KOTA BHARU, May 2 — In this age of AI and information technology, the phenomenon of keeping and competing exotic insect known as ‘deer grasshoppers’ is still a seasonal hobby here and has the potential to be promoted as the identity and sustainable cultural heritage of the state of Kelantan.

Head of the Department of Veterinary Preclinical Science Studies, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Dr Goh Soon Heng said the trend is increasingly gaining ground among the younger generation as it is an affordable hobby, apart from playing an important role in strengthening local community ties.

“Originally, these grasshoppers were commonly found in rural areas and people used to enjoy listening to their sounds. From just a hobby of collecting, it has now evolved into a competition that aims to unite the grasshopper fan community.

“The participation of young people is very important because they are the ones who will ensure that this heritage continues to grow and is organised every year,” he told Bernama recently.

Commenting on the competition format, Goh explained that the winner is not judged at all based on the physical size of the grasshopper, but rather the focus is on the uniqueness and frequency of the hissing sound produced.

“This competition is very unique because it is usually held at night with the lights turned off. Participants cannot see the grasshoppers, they can only hear their sounds.

“The assessment is divided into two main categories, namely the melodiousness of the tone and the frequency of the sound. The judges will count how many hissing sounds the grasshopper can produce in a period of 30 seconds,” he explained.

Touching on the scientific aspect, Goh shared that adult locusts can grow up to eight centimetres and have an average lifespan of around 11 to 12 months.

For the captive breeding process, it requires the provision of a conducive small ecosystem, including a variety of leaf food sources and a medium such as soil or sticks for the female grasshoppers to lay eggs.

He also explained the important role of this endemic insect in the ecosystem chain, where it acts as a controller of the population of wild plants and harmful weeds in the bush area, in addition to being a food source for birds and other insectivorous animals.

“Conflict will only arise when their original habitat is destroyed. Without a natural food source, these locusts will move to vegetable farms and risk becoming pests,” he said.

Meanwhile, he also corrected the public’s misunderstanding about the practice of eating grasshoppers.

According to him, the species that is usually fried and eaten by villagers is the ‘turmeric grasshopper’ found in rice fields, not deer grasshopper.

Although this activity is seen to be increasingly popular, Goh advised the community not to overexploit the capture of deer grasshoppers in their native habitat to avoid disruption to the ecosystem chain.

“Currently, commercial demand (sales) is not that high because the community prefers to catch them themselves. However, if the wild population starts to decrease one day, the demand to buy them will definitely increase.

“Therefore, studies must always be conducted to understand the impact of this animal. We need to know how fast it reproduces so that we can set a safe catch frequency limit,” he said.

Looking at the projections for the next five to 10 years, Goh is confident that deer grasshopper conservation can survive as a healthy cultural activity, in addition to fostering community awareness to better appreciate the sounds of nature. — Bernama

Thumpr455 posted a photo:

Exiting Turn 6. At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta during the 2026 HSR Mitty Historics sports car races.

BRUSSELS, May 1 — The European Union and South American bloc Mercosur will today implement a contentious free trade agreement that the EU in particular hopes will benefit exporters and calm critics, even if it cannot fully offset the blow from US tariffs.

Backers including Germany and Spain say the agreement will help compensate for the hit from ‌US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and reduce reliance on China for critical minerals. France and other critics argue it will increase imports of cheap beef and sugar and undercut domestic farmers, and environmentalists say it will increase rainforest destruction.

Either way, economists caution that the economic gains from this pact and others concluded in recent months by the EU will be modest and are unlikely to fully make up for lost US trade.

The European Parliament, whose approval is required, voted in January to challenge the agreement in the EU’s top court, which could take up to two years to rule, but the European Commission decided to provisionally apply the deal from May 1.

Supporters hope the EU’s largest ever agreement in terms of tariff reductions, which took 25 years to negotiate, will swiftly benefit EU exporters so that when the EU assembly does vote, perhaps in two years’ time, the advantages will be clear.

Trump prompts trade deal dash

Alongside Mercosur, the EU has rushed to conclude trade agreements with India, Indonesia, Australia and Mexico since Trump’s re-election.

The accords help to shore ‌up free trade at a time when Trump’s tariffs and Chinese export curbs on critical minerals undermine a rules-based global order.

The European bloc is also ⁠hoping the agreements will help offset a decline in exports to the United ⁠States of 15 per cent or more and a hit to GDP of some 0.3 per cent this year alone.

However, Carsten ⁠Brzeski, global head of Macro at ING Research, ⁠said it was hard to see ⁠the new trade relationships replacing the United States.

“Put simply, GDP per capita in the US is by far larger than in these new trading partners,” he said.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva shows the signed decree enacting the Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia April 28, 2026. — AFP pic

The European Commission has estimated the Mercosur agreement will boost EU GDP by 0.05 per cent in 2040, while the India agreement, which the EU has dubbed the “mother ⁠of all deals”, could add 0.1 per cent to GDP, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Those benefits are also at least a decade away, when the deals are fully implemented, whereas pain from Trump’s tariffs has been immediate.

China already there

EU companies will also face fierce competition in these markets, where Chinese rivals have been steadily building a presence for two decades.

“The elephant in the room is China,” said Lucrezia Reichlin, professor of economics at the London Business School.

“And this is not just about tariffs. If you look at what China has done in Asia and in Africa, it has been about investment ⁠and the energy transition, too.”

Maximiliano Mendez-Parra, principal research fellow at ODI Global, said much had changed since he co-authored a report for the European Commission in December 2020 that forecast a 0.1 per cent increase in EU GDP from the EU-Mercosur deal. Since then China has ramped ⁠up sales of vehicles and machinery, items that the EU wants to export, Mendez-Parra said.

Tariff reductions should help EU companies compete more effectively against often low prices ⁠of Chinese goods, ⁠but the challenges are increasing.

China has already begun the task of offsetting US tariffs, reporting a record trade surplus of nearly US$1.2 trillion in 2025, led by booming exports to non-US markets.

Global Trade Alert estimated that US tariffs led to some US$150 billion of Chinese exports being redirected, with Asean countries absorbing more than US$70 billion of extra Chinese goods, and ‌sharp increases, too, for Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf.

So, while the EU’s trade accords should help, the EU will not offset lost US exports without looking internally. Some 60 per cent of EU exports are from one EU country to another and a more efficient and competitive single market could easily compensate. — Reuters

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In market after market, firms that once fought for inches now build lanes together, then race in them. The giants signpost the shift. Apple and Samsung are dueling for smartphone sales, while Samsung’s component arm supplies the OLED displays that make iPhones glow. This summer, they even expanded their partnership, and Samsung now supplies chips from a Texas factory for Apple’s iPhones. Apple and Google wrestle for mobile mindshare, yet Google pays Apple billions each year to be the default search engine on iPhone. The rivals compete in devices and services, while cooperating where both gain reach and revenue.

Automakers offer another lesson. Ford and General Motors jointly developed transmissions to spread costs and accelerate time-to-market, while still going head-to-head in showrooms. BMW and Toyota have partnered on hydrogen systems and even a shared sports car platform, each preserving its identity while pooling the heavy lift.

Even in the entertainment industry (where rivalries are legendary), competitors team up when the infrastructure is heavy and the outside threat is larger than the fight between them. Microsoft and Sony agreed to explore cloud and streaming services together while still slugging it out for players and titles.

This idea has a name with roots in strategy research: coopetition. Coopetition is a blend of "cooperation" and "competition," where competing entities work together toward a common goal while still maintaining competitive interests in other areas. This concept allows businesses to collaborate in certain aspects, such as research and development, while competing in the marketplace for customers and market share.

Small Businesses Can Benefit From Coopetition, Too

If major corporations can alternate between contest and collaboration, what does that mean for the underdog that lives on cash flow and speed? It means advantages. Small firms can trade fixed costs for access and turn local trust into a regional footprint. Crucially, you can do it without dulling your edge. You can protect your absolute advantage and still grow through smart alliances. Think of it like neighbors who decide to share the cost of digging a well. They may still cook their food separately, but sharing water helps both survive.

Big companies embrace this logic because it works. The question is no longer whether cooperation has a place in competitive strategy; the question is how small businesses can use the same playbook to grow faster and reach farther without giving away the crown jewels.

Why Coopetition Should Be a Small Business Default

Why should small businesses embrace coopetition? There are plenty of reasons, the biggest being:

• Because demand wants convenience. Customers prefer bundles, one-stop solutions, and fewer handoffs. A florist and a baker who package wedding day services together remove friction. A design studio and a print shop that quote as one provider save a buyer time. Coopetition aligns with the buyer reality that shoppers now have endless choices and convenient options will often win out.
• Because platforms compress margins. When discovery and delivery run through a few giant rails, the small player who goes solo often pays the toll twice. Multinationals like Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, and Jumia (in Africa) can cut prices in ways small shops cannot. If small businesses keep fighting one another, they may all lose to the bigger giants.
• Because constraints are real for small businesses. Many small businesses don’t have enough money for marketing, technology, or research. Competing alone drains these scarce resources. Collaboration addresses shortages of cash, capacity, and credibility. For instance, shared kitchens have become an on-ramp for growth companies that need commercial grade space without crushing overhead. Volatility punishes the isolated. Little wonder there are co-working and co-warehousing spaces growing. Companies that might fight for the same shelf space share equipment, know-how, and even suppliers in a neutral space.
• Because the cost of differentiation is moving up the stack. Customer experience, story, taste, and trust are uniquely yours. Everything else is infrastructure. Sharing infrastructure lowers cost and increases speed.
• Because networks reward interoperability. If your category grows because rivals agree on a standard, you sell more to a bigger market. If you insist on going it alone on every input, you pay more and move slower.

The Concept of Loneliness and Friction Tax

The loneliness tax is the hidden cost you pay when you run your business alone. For example, a small restaurant owner can spend all their savings on marketing but still struggles to fill seats. Right down the street, another restaurant is also struggling. If both teamed up to run a joint food festival, they could attract bigger crowds, share costs, and both make more money. In other words, when you refuse to collaborate, you carry all burdens alone, and your growth is slower.

The friction tax is the cost of fighting your competitors unnecessarily. For example, two small grocery stores in the same neighborhood lower prices every week to outdo each other. Customers enjoy the price war, but the stores are bleeding profit. If they agreed to share delivery or other costs, they might save money. Their constant “fight” created friction that drained them.

How to Collaborate While Still Competing

Think like an owner of a portfolio of bets, not a single bet. In practice, that means you decide, at the level of a function, where you will collaborate and where you will compete. For example, you can share the back office and fight for the front office.

• Put your business at the center, then have these 4 partners (your customers, your suppliers, your complementors, and your competitors) surround you. Then, seek opportunities where a joint move could expand the value that flows through the system. Perhaps you and a nearby rival could co-import raw materials to cut freight costs. Perhaps two boutiques could create a shared trunk show calendar that rotates venues and mailing lists. Perhaps three landscaping firms could rotate a specialized machine and collaborate on overflow jobs in peak season. The choice of where to collaborate should be the place where the cost is high or the customer benefit is obvious.
• Decide on what is out of bounds before you shake hands. Fixing prices or wages, dividing up markets, and other agreements that dull rivalry cross legal red lines in the United States. Recent enforcement shifts have removed the old comfort of broad safe harbors, so small businesses should formalize purpose, scope, and information barriers, then get counsel when in doubt.
• Build the smallest possible experiment and measure real outcomes. This might mean testing a one-season joint bundle for wedding vendors, a three-month pooled procurement of packaging with clear savings targets, or a shared pop-up store through the holidays with agreed staffing and revenue splits.
• Choose governance that matches the ambition. For lightweight efforts, a memorandum of understanding and a shared channel will do. For heavier lifts, use a special purpose vehicle, a buying consortium, or even a cooperative with bylaws and member voting.
• Protect your edge without starving the partnership. Keep your brand, your customer data, and your secret sauce on your side of the fence. Share only what advances the joint outcome. When tech is involved, set data minimization rules and define who owns improvements. When services are involved, define service levels and escalation paths. When creative work is involved, set credit conventions up front. A cooperative like Stocksy shows how clear rules can protect individual creators while strengthening the shared platform.

Practical Ways for Small Businesses to Practice Coopetition

1. Bulk Buying Together: Instead of buying stock individually at higher prices, small businesses in the same line (say, salons, retail shops, or farmers) can pool money and buy in bulk at lower prices.
2. Shared Marketing: Competing fashion designers can organize a joint runway show. Competing tour guides can market one travel package together. Competing restaurants can hold a food festival.
3. Joint Training and Learning: Several small businesses can contribute to bringing in an expert for a class or workshop, something they couldn’t afford individually.
4. Cluster Strategy: Just like food trucks, businesses can position themselves close together to attract bigger crowds. A row of bookshops or tech repair shops often brings more customers than one shop standing alone.
5. Collaborating for Big Contracts: Sometimes, a small business cannot fulfill a large order. Instead of rejecting it, competitors can partner to deliver together. This builds credibility and future opportunities.

Guardrails That Keep You Safe

When small businesses come together, the excitement of new opportunities can make them overlook the fine print. But you shouldn’t dive into a collaboration without rules that keep everyone safe and focused. Think of these rules as the guardrails on a highway (they don’t stop you from moving forward, they keep you from crashing).

• Name the purpose in the first sentence of every agreement and read it aloud in the first meeting. If your purpose is to reduce carbon in logistics, you know what information belongs in the room and what does not. If your purpose is to expand access to customers, you will stay far away from pricing talk.
• Keep the collaboration proportional. The smaller and more targeted the scope, the easier it is to govern and the harder it is to drift into forbidden territory. When you do scale up, bring counsel early.
• Agree on how the partnership ends. Sunset dates prevent zombie alliances. Exit clauses that define who owns the work reduce drama. Postmortems capture the learning so your next partnership starts stronger.

A Closing Challenge for Small Businesses

As a small business owner, ask yourself these 2 questions:

1. Where am I paying a loneliness tax?
2. Where am I paying a friction tax?

Every place you answer yes is a candidate for coopetition. If you embrace coopetition with clear eyes and clean boundaries, you will find that collaboration is not the end of competition. It is the way you make competition worth winning.

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