- The Sarawak floods exposed the state’s flaws
- US to put on hold the tariffs on Canada and Mexico
- India and Indonesia to stop using USD in their dealings
IN Malaysia
Sarawak is one of the top five performing states in Malaysia but at a cost
Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg announced that Sarawak was ranked among the top five states in Malaysia for economic performance last year, recording an outstanding RM14.2 bil of revenue in 2024. In terms of exports, Sarawak holds a strong position, currently ranking fourth in the country’s exports to international trading partners.
Perhaps, Sarawak should direct some of the revenue generated towards flood prevention infrastructure as the floods in Sarawak are so bad that the number of victims was as high as 12,846 victims housed across 62 temporary evacuation centres due to the worsening flood situation in the state. According to reports from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee Secretariat, Bintulu remains the worst-affected district, where 47.13% of the recorded victims came from the district. Interestingly, based on 2020 data by the Malaysia Department of Statistics, the Bintulu district is the top economic centre of Sarawak, even above the Kuching district, contributing close to 30% of the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).
To dive down on the reason why the flooding in Bintulu is so severe, Tourism Minister cum Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing shed light on the causing factors by stating flaws in the district’s drainage system and the failure to implement the Sungai Sibiew riverbed project, as the main reason why. Tiong added that he has been pushing for the execution of the Sungai Sibiew riverbed project for five years but to no avail. The project aims to deepen the river by at least 3-5 meters and widen to 100 meters to accommodate the increased rainfall due to climate change.
Cost of doing business in Malaysia
- Rising electricity tariffs – In addressing the concerns of the business community, PM Anwar Ibrahim stated that the electricity tariffs must increase in 2H2025, but it will not increase as much as what was announced by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (a 14.2% increase in the base electricity tariff). PM Anwar also reassured the business community that despite the imminent increase in tariff, the final bill would not be as high considering any surcharge or rebates under the Imbalance Cost Passthrough (ICPT) scheme, which is adjusted every six months to reflect the actual fuel prices.
- Foreign labour EPF to remain at 2% – PM Anwar reiterated that the mandatory Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contribution on foreign workers announced during Budget 2025 tabling will remain at 2%, despite there being a proposal to jack it up to 12%. This new policy was aimed at improving wage equity and ensuring the local workers are not disadvantaged as the government aimed to close the wage gap between local and foreign workers.
Around the S.E.A.
Tariff World War II is at a pause, as of now
After announcing a 25% tariff on all imports originating from its neighbours – Canada and Mexico over the weekends, US President Donald Trump has now postponed the implementation of the tariffs by a month, after having conversations with both countries’s leaders. Apparently, Trump only dangled the threat of tariffs to its neighbours in order to secure its borders. In return for the one-month truce, Canada has announced a USD1.3 bil border plan to reinforce the border with new choppers, technology and deploy nearly 10,000 personnel to secure the border. At the southern border, Mexico agreed to place 10,000 soldiers to guard the US-Mexico border. The narrative is the same – the increased border enhancement is to stop the flow of illegal migrants and fentanyl into the US.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mexico-agrees-deploy-10000-troops-us-border-exchange-tariff-pause
However, the new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports will still proceed. Previously, the US justified the new tariffs to ‘motivate’ China to stanch the flow of fentanyl, a deadly opioid, into Uncle Sam’s backyard. China lambasted the US by stating that fentanyl is America’s problem and before this, they had carried out extensive anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States and achieved remarkable results.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/742954
Fentanyl keeps being the common topic of why the US is declaring tariff wars with other nations. But before that, what is fentanyl? Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic drug that is mainly used as a painkiller and it is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Since 2018, fentanyl has been responsible for most drug overdose deaths in the United States, causing over 71,238 deaths in 2021.
What Indonesia is cooking?
- BRICS members Indonesia and India have decided to show the middle finger to the US and agreed to abandon the US dollar and settle cross-border transactions in local currencies. This news is quite important as even after US President Donald Trump resides in the White House, BRICS is not putting its foot off the pedal and moving forward with its de-dollarization agenda and taking on the US dollar. In 2023, the bilateral trade between Indonesia and India was recorded at USD38.84 bil, with the aim to reach USD50 bil in trade by 2025.
Source: https://watcher.guru/news/brics-2-countries-officially-agree-to-ditch-the-us-dollar-for-trade
- As the key piece in Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto’s economic agenda, it is reported that at least USD61 bil of state assets will be placed under a new investment fund, dubbed Danantara, that will be parked under the authority of the president. Eventually, the Indonesia version of Khazanah Nasional will have a size of up to USD982 bil, making it the fourth-largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.
For your EYES only
Is this true?
I actually think this is a great critique on deeply patriarchal societies. This is why across cultures, southern american women, umno wanita women, arab mums, etc> semuanya bingit. The less socioeconomic status and power u hv, the louder u hv to speak to get ur point across. https://t.co/tbJe3DAsme pic.twitter.com/oq9RNFm6S6
— harizan 🍉 (@Hrznsrd) February 3, 2025
