Ford Fiesta should also be in your consideration. Own an Ecoboost, and its such a joy to drive. Good performance and excellent handling around corners. Since you’re into manual, you can get the 1.4LX. Also, I know some people who converted their Fiestas from DCT to manual as well as the DCT is known to have issues, so maybe you can do that too hehe
Fun car for under RM40k?