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If you wanted a single week that tells you where Malaysian politics actually sits in 2026, this was probably it.

Three stories in this morning’s podcast:

→ The Negri Sembilan political crisis

→ The appointment of the new MACC chief

→ The latest on Malaysia’s controversial foreign worker management scheme

Timestamps below:

Read more

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Bloomberg’s report yesterday cracked open the question Putrajaya has been trying to keep on a leash since February: when, not if.

Citing people with knowledge of the matter, the newswire reported that PM Anwar Ibrahim is weighing a general election by October — a year and a half before his term expires in early 2028 — provided his government isn’t forced to trim fuel subsidies any further before then.

The monthly subsidy bill has surged nearly tenfold to roughly RM7 billion since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28, and Anwar’s strategists appear to have concluded that the best moment to face voters is before pump prices reset, not after.

To make sense of where the numbers actually sit, I had a quick chat this morning with Merdeka Center’s Ibrahim Suffian.

🔥 And, yes, we finally have an update on Anwar’s approval rating, with Ibrahim kind enough to share preliminary data from his latest survey ahead of its release.

We also got into the wider calculus that is politics: why Johor and Malacca are the leading edge of the snap-poll story rather than Putrajaya, why Malay swing voters are buying back into race-and-religion rhetoric, and what a Sheraton Move sequel would actually look like if Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan drops below 70 seats.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

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Tonight’s newsletter zeroes in exactly on yesterday’s developments at the Securities Commission, specifically the release of its 2025 annual report and the press conference that followed.

And I’ll kick off with what SC chairman Mohammad Faiz Azmi said about the regulator’s powers in cases like the so-called “corporate mafia”:

“SC does not regulate criminal intimidation and extortion. I don’t regulate murder and manslaughter.

“Why do you think that’s my job? My job is securities laws.”

Read more

→ Loob folds its IPO, and a cautionary tale for F&B aspirants weighing PE money.

→ Malaysia’s chip dreams, rebooted. Same playbook?

→ Wilmar wobbles under two convictions, one dividend cut, and zero contrition.

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Loob Holdings’ chief Bryan Loo confirmed with The Edge this week that he is halting the firm’s IPO process to give the group a “breather” and focus on strategic priorities like fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) over the next 18 months.

Readers of this newsletter will know why Loob’s billion-ringgit IPO was structurally flawed, and I highlighted that time and fundamentals were working against the firm that owns the Tealive and Bask Bear chains.

It seems that now Loo and co have truly surrendered. But there are some points to take note of:

Read more

I procrastinated, what can I say? The show must go on, however.

Today’s Sunday read takes a look at the latest controversy around Malaysia’s management of foreign workers and the figure at the centre of it — Bestinet’s Aminul Islam Md Nor.

First, some comedy.

Gobind Singh Deo is trending on X for all the wrong reasons.

The digital minister quietly (yes, the right adjective this time) deleted his glowing tweet about visiting Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School in Johor’s Forest City or as how he and his fans would say, “on an island near Singapore”.

But X users are piling on with screenshots and snark.

I’ve written about this kooky experiment before, so it’s amusing it’s only blowing up now.

Balaji, the self-proclaimed “Tech Zionist,” openly draws inspiration from Israel for his Network State vision: blockchain-powered breakaway societies where techbros buy land, bend governments, and declare digital independence from pesky nation-states.

In every single way, the Network School is antithetical to what Malaysia supposedly stands for: anti-Israeli or anti-Zionist fervour, secessionism, sovereignty.

Balaji’s even been making inroads here as an investor, name-dropped in Malaysian collectibles firm Collektr’s latest press push.

Inviting the guy who dreams of sovereign startup utopias on Malaysian soil?

That’s exactly the plot twist that makes even the boldest minister hit delete, even if done posthaste.

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There should be more to Corporate Malaysia than just Aminul Islam Abdul Nor and Bestinet.

But it seems that every time we read about reforms in the foreign workers’ space, the same names and the same company find their way back into the room.

This past week, they did so again.

The story begins ten days ago: Bangladesh’s expatriates welfare minister Ariful Haque Choudhury flew into Putrajaya for his first ministerial visit since the BNP government took office.

Read more

1. The lead story has been updated below to include new insights on the "pink form" loophole and who actually absorbs the risk. The flag was courtesy of a reader.

2. MDEC has since clarified that DE Rantau continues to accept, process and approve applications, and has responded further on the programme's status.

Yeah, it’s just one of those days where the main picture didn’t match the tone of the newsletter. But I’m in your inbox!

Friday “frights” dispatch with three stories:

→ SkyeChip's IPO looks shakier than it appears

→ Sarawak goes after its fisheries

→ DE Rantau is fading

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SkyeChip is pitching itself as a Malaysian semiconductor success story.

The homegrown fabless IC design house is heading to the Main Market, backed by underwriters Maybank and CIMB.

The IPO consists entirely of a public issue of 400 million new shares, representing 22.3% of its enlarged share base.

On the surface, with strong revenue growth and near-zero debt, Skyechip looks like the deep-tech champion the market has been waiting for.

But there’s quite a bit to chew. First up, margin illusion.

Read more

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The Edge’s owner Tong Kooi Ong recently fired a broadside at work-from-home policies, even the tame three-day version the Malaysian government rolled out for civil servants.

He called the fuel and toll savings “small” while warning of far bigger, long-term organisational damage.

Workplaces, he argues, are irreplaceable hubs of coordination, informal learning, and culture-building. That proximity sparks faster decisions, sharper alignment, and real accountability.

Take that away and communication frays, standards slip, urgency evaporates, entitlement blooms, and — his killer line — “comfort risks replacing performance.”

What started as a Covid emergency, he says, has now dangerously reset expectations. Once those habits sink in, they’re almost impossible to unlearn.

Fair enough. It’s a serious, strongly held view from a man who runs a media empire.

Except…

The same Tong Kooi Ong is the father-in-law of Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan (married to Tong’s daughter Chloe since 2015).

And during the exact stretch when WFH was the national default — lockdowns, movement controls, millions of us Malaysians glued to our sofas — Grab’s business model did not collapse under the weight of “organisational friction” and “eroded culture.”

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Ride-hailing got hammered, sure. But GrabFood and deliveries exploded because everyone was stuck at home ordering in.

The stay-home economy basically rescued the company, delivered 112% revenue growth in 2022, turbocharged its massive SPAC listing, and turned Grab into the regional super-app it is today.

So when millions of Malaysians were living the exact lifestyle Tong now warns will wreck long-term performance, it wasn’t a crisis. It was a goldmine and one that helped make his son-in-law very, very rich.

Yes, I know, Tan later put his money where his father-in-law’s mouth is.

In October 2024, the Grab co-founder mandated a full five-day return-to-office policy for employees (effective December that year), citing the exact need for stronger face-to-face collaboration, faster decisions and cultural alignment.

But small savings? Larger costs?

Funny how the “irreversible damage to organisational performance” only seems urgent when it’s someone else’s company.

Speaking of money and chess moves, today’s edition tracks some of Malaysia’s richest: Idris Jala, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, and Brahmal Vasudevan.

Read more

➜ How TNG Digital is squeezing its own parent CIMB

➜ The gaps in PM Anwar Ibrahim’s corporate ally Ishak Ismail's recent interview

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There’s a clip going around of CIMB’s Lawrence Loh speaking at a panel by The Asian Banker where he said:

“Actually in Malaysia, I’m more scared of Touch ‘n Go — who is not a digital bank — than the digital banks because of the size of the customer base which they have built over that many years. I think if I’m not wrong, they have 28 million customers that dwarfs any of us.

“In Malaysia, they decided not to be a bank, they decided to work with banks to actually offer our services onto that, and they eat up all the margins that we can have. So if we were to play with them, essentially the consumer benefits, of course, but the bank margins will be depressed significantly.”

At first, I found it funny.

A CIMB executive publicly sweating over a company his own holding group partly owns?

But a closer look at TNG Digital’s latest financials, and Loh’s comments sound more confession than gaffe.

Read more

This was over an alleged conspiracy to sell shares at inflated prices to GLIC-linked companies, involving a downstream oil and gas firm.

The deal is estimated to have caused losses of more than RM300 million in public funds, with preliminary investigations pointing to disproportionate overvaluation occurring between 2022 and 2023.

Both men were remanded for four days and 62 bank accounts totalling approximately RM450 million have been frozen.

The MACC’s special operations division — which raided 13 locations across the Klang Valley — is investigating the duo under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009, alongside potential criminal breach of trust and money laundering charges.

This is a case to watch — since it’s a GLIC (and there are only a handful of them) — that is if we move from remand to charge, which then means the media can finally publish their names.

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Yesterday, I ran Victor Chin Boon Long’s 56-page statement of claim that reads like a corporate thriller.

Filed alongside two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) — Skyelimit Alliance and Trendtrove Tradin — the suit targets Bestinet founder Aminul Islam Abdul Nor and lawyer Sandraruben Neelamagham.

It alleges the defendants weaponised the police to execute a hostile takeover of NexG Bhd, a company holding RM2.46 billion in sensitive government contracts ie passports and IDs.

But while the writ paints Chin as the victim of a state-backed “corporate mafia”, a sharper analysis of the court documents and the broader corporate paper trail reveals a much murkier reality.

We are not simply talking about an innocent businessman extorted by a new syndicate — that is his angle — but rather a player outmanoeuvred at his own game.

While the matter is now in court, here are some glaring omissions and underlying realities in Chin’s latest legal offensive which hopefully are clarified as proceedings go.

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A major corporate dispute over control of NexG Bhd — the sole supplier of Malaysia’s passports and national identity cards — has entered the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Stock market operator Victor Chin Boon Long, together with two companies — Skyelimit Alliance Sdn Bhd and Trendtrove Tradin Sdn Bhd — filed a writ and statement of claim on Monday against Aminul Islam Abdul Nor and lawyer Sandraruben Neelamagham.

Chin has been a feature of the so-called corporate mafia conspiracy while Aminul is the founder of foreign workers’ management platform Bestinet and an executive director at Bursa-listed G3 Global.

The suit pursues several causes of action: unlawful means conspiracy, intimidation, fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit, and causing loss by unlawful means.

Significantly, the plaintiffs also cite duress regarding a global settlement they say they were coerced into signing on November 24, 2025.

Chin and others are seeking general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, interest, and costs.

Neither defendant has filed a response at press time. Typically defendants have 14 days from service of the writ to enter an appearance.

This article will be updated when that happens. For now, I’m going to split this into two.

The first one (today) unpacks Chin’s court filing, with an allegation namedropping the prime minister.

The follow-up will be an analysis of Chin’s latest filing against past coverage. I have been writing about this for weeks, so might as well.

Let’s break down the writ:

Read more

🚀 First, Sunday’s backgrounder, in case you missed it:

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Jeffrey Cheah failed to secure IJM.

Despite everything the Sunway founder and his sidekick Idris Jala threw at it — a media blitz, podcast rounds, even desperate night calls to retail investors — the deal officially lapsed.

Sunway needed 50% plus one share of IJM, but they only managed 33.43%.

The failure was guaranteed the moment the major government-linked investment companies (GLICs) rejected the offer: EPF (20.5%), PNB (13.5%), and KWAP (9.6%) collectively held roughly 45% to 49% of IJM.

Sunway could not bypass them and that is the end of the story, for now.

But the bid is a perfect illustration of the structural realities of Corporate Malaysia.

Three in particular:

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I have been inundated with chats and random link drops over Sunway’s bid to acquire IJM.

The deadline is tomorrow.

This is one of the largest deals to come by in recent memory, pitched as a visionary move to create a so-called Malaysian “national champion.”

Instead, Sunway’s RM11 billion takeover bid has devolved into a frantic, eleventh-hour scramble.

The narrative of seamless corporate synergy has been shattered by institutional resistance, accusations of asset-stripping, and a stunning admission of regret by Sunway’s billionaire founder, Jeffrey Cheah.

First, let’s go underneath the boardroom PR that made up the week.

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KWAP’s board met on Tuesday night to deliberate on who would succeed Nik Amlizan Mohamed as chief executive, and left without a final answer.

Read more

By now, I’m asking the same questions as you: who is the PKR MP who received a “fee” from Victor Chin?

In his own words, Chin was supposed to name the lawmaker, but that hasn’t happened yet.

It’s a major party-pooper, of course, because that was supposed to be the main act.

This means former minister Rafizi Ramli’s allegation — that Sungai Buloh MP Ramana…

Read more

A few readers have asked for an audio version of some of the stories, so here we are.

Like anyone with a journalism background, the maiden episode is a Q&A.

There’s plenty to improve — scripting, editing, production – but like any startup founder worth their salt, I’m shipping it anyway and getting better as I go.

Since it’s the first episode, it’s outside the paywall for a week. Subsequent podcasts will be paywalled.

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A subscription fuels independent journalism. And, as one reader put it, helps you “save” your liver.

Earlier this month, the Financial Times dropped a story that got attention here at home: the former CEO of Battersea Power Station, Donagh O’Sullivan, filed a whistleblower claim alleging that the project’s books were cooked.

Undeveloped land allegedly valued hundreds of millions of pounds above independent estimates.

Expenses reportedly capitalised to inflate the balance sheet. Battersea has denied the allegations, but the claims — reportedly backed by forensic accountants — have reopened a decade-old wound that many in corporate Malaysia would rather leave alone.

To make sense of it all, I had a chat with P Gunasegaram, founding editor of Kinibiz, and now a columnist for Malaysiakini as well as independent researcher and analyst.

Gunasegaram and his team were among the first journalists in Malaysia to raise red flags about the Battersea deal, where he and his team published a provocative piece back in 2015 headlined, Is Liew Conflicted?, at a time when most of Corporate Malaysia either didn’t notice or didn’t want to.

Today’s podcast makes sense of the bleed around Battersea and why — after more than a decade on — this project deserves greater public scrutiny.

Shownotes:

Conflict and governance issues at Battersea

The Battersea project was marked by early conflicts of interest and governance challenges tied to key figures and shareholder dynamics.

Liew Kee Sin’s conflict and control role shaped the project’s early controversy (03:37)

• Liew was simultaneously involved with SP Setia and EcoWorld, negotiating land near Battersea while denying his EcoWorld role initially.

• Despite conflict disclosures, Liew remained influential, controlling SP Setia operations and pushing Battersea forward until his resignation as chairman.

• The controlling shareholders — EPF, PNB, and Sime Darby — had complicated interlocked stakes, limiting independent oversight.

• Gunasegaram criticised shareholders for not acting decisively on Liew’s conflict, which contributed to ongoing governance risks.

Political influence enabled continuation despite conflicts (09:58)

• The project enjoyed high-profile backing from leaders like Najib Razak and Boris Johnson, reinforcing Liew’s position despite issues.

• Gunasegaram noted that executive influence, especially from the prime minister, often overrides independent decision-making in GLICs.

• Media coverage was reportedly influenced by Liew’s advertising clout, potentially muting critical reporting.

• The lack of pushback from institutional shareholders reflected broader systemic challenges in corporate Malaysia governance.

Financial risks and losses from Battersea investments

Malaysian stakeholders face significant financial losses due to risky profit guarantees and opaque transactions linked to Battersea.

Quarterly losses from rental guarantees hit hundreds of millions ringgit (10:42)

• Malaysian owners — SP Setia and Sime Darby — face losses of about RM250 million quarterly, totalling nearly RM 1 billion annually due to a five-year rental guarantee.

• This guarantee effectively shifts market risk to Malaysian firms, making the buyer’s investment risk-free and raising questions about the deal’s prudence.

• The loss figures spotlight the financial strain on these public-listed companies without clear explanations to investors.

• Transparency on rental income and guarantee details remains lacking, fueling uncertainty about future cash flows.

Opaque sale of Battersea commercial development raises accountability concerns (14:23)

• In 2018, a company owned 65% by EPF and 35% by PNB bought Battersea’s commercial property for £1.58 billion (~RM 8.8 billion).

• Despite this massive cash inflow, subsequent reports indicate ongoing cash injections from Sime Darby raises questions.

• The profit guarantee applies to this commercial development, creating a circular relationship where Malaysian GLICs guarantee profits to companies they partly own.

• Gunasegaram called for a joint public statement from EPF, PNB, Sime Darby, and SP Setia to clarify financial impacts and reduce public uncertainty.

Complex interconnections and ownership structures

The project’s ownership web involves multiple GLICs and GLCs, creating unusual cross-holdings that complicate transparency and risk exposure.

Incestuous relationships among GLICs and GLCs amplify risk (16:18)

• EPF and PNB hold stakes in Battersea and the companies providing profit guarantees, blurring lines between investors and beneficiaries.

• These cross-holdings, especially at the scale involving over RM 1 trillion in EPF funds and RM 300 billion in PNB investments, are unprecedented and risky.

• Such structures may prioritise political or strategic goals over financial prudence, exposing public funds to high risk in foreign projects.

• Gunasegaram highlighted the missed opportunity to deploy funds within Malaysia instead of risky overseas ventures with poor track records.

Market cyclicality argument obscures financial realities (17:55)

• The common defence that London property losses are temporary ignores the ongoing cash burn and unclear asset appreciation timelines.

• With no public data on how much money is lost or invested, stakeholders cannot assess if the cyclical downturn justifies sustained losses.

• GLICs are expected to provide accountability and transparency to avoid prolonged ambiguity and potential financial damage to Malaysian investors.

Recent allegations and financial reporting concerns

New whistleblower claims and forensic reviews raise serious questions about Battersea’s accounting and asset valuations.

Former CEO alleged financial misreporting and was dismissed (19:26)

• Ex-CEO O’ Sullivan, with a 20-year property sector record, claimed Battersea overvalued undeveloped land by hundreds of millions of pounds and capitalized expenses improperly.

• Forensic accountants reportedly verified these concerns, though Battersea denies wrongdoing, stating their accounting is proper and fair.

• Gunasegaram noted UK accounting rules require capital expenditures to hit profit and loss immediately, suggesting possible policy breaches or judgment calls.

• The controversy underlines the need for clearer financial disclosures and explanations of accounting judgments.

Investors face uncertainty amid lack of transparent reporting (21:09)

• The London property market’s mechanisms allow buyers to exit investments if prices drop more than 10%, risking deposit losses but limiting further exposure.

• Many Malaysian buyers are investors hoping to flip properties, thus vulnerable to price drops and incomplete transactions.

• SP Setia and Sime Darby’s equity accounting means any inflated Battersea valuations would directly affect their Malaysia financial reports.

• Gunasegaram urged Malaysian investors and GLICs like EPF and PNB to demand detailed clarifications and accountability.

Ongoing financial support and long-term outlook

Despite large cash inflows from property sales, Malaysian companies continue pumping money into Battersea, raising questions about project viability.

Sime Darby injected RM147 million in Q4 2025 despite earlier sales proceeds (24:10)

• Gunasegaram questioned why cash advances continue despite the RM 8.8 billion received from the Battersea commercial sale to EPF-PNB owned company.

• This suggests either continued capital needs or inefficient fund use, exacerbating financial exposure and investor concerns.

• The ongoing cash injections contradict assumptions that large sales would stabilise Battersea’s finances.

• Transparency about fund usage and project status remains critical to restore trust.

Tribunal on former CEO claims expected to last until 2029 (25:50)

• The legal process will take several years, prolonging uncertainty over the accounting and management issues raised.

• Gunasegaram stressed the urgent need for a comprehensive public statement from key shareholders — SP Seta, Sime Darby, EPF, and PNB — to clarify the project’s status.

• This transparency would help investors understand risks and losses instead of remaining in the dark.

• The drawn-out timeline highlights governance and accountability gaps in managing large government-linked investments abroad.

Other notes

1. P Gunasegaram’s Malaysiakini columns can be accessed here.

2. Kinibiz’s coverage of Liew Kee Sin and Battersea can be found online as well as in the PDF-ed print magazines.

We need to talk about that.

I’ll also finish the newsletter with notes on what we know about the so-called corporate mafia, especially what last week has sort of crystallised.

Hopefully I’ll get to dig into some corporate deals or business-y stuff in the next newsletter, just to give all of us — myself included — a breather.

Is that even possible? I’ll try.

First, ICYMI Saturday’s post 👇🏾

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By now, I guess we have a sense that an anti-money laundering (AMLA) freeze is one of the most powerful tools in Malaysia’s capital market enforcement arsenal.

Read more

→ Digital insurance’s “dirty secret”: what investors would rather do

→ The white knight who moved first: Ishak Ismail, NexG, and a rescue that needs a second look

→ The Battersea timeline: from Najib’s ground-breaking to GLC cash calls

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This was a grouse of a conversation I had with a Malaysian digital insurance hopeful.

The PolicyStreet fundraiser story being the conversational lubricant.

Read more

Both are shareholders in the consortium that took over the power station.

SP Setia said it is not a party to the tribunal proceedings and that “the legal process must take its course.”

EPF said it is not a party either and remains committed to “governance standards and fiduciary responsibilities.”

The project has proved to be a rollercoaster since its inception and it’s bleeding red.

For background on O’Sullivan’s claims and the Battersea fiasco and some numbers, check out Monday’s newsletter 👇🏾

I’ll timeline this properly in the next edition, so keep an eye out for that.

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I’m going to keep today’s coverage on Victor Chin Boon Long snappy and only wade deeper if the occasion calls for it.

At this stage, Chin is acting childish with his weekly teasers and threats.

But even if things are annoying, some coverage is deserved, since we are still keep tabs over the “corporate mafia” investigations.

Yesterday, he released what his lawyers called a chronology of events: a detailed, dated account of how a so-called “corporate mafia gang”.

He also singled out an intermediary identified only as “Mr. R”, who allegedly used PDRM’s anti-money laundering unit (AMLA) unit to coerce the businessman and his associates into surrendering control of NexG Bhd between October 2025 and March 2026.

The document is the most operationally specific thing Chin has put into the public record.

It names SPVs, cites CDS account numbers, and describes a sequence of company secretary changes, share transfers, and enforcement actions with enough granularity to be verified or falsified.

That specificity is worth highlighting since Chin’s lawyers would know that releasing fabricated detail carries its own legal risk.

The core allegation (and a short analysis) runs as follows.

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While writing this, I am always reminded of a joke but an equally apt remark by a friend that amusingly London is a major flex for the two ethnic groups that should have the biggest bone to pick against the British — the Malays and the Indians.

Stockholm syndrome? Tragicomedy? I’m dan lain-lain (“others” or a kid of mixed parentage) and have never set foot in London, so I wouldn’t know.

First, some “corporate mafia” coverage 👇🏾

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Last week, The Financial Times (FT) reported that Donagh O’Sullivan, the former chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, has filed an employment tribunal claim.

He alleged that he was ousted in retaliation for blowing the whistle on financial misreporting at the holding company (BPS) that gave a “false picture to investors and the public”.

O’Sullivan — who joined the company in 2024 after spending more than 20 years at London property developer Galliard Homes — claimed he discovered that internal accounts valued undeveloped plots of the iconic riverside site at hundreds of millions of pounds more than independent estimates by Jones Lang LaSalle and Knight Frank.

The ousted CEO alleged he was stymied by the extent to which the company put expenses directly onto its balance sheet rather than taking them as an upfront hit to profits, which resulted in the unbuilt parts of the site becoming overvalued on the balance sheet.

I.

These current valuation disputes follow a legacy of red flags.

A consortium of Malaysian investors — led by SP Setia and Sime Darby Property (SDP), alongside Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) — acquired the site out of bankruptcy in 2012.

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But no rest for the wicked here.

First, yesterday’s ICYMI 👇🏾

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On Thursday, Victor Chin Boon Long released two documents: a combative press statement attacking the police’s anti-money laundering (AMLA) task force, and an emotional apology namedropping politicians, former police chiefs, senior civil servants, and family.

Appended to both was a partially redacted list of 554 frozen accounts, many of these from companies Chin claims are not his.

The latest drop was clearly designed to shift the narrative.

Chin was trying to move from a businessman under investigation for alleged involvement in a “corporate mafia” to an innocent bystander caught in a dragnet.

But in such scenarios multiple angles can be simultaneously true.

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