Asia's EVolution: From chip design to first homegrown electric vehicle, Malaysia wants a seat at global EV table
CNA
Malaysia is betting on its role as a leading exporter of semiconductor chips and a rewriting of its industrial DNA to be a force in the global EV ecosystem.
KUALA LUMPUR: The "Pentamaster" name may not be emblazoned on the hoods of the world’s leading electric vehicles (EVs). But without the Malaysian company’s specialised test equipment for the "brains" of these cars, rapid charging would not be possible.
Since 2016, the company has increasingly shifted to the testing of power chips – critical components in EVs and made of advanced materials like silicon carbide and gallium nitride – to ensure their quality and reliability.
“We make the equipment that test the semiconductors that go into EVs ... Most of the cars – the inverters, digital content that goes into the car – customers need them to be tested before the assembly process,” Pentamaster's non-executive director Leng Kean Yong told CNA.
Inverters are devices that convert direct current from the batteries to alternating current for EV motors.
The rapid expansion of nickel refineries in Indonesia has transformed some rural areas into major production hubs. CNA travelled to Weda Bay in North Maluku — the world's largest nickel production hub, to find out more about the environmental impact of this development.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last provided an update in March 2024 and victims' relatives remain in the dark about what caused the plane to nosedive from cruising altitude rather than land in Guangzhou as planned.
The rapid expansion of nickel refineries in Indonesia has transformed some rural areas into major production hubs. CNA travelled to Weda Bay in North Maluku — the world's largest nickel production hub, to find out more about the environmental impact of this development.
TEHRAN: Iran threatened on Sunday (Mar 22) to attack key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to "obliterate" the Islamic republic's power plants
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last provided an update in March 2024 and victims' relatives remain in the dark about what caused the plane to nosedive from cruising altitude rather than land in Guangzhou as planned.
The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan but the project has been hit by issues including software problems.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the war launched by the US and Israel.
As cities with high EV adoption cut emissions, the villages supplying the batteries bear the burden of environmental damage. CNA travels to Indonesia’s North Maluku province to find out more in this latest part of a series on EVs in Asia.
In March 2026 alone, the police arrested eight Malaysians for similar cases.
Videos and photos from the scene showed thick gray smoke billowing from the complex and some workers jumping from a building.
“You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side,” says US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said that Kyiv wanted money and technology in return for its help in the Middle East, although this still had to be agreed.
The meeting appeared carefully choreographed to avoid open disagreements – apart from a brief awkward moment when Trump made a joke about Pearl Harbor.