☕️ Zahid Hamidi: charges against him politically motivated, Tun M told him to disband UMNO & join Bersatu

1. MARKET SUMMARY

US markets fell overnight after weak consumer confidence data — consumers aren't sure the Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to tame inflation will work.

"Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own."

— Baron Rothschild, 18th-century British nobleman and member of the Rothschild banking family

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

37 million people in Tokyo have been asked to use less electricity as Japan’s government warned that supplies will be strained as the country faces a heatwave. That’s 29% of its population of 125.8 mil (2020). June marks the beginning of summer in the land of the rising sun. Over the weekend, the temperature in central Tokyo rose above 35 Celsius.

According to a UiTM lecturer, motorists in Klang Valley spend 44 hours stuck in traffic jams monthly. Based on the minimum wage of RM7.21 per hour, that’s RM317.24 worth of productivity wasted monthly in a car. Klang Valley folks, do you mind sharing your experience?

Malaysians lost RM5.2 billion to commercial crimes (e.g. macau scams, love scams) from 2020 until May 2022, according to Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani. The Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) recorded 71,833 commercial crime cases during the period.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. Malaysia’s Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin shared the wisdom of life — death is uncertain and can occur to anyone anywhere and at any time. Commenting on an issue of deaths at the Sabah immigration detention centre, he said:Nearly 150 Indonesians died in several detention centres in Sabah in 2021 and 2022, according to a report by an Indonesian NGO. Thank you for your wise words, minister!

2. Field day for reporters in Malaysia as the man in the hot seat Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said many things today:

   1. The charges against him are “politically motivated” during his trial. Dr Mahathir told him to disband UMNO and join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

   2. Three MPs had defected to Bersatu to avoid being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

   3. The RM65 million of Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) that went into a fixed deposit account at Messrs Lewis & Co came from individuals and corporate bodies. Moreover, he accused Muralidharan of Messrs Lewis & Co. the one who deposited the funds into the FD account without his instructions.

3. Amid the fracas with Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not hold back — he challenged the state ruler to explain selling state land to foreign entities. Dr M claimed the size of the land sold to the Chinese and Singaporean entities was much larger than Pulau Batu Puteh.

4. Lim Goh Tong’s grandson Lim Keong Han is venturing into the USD4.3 tril health and wellness market by launching its molecular resonance effect technology (MRET) water activator in Southeast Asia. Lim claims the device made by his company, Pegasus Aqua Sdn Bhd, is the only one in Southeast Asia to utilise the patented MRET that changes the molecular bonds of water molecules in order to be better absorbed by cells in the human body.

Shorts

1. Malaysian authorities urged palm oil mills to resume production despite the plunge in prices of the edible oil. Unprofitable pricing had forced some producers to halt operations temporarily. Malaysian crude palm oil futures posted their biggest one-month decline — 22%, erasing most of this year’s gains.

2. The Malaysian Bar has objected to an application for Queen’s Counsel of the United Kingdom Jonathan Laidlaw to represent Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the latter’s SRC International Sdn Bhd appeal. The affidavit pointed out two sore points — Shafee Abdullah is more knowledgeable than Laidlaw and there are 20,000 lawyers to choose from in Malaysia!

3. The case management for Sam Ke Ting’s appeal against her conviction and jail sentence for reckless driving, which caused the death of eight teenagers on modified bicycles, has been fixed on Aug 29 by the Court of Appeal.

4. Lahad Datu MP and former tourism minister Mohammaddin Ketapi has quit Bersatu after joining it for six months from Warisan. He will be an independent MP backing the current federal and Sabah state government.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. Russian missiles struck a shopping mall in Ukraine, with more than a thousand civilians fleeing for their safety, killing at least 18 people and dozens more missing. The strike has been condemned by various leaders, calling it a “war crime”. Russia claimed that its missiles struck an arms depot, storing weapons that exploded, causing the fire to spread to the nearby mall.

2. At least 50 people have been found dead inside a refrigerator tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, in what appears to be a human smuggling operation along the US-Mexico border. Their death is due to the extreme Texas heat inside the truck with no signs of water and no visible working air conditioning, making it one of the most deadly incidents of human smuggling along the border.

3. The economic crisis in Sri Lanka is getting worse as its fuel stockpile can only last for another 7-10 days leading to a partial shutdown and a 2-week halt to all fuel sales except for essential services. The country of 22 mil people defaulted on its USD51 bil foreign debt in April and is in talks with IMF to discuss on a USD3 bil bailout package. Its cabinet has approved for oil-producing countries to import and sell fuel, breaking the existing duopoly.

4. Audit firm Ernst & Young reached a USD100 mil penalty settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the regulator found that 49 of its staff cheated in, ironically, ethics exams between 2017 and 2021 with “hundreds of other audit professionals” at EY cheated on professional courses and exams too. This is the largest fine against an audit firm by SEC.

5. One of the largest crypto hedge funds with USD18 bil assets under management at its peak, 3 Arrows Capital (3AC) has defaulted on USD670 mil loan (15,000 bitcoin + USD350 mil USDC stablecoin) according to Voyager Digital that has issued a notice of default to the hedge fund. Voyager received a USD500 mil credit line last week from none other than FTX, which is playing the role of a central bank in the crypto industry to bail out troubled crypto firms.

6. China is easing its Covid-19 quarantine rules for international travellers. Travellers will only need to quarantine at a centralised facility for seven days and an additional three days at home before they can venture out. This is down from the 14-21 days in centralised quarantine.

7. Southwest Airlines saved a massive USD1.2 bil on its fuel cost this year. How? Through hedging activities conducted by a team of 4 traders as they trade derivatives with investment banks. The airline usually hedges at least 50% of its fuel costs annually. What it means by ‘hedging’ is the airline locking down a price on its fuel and if fuel prices rise, they only have to pay the lower price. It’s not always profitable as the opposite can happen too if prices fall — they have to honour the higher prices they locked in, incurring a loss. The company lost money on its hedges between 2015 to 2017. Learn more about ‘hedging’ here.

8. A malfunctioned crane dropped a container storing chlorine gas in Jordan’s Red Sea port killing 13 people and injuring more than 260 others. Here’s what to do when exposed to chlorine.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Human creativity is unbound - a couple turned Apple’s various ringing tones into dance moves.

2. See 23 of the world’s most majestic libraries by National Geographic.