☕️ The Final Showdown: PH vs PN

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

RM2.76 bil wiped out from KLSE as a result of the inconclusive result of GE15 that led to a hung parliament and the meteoric rise of the Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) as the party that hold the highest number of seats in Dewan Rakyat. Non-halal stocks, including gaming and breweries stocks, were the biggest losers.

Indonesia is currently the 7th-largest economy after accounting for the cost of living. With its capital, Jakarta, one of South-East Asia’s most successful incubators of new technology companies, the country is steadily climbing up its rankings. A surge of foreign investment provided the most obvious boost to growth in recent years, according to The Economist. Fun fact — ID has about 6,000 islands.

Despite all the market turbulences, the global luxury market seems unfazed as analysts at Bain & Company projected the market to grow by 21% in 2022, reaching €1.4 trillion (RM6.59 trillion). Who is driving the growth? ‘Gen Y’ and ‘Gen Z’. Bain’s report states that the 2023 luxury market is now set to be more resilient to recession than during the 2009 global financial crisis.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

More than 48 hours after the polling was closed, we still do not have a governmentAs the country is certain that a new ‘king’ will assume the throne of Putrajaya by Monday afternoon, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has decided to extend the deadline by 24 hours for the political parties to submit their coalition of choice to rule Malaysia for the next five years.

As the whole country started to finally digest the fact that a Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) dominated coalition would become the next government after the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, Muhyiddin Yassin, secured the support of the Borneo bloc, it turns out that every Malaysians are looped into an episode of the House of Cards when Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, Anwar Ibrahim announced in a press conference that he is confident that PH can form a stable unity government with Barisan Nasional (BN).

A surprising cooperation between PH and BN, even more surprising, got the nod from DAP, as stated by the party’s national chairman, Lim Guan Eng. Even Sabah BN (which is a part of the Borneo parties that are supporting Muhyiddin’s bid to become the next PM) will support any decision made by the central BN in forming the new federal government. This potential PH-BN pact will surely change the country's political dynamic, including in some state governments.

PN submitted proof that Muhyiddin is the chosen onePerikatan Nasional (PN) secretary general Hamzah Zainudin stated that the coalition had submitted 112 statutory declarations (SDs) from GE15-winning politicians to Istana Negara, pledging their support for Muhyiddin Yassin to be the PM again. It is unclear which politicians have signed the SDs as PN alone, who won 73 seats in GE15, do not have enough seats to achieve the simple majority in the lower house of the Parliament. Plus, it is worth mentioning that a leader from the Borneo parties, which previously had collectively stated their support for Muhyiddin, has started to get second thoughts on supporting Abah as the next PM.

BN man was sworn in as the new Perak MBSaarani Mohamad has been reappointed again as the Perak Menteri Besar (MB), despite his coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN), garnered the least amount of seats (9), behind Perikatan Nasional (PN: 26 seats) and Pakatan Harapan (PH: 24 seats), out of 59 available state seats. However, with the support of PH, BN has transformed itself as the loser of the election to a winner at the end of the day, by getting the head of the state position in Perak.

Sarawak demands more money from the federal governmentSarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg said that Putrajaya should give at least 10% of the total annual federal development budget to the state to address the development imbalance between Sarawak and the states in Peninsular Malaysia. In the fabled Federal Budget 2023, Putrajaya only allocated RM5.4bil (5.7% of the Federal Development Budget) to Sarawak, despite Abang Johari claiming that the state has contributed significantly to the nation. In 2023, Sarawak is poised to generate a revenue beyond RM11bil, including RM5.25bil in tax revenue.

Nazir Razak thought that Najib Razak was misled in 1MDB dealingsIn Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial, The Edge Media Group chairman Tong Kooi Ong told the court that his long-time friend and brother of Najib Razak, Nazir Razak, had approached him around 2009 and 2010 to investigate into 1MDB’s RM5 bil bond issuance which it took over from Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), under the impression that Jho Low and the management of 1MDB had misled the former PM.

MYAirline is set to fly its wingsAfter obtaining the initial air service licence (ASL) from the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), MYAirline is now able to sell air tickets and utilise its fleet of Airbus A320-200 to conduct commercial flights from its hub in klia2. A direct competitor of AirAsia, MYAirline, will sure to give more options to consumers in the low-cost airline market that was previously dominated by the PN17 company.

Here’s some free advice for the owners of MYAirline from Warren Buffett and Richard Branson’s advice on airlines:

Another win for the domestic airline industry was Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) was granted a long-term 99-year land lease to develop KLIA Aeropolis. KLIA Aeropolis is a development district spanning 100 square kilometres that will alleviate the area from an air transportation hub into an integrated regional aviation ecosystem, leveraging both KLIA and klia2.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

China’s continuous lockdownsGuangzhou, home to almost 19 mil people, announced a 5-day lockdown in its largest district of Baiyun while its capital Beijing has moved to online classes as Covid-19 cases are flaring up across the country. Beijing reported its first Covid-19-related death in over six months. Believe it or not - China’s official Covid-19 death toll is fewer than 5,300. Asian stock market and oil prices slid, given further economic disruption as China remains adamant about its zero Covid policy. 

New Zealand’s highest court ruling makes way for its version of Undi16 (yeaps, sixteen)

New Zealand's highest court has ruled that the current voting age of 18 was discriminatory and inconsistent with the country’s Bill of Rights, which gives people a right to be free from age discrimination as they hit 16. This case was brought by the advocacy group Make it 16 in 2020, which wants to lower the voting age to 16. PM Jacinda Ardern personally supports the decrease in the voting age as well. 

This decision triggers a review process in the parliament. However, it does not force the parliament to change the voting age. To change it, it requires 75% of parliamentarian support. If Malaysia’s recent election is anything to go by, do these teens have the maturity to assess and vote for politicians and not merely herd with their parents or what they see on TikTok? 

Celebrity Health & Death: Green Power Ranger, Thor and Bruce Lee

• If you are Gen Y, you will feel some sadness by this news. Actor Jason David Frank who played the original Green Power Ranger Tommy Oliver in the 1990s “Might Morphin Power Rangers” series, has passed away at 49. The cause of death was not disclosed. Fun fact: How valuable is the Power Rangers? Half a billion. Toymaker giant Hasbro acquired the Power Rangers franchise along with some other lesser-known ones from Saban Entertainment in 2018 for USD522 mil. Netflix has a documentary series called The Toys That Made Us that shares the history of the Rangers, and others, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

• Actor Chris Hemsworth will be taking a break from acting after learning that he has a heightened risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. He learnt of this in Disney+ documentary series Limitless where Hemsworth tests his body and explores ways to live longer. Through a genetic test, he discovered that he has two copies of gene ApoE4 (one each from his parents), making him 8-10x more likely to develop the disease than those without it. He has not been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and confirms that his grandfather is being treated for this disease. 

• A new study claims to shed light on the death of martial art legend Bruce Lee which could have been caused by excess water. He died of cerebral oedema (swelling of the brain), initially thought to be a reaction to a painkiller Bruce Lee was using. The new study now suggests that the oedema was caused by hyponatraemia - his kidney was unable to excrete excess water. If you have heard of the quote ‘Be water my friend’, it was made popular by none other than Bruce Lee. Ironically, excess water ultimately took his life.

Shorts: 

1. A 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s West Java province, killing more than 50 people. It was felt as far as Jakarta, which is about 170 km away. 25 aftershocks were recorded in the 2 hours after the quake. 

2. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in 5 of Japan’s major trading companies: Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp, Itochu Corp, Mitsui & Co and Sumitomo Corp. Known as “sogo shosha”, Berkshire first acquired a 5% stake in each firm in August 2020. As generic as it sounds, a trading company is Japan’s unique form of a conglomerate. Read more here sogo shosha.

3. One of the world’s largest wind farms in Egypt will commence construction of this USD11 bil onshore project in 2024 that could provide electricity to Europe and Saudi Arabia by 2030.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. UMNO Sec-Gen Ahmad Maslan’s interview interrupted by Mat Sabu’s entrance

1. Fly into the belly of a “life-size” Godzilla on Awaji Land, Japan