- Positive rail developments in Malaysia
- The political issues overseas makes Malaysia political problem looks like child’s play
- Honda and Nissan planning to team up.
IN Malaysia
Thomas & Friends’ news in Malaysia
It is a choo-choo news day in Malaysia as we have a few news regarding our public transportation on tracked wheels –
- ECRL – Transport Minister Anthony Loke has announced that both Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) and China Communications Construction ECRL (CCCECRL) have signed an agreement to co-bear the responsibilities of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) operations from Kota Bharu, Kelantan to Port Klang, Selangor, spanning 665km. A new operating company (OpCo) will be established. Under the terms of the agreement, both MRL and CCCECCRL will share any operating losses 50-50, but however, if the OpCo churns out profits, the former will get 80% of the pie. Nonetheless, MRL is still the sole owner of all ECRL assets (MRL is a fully owned special purpose entity by the Ministry of Finance).
At the moment, MRL CEO Darwis Abdul Razak stated that the RM50.27 bil ECRL project is 76.06% completed. The progress was on track to ensure that the project will be completed in December 2026 for the Kota Bharu to Gombak Integrated Terminal and then until Jalan Kastam in December 2027. As a step towards preparing the OpCo for the operation phase of ECRL, the Pahang Rail Academy will be established in partnership with UCYP University, with the support of CCCECRL and China-based Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College (LRVTC).
- HSR – Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB), which has experience in building the MRT Putrajaya Line, has withdrawn from the Berjaya Corporation-led consortium that participated in the request for information (RFI) exercise by MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (KL-SG HSR) project. The reason for sayonara by MRCB is undisclosed but nonetheless, MRCB’s departure will not break up the Berjaya-led consortium that also consists of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, IJM Corporation Bhd, and its technical partners such as Deutsche Bahn, Hitachi Rail, and Hyundai Rotem.
Malaysia Aman dan Makmur
The safest country in Asia (not you Singapore) has been crowned to us, Malaysia by the Books Retreats via its Holiday Relexation Report. Globally, Malaysia has been ranked the 8th most safest country to travel, where Iceland took the top spot. All the countries are ranked based on nine data points including the percentage of protected area, forest coverage, crowd density, noise and light pollution, peacefulness, and total wellness experiences.
Source: https://www.travelandleisure.com/malaysia-named-the-safest-country-to-visit-in-asia-8758195
Not just on safety, Malaysia also performed well on the economic side where Malaysia’s trade surplus expanded 26.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM15.3 bil in November 2024, thanks to increase in the exports numbers by 4.1% y-oy to RM126.57 bil. However, analyst remains cautious of future growth for the country due to Papa Trump’s second presidency, given that he push through on his blanket tariffs on all imports into the US.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/738177
Around the S.E.A.
Choppy waters for our neighbours at their political front
- Indonesia – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chaired by ironwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri has dismissed the entire Jokowi clan from the party – former President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), his son cum Indonesia VP Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Jokowi’s son-in-law Bobby Nasution. The rift that led to this booting out started when Jokowi decided to abandon his party presidential candidate, Ganjar Pranowo and put his entire support to Prabowo Subianto, which led to Prabowo’s ascension to the presidency throne. To pour salt onto the wound, Jokowi even paired his son, Gibran as the VP on Prabowo’s presidency ticket.
- Philippines – VP Sara Duterte, who is also the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, stated that a kill order would be issued to his own President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, if she was killed. This Duterte vs. Marcos ‘war’ is a far cry compared to their alliance that led to the landslide victory in the 2022 elections. The relationship between the President and its VP is so bad that Duterte once told reporters she sometimes imagines beheading Marcos. That is the next level kind of fetish – to guillotine your President.
- South Korea – Although South Korea avoided the instance of becoming like its northern neighbour, however, the political crisis in the country may be prolonged by months as the prosecutors are unable to probe President Yoon Suk Yeol and also being denied access to his office, in order to investigate Yoon’s short-lived martial law decree. Yoon is trying to play a combination of tarik tali and hide & seek as he is building a defence against the legal proceedings mounted against him. According to Han Gil-soo, a Monash University professor whose research focuses on Korea – ‘Yoon is not regretful. He will be very hard to remove from his position.’
Honda and Nissan planned merger
According to the Edge, Japanese auto giants – Honda and Nissan are in advanced talks for a proposed merger that will create a USD54 bil company with a 7.4 mil annual output of vehicles, making the merged entity the third largest auto company by vehicle sales after Toyota and Volkswagen. The logic behind the merger is to compete against Tesla and Chinese rivals, especially in the EV field. At the same time, Nissan’s deepening financial and strategic trouble also adds more urgency for Nissan to team up with its larger rival Honda. However, S&P analysts are sceptical that the merger is a quick fix that will lead to immediate gains for both companies.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/738259
For your EYES only
The days of flat personal loan rates are nearing the end as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is planning to abolish the Rule of 78, a widely used method that front-loads interest charges on personal financing products, requires borrowers to pay a higher proportion of the interest early in the loan tenure. If the Rule of 78 is scrapped, banks may jack up their interest rate to cover any losses due to early loan repayments (Rule of 78 discourages early loan repayments as borrowers stand to save little on interest if they settle their loans early).
Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) proposes changes to Flat Rate Rule.
1. Abolishment of Rule of 78: BNM proposes to remove the Rule of 78 method for calculating interest on personal financing, which does not allow interest savings for early loan repayment.
2. Prohibition on Flat…
— Don’t Mind Please (@DoNotMindPlease) December 17, 2024
