and local communities. The specialist dive and hydrographic vessel Manawanui ran aground near the southern coast of Samoa as it was conducting a reef survey. The crew of 75 abandoned the ship, which later capsized and sank. An investigation found that it was due to a series of human errors.

Putrajaya has identified seven heritage sites in Kuala Lumpur for rejuvenation and restoration projects worth about RM700 mil. The seven are the Carcosa Seri Negara, Sultan Abdul Samad Building, National Textiles Museum, Merdeka Square, and the Old Post Office Kuala Lumpur. The Sultan Abdul Samad Building will also be repurposed into a retail space for Malaysian brands. This was announced by Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming at the 16th International Conference on World Class Sustainable Cities 2025.

As Starbucks looks to close more than 100 stores across North America, about 1% of its stores there, the coffee chain will be offering severance packages to affected store managers worth up to 26 weeks of severance pay (~6.5 months of pay). According to an employment lawyer, what Starbucks is offering goes beyond the requirements of state and federal layoff rules. All employees in the agreement would also be allowed to remain on the company’s health plan until the end of this month, with Starbucks also providing funds for an additional three months of coverage through the US Department of Labor’s Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) Program. The federal programme provides temporary continuation of health coverage after certain qualifying events like job loss.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Anwar explains: Malaysia absent from Egypt peace summit
PM Anwar clarified to the Parliament that the reason why Malaysia was not among the countries invited to the International Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, was due to Malaysia’s conditional support for Trump’s 20-point peace plan. The meeting was limited to those who gave full support.

PM Anwar added that Malaysia’s condition for the peace plan must include a comprehensive solution that recognises Palestine as a sovereign state and guarantees the right of return for displaced Palestinians, which is still unclear under the new peace plan. Quoting PM Anwar, ”The countries invited were those that fully supported the 20-point peace plan. Malaysia was not included because our support comes with reservations.” This peace plan could go either way - to be the best deal ever sealed by US President Donald Trump or be the biggest betrayal of the Palestinians.

Stabbing, death, gang-rape, and bullying: are our schools safe?
After the death of Zara Qairina in Sabah and the recent gang-rape of a girl in Melaka, now we are being shocked by the stabbing to death of a 16-year-old female student at a school in Bandar Utama, allegedly by a 14-year-old male student. According to IGP Khalid Ismail, the suspect has been arrested by the police who are still identifying the motive and would not commit to the ‘spurned lover‘ theory as it is too early.

The father of the 14 year old suspect gave an interview to China Press, mentioning his remorse and heartbreak, especially to the victim and her family.

Meanwhile, Khalid also revealed that bullying cases in schools have increased by more than 68%, from 3,883 bullying cases in 2022 to 6,528 cases in 2023. Mind you that these were only the reported cases, according to the Education Ministry's Student Discipline Management System (SSDM). Last year, the number of cases increased to 7,681 cases, and most of the reported incidents occurred in secondary schools.

So, what's happening? Watch Netflix’s 2025 Emmy Award-winning short series Adolescence to get an idea - trailer here.

Shorts

1. Malaysia looks towards Brazil and India to diversify chips market
   Malaysia might do well to try and diversify our markets, amidst intense US tariffs and global market uncertainty. Quoting Trade Deputy Minister, Liew Chin Tong, “We have to accept the fact that our dependence on the US as an export destination may one day end.” The talks with BRICS nations have been progressing well, as Malaysia was poised to sign a memorandum of cooperation with Brazil to collaborate on semiconductor development, and was pursuing a similar deal with India. Malaysia is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of semiconductors in the assembly, testing and packaging sector. Chips account for about 60% of the country’s annual electrical and electronics exports.

2. Bersatu on a sack-and-suspend spree 
   The Bersatu disciplinary board has decided to sack five leaders - Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan and four other division chiefs (Mohd Azrudin Mhd Idris (Hang Tuah Jaya), Mohd Faizal Asmar (Pengerang), Mohd Fadhli Ismail (Ipoh Timur) and Mohd Isa Mohd Saidi (Ampang)), for violating the party’s code of conduct. Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, on the other hand, would be suspended for one term. The suspension and sacking came amid speculation that the group was involved in a movement collecting statutory declarations aimed at toppling Muhyiddin Yassin as party president. The PDF jedi master strikes back at people looking to overthrow him by using PDFs.

3. Zoo Negara’s land is being sold 
   Taman Melawati Residents' Association chairman, Azhari Taharim, said they want to know the intention of the new owner of a parcel of land previously owned by Zoo Negara, which was recently sold to a company, allegedly for RM26 mil. According to the newly gazetted Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) Local Plan, the land has been zoned as commercial land for private sports and recreation use. Examples of permitted facilities include futsal courts, swimming pools, golf courses and other commercial recreational facilities. However, this fact has raised concerns, as the land has served as the area’s green lung, and any private development will be detrimental to the residents.

4. Grounding alcohol for flights? 
   In another episode of “Politicians have the darndest ideas”, Perikatan Nasional and PAS MP of Hulu Selangor, Hasnizan Harun, suggested that the Government should stop serving alcoholic beverages on Malaysia Airlines flights, saying the practice goes against Islamic principles and puts Muslim flight attendants in an uncomfortable position. This is not the first time PAS has made such a call. Then PAS Youth deputy chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari made the suggestion in 2017 after a disruptive drunk passenger caused a Malaysia Airlines plane to turn back to Melbourne. Malaysia Airlines is a full-fledged international airline and not just an airline that serves the Kuala Lumpur-Kota Bharu route.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

It’s an AI world (that keeps bubbling)
More OpenAI deals: Broadcom and Sur Energy
OpenAI has inked yet another deal, this time with American semiconductor company Broadcom, adding to a long string of deals OpenAI has inked to develop AI infrastructure and computing power. Broadcom and OpenAI announced a strategic agreement on Monday for 10 gigawatts of custom AI accelerators. Under the agreement, OpenAI will design the systems, which Broadcom will help develop and deploy. Broadcom stock surged as much as 9% on Monday. CEO Sam Altman said that the development of their own accelerators adds to the broader ecosystem of partners who are building all the capacity required to push the frontier of AI to provide benefits to all humanity.

Next up: A USD25 bil (RM105.75 bil) deal was made between OpenAI and Sur Energy for a large-scale facility with 500 megawatts of capacity in the Patagonia region of Argentina. The Stargate Argentina project is part of President Javier Milei's Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI), a program designed to bring new investments to Argentina. According to a government statement, the project will be developed by Sur Energy and an unnamed cloud infrastructure company, with OpenAI serving as the primary computing power customer. This marks Stargate Argentina as one of the largest energy infrastructure initiatives in the nation's history. With that said, OpenAI has done USD1 tril worth of computing deals so far in 2025 🤯

Is the world in an AI bubble?
Some investors and analysts have become increasingly vocal about the AI market being overheated. They question whether massive infrastructure investments from tech companies will pay off, if company valuations are too high, and whether AI tools are providing value for businesses. According to former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who is now a general partner at venture capital firm Playground Global - the world is definitely in an AI bubble, saying that “We're hyped. We're accelerating. We're putting enormous leverage into the system." However, he said that he doesn't see the bubble ending for "several years." Other tech leaders who have suggested there is an AI bubble include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, while Alibaba cofounder Joe Tsai said he was "beginning to see some kind of bubble."

Learnt this interesting insight from Amazon funder Jeff Bezos’ interview - It’s not a financial bubble, it’s an industrial one. And industrial bubbles don’t destroy - they build”.

Scammer battle
Myanmar scam centres booming again
An AFP investigation discovered that Myanmar’s scam centres are expanding fast, months after a crackdown that was supposed to eradicate them. Satellite images show the centre, located around Myawaddy on the Thailand-Myanmar border, is having swift constructions of new buildings and filled with dishes for Elon Musk’s Starlink service - Myanmar’s biggest internet provider. China, Thailand and Myanmar forced pro-junta Myanmar militias who protect the centres into promising to “eradicate” the compounds in Feb. They freed around 7,000 people from the brutal call centre-style system, which the United Nations says runs on forced labour and human trafficking. The US Congress Joint Economic Committee told AFP they have begun an investigation into Starlink’s involvement with the centres, where it has the power to make Musk testify before it.

Caning punishment for scammers and mules in Singapore
Singapore is being dead serious about scams - lawmakers are now proposing a change to its criminal law where scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates could face between six and 24 strokes of mandatory caning. Those who launder scam proceeds or provide national identification credentials and mobile phone SIM cards to scammers could face up to 12 strokes. Offenders who have not taken "reasonable steps" to ensure their credentials are not used to commit scams may also be caned. Money lost through scams in Singapore stood at SGD456.4 mil (USD350.9 mil or RM1.5 bil) in the first half of 2025, down 12.6% compared to the same period of last year, according to police statistics.

Our scam story: A scam victim couple fell for an investment scam impersonating a related brand of ours, losing mid-RM400k+. They sent us a letter of demand, seeking to make us repay their losses. On top of that, they claimed they were forced to accept a loan of low-RM300k+ of 2% interest per DAY (yeaps, per day). Best part - they are also seeking for us to repay low-RM4 mil+ in ‘profits’, as reflected in the trading app created by the scammer. We sympathise with them, but some ridiculous claims ain’t it?

Before making any investments, you can cross-check SC’s Investor Alert list and SemakMule. But here’s an easier way to do so. Shameless plug incoming: Use MoneyMama, our WhatsApp personal assistant for your finances, which you can use to check these companies and mobile/bank account numbers easily. Check it out here.

Shorts:

1. US who? China exports soar despite US tariffs
   China’s exports have risen 8.3% in Sept compared to a year earlier, a sign that there’s no slowdown yet in the record-breaking flood of goods leaving China’s shores despite Trump’s massive tariff on China. Economists are saying that China’s exports have remained resilient despite US tariffs, thanks to a diversified export market and strong competitiveness, which likely emboldened China to take a tougher stance on US-China trade negotiations. The strength of demand from markets other than the US means that Chinese firms should be less affected by the further increase in tariffs threatened by Trump.
   At this rate, China’s dependence on the US market for its exports will become insignificant, negating any tariff threat. In 2018, US accounted for 19.3% of China’s total exports. Seven years later and after the first tariff war by Trump, this share has fallen to 14.7%.

2. Cili padi Cape Verde qualified for their first ever FIFA World Cup 
   Cape Verde has become the second-smallest nation to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, with its triumphant win over Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match to top the standings ahead of Cameroon. The country rarely played international football some 25 years ago but now heads to next year’s finals in North America as one of the nine African representatives joining Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana, which have qualified already. Whilst in Malaysia, FAM is embroiled in citizenship scandal.
   Never heard of this country before? It’s located in West Africa - view map here.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Some thinking, some reflection

1. How comfortable are you with ambiguity, uncertainty?

2. Another great trait is being super resourceful.