ECONOMY

Malaysia's economic growth is heavily propelled by the global artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor boom, with the country projected to exceed 5% GDP growth for the third consecutive year.

Economic Growth and AI Exports

• GDP Projections: HSBC upgraded Malaysia's 2026 GDP growth forecast to 5.5% (up from 5.2%), while the World Bank raised its full-year outlook to 5.1%, citing strong performance in the first nine months of 2026.

• Electronics & Semiconductor Surge: Malaysia's electronics exports have grown at a record pace of 60% year-on-year, anchored by soaring global demand for AI infrastructure and chip assembly in hubs like Penang's "Silicon Island". Alongside Singapore, Malaysia stands out as a primary Asean beneficiary of the AI cycle.

• Foreign Investments: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced discussions regarding a massive proposed US$50 billion (approx. RM204 billion) investment—potentially involving SoftBank Group—focused on AI and data center expansion across Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia has already approved RM144.4 billion in data center investments between 2021 and mid-2025.

Policy, Budget 2027, and Workforce Initiatives

• Budget 2027 Allocations: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim allocated RM30 million via the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to help 4,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) adopt AI, alongside training and certifying 5,000 AI professionals. Another RM15 million is directed to AI Malaysia Bhd to foster an ethical AI ecosystem targeting 200,000 skilled AI workers.

• Job Targets: The government aims to create 500,000 jobs through AI and digitalization restructuring initiatives, though economists warn that policies must focus on high-value technology transfer, local business procurement, and mitigating the risk of widening income gaps rather than just physical data center hosting.

• Adoption Rates: According to regional surveys, roughly 17 million Malaysians (about 68% of the working population) use generative AI, with enterprise workloads making up 45% to 60% of total usage.

Events

 Conferences & Business

23rd Diabetes Asia Conference (DAC) 2026
• Date & Time: October 15–17, 2026
• Venue: To be announced (Kuala Lumpur/Selangor region)
• Description: Medical conference covering diabetes research, treatment, and management. 
Investor Day of icapital.biz Berhad
• Date & Time: October 31, 2026
• Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), Kuala Lumpur
• Description: Annual investing seminar and Q&A session for shareholders and market enthusiasts

Selangor

The Selangor State Government has declared 25th October 2026 (Sunday) as an additional public holiday in conjuction with the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Reign of DYMM Sultan Selangor. As this Public Holiday falls on a Sunday, the replacement holiday has been added on the next working day, 26th October 2026 (Monday).

My Cat Video

 

August 2026 Stock Market Holidays

Birthday of Prophet Malaysia (Prophet Muhammad's Birthday): Tuesday, August 25, 2026 (Market closed).

National Day (Hari Kebangsaan): Monday, August 31, 2026 (Market closed).

Bursa Event July

Webinars & Workshops (Hosted via Webex) 

• Futures Trading Essentials: Held on July 7, covering key conditions beginners must master.
• Market Microstructure FCPO: A July 14 session detailing Crude Palm Oil futures (FCPO) dynamics.
• Hedge Like a Pro: A July 21 session on smart risk management and trading strategies.
• Trading Plan & Simulation: An introductory workshop on July 18 and a psychology masterclass on July 28. 

Partner & Public Exhibitions

Invest Fair 2026: Taking place from July 18–19 at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre (Kuala Lumpur), featuring over 70 financial experts and 30 exhibitors, including Bursa-related agencies.You can register or find out more details for all official courses directly on the Bursa Malaysia Events Explorer.

The Song

A friend of mine recently shared a playlist of songs that remind him of his late father. It caught me off guard. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Celine Dion’s "It’s All Coming Back to Me Now" started playing in my head. Grief is funny like that—it hides in the melodies we least expect, waiting for the right moment to surface.

It made me stop and think: What is the song that truly reminds me of my dad?

The one that always hits me right in the chest is Christina Aguilera’s "Hurt." If you’ve ever heard it, you know how raw it is. For me, it speaks to that quiet, universal struggle so many of us face—the endless desire to please our parents, to make them proud, wrapped in the lingering uncertainty of whether we ever truly achieved it.

Even brilliant songwriters like David Gray have wrestled with this. He wrote "The One I Love" as a tribute after losing his own father, capturing that deep, hollow ache of a world without them.

I suppose we all have a little pocket of sadness stored somewhere in our hearts. We carry on with our busy lives, our work, and our daily routines, but the music remembers.

To anyone else who carries this quiet ache: What is the song that brings your parents back to you?

#GriefAndMusic #Loss #RememberingParents #DavidGray #Healing #LifeReflections

Malaysia added US$1.3 bil to its reserves by end-January

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 9): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose by US$1.3 billion to US$126.9 billion as at Jan 30, 2026, according to the central bank’s latest update released on Monday.

The reserve level is a tad above the previous high of US$125.6 billion as at Jan 15, 2026, marking the country’s highest reserves position since 2014.

The reserves position is sufficient to finance 4.8 months of imports and goods and services, and cover 0.9 times the nation’s short-term external debt, BNM said.

Short-term external borrowings are defined as debts with maturities of one year or less. They largely comprise foreign currency liquidity operations by resident banks, as well as borrowings by multinational corporations, including foreign banks, from their overseas parents or headquarters.

BNM said these obligations are typically serviced through borrowers’ own external assets in the normal course of business, and therefore do not place claims on the central bank’s reserves.

Breaking down reserves components, foreign currency rose to US$111.3 billion as at Jan 30, compared with US$110.4 billion as at Jan 15.

The International Monetary Fund reserves position was unchanged at US$1.3 billion, while special drawing rights remained at US$5.9 billion.

Gold holdings rose to US$5.9 billion from US$5.5 billion previously. Other reserves were unchanged at US$2.5 billion.

BNM said the reserves figure has taken into account quarterly foreign exchange revaluation changes.

The central bank releases its international reserves data on a fortnightly basis.

Ringgit

 

Wait‑and‑see trading keeps ringgit flat; investors eye US data, Fed signals

Bernama KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — The ringgit ended flat against the US dollar today as traders adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the United States (US) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week.

At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 4.1300/1365 versus the greenback compared to last Friday’s close of 4.1300/1350.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said traders will also monitor US economic data, especially the US ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for November tonight, for further guidance on market direction.

“The consensus estimate stands at 49.0 points compared to 48.7 in October. The ISM Index for the manufacturing sector has been hovering below the 50-point demarcation line for eight straight months, suggesting that manufacturers have remained pessimistic for quite sometime,” he told Bernama.

At the close, the ringgit trended lower against major currencies.

It slid versus the British pound to 5.4644/4730 from 5.4528/4594 at last Friday’s close, weakened against the euro to 4.7995/8070 from 4.7768/7825 previously, and declined vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.6594/6637 from 2.6420/6456.

The local note also fell against Asean currencies.

It slipped versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1880/1932 from 3.1813/1857 at the end of last week and dropped against the Indonesian rupiah to 247.8/248.3 from 247.6/248.0.

The ringgit also depreciated vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 12.9026/9290 from 12.8245/8472 previously and eased against the Philippine peso to 7.05/7.07 from 7.04/7.06.

EURO ZONE

Euro zone retail sales unexpectedly fall in September

Reuters FRANKFURT (Nov 6): Euro zone retail sales unexpectedly fell in September, challenging expectations for a consumption-led recovery and offsetting other mildly positive news from the 20-nation currency bloc, data from Eurostat showed on Thursday.

Retail trade fell by 0.1% on the month in September, coming short of expectations for a 0.2% rise, while sales were up 1.0% compared to a year earlier, in line with expectations.

Euro zone households are sitting on ample savings and the European Central Bank has long expected them to start running these down in a boost to growth, but uncertainty keeps consumers cautious and actual figures continue to be disappointing.

Retail sales expanded by 0.2% on the month in Germany, the bloc's biggest economy and 0.4% in Spain, but there were falls in Italy, France and the Netherlands, among the bloc's bigger nations.

Still, other data, including sentiment readings and PMI data, show that the economy is holding up and ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said policymakers were now marginally more optimistic on growth.

Non-food products sales dropped by 0.2% on the month, fuel sales were down 1% and food sales were stagnant, Eurostat added.

OPINION

Different reactions to seeing a vehicle on fire

THE video of a burning pickup truck at Ulu Pudu in Kuala Lumpur drew more than a thousand comments within hours of being uploaded.

The video started with a white Ford Ranger grinding to a halt at the end of a small bridge over a monsoon drain with a big fire at the cargo bed. The driver got out of the car, left the door open, took a look at the flames, gestured for assistance and then walked to the other side, opened the passenger doors and left them open.

Help came quickly. The first was a person with a small fire extinguisher better suited to put out a small fire at home. The small amount of gas discharged from the nozzle had no effect on the big fire. The next person managed to activate a bigger fire extinguisher on the second try, but his attempt too was to no avail.

Finally, the driver was handed a full-sized 10kg ABC dry powder extinguisher, and the fine white powder was expelled the moment he squeezed the trigger and burst open the cartridge that contained compressed nitrogen.

He seemed to have smothered the flames near him but soon ran out of extinguishant and gave up. The pickup is as good as destroyed as the fire eventually engulfed the entire passenger cabin. Only the engine, transmission, steering and front suspension could be salvaged for used parts.

It is not known what the vehicle’s cargo bed was carrying and the cause of the fire. If the pickup was not used for commercial purpose, the owner could easily claim and receive compensation from the motor insurance company.

If it was damaged by flood or fallen tree, it would not be covered under the standard motor insurance policy.

In any case, the public ought to bear in mind that all commercial vehicles are required to have an operable fire extinguisher on board. Major companies that distribute fire extinguishers should encourage vocational drivers to stop their vehicles and help put out fires by offering to reload their spent fire extinguishers for free.

Those who use fire extinguishers should go near to the flames without putting themselves in danger, before squeezing the trigger to prevent wastage of carbon dioxide gas or dry powder.

And always shoot at the base of the flame where the fuel is and the material is burning, and not at the flames which are escaping gases.

Some of the comments in the viral video include “call ambulance” and “call bomba”. To me, both are not quite correct. It should be “dial 999”, and the emergency response operator will be able to dispatch the nearest fire and rescue team to the scene, or if need be, the nearest ambulance or police team.

There is no need for the public to locate the nearest Bomba, hospital or police station. And “999” can still be reached even if a prepaid phone has run out of credit. ‒ YS Chan, Oct 30, 2025