☕️ Teacher bankruptcies on the rise

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

JPY128 bil (USD807 mil or RM3.25 bil). That’s how much the Onitsuka Tiger brand is expected to bring parent company ASICS this year. The brand started off making shoes for athletes before becoming a fashion footwear brand in 2002, gaining a strong following among Hollywood stars. Those shoes Uma Thurman was wearing in ‘Kill Bill’? The black and yellow sneakers? Yep, Onitsuka Tiger. More recently, the brand came up with another trendsetter in its retro Mexico 66 shoes. The brand made up 15.9% of ASICS’ net sales in the first nine months of 2025 with an operating profit margin of 39.4%, nearly double that of the company as a whole. The firm is doubling down on Onitsuka Tiger, converting an entire factory into a facility dedicated to the brand.

As of early Dec 2025, the Wolverhampton Wanderers, known affectionately as the ‘Wolves’, had gone through three managers, two sporting directors, one technical director, and 41 goals conceded in a then-227-day streak with no wins to the club’s name. This would continue through the month before finally ending when the Wolves drew 1-1 against Manchester United on Dec 30, 2025, before pulling a win against West Ham earlier this month. This marked a losing streak of 11 matches in a row in the Premier League for the Wolves.

In other football news, US forward Trinity Rodman now holds the title of highest-paid female footballer, according to her agent. This follows her signing a three-year deal with Washington Spirit worth USD2 mil (RM8.01 mil) per year, including bonuses. However, people who have seen the contract of Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati contest this. According to those sources, the highest amount Rodman would receive after salary cap amendments to the National Women’s Super League came into force would still leave Bonmati as the best-paid female player. Bonmati’s pay remains unknown, as salaries in women’s football are not public.

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3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Who is to blame for the UPSI bus crash?
The authorities have determined that the bus operator and the bus driver are to blame for the fatal bus crash that claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students in June 2025. This was in the final Road Transport Safety Investigation Report by the Ministry of Transport’s special task force.

Why the bus operator?

• The bus operator did not use a valid operating licence

  The bus operator, Noreen Maju Trading, rented or leased the operating licence from Kenari Utara Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd without authorisation from the authorities. According to Section 49 (1) of the Land Public Transport Act 2010 (Act 715), it is illegal to use an operating licence of a third party without approval. The operating licence was revoked in June 2025.

• The driver listed for the trip did not match the actual driver

  Apart from having totally different people driving the bus compared to the ones in the official document, one of the drivers who drove the bus had no active driving licence since 1998. Plus, both drivers had multiple traffic summonses, including outstanding ones.

Why the bus driver?

• The bus driver drove over the speed limit

  The MOT Special Task Force found that the bus driver was travelling at about 114.7 kilometres per hour (kph), well beyond the road’s design speed of 70kph. The conclusion was made based on analysis of video recordings from nearby vehicles near the crash site, as the bus did not have a global positioning system (GPS), speed-limiting device (SLD), or dashcam.

• The bus driver is just poor at driving

  The authorities also stated that the driver’s aggressive braking at high speed caused a sudden increase in brake component temperatures, which progressively reduced braking effectiveness. The combination of brake failure and excessive speed led to the bus striking the W-beam road barrier, which penetrated the bus cabin. This was identified as the primary mechanism that increased the severity of passenger injuries and fatalities. On top of that, the maintenance work on the bus was done at an unaccredited facility.

A sneak peek into the classroom
Putrajaya approves additional classrooms at schools in Selangor
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek announced that her ministry has approved the construction of additional classrooms at 18 overcrowded schools in Selangor as a short-term measure to address congestion and infrastructure shortages affecting student learning. A long-term measure will have to be devised soon, as schools will have to handle double the intake for Year 1 next year, which will have both 7-year-olds and 6-year-olds, in line with the announcements under the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2026–2035.

Teacher bankruptcies are on the rise
The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) found that teachers have a poor financial literacy rate that puts them at risk of bankruptcy. This poor financial literacy makes such teachers vulnerable to investment schemes and loan offers. NUTP also criticised a lax loan approval system for exacerbating the issue. NUTP revealed that about 1,700 teachers nationwide fell victim to a loan fraud involving a financial education platform, where most victims carried debts exceeding RM100,000 each.

A busy year for Sunway
Bursa approves Sunway Healthcare’s IPO
Sunway’s healthcare arm, Sunway Healthcare Holdings Bhd, has been granted an approval by Bursa Malaysia to go public with a reduced public float of 18%, below the standard 25% requirement. Such exemptions are rare but more common for large initial public offerings, like Mr DIY Group (M) Bhd, 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd, and Eco-Shop Marketing Bhd, which were allowed to list with lower public floats. Sunway Healthcare is poised to be among the largest IPOs this year.

EPF appears to bet big on the IJM takeover by Sunway
The Employees Provident Fund has increased its shareholding in IJM Corporation Bhd, raising its stake in the construction firm from 18.43% to 20.12% since Sunway made the takeover announcement for IJM, an RM11 bil deal. Coincidentally, IJM is also involved in a MACC investigation over a RM2.5 bil money laundering scheme. Despite the latter, Sunway stated that it will proceed with the takeover and it will seek the approval of its shareholders at a later date.

Shorts

1. Malaysia mulls roadblock for foreign F&B brands

   Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade Dr Fuziah Salleh stated that Putrajaya is mulling over the implementation of stricter regulations on foreign involvement in the local food and beverage (F&B) industry to safeguard the survival of domestic micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). One of the ways to do that is by lowering the business floor area threshold that would trigger mandatory impact assessments. Take Mixue, for example, which entered the Malaysian market in 2024 with 547 outlets. It was not required to conduct an impact assessment on existing local retailers as Mixue outlets are typically less than 1,000 square metres in size, well below the 5,000-square-meter threshold that mandates such an assessment.

2. BN retains Kinabatangan, Lamag seats

   Barisan Nasional (BN) managed to win both the Kinabatangan (parliamentary seat) and Lamag (state seat) by-elections, which fell vacant following the passing of the late Bung Moktar Radin. Bung Mokhtar’s son, Mohd Kurniawan Naim, won the Kinabatangan seat with a 14,214-vote majority while Mohd Ismail Ayob retained the Lamag state seat for BN with a majority of 5,681 votes.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Trump’s ‘Imperial’ Gaza agenda revealed
It doesn’t get more imperialist than this. Here is Trump’s ‘Imperial’ Gaza agenda, recently presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland by none other than Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a real estate developer.

The presented plan included:

• A 4-phase development timeline beginning in Rafah, southern Gaza, and then moving north, with colour-coded maps shown indicating coastal tourism zones, mixed-use towers, and residential and industrial areas.

• More than 100,000 housing units alongside orderly industrial parks, and even a new airport.

• A projection to raise Gaza’s gross domestic product (GDP) to USD10 bil (RM40.06 bil) by 2035, after the size of the territory’s economy crashed to just USD362 mil by 2024 amid the war.

• 500,000 new jobs and at least USD25 bil in investments for modern utilities and public services.

However, there were no insights into core issues such as property and land rights nor justice for war crimes presented. There was also no mention of plans for a path to Palestinian statehood, no details about where Palestinians would live during reconstruction, and how new properties would be allocated. Experts have strongly criticised this ‘imperialist’ vision of Trump’s so-called master plan, which they say does not include any consultation with Palestinians and reduces the ongoing catastrophic genocide to an ‘investment opportunity’. Nothing about what Palestinians want.

’China will eat Canada alive’, and new 100% tariff threat on Canada
Trump’s latest outburst on social media reveals a fresh 100% tariff threat on goods imported from Canada if the country goes ahead with its trade deal with China. Canada reportedly negotiated a deal this month to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products. It is also said that Canada and China had resolved ‘several important trade issues’, though there was no pursuit of a free-trade agreement. Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney, as the US president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance. In Davos, Trump said that ‘Canada lives because of the United States’, but PM Carney shot back that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to bend toward autocratic tendencies. Oof.

Note that Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly USD3.6 bil (RM14.42 bil) worth of Canadian goods and services cross the border each day, and about 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, as are 85% of electricity imports. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminium, and uranium to the US, and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

The sports frontier
German FA official calls for World Cup boycott talks
An official from the German Football Association (DFB), Oke Gottlich, has boldly said that it is time to consider a boycott of the 2026 World Cup in the wake of Trump’s actions, particularly his threats to acquire Greenland and impose tariffs on eight European countries, including Germany, who opposed his plan. Gottlich calls for the boycott to be talked about more ‘concretely’, and referred to the US-led boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan as an example. Looks like there’s precedent. The US will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico this summer, and out of the 104 matches, 78 will be held in the US. The French government said it is not currently in favour of a boycott, while the Danish Football Association said it is ‘aware of the current sensitive situation’.

This is funny - the number of ‘country’ representing the US in the Olympics:

FBI arrests ex-Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug lord
Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been arrested by the FBI in Mexico and extradited to the US on charges of cocaine trafficking and murder. Allegedly known by aliases like ‘El Jefe,’ ‘Giant’ and ‘Public Enemy’, Wedding allegedly became a drug kingpin in Mexico with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, under whose protection he was believed to be living in Mexico. He had been hiding in the country for more than a decade, with the FBI offering a USD15 mil (RM60.08 mil) reward leading to his arrest. The FBI said that he allegedly led an operation responsible for generating more than USD1 bil a year in illegal drug proceeds, and hired assassins to target individuals he perceived as rivals or law enforcement ‘coordinators’.

Shorts

1. China investigates its highest-ranking general

   China’s defence ministry has confirmed that an investigation is underway into the country’s highest-ranking general, Zhang Youxia, over ‘grave violations of discipline and the law’. Zhang is widely seen as President Xi Jinping’s closest military ally, and in China, accusations of wrongdoing are usually a euphemism for corruption. Since coming to power, President Xi has launched waves of anti-corruption drives through various departments and this campaign has recently focused heavily on the military (we need some help here in Malaysia). The removal of Zhang and another senior military officer follows the expulsion of 9 top generals in Oct, one of the largest public crackdowns on the military in decades.

2. No more 100ml liquid container limit for passengers departing Heathrow

   Travelling to London? No need to fret on the way home anymore. Passengers can now leave liquid in containers up to 2 litres in carry-on bags while going through the security checkpoint. Electronics like laptops can just remain in your bags as well, while clear plastic bags for liquids are no longer necessary. This is all thanks to the new roll-out of high-tech CT scanners, which Heathrow said will provide better images of cabin bags and service customers with better efficiency and security standards. Of the world's 10 busiest airports, Heathrow is the only one to have scrapped the 100ml rule for liquid containers on international flights.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. American climber Alex Honnold successfully scaled Taipei 101 (508m tall) over the weekend without a rope, harness or safety equipment. His action was streamed live on Netflix. Honnold is renowned for being the first person to climb El Capitan, a 915m granite cliff in California’s Yosemite National Park without rope or safety gear - a feat that was made into a documentary titled Free Solo (trailer here) and won an Academy Award. View from another angle here and a selfie by Honnold right at the top.

2. Crocs, but Lego. Available globally this Feb 16 for the price of SGD99.95 (~RM945) in Singapore.

3. The art of choosing fruits right.