A few weeks ago, I watched the latest instalment of the Jurassic World franchise, Jurassic World Dominion (JWD). At the end of the second chapter, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, a character named Maisie Lockwood essentially presses a BIG RED BUTTON that releases a whole bunch of dinosaurs into the world. This unchecked global liquidity flooded global markets, giving us a greatly extended bull run but at some point, the chickens had to come home to roost. Of course, the rise of populist politics wasn’t solely due to global monetary policy, but global monetary policy since the global financial crisis played an important role. The animal spirits or, in Jurassic parlance, “dinosaur spirits” of the past decade will be dampened by global monetary tightening.

SIBU: A supervisor of a company in Mukah thought he had struck a “lottery jackpot” when he saw his dream luxury MPV being sold at a ridiculous down-to-earth price. The 37-year-old man was going through his Facebook page on May 25 when he noticed a Toyota Vellfire being offered for sale at RM33,000. Mukah OCPD Deputy Supt Muhamad Rizal said the man contacted the seller through WhatsApp. “The man was asked to make various types of payments which include deposits, delivery charges, Customs tax, and road tax. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian death row inmate Kalwant Singh has been executed in Singapore for drug trafficking on Thursday (July 7). ALSO READ: Malaysian drug trafficker Kalwant Singh fails in 11th-hour bid to stay executionApart from Kalwant, Han said that Norasharee Gous, a Singaporean who was arrested and charged in relation to the same case, was also hanged for drug trafficking. He was convicted in 2016 and had been on death row since then. Several participants were said to have chanted "save, save Kalwant" and "Singapore, stop the killing" while carrying placards bearing the message "#Putrajaya save Kalwant" and "we can live without the death penalty". ALSO READ: Halt execution of Malaysian citizen in SingaporeOn April 27, Singapore executed Malaysian death row inmate Nagaenthran Dharmalingam for drug trafficking despite local and international pleas.

In this concluding part, we look at the country’s experience in pegging a currency (de facto and de jure) and at managed floats. Did the currency peg save Malaysia? Bank Negara announced the adoption of a managed float regime for the ringgit in 2005, as a replacement for the peg. To make things worse, the ringgit is a non-internationalised currency, meaning that speculative players cannot obtain and play with it offshore. An interesting finding was that under pegged regimes, monetary growth was tiny and quite stable, leading to GDP growth that was quite stable.

KUALA LUMPUR: Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd’s MET 1 Residences, an integrated project with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.37bil, is on track for completion in the fourth quarter of this year. “We have reached the final floor of MET 1 Residences which is Level 55 even after the 2 years of the pandemic. Our near completion during those difficult times only shows that Naza TTDI is committed to the project and proceed to its full completion,” CEO Daniel Lim said in a statement. MET 1 integrated development comprises an office tower, Somerset serviced apartments, MET 1 Residences and three levels of retail mall which are also under development. There are four typical layouts available at MET 1 with built-up areas ranging from 677 sq ft to 1,613 sq ft. Each unit features a floor plan that resembles either semi-detached or a bungalow layout, depending on the built-up area, to offer comfortable space and innovative design.

Only a bit of plastic separates Scott Johnson from one of the most poisonous spiders in the world. On his coffee table in Engadine, New South Wales, Australia, there are several transparent containers in which Sydney funnel-web spiders sit on peat moss. Even as a child, he dug Sydney funnel-web spiders out of the ground and handed them in to the authorities. There are 36 species of funnel-web spiders. “Spider keepers at the Australian Reptile Park must use steady hands and extreme focus to milk funnel-web spiders,” said a spokesperson.

With the access road closed, hearses cannot get through and mourners will need to carry caskets for up to 2km just to get to the cemetery. The route was cleared for a new earth road, but heavy rain and lack of maintenance had made the road unusable. > Fans of the controversial Indian “god-man” Nithyananda are excited for his return from “samadhi”, Malaysia Nanban reported. He then released a video clarifying that he was still alive but had been in “samadhi” for world peace. “Samadhi” in Hindu and Buddhist traditions is understood to be a state of meditative consciousness by yogis where bodily functions stop.

PETALING JAYA: PAS President Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang might have a "stuck mindset" when it comes to English, says Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim. The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman said that it is short-sighted to label Malaysians preferring to speak English over the national language as having a colonial mindset. "Perhaps Abdul Hadi is the one with a 'stuck mindset'. On Sunday (July 3), Abdul Hadi said in a statement published on Harakah Daily that Malaysians who prefer English over BM are still trapped in a colonial mindset. Abdul Hadi also claimed that there are Malaysians who prioritize the usage of English in official events and English.

SIBU: A retired teacher in Bintulu was cheated of RM199,000 in a Macau scam. The suspect told her that the parcel which purportedly contained her identity card, ATM and credit cards had been detained by Sabah police. The victim was told to open a new bank account and to transfer all her money to it for investigation purposes. Alternatively, they can call the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559 and 03-2610 1599 for advice concerning online scams. The term "Macau scam" was coined as it is believed it originated from Macau or that the first victims came from there.

SEPANG: Police have seized a Nissan Skyline and arrested its owner for installing police livery and decals on the vehicle. The supercar was one of the vehicles on display at an autoshow at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) during the weekend. Sepang OCPD Asst Comm Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said police from Sepang CID arrested the vehicle owner at around 10.30pm on Saturday (July 2). "We have seized the Nissan Skyline R32 car which had the police emblems and livery on it," added ACP Wan Kamarul in a statement on Sunday (July 3). Investigations are ongoing," he said, adding that the vehicle owner was released on bail after his statement was recorded by police.

IF following political news in Malaysia seems like a depressing prospect, it must be worse reading about political figures and their corruption cases, which run into millions of ringgit, or billions in the case of the 1MDB debacle. Piles of money arrive easily in envelopes, bags or via their accounts, and even include colossal sums, with nary an eyebrow raised at the bank, in one case.

Deadline: July 15> Malaysian medical practitioners, government health officials and senior medical school students can now apply for the “New Southbound Policy Short-term Study Programme”. > Co-organised by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Taipei Medical University (TMU), the programme aims to promote exchanges of medical and health professionals and officials from countries in the region. > The sponsorship offers students a monthly stipend of NTD8,000 (approximately RM1,183), credit fees for major subjects and Chinese language courses, accommodation and other subsidies during their study in Taiwan, as well as expenses for cultural visits and exchange activities related to the programme. > One direct round-trip economy-class air ticket between Malaysia and Taiwan will also be provided. > Students are required to complete six to 15 credits of professional courses and six hours of Chinese language courses weekly (offered by the National Taipei University of Technology).

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will continue to work with Swedish authorities to enhance road safety in the country, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong. He said that the collaboration with Sweden is being undertaken by the Transport Ministry through the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros). "In fact, we are studying the nine recommendations put forward by the Academic Expert Group in their high-level report related to building safer vehicles through advanced technologies in vehicle construction and infrastructure design," said Dr Wee in a statement on his Facebook page on Saturday (July 2). This follows a discussion held with Swedish Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth. Dr Wee said the Infrastructure Ministry had funded the Academic Expert Group whose recommendations formed the 2020 Stockholm Declaration on road safety, which was then endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly resolutions in August 2020.

BENGALURU (July 2): Elon Musk on Friday night broke his nine-day silence on Twitter, the social media platform he is trying to buy for US$44 billion, posting a picture of him meeting Pope Francis on Thursday. The world's richest person tweeted a picture where he can be seen standing next to the pope, captioning it: "Honored to meet @pontifex yesterday." Musk has a total of eight children. The purpose and location of Musk's meeting with the pope were not immediately clear. Last month, Musk said there were "still a few unresolved matters" on the deal to buy Twitter, including the number of spam users on the system and the coming together of the debt portion of the deal.

They said that donations in cash are limited these days as they could no longer buy the same amount of food for their recipients with the money. “We can no longer depend on donations in cash as the prices of goods have skyrocketed. However, due to a drop of about 50% in cash donations since April, we have no choice but to also cut down the amount we give out. “We cut off the cash aid on a case-to-case basis depending on the situation of the family. Insane Kasih (I-Kasih) head Zuraini Tahir said that donations in kind would help NGOs assist their target groups.