☕️ Thailand Land Bridge revived, Singapore as potential investor

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

More than 91,500 people – El Salvador’s security forces have detained that many people since the state of emergency was declared in 2022, when the Salvadoran Congress also passed a decree allowing for mass trials. The state of emergency, which was put in place as a means to crack down on gangs, has been repeatedly renewed over time, and this has raised concerns over human rights violations through the long-extended state of emergency. One of the largest mass trials to date happened recently, when 486 alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, aka MS-13, were charged with more than 47,000 crimes between 2012 and 2022, which include homicide, femicide, extortion, and arms trafficking.

USD25 bil (RM99.25 bil) – A Pentagon official revealed that this is how much Operation Epic Fury, aka the Iran conflict, has cost the US so far. Most of the spending went towards munitions, with the remainder going towards operations and maintenance, equipment replacement, and the buildup of forces in and around the Middle East. The information was revealed when the Pentagon appeared before Capitol Hill to discuss a USD1.5 tril FY2027 budget request, as well as the costs associated with the military operation. The expenditure of “stockpiles of critical weapons” has also raised concerns about the country’s preparedness for future conflicts.

More than 6,000 dead – South Korea estimates that at least 15,000 North Koreans have been sent to help Russian forces recapture parts of western Kursk in Russia, with more than 6,000 killed so far (death rate of at least 40%). Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the numbers. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently praised soldiers who killed themselves by detonating their grenades while fighting for Russia against Ukraine. He said those who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack, in order to defend the great honour” were “heroes”. This also confirmed a long-suspected battlefield policy. Kim also praised those who died in combat as “faithful warriors and patriots”.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Putrajaya delivers for Labour Day 2026
During the Labour Day celebration last Friday at Bukit Jalil, PM Anwar Ibrahim announced several initiatives to bring smiles to workers amid a relatively tough year. Among the initiatives are:

• RM710 mil allocated for social protection readiness, training empowerment and job placement, gig worker empowerment and resilience of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

• Financial assistance for up to 30 days of additional leave taken after the completion of the 98-day maternity leave period.

• Proposal to expand Socso coverage to Malaysians working abroad, starting with cross-border workers between Malaysia and Singapore.

Separately, HR Minister R. Ramanan announced that, as part of the broader labour reform under the 13th Malaysia Plan, the government targets to increase the minimum wage by close to 80% to RM3,000 by 2030. He said the government was targeting a higher minimum wage while reducing dependence on low-skilled jobs.

UMNO will stick with PH in Negeri Sembilan
UMNO has decided to stay with Pakatan Harapan in Negeri Sembilan to lead the state government, despite its assemblymen having expressed their non-confidence towards the current Menteri Besar, Aminuddin Harun, previously. Following the return of UMNO, Pakatan Harapan has regained its majority in the state assembly. The Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly consists of 36 seats in total. Pakatan Harapan currently controls 17 seats, and UMNO has 14 seats, while Perikatan Nasional holds five seats on the other side of the aisle.

UMNO is apparently playing the long game with Pakatan Harapan, as this decision may signal that the duo’s cooperation may continue into GE16. During UMNO’s 80th anniversary convention at WTC KL, UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, stated that political cooperation is now essential rather than optional, but stressed that it must be grounded in clear and firm principles, which are Malays’ interest and Islam as the core. Zahid also called for a shift in political culture, urging leaders to move from confrontation to collaboration in politics, as part of a broader effort to stabilise the country’s political landscape.

Berebut harta in Sarawak
Two of the late former Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud's sons are in a head-to-head tussle over the infrastructure giant Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS). Taib Mahmud’s elder son, Mahmud Abu Bekir and CMS’s deputy chairman until he was demoted on April 7 to non-executive director, was blocked from attending board meetings where his younger sibling, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman, is the current managing director of CMS. The reason Mahmud was blocked out of meetings was that, since 2025, he tried to obtain financial and board documents that he claims CMS is withholding from him illegally, given his position as a board member. He filed a suit on March 5, 2025, demanding the information.

Since his younger brother Sulaiman took the helm of CMS, the company’s profit after tax (PAT) has declined by nearly 90%, from RM290 mil in 2022, down to RM40 mil in 2025. CMS’s core business and its cash cow, the cement business, is not the problem, as it delivered RM161 mil in profit before tax (PBT) in 2025. However, CMS’s newer venture, particularly its RM1 bil new phosphate plant, is the problem. The plant is supposed to open in 2019, but is now being postponed to 3Q2026 and has RM342 mil in unpaid electricity bills, even before churning out a single cent. CMS’s AGM in May 2026 would be worth watching.

Shorts

1. Two foreigners died at KLIA Terminal 2 on the same day

   KLIA police chief M. Ravi confirmed that two foreign nationals, a woman from China and an Algerian man, were confirmed dead in unrelated incidents. For the first death, the 27-year-old Chinese woman was pronounced dead after she jumped into the loading bay area, after sitting outside a balcony area at the Green Zone on Level 3. A KLIA security officer tried to rescue her from the balcony, but she refused and chose to jump instead. As for the Algerian man, he also jumped from the outer balcony area on Level 3 of KLIA 2 in a suspected suicide attempt. A witness saw the man open his backpack and run towards a barrier before jumping over it.

2. Grab became the first company to receive the cross-border ride-hailing license

   Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded GrabCar the inaugural Cross-border Ride-hail Service Operator Licence, which enables passengers to book cross-border taxi services via Grab’s platform. Cross-border taxis will be allowed to drop off passengers anywhere in Singapore, and in Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Forest City, Kulai and Senai. Home country pickups will be without restrictions. Taxis granted the licence must ensure that their cross-border vehicles are easily identifiable. They are required to have prominent rooftop signs, distinct cross-border taxi identification decals and specific licence plate prefixes.

3. Australia’s AirTrunk to invest another RM12 bil in Johor

   AirTrunk is said to double down its investment in Johor by investing another RM12 bil to build two more hyperscale data centres, almost doubling its total investment in Malaysia to RM27 bil. Called JHB3 and JHB4, the new campuses will have a combined capacity of more than 280 megawatts and are designed to support cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The new facilities will use recycled water for their cooling systems.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

To war, or not to war, that is the question

Tehran has not ‘paid a big enough price’: Trump said that he is reviewing the latest peace proposal from Tehran, but he expressed doubt over it achieving a diplomatic breakthrough by claiming Iran had not yet “paid a big enough price” for its past wrongs. Meanwhile, “brother” Israel said that they were preparing for possible US strikes on Iran, adding that any peace agreement without a cessation of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and the surrender of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium would be considered a failure. Iran presented a new 14-point proposal to the US via Pakistan on Friday, with a reported focus on the lifting of the blockades and a new mechanism for managing the strait. Trump responded to the proposal on Truth Social, saying he “can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years”.

Iran's military said a renewed war is 'likely': Meanwhile, the Iranian military responded on Saturday that renewed fighting between the US and Iran was "likely", hours after US President Donald Trump said he was "not satisfied" with a new Iranian negotiating proposal. A senior figure in the Iranian military also said that the evidence has shown that the US is not committed to any promises or agreements.

US withdraws troops from Germany
Trump has announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany, its largest European base, as a rift over the Iran war and tariff tensions placed further strain on relations between the US and Europe. A Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany has also been dropped - a blow to Germany, which had pushed for the move as a powerful deterrent against Russia. German Defence Minister said that the move should spur Europe to strengthen its own defences, adding that Germany is on the right track by expanding its armed forces, speeding up military procurement and building infrastructure. NATO members such as Germany have pledged to take on more responsibility for their own defence, but with tight budgets and vast gaps in military capability, it will take years for the region to meet its own security needs.

Thailand Land Bridge revived, Singapore as potential investor
Thailand’s longstanding Land Bridge project has been revived after disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz underscored the vulnerability of global shipping chokepoints, including the nearby Strait of Malacca. Thailand aspires to build a logistics link ​between the Indian and Pacific oceans, with the Land Bridge envisioning two deep-sea ports - one ⁠in Ranong on the Andaman Sea and ⁠another in Chumphon on the Gulf of Thailand. These ports will be linked by ⁠90 km of road ⁠and rail, as well as energy infrastructure ⁠pipelines. A proposal is expected to be submitted to the cabinet in June or July. The Thai government would seek investors for the estimated THB 1 tril (RM121 bil) project, including pitching Singapore as a potential investor. The project would offer an alternative route to the Malacca Strait, the 900-km-long channel bounded by Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, which provides the shortest sea route ⁠from East Asia to the Middle East and Europe.

AI

Pentagon seals deal with big techs for “AI-first” military systems
Since the fallout with Anthropic, the Pentagon has been working hard to bring on other AI companies to agree to expanded usage terms for their models and infrastructure on secret and top-secret networks. Companies like Nvidia Corp, Microsoft Corp, Reflection AI Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Oracle Corp have all newly struck agreements with the US Defence Department “for lawful operational use”, a new term that substantially waters down some of the limits sought by Anthropic, which refuses to let its technology be used for mass domestic surveillance of US citizens or for fully autonomous weapons systems. Other technology companies that have recently agreed to similar deals include SpaceX, OpenAI and Google. The US Defence Department said that these agreements have accelerated the transformation towards establishing the US military as an “AI-first” fighting force.

Watch how AI is being used in the Iran war:

Companies in China cannot fire employees because they can be replaced with AI
The Chinese court has ruled that companies in China cannot simply terminate employees just because they can be replaced with AI systems, and they cannot unilaterally lay off employees or cut salaries due to technological progress. The ruling comes as Chinese companies race to implement AI systems as part of a state-directed push to dominate the new technology. Authorities in China now have to juggle between stabilising the domestic labour market and the global AI race. At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party have indicated a willingness to prioritise stability in the labour market as the country grapples with a slowing economy and elevated youth unemployment.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

Legal things you need to know

1. Can police check your phone?

2. An interesting read on motor insurance. Learnt that NCD dynamics change when hit by bikes, public transport (including Grab) and hit-and-run situations.

3. How to pump Budi95 when your IC isn’t with you. Take note: failing to produce IC when asked by relevant authorities can lead to fines and/or being neighbours with Najib.