Trust and Taxes

 

Of late, there have been a series of exposés in terms of financial scandals in our country plaguing some major government-linked investment corporations (GLICs) and institutions. That impacts trust and ultimately questions whether taxes should be paid. Whenever such scandals come to light, is anyone held responsible and whether there has been a breach of fiduciary duty to the public.

 

Theft of milk powder by poverty-stricken families has resulted in criminal prosecution and jail terms. Yet rarely do we see those accused of greater crimes being put behind bars, except for one ex-PM. We have also seen offences involving money laundering, Ponzi schemes and fraudulent scams being let off with a slap on the wrist through compound payments for settlement with the authorities. And the victims? They are made to bear the consequences in silence with a great injustice done to them. It is no wonder then that the perception given to society is that there is an alleged unequal standing before the enforcement of the law. Those from privileged backgrounds appear to get off scot-free, while those who have lesser means must receive whatever comes their way. Fiduciary duty is not an option.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 

GLICs and institutions are in effect acting as custodians of the people’s money, and hence, are bound by the fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the people. Unfortunately, we have seen a blatant disregard for the interest of the people. While in part it may be due to negligence, on a deeper level, there is a clear breach of fiduciary duties by decision-makers.

 

If remedial measures are not put into place urgently and efforts to recuperate losses are not expedited, the one that foots the bill for the foolishness and transgressions of some would be, once again, the people. As such, who in their right mind would entrust their savings to the very institutions meant to safeguard their deposits? The last thing we want is an erosion of confidence in other better-performing institutions such as the Employees Provident Fund or Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) as collateral damage from all this negative news flow.

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is no lack of good frameworks in place for our institutions. We have an abundance of laws and regulations to ensure compliance by the GLICs and institutions. Processes are often robust, with checks and balances in place. Whenever something blows up, there will be loud calls for reform or the need for stricter laws to plug the gap. The issue, in my humble view, is not the framework or the law. It is, in fact, weak enforcement. When enforcement is weak, the deterrent effect is not up to par. If the consequence of breaching the regulations is light compared with the potential windfall (illicit or not), then the end justifies the means, doesn’t it? Those who are responsible for the dereliction of duties by those appointed to act as custodians for the people should be made examples, if not, the misbehaviour will continue. Sad to say, many instances have shown that the risk-to-reward ratio appears skewed in favour of those who cross the line instead of those who are upright.

 

Those who are tasked with managing taxpayers’ money must be held to the highest standards due to the trust placed in them by the public. Appointments to these key roles must be based on merit and capability rather than political connections or affiliations.

 

Malaysia has an abundance of resources and natural advantages that make our regional peers green with envy. Sadly, the leakages in the system are too rampant. The systemic failures across organisations and institutions are too prevalent to be eradicated overnight. But that does not mean we should not start turning it around. Instead of introducing new taxes and removing subsidies that burden the people to increase government revenue, start plugging leakages at key GLICs and institutions. Once the people see the improvement, they would be more receptive and willing to play their part in contributing taxes to the country, provided they are being put to good use. Trust and taxes go hand in hand.

 

Reference:

Rebuilding institutional confidence, Ng Zhu Hann, The Star, 22 August 2026

 

 

Beautiful Mosaic or Shades of Marble?

 

As we roll to another Malaysia Day, it’s time we stop asking the usual "Are we united?" and start asking something a bit more honest. What kind of togetherness are we actually talking about? 

Are we like a mosaic—distinct, colourful pieces sitting side by side, making a pretty picture from a distance? Or are we more like a marble piece - different shades but fitted so tightly that the design will fail if we break it?

 

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org 

We co-exist, work together, buy nasi lemak from the same stall, visit each other’s open houses, and cheer for the same badminton players. That’s not nothing but peaceful co-existence. The kind of unity that holds a nation together when things get shaky. The government’s National Unity Policy gets this. It talks about "unity in diversity," leans on the Constitution and Rukun Negara, and aims to build a shared identity. The vision is there.

 

Does it actually feel real in our daily lives? We live next door, but do we really know each other? The thing about diversity is that it’s our superpower. Malay, Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli, Sabahan, Sarawakian, everyone has added something delicious, beautiful, or meaningful to this country. Our food, our festivals, our languages… it’s a richness few places can match.

Diversity can also become a soft spot when we stay in our own bubbles. We can be neighbours for decades without ever being neighbours. We can work in the same office and never form real friendships. We can show up at each other’s Hari Raya or Deepavali open houses without really understanding the history or meaning behind them. We can even nod along to "unity" in principle, while deep down, still thinking in "us vs. them." 

That’s the catch with a mosaic, all the pieces are there but they’re not holding on to each other. Unity doesn’t mean we all become the same. Unity isn’t uniformity, it’s more like: 

· Being united without being identical.

· Being diverse without being divided.

· Having our own identities without isolating ourselves. 

That’s where the marble metaphor hits home. A marble has patterns, but when placed together, they become something much stronger than any single tile piece on its own.

That’s the kind of Malaysia we should be aiming for. The Rukun Negara can’t just be something we recite. 

We already have the foundations—the Constitution, the Rukun Negara which are solid. The Unity Policy even calls them the core of our integration strategy. The aim is to promote Bahasa Melayu as a common language, deepen religious and cultural understanding, strengthen families, improve law enforcement, and empower leaders to be unity champions. 

You can’t have unity if people feel left out economically. Let’s be real, you can’t have genuine unity if a big chunk of the population feels like the system is rigged in favour of someone else.

We have to keep addressing historical disadvantages. The help should be transparent, targeted, and based on actual need not just race. A Malay kid from a poor family, a Chinese kid from a poor family, an Indian kid from a poor family, they all deserve a fair shot. No young Malaysian should grow up thinking: "My future depends on which community I was born into." No one should think that another community’s success is their loss. National prosperity is a shared asset, we sink or swim together.Our politicians need to stop playing with fire. 

Honestly, one of the biggest threats to our social fabric is how politics keeps exploiting our differences. Race and religion are legitimate parts of Malaysian life but they become toxic when leaders deliberately turn them into fear, especially during elections. Every election shouldn’t feel like a fight over whose community is under threat. 

We have bigger, more urgent questions: 

-Can we fix our education system?

-Can we fight corruption?

-Can we build affordable homes?

-Can we improve healthcare?

-Can we create better jobs?

-Can we compete in AI and tech?

-Can we reduce inequality?

-Can we protect our environment? 

These things affect everyone regardless of ethnicity. Instead of just asking people if they support unity, we could measure: 

-How many close friends they have from other communities.

-Whether they’re comfortable working under leaders from different backgrounds.

-Whether they’d be okay with their kids having close friends from other races.

-Whether they trust people of different religions.

-Whether they feel they’re treated equally under the law.

-Whether they’ve taken part in mixed-community activities.

-Whether they’d help another community during a crisis.

-How much hostility they see on social media.

-Whether they trust national institutions. 

That would turn "unity" from a vague aspiration into something we can actually track and improve. 

What Kind of Malaysia do we want to leave behind? We don’t have to choose between being a mosaic and being a marble tile. We can keep the beauty of the mosaic, all those vibrant, distinct pieces and still build the strength of a tile. The real test of unity isn’t whether we all speak the same language, eat the same food, or vote the same way. It’s more personal than that. When a Malaysian from another community succeeds, can we feel proud instead of threatened? The marble title is one and strong as opposed to a mosaic that is held together by fragile adhesive.

 

Reference:

Malaysia: Are we a beautiful mosaic, or a real fabric?, K. T. Maran, Newswav, 11 Sept 2026

Ban Sale of Passport Covers!

 

Misplaced priorities mean focusing time, energy, or money on less important things while ignoring what is critical. This seems to be the crux of the matter surrounding the recent passport cover fiasco at the Immigration Department’s UTC (Pudu Sentral) branch. A couple alleged they were treated like common criminals after being accused of filching a passport cover.

 

Apparently, a simple procedure to apply for a passport on Aug 21 turned into an ugly shouting match in which the lady and her spouse were allegedly accused of theft. With the Immigration authorities currently in the spotlight for other less-than-positive news, it did not take long for social media to seize upon this incident to further paint the government department in a bad light.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 

The Immigration bosses reacted swiftly by lodging a police report over supposed factual inaccuracies. Apparently, there are substantial discrepancies between the complainant’s viralled grouses and CCTV footage.

 

There’s a lot of hearsay and conjecture over the entire episode with the official statement from the Immigration authorities shedding little light on what happened. However, suffice to note that the disagreement was over the alleged misappropriation of a passport cover which is sold separately from the all-important travel document itself.

 

The lady claimed she had unknowingly taken the cover while the immigration personnel are contending otherwise. Let’s avoid the tricky subject of who’s actually telling fibs here and focus on another detail that I find somewhat interesting.

 

In the first place, these passport covers are NOT official paraphernalia. The passport cover sold at Malaysian Immigration counters is completely optional and not standard issue. It is an extra accessory hence purchasing it is entirely up to the customer. It is not an official requirement or a mandatory fee for travel documents.

 

More likely than not, funds collected from optional passport covers sold at Immigration Department counters (such as those noted in similar UTC branch procedures) are typically channelled into internal welfare funds – e.g. the respective branch’s Sports and Charity Club account – to support staff activities and welfare programmes.

 

Nothing wrong with that, right?

 

Until an incident like this explodes and uncomfortable questions are asked. Are immigration personnel focused on carrying out their tasks or are they more concerned about raising funds for their departmental activities?

 

Publicity like this do NOT help matters regardless of whether the immigration staff were at fault this time. It feeds into the perception that these uniformed bodies are more concerned with pushing plastic passport adornments than serving the rakyat in a meaningful manner. The pertinent point is that Immigration counters are for processing official travel documents – not as points-of-sale for knick-knacks (like chocolates, eggrolls, crackers etc.) to support departmental leisure activities. If such practices are not banned, the civil service remains open to ridicule and accusations of bureaucratic inefficiency and ineffectiveness.

 

Reference:

“Ban sale of passport covers” key to dealing with alleged theft by couple at UTC Immigration branch, by Unimpressed Malaysian, Focus Malaysia, 26 August 2026

The Top Crude Oil Producers in 2025

 

Key Takeaways

·      -The U.S. was the world’s largest crude oil producer in 2025, pumping 13.58 million barrels per day (or 16% of global production)

·       -Five of the world’s top 10 crude oil producers are in the Middle East.

·      -Russia and Saudi Arabia ranked second and third globally, each producing more than 9.5 million barrels per day.

·        -Malaysia produced 0.5m barrels per day.

Although America leads the ranking, the Middle East remains the world’s biggest production hub, with five countries in the global top 10.

This graphic shows crude oil production by country, using 2025 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The ranking highlights how oil production is spread across multiple continents, while still concentrated among a small group of leading producers. 

Reference:

Ranked: The top crude oil producers in 2025 – Visual Capitalist, Gabriel Cohen, 13 May 2026

 

Does Retirement Come With Buckets of Responsibility?

 

Retirement, we are told, is the reward for decades of hard work. It is supposed to be a time for fishing, gardening, afternoon naps and offering unsolicited advice to grandchildren who pretend to listen. Then along comes a video from China that completely rewrites the retirement handbook. 

It begins innocently enough. An elderly gentleman is escorted by a younger woman to the back of a three-wheeled cargo bicycle. One assumes she is helping him to a comfortable seat. Perhaps they are going for a leisurely ride around the village. How wrong we are. The old man sits down with remarkable calm. Then the loading begins.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

One blue plastic drum lands on his lap. Then another. Soon more containers appear from nowhere, stacked around him with the precision of an engineer solving a three-dimensional puzzle. Buckets are hung from his feet as though his toes had suddenly become industrial-strength hooks. Still, he does not complain. 

Finally comes the finishing touch worthy of a modern sculptor. Several empty pails are placed over his head until he virtually disappears beneath the load. At this point, he is no longer a passenger. He has become part of the vehicle's cargo management system. 

The young woman climbs onto the bicycle and pedals away, leaving behind one of the most astonishing demonstrations of retirement employment ever recorded. Perhaps we have misunderstood the purpose of elderly people all these years. Instead of worrying about ageing populations, governments should recognise the hidden talents of retirees. After decades of balancing household budgets, carrying children, shopping bags and life's burdens, perhaps they have simply evolved into the world's most reliable load-bearing structures. 

Forget artificial intelligence. What we have here is Artificial Grandfather. His qualifications are impeccable. He remains perfectly still. He doesn't demand overtime. He doesn't ask for annual leave. He doesn't even require seat belts because the containers themselves provide complete immobilisation. 

The logistics industry has been searching for efficiency. It turns out the answer has been sitting quietly in the living room all along. One cannot help admiring the old gentleman's expression before the buckets swallowed him whole. There was neither panic nor protest. It was the serene face of a man who had probably spent fifty years saying, “yes, dear.” After half a century of marriage, a few plastic drums are merely another chapter in domestic negotiations. Of course, one hopes the journey was short and the load was safe. Humour should never come at the expense of an elderly person's wellbeing. 

Yet the video reminds us of something rather touching beneath the comedy. Many retirees fear becoming useless after leaving work. Society often celebrates youth while quietly parking its senior citizens in the corner. This elderly man, willingly or otherwise, proved the exact opposite. He was indispensable. 

Without him, the buckets would have rolled about. The containers would have shifted. The balance of the tricycle might have been compromised. He was, quite literally, holding everything together. Perhaps that is the story of old age itself. Long after the job title disappears, the pension arrives and the farewell speeches are forgotten, older people continue doing what they have always done. They carry the family's burdens, provide stability and quietly support everyone else. 

Some just happen to do it with five plastic drums on their lap, two pails hanging from their feet and a stack of buckets over their head. Now is that what you call remaining useful after retirement?

 

Reference:

When Retirement Comes With Buckets of Responsibility, Mihar Dias, Newswav,
6 August 2026

GDP Growth, But Do We Feel it?

 

Malaysia, according to the government, has shown strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth. But strangely, the people are not feeling it. This apparent disconnect between growth and sentiment on the ground is a common concern. This divergence, however, does not necessarily mean GDP growth is overstated or disconnected from economic fundamentals. Rather, it reflects a changing composition and distribution of growth.

 

From a broader perspective, this divergence is not unusual in a market economy. Economic growth and its benefits are not necessarily distributed uniformly. Differences in productivity, education, skills, capital ownership and individual choices can produce different outcomes.

This has led to concepts such as equity and welfare economics, including progressive taxation, targeted subsidies and affirmative action, alongside the pursuit of structural justice through access to basic services, competition policy and wider socio-economic opportunities. Strong aggregate growth, therefore, does not necessarily translate into an equally strong improvement in circumstances for every household, income group, generation or region.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 

This distinction is particularly relevant to Malaysia’s current performance. The pre- and post-pandemic growth rates are telling, based on average sectoral GDP growth rates comparing the 2017-2019 and 2023-2025 periods. Growth in major consumer-facing sectors, including services and wholesale and retail trade, has decelerated. Importantly, these sectors continue to grow at healthy rates, generally above 5%. However, their slower growth relative to the pre-pandemic period is likely to influence sentiment disproportionately because they are encountered directly in everyday life.

 

As such, Malaysia’s growth engine has increasingly shifted towards the producer and investment side. As Malaysia strengthens its position as an export-oriented economy, relatively less visible sectors have taken on greater significance. As a mid-sized open economy, Malaysia is structurally positioned to benefit from the much larger global market for trade and investment, particularly compared with larger economies that can rely more heavily on domestic consumption. This shift is evident in the sectoral composition of growth.

 

Manufacturing and electronics, central to Malaysia’s export base, have accelerated across the pre- and post-pandemic periods, in line with policy initiatives and global technology trends. Construction has also recorded strong growth, reflecting elevated investment activity. At the same time, primary sectors such as mining, agriculture and hydrocarbons have experienced a revival. These sectors may be less visible than retail or consumer services, but their contribution to production, investment, exports and national income is substantial.

 

This helps explain why strong GDP growth may not always feel as strong as the headline number suggests. The issue is not necessarily that growth has weakened, but that its drivers have changed. During periods of elevated investment, the producer sector can play a stronger role than the consumer sector. The broadening of sectoral growth is also important for resilience.

 

Malaysia’s ability to attract investment into manufacturing and electronics strengthen its role in global supply chains, develop its primary industries and expand infrastructure shows an economy adapting to the changing external environment.

 

The geographical composition of growth is changing as well. Over time, Malaysia’s expansion is likely to become increasingly decentralised, with new engines emerging beyond the Klang Valley. Foreign direct investment, export-oriented industries and targeted public investment are contributing to new economic centres.

 

While private investors remain the principal drivers, the government’s enabling role through infrastructure, connectivity and a better investment climate can reduce barriers and expand opportunities in historically underdeveloped regions, including the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Borneo. This broadening is evident in Johor through the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), in the northern states through the expanding semiconductor ecosystem, and in Sabah and Sarawak through the development of natural and energy resources. Such developments can reduce longstanding regional disparities in income, wealth and economic opportunity.

 

Growth is, therefore, broadening not only across sectors, but also across geography. This perspective is important when assessing Malaysia’s strong GDP growth in the first half of 2026. Growth has increased alongside a healthy rebalancing, with investment, production, exports and a wider range of sectors contributing more significantly. The divergence between GDP growth and consumer sentiment likely reflects a changing economic structure.

 

The challenge is ultimately not simply to generate high GDP growth, but to ensure that its benefits become increasingly broad-based. A market economy can generate substantial increases in productivity, investment and national income while producing uneven outcomes across households, regions and generations. Continued improvements in connectivity, institutions, human capital, competition and the investment climate can help emerging growth centres realise their potential and ensure that economic transformation is more widely shared.

Malaysia’s recent growth experience should therefore not be judged solely by whether households “feel” the headline GDP number. Sentiment remains an important measure of economic wellbeing, but it captures only one dimension of economic performance. The more fundamental question is whether the economy is expanding productive capacity, diversifying its sources of growth and creating new opportunities across sectors and regions.

 

The engines of Malaysian growth are changing and diversifying, important for longer-term resilience and development.

 

Reference:

Changing face of growth, Dr Ray Choy, The Star, 22 August 2026

Distorted Valuation Methods

 

Analysts usually use two distinct methods in valuing companies, and they are the discounted cash flow method as well as the traditional price-to-earnings ratio (PER) method. The P/B method is well-known. The (P/B) method is an appropriate valuation method for companies in the financial industry such as banks or insurance companies. Balance sheet represents assets that are significantly liquid and are valued based on mark-to-market valuations, so it is deemed appropriate. 

Typically, banks or insurance companies are valued at a premium, as observed recently in the sale of a 30.95% stake in Maybank Ageas Holdings Bhd by Ageas Insurance International NV to Maybank at 1.98 times. The P/B method is also an appropriate method to use during times of distress or when a company is loss-making.

 

Source: https://www.investopedia.com

 

However, the P/B method has a fallacy, as the net asset value of a company is dependent on its dividend policy. Assuming two companies have a similar net asset value of RM500mil each and both companies can generate a net profit of RM70mil a year. A company’s dividend policy will have a significant impact on how the net asset value grows in the future. 

Literature has also shown that there is a positive correlation between P/B and return on equity (RoE). Hence, companies like Public Bank and Maybank do trade at a premium to the overall sector averages due to higher RoEs. A company that pays out much of its earnings as dividends tends to have better RoEs. 

There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to valuing a company based on a certain discount to its “fair value”, especially when it comes to the P/B method or, in the case of property companies, using the realisable net asset value (RNAV) method. The best approach to the appropriate discount is to use the historical trend in terms of the observable market price and the P/B or RNAV value. The difficulty lies when an analyst changes this discount and applies the discount arbitrarily. How does one justify changing a 30% discount to 20% or to 40% or 50% without quantifying why the change necessitates the different discounts? 

In the era of tech, artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor booms, revenue, cashflows or even earnings multiplier has taken a quantum leap. Valuing some of these companies north of 30 times or 40 times PER is getting too common. A word of caution is in order, as any multiples beyond a certain threshold will be tough to justify if the earnings growth does not match. As a rule of thumb, a stock is only cheap if its future growth is at a higher rate than the PER multiple used to justify its valuation. 

Based on the above examples, while one understands that valuation itself is an art and no two analysts will be valuing the same company based on the same valuation matrix, there must be justification as to why a valuation method is used and how the change in the company’s and industry’s fundamentals impact the valuation itself. In the case of high-growth companies, the PER multiple must be justified with the expected growth, as a company cannot be valued at a PER-to-growth multiple beyond 1.0 times as it is unrealistic. Distorted market valuation methods can hide a true fair value of a company, and analysts should not be chasing stocks, as markets and investors can be irrational. 

It is more difficult if it’s a start-up and you rely on projections. It requires more work on assumptions and the DCF method may be more appropriate. Valuation, as said earlier, is an art, although many try to make it into a science. Ultimately, it is a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis. And the valuation report is a starting point for the final, negotiated price for an investment or divestment. 

Reference:

Distorted valuation methods hide true value, Pankaj C. Kumar, The Star,
15 August 2026