IT is easy to dismiss Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 80-minute “Madani Economy” speech on July 27 as a “pre-election mini budget” if one were to zero in on yet another round of RM100 to RM300 cash transfers to the lower- and middle-income wage earners and civil servants as well as pens...

Seven Madani Economy mission-targets to lift Malaysia’s global standing and solve problems that matter

IN the same week that US billionaire tech maverick Elon Musk swapped Twitter Inc’s little blue bird logo with a “temporary” black-and-white letter “X”, Starlink, a unit of his aerospace company SpaceX, made headlines in Malaysia for being allowed to fully own a company licensed to offer satellite...

Disquiet over 10-year telco licence and local equity waiver for Musk’s Starlink

The words "can you believe it's already August" sparked different reactions at a recent dinner, the most interesting of which was this: "The clock is ticking for [an auspicious] Dragon baby".

Coffee Break: Many auspicious ‘bundles of joy’ across Asia in 2024

FOR investors and analysts tracking the Malaysian telecommunications sector, Minister of Communications and Digital Fahmi Fadzil delivered a big piece of news last Friday: Five mobile network operators (MNOs) — CelcomDigi, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia, U Mobile and YTL Communications — will finalise t...

Will Malaysia’s 5G implementation structure become clear in August?

TWO key messages came across last week as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) clarified confusion over plans to halt lump-sum withdrawals. First, existing EPF members are in no danger of being stopped from withdrawing their retirement savings with the EPF once they reach age 55 (up to 30% when the...

Cover Story: Make EPF Account 3 an opt-in, not opt-out, option 

AS it turns out, a 2013 amendment to the Pensions Act 1980 that gave an automatic 2% annual increment to a civil service pension cheque was deemed less favourable to civil service pensioners and thus struck out as “unconstitutional” by the Federal Court.

That, without the legal jargon, ...

Cover Story: RM1.3 bil bill + PKKP yet another reminder of overdue public pension reform

EIGHT months after taking office and less than a month to go for the six state elections on Aug 12 — which will show whether the unity government’s coalition of former rivals can not only govern but also win elections together — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration has already...

Cover Story: Getting buy-in + paying for that something for everyone

IF Bank Negara Malaysia had wanted to force exporters to convert their foreign currency proceeds back into the ringgit to support the local currency, the central bank would have already done so.

That is the view of experts and observers who reckon that conditions surrounding the central...

The State of the Nation: The need to bolster confidence is why central bank would not force export conversion

Chinese video streaming platform iQIYI on Wednesday (July 19) announced the launch of its first offline parent-child theme park in Beijing developed based on its popular self-produced animation intellectual property (IP), five months after launching an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience based on its television drama in Shanghai.

‘China’s Netflix+’ iQIYI capitalises on animation IP with parent-child theme park launch

It seems that higher interest rates and tight credit in the US may have had a hand in the collapse of Genting Malaysia Bhd’s billion-dollar Miami waterfront real estate sale in June, though indications are that interest on the prime property remains strong.

High interest rates help botched Genting Malaysia’s US$1.2b Miami land sale?

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has obtained a summary judgement at the High Court here against ACE Credit (M) Sdn Bhd, ACE Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd, and the company directors Datuk Choong Chee Meng and Chang Ai Nee, for defaulting on a RM46.47 million loan given to them by the bank.

Maybank obtains summary judgement against Ace Corporation, three others for RM46m loan default

(April 26): Huawei Technologies Co.’s latest smartphones carry a version of the advanced made-in-China processor it revealed last year, independent analysis revealed, underscoring the Chinese company’s ability to sustain production of the controversial chip.

The Pura 70 series Huaw...

Huawei’s new phone runs latest version of made-in-China chip

The country’s fifth-generation (5G) network adoption rate has reached nearly 36% as of mid-April, while the service coverage rate stood at 80.3% in February.

Fahmi: 5G adoption rate almost 36%, coverage 80.3%, second network unveiling next week

IOI Properties Group broke ground on Thursday for Senna Puteri, its latest township development located in Sepang, Selangor. The developer is looking to launch 386 units of townhouses in its first phase before the end of the second quarter.

Spanning 117 acres in southern Klang Valley, the 12-phase Senna Puteri will be developed over the next 10 years, offering residential, commercial, recreational areas, green spaces, community hall, surau and more. It has a gross development value (GDV) of over RM3 billion.

IOI Properties breaks ground for 117-acre Senna Puteri in Sepang

KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): The introduction of Account 3 (Flexible Account) by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which would allow members to make withdrawals at any time for any purpose, may only boost consumption in the near term, limiting any positive impact on the consumer industry and the economy in general, according to analysts.

EPF’s Flexible Account may only boost near-term consumption, impact limited, say analysts

Doctor-turned-businessman Tan Sri Mohan MK Swami and his partner Datuk Seri Dr Shamir Kumar Nandy agreed on Friday to acquire a 58% stake in property management company Turiya Bhd for RM52.86 million from MAA Group Bhd.

Mohan Swami, partner agree to buy 58% of Turiya for RM52.86m from MAA Group

Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to end higher this week after two straight weeks of losses, after a top US official expressed optimism over economic growth and as supply concerns lingered due to conflicts in the Middle East.

Oil prices on track to snap two-week losing streak

Analysts believe Capital A Bhd's proposed restructuring plan will help the group exit the Practice Note 17 (PN17) status and enhance its competitiveness, as well as provide benefits to AirAsia X Bhd's (AAX) shareholders in terms of free warrants and improved company valuation post restructuring.

Analysts positive restructuring plan will uplift Capital A 's PN17 status, benefit AirAsia X shareholders

JAKARTA (April 26): Indonesia needs to anticipate any impact on the domestic economy of the recent escalation in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and delays in US monetary easing, which will also affect the government's budget, its finance minister said on Friday.

Indonesia finmin says monitoring economic impact of geopolitics

APS Asset Management Pte founder Kok-Hoi Wong is preparing to step down as chief investment officer (CIO) of the Singapore-based hedge fund in the coming year.

Singapore hedge fund APS says founder to step down as CIO

The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has extended the deadline for non-business taxpayers to submit their tax return form for the year of assessment 2023 via e-Filing from April 30 to May 15.

e-Filing: Tax return form submission deadline extended to May 15 for non-business taxpayers

Berjaya Corp&nbsp;Bhd (BCorp) has denied that its founder Tan Sri&nbsp;Vincent Tan Chee Yioun participated in talks to revive a US$100 billion (RM477.60 billion)&nbsp;Forest City casino resort as reported recently.

Berjaya Corp denies participation in talks to revive Forest City casino resort

Maxis Bhd could work with another consortium partner to lower the cost of deploying the second 5G network, even after the recapitalisation of Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), said RHB Research in a note on Friday.

Maxis could lead second 5G network roll-out with new consortium partner, says RHB Research

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has updated its Investor Alert List.

SC adds four entities to Investor Alert List, two being potential clones

Shares of ViTrox Corp Bhd are headed for its worst day in 18 months as first-quarter (1Q) results disappointed investors while analysts turned increasingly cautious on the semiconductor company’s near-term prospects.

ViTrox shares on pace for worst day in 18 months as 1Q disappoints

Analysts believe Capital A Bhd's proposed restructuring plan will help the group exit the Practice Note 17 (PN17) status and enhance its competitiveness, as well as provide benefits to AirAsia X Bhd's (AAX) shareholders in terms of free warrants and improved company valuation post restructuring.

Doctor-turned-businessman Tan Sri Mohan MK Swami and his partner Datuk Seri Dr Shamir Kumar Nandy agreed on Friday to acquire a 58% stake in property management company Turiya Bhd for RM52.86 million from MAA Group Bhd.

Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd has valued ACE Market-bound Sin-Kung Logistics Bhd at 14 sen based on a 14 times financial year 2025 (FY2025) earnings per share forecast of one sen.

Mercury Securities values ACE Market-bound Sin-Kung Logistics at 14 sen

RHB Retail Research said YTL Corp Bhd is eyeing to extend the upside movement after it staged a bullish breakout.

YTL Corp eyeing to extend upside movement, says RHB Retail Research 

Uday Kotak built his Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd over decades to become Asia’s richest banker. After India’s regulator slapped his firm with a surprise ban, he’s facing one of his biggest tests yet — and a dip in wealth.

Asia’s richest banker loses US$1.2 bil after RBI ban

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Thursday as markets were stunned by data showing slower-than-expected US economic growth and persistent inflation, coupled with a sell-off in large cap stocks triggered by disappointing results from Meta Platforms.

Wall Street stocks fall as weak GDP growth spreads rate-cut gloom

The corporate exercise to merge the AirAsia airline businesses under AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) is apparently sufficient to offset all of the RM8.7 billion negative equity in Capital A Bhd, according to chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

Merger of airlines alone enough to reverse all of Capital A's negative equity, says Fernandes

RHB Retail Research said VS Industry Bhd is poised to continue the bullish trajectory after it broke past the key resistance on high volume.

VS Industry poised to continue bullish trajectory, says RHB Retail Research 

The country’s&nbsp;fifth-generation (5G) network&nbsp;adoption rate has reached nearly 36% as of mid-April, while the service coverage rate stood at 80.3% in February.

The battle for consumer attention in China's electric car market is being fought over touches of "tech luxury" that car buyers in other markets have never seen.

China’s upstart electric brands, and even its state-owned, legacy automakers, are racing to pack technology and features once considered premium into electric vehicles (EVs) as cheap as US$20,000 (RM95,525) — less than half the cost of an average new car in the US, now more than US$48,000.

Battle for 'tech luxury' in China as EVs get smarter — and cheaper

The world’s 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their fast-growing wealth to raise £250 billion (RM1.28 trillion) a year for the global fight against poverty, inequality and global heating, ministers from four leading economies have suggested.

World’s billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers

The Tesla Inc shareholder who won a court order in Delaware killing co-founder Elon Musk’s US$56 billion (RM267.54 billion) pay package is premature in asking the judge to bar the billionaire from moving the executive-compensation dispute to Texas, the car company’s lawyers argue.

Tesla fires back at investor who doesn’t want pay fight in Texas

European and American investors showed converse interest in sustainable funds during the first quarter, research firm Morningstar said on Thursday, with a record US$8.8 billion (RM42.03 billion) in net withdrawals from the products in the US.

Record US$8.8 bil pulled from US sustainable funds in 1Q

Anyone called in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), either as a witness or subject of investigation, is given ample opportunity to provide additional, detailed information as they please, and this includes imprisoned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

MACC officer says Najib given ample opportunity to elaborate while statements were recorded

Former president Donald Trump’s economic advisers are considering ways to actively stop nations from shifting away from using the dollar — an effort to counter budding moves among key emerging markets to reduce exposure to the US currency, according to people familiar with the matter.

Cindy Yeap

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