- Water tariff may be up
- Southeast Asia is slowly militarising
IN Malaysia
Feeling the brunt of the tariff
Before we start, we want to say kudos to the International Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul for being the bottler of the day, who negotiated the Trump tariff on Malaysia from 24% to 25%. However, in the spirit of being husnuzon, maybe bukan salah dia entirely and kita kan semua manusia ada salah dan silap. Now, let’s assess the repercussion of this L of the decade. The Small and Medium Enterprises Association Malaysia (Samenta) has warned that the United States’ 25% tariff on Malaysian exports could deal a severe blow to small businesses, or, quoting Samenta president William Ng, the SMEs will face an ‘economic earthquake’. Ng stated that nasi sudah menjadi bubur, and now the SMEs need on-the-ground assistance, in the form of disbursement of previously announced aid, including RM1 bil in loan guarantees and RM500 mil in soft loans.
In responding to the increased tariff, PM Anwar Ibrahim said that he will personally confront US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week, in conjunction with the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur. However, looking at the bigger picture, Malaysia is not the country that is being affected the most. Trump slapped a 40% tariff on exports from Myanmar and Laos, 36% on Cambodia and Thailand, and 32% on Indonesia, to take effect from next month. In his correspondence, the US president suggested these tariffs could be adjusted ‘upward or downward’ depending on the course of bilateral relations. To date, Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian nation to have brokered an agreement with Washington.
Apart from the Trump tariff, Putrajaya is facing another problem from across the strait, to be exact, the act of poaching our talents. In a bold (or in a way rude) move to strengthen its healthcare workforce, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) is conducting direct interviews with Malaysian doctors and general practitioners (GPs) at the Traders Hotel KLCC. But, to be fair, willing seller, willing buyer, as the remuneration package offered by Singapore is approximately RM385,000 per year, about RM32,000 per month, excluding benefits.
Oh, btw, commenting on the tariff hike, Tengku Zafrul said there is time to negotiate as the implementation date will be on August 1. Yeah, papejelah nok.
Is the data centre fever dying?
According to the director and founder of data centre advisory firm Sprint DC Consulting, the ‘data-centre’ fever in Malaysia may enter a point of diminishing return as rising electricity tariffs and the proposed US ban on artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports to South-east Asia are raining on the parade of Malaysia’s booming data centre sector. Recently, the newly announced electricity tariffs targeting facilities above 100 megawatts (MW) may see their electricity bills increase by 10% – 16%. More bad news incoming as not only electricity, but water bill is expected to become a bit more pricey as ten states (Penang, Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor and Pahang) had submitted applications to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) to review the water tariffs. Fortunately, all the applications are still under review and have not been finalised. However, coming back to the data centre, despite the increased cost pressure, data centre investment is normally a 25-year commitment, thus, it is up to Putrajaya to make its long-term case interesting. Even Singapore continues to attract interest despite high tariffs and government-imposed moratoriums. For now, Malaysia remains a magnet for data centre investments.
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/762020
Johor will be the first state to pray on its knees for the data centre fever to never die down as the southern state tops the GDP growth in 2024, at 6.4%. Obviously, the superb growth rate was powered by data centre investments (talking about putting all your eggs in one basket). Selangor retained its position as Malaysia’s biggest state economy, contributing 26.2% of national GDP at RM432.1 bil. On the other hand, the west coast corridor of Penang and Kedah remained the electronics & electronics (E&E) hubs of the country.
Around the SEA
Another day, another unstable region
Geopolitical instability is always something that all investors do not want, as investing in an unstable region has less odds of success compared to gambling at Genting. Instead, showing signs of dying down (even after the resignation of former Thailand PM Paetongtarn), Thailand seems to be militarising its border with Cambodia, apparently for any incursion by Cambodia. This is not the first time both Thailand and Cambodia butt heads over their borders as previously in 2008, an almost 4-year stalemate led to 35 soldiers from both sides dead.
Across the South China Sea, Japan is set to transfer six Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippines Navy, as part of the move to counter China’s influence in the contested sea. Although the ships are about 30 years old, they will still be a major boost Philippines Navy’s capabilities and be their first destroyer, which currently consists only of a few frigates and corvettes.
Something is booming in Iran, and it is not the bombs
Despite the barrage of bombs and missiles that landed on Iran, its energy sector, the cash cow of the regime, remained unscathed (who is the joker now, Netanyahu). Iranian oil output reached a 46-year high in 2024, according to recently released data. If anything, all available information for the first six months of 2025 suggests this year will see another increase in production. Despite multiple sanctions imposed by the US on its energy sector, thanks to Iranian entrepreneurship and China’s geopolitical might, the sanctions are deemed useless. The US also plays a role in undermining its own sanctions, turning a blind eye to obvious violations, preferring instead to keep oil prices down and inflation in check. Last year, Iranian energy export revenue hit a 12-year high of USD78 bil, up from the USD18 bil in 2020.
For your EYES only
Hmm, if I speak, I am in big trouble
Many blame Najib’s gov for high debts, but actual BNM data tells a different story.
From 2009–2018 under Najib: avg debt rose RM3.86B/month.
After 2018: it jumped
• PH–PN/BN (2018–2022): RM5.92B/month
• MADANI (2022–2025): RM8.40B/monthMeanwhile under Madani: taxes up,… pic.twitter.com/uxyVjjcJYW
— Eric SeeTo Lim Sian See (@LimSianSeeEric) July 7, 2025
