☕️ T20 contributed 85% of personal income tax collected in 2022

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

According to a study released by NordVPN, a provider of virtual private networks (VPNs), 22,504 payment cards belonging to Malaysians have been stolen and sold on the dark web for an average price of RM35.54. Other personal information, including home addresses (9,000 records), phone numbers (4,600), email addresses (3,500), and dates of birth (134), were also part of the data from the stolen cards.

Big Apple is sinking — at a rate of 1 to 2 mm per year, according to a recent US government study. This sinking rate aligns with that of Venice, Italy, known as "the floating city," putting New York at a similar risk. Additionally, the threat of rising sea levels in New York is estimated to be three-to-four times higher than the global average along the Atlantic Coast.

A memorabilia of Kurt Cobain, the frontman of Nirvana, sold for USD596,900. The broken black Fender Stratocaster had been expected to sell for a tenth of that amount. The guitar was destroyed as Nirvana were working on their break-out album Nevermind in the early 1990s.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Where is Jho Low? The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) stated that the individuals wanted for the theft of more than USD4.5 bil of 1MDB funds are believed to be in Macau, China, including the notorious Jho Low. This new clue in locating Jho Low is believed to be originated from the arrest of a relatively unknown 1MDB suspect, Kee Kok Thiam, when he arrived in Malaysia from Macau earlier this month. According to the MACC, Kee was being deported from Macau based on intelligence networking. On top of that, a Malaysia expert at Australia’s University of Tasmania, James Chin, said the orders for Kee’s deportation might come directly from Beijing. One thing is for sure, all of these chess pieces started to move after PM Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to China earlier this year.

Unsurprisingly, in a scene copy-paste from a typical Hollywood spy film, Kee reportedly died from ‘sudden illness’ after being released from questioning by MACC. Sources from the MACC and the Attorney General’s Chambers confirmed the death of Kee Kok Thiam.

Muhyiddin’s day under the sun

1. The High Court granted the Bersatu party’s leave application to challenge the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) decision to freeze its bank account for investigative purposes. It was a joyous day even for Bersatu’s President Muhyiddin Yassin as the High Court also allowed Muhyiddin’s leave application to go against the travel ban imposed on him.

2. However, it was not all rainbows and sunshine for Muhyiddin as a businessman named Rashdan Yusof recently submitted a document to MACC that allegedly supported the remarks made by PM Anwar Ibrahim that Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional (PN) did use monies sourced from gambling companies to fund its election funds.

T20s contributed the most of the personal income tax collectedInland Revenue Board (LHDN) managed to record a 21.7% increase in the overall amount of tax collected in 2022, to the tune of RM175.4 bil compared to RM144.1 bil in 2021. 19% of the total amount of tax collected was sourced from the personal income tax. Out of the RM39.26 bil of personal income tax collected, 85% of it was contributed by the T20 income group, which involves some 150,000 taxpayers. The 2.4 mil taxpayers that are in the M40 income group only paid RM5.38 bil or 13% of the personal income tax collected in 2022.

Average tax contribution per capita:T20: RM261.7kM40: RM2.24k(yes, averages might not be representative and skewed, but that’s all the data disclosed for us to play with)

The T20s in Malaysia have done their part in funding the nation’s development. Now is the time for the ‘real’ T20s of Malaysia, which are the MPs, to reduce their exorbitant allowances.

The weather in Malaysia is not getting any better, won’t be getting any betterThe El Nino phenomenon that is expected to happen next month will likely worsen the haze situation in the region and Malaysia will not be spared from it. El Nino refers to the warming of the surface of the ocean and is associated with the reduction of rainfall in Malaysia.

Talking about the ocean and continuing with our yesterday’s coverage, Malaysian authorities from multiple agencies are investigating the origin of the cannon shells found on board the China-registered vessel that was detained for illegal anchorage off the coast of Johor. According to an anonymous maritime official, the cannon shells could have originated from the two sunken British warships — HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.

Loke is at it yet again 

1. The Transport Ministry agreed to extend the Penang light rail transit (LRT) project by 6km more, thus changing the endpoint of the LRT line from Komtar to the suburbs of Tanjung Bungah. The revision to the original RM10 bil 26.8km-LRT line (RM373.1 mil per km - to be revised, possibly higher) was made upon MRT Corp's advice, which is this project's lead agency. As for the project's funding, Putrajaya will either issue bonds or fork up money from the development expenditure’s allocations. This comes after PM Anwar Ibrahim struck a deal with the Penang State Government to provide additional federal funding in exchange for scaling down Penang’s reclaimed islands project.

2. From Penang to Kedah, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced three new projects in Kedah. The projects announced are: 

   1. The upgrade works of the Kuala Kedah passenger jetty and terminal;

   2. The procurement of 12 three-coach sets for the northern KTM commuter service (to serve the main northern routes such as the Butterworth-Padang Besar and Butterworth-Padang Rengas routes) and;

   3. The installation of lifts at Kobah and Kodiang railway stations.

3. With all good things, there is always a rotten fruit that will try to spoil them. Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (Prasarana), which is a state-owned corporation under the purview of the Ministry of Transport, denied the allegations brought forward by a group of victims of the 2021 Kelana Jaya LRT kissing crash. Prasarana not only denied the allegations but also suggested that the injuries sustained by the victims were partially or entirely the fault of the victims as they claimed that the victims failed to stand or sit at the appropriate place in the train, not holding the straphangers, and allowing themselves to be injured.How does one sit or stand at the appropriate place if the spot is non-existent in the first place? As of 12 May 2023, the capacity of the Kelana Jaya LRT is beyond its maximum load factor, recording a 117% utilisation of its capacity.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

China sends the country’s first civilian to its space stationLess than seven hours after the spacecraft launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert in northern China, China’s Shenzhou 16 space crew were greeted with hugs on arrival at the Tiangong space station. Shenzhou 16, a group of three astronauts, including a civilian, will be on the space station for five months. The new crew will conduct experiments and tests while in orbit, focusing on exploring intriguing quantum phenomena, high-precision space time-frequency systems, the validation of general relativity, and the quest to unravel the mysteries of life’s origins.

If you have the “iRecorder - Screen Recorder” app on your Android phone, best remove itAccording to research conducted by ESET, the Android app called "iRecorder - Screen Recorder" added malicious code through an app update nearly a year after its initial listing on Google Play. ESET, a cybersecurity firm, said the code allowed the app to stealthily upload a minute of ambient audio from the device’s microphone every 15 minutes, as well as exfiltrate documents, web pages and media files from the user’s phone. While the app is no longer on Googe Play, you should delete it from your device if you’ve downloaded it.

Asus is selling AI hardware for your own officeTaiwan’s Asustek Computer (Asus) is offering what it calls AFS Appliance, which allows companies to tap the potential of generative artificial intelligence (AI) while keeping control over their data. All of the hardware will be installed in the client’s own facilities – to maintain security and control. Asus claims that its own large language model, Formosa, is on par with ChatGPT3.5. The AI computational platform is built on Nvidia’s chip technology. The price of the service is expected to start from USD6,000 per month and up to USD10,000 per month for the highest spec offering.

Asus’ cloud chief, Peter Wu, has expressed significant interest from banks and hospitals in their offerings. Specifically, in the medical field, generative AI holds promise to assist doctors in swiftly documenting treatments and patient visits, enabling more efficient processes.

If AI can replace mundane and straightforward tasks, it may be worth the investment.

But AI could cost humans more than just jobs — it could cost us our livesSam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google DeepMind and Dario Amodei of Anthropic have echoed the idea that mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority.

However — some think the fear of apocalypse from AI is overblown. Arvind Narayanan, a computer scientist at Princeton University, has previously told the BBC that sci-fi-like disaster scenarios are unrealistic. Narayanan said current AI is nowhere near capable enough for these risks to materialise.

The planned demolition of a mosque in Yunnan, China, sparked protestsYunnan, an ethnically-diverse province in southern China, has a significant Muslim population. Over the years, the Najiaying Mosque has grown into a significant landmark, undergoing expansions that include a new domed roof and multiple minarets. Nevertheless, in a court ruling from 2020, the additions made to the mosque were deemed unlawful, leading to an order for their removal. The recent implementation of this order seems to have triggered the protests.

Shorts

1. Ukraine initiated a substantial drone assault on Moscow, taking the 15-month war in Ukraine directly to the core of the Russian capital, Moscow. So far, Mr Putin has been successful in keeping the war in Ukraine far from Moscow. Russia attacked Kyiv at least three times in 24 hours yesterday. Ukraine said it downed 29 out of 31 drones from Russia. Just last week, a close ally of Putin said the war could continue for decades.

2. Elon Musk visits China with the mission to further expand Tesla in the country. The Tesla chief executive officer will potentially meet Premier Li Qiang as well to discuss the automated-driving technology that Tesla is seeking to introduce in China.

3. Nvidia may just become the first chipmaker to join the trillion-dollar club. The gaming and AI chip company, whose shares rose 4.4% in trading before the bell on Tuesday, was valued at USD1 trillion. How did Nvidia get here? The surging demand for its artificial intelligence chips, which are used to power ChatGPT and many similar services.

4. Disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to over 11 years in prison and ordered to pay USD452 mil with her former business partner Sunny Balwani to dozens of high-profile investors they defrauded through a blood-testing start-up. Theranos, the blood testing company she founded, was once worth USD9 bil at its peak.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. The look of the brand new 2024 BMW G60 5-series.

2. The top 25 websites globally, as of April 2023. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT made it to the list.