Rolling in the deep
Malaysia’s commitment to deep tech is about to be tested.
Update: The earlier version mentioned the investor that could be tied to nSWX’s SAFE agreement. I have removed the name and I’m withholding it pending a reply.
I stumbled upon two posts about the discrimination faced by the local Indian community in the housing rental market.
The first was from Singapore — an advertorial by PropertyGuru touting one of its “inclusive” features.
The second was from market research firm YouGov, which found that Malaysians aged 18 to 24 support making it illegal for landlords to choose tenants based on race, while 59% of Malaysians aged 35 to 54 were in favour of allowing it.
I’m not going to wade into ethics or policy. But here’s a funny incident that happened to me some time back.
People who know me know that, yes, I’m in the same discrimination boat.
“What’s your race?” “Are you Chinese (Malaysian)?” It’s like every real estate agent is reading off a shared script.
So, there was a time when I clapped back. Why was the real estate agent so obsessed with the colour of my skin?
He told me the landlord had requested it. I’ve heard this song and dance before, but this time I vowed to ask the landlord myself.
Lo and behold, the landlord was… Indian. And, yes, he preferred Chinese tenants. He didn’t trust nor like his fellow brown folk. No kidding.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim tabled the 13th Malaysia Plan. I find it’s best not to read too much into a policy document – that’s the job of analysts (they need to earn their keep).
I’m not going to wade into any of it unless there’s a specific angle. Who knows, I might just wake up tomorrow and go “aha!” and, boom, you’ll have it here.
Also, US president Donald Trump announced a lower tariff of 19%, down from 25%.
That’s rangebound, putting us on the same level as Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.
But I’m curious: given that much of our exports are in semiconductors, how much are we actually affected? Which then raises the question: are we giving up more than we need to? That we’ll know soon enough.
It’s been a busy week over in this little corner of the internet. Here’s what you might have missed:
TL;DR: More on PM’s former aide Farhash Salvador, Yinson’s mobility gambit and Khairy Jamaluddin’s peeps (for founding members).
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Let’s talk about Gobi Partners’ latest bet on deep tech firm nanoSkunkWorX (nSWX).
It’s really quite something to name yourself after Lockheed’s Skunk Work’s division and also have an SR-71 Blackbird on your About Us when you are anything but. I guess props for ambition.
The investment came via Gobi Dana Impak Ventures, Gobi’s fund with Khazanah Nasional as a key backer. Dana Impak, after all, is Khazanah’s own programme.
Through the Dana Impak fund, Gobi has been deploying GLIC money into hard tech plays such as Penang-based semiconductor design firm Skyechip, which is also a potential IPO candidate.
This latest move is different: it’s an early-stage investment.
But Gobi-Khazanah isn’t the only government-linked investor in the startup.