World

KUALA LUMPUR: When Wong Sim Huat (not his real name) saw an advertisement on Facebook about a job in Cambodia that promised a salary of up to RM15,000 (US$3,300) per month, he did not think twice about signing up. At that time, Wong had been jobless for over a year as the COVID-19 pandemic caused him to lose his previous job as a shopkeeper in Kluang, Johor. “It was very hard to look for a proper job at the time and the advertisement said I didn’t need to take out a single cent to get to Cambodia,” the 32-year-old told CNA. Instead of taking a flight to Cambodia from Kuala Lumpur, Wong was told to go to the town of Sungai Golok in Kelantan which borders Thailand. From Sungai Golok, he entered Thailand illegally via a boat. Later, he and six other Malaysians got into a vehicle that cros...

NEW YORK/LONDON :The dollar marched higher on Tuesday after a report on the U.S. services industry in August reinforced the view that the United States was not in recession, while the euro and rate-sensitive Japanese yen tumbled further against the greenback. The dollar index rose 0.547 per cent after the Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing PMI edged up to a reading of 56.9 from 56.7 in July, the second straight monthly increase after three months of declines. The surprise reading - economists in a Reuters poll had forecast it would slip to 54.9 - followed the ISM's manufacturing survey last week that showed U.S. factory activity grew steadily in August in contrast to other major economies. "Some of the top-tier numbers on the U.S. economy are suggesting there's n...

LONDON: Chelsea have new ownership but the ruthless strategy employed by former owner Roman Abramovich when it comes to hiring and firing managers appears to have remained at Stamford Bridge. Just over three months since a consortium headed by American Todd Boehly completed a £4.25 billion takeover of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel has been fired. Like many of his predecessors, Tuchel delivered silverware into the Chelsea trophy cabinet, winning the Champions League just four months after taking over in 2021. But just like them that proved no guarantee of lengthy employment at the west London club. Here is a list of Chelsea's last six permanent managers and the circumstances of their exits. JOSE MOURINHO (June 2013-Dec 2015) Mourinho delivered the Premier League title on his return to Stamfo...

SEOUL :FTSE Russell is likely to add South Korea to a watch list in coming weeks for inclusion in its World Government Bond Index, the country's vice finance minister said on Wednesday, heralding a move that could bring huge inflows of foreign funds. "We are closely working with FTSE Russell ... and we've been receiving positive signs from them," Choi Sang-dae, second vice finance minister in charge of budget and treasury bond markets, told Reuters in an interview. "We see a high chance of joining the watch list this September, although a final decision has not been made yet," said Choi, describing South Korea's progress toward inclusion in one of FTSE Russell's flagship indexes. The WGBI comprises sovereign debt from more than 20 countries and global funds tracking the index are estima...

There's a broad perception that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell does not care one whit about corporate news. He's strictly a creature of broad government economic reports — the consumer price index, the producer price index, industrial production, retail sales and, of course, the nonfarm employment numbers. He also cares about what his fellow Fed people say. But for the most part, an earnings blowup is a tree falling in the woods: He's not around to hear it make a sound. If that's the case, then market participants should be selling anything that depends on the U.S. economy stabilizing here and forgetting about any company that needs acceleration. These growth stocks are simply casualties of the moment. If you want to own them, you must be prepared to take losses before you see any ...

Despite experiencing the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia has remained a resilient economic player that continues to support foreign business. Its most technologically advanced and diversified state of Selangor even managed to record an increase in manufacturing projects amid the worldwide economic slowdown. Dato’ Hasan Azhari bin Haji Idris, CEO of Invest Selangor Now, as the world begins to reopen, Selangor is seeking additional investment from Japanese and other foreign companies. The Japan Times spoke with Dato’ Hasan Azhari bin Haji Idris, CEO of Invest Selangor, to learn more about what makes Selangor such an attractive business environment. Could you provide us an overview of Selangor and its ties with Japan? Malaysia and Japan have a very strong trade relations...

SINGAPORE : Labour shortages and supply chain snarls are making it harder for airlines and lessors to return airplanes grounded during the pandemic to the skies as quickly as they would like, operators and maintenance providers say. A global squeeze on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capacity is one of the factors contributing to higher airfares for travellers, as demand has rebounded faster than aircraft can be made available and costs are rising. "Some suppliers are coming out with double-digit escalations and surcharges," said Mahesh Kumar, chief executive of Asia Digital Engineering, the maintenance arm of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia. "The airlines keep increasing their fares but that is not a sustainable business," he added at the MRO Asia-Pacific conference in Singapor...

SOFIA : British-Belgian teenager became the youngest person to fly solo around the world on Wednesday after a five-month journey that saw him battle monsoon rains, searing heat and frustrating bureaucracy. Cheers went up as 17-year-old Mack Rutherford landed at an airfield near the Bulgarian capital Sofia after flying 54,124 km (33,631 miles) and visiting more than 30 countries since he departed from the same site in his Shark Aero microlight airplane on March 23. "There were many points in my journey where it would have been easy to give up...But I kept going, even when it seemed like I wouldn't be able to make it to the end," he said. His journey broke two Guinness World records, including one set by his sister Zara, 19, who handed him one of the certificates on the tarmac. "Amazing ...

SINGAPORE: For more than a year, a supervisor at Marks & Spencer noted down customers' credit card details, which he used to buy almost S$9,000 worth of meals. Teo Kai Seng, 29, was on Monday (Aug 29) jailed for three months after pleading guilty to three charges under the Computer Misuse Act. Eight similar charges were considered for sentencing. The court heard that Teo worked at Marks & Spencer from 2016 to 2021. He was promoted to supervisor at the One Raffles Place outlet in March 2020. Around the time of his promotion, Teo started taking down the credit card details of customers while their card payments were being processed at the cashier. He did this whenever he attended to customers at the cash register and there were only two other staff members working in the kitchen and the ...

BENGALURU : The Philippine central bank will likely opt for a half-point interest rate rise on Thursday to support a weakening currency and blunt its effect on imported inflation, a Reuters poll of economists showed. Down more than 11 per cent for the year, the Philippines peso is one of Asia's worst-performing currencies. Its poor showing against the U.S. dollar, propped up by an aggressive Federal Reserve set to deliver another 75 basis point rise on Wednesday, has led to a record trade deficit and higher inflation. To shore up the currency and tame inflation the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has already raised its policy rate by 175 basis points since May. Over 60 per cent majority of economists polled, or 13 of 21, expected a 50 basis point rise to 4.25 per cent at its Sept. 22 ...