HBO Max halves prices
Perth, March 17: HBO Max is offering a 50% discount on its Standard and Premium plans for new subscribers in Malaysia from March 18 to April 20, 2026. The promotion is available to customers who subscribe directly via the streaming service or through participating third-party providers.
The offer applies to new and returning customers who do not currently have an active HBO Max subscription, but excludes bundle plans. HBO Max said the promotion gives Malaysian viewers access to a broad slate of content, including HBO and Max Originals, Warner Bros. films, Korean dramas, reality programming and family-friendly titles.
Among the titles highlighted are A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The Last of Us, The Pitt, House of the Dragon season three, One Battle After Another, and Korean releases including Mad Concrete Dreams, Our Universe, The Village Barber and Yumi’s Cells season three. The platform also said subscribers can access personalised features such as multiple profiles, downloads, kids’ controls and tailored recommendations.
Alibaba Launches Wukong Platform
Perth, March 17: Alibaba Group has launched Wukong, an AI-native enterprise platform designed to bring agentic AI capabilities directly into business workflows. Announced in Kuala Lumpur on March 17, 2026, the platform is built to coordinate multiple agents within a single interface and is aimed at improving productivity in enterprise environments.
Wukong is currently available through invitation-only beta testing and can be used as a standalone desktop application or as an embedded AI agent within DingTalk, Alibaba’s enterprise collaboration platform. Alibaba said the platform will also progressively connect with other messaging services including Slack, Microsoft Teams and WeChat.
The platform is designed to handle complex workplace tasks such as editing documents, updating spreadsheets, completing approval forms, transcribing meetings and conducting research. Alibaba said Wukong is built with enterprise-grade security features including identity authentication, access controls and dedicated sandboxes.
Alibaba also plans to integrate its broader ecosystem — including Taobao, Tmall, 1688, Alipay and Alibaba Cloud — into Wukong as modular agent skills, while also supporting third-party integrations. The company said it has also rolled out One-Person Team solutions across 10 industries, including legal, finance, retail, design and software development.
Manforce Signs IPO Deal
Perth, March 17: Manforce Group Berhad has signed an underwriting agreement with M & A Securities Sdn. Bhd. in conjunction with its planned ACE Market listing on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The Malaysian workforce management group said the IPO is aimed at supporting growth, digitalisation and the expansion of its service capabilities.
According to its exposed prospectus, the IPO comprises a public issue of 99.98 million new ordinary shares and an offer for sale of 19.99 million existing shares, representing 25% of the group’s enlarged issued share capital of 399.98 million shares. M & A Securities will underwrite 29.99 million shares allocated to the Malaysian public and eligible persons, while the remaining shares will be placed with Bumiputera and selected investors via private placements.
Manforce said proceeds from the IPO will be used mainly for business expansion, including new worker recruitment quotas, enhancements to IT and operational systems, working capital and listing expenses. The group provides foreign worker management, manual labour and hostel management services across sectors including manufacturing, services and construction.
Datuk Wong Boon Ming, Managing Director of Manforce Group Berhad, commented, “This underwriting marks a key milestone in our journey towards listing on the ACE Market. Over the years, Manforce has built a resilient business foundation centred on compliance, efficiency, and digital transformation. With the IPO proceeds, we intend to expand our worker management capacity, enhance IT and automation systems, and strengthen our service ecosystem to meet Malaysia’s growing workforce demands. This listing will allow us to further scale our operations and reinforce our position as a trusted and responsible workforce management partner.”
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