Tuesday, June 02, 2009

The Unsettling Case of NEC Chairman

A Kadir Jasin

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WHEN I started penning my column “Other Thots” in the New Sunday Times newspaper back in 1991, I disagreed often with then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

I often predicated my disagreement with the phrase “with due respect to the Prime Minister” to which he took a slight exception and asked if I could do away with it, which I did.

We now have a new Prime Minister and I have openly promised that I would give him six months before I do a KPI assessment on him because that’s the length of time he has given his ministers and senior civil servants to fulfill their KPI requirements before he assesses them.

But in the mean time, life goes on and things continue to happen. We cannot overlook them just because we’ve given Mohd Najib Abdul Razak six months before being assessed.

So my Kopitiam old timers and I, and the oracle sincerely hope that the Prime Minister will not take offence if I say something about the National Economic Council (NEC).

Really it’s not about “apa lagi Kadir mau?” (what else does Kadir want?). I can’t remember asking anything from the PM except to help in an ongoing project to publish the speeches of Umno Presidents from Datuk Onn Jaafar to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, which he agreed and I thank him sincerely for it.

Of course I pleaded with him repeatedly over the years not to give up on the NEP objectives of eradicating poverty and the restructuring of society.

When he announced his cabinet, he also announced his intention to establish the National Economic Council (NEC) to be headed by someone with ministerial rank.

People waited anxiously and rightly expected an exceptional and very special person to occupy the post. After all the economy is facing a very serious crisis globally, although initially the Ministry of Finance predicted we are immune and there would be growth.

But as The Star newspaper reported on May 28, the economy contracted by 6.2% for the first three months this year compared to the same period last year. The economists had expected the contraction to be only 3.5%.

Bank Negara Governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said at a media briefing that the financial crisis, which peaked last September and led to a general slowdown in economic activity, had taken longer than expected to be resolved.

She said “the deterioration was greater than expected” and that the exports outlook “remained weak”, adding that the outlook for April to June would depend largely on external factors. However, she expected the second half of the year to see a better economic performance.

Given the negative performance and the less than rosy outlook, we expected the NEC to be formed immediately to come out with suggestions and proposals to overcome the problems faced by the nation and the people.

Unfortunately, for reasons known only to the Prime Minister, it took him something like a month and a half to name just the council’s chairman.

The rest of the team has yet to be named. And he chose the Minister he dropped as the Minister of Economic Planning, Amirsham Abdul Aziz, to head the council.

No malice intended but if he was not suitable to head the EPU and was thus dropped from the Cabinet, how is he now qualified to head NEC?

Amirsham is a nice bloke and a friend but being a public figure he cannot escape scrutiny.

Politically he came out of nowhere when the former PM brought his out of the woodwork after retiring from Maybank and made him a minister.

That rightly gave rise to all sorts of rumours on why Abdullah recruited him. He was in Maybank and did a good job as a diligent conservative banker until just before he retired when Maybank belatedly ventured into Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia.

It is public knowledge that all these purchases were overpriced and now Maybank is beginning to suffer huge losses due to the non-performing loans of its overseas banks.

Sadly, while the bank officers may claim that all these deals were done transparently and above board, the ultimate losers are the unit holders of Permodalan Nasional Berhad’s unit trusts.

PNB is the biggest investor in Maybank. And now PNB has to live with these bad overseas investments by Maybank. How did the government and its regulatory agencies like the Finance Ministry, Bank Negara and the Securities Commission approved these purchases?

The question in people’s mind is why chose someone with this kind of track record?

Is there such a dearth of talent amongst our 24 million people that we have to keep recycling the cabinet and the civil service?

Is there nobody better out there whom PM can choose for this very critical job? Don’t we have outstanding economists or scholars for PM to choose from?

Had Amirsham left Maybank with flying colours, we would not have problems placing our faith in him. But now not only that Maybank is bleeding financially it has also lost to Public Bank as the biggest bank in the country.

Then there might be unhealthy rivalry among the economic and financial agencies that the PM is counting to assist him in reviving the economy.

For instance what role will the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) now play?

Let’s look back at 1997/98 financial crisis for some pointers. Dr Mahathir picked Tun Daim Zainuddin to head Natioanl Economic Action Council (NEAC).

As its name suggested, it was an action council. It had to take action because there was a crisis. He put Daim at EPU and made EPU the NEAC secretariat so that the two could work in tandem. There was coordination. Once the NEAC published its action plan, Daim was asked to join Cabinet to act and deliver on the action plan.

Now we have the EPU on the one hand and the NEC on another. Are we not wasting resources in trying to manage this crisis?

I sincerely hope I am wrong, terribly wrong!

People are asking these questions. The impression is the government seems not to be in a hurry to solve the crisis. People are suffering and there is no sign that ministers and top civil servants are is worried.

There is no gesture on part of Cabinet members and top civil servants to reduce their salaries and allowances to show sympathy with the people. When the rakyat are suffering, it would be nice if Ministers, Menteris Besar, Chief Ministers and deputy ministers make some sacrifices.

Back here among the padi farmers to take care of my ailing dad, I hear their cries of pain as their padi crop is destroyed by the parasitic snails and their living standard eaten away by inflation.

Footnote: I thank sincerely the many debaters who offered their prayers and best wishes for my father’s speedy recovery. But he’s an old man. He’s 85 and there’ so much modern medicine can do for him. But thank you nevertheless for your kind thoughts and prayers.

46 comments:

ameer said...

I heard that when Amirsyam was in Maybank,he was 120% anti malay. I do not know whether it is true or not.

pakbelalang said...

Amirsham is not the right choice. If I were Najib I would pick Tan Sri Dato' Mohd Ali Hashim of Johore Corporation to be the Chairman.

Yes, I agree with you Dato', Najib is rather slow in getting the Council members on board and start cracking their heads to turnaround the economy. It seems there is no sense of urgency.
I don't know what is Najib's priority now. ONE MALAYSIA is already in place. We know more or less his mission for national unity. Now the next step is to spend more time to stir the economy which is dwindling into a negative zone. If he fails to stimulate the economy within this year I think he will be in trouble.

Tun Mahathir is still giving him the chance to breathe and settle down. But it won't be too long. He hasn't started crticising Najib yet. Once he smells something is not right then Najib will face hell just like what Pak Lah had experienced before.

Don't let Tun Mahathir's open his big mouth. Once he starts talking people will start thinking hard whatever he says and start making analysis of Najib's performance.

We have to accept the fact that there are a lot more people still respect the views and opinion of Tun Mahathir. His chedet.com is the most powerful blog in terms of number of hits. People will always diligently read his comments and at the same time have the opportunity to react whatever comments he put forward. It could be disastrous for Najib if the comments made by Tun Mahathir are negative.

To Najib, I would like to advise him to be cautious and don't take things for granted.

There is no honeymoon for Rosmah. Najib got to move fast and be more productive. Time is running very fast and the rakyat are eager to see immediate change for the better.

Kebelakangan ini saya perhatikan ada dikalangan Menteri-menteri yang telah membuat kenyataan-kenyataan yang sungguh "ganjil". Umpamanya dah nak beli jetfighter lah, nak adakan latihan askar wartiniah di masjid lah. Kononnya satu idea baru !!

budak-kom said...

salam datuk dan semua...
saya dah hilang harapan dengan dsn..sekelip mata dia punahkan harapan kita semua.sampai pro UMNO pun dah ada yang berbelah bagi psal presiden baru..ramai yang duk tunggu peluru dari tdm dekat dsn.tapi tun pun macam datuk juga sbb tu kamu 2 orang bleh baik agaknya.kenapa G sombong sangat nak panggil tun daim zainuddin...semua tau dsn baik dengan tdm n daim malu muka nak tolak kalau tdm mintak tolong lebih2 lagi pasal negara.harap dsn tak buat silap

Sallehhuddin said...

Salam Datuk,

Saya juga kecewa dengan perlantikan bekas CEO Maybank and bekas Menteri EPU sebagai Pengerusi NEC. Malaysia ini kekurangan calon yang sesuaikah? Mustahil.Bekas SETPOL Tun Mahathir juga sudah bising.Tak dapat tunggu 6 bulan lagi untuk beri KPI kepada PM.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dato',
I totally agree with you.

Anonymous said...

Then they formed the PMU to monitor the project when we already have the ICU since Razak's time...

blong

Budak Parit said...

Encik Kadir;

Totally agreed with you. Time for Malaysia to move on beyond political rhetoric. Time for everybody to put more thought and suggestions on how to survive this economic storm.

Political storm will only wipe out a certain quarter of Malaysia. The economic storm will wipe out the entire Malaysian regardless political ideology.

So, politician, stop the excessive politicking and start to sit together to chart out economy strategy!

Anonymous said...

Dear Sir,

With Mahathir, rakyat knew that whenever he planned, something big must happened, or else heads would roll. His actions, his appetite for success, and the results, eclipsed other failures and scandals. With Abdullah, everything is hopeless. With Najib, there was a good start, such as more emphasis on crime prevention, PR walkabout, huge success of PNB amanah saham sale, and Mas Selamat's capture.

But Najib needs to do much more. Obama was sworn in only 5 months ago, and already Americans think he is trying to do too much. BN is already in power since March
2008, but Malaysians still think that they are doing very little. Very little actions at all fronts; reforms in UMNO/BN, 4th floor boys, GLCs, public transport, corruption, civil service, enviromental issues, public cleanliness, illegal immigrants, etc. We demand great action plans at all fronts, we want good people to take charge, and we expect mega results - all in the next 3 years. No results, no vote.

Thank you,

Megaville

Donplaypuks® said...

I am particularly incensed with Maybank's decision to Invest in the Indon bank at what everyone and his uncle will tell you, is a hugely over-priced valuation of appx. 4 times book value!!??

Although, Bank Negara tried to intervene toward the end when the Indon authorities changed certain material terms of the acquisition, MBB defied it, and went ahead anyway, without studying the agreement for legal escape clauses.

Today we hear MBB will have to provide RM1.8 billion in write-down for this Indon misadventure.

I cannot understand why MBB could not do with a 30% stake or at worst 51% since that's all you need for equity and management control. Instead they committed to some 80% at a total cost of some RM8 billion.

This stake was purchased from a s'pore party who were staring at huge long-term losses when MBB rode in like a white knight who behaved as though there was no tomorrow.

No details have been disclosed as to whether any M'sian parties, those linked to any MBB management or 'off-shore brokers' were paid any commissions to conclude this pathetic deal!

Also, our SC seems to washed its hands of this affair by keeping mum, while presumably Bank Negara was silenced by higher authorities.

What a rip off!!

Anonymous said...

Salam Datuk,

FYI, in Oct 2003 Maybank uutsourced part of the IT Division (including subsidiaries) to a local Berhad Company that had JV with a US company. Now that company is wholely owned by the US partner.

Is Amirsham going to outsourced part of Malysia to friendly 'US' company too.

Also heard, ex-Maybank staff in the new company is getting less than what 'promised'.

Penjajahan jenis baru dibawa oleh org tempatan yg tidak 100% berjiwa Melayu.

Nani Cheras

art harun said...

Dear Pak Kadir,

You are so right. Is there such a dearth of talent in Malaysia that we have to keep on re-cycling the same old faces for whatever top job there are in Malaysia?

Why is Dr Jomo K sundram, who is deemed fit by no ther than the United Nation to advise one of its agency on economics, for example, not deemed fit to advise our Government on the same matter.

I know so many people who are talented but of course they are "unwanted". My old college fellow had to go to Japan for a full Professorship when in fact his service and talents should be used by our country.

Balik balik tang tu saja...kedahans would say. Pi mai pi mai, tang tu saja...is another version. mcama takdak oghang lain...

warongkopi56 said...

Assalamua'laikum Datuk,

I am never good to talk about economy but, things seem unaffordable for a forced retiree like me.

PM must be bold and strong in selecting his team. Many have suggested that but probably he thinks he has his justifications but will the rakyat bother to listen to his reasons when they simultaneously running out of budget?

If the PM and BN sincerely wish for a change and to win the voters confident and respect, he has to be drastic in discarding the bad hats and replace with the real competent team.

It was just hard luck for PM to take over during the economy and political uncertainties.But if he pulls through I am confident the scenario will be different. I just wish him the best. I recollected what Dato' Seri Lim Kean Aik advised Pak Lah to rid off the bad advisors. May be PM should also heed that.

wasalam
warongkopi56

Anonymous said...

Cyberspace citizens are very much appreciates piece of truthful news never appear in mainstream newspaper. Never come to my mind that number one bank like Maybank in present state. Certainly, Abdullah has a hand in it. More disclosure must bring forward to Malaysian knowledge. The truth must prevail!

ab said...

Salam dato,

A few things strike me while reading on financial events worldwide now.....

1. Many countries have gone into recession and ? depression despite having spent and/are spending many-many billions dollars or trillions dollars to `stimulate' their national economies...but the result so far at best is 'nothing much get stimulated' or minimally improves each economy.

2.AND YET the oil price and stock markets rise worldwide.....


3.# 1 and 2 seem rather ODDS to my noneconomist mind.


4. I SUSPECT all theories of capitalism economy is difficult to
get applied now in any country because ALL PREVIOUS THEORIES of capitalism economy did not include...HEDGE FUNDS AND INTERNET! roles and activities.

5.The HEDGE FUNDS ( estimated amount up to 600+ TRILLION DOLLARS,(event if a quarter of the amount got `written off' recently),
is still very huge, larger than
US GDP of 13-14 trillions dollars,
CHINA reserve of 1 trillion dollars, or event COMBINED ECONOMIES OF MOST OF THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AND DEFINITELY larger than ALL ASEAN ECONOMIES COMBINED!..

6. THE FUNDS are now sapping away the `billions and trillions' dollars thrown into the market of any nation and i suspect they are the ones who get the earliest and fastest profits from the cash
pushed around by banks,pension funds,central banks, large MNCs.. and etc.....AND THE FUNDS ARE VERY MOBILE.


7. IF i am right, many countries includings ours will drain away many more billions in the stock markets and buying expensive oil...


Abu Bakar Ab Rahman

Anonymous said...

Datuk,

1. If leaders cannot accept fair comments from a veteran like you, who will they listen to? Not The 4th Floor Boys all over again I hope.

2. About Amirsham I think we can't hold the PM alone responsible. There musy be others who advised him on Amirsham. I hope not the former PM or people close to him.

3. As I said before I worked for Maybank and Amirsham was my contemporary though I was not as successful or politically correcl like him.

4. The Amkirsham that I know is a doer not a thinker. He hardly spoke about the bank or anything about banking. He was an unknown in the banking industry though he led once the biggest bank.

5. We must also hold him responsible. Clearly he wanted the job and the power that goes with it or he thinks he can do the job and not make the PM look like a fool.

6. If he can't do the job or he fails, he should resign and not put the PM to shame.

7. Like you say Datuk this is about the people. So Amirsham must prove to the people that he can live up to the expectation of the people.

8. If he can't he should resign or the PM must remove him.

Ex-Banker

merandok said...

i never cease to be amaze by your "faith" in our current government and administrator..!!!

lose mine 10++ years ago..

let us cut the chase.. performance of the government can easily be assess by how well it control inflation.. the real inflation out there, not the BNM rate nobody could understand..

Anonymous said...

Mr. Abu Bakar Ab Rahman,

I refer to your point no. 3.

Either the economic data got screwed or manipulation in the financial market. As simple as that.

Heard so much "big" phrases like "high income society", "remodelling the economy" etc as well as budget 1, budget 2 and mini budget.

And yet still, so little do we know about them.

Familiar with the word "rhetoric"?

Keep chewing for six month for the KPI?. Me? I'm spitting already. No, wrong choice of phrase. Poking the throat to induce vomit.

Fed-Up

raja2u said...

YBhg Dato'

Assalamualaikum. Memang satu tajuk yang panas dimana cara mengatasinya berbeza-beza dan tidak mungkin bolih diterima oleh semua orang yang pasti terdiri dari rakyat yang mempunyai pengetahuan/kepakaran yang berbeza-beza mengenai ekonomi dan politik.

Saya heran mengapa semuanya dipikul PM.Tiada "team work" kah dikalangan menteri kabinet. Dimana Menteri Pertanian semasa penanam padi di Kedah mengeloh mengenai penyakit padi dan lain-lain kesusahan yang mereka alami.Dimana Menteri Luar Bandar apa bila rakyat dikampong dikatakan tidak dapat membeli beras yang mampu dibeli.Begitu juga dengan Menteri-menteri lain seperti Pengangkutan ,Sumber Asli , Perladangan , Penerangan,Perdangan Luar dan sebagainya yang sepatutnya berdamping dengan rakyat dan membawa masalah mereka dengan segera untuk diolah dan diambil tindakan.Apa yang saya lihat kebanyakan orang masih bercakap politik terutamanya bagai mana hendak menang pilihan raya ke 13.

Bersabit dengan NEC PM perlu tahu dengan jelas 'need statement'nya. Kita tidak mahu ada gulongan yang mengambil kesempatan darinya dimana akhirnya rakyat perlu menanggung ketidak cekapan pihak koprat.Kalau tidak salah saya terdapat rungutan dimasa dahulu dimana terdapat penyelewengan dalam bentuk syarikat yang bermasalah yang mempunyai syer bernilai RM 3.00 dipasaran di beli dengan harga RM 8.00 semata-mata untuk menentukan pihak-pihak tertentu yang berkepentingan tidak mengalami kerugian.

Pada saya langkah pertama yang DSN perlu buat adalah mengumpulkan semua Menteri dan mendapatkan pengakuan mereka untuk berkerja sebagai satu pasukan . Mereka hendaklah berintraksi sesama mereka dan memberi pandangan/nasihat kepada PM apa sebenarnya yang berlaku dikalangan rakyat dan mengambil tindakan secara bersepadu.

Raja Abdul Rahman bin Raja Mohammad Dain,
Petaling Jaya

me said...

A leader is the servant of those who elected him and will bend to their will.

But that does not necessarily mean Najib will bend entirely to the electorate's will.

We must remember that his ascension was not brought about by a general election, but the UMNO election.

He is thus currently more beholden to the will of the UMNO electorate than anything else.

And UMNO elected him in the mood of wresting authority back from the PR alliance.

Thus, Najib, in his attempts to appease those who pushed him to the top, has concentrated more on the politicking required to fulfill the aim of greater political control, has put less attention on the economy.

Now, I'm not saying I blame him. He is reacting in a perfectly normal way.

But until Najib's own supporters understand that strong criticisms from another political body is an unavoidable fact in a competitive democracy, we'll never see an end to this.

It's not that there's too much politicking, it's that people keep thinking that there's too much politicking.

There isn't too much politicking. Malaysia has finally reached the level of politicking expected in a competitive democracy.

cheers

Anonymous said...

Dear Kadir,

Our prayers to your father and wish him a speedy recovery.

From all of us in Vietnam.

Saya Rakyat Malaysia said...

dsai have stirred up the country with him replacing the aduns and what not to gain popularity. does this help with the economic recovery? i hope dsai can wait another 3 years, please be patient.

Anonymous said...

Ybhg Dato

Banyak ahli koporat Melayu yang berada tinggi, di pucuk pohon kekuasaan harus berpegang dan bergayut kepada ranting-ranting pohon badan koperat mereka dalam hembusan bayu yang kadangkala bertiup perlahan tetapi dalam hampir setiap situasi sentiasa bertiup begitu kencang.



Dato mungkin lebih tahu dan mungkin telah lebih awal menulis mengenai pelbagai krisis kewangan yang dihadapi oleh pelbagai badan milik kerajaan yang memulakan usaha untuk mengembangkan kuasa pasar sebuah negara kecil yang bercita-cita besar untuk memecah pelbagai monopoli yang dipegang oleh kuasa asing yang masing mencengkam perkembangan ekonomi Malaysia.

Dari dulu kita terdengar tentang pembunuhan secara kejam seorang akauntan muda bernama aruah Jalil Ibrahim yang diberi tugas negara menyiasat kerugin negara dalam pelaburang hartanah negara disebuah negara asing.

MAYBANK sebuah GLC yang pada satu masa dikenali dengan iklan BIG STRONG and FRIENDLY - terpaksa akur kepada perkembangan pasar Asia Tenggara yang menyaksikan pengabungan begitu banyak bank-bank dinegara ASEAN yang harus mejadi 'much bigger' untuk menghadapi bank-bank asing yang mula dibenarkan masuk dan bertapak di Malaysia dan negara-negara ASEAN.

Dalam menghadapi saingan dalam pasar Malaysia yang begitu kecil MAYBANK harus menjelajah untuk mencari pasar baru, dan seperti yang Dato hiaskan dalam tulisan Dato, proses keluar negara ini sepertinya tidak diberikan perhatian dalam membuat penilaian dasar asset bank yang hendak dibeli oleh MAYBANK.

Agak memeranjatkan dalam pembelian BII - sebuah bank di Indonesia, MAYBANK telah dipaksakan membeli sejumlah pegangan dari TEMASEK dengan nilai yang hampir 4 kali ganda dari nilai sewaktu TEMASEK menguasai asset BII.

Saya hanya dapat menyumpah "apa kejadah - MAYBANK begitu bodoh membeli asset tersebut dengan nilai yang sedemikian besar" kerana walaupun bunyinya wangnya bukan wang saya - tetapi hakikatnya wang tersebut adalah wang setiap warga negara MALAYSIA. Saya hanya dapat mengucap panjang - kerana ternyata walaupun KHAZANAH sebuah badan yang diberikan tugas menyamai kerja-kerja yang telah lebih awal dibuat oleh TEMASEK, GAGAL = GAGAL berbuat yang terbaik untuk kepentingan negara.

KUMPULAN yang diketuai oleh bekas-bekas siswa LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, yang sekarang ini menjadi "kroni" terbesar dalam KHAZANAH, GAGAL membuat keputusan yang baik, sebahagian kerana terdesak membuat keputusan yang terburu-buru, disebabkan dikejar kejayaan CIMB menempa sejarah lebih awal membeli kumpulan bank LIPPO di Indonesia dan juga kerana GAGAL kerana tidak berjaya mengawal desakan-desakan ahli-ahli politik dibawah seliaan ABDULLAH BADAWI. [Kita hanya perlu meneliti ahli politik mana yang terlibat sebagai LEMBAGA PENGARAH MAYBANK dan ahli politik yang telah memberikan GREEN LIGHT kepada BANK NEGARA untuk meluluskan pelaburan "wang negara" yang terbesar hingga kini]

KHAZANAH juga hampir menjerumuskan negara kedalam LUBANG HITAM CALCUTTA yang begitu gelap dan tidak bertepi, apabila cuba "mengambil sebahagian wang PETRONAS" setelah GAGAL mendapat pengeluaran yang lebih besar dari KWSP, untuk mendapatkan sebahagian pasar telefon bergerak di INDIA, dalam rangka pelaburan TM International yang dipengerusikan sendiri oleh Pengarah Urusan KHAZANAH.

Alhamdullilah sebagaimana yang diketahui - KHAZANAH GAGAL mendapat wang PETRONAS untuk 'dilebur' didalam lubang GELAP CALCUTTA, yang akan merupakan dan mencatatkan kerugian yang lebih besar dari kerugian yang di lakukan KHAZANAH di INDONESIA. Mungkin ada baik nya MAYBANK dirugikan - paling tidak ada learning point yang menimbulkan ketakutan yang telah MENGAGALKAN perencanaan "to rob PETRONAS" just to make the nation poorer in the aborted INDIAN investment.

[bersambung]

OrangBaruLahir

Anonymous said...

Heart and soul, Najib is the PM of UMNO, and Malaysia is not in his motivational priority. How did he become the PM if it is not by hereditary chance? He's literally dragging his feet as far as Malaysia is concerned. I'm frantically searching for something that he has done during his long political career, and there is nothing of significance that I've come across. Sorry, I'm feeling the brunt of these bad times and there is no need for apologies in the tone of my words. Like you said there is already red ink in his report card, and there'll be more red inks in times to come. We deserve it. Sorry Datuk, I can't be any less bloody than this. He's not the person that many Malaysians would rally their support during these difficult times. There are just too many initial blunders for us to ignore. Unless of course, we are blind.

dokong perak

Anonymous said...

Ybhg Dato

The requirement to appoint a different person than AMIRSHAM must be reviewed as he will juts put a big DAUN KELADI on TOP of THE BANGKAI GAJAH - the BII investment in INDONESIA

[bersambung]

Tapi selagi kroni LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL yang meneraju KHAZANAH, masih bercita-cita dan bertembolok besar, MALAYSIA akan terus BOLEH memperebutkan cerita-cerita membuat pelaburan-pelaburan yang merugikan.

Sebagaian cerita yang keluar dari bekas anggota TM International "yang dipisahkan" oleh orang KHAZANAH - board sitting allowance ahli lembaga pengarah di TM International kalau dulu hanya RM1,000 kini menjadi hampir RM100,000, malah KHAZANAH menjadikan AXIATTA, jenama baru TM International sebagai "GRAVY TRAIN" mereka, kerana perbuatan mereka "tidak lagi dapat dilihat" sebab sudah terpisah dari TELEKOM MALAYSIA.

Sebahagian cerita yang keluar, untuk memastikan Pengarah Urusan TM International begaji besar, mereka melantik begitu ramai EXPATRIATE asing dengan gaji yang begitu besar yang secara langusng melayakkan bos mendapat gaji besar, dan EXPATRIATE ini hanya dilantik untuk mabuk-mabuk sebelum datang ke ofis-ofis di INDONESIA, BGLADESH, SINGAPURA dan lain-lain lokasi AXIATTA.


SUDAH PASTI kalau di USA / EROPAH if the CEO causes the company to loose 50% of the share price of the companies, mereka, CEO sudah harus DIPECAT - kalau dalam tentera dapat dishonourable DISCHARGE, tetapi sebab KHAZANAH yang membuat KPI para MENTERI kabinet NAJIB, nasib kroni-kroni LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL nampak aman, untuk meneruskan membuat pelaburan-pelaburan terus-terus merugikan NEGARA.

Tahniah kepada ABDULLAH BADAWI dan tahniah juga kepada NAJIB kerana meneruskan kerja-kerja bodoh kroni LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL memperok perandakan kekayaan NEGARA, dan

Tahniah juga kepada UMNO sebagai parti pemerintah meneruskan memberi kepercayaan kepada begitu
ramai warga negara asing untuk menerajui dan menjadi EXPATRIATE untuk menjaga "cerita-cerita mabuk
dan karaoke mereka"

Ybhg Dato cerita pendatang asing bukan hanya untuk memperagakan tubuh mereka sebagai GRO, tetapi yang lebih beruntung adalah golongan EXPATRIATE yang diberikan habuan dan hidangan GRAVY TRAIN yang dihidangkan KHAZANAH diatas namakan membawa kepakaran asing.

Kalau saya dulu Dato buat polisi - walaupun ada EXPATRIATE mereka hanya dipekerjakan untuk memastikan ada anak MELAYU akan mengambil alih jawatan mereka dalam tempoh 1-2 tahun. TAPI KHAZANAH tak percaya orang MELAYU .... sebab mereka seperti PENJAJAH BRITISH hanya menghirup darah anak bangsa dan menaikkan taraf mereka sebahu dengan bekas penjajah.

OrangBaruLahir

Dr Tajuddin Ahmad said...

Datok;

Pembelian BII dan Bank Pakistan oleh Malayan banking ada lah dengan arahan Menteri Kewangan Pak Lah dan dia tak tahu ekor pangkal.Yang memberi nasehat kapadanya ialah TS Noor MK2.Saya tahu dalam pembelian Bank BII dari Indonesia ada orang Malaysia yang untong hampir 1 billion ringgit.Jika saya siarkan namanya ini merupakan fitnah.Yang akan menderita ialah Pemegang Unit Trust PNB yang 100% orang Melayu.

Saya tidak faham kenapa Najib mengekalkan TS Noor Muhamad sabagai Menteri yang jaga EPU an melantek pula Amirsham sabagai Chairman NEC.Kedua2nya "Haprak" dan tak boleh buat kerja.

Good Luck Najib and Timbalannya Rosmah Mansor.

KhaL said...

salam dato'
aku la parpu kari kalau korang nak tau..amcam hensem tak aku?..hehe

pakbelalang said...

It is very simple if Najib wants to survive and lead a strong BN government. Just focus on the economy and less political rhetoric. No more introducing all kind of slogans. Dah basi dah.

Rakyat dah mual dengan slogan. Rakyat mahukan kerajaan selesaikan berbagai masaalah harian yang dihadapi oleh mereka. Itu sahaja.

Tak usahlah nak fikirkan Chin Peng, nak beli jetfighter, nak buat nuclear plant,nak buat latihan tentera wartaniah dikawasan Masjid.Ini semua karut punya cerita.

PdgSakti said...

Dear Sir,

Sorry to hear about your father.

Semoga roh-nya di rahmati Allah..

Al-Fatihah...

Anonymous said...

My heartfelt condolence goes out to u & yr family. Al-Fatihah!

Men At Work

Dhahran Sea said...

Salam Dato',
Inilah akibatnya bila pemimpin "out of touch" dengan rakyat! Agaknya PM kena turun padang sikitlah tenguk bagaimana susah nya rakyat sekarang - tak payahlah secara "rasmi"... nampaknya ramai "yesmen" dikeliling PM, macam PM dulu jugak... kena buai mimpilah nampaknya... hopefully tak de lah "kan ku cari Al-Ghazali, Al-Shafie... ku tak cari harta bertimbun2..." Menteri/orang yang PM pileh tu actually reflects his own IQ... so far tenguk kebanyakan menteri2 dalam kabinet baru ni tak kemana... IQ deadwood & penyangak! Apa nak jadi dengan Malaysia?

Anonymous said...

Scribe,

Let this strong dissenting posting of your's be understood as a sign of you and your followers throwing the gaunlet into the face of Ethos and the other intelligent but confused contract-advisors to Tun Abdul Razak's eldest son.

The 4th Floor kids greatly detest healthy competition from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.


Terima Kasih Che Det Cun.

MALAYU TANJUNG

Dato Kamal Aziz.Johore said...

Datok

Saya fikir Najib betul dalam keputusannya.Malaysia bukan menghadapi Financial Crisis saperti tahun 1997/8.Ia hanya menghadapi kelembapan pertumbohan kerana negara Maju saperti Amerika dan EU menghadapi krisis kewangan yang terok.

Adakah Amirsham merupakan orang yang sesuai untok menjadi Chairman NEC,maseh awal untok menentukannya.

Saya rasa orang yang paling layak ialah Tengku Razaligh Hamzah.Ia bukan saya dapat meyakinkan orang Cina untok menyokong Kerajaan tapi meyakinkan Pelabor Asing untok melabor di sini.

Dengar kata Tun Daim merupakan penasehat tidak resmi kapada Najib.Mereka amat rapat sekali.Saya ingin nasehati Najib supaya berhati sadikit.Samasa Daim menjadi Chairman NEC dahulu ia telah membuat satu tindakan yang merokakan capital market kita sahingga hari ini.Kerana tamak haloba,ia telah menghapuskan CLOB di BSKL.Ia telah mengunakan effecative capital sdn Bhd yang di mileki oleh Akhbar Khan untok membeli saham syarikat Malaysia yang di sinaraikan di SEC.

Daim kata Effective Capital milek UMNO,Akhbar Khan kata itu mileknya.Tak tahu siapa yang betul.
Yang pentingnya akibat dari tindakan ini pasaran saham Kl mampus dan Pasaran Saham Singapora lebeh maju dan berkembang dengan pesat.

Kesimpulanya Dato kita tak lah perlu NEC sama saperti tahun 1997/8.Yang kita perlukan ia lah NEC yang faham bagaimana hendak memerangsangkan ekonomi kita.

BUYONG said...

Al fatihah.

Semoga rohnya ditempatkan dikalangan orang2 beriman.


About the article:


NAJIB = DOLLAH

2X5, 5X2

OrgPkokSena said...

Salam Datuk..

Adakan satu keperluan untuk ada "Orang Tengah" didalam pembelian saham-saham bank di luar Negara lagi. Sekiranya ada memang bodoh orang MBB buat kerja ini..atau pun ada kepentingan bersama..

MACC harap siasat perkara ini..

Orang Melayu sudah jadi kuda untuk tunggangan Orang Koporat..

Memalukan..

ab said...

Salam dato,

Takziah dari saya,semuga rohnya dikumpulkan dikalangan ahli syurga.



Abu Bakar Ab Rahman

The Botak Man said...

Sdr. A Kadir Jasin,

During pre-Pak Lah times, Maybank was known as an "institutionalised" bank. Decisions were not too speedy but usually well thought off. There were exceptions to the norm but these cases were small and few in numbers.

This is one bank that was known to be "difficult" when it comes to debt restructuring because the interests of its stakeholders were held high.

This stance appear to have changed when Pak Lah became the PM, especially so towards the end of his premiership. I wonder why?

I am not defending Amirsham but I seriously think there were external interference in their investment decisions culminating to "overpriced" venture into Indonesia and few other countries.

During the times of Dr. M, I don't think the interferences were as great compared to Pak Lah's time.

I could be totally wrong but I have a weird feeling that Amirsham was arm-twisted to pushing through those overpriced investments.

To "silence" him, he was appointed as Minister and to make sure those investments went through as planned, Wahid was made CEO of Maybank. [Despite such accolades heaped towards Wahid, I seriously don't think he did such a great job in UEM or Telekom.]

This practice of "wracking" a fully functional and profitable organisation is not confined to just Maybank. Look at FELDA and now, Petronas (as mentioned in your previous write-up)!

We have institutions that have served a large number of people being wracked for the benefit of a few...!!! This practice should be stopped!

Back to Najib's NEC.

I concur with you that Najib appears to suffer from "hangat-hangat tahi ayam" in his actions. A series of high profile walkabouts were published and then “silence is golden”. Does it mean that now the press are “not allowed” to cover those walkabouts?

Najib’s KPI does not look good at this point in time. More and more of his decisions are being questioned. Emphasis and focus are not on the economy or the global crisis. I am not too sure what the focus is on right now! Maybe milking whatever is left... ???

In June/July 2008, I commented that Malaysia’s economic outlook appears bleak at best. Back then export orders were being slashed by as much as 80%. Yet Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the then FM2 and Najib, as FM1, were adamant that Malaysia would not be affected by the global crisis.

There is nothing wrong in admitting the “difficult”business environment arising from the crisis in the US, Europe and Japan. Yes our export to the US is lesser now compared to 1 to 2 decades ago. But if our other export markets are also affected by US crisis, how could we escape!

Now Najib admits that the scenario is far worse that anticipated. Admitting alone would not solve the problem.

[To be continued...]

The Botak Man said...

Sdr. A Kadir Jasin,

[continuation of my comment]

Speedy actions must follow.

Coordinated efforts must be enforced throughout the whole government machinery. Sense of urgency must be instilled throughout the whole set up.

I agree with Pak Belalang, the rumblings about “buying of new fighter jets” and training of volunteers in mosques are distressing. Why are we focusing “helping” out other nations’ industries/companies?

Without external interferences, Amirsham did reasonably well as a CEO/President of a bank. But that does not mean he would be a good Chief for NEC. NEC needs someone with far greater foresight, far greater resolve to move plans into actions. One who knows when to speak, when to be silent. One that understands how the whole government machinery works and how to make them tick! The person need not be an economics major or graduate but one who thinks on his/her feet... And this person need not be a graduate from Oxbridge or some fancy Ivy League!

Do we have such a person? I think we do. Najib must decide without fear or favour and must thoroughly think before deciding.

Najib must focus on the economy and Rosmah should refrain from being too visible, forceful and domineering. If Najib is not able to focus on the economy then his days as a PM would not be long. Instead he would go down into annals of Malaysia as the first UMNO President that became the Head of Opposition in Parliament...

First step, appoint a credible Head of NEC.

Second, stop messing with FELDA!

Third, refrain from messing with Petronas.

Forth, remove deadwoods from the government machinery.

While doing all these steps, FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY... !!! Speedy decisions are required...!!! Satisfying UMNO warlords would not ensure Najib's survival beyond the next GE!

Sekian.

Unknown said...

Aslmkm Dato'

Pada pendapat saya dan ramai rakan2
saya Nagib setakat ini merupakan
seorang PM yang sibuk mengejar populariti.

Tindakan2nya kurang kemas dan lebih banyak pula yang menjadi tanda tanya.

Masa semakin suntuk bagi UMNO dan
BN. Perubahan2 drastik yang
disebut akan dilakukan masih tidak
kelihatan.

Pengurusan ekonomi lemah. kalau
berterusan begini Nagib sendiri
tidak layak mengukur KPI sesiapa.

Anonymous said...

Amirsham is not the right choice. If I were Najib I would pick Tan Sri Dato' Mohd Ali Hashim of Johore Corporation to be the Chairman.- Pak Belalang .

With due respect , No . I strongly disagree.What happened to Dana Johor and ASJ ? Dana JOHOR valued at 0.30cents dan ASJ is at RM1 after so many years and you are to withdraw RM5000.00 a year.You will argue that it was 1998 crisis and nothing we can do.What about last few years back ? When KFC is doing so well ? KPJ even better.Why PKENJ do not take care of their public investors now?
I do not study till MBA but I know compassion.Cant explain to you the feeling of those retirees,UMNO to the bone like my mother feels seeing their investment gone.

Have compassion PKENJ.Johorean loves its UMNO but their hard earned money dont drop from sky either.

Adam

pakbelalang said...

Pas leader Datuk Husam Musa said that Pas must be an alternate party to arch-rival Umno.

In referring to the Pakatan Rakyat's plan to form the federal government, the Kelantan senior exco pointed out that a prime minister could come from Pas.

"The PM should be from Pas but if you team up with Umno, you'll be a Minister in PM’s Department. I won't be satisfied because my boss will be under Umno," he said.

He stressed there will not be any co-operation with Umno to jointly govern the country.

"If Pas works with Umno, we will become a lackney. Umno will remain the dominant party, and that's the end for Pas. If Umno lost the elections later and they want to work with us, its okay, provided Pas on top and Umno below. If Umno on top and Pas below, finished," he said.

comment:

This is the mentality of PAS leader who is clearly more interested in power rather than perpaduan ummah. This is why Muslims can never be successful in their whatever endeavour. The Muslims are doomed to FAIL. Make no mistake about it. The Muslims are still in a state of denial to admit that that they are a weak lot. Muslims are not strong in their will to stay united because Muslims fail to follow the true basic teaching of the holy Quran. Muslims seem to feel that they are always right but in actual fact they are too egoistic to admit themselves as failures.What a pity !!

pakbelalang said...

Fight At Rompin Camp Isolated Case, Says NS Training DG

GUA MUSANG, June 6 (Bernama) -- It was not a trend at all national service (NS) camps for untoward incidents to happen before the end a training series, said NS Training Department Director-General Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil.

He said if something happened, it would probably be an isolated case because each camp commandant had been instructed to monitor any unhealthy elements.


comment.

NO EXCUSE!! NO EXCUSE!! NO EXCUSE!!

As far as the public is concerned technically there must be "ZERO TOLERANCE" incident in the training camps. Or else this national service will continue to be a "laughing stock" and a waste of public funds. The general public will get fed up and soon clamour for the NS to be discarded. It doesn't serve any purpose. Don't take this incident lightly. It must be investigated and find the root cause why such incident happened again and again.

Whatever it is this incident reflects on the weakness of the camp commandant. He is totally responsible and accountable. If he is not fit then sack him without fear and favour.

kudalari said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
kudalari said...

This experience may help explain the psycho of the man
amirsham or amirdump to me.
In late 98/99 Maybank called for a tender of their
property- which is an approved development of a few hundred
terrace houses in Selayang /Kepong vicinity[ one can see the
development behind Tesco Selayang}. I represent a company belonging
to bumiputras [ 100 PER CENT bumi owned co with paid assets amounting
to more than 2 million ringgit
Our company bid for the property and turned out to be the highest
bidder . Interestingly we were not given the right to purchase
the property because according to the staff from the Property Section
of Maybank - the CEO who happened to be amirdump did not approve
because a mic gang probably approach samy vellu to get amirdump stop
the sale because this mic gang wanted to buy the property.

So having an unprincipled malay to lead the neac will probabbly
erode whatever hope the malays would have in the national economy.
If the government continue to use the advice of this guy-the
malays will be an unhappy lot and could lead to drastic loss
of popularity of the BN gomen.


sulaiman m ibrahim

zimbiem said...

Dear Dato',

There is a growing perception among many now, not excepting me, that najib failed to make good the initiative afforded to him when he came into office.

I had hoped for him to be brave and wise in the selection of his cabinet. To prove that he had strength of character, but alas it didn't happen. Even Tun M who is well known for favoring Nagib had some negative remarks for the line up.

The drastic changes we had all hoped for Nagib to bring about in UMNO and the Govt didn't happen. Many felt so let down. It seems that all is just as usual. I sure do not detect any sense of urgency though the next General Elections is just a few years away.

Ali Rustam and KJ will be the biggest baggage in terms of proof that UMNO is not serious in dealing with corruption among it's ranks.

It would be wise for Nagib to realise that loyalty in politics is ambiguous. The component parties of the BN will remain with the BN so long as it is deemed to have the popular support of the people. And UMNO too will retain the confidence of the BN component parties as long as the former has the majority support of the Malays.ill be

Nagib and UMNO must realise, metaphorically speaking, that the BN ship and the UMNO captain will most certainly be abandoned by all if it is headed for the rocks. For who would want to be a member of a losing team or to team up with losers?

Less we forget, Koh Soo Koon did say that Gerakan would be reviewing it's membership within the BN soon after the fiasco of the last General Elections, and that despite Gerakan's shamelessly poor performance, losing Penang and all.

For UMNO to continue to have the support of the Malays and for the BN to retain the confidence of its members, Najib must, most of all prove that he is a leader upon whom all Malaysians can put their trust.

Anonymous said...

DAKJ,

I know my earlier comment regarding TS Amirsham was very personal therefore you have chosen not to post to post it. Just to share with you, I met the former Maybank Group Secretary and the person confirm to me also that TS Amirsham had put a lot of Chinese as heads of Division of Department before he left Maybank and has weaken a lot of the Malay professionals along the way within the Group.

My comment might been seen as personal, then again they are all true. That is why I cannot understand why he is being appointed as head of NEC. Sometimes Datuk wether you like it or not it is "small people" like me, that get ignored and the reason also I left Maybank is also because I was a non-conformist as I choose to speak out on what is "hak" and quite a number of the bosses were uncomfortable and thus my career stalled. I was "fitnah" by my own Malay boss who was "on the take" by quite a number of Chinese customers.

Alhamdulillah, my rezeki outside my banking career has been good. It has been a long tough fight to upgrade anak melayu. It has been not been easy as the non Malays have no respect for us especially as a business consultant and anak Melayu do not believe that we have the smarts to rival the Mat Sallehs.

Wallahi, TS Amirsham is really the last person you want as head of NEC especially if he is to be given the task of taking care of the Malay economic interest because he has none.

Keturunan Jebat.

Indigo said...

Scribe,

to qoute:

...The Maybank Board of Directors would like to place on record its appreciation to Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz for his outstanding service, commitment and able leadership in steering the Maybank Group forward through the years as Malaysia’s largest financial institution and in building the franchise to become the country’s most valuable brand valued at RM9.6 billion.

Under his stewardship, the Maybank Group saw healthy growth and record profits which increased steadily from RM1.16 billion in 1994 when Datuk Amirsham was first appointed Managing Director, to a milestone record of over RM 4 billion the last financial year...
(http://www.maybank2u.com.my/corporate/press_release/2008/260208.shtml)

Shall we let the case of Amirsham settle when you KPI the PM, Scribe?

Thank You for suggesting a malay talent to watch - I think the MT are hanging him out to dry and only he can save his good name.

About Me

My photo
I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).