Comfort zones, after two years of starkly limited mobility and activity, become more like clingy wet blankets, I suppose. The level of irritation with others getting in the way goes up five-fold when it comes to road traffic. For indeed, it is this so-called nation-building process embarked upon decades ago that has to be questioned. Or the way Malaysia has chosen to describe herself, to understand herself and to diminish herself? The signs are plentiful that much has gone wrong with the nation-building process.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit is expected to strengthen to the RM4.25 level against the US dollar by the end of the year amid Malaysia’s strong economic fundamentals. "The market is also seeing positive foreign appetite into our equities market with foreign direct investments (FDIs) picking up. This could support our ringgit going forward,” he said during a webinar on Malaysia’s market outlook for H2 2022 today. Dass also shared that Bank Negara Malaysia has enough buffer to support the ringgit and had used only about US$8.6 billion to stabilise the ringgit. "The positive economic data showed that there is a bit of this disassociation between politics and the opportunity to do business,” he said.

Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer behind Indonesia, had been set to welcome the first major batch of migrant workers since reopening borders in a boost for a sector facing a shortage of more than 100,000 workers. Whether the workers would be allowed to depart immediately after the orientation would depend on Indonesia's immigration authorities, he said. Migrant workers' protection law 'still weak'Benny said having proper work documents is important to help protect the workers' rights in Malaysia, where a migrant workers' protection law is "still weak" according to him. Indonesia and Malaysia in April signed an agreement to improve protection for domestic migrant workers following a meeting between the countries' leaders in Jakarta. Malaysia relies on foreign workers, who mainly come from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal, to fill factory and plantation jobs shunned by locals.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 2): Six lenders are said to have arrived at a settlement with Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and four of its subsidiaries with regards to the scheme of arrangement and restraining order sought by the oil and gas related companies. The consent order was recorded at the High Court on Thursday (June 2) when the application for the scheme of arrangement came for hearing before Justice Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad. Serba Dinamik Holdings, along with Serba Dinamik Sdn Bhd (SDSB), Serba Dinamik Development Sdn Bhd (SDDSB), Serba Dinamik Group Bhd (SDGB) and SD Controls Sdn Bhd (SDCSB) had filed for a restraining order and a scheme of arrangement against its creditors last month. Serba Dinamik said it is seeking the creditors' approval for a scheme of arrangement to restructure the group's debt obligations, which proposed "a 100% return to the company's creditors". Read also:Serba Dinamik subsidiaries' scheme of arrangement and RO will be heard by one judgeSerba Dinamik units seek restraining order, proposes '100% return' scheme of arrangementJune 8 fixed to hear creditors' application to appoint interim liquidator and Serba Dinamik's application to cross-examine winding-up petition

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar for the third consecutive day on the back of declining oil prices and strengthening greenback, according to an analyst. As of 6pm yesterday, the local currency declined to 4.3880/3910 versus the US dollar from Wednesday’s close of 4.3805/3850. OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said oil prices fell in Asia yesterday following reports that Saudi Arabia would increase its oil production if Russian output fell substantially. At the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude oil price fell 2.27% to US$113.7 (RM499.26) barrel. The local note appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1901/1928 from yesterday’s close of 3.1928/1965 and increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.3803/3829 from 3.3865/3903.

One could establish that social protection measures may cushion energy price shocks. However, social protection measures in the absence of macro — or sectoral — reforms are not fiscally sustainable. Malaysia’s energy sector has undertaken various reforms in the recent past. Similarly, reforms in the electricity supply industry have been implemented, with the Energy Commission practising incentive-based regulation of the electricity sector since 2014. Why is the prevailing emphasis on social safety nets a first resort to managing the fallout of energy prices?

“With higher input costs, a price increase of our products has been deemed unavoidable and therefore has already been executed. How high is Malaysia’s domestic and food inflation? With the elevated global commodity prices, MIDF also opined Malaysia’s inflationary pressure will be affected indirectly, especially via higher food inflation at 3.5% (initial projection is an increase of 2.3%). Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused global trade disruption and sent commodity prices higher. Global sanctions against Russian commodities and disrupted trade flows due to the war have caused shortages leading to higher prices.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 2): MR DIY Group (M) Bhd’s substantial shareholder Creador has disposed of 86.65 million shares in the home improvement retailer. Following the disposal, which took place on May 31, the private equity fund is left with 540.83 million shares or an 8.61% stake in MR DIY, according to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday (June 2). In a separate filing, MR DIY notified that Creador chief executive officer Brahmal Vasudevan acquired 500,000 shares in MR DIY on June 2 for a cash consideration of RM1.61 million. Following the acquisition, he now has a total of three million shares or a 0.05% stake in MR DIY. MR DIY shares were trading one sen or 0.31% lower at RM3.21 at 3.20pm on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM20.17 billion.

With U.S. LNG exports rising, more LNG carriers are travelling longer distances to customers in North Asia and Europe while European countries have snapped up floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) as they ramp up LNG imports to replace Russian gas supplies in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. This supports spot chartering rates for LNG carriers which have hit all-time highs. KSOE's capacity is nearly full with orders stretching to 2025, he said, adding that container ships and LNG carriers each account for about 30% of slots. KSOE builds 20 to 22 LNG carriers per year. Hyundai Heavy is building container ships for A.P.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 1): Ipoh-based transport terminal and bus operator Perak Transit Bhd has appointed edotco Malaysia Sdn Bhd to provide services related to in-building and telecommunications solutions and structures in designated buildings or lands owned by Perak Transit’s units. In a bourse filing on Wednesday (June 1), Perak Transit announced that the company entered into a strategic alliance agreement with edotco Malaysia to appoint the latter to provide the services to build, erect, install, construct, maintain and operate the relevant in-building solutions. Perak Transit noted it aims to drive modernised and sustainable urban transport services and solutions with strong digitisation initiatives to better serve all its stakeholders. "In collaboration with edotco Malaysia, it allows Perak Transit to further diversify into more innovative leasing ideas, while increasing the monetisation potential of its existing asset base. Perak Transit attributed the higher earnings mainly to higher contribution from the integrated public transportation terminal operations and bus operations.

But the debate on the network has mostly centered around the purchase of equity in Digital Nasional by the nation’s carriers. Last week, YTL launched a 5G-ready mobile network plan, which offers average data charges of 30 sen per gigabyte, according to a statement. Digital Nasional needs as much as RM6 billion in terms of working capital facilities to roll out the planned 5G network, Marshall said. Digital Nasional is also planning a RM5 billion sukuk or Islamic bond to take over these short-term financing, Marshall added. The RM16 billion cost, outlined by Marshall, covers mainly 5G network equipment and infrastructure, of which Ericsson is a provider, according to Digital Nasional’s official website.

Although Nestle (M) Bhd reported a 17% growth in net profit and revenue for the first quarter, its gross profit margin slid to 34% from 36% a year ago. Apart from companies in the consumer sector, commodity-reliant ones like Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd also faced cost pressure. “We continue to like Press Metal for its favourable market positioning in the new era of decarbonisation,” he said. Areca Capital Sdn Bhd CEO Danny Wong concurred but added that earnings growth in the plantation sector was partially offset by prolonged labour shortage issues. “Companies like Barakah Offshore [Petroleum Bhd], might have to wait for more activities in the industry, while for Dialog [Group Bhd], higher crude oil prices weigh on demand for their tank terminals,” he noted.

(June 1): Technology-sector salaries in Singapore are set to soar in the next couple of years amid a hiring boom particularly in finance, according to the Straits Times (ST). Recruitment agencies see pay rises of 15% to 30% in the next one to two years, up from about 10% to 15%, the ST reported on Tuesday. That’s expected amid a hiring boom as companies work on their digital transformation, Randstad’s Clarence Quek told the ST. Startups and Chinese tech firms expanding in Singapore are also competing for tech talent, the paper said. Quek sees salaries rising 25% to 30% amid demand for data analysts, data engineers, back-end developers and user interface designers, he told the ST.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd said it is buying test kit manufacturer Reszon Diagnostics International Sdn Bhd for up to RM180 million. Reszon is principally involved in the manufacturing of innovative vitro diagnostics test kits, Covid-19 rapid test kits and test kits specializing in infectious diseases diagnosis and drug of abuse screening for medical professionals and clinical diagnostic markets. Subsequent to the acquisition, Rubberex intends to diversify into the healthcare sector, which includes the manufacturing and sales of test kits and other healthcare related products and services. The group has also proposed to change its name to Hextar Healthcare Bhd. He said the group’s progression into the healthcare sector, specifically in the manufacture of medical devices such as test kits, is complementary to its existing glove business.

Trading volume among the component stocks rose to a six-year high of 745.9 million — with the previous highest seen at 834.2 million on May 31, 2016, which was also the MSCI's mid-year review deadline that year. Across Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.33% as China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index advanced 1.19%, while the Shenzhen Composite Index spiked 1.92%, and South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 0.61%. Some Malaysian listed companies are also components of other MSCI indices. Bursa Malaysia's Financial Services index rose the most in percentage terms among the bourse indices, after climbing 1.86% to 16,910.7. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng, meanwhile, said the last-minute push in the benchmark index was also due to foreign buying.