- World Bank says that intra-race inequality is worse than inequality between races
- The US wants Palestinians to be ousted from Gaza
- Thailand aims to become the logistics hub for ASEAN
IN Malaysia
The World Bank Has A Lot To Say About Malaysia
According to the World Bank’s latest report titled A Fresh Take on Reducing Inequality and Enhancing Mobility in Malaysia, the international body has stated that Bumiputeras in East Malaysia have seen slower income growth compared to their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia due to limited access to quality health and education services. Apart from that, the report also revealed that the wage gaps within a race are bigger compared to the common belief that the differences are wider between races. In 2022, only 13% of total income inequality in Malaysia was explained by differences in average income across ethnicities; 87% reflected differences within each group. So, if you think you are poor, blame your own race, not others. The World Bank also suggested that Putrajaya should consider reintroducing the goods and service tax (GST) to raise additional revenues and reduce inequality. GST is widely regarded as one of the most efficient taxes in a country’s toolkit and can be implemented widely and swiftly
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/743419
https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/733666
While the World Bank sure has a lot to say about our country, it is fair that we also should say something about the global lender. According to reports, World Bank-funded projects were platforms used to solicit funds for corruptors. Examples include the Yerevan Water Supply Project or the Gatundu Electricity Grid Project in Kenya, where millions of USD were embezzled and most of the time, the World Bank did not bother to take accountability for the corruption. So, to the World Bank, while Malaysia is not perfect, but please do not act holier than thou to us.
Source: https://webdoc.france24.com/world-bank-corruption-development-armenia-kenya-somalia-transparency/
Khazanah Declared An RM5.1 bil Profit
The nation’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad posted an RM5.1 bil profit from operations in 2024, a 13.4% decrease compared to the profit recorded in 2023. The weaker performance was attributed to the delayed impact of higher interest rates and a tough financing and exit environment.
However, its net asset value (NAV) rose to RM103.6 bil in 2024, up from RM84.8 bil in 2023, reflecting a significant increase of RM18.8 bil. Khazanah MD Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir added that 2025 will not be an easy year as higher-for-longer US interest rates and volatile trade policies will be a treacherous path to chart through. Thus, Khazanah will bank on domestic investments and readjust its portfolio so that more than 60% of its investments are based in Malaysia. In 2024, close to 58% of Khazanah’s were local.
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/743375
Choo-Choo Train News
- Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan announced that the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project has achieved an outstanding 78.5% completion rate as of last month and the first phase of the project (running from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, to the Gombak Integrated Terminal) to commence operations by January 2027. Tbh, this ECRL project could either be a game-changer or a white elephant project for the East Coast. No in-between.
- Coming back to the Klang Valley, the LRT3 Shah Alam Line, spanning from Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya to Johan Setia in Klang, has reached 95% completion as of July last year and will start operating in 3Q2025. As the first-mile-last-mile solution, 150 units of electric feeder buses will be activated once the LRT3 Line is operational.
Source: https://paultan.org/2025/02/05/lrt3-shah-alam-line-to-be-operational-september-2025/
Around the S.E.A.
How To Solve The Gaza Conflict – US Says To Kickout Palestinians From The Enclave
US President Donald Trump, in his initial approach to the Palestinian-Israel conflict during his second tenure, suggested that all Palestinians living in Gaza, which has a pre-war population of 2.1 mil, should be relocated entirely to Jordan, Egypt and other countries. The US, which has no jurisdiction over Gaza except for being the self-declared world police, will take over the Gaza Strip and develop it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’. While Jordan and Egypt’s leaders lambasted the idea, Israeli politicians welcomed the idea, stating that Trump’s ideas surpassed all the ‘expectations and dreams’. Even far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the proposal was ‘the real answer to 7 October’ and pledged to ‘definitively bury the dangerous idea of a Palestinian state’. Since the global backlash against Trump’s proposal, the White House has been walking back on the idea as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wanted Palestinians to be only ‘temporarily relocated’ out of Gaza, that the rebuilding of the enclave would not be paid for by the United States, and that US troops were not likely to be sent.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gw89x8x11o
Donald Trump seems to be the source of Israel’s wet dreams as this is not the first time that Trump proposed an idea that ejaculated most Israelis’ pants. During his first administration, Trump proposed the Trump Peace Plan, a vision to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Within the plan, the Israeli government would immediately annex the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements while committing not to create new settlements in areas left to the Palestinians for at least four years. Jerusalem would also be declared the capital of Israel.
Thailand Aims To Become the Logistics Hub of ASEAN
Thailand Deputy Transport Minister Manaporn Charoensri outlined Bangkok’s plan to position the country as the pivotal logistics hub in Southeast Asia through a series of ambitious mega-projects spanning land, sea, and air transportation. Below are among the key projects that are in the pipeline –
- Dedicated cruise terminals in Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui to increase the luxury cruise ship revenues by 7x-8x;
- A land bridge between the Chumphon and Ranong provinces, that will be connected by rail, aimed to reduce transportation costs by 15-20%;
- To expand the existing Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and to build new international airports in Chiang Mai (Phuket), Lanna (northern region) and Andaman (southern region).
For your EYES only
Do you know that Malaysia has been operating a research-purpose nuclear reactor for more than 40 years without any accidents recorded? To add on top of that, the nuclear reactor that is situated in Bangi runs on a fuel rod that has about 4x more reactivity compared to a conventional reactor. Malaysia Boleh!
Do you want to know an even cooler fact?
This TRIGA reactor runs on High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel (~20% U-235). Conventional reactor has 3-5% U-235.
Which means this reactor is more reactive and Malaysia has been running it with accident-free for 40+ years. https://t.co/cFtTfF6U27
— Ikhwan (@Bobseluarpetak) February 5, 2025
