Latest news with #RM2.1mil
The Star
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Techie testosterone
WALKING into the crowded hotel conference room, Andrew Batey looked like any other tech guy attending ETHDenver, an annual cryptocurrency conference. A venture capital investor based in Florida, Batey wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the logos of more than a dozen crypto companies, with names like LunarCrush and bitSmiley. Batey, however, was at the conference not to network with fellow crypto enthusiasts but to fight one of them – live on YouTube. At the hotel, a short drive from the conference convention centre, he was preparing for his official weigh-in, the final step before a fight the next evening in an arena packed with crypto colleagues. Under the watchful eye of a representative from the Colorado Combative Sports Commission, Batey, 40, stripped down to his boxers. He weighed in at just under 88.5kg, on target for the fight. The bare-chested venture capitalist raised his biceps and flexed for the cameras. The nation's tech elite, not content with unfathomable wealth and rising political influence in Washington, have recently developed a new obsession – fighting. Across the United States, men like Batey are learning to punch, kick, knee, elbow and, in some cases, hammer an opponent over the head with their fists. The figurehead of the movement is Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Meta, who has charted his impressive physical transformation from skinny computer nerd to martial arts fighter on Instagram, one of the apps he owns. The tech industry's newfound devotion to martial arts is one facet of a broader cultural shift that has upended US politics. Many of these tech founders-turned-fighters are chasing a testosterone-heavy ideal of masculinity that is ascendant on social media and embraced by President Donald Trump. An enthusiastic practitioner of Brazilian jujitsu, Zuckerberg, 40, lamented this year that corporate culture was getting 'neutered' and was devoid of 'masculine energy.' In 2023, Zuckerberg's fellow billionaire Elon Musk, a longtime corporate rival, challenged him to a televised cage match. (The fight never took place.) A çlout-forming exercise' Most of the tech world's aspiring fighters have a crucial thing in common: Before they started pursuing their extravagant new hobby, they made a lot of money. In 2018, Batey founded Beatdapp, a company that develops software to eliminate fraud in music streaming. He also runs a venture capital firm, Side Door Ventures, that invests in crypto startups. Two years ago, Batey's venture fund invested US$500,000 (RM2.1mil) in Karate Combat, a would-be competitor to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The league operates as a hybrid between an athletic competition and a tech startup. Rather than offering traditional shares, Karate Combat gave Batey's firm Karate tokens –a cryptocurrency that fans can wager on Karate Combat fights, which stream on YouTube as well as TV channels like ESPN Deportes. Last year, the company created a new competition for billionaire amateurs called the Influencer Fight Club. Karate Combat's fights have an extensive following on Crypto Twitter, and Influencer Fight Club has helped attract more of those super-online fans. Over the past 18 months, the competition has featured some big names in the crypto world, including Nic Carter, a venture investor. At a crypto conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last summer, Carter knocked out a tattooed crypto marketer in one round. On social media, he was hailed as 'kingly' and adopted the nickname 'Tungsten Daddy.' 'This is an amazing clout-forming exercise,' Carter said in a recent interview. 'Not to be cynical about it.' Batey attended an Influencer Fight Club event in Austin, Texas, last year and decided he wanted to fight, too. Once an amateur athlete who dabbled in boxing, he had gained a lot of weight as his career took off. He was about to turn 40 and needed to get into shape for health reasons. But he also wanted to have the sort of athletic experience usually reserved for serious fighters, who sometimes train their entire lives for the chance to compete on TV. 'This is my 40th birthday party – me fighting,' Batey explained. 'Maybe it's a midlife crisis.' For four months, Batey put his career on hold and spent $75,000 on a trainer, a nutritionist and a rotating cast of professional sparring partners. After the fight was scheduled for ETHDenver, a conference devoted to the cryptocurrency Ethereum, he booked a block of nearly 30 hotel rooms to accommodate his friends and supporters. At first Batey had trouble finding a suitable opponent. Then a solution emerged: Chauncey St. John, a crypto entrepreneur based in upstate New York. St John does not seem much like a fighter. 'I've got this Mister Rogers vibe to me,' he said recently. But he had endured his share of hardship in the crypto world. In 2021, he founded Angel Protocol, a startup that aimed to help charities raise money using crypto. Unfortunately, he steered his clients toward an investment platform tied to Luna, a digital currency whose price crashed overnight in 2022, erasing much of what the charities had raised. After the Luna crash, St John, 38, retreated from public view. He reimbursed the charities with money his firm had saved up and embraced Christianity, searching for meaning in the worst moment of his career. One day in January, St John glanced at a group chat that included other crypto enthusiasts. His eyes fell on a message from an industry colleague who goes by the nickname 'The Degen Boii': Karate Combat needed a fighter for ETHDenver. The invitation 'felt like testimony from God,' St John said. Nerds trying 'to man up' A few hours after the weigh-in, Batey drove to the Stockyards Event Center, a venue on the outskirts of Denver where Karate Combat had erected four sets of stands, overlooking a pit lined with mats. An entourage came along: two trainers, a couple of fighters from Batey's gym and a filmmaker shooting footage for a documentary. With 24 hours to go until the fight, it was time for the ceremonial face-off, an opportunity for trash talk. Batey drew close to St John, almost nose to nose. 'Are you going to kiss me?' St John asked. 'We'll find out,' Batey replied. When the theatrics concluded, St John walked down to the pit. Unlike Batey, he had not had much time to prepare; his entourage consisted of a single person, a trainer with no pro fighting experience. Chiheb Soumer, a former professional kick boxer, was watching him closely. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Soumer, 36, had once worked as an in-house trainer for Snap in Los Angeles, teaching tech employees how to box. He travelled to Denver as Batey's trainer. 'I love to see these nerds all of a sudden try to man up,' he said. In the ring on fight night On fight night at the Stockyards, the enemy combatants warmed up a few feet from each other as the arena slowly filled with spectators – men in crypto T-shirts and backward baseball caps, swigging beer and taking photos. At 6pm, a roar spread through the building, as St John and Batey slid into the pit. What followed more closely resembled a schoolyard scrap than a professional martial-arts bout. The choreographed moves that Batey had rehearsed were nowhere to be seen. Over and over, he threw punches and missed, lunging forward and then lurching back. St John swung his arms wildly, whirling in a circle, like a helicopter. Next to the pit, a panel of announcers offered live analysis for the YouTube audience. 'What they lack in technical, they make up for in the heart,' one commentator said. His partner offered a blunter assessment: 'It's hilarious.' By the end of the first round, Batey's nose was bleeding heavily. But soon he forced St John to the ground and straddled him, raining punches down onto his head. Within 10 seconds, the referee intervened: St John couldn't continue. It was over. Batey held his arms aloft and started to dance, thrusting his pelvis toward the crowd. 'I just want to thank my wife,' he told the cheering crowd. 'Thank you for supporting me, making my meals, putting the kids to bed.' Backstage, St John was smiling. 'I didn't embarrass myself,' he said. All the effort had been worth it. He would happily do it over again. That night, Batey went out to celebrate. He had showered, changed and cleaned up his face, except for a single streak of dried blood that was intact on the bridge of his nose. At the entrance to a party near Civic Center Park, Batey informed the bouncer that he had featured in 'a pro fight tonight, a fight on TV.' The bouncer didn't seem impressed. But Batey found a more appreciative audience on the dance floor, where his friends swarmed him, offering hugs and fist bumps. Soon a chant went up: 'Batey, Batey, Batey, Batey.' Away from the group, Batey confided that at the arena, not long after the fight, he had approached St. John to express his respect and gratitude – and to make clear that he was 'proud of him, as a human.' St John had fought hard, Batey said. Maybe someday they would be friends. 'He's a good guy,' Batey said. 'We're both just good dudes.' — 2025 The New York Times Company This article was first published in The New York Times.
The Star
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Kesuma studying proposal to raise retirement age, says Sim
KLANG: The Human Resources Ministry is currently reviewing the proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65, said Minister Steven Sim. The matter was being examined by a special committee led by the ministry's deputy secretary-general (Policy and International) Mohd Shaharin Umar as it involved labour laws which fell under the ministry's purview. He said the study will seek input and feedback from stakeholders, especially the public sector, workers, and employers, to ensure compliance with international best practices. "This committee will look at the suitability of raising the retirement age as there are pros and cons, along with certain challenges. However, within the ministry, part of labour market reforms involves reviewing all 28 existing labour laws. "This is because some of these laws are outdated. We will look at ways to refine and harmonise them, and there are also provisions that we need to abolish or update," he said after the central zone 2025 Union Affairs Development Grant handover ceremony here on Friday (May 23). On Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 was among the issues requiring attention and careful consideration. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had previously proposed that the government consider raising the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65. Azalina, who made the suggestion in her personal capacity, said it would be a loss for individuals to retire at 60 when they were still energetic, productive and capable of contributing to the workforce. Regarding Friday's event, Sim said the government had allocated RM10mil this year, up from RM5.8mil in 2024, marking the highest amount in the history of the grant. He said the move reflected the ministry's efforts to further strengthen the trade union movement in Malaysia, with the assistance to be used for training and educational programmes aimed at equipping union members with skills in areas such as management and leadership. "What we are introducing this year focuses on digitalisation, where we encourage unions to switch to computer technology and digitalisation," he said. Of the total 1,049 assistance applications received, 551 were approved, amounting to RM7.15mil, including 138 applications for the central zone level covering Selangor and the Federal Territory, worth RM2.1mil. - Bernama
The Star
18-05-2025
- The Star
RM2.1mil drugs seized from solo dealer
Hidden danger: Comm Hamzah (third from left) showing some of the drugs seized at a press conference. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star GEORGE TOWN: For almost six months, a 41-year-old man had been discreetly trafficking drugs in the country via courier. The suspect, said to be operating alone, would disguise the drugs as valuable items. Some of the drugs were even concealed in tea packaging to further evade scrutiny. The man's luck finally ran out on Thursday when police arrested him at the parking lot of an apartment block in Butterworth. Police also raided a rented apartment where drugs worth RM2.1mil were stashed. The suspect's clientele was built purely through word of mouth, with buyers reaching out directly to place orders. Penang police chief Comm Datuk Hamzah Ahmad said they seized 12.32kg of MDMA powder, 384g of ketamine, 500 Erimin pills and 150 Ecstasy pills. 'We also seized equipment believed to have been used for packaging the drugs. There were different labels of courier companies on the boxes. 'The drugs could have been used to feed the habit of 400,000 addicts,' he said in a press conference at the state police headquarters yesterday. Police also seized a car worth RM130,000, three gold chains valued at RM28,582 and four gold rings worth RM11,250. Comm Hamzah said the suspect tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine and ketamine. The suspect has been remanded until May 22 for investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The Star
16-05-2025
- The Star
Penang cops bust drugs-via-courier racket, seize 12kg in drugs worth over RM2mil
GEORGE TOWN: Police have seized various drugs weighing about 12kg worth over RM2mil and arrested a 41-year-old suspect in Butterworth here who used courier services to deliver the narcotics to buyers. Penang police chief Comm Datuk Hamzah Ahmad said various drugs worth RM2.1mil were seized from the suspect during a raid on Thursday (May 15). "The man was arrested in a parking lot. "After interrogation, he led us to a rented apartment where the drugs were stored," he said. He said police found three plastic bags filled with 3.92kg of ecstasy powder, along with 200 courier bags. Also found were another 37 packets of ecstasy powder weighing a total of 2.59kg and another box with a courier company's logo containing 160 packets of ecstasy powder weighing 3.99kg. Another 15 packets of ketamine weighing 384g were also found in courier packaging. Police also found fifty packets containing 10 Erimin pills each wrapped in aluminium foil, three packets with 50 ecstasy pills each and a plastic container containing 1.4kg of ecstasy powder, said Comm Hamzah. "We also seize various equipment used to pack the drugs," he said at a press conference at the police headquarters in Penang Road on Friday (May 16). "The suspect declared the drugs as 'valuables' and distributed them via courier services to buyers nationwide since the end of 2024," said Comm Hamzah. The suspect also tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine and ketamine and has been remanded until May 22 for investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. In addition to the drugs, police also seized a luxury car worth RM130,000, three gold chains valued at RM28,582 and four gold rings worth RM11,250.
