Manhunt, minister media grab, grocery sweep
Some weekend chai.
It’s been a noisy week. So here’s a backlog edition for an easy (I hope?) Saturday night read.
I have:
A junior officer is being hunted by Malaysia’s anti-graft agency over a chip deal that could define the country’s semiconductor future.
A sitting minister’s family just upped his stake to be the largest in Malaysia’s biggest media group without triggering a buyout offer.
And the company behind your weekend grocery run just changed hands for RM1.7 billion.
Plus a whole bunch of extras, from Pemandu Capital to Malaysiakini’s lost RM3 million to SME Corp’s latest fund to PE/VC whispers.
First, some very interesting ICYMIs:
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The MACC’s pursuit of James Chai has generated considerable heat on social media this week, most of it directed at the commission.
That heat is largely deserved.
It wasn’t a smart thing to do, that is the decision to publish his parents’ Shah Alam address, hold a press conference to announce he couldn’t be found, and issue a public notice for someone who maintains an active LinkedIn and Substack presence.
First, some background.
But he was the officer in Rafizi Ramli’s Economy Ministry, who did most of the legwork on Malaysia’s RM1.11 billion deal with ARM Ltd, the British chip architecture firm whose designs power almost all smartphones on the planet.
In Chai’s own words: when Rafizi and his entire ministerial office resigned in June last year, ARM — with no Southeast Asia presence and no local contacts — asked the former aide to stay on for two months to help stand up their local office.
So he did and then moved to the UK for policy work.
The broader target here is Rafizi, who has been publicly feuding with MACC chief Azam Baki over the latter’s own share ownership controversy.
Chai, with no political base and a Substack with 131 subscribers, is obviously the easier entry point.
But there is still a question that deserves clarification.