- Putrajaya has not given a final say on the use of nuclear energy
- Dusuki Mokhtar is annointed as the new AG
- Maxis is planning to ‘work together’ with U Mobile for the roll-out of the second 5G network
IN Malaysia
Trivial matters regarding the country’s natural resources
- Deputy PM II Fadillah Yusof stated that Putrajaya will think deep and hard before making any decision to embark on nuclear power development. With the coal-generated baseload power slated to decline significantly by 2035, nuclear power has been identified as among the clean energy sources that could meet the expected surge in electricity demand. At the moment, a special purpose agency called MyPOWER Corporation is conducting feasibility studies on the latest nuclear technologies and reviewing the previous studies conducted by the now-defunct Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation.
- Nuclear power plants operate in 32 countries around the globe and generate about a tenth of the world’s electricity. About 23% of the total number of nuclear reactor plants are situated on Uncle Sam’s lawn.
- Natural Resources and Environment Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad told the Parliament that the Government will not establish another ‘PETRONAS’ for the country’s rare-earth elements (REE) industry. Instead of deploying the monopoly model akin to the oil and gas industry, Putrajaya will utilise the tools bestowed under the Mineral Development Act 1994 to develop the REE industry. At the moment, the REE industry exports raw materials directly to international markets, mainly due to the lack of downstream industries to process the raw REE. However, Australian-based Lynas Corporation which has a plant in Kuantan, Pahang, is ready to process local REE. Unfortunately, another plant needs to be built as the current plant can only process Australian REE.
- From 2008 until 2022, Lynas has invested more than RM3 bil in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country. The previously hated Lynas, a favourite name among fearmongers back then, is now slated to be the knight in shining armour for the local REE industry. Tulah, dulu-dulu benci, lama-lama sayang.
Musical chairs are ongoing for top governmental posts
Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said that Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh has been appointed as a Federal Court Judge, vacating his attorney-general (AG) seat. Consequently, the current head of the trial and appellate division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Dusuki Mokhtar will be bumped up to the AG position, replacing Terrirudin. Dusuki has 31 years of legal experience under his sleeves and was also involved in high-profile cases including Deputy PM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s 47 charges of corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/11/11/dusuki-mokhtar-named-new-ag/
Other than that, four new faces will furnish the nine-person Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) beginning this month. The four new appointments are –
- Former attorney-general Idrus Harun;
- Retired Federal Court judge Zainun Ali;
- Former Sarawak attorney-general Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid;
- UiTM legal adviser Hartini Saripan.
The JAC is tasked with selecting suitable candidates to sit as judges in the superior courts – the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal, and the High Courts.
Business news
- Singapore’s biggest bank DBS Group Holdings Ltd is eyeing an entry into the Malaysian market via the merger & acquisition of selected local players, including amongst others, the takeover of Singapore state investor Temasek’s 29.1% stake in Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd. The stake is estimated to be worth USD460 mil. If Option A does not pan out, Option B is to buy out Kuwait Finance House’s Malaysian retail banking assets which are up for sale, estimated to be worth more than USD500 mil.
- Recently publicly listed, Sabah-based construction firm Azam Jaya Bhd mentioned that the company is eyeing expansion to the Sarawak and Kalimantan markets. However, Azam Jaya is shying away from the peninsular market as the company deemed it too saturated already, with existing big players dominating the scene. Azam Jaya currently boasts an RM1.45 bil in an unbilled order book consisting of nine active projects, including four key packages for the Pan Borneo Highway.
- After announcing that U Mobile will reduce its foreign shareholding to 20%, in anticipation to rollout the second 5G network, Maxis Bhd may be the willing buyer to purchase some or all of the 28.3% stake in U Mobile, which is currently being put for sale by the owner, Singapore-based Straits Mobile Investments Pte Ltd. This new information which was revealed by Public Investment Bank Bhd (PublicInvest) may see two prominent telco players teaming up for the second 5G network project. According to PublicInvest, Maxis’s planned move to buy up U Mobile’s share makes sense as the latter needs a strong strategic partner to share out the cost of 5G investment.
Around the S.E.A.
Special edition from our foreign desk: How Trump’s Second Administration Will Impact Southeast Asia
The short answer is Trump will bring unpredictability. But, one thing is for sure, Trump’s America First policy will lead to increased tariffs towards the global market, starting with China. Oxford Economics, a consultancy firm, has estimated that ‘non-China Asia’ would see its exports and imports fall by 8% and 3%, respectively, under the most conservative version of Trump’s plans. However, there may be a silver lining (or gloom, depending on who you are talking to) to Trump’s imminent isolationist policy which is the increased China influence to fill in the gap that the US will be leaving.
So, lesson one to industry players – forge closer relations with China as the US will not be a reliable partner.
With the imminent increased tariffs, it will also lead to increased freight rates as suppliers desperately try to front-load imports to beat the tariff deadline. According to ocean freight rate intelligence platform Xeneta, during the Trump 1.0 administration, average spot freight rates from China to the US west coast increased from USD 1,503 per 40ft on 1 January 2018 to USD 2,604 on 1 November 2018.
So, lesson two to industry players – revise your future cost projection to take into consideration freight rates hike.
Source: https://theloadstar.com/trumps-tariff-plan-will-cause-another-massive-asia-us-freight-rate-spike/
Rationally, this second Trump presidency will be rough but we can learn from the past on how the US will act and how we can counter-act.
One last lesson before we conclude this edition, but this final lesson may be more applicable to state leaders – master the communication and ‘Trump Management Skills’ from the late Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.
Although analysts predicted that the US-Japan relationship would deteriorate during the Trump 1.0 stint (due to Trump’s accusation that Japan is not paying enough for the US military protection), Abe’s master touch in forming a close relationship with Trump led to Japan only feeling the soft punch compared hard gauntlet landed at other countries such as China. Abe knew how to get close to Trump – via golf, hamburgers and good, old ‘kaki jilat’.
So, PM Anwar Ibrahim, please do follow in Abe’s footsteps as Malaysia’s future literally hangs on your human interaction skills.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/world/asia/japan-trump-shinzo-abe.html
For your EYES only
A good reading to take a step back and review your ‘hustler’ mentality. There are more important things other than work.
The man that started Netflix really won in life. pic.twitter.com/ol1Q51lYde
— Aadit Sheth (@aaditsh) November 10, 2024
