- All public and private construction projects worth more than RM10 mil need to use BIM systems.
- IHH Healthcare purchased Island Hospital in Penang for almost RM4 bil.
- Malaysia Airlines is not the only airline suffering from technical problems.
IN Malaysia
Get to know your new boss
Public servants at Putrajaya may need to start remembering the name of their new bosses as Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar announced a reshuffling for top management posts in the civil service. Shamsul stated the civil service ‘musical chairs’ is initiated in line with the public service reforms that demand speed, agility, and dynamism in the top leadership to face a new era. I guess it is up to you to read between the lines.
https://x.com/shamsulazribakr/status/1831148323723768245
Source: https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/718035
Shamsul has indicated that his tenure as the Chief Secretary will not be quiet, and everyone should be on their toes. Recently, he conducted a surprise visit to JPJ headquarters and discovered that the work process was inefficient. Shamsul then put a deadline for them to turn things around. Garang, abang lurve!
https://x.com/NewsBFM/status/1830780275229360215
Shorts
- Deputy Works Minister Ahmad Maslan announced that all public and private sector construction projects worth RM10mil and above are required to adopt the Building Information Modelling (BIM) system. Ahmad Maslan stated that the decision was made to reduce any construction issues, especially related to the sewage mapping in Kuala Lumpur. Hopefully with BIM, the Jalan Masjid India sinkhole incident will not repeat itself in the future.
- Bursa Malaysia CEO Muhamad Umar Swift told the press that the local bourse intends to reduce the large domestic ownership on the market to provide more liquidity for foreign investors to come in. Bursa Malaysia did not disclose the mechanism for this move but they may persuade large institutional investors to sell some of their holdings, especially on technology stocks. According to Copley Fund Research, only 38% of global emerging market funds have any Malaysia exposure at all.
- Here we go, as Fabrizio Romano will say it. IHH Healthcare Bhd is acquiring a 600-bed Island Hospital in Penang for RM3.92 bil in cash from Comprehensive Care Sdn Bhd. The purchase will also come in a buy 1 free 1 package as a vacant land valued at RM223 mil, already approved for future development, is also included in the multi-billion deal. Recently, IHH also purchased Timberland Medical Centre in Kuching for an RM245 mil price tag, adding to its portfolio of 18 hospitals across the globe.
- An iconic landmark hotel, Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur, which is linked to Malaysian tycoon Ong Beng Seng, is up for sale for a hefty price tag of RM700 mil. The sale of the hotel will also include adjacent land, making both the hotel and the land having a total land area of 4.5 acres. Once it is sold, the hotel will be demolished, and replaced by a new multi-billion Ringgit development. Now it begs the question, what going to happen to the Hard Rock Cafe situated in the hotel? Is the 33-year-old bar going to go down with the hotel or reincarnated elsewhere? Only time will tell.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/property/2024/09/1100912/concorde-hotel-kl-sale-watch
Around the S.E.A.
Malaysia Airlines is not the only airline in hot waters
After Cathay Pacific Airways found out they had engine issues mid-flight, other operators of Airbus A350 such as Singapore Airlines decided to check all of the engines of its fleet of 64 A350-900 aircraft as a precautionary measure. The move is followed by Japan Airlines which owns five Airbus A350-1000, the same model and variant as Cathay’s.
Airbus A350 has entered service since 2015 and at the moment, 613 aircraft of this model are built and delivered to airlines around the world. The problematic A350-1000 variant is much younger where its first commercial flight was flown by Qatar Airways in 2018. In light of the issues faced previously by Boieng and now Airbus, perhaps airlines should consider the China-made COMAC aircraft as an alternative. Year to date, a total of 9 COMAC C919 aircraft have been delivered to customers. China Eastern Airlines, the first user of the C919, has been operating the aircraft for 15 months without any issues, completing 3,600 commercial flights and 10,000 flight hours.
China has gone to Africa and will never go back
After committing more than USD170 bil in grants and loans to the African continent, the Chinese government is not stopping anytime soon as the country announced that it will encourage its more ‘powerful’ companies to invest in Africa, specifically Nigeria. Both countries also agreed to local currency swaps to promote bilateral trade and indirectly reduce their dependency on US Dollars. China is Nigeria’s biggest bilateral lender, with loans amounting to USD5 bil at the end of March.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/725447
Thailand to build three new deep sea ports
Thailand Marine Department has initiated a feasibility and design study of three new deep sea ports namely – 1) Cruise Terminal Development Project in Koh Samui district; 2) Phuket Deep Sea Port Development Project and 3) Large Cruise Terminal Development Project at Bali Hai Pier, Pattaya City. All three ports are planned in order to boost marine tourism via the increased number of visits by large cruise ships. An initial THB151.15 mil (RM19.32 mil) has been allocated for the project, pending more funding given that the Thai Cabinet approved the projects at the end of this year.
Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/news/tourism/40041082
For your EYES only
If an investment made by Khazanah Nasional Berhad went wrong, who is accountable? Apparently no one. One of Khazanah’s investments, Fashion Valet went down the drain after it was sold at one-tenth of its earlier valuation of almost RM100mil. The public is angry but obviously no heads will roll. So, for the public, please support the government agencies that do right with your money such as NGX 🙂
Khazanah bought for RM100m and sold later for RM1m. Funny, eh? It’s even funnier, the founder wrote a book on how to be successful., and made it to Forbes U30!
She portrayed a lavish lifestyle when the company was losing money with overspending .
So much for an inspiration. https://t.co/W6j15aL3MM
— Alawiyah Yussof 🏴 (@AlawiyahYussof) September 4, 2024
