☕️Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang - DAP's first and only Tan Sri

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

RM25 bil deficit was recorded in the balance of trade in the agriculture sector for foodstuffs in 2021 — export of RM39 bil whilst import amounted to RM64 bil. This showed the nation relies on imports to fulfil its food needs and a lot more needs to be done to enhance its food security. Amongst the vegetables and fruits that are yet to achieve a self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) of 100% includes chilli (29.2%), ginger (14.6%), cabbage (40.3%), mango (16.2%) and coconut (16.2%). Sensing any business opportunities here? Depending on the food production project undertaken, there’s a 100% income tax exemption for 10 years. 

USD279 mil (RM1.28 bil) — the largest-ever whistleblower award issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — to a single whistleblower. This payout was related to the 2019 USD1.1 bil settlement of Swedish telco Ericcson over allegations that it conspired to make illegal payments to win business in 5 countries. The whistleblower's identity was not disclosed in keeping with whistleblower protection rules. Whistleblower awards can range between 10-30% of the money collected by the SEC.

How much can you make selling curry puff? A lot it seems. Old Chang Kee, the curry puff specialist founded in 1956 in Singapore, recorded revenue of SGD89.8 mil (RM304.7 mil) for its full financial year ending 31 Mar 2023, 15.9% year-on-year and generated net profit of SGD6.2 mil (RM21 mil). Nearly 100% of its revenue came from Singapore, followed by Australia (SGD348k) and Malaysia (SGD64k). Old Chang Kee is listed in Singapore with a market cap of SGD72.8 mil (RM247.1 mil). You probably would have seen them around in some malls in Klang Valley. Check out its latest financial statements here.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Agong’s birthday special edition

• Speaking in conjunction with his birthday, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is extremely worried if the issue of the use of the word ‘Allah’ is not handled carefully and swiftly, as this matter could be used as ammunition by certain parties to incite conflicts between the different races in Malaysia. The King emphasised that religion is essential in the lives of Malaysians, evidently with the first principle of the Rukun Negara and should not be used as a basis for any arguments.

• Veteran politician and poster boy for the DAP party, Lim Kit Siang, is one of the 26 recipients awarded the Darjah Kebesaran Panglima Setia Mahkota, which carries the title ‘Tan Sri’ by the King. Lim is the first DAP leader conferred the title. DAP practices a policy that none of its members should receive titles while on active political service. Lim has been an MP for more than 50 years, from 1969 until 2022 (except for the 1999-2004 period) and has been the backbone behind the multi-ethnic DAP party. Having been demonised by most part of the UMNO and PAS parties throughout his political career, Lim is seen as the ‘Mr Opposition’ and carried out his duty of preserving the role of check and balance when he was the Opposition with great dedication.

Khairy is considering creating his own partyFormer Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is mulling whether to create his own political party, which will further saturate the crowded domestic political scene if it materialises. Although he was previously invited by other parties to join them, Khairy stated that if he is given a second chance to start again in politics, he would like to start that journey on his own terms, without having to adjust his principles to any existing parties’ cause.

In a separate matter, in response to UMNO President Zahid Hamidi’s sarcastic invitation to the party’s general assembly this week, Khairy stated that UMNO will be wiped out in the upcoming state elections.

Important news for students, current and future

• Study-from-home option - Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin told the media that starting from the 2023/2024 academic session, 95 bachelor’s degree programs from 19 public universities are ready to be conducted in a hybrid setting. This means that students need to only attend lectures physically at the university for the freshman and final years of their studies only. In between that, the students have a choice whether to study from home or in-campus.

• Free education for the qualified B40s - Khaled also stated that under the Keluarga Malaysia First Child Student Development Programme (Sulung), Putrajaya has allocated RM30 mil that will benefit about 10,000 students to undergo their tertiary studies for free. However, this full tuition fee exemption under the Sulung program is only eligible for the first representative from B40 families that obtained entrance into public universities.

• Shorter courses - Other than that, Khaled also announced that his ministry has identified 44 programs at nine public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) that could be shortened from four years to three years. This initiative could reduce the education cost burden for students while enabling them to join the job market earlier.

Mat Rempit - the menace of the community or potential hero of mankind?A Mat Rempit in Penang died as he crashed into a Proton Persona at the Tun Dr Lim Choong Eu Highway in Penang. The 18-year-old motorcyclist was doing a ‘Superman’ stunt prior to the crash that claimed his life.

The problem of Mat Rempit or samseng jalanan has been here for a while and has become more severe since the 1990s. The authorities are also trying their best to be in front in handling the problem. Meet the Skuad 42, the elite team that was initially formed to tackle rampant illegal racing, which has now become the traffic police operations intelligence unit.

However, not everyone sees Mat Rempit in a bad light. In Melaka, the Civil Defence Force (CDF) is planning to recruit Mat Rempits to be a part of their motorcycle ambulances team. Training in basic resuscitation and life support skills will be given to these Mat Rempits in order to provide two-wheeler emergency services in hard-to-reach tourist destinations.

Business shorts

1. Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd director Abdul Hamid Shaikh Abdul has submitted an application to the court to strike his corruption charge for allegedly offering an RM500,000 annually for 15 years bribe to Annuar Musa in exchange for the take-over of the KL Tower concession.

2. MR DIY Group (M) Bhd’s third largest shareholder, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will opt for the reject vote towards the company’s proposed renewal of authority for MR DIY to purchase its own shares. EPF, which holds 5.38% of MR DIY, stated that the company should use its cash balance to pay a higher dividend to its shareholders rather than share buy-back. As of March 31, MR DIY has an RM1.36 bil cash balance.One of the reasons for a company to buy back its share is to preserve its stock prices. MR DIY’s share price has been tanking to the tune of 22.82% in the past six months.

3. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is expected to dispose of its Giant Mall in Kelana Jaya property for RM150 mil to UEM Sunrise Bhd (UEMS). UEMS is planning to demolish and redevelop the nine-acre site, given the sale is materialised. If the sale is realised, it will be EPF’s eight retail assets to be sold, which will equate to RM880 mil worth of assets disposed by the country’s provident fund.

4. Capital A Bhd is looking to list its Philippines unit of AirAsia in order to raise some capital. The initial public offering (IPO) plan that was touted since 2015 has been shelved a few times. The last one was in 2018, where AirAsia Philippines planned to raise RM1.1 bil.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Tragic train derailment in India killing hundredsIndia’s deadliest train crash in over two decades happened on Friday in eastern India killing at least 288 people and injuring more than 800 people. Preliminary investigation has identified the cause — an error in the electronic signalling system that sent the trains onto the wrong tracks, though whether it was a human or technical error will be revealed later. About 22 mil people ride 14,000 trains across India every day, travelling on a network of 64,000 km.

Summary of the accident: a high-speed passenger train carrying 2,296 people went into the wrong track after a signal change and rammed into a freight train loaded with iron ore. The crash caused the passenger train to flip onto another track causing an incoming train on the opposite track to crash into the wreckage and also derail. 

TW: The aftermath of the incident here.

Parents’ associations ban smartphone access for children Parents in 8 primary schools in Greystones, Ireland, have voluntarily banned smartphones for children - at home, at school or anywhere - until they enter secondary school. A blanket ban curbs peer pressure and dampen any resentment. The hope is to help prolong childhood by lessening anxiety and exposure to adult materials easily accessible via smartphones. This initiative has caught the attention of the country’s Health Minister, Stephen Donelly, who wrote an op-ed in support of the ban and encouraged it to be adopted nationwide. 

Some ongoing studies are examining the impact of smartphone usage on kids, which has become an increasing concern regarding the lasting effects on their brains. Some early findings:

• Kids who spend more than 2 hours in front of a screen each day got lower scores on tests focused on thinking and language skills. 

• High exposure to screens in preschool-aged children may be linked to lower brain development.

Startup valuations - the season of markdownsRising interest rates, persisting inflation, and economic uncertainties have led to institutional investors to question the value of their investments in late-stage tech companies. The only exception if these startups are AI related. Some markdowns:

• Fidelity, the lead investor in Reddit’s most recent funding round 2021, has slashed the equity value of its investment in the social media platform by 41.1%. Reddit was valued at USD10 bil in that round. Reddit’s financials might not be living up to expectations — it recently implemented a new controversial API pricing (to juice up its revenue perhaps?) that third-party developers on Reddit fear could put them out of business. 

• Also Fidelity — it marked down the value of its Twitter investment for the third time since Elon Musk’s USD44 bil takeover in October. On its books, Twitter is worth only one-third of what Elon Musk paid for or USD15 bil. 

• T. Rowe Price, another investment giant, has slashed the value of its investment in design platform Canva by 67.6%. Canva was last valued at USD40 bil in 2021. Now, it’s worth only USD13 bil to T. Rowe Price. 

As for Zume, a robot pizza startup that aimed to automate the pizza-making process, has met the end of its life. After having raised USD500 mil from investors, including Softbank, the company has shut down. Softbank, in this case, has to slash its investment to 0 — after ploughing USD375 mil into the company. 

Shorts

1. Interesting fact - the maker of London’s iconic black cabs is owned by Proton owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Geely is seeking to raise USD1.2 bil for London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) to expand the production of electric taxis. Geely acquired the company in 2013 and rebranded it to LEVC and has so far invested more than GBP500 mil in the company. 

2. Amazon is eyeing a new business - telco. It’s reported that the e-commerce giant is in talks with wireless carriers to bundle mobile phone service together with its Prime membership. Amazon has about 167 mil Prime members. The news sent the share prices of the big 3 US telco (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) down. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has famously said, “your margin is my opportunity”. 

3. The SEC has filed 13 charges against the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ) over allegations of comingling billions of users’ funds and sending it to an entity controlled by CZ. The news sent Bitcoin price down by 5%. Read SEC’s press release here. Before this news came out, it was earlier reported that crypto trading volume tumbled to a 32-month low, not seen since Oct 2020. 

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. From billionaire to prisoner - disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (aka Inmate 24965-111) is now officially imprisoned. Here’s the first prison-yard photo snapped. This investigative report in 2015 by the Wall Street Journal unravelled her world and exposed her fraud.

2. An all-white panda has been spotted for the first time since 2019. It’s believed to be the only albino giant panda in the world. Albino animals can suffer from diseases caused by genetic defects, but this panda did not appear to be suffering from any health problems.