☕️ Wildlife traffickers can earn up to RM200k for a single rare wild bird

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

1% — the annual population growth figure that the country must achieve if the country wants to fulfil Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s vision to reach a population of 70 mil by 2100. Despite last year’s trend-bucking population increase of 2.1%, Yeah Kim Leng of Sunway University said the prospects of hitting the target are low. The replacement total fertility rate (TFR) level – the childbirth rate that would allow a population to replace its numbers exactly from one generation to the next – stands at 2.1. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri said Malaysia’s TFR has dropped to 1.6 in 2022.

If you love to eat prawns, now is a great time. Fishing trawlers in Malaysia have been netting up to one tonne of sea prawns daily in recent weeks, a significant five-fold increase from the usual few hundred kilograms. This surge in catch has contributed to the current oversupply of prawns, leading to a drop in prices. An oversupply of wild prawns in Malaysia has resulted in prices dropping by about 20%, with medium-sized sea prawns now selling for RM38 per kg instead of RM48. The abundance of prawns is attributed to high tide and strong currents on the west coast of Malaysia, according to Tai Wai Sun, deputy president of the Malaysia Fish Suppliers’ Association.

The Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) industry in Malaysia saw its credit exposure reach RM1.42 bil by the end of the first quarter of 2024, a 34% increase from the end of 2023. Despite this growth, BNPL accounted for only 0.07% of the total household debt by the end of 2023. There are about 3.7 mil BNPL account holders and 700,000 merchants who accept BNPL, with significant representation in the food and restaurants, retail, and transportation sectors. BNPL for food? What kind of restaurants are Malaysians dining in?

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Felda settlers to receive an RM130 mil jackpot from Putrajaya
During the ‘Hari Peneroka FELDA’ ceremony, PM Anwar Ibrahim announced that Felda settlers would receive a humongous ‘gift’ in the form of more than RM130 mil from the Federal government. Out of the RM130 mil, RM100 mil will be in the form of diesel subsidy while the remaining RM31.7 mil will be allocated for 317 Felda plantations for the ‘Program Sejahtera Komuniti Madani (Sejati Madani)’ scheme. Under the scheme, every Felda settlement will receive RM100,000 if they plan to generate additional income using their land.

While Felda settlers return home smiling, our brothers and sisters in Sarawak are still waiting for the funds promised by PM Anwar. According to Sarawak Deputy Premier Dr Sim Kui Hian, Putrajaya promised that RM100 mil will be reimbursed to the state for funds allocated to expedite the repair and upgrade of dilapidated schools and clinics. Sim stated that Sarawak will still push ahead with the projects by utilising the state’s own funds.

How to live a financially free life - become a wild bird trafficker
Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) Peninsular Malaysia uncovered that syndicate members or bird enthusiasts that illegally sell wild birds on social media live lavishly with 5-digit monthly incomes. Perhilitan director-general Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim added that some of these individuals were only clerks or even unemployed. How the syndicate works is these individuals will buy birds ranging from RM500 to RM1,000 each from middlemen who actually caught the protected wild birds. Then, these individuals will advertise the wild birds on social media, with marked-up prices for up to RM5,000 each, about a sizeable 10x return. Some species could even fetch as high as RM200,000. Abdul Kadir also stated that Perhilitin, through its various operations, has seized birds worth more than RM3 mil since 2019. According to Interpol, wildlife crime is ranked fourth among global crimes, with a market size of USD20 bil annually. Market prices of these birds below compiled by Harian Metro:

Tourism news

• Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the government would soon unveil the 50-page passport that will have a tenure of 10 years, akin to many other countries in the world. Saifuddin also hinted that the 10-year passport will cost more than the current 5-year passport, which is priced at RM200. With many countries adopting e-immigration clearance, do we still need that many pages for a passport?

• The Melaka Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Melaka) will recall all tourist guidebooks following errors highlighted by French historian Serge Jardin in his Facebook post. Tourism Melaka stated that all the guidebooks will be fact-checked before being recirculated again and the publisher of the guidebook will be handed a show-cause letter for the errors. Jardin listed 10 glaring mistakes (view here) and noted that there were more mistakes. Parasmewara will be disappointed.

• Ipoh City Council (MBI) is doing a KLPAC towards the 108-year-old Ipoh Town Hall building, where under Package 2 of the Ipoh Heritage Tourism (IHT) initiative, the town hall will be turned into a performing arts centre by early 2025. Ipoh Mayor Rumaizi Baharin said that the renovation project would cost more than RM11 mil, and the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority would foot the bill. Rumaizi also added that the renovation project is aligned with Ipoh’s designation as the ‘City of Music’ by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in November last year.

Malaysia is crossing its fingers that Kuwait will sell its jets
Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that Putrajaya is awaiting the Kuwaiti Government's agreement to sell its F/A-18 Legacy Hornet fighter jets to us. Mohamed Khaled also added that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) technical team that was sent to Kuwait in June also affirmed that the Kuwaiti fighter jets are suitable for our use. The proposed acquisition of the Kuwaiti jets will serve as a stop-gap measure until the RMAF is equipped with a new Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA). Currently, RMAF has only 26 MRCA, in the form of 8 F/A-18 D Hornet fighters and 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKM jets, after retiring all of its 18 Mikoyan MiG-29 jets in 2017.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

US and its presidents

1. Donald Trump narrowly escapes assassination attempt

   America was sent into an uproar as former president Donald Trump was shot shortly into his speech during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The bullet, captured in a still photo, was seen to fly by his side and managed to cut his ears as it passed by. Blood was seen trickling down the side of his face, but Trump refused to appear defiant as he raised his fist to the crowd while being whisked away into safety. The incident reportedly resulted in one bystander killed in the shooting and 2 others critically injured. The FBI also reported that the suspect was shot dead by a US Secret Service sniper on scene. Investigations are currently unfolding. Watch the whole incident here (warning — graphic).

Did you know that 4 out of 46 US presidents have been assassinated in American history? 13 of them escaped the assassination attempts, and it seems like Trump is now part of “the one that got away” list.

2. Biden mistakenly addressed Ukrainian president as Vladimir Putin

   Surprised gasps were heard in the crowd as Biden accidentally introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his arch-enemy President Vladimir Putin during the recent NATO Summit in Washington DC. Realising his mistake, Biden quickly moved back to the mic to correct it and claimed that he was “too focused on beating Putin”. That’s the first. He also referred to his VP Kamala Harris as ‘Vice President Trump’.

   Such a vulnerable time to make such a mistake — this new Biden blunder further raises concerns and questions about his mental acuity to keep his seat as the President of the United States.

   President Zelensky spoke about the incident and sounded forgiving, noting that it’s a mistake and can be “forgotten”, as the US has given a lot of support to the Ukrainians. Biden in 2021 vs 2024 - watch below:

On the Africa front

1. More mutilated female parts found in garbage dumps in Nairobi

   Kenyan police found three more bags filled with dismembered female body parts on Saturday, in addition to the sacks found last Friday containing mutilated corpses of at least 6 women. The horrifying discovery was made in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru, leaving locals agitated and angry. A lot of theories have surfaced in regards to the perpetrators, with the authorities suspecting cult and serial killings, while its people suspecting femicide, and suspecting the police of extrajudicial killings, rights abuse and abductions in relation to recent deadly anti-government protests.”

2. 22 dead after a school collapses in Nigeria

   154 students aged 15 years or younger were left trapped under the rubble after the building of their school, Saints Academy College, collapsed on them during morning classes on Friday. 22 were reported dead, while 132 were rescued and treated for injuries.

   Building collapses are becoming common in Nigeria, with more than a dozen such incidents recorded in the past two years. Authorities often blame such disasters on failure to enforce building safety regulations and poor maintenance.

Women with high breast density might miss a cancer diagnosis on mammogram
Breast cancer is known to be very treatable, but women with high breast density might miss a diagnosis even with regular mammogram screenings and self-exams.

Around 40% of women apparently have dense breasts, a condition where the breasts have more glands and fibrous tissues, making them appear different in mammogram images. Dense tissues and cancer tumours can both appear white on mammograms, making the tumour able to blend right in and go completely unnoticed until the cancer advances. Having dense breasts also increases the risk of developing breast cancer.

The good news is that a regular ultrasound or MRI is able to detect cancer in dense breasts. Women who are at high risk for breast cancer (regardless of breast density) should have a yearly MRI in addition to regular mammograms.

Shorts

1. Saudi Arabia to begin hosting its first Olympic ESports game in 2025

   Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has struck another deal to add to its portfolio of sporting events, this time a 12-year agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the Olympic Esports Game, beginning in 2025. Despite criticism about its human rights records, the country steadily progresses towards its Vision 2030, which focuses on developing sports and entertainment to move away from oil dependence. Saudi Arabia is already set to host the 2027 Men’s Football Asian Cup, 2029 Asian Winter Games and multi-sport 2034 Asian Games. The biggest event would be the 2034 Men’s Football World Cup, pending confirmation by December this year.

2. FCC in the midst of investigating massive breach of AT&T customer data

   Communication giant AT&T now faces an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) pertaining to a massive hack of its customer’s data involving 109 mil customers, making it one of the biggest breaches of private communications data in recent memory. The data is said to be illegally downloaded from a third-party platform, Snowflake, exposing data from customers who use AT&T’s network between 1 May — 31 Oct 2022. It’s a huge security blow for the company which is not only a major retail and business provider but also a government contractor to US intelligence and defence customers.

3. US & Germany security services thwarted Russian plot to kill Rheinmetall CEO

   US intelligence and German security services claim that they have successfully uncovered a Russian plot to kill Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall AG. The company is one of the biggest German arms manufacturers and a provider of ammunition and military vehicles to Ukraine. CNN reports that the plot was one of the Russian plans to kill defence executives in Europe. Due to these threats, Papperger is now given special protection.

4. It didn’t “come home” for England as Spain won the Euro 2024
   England’s attempt to end 58 years of agony and frustration ended in defeat as they were outplayed by Spain in the Euro 2024 final at Berlin's Olympiastadion. Spain took the lead in the second half with a goal two minutes after the break. Then England’s equaliser came in the 73rd minute. The hopes were dimmed after 13 minutes as Spain scored in the 87th minute to win the match.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. The latest flex in town (okay, out-of-town since this restaurant is in Klang) — Chinese Food Omakase. Travel to China without flying. Still need your passport, though, because it’s Klang. Omakase is a Japanese dining experience where customers leave the order details to the chef to decide.

kl.foodie

View more on Instagram

2. A very interesting perspective not seen before — climbing the 8,848 m-tall Mt Everest from a drone’s POV. A video by giant Chinese drone maker DJI.