BYD's Fleet of Car Carriers

China's BYD completed their massive fleet of eight vessels and reached an annual transport capacity of over 1 million cars. The final car carrier to join the fleet, BYD Jinan, went into operation last week, the company announced on WeChat. 

The Shenzhen-based automaker completed the fleet in under two years. The first vessel, BYD Explorer No. 1, was delivered in January 2024. 

All the car carriers are RoRo ships, meaning they are designed to carry wheeled cargo – the vehicles roll on/roll off themselves without the need for containers. BYD ships have a capacity of 7,200 or 9,000 cars based on the type of vessel. 

Aside from the newly launched Jinan, all seven ships are already supplying the world with BYD products. BYD Hefei is currently unloading cars in Europe before returning to China. BYD Xi’an is expected to arrive in Barcelona, Spain later this week. BYD Shenzhen and Changsha are also on their way from China to Europe.

But BYD are not exporting just China-made cars. BYD Zhengzhou, with a capacity of 7,000 vehicles, brought BYD right-hand drive cars from Thailand to the UK this week and is now en route to unload in Belgium, according to MarineTraffic data. This is the first time BYD have exported cars from their Thailand plant. 

Thailand, unlike China, is not subject to EU countervailing tariffs imposed on Chinese EV makers after the EC concluded its anti-subsidy investigation last October. BYD are subject to an additional 17% tariff on top of the existing 10% tariff.

However, BYD don’t rely only on their Chinese plants for overseas sales. On July 01, BYD began production at their Brazilian plant, with the first Seagull hatchback rolling off the line. The automaker also built their first European car plant in Hungary; however, the Szeged facility is not yet operational, as the company have delayed mass production until 2026. BYD are also building an EV plant in Pakistan, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2026. In Uzbekistan, production already started in June 2024. 

All those plants are knock-down kits (KD), meaning the car is brought in as parts from China and assembled locally. BYD claim they want to achieve a high level of localisation.

BYD reportedly face declining sales in their domestic market, and only their overseas sales prevent a sharper fall. 

In August, the overseas sales grew 157% to 80,813 vehicles YoY, while China sales fell 22% to 284,005 cars for the BYD brand.

BYD plan to achieve 20% of their sales in 2025 from overseas markets, targeting the sale of 1 million vehicles outside China. In 2025 so far, January-September, BYD sold 697,072 vehicles outside their home country.

If you're interested to know:

Malaysia Gets Invite to CAFA Nations Cup 2025

It is good news to read that Malaysia is able to secure an invite to participate in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup (August 26-September 09), which offers a rare opportunity for Harimau Malaya to play world class teams outside Southeast Asia. 

And it's a big plus because the national side get to prove themselves against more physical and tactically advanced footballing countries. 

The tournament experience would be the best preparation before they take on Laos in the 2027 Asian Cup third-round qualifiers in October. 

At the PSA Squash Tour Finals (June 23-27, 2025) in Toronto, Canada, in Round One, it was not the dream start Sivasangari Subramaniam had hoped for. 

The world No. 8 gave a good account of herself but eventually went down 11-9, 11-9 to American world No. 4 Olivia Weaver in a Group B match on Monday. 

It was her seventh defeat to Weaver in eight meetings. 

Sivasangari will face world No. 14 Fayrouz Aboelkheir in her second group match today – a must-win clash for both players to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Vietnam Joins BRICS As 10th Partner Country

Vietnam has joined BRICS as their tenth partner country, marking a significant step in the bloc’s expansion, Brazil’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday. 

“With a population of almost 100 million and a dynamic economy deeply integrated into global value chains, Vietnam stands out as a relevant actor in Asia”, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. 

The economic collective’s other nine partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. Hanoi’s inclusion as a partner country grants it access to key economic initiatives without formal voting rights.

BRICS just got bigger!

Yesterday, I attended the Kajang Toastmasters Club meeting at Prima Saujana, Kajang in Selangor. It was very unusually well-attended; and therefore, the meeting unsurprisingly became a lot livelier. 

And we sold eight books, 4 TDIYS and 4 TPOYS.

May 09 is Russia’s Victory Day

Foreign leaders from 27 countries graced Russia’s Victory Day parade on Friday. 

[Two Heads of State, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith did not turn up – the former pulled out at the last minute and the latter due to illness]. 

As well as military contingents from 13 countries – Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Egypt, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam – joined in to march alongside Russian forces on the day of the parade. 

The May 09 event commemorates 80 years since the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in the Second World War (referred to by the Russians as the Great Patriotic War). 

[Notes: The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the Great Patriotic War (40% of all human losses in World War II), with civilian deaths accounting for the larger part of these losses. According to data of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of Atrocities of the German Fascist Invaders, the German troops destroyed fully or partially over 1,700 cities and towns, more than 70,000 villages and settlements in the USSR. 

And Western revisionists are deliberately downplaying the USSR's vital contribution to World War II. Partly because of the Cold War rivalry but more due to a Western bias to focus on the Western front and American and British victories]. 

The twenty-seven leaders who came: 

In case you're wondering, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are "separatist" regions of Georgia in the Caucasus. Most countries recognise them as part of Georgia, while Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria regard them as independent.

Official BRICS Partner Status for Malaysia

Malaysia has been recognized as one of thirteen nations officially added to BRICS as a partner country, a bloc that collectively accounts for one-fifth of global trade.

 

According to an update from @BRICSInfo on X on October 24, the bloc officially added 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries, though not yet as full members. Apart from Malaysia, the other twelve nations were Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, Türkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. 

 

Venezuela and Pakistan were supposed to be in but Brazil and India respectively vetoed their applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Germany, Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 1-0 to continue their perfect start in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The only goal of the competition was scored in the twenty-seventh minute by Darwin Nunez, who poked Mohamed Salah’s header into the net.

 

Overall, Liverpool were good value for their win, having the majority of chances both in total and in quality.  

 

Also on the same day, a terrific defensive display in Italy ensured Celtic earn a valuable point in their encounter against Atalanta. Even as the Serie A side dominated possession and attacking statistics, the Scottish champions stood firm and held them to a goalless draw.

Gender Eligibility of 2 Athletes Called into Question in Women's Boxing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boxing at Paris 2024 has been overshadowed by a row about the eligibility of two fighters in the women’s competition. What's more, Algeria’s Imane Khelif (top left) and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting (top right) are guaranteed at least bronze medals.

 

It has been claimed that the two boxers had failed gender tests and were disqualified from the International Boxing Association’s Women’s World Championships.

 

 

 

[Note: The disqualification was based on two tests performed during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul 2022 and the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi 2023 on both athletes. 

 

For clarification: The Algerian initially appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but withdrew the appeal during the process, making the IBA decision legally binding. And the Taiwanese did not appeal the IBA’s decision to the CAS, thus also rendering the decision legally binding]. 

 

At the Paris Olympics, Italy’s Angela Carini had faced off against Imani Khelif on Thursday, in the welterweight (66kg) category, but lasted just 46 seconds. After taking two big punches to the face, Carini threw down her helmet and forfeited the bout, crying “this is unjust!”

 

Lin, meanwhile, won an unanimous decision Friday against Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova in the featherweight (57kg) category, winning 5-0 in the three-round match – and advanced to the women’s boxing quarterfinals.

 

On Saturday, the Algerian boxer triumphed in a dominant 5-0 victory over Hungary's Luca Anna Hamori.

 

UK's Daily Mail reported that ahead of the bout, Hamori stated she was not fazed by the prospect of facing Khelif. "I'm not scared", Hamori said. "I don't care about the press story and social media. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win".

 

BBC too reported that Hamori had asserted that she did not "think it is fair". Post-match, she was again asked if she thought the fight was unfair, Hamori, who was booed into the arena, said: "I don't care about it".

 

And yesterday, Lin defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva on an unanimous points decision to reach the semi-finals of the women’s 57kg category.

 

In fact, following the latter's loss, Staneva (right) had pointed to herself and twice made an "X" with her fingers, indicating that she has XX chromosomes and so, signifying she's a woman.

 

It is obvious that all those matches have been easy wins for two boxers having XY chromosomes against fighters with XX chromosomes. Meaning, the former have an unfair advantage.

Death by Cough Mixture

India is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical players supplying key drugs to many countries, particularly in the developing world, including 60 percent of the world’s vaccines. 

 

But recent cough syrup-related deaths are greatly damaging its reputation. 

 

Last year, Indian-made cough syrups were linked to the deaths of 66 children in Gambia. After a Gambian parliamentary enquiry and a World Health Organization investigation, the WHO announced on October 05, 2022, that four cough syrups made by Sonepat, Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, were “contaminated” and “substandard”. 

 

In December, the Uzbekistan health ministry reported that 18 children in the country had also died from side effects of cough syrup produced by an Indian pharmaceutical firm, Marion Biotech based in Uttar Pradesh. The WHO issued a warning against two of the company’s cough syrups – and said that laboratory analysis showed both products contained “unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol", chemicals often meant for industrial use. 

 

Gambia and Uzbekistan are not random incidents. In the past, cough syrups have been linked to other mass poisonings of children in India as well as other countries. 

 

This deadly mess can be attributed to India’s longstanding laxness in regulating its booming pharmaceutical industry. 

 

On June 20, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya came out to declare there is zero tolerance on spurious medicines. He promised an extensive risk-based investigation to ensure the quality of Indian medicines. 

 

And yesterday, the country’s health ministry admitted that they found multiple deficiencies among drugmakers following wide-ranging inspections across the industry, including a lack of raw materials testing. 

 

Indian authorities had stepped up scrutiny of drugmakers in recent months after some cough syrups made in the country were linked to the deaths of at least 95 children overseas. (There was no mention of fatalities in India itself). 

 

The said ministry announced that risk-based inspections of 162 factories and 14 public laboratories found issues including “poor documentation, lack of process and analytical validations, absence of self-assessment, absence of quality failure investigation, (and) absence of internal product quality review”. 

 

They also flagged an absence of raw materials testing, a lack of measures to avoid cross-contamination, an absence of professionally qualified employees, and faulty design of manufacturing and testing areas. 

 

Since then, the government have ordered four drugmakers to cease production of the cough syrups.

Todate, the WHO have red-flagged seven contaminated India-manufactured cough syrups: Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, Magrip N Cold Syrup, AMBRONOL syrup, DOK-1 Max syrup, and Guaifenesin. Four of these have been identified in Gambia, two in Uzbekistan, and one in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

The Al Aqsa Teens @ WSD 2021 World Children's Day

A chance meet-up in October 2021 – and I got to know Ghada Abdalrahman (right). 

She kindly introduced me to students of Al Aqsa Integrated School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – where she is a tutor. Long story short, she managed to get six of them to register for WSD 2021 World Children’s Day. 

The teens come from six different countries, i.e. India, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Egypt and Jordan:

And if I may add, all of them spoke well and their topics were interesting too. 

Thank you, Ghada!

Indeed, we would love to have them and others participate in World Speech Day events in 2022.

#unexpectedvoices #worldspeechday #sabahbolehbah

171 Million Cases and Malaysia Returns to Nationwide Lockdown

It’s now 171 million cases and Covid-19 is still very much a threat throughout the world. 

Already, another country, Uzbekistan has joined the C100K grouping, making it country #93. And these countries combined to contribute 98.6% and 98.7% of infections and fatalities respectively worldwide.

In Malaysia, the situation is getting from bad to worse. 

On Saturday, new Covid-19 cases soared to 9,020 new infections, setting yet another unwanted daily record – even as there was a respite yesterday and today with 6,999 and 6,824 cases respectively. No matter, the numbers are troublingly high. 

Anyway, the government have already announced a “total lockdown” of the country from tomorrow until 14, during which time all non-essential activities will be prohibited.

According to the authorities, the essential services sectors allowed to open during MCO 3.0 include health services, water and energy utilities, transport – including ports and airports, communications – including news media and broadcasts, banks, information technology, construction and critical repairs, forestry and wildlife enforcement, aerospace, electrical and electronics, printing, and cleaning as well as the food and beverage industry. 

Wow, that’s a long list!

I'm appalled because the rising trend of workplace clusters is alarming. If you don't know, most of the said clusters – almost 50% – are from the manufacturing sector. And yet, much of manufacturing – 18 sectors in total – will be allowed to continue operating but with reduced worker capacity. 

Between April 01 and May 27, 287 workplace clusters were detected, involving 17,087 cases. Of these, 16,785 cases, involving 233 workplace clusters, are still active. Clearly, many employers are not SOP compliant. 

Anyway, let’s see how the "total lockdown" pans out. Oftentimes, we don’t actually do what we say we want to do. U-turns are our thing, if you must know.

And I hope the government will wise up and use the 14-day lockdown to do mass testing-and-tracing, speed up vaccinations and overall, re-strategize. Otherwise, Covid numbers will surely swell and bloat further.