KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Group (AAX) is increasing the number of its medium-haul Malaysia AirAsia X (D7) flights to 44 per week across 10 routes, while the Thai AirAsia X (XJ) will also be expanding its operations to 22 weekly flights across five routes in the next two months. AAX has recently launched direct services from Kuala Lumpur to South Korea (Seoul-Incheon) and India (New Delhi), and resumed services to Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth), New Zealand (Auckland), Japan (Tokyo-Haneda and Sapporo-Chitose). In a statement today, the group has also confirmed new flights to Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) and Taipei starting November. Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia X has launched services from Bangkok to Japan (Osaka and Tokyo-Narita) and South Korea (Seoul-Incheon), and is preparing to launch new direct flights to Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) and Japan (Sapporo-Chitose) early December. "We look forward to flying to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (ISG) in the near future," he added.

"At the present time, the JPLs do not intend to submit a resumption proposal due to, among other things, the winding-up of the company (Genting HK) and Dream Cruises,” Genting HK said in a filing with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd on Monday evening (Oct 17). "An application was made with the stock exchange for the suspension of trading of the shares in the company (Genting HK) with effect from 9am on Jan 18, 2022, and it will remain suspended until further notice,” Genting HK said. "Certain of the group’s secured creditors have taken enforcement actions over substantially all of the vessel assets of the group,” Genting HK said. On Oct 10, Genting HK said in a bourse filing the Bermuda Court on Oct 7 ordered that the group and Dream Cruises be wound up. In addition, the JPLs of Genting HK and Dream Cruises were ordered to continue in their role for both entities, and that their powers shall not be limited, according to Genting HK.

FROM the steppes of Siberia to the jungles of sub-Saharan Africa, the flag of Mozambique and everywhere in between, the Russian-invented Kalashnikov series of rifles - first made famous by the 75-year-old AK-47 - have become a familiar sight to almost everyone around the world. However, is there any truth to a claim mentioned from time to time that there are currently more Kalashnikov rifles in circulation around the world than the current population of Malaysia in 2022? VERDICT:TRUEAccording to an Oxford University Department of Economics paper citing the Small Arms Survey of 2004, roughly 100 million of the over 500 million small arms around the world at the time were of the Kalashnikov family. It was added in the paper titled “Weaponomics: The Global Market for Assault Rifles” that three-quarters of the 100 million AK-type rifles are specifically the AK-47. So yes, going by current figures it would mean that there are indeed more AK-family weapons than Malaysians on the face of the Earth.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has given PPB Group Bhd’s unit a second extension to submit its written representation in response to the commission’s proposed decision on the poultry feed price fixing allegations. The extension was granted because MyCC had issued both an amended and supplementary proposed decision, said PPB in a bourse filing. “MyCC has… issued an amended proposed decision to reflect certain changes to the documents in the footnotes and annex 1 of the original proposed decision, and a supplementary proposed decision to reflect additional evidence and MyCC’s findings,” the diversified conglomerate said. The other feed millers are Gold Coin Feedmills (M) Sdn Bhd (under Gold Coin Group) and PK Agro-Industrial Products (M) Sdn Bhd (under CP Malaysia). Read also:PPB subsidiary secures one-month extension to submit written representation over MyCC's proposed decisionLeong Hup unit gets another extension to respond to MyCC's poultry feed price-fixing allegations

What led to Global Minimum Tax (GMT)? To plug the tax leakages and end the race to the bottom in terms of tax rates, Global Minimum Tax (GMT) was mooted several years ago and has gained momentum ever since. Will Malaysia implement Global Minimum Tax? The government will introduce a “global minimum effective tax rate” as recommended under Pillar Two of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, and plans to implement a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) in 2024. GMT comprises the following tax-collection mechanisms:• QDMTT, which imposes GMT top-up tax on local entities and applies in priority.

The image of Islam on the international scene, as well as in Malaysia, is far from what the religion preaches. Kim, a Muslim convert friend of mine, sometimes finds it difficult to explain the simplicity of Islam to his non-Muslim friends. I told Kim that the onus is on Muslims to explain that Islam has so many common denominators with the different cultures of the world. Within the society, it practises justice, fairness and freedom, and wants Muslims to be grateful and remain humble. Muslim Spain was the key that unlocked Europe’s potential, opening it to the era of modernity — the Renaissance.

Sabah Energy Corporation Sdn Bhd (SEC) and Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) have signed key agreements for the supply of natural gas to SEC and for the sale of selected gas pipeline assets and businesses in Sabah. At the same event, SEC and Petronas exchanged documents on the sale of some of Petronas’ gas businesses in Sabah, which consist of gas supply agreements to five independent power producers (IPPs) in Sabah. SEC also exchanged documents with Petronas Gas Bhd (PGB) and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) for the sale of seven onshore gas pipelines in Sabah to SEC. With the acquisition of Petronas’ gas contracts in Sabah, SEC has become the largest domestic supplier and transporter of natural gas in Sabah, moving more than 250MMscfd of natural gas to the existing IPPs. Tengku Taufik said: “Petronas remains resolute in its commitment to support the Sabah state government’s aspirations for its oil and gas industry.

BERA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob says the government has money to implement the Budget 2023, tabled on Oct 7, which is the largest budget ever prepared involving an allocation of RM372.3bil. "When we announced the budget in Parliament, that means we already have the money to implement everything that we promised... the money is already there but (the budget) has not been passed yet. Earlier, several media reported that the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) sponsor chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad questioned the government's ability to implement the essence of Budget 2023 because he claimed, among other things, that the government lacked funds and lacked efficiency to implement those projects. The Prime Minister said the development expenditure would involve, among others, rural infrastructures such as roads and bridges. These small and medium projects involved an allocation of RM3.7 billion and would benefit about 5,000 G1 to G4 class contractors.

Each and every time an error in the English language is spotted, endless swipes are taken at the education system implying that the system is broken, the English language is doomed and our students’ future is on a downward spiral. It was thus timely, in fact overdue, that the 2nd International Conference on English Language, themed “Envisioning the Future of English Language Education: Exploring Innovations and Best Practices in English Language Teaching” was held on Sept 26 to 28 in the pro-English state of Negeri Sembilan. Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia has been advocating for a secondary school in every state, aligned to international school standards, solely to produce a constant stream of top-notch English language teachers. The legal eagles of the Ministry of Education will have to figure out the complexities of this arrangement to make it happen. While it may appear a daunting task, parents will forever be grateful and appreciative of the sacrifices that passionate and dedicated English language teachers have made for our children.

LONDON/ACCRA/KARACHI (Oct 16): Food importers from Africa to Asia are scrambling for dollars to pay their bills as a surge in the US currency drives prices even higher for countries already facing a historic global food crisis. They cannot pay for these commodities," said Alex Sanfeliu, world trading head for crop giant Cargill Inc. "It's happening in many parts of the world." The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of a catastrophe at least as severe as the food emergency in 2007-08, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week called for more food aid for the most vulnerable, while the World Food Programme said the globe is facing its largest food crisis in modern history. But the soaring dollar threatens to erode some of that benefit, according to Monika Tothova, an economist at the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, which sees this year's global food import bill at a record high. Weather shocks have driven volatility in recent months, stocks are low and soaring fertiliser and energy prices are boosting food production costs.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has recorded 2,023 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday (Oct 15), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 4,865,480 since the pandemic began. The Health Ministry's KKMNow portal reported that 2,010 of the new Covid-19 infections were local transmissions while 13 were imported cases. There were 1,699 recoveries, bringing the cumulative total of recoveries to 4,805,184. There are currently 23,881 active Covid-19 infections in the country, with 22,882 (95.8%) observing home quarantine. Of this number, 965 Covid-19 patients (4%), have been admitted to hospitals nationwide, with 34 (0.15%) warded in intensive care units (ICU).

KUALA LUMPUR: Election candidates who are active and popular on social media have a high chance of winning the hearts of voters, especially young people who will be voting for the first time in the 15th General Election (GE15). In addition, he said that young voters generally prioritise candidates who were viewed and believed to be able to provide direct benefits to that group. "Young (new) voters in the Johor state election context did not come out in droves to vote. In addition, he said that the findings of several studies conducted also show that up to now young voters did not show interest and inclination and high priority in matters related to politics. "I think it is quite safe for us to say that young voters will not have a big impact on the outcome of the upcoming GE15.

This means that another 125bps of interest rate hikes are in the offing. Powell went on to say that the final target is to bring inflation down to 2%, from August 2022’s 8.3% year on year. Malaysia started the period already at high interest rate levels and kept them high throughout the period, with a peak of 12.4% in 1982. Despite the higher interest rate posture by Malaysia, the ringgit actually fell against the USD in the period from 1980 to 1987 (see Chart 4). Due to Malaysia pegging the ringgit to the USD in 1998, our economy is pro-cyclical with the US’ as Chart 5 shows.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): YES, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd’s (YTL) mobile network operator, has launched its first YES Experience Store, where customers can purchase telecommunication products and services. He said all YES retail stores nationwide would follow suit soon, using the same concept and design. In terms of coverage, Lee said the YES 5G nationwide coverage currently stands at 32%. “While 90% of 5G coverage is in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, by year-end, we will reach 40% coverage nationwide,” he said. Among other things, the YES Experience Store also offers customers a hands-on experience of 5G technology, from the latest 5G devices and 5G-powered robots to virtual reality experiences.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): RHB Investment Bank Research has maintained its “overweight” rating of the building materials sector due to the tight global aluminium supply, increasing global decarbonisation towards low-carbon content aluminium, and improvement in cement demand pending the roll-out of infrastructure projects post elections. In a note on Friday (Oct 14), the research house said its sector top pick is Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd (PMAH) given it is a proxy for low carbon-producing aluminium smelters in the Asean region and its proactive hedging policy which should shelter its realised average selling price (ASP) amid softness in London Metal Exchange (LME) prices. The research house said it maintained its ESG score for Malayan Cement Bhd (LMC) despite an improvement in the “S” factor on the back of zero workplace fatalities as the ESG disclosure was inadequate given the lack of further deliberation from LMC compared to the other operations of its largest shareholder YTL Corp Bhd. “We downgrade Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd’s ESG score to 2.3 from 2.4 as we think the governance aspect remains weak and should continue to be a key concern among investors,” it said. RHB IB said key downside risks include a decline in LME aluminium prices, higher-than-expected raw material costs, and lower-than-expected cement ASPs.