Malaysia Morning News For November 21

Malaysia moves up in world talent rankings, ahead of Japan and UK
Malaysia has been placed at 22 in the World Talent Ranking for 2018, ahead even of Japan, which the government wants the nation to emulate.
— FMT

New tax could impact firms relying on foreign digital services
Budget 2019’s digital tax at the commercial level could potentially impact companies that rely on foreign digital services such as web hosting, AmInvestment Bank Bhd (AmInvestment Bank) opine in a N2N Connect Bhd (N2N) company report.
— The Borneo Post

City’s supermarkets ban single-use plastic bags from Dec 1
Effective Dec 1, all major supermarkets under the jurisdiction of Kuching South City Council (MBKS) will ban single-use plastic bags during weekends as part of the city council’s green initiatives.
— The Borneo Post

Petronas raises Nov crude price factor to US$5 a barrel
Malaysian state oil firm Petronas has set the price factor for Malaysian Crude Oil (MCO) for November at $5.00 per barrel, up $0.65 from the previous month, the company said on Monday
— The Star Online

Malaysia and Indonesia foreign fighter transit routes to Philippines identified
A Philippine terrorism expert has identified backdoors in the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah and Manado in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province used by foreign militants to enter the southern Philippines to join Islamic State-affiliated groups.
— The Defense Post

Understanding Malaysia’s 3 categories of affordable homes
Is the current issue of Malaysians needing a home but being unable to afford one, an issue of demand or supply?
— FMT

Malaysia’s Nov 1-20 palm oil exports fall 10.9% – AmSpec Agri
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov 1-20 fell 10.9% to 793,497 tonnes from 890,622 tonnes shipped during Oct 1-20, according to independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said on Tuesday.
— The Edge Markets

Don’t rush into cryptocurrency, expert tells Putrajaya
A cybersecurity expert has cautioned the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government against rushing into the Harapan Coin cryptocurrency project.
— FMT

Southeast Asia internet economy, including Malaysia, seen at $240 bln by 2025
Southeast Asia’s internet economy is expected to exceed $240 billion by 2025, a joint study by Google and Temasek Holdings showed, a fifth more than previously estimated, as more consumers use their smartphones to go online.
— The Star Online

Malaysia’s Mahathir may defy the global trend of misrule by elite
Political revolts around the world have targeted what are widely seen as corrupt and unaccountable political and business elites — elites that pursue their own interests globally at the expense of ordinary citizens and regulatory regimes in nation-states.
— The Japan News

Malaysia’s leaders backtrack on ratifying UN human rights treaty
Malaysian government leaders are backpedalling on a plan to ratify a United Nations human rights treaty after facing resistance from Malay and Muslim organisations, and with the main opposition parties Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) united against the issue.
— The Straits Times

Chinese signboards were a state government decision, says FT minister
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad today said the decision to use road signs written in Chinese had been made by the Selangor state government, following the sultan’s decree that such signboards in Shah Alam be removed and replaced with signboards in Malay.
— FMT

AirAsia Jakarta operations move to Terminal 2 from Dec 12
AirAsia is moving back its international flight operations in Jakarta from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, effective Dec 12, 2018 (03:00am) local time (GMT+7).
— The Star Online

Malaysia moving too slowly on education for migrant kids, says Unesco report
Malaysia is not progressing quickly enough in making education more inclusive for children of migrants and refugees, according to the 2019 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report by Unesco, published today in conjunction with International Children’s Day.
— FMT

Malaysia, India, And IMF Could Spoil China’s CPEC And Malaysia Mega-projects
Malaysia, India, and IMF could spoil two of China’s mega-projects in the Indian Ocean — the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Forest City.
— Forbes

Telekom Malaysia’s trouble – Bazlan backlash
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) share price continued to slide after the abrupt departure of its acting group CEO, Datuk Bazlan Osman, on Friday and the company coming under pressure from the regulator for the shortcomings in its services.
— The Star Online

KLIA incident: Vigneswaran refutes allegations of abuse of position, privileges
Dewan Negara president Tan Sri S. A Vigneswaran is insisting that he did not misuse his position and privileges in the incident at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Nov 14.
— The Borneo Post

Malaysia and Singapore Vow to Strengthen Ties Amid Water Agreement Dispute
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, vowed to strengthen ties with the nation’s “twin” as he officially called for a review of water sold to the republic at the 33rd ASEAN summit in Singapore.
— The Epoch Times

Rapid project to push PetChem’s output substantially in 2H19
Optimism continues to reign for Petronal Chemicals Group Bhd (Petronas Chemicals) following the release of its third quarter financial year 2018 (3QFY18) results amidst a spate of corporate updates including its facilities in Pengerang to see commercial commencement by early 2019.
— The Borneo Post

Malaysia reopens submarine probe, questions former PM Najib
Malaysian anti-graft authorities have reopened investigations into a contentious submarine deal 16 years ago involving former prime minister Najib Razak, the latest corruption probe facing the embattled Najib.
— Channel NewsAsia

CIMB the only bank honoured with three awards at Malaysian CMO Awards 2018
CIMB Bank Behd (CIMB) has won a total of three awards – for Best Marketer in Customer Experience Marketing, Data & Tech, and Retail & Promotions Marketing – at the inaugural Malaysian Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Awards 2018.
— The Borneo Post

Malaysian Airlines To Launch Direct Flights From Kuala Lumpur To Kashmir
Malaysian Airlines is keen to increase the number of flights to India and to launch direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kashmir, Malaysian High Commissioner to India Datuk Hidayat Abdul Hamid has said.
— NDTV

Govt, developers to find middle ground
The 74 development projects in Kuala Lumpur that are currently being probed by Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) One Stop Centre will proceed after the government and developers come to a middle ground.
— The Borneo Post

Malaysian fraud suspect arrested in Thailand
A 60-year-old Malaysian fugitive, wanted for real estate fraud back home, thought he could evade arrest by escaping to Thailand, but he was wrong.
— The Star Online

PCA to boost Malaysia-EU trade ties
The partnership cooperation agreement (PCA) between Malaysia and the European Union (EU), which will be signed in January next year, is a big step forward to boost more bilateral and trade agreements between the two parties.
— The Borneo Post

Feature photo Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)

This week’s Malaysia morning news feature photo acknowledges International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women November 25

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Malaysia morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Malaysia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.