Malaysia Airlines, are you okay?

• Malaysia strengthened its bilateral after PM Anwar concluded his visit to the South Asia country.
• Malaysia Airlines is in yet another turmoil, as the number of flight delays, cancellations and mid-flight U-turns are increasing.
• Vietnam and Thailand laid down the tracks to be connected to China via rail.

IN Malaysia

Malaysia has a palette for some Indian flavours

During PM Anwar Ibrahim’s final day of his official visit to India, he met with representatives from three prominent Indian companies, namely Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Emami Agrotech Ltd and HCL Tech. Subsequently, PM Anwar attended a roundtable with Indian industry leaders, followed by a meeting with J.P. Nadda, president of India’s ruling party BJP. PM Anwar’s visit to India marked his next move in the regional geopolitical balancing game, where Malaysia tries to be neutral while at the same time, reaping all the economic benefits from all parties.

Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/08/21/pm-anwar-holds-talks-with-indian-business-giants-tcs-emami-agrotech-and-hcl-tech-to-meet-bjp-president-after/147729

During the visit, PM Anwar put his support to the idea of more Malaysia-India trade exchanges using national currencies. This proposal has also been endorsed by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), allowing more Ringgit and Rupees to be used in the bilateral trade. The idea of using national currencies instead of the Benjamin Franklin greenback is not new. Malaysia has done this with China, Thailand and Indonesia.

Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/08/21/pm-anwar-backs-more-india-malaysia-trade-using-national-currencies-instead-of-dependence-on-obsolete-monetary-system/147666

Singapore, China, USA, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia are Malaysia’s top export markets as of December 2023. Only one country PM Anwar has not made an official visit yet and it is to South Korea. So, perhaps a visit to K-Town is in the cards?

Malaysia Airlines, are you okay?

Since coming on board as one of Manchester United’s sponsors, Malaysia Airlines is starting to feel the heat, the bad ones though. After a series of flight delays and cancellations affecting Malaysia Airlines and Firefly services, now another two flights have to do a U-turn due to multiple issues -?

• MH386 - The Shanghai-bound flight was made to turn back to KLIA after it experienced a cabin pressure problem. The Airbus A330-300 safely landed back in KLIA after 70 minutes in the air.

Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/08/21/cabin-pressure-problem-forces-malaysia-airlines-flight-to-return-to-kl/

• MH128 - Another Airbus aircraft, Kuala Lumpur-bound from Melbourne was forced back to make a diversion to Alice Springs Airport in Australia after the flight suffered mid-air engine problems. The Airport Development Group, which manages the airport, said ‘engine issues’ sparked the landing.

Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/08/20/kl-bound-malaysia-airlines-flight-diverted-due-to-technical-issue/

Shorts

• Deputy PM Fadillah Yusof announced that the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda) will allocate up to 190 megawatt (MW) feed-in tariff (FiT) quota for non-solar renewable energy (biogas, biomass, and mini-hydro development) through an e-bidding process. This move is made to promote the deployment of non-solar renewable energy (RE) resources.

Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/723456

• Sawasdee and welcome to Bangkok as according to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to re-activate the Bangkok-Padang Besar-Butterworth direct train service. In reviving the direct route that was cancelled in 2016, a careful approach will be taken with an initial 6-month trial run for the route between Bangkok to Padang Besar. The extension to Butterworth will be introduced later.

Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/08/21/bangkok-padang-besar-butterworth-train-service-to-resume/

• Senior Director of Economics and Finance at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Nurhisham Hussein hinted that Putrajaya is exploring the route of rationalising subsidies on petrol and sugar soon. Nurhisham said that the economic argument for winding down fuel subsidies is very strong and any savings from the subsidies rationalisation will be directed towards more impactful areas such as healthcare and education.

Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/723668

Around the S.E.A.

China and Vietnam inked choo-choo deal

During China President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam, he oversaw the signing of 14 documents including on cross-border railways. Both China and Vietnam agreed to initiate planning and feasibility studies for standardised railway routes after preliminary deals were signed in December during Xi’s state visit to Hanoi. The cross-border projects mentioned are the one connecting through mountainous Lao Cai in Vietnam’s northwest to the port city Haiphong and a potential one linking China’s Shenzhen to Haiphong.

Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2024/08/20/china-and-vietnam-sign-14-deals-from-rail-to-crocodiles-after-leaders-meet/147536

Vietnam is not the only one getting closer to China via rail. Thailand is also aiming to be connected to China via rail and currently only missing less than 10 kilometers of railway tracks. At the moment, passengers can travel from Bangkok’s main Krung Thep Aphiwat Station to Khamsavath Station in Vientiane, Lao via a 12-hour train trip. However, to go to China, passengers need to travel a further 10 kilometers via car, to the Vientiane Railway Station to get on board the high-speed trains to southern China. It is estimated that the final tracks connecting Khamsavath Station and Vientiane Railway Station will be laid by 2028. After that, barulah Bangkok and China will be connected via rail.

Source: https://asiatimes.com/2024/08/beijing-to-bangkok-train-just-a-few-links-from-reality/

Singaporeans are happy campers

It is a good day to be a Singaporean (which is a rare occasion), for two main reasons -?

• More leave for parents - During the Singapore National Day Rally speech, Singapore PM Lawrence Wong announced that parents-to-be will get an extra 10 weeks of shared leave (bringing the total amount of government-paid parental leave to 30 weeks) and that full-day childcare fees at government-supported pre-schools will go down to around SGD300 a month.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/quality-time-with-baby-no-need-to-outsource-care-couples-welcome-10-week-shared-parental-leave

• Energy security - Canberra has green-lighted the USD13.5 bil solar project in the Northern Territory, Australia that will power Singapore via a 4,300-kilometer undersea cable. The solar project will be run by SunCable and will start to supply energy beginning the early part of the next decade. The project can generate up to 6 gigawatts of electricity, where 2 gigawatts will be sent to Singapore, constituting about 15% of the island nation’s electricity needs.

For your EYES only

You must think that Formula One cars, driven by the likes of Lewis Hamilton, is the fastest car in the world right? You are wrong as the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut is the fastest car in the world, clocking a top speed of about 532 kilometer-per-hour that is powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.0-litre V8 engine.