- More investments coming into the island state (considered by Kedah MB as the Greater Kedah)
- Flooding season is not over yet
- China chips still could make the cut against its Western peers
IN Malaysia
Good news from the North
- PM Anwar Ibrahim has announced an RM50 mil allocation from the Federal Government for the Penang Silicon Design @5km+ initiative. The initiative consists of three key components: (1) the Penang IC Design & Digital Park @Bayan Lepas; (2) the Penang Chip Design Academy @Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC); and (3) the Silicon Research and Incubation Space @GBS TechSpace. Previously, the Penang State Government has also set aside an initial RM60 mil for the initiative.
- Supported by the Penang Silicon Design @5km+ initiative, Globetronics Technology Bhd will partner with Invest Penang where the former will become the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) provider, with plans to scale up to mass production. This partnership is a key move in transitioning Malaysia from becoming a back-end player (package, testing and assembly) to a front-end player (design & wafer manufacturing) in the semiconductor industry.
- An unnamed property developer is looking to become the white knight in reviving the RM10 bil Penang World City (PWC) in Bayan Baru, which has been slowed down since 2019. The white knight is currently restructuring Hemat Tuah Sdn Bhd, the company that fully owned the current developer of PWC, Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd. A white knight is a friendly individual or corporation that buys a company at fair consideration just before being taken over by the unfriendly bidder. An acquisition by a white knight is preferred to being taken over by a hostile acquirer because the target firm’s management generally remains in place and its investors receive better compensation for their shares.
The flooding season is not over yet
Deputy PM, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the media that based on the forecast from the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), the second wave of floods in the country will occur within the next two weeks, with states such as Pahang and Johor to be affected by this time. Sabah and Sarawak will also not be spared as floods are expected to occur from the end of this month until March next year.
In related news, Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa announced that Putrajaya has allocated a one-off RM1,000 financial aid to the owners of the 20 vehicles that were partly submerged in floodwaters in Putrajaya during the weekends. The flash flood occurred at about 5 pm after heavy rain fell for about an hour, making a no-no for light vehicles to pass. Hopefully, the owners have special perils coverage for the vehicles as you know, I know and even the late Japanese Shinzo Abe knows that RM1,000 can cover nothing, possibly just the towing cost.
Shorts
- Axiata Group is set to merge its Indonesia operations with a local player, PT Sinar Mas Group which owns the Smartfren brand. The structure of the deal will be a mix of cash and shares that will lead to the creation of an entity that has 100 mil customers, about three times the population of Malaysia. At the moment, the market value of Axiata Group’s XL Axiata is at USD1.9 bil while Smartfren is valued at about USD812 mil.
- The imminent merger of three local development banks – Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd, SME Bank Bhd and Exim Bank Bhd, will be a boon to the financing ecosystem for small, and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular micro-SMEs (MSMEs), in Malaysia. The merger has been in the works since 2019 through a two-phase process, where the first phase was concluded in 2023 with the transfer of Danajamin Nasional Bhd’s business to Bank Pembangunan. Collectively, the trio of banks will have total assets of RM50 bil, making it the 16th largest bank in Malaysia. As a comparison, the giant of Malaysian banking, Maybank has a total asset of RM947.8 bil, as of December 2023.
Around the S.E.A.
Nvidia chips are still the superior product in the market
A government-backed think tank in Beijing suggested even with the US import bans on advanced chips, it still recommends data centres in China to use Nvidia chips as the cost to shift to domestic alternatives is too expensive and involves complex engineering. At the moment, advanced Nvidia chips such as A100, H100, A800 and H800 GPUs that were widely used to train AI models in China, were banned from being imported to China. Although China is trying to show its middle finger to the West for imposing the import ban on chips by developing its own advanced chips, so far the finger still falls short.
In another news about Nvidia, the California-based company will jointly set up an AI research and development centre and an AI data centre with the Vietnam Government. Furthermore, Nvidia also acquired the local healthcare startup VinBrain for an undisclosed amount, further cementing the company’s intention to develop the Vietnamese’ local AI scene. Below is the picture of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang enjoying a bowl of pho in Vietnam. Dear Jensen, Malaysia has better street food. PM Anwar should bring him to Nasi Lemak Wanjo. Mana tahu a good plate of nasi lemak can convince him to invest more in Malaysia.
When in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do.
Jensen Huang enjoying streetside pho in Vietnam. #Nvidia #nvda pic.twitter.com/uWX4fWktgx
— Pushkar Ranade (@magicsilicon) December 12, 2023
South Korea is in a confusing state
The Justice Ministry has imposed a travel ban on South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, after his failed attempt to turn the country into North Korea by imposing martial law. Despite Yoon is now just a lame duck and his fate is still up for discussion, he is still the commander in chief of the military, the fifth strongest military in the world. Unfortunately for him, some senior military officers have started to go against the president and declared that they would not follow any new order to impose martial law again. Even the commanding officer of the 707th Special Missions Group, Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, said that he regrettably followed the order under duress, by the government to send his troops into parliament last week to stop a vote to reject martial law.Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2024/12/09/south-korean-president-grounded-travel-ban-imposed-after-martial-law-chaos/159356
For your EYES only
Syria is free after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year grip on the country. Despite the country has been liberated, however, peace is not guaranteed as there is a power vacuum in the country that could end either way.
The Syrian embassy in Kuala Lumpur is fast with this one haha
No more Assadism, no more forever
Soon, our Malaysians brothers and sisters will all be welcome to visit us in a free Syria 💚 pic.twitter.com/kxte3Sg0vG— Wael Qarssifi | وائل (@wqarssifi94) December 8, 2024
