A Kadir
Jasin
 |
| The hope of keeping the "wau bulan" flying high |
PREAMBLE: Views
expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a
blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold.
SOMETHING
curious happened at Khazanah Nasional Berhad, when on September 18, quite out
of the blue, it issued a statement denying that it was contemplating selling
its shares in Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.
The
Malaysian Reserves business newspaper quoted the Malaysian sovereign fund as
describing a report in the Umno-owned newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, as “baseless”.
In my
Facebook response to the Khazanah denial, I wrote: “Let’s hope that the
Khazanah’s denial is the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Since
then nothing more is heard about it and I assume that the Utusan story was incorrect.
It would
be a big irony if Khazanah contemplates on selling its stakes in MAHB, which a
profitable monopoly, when the urgency lies with solving the haemorrhage at the
Malaysia Airlines.
The
Khazanah managers should have taken the queue from a recent statement by the
Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to speed up the resolution to the MAS
issue.
He was
quoted as saying that the flag carrier does not have to be owned by the
government.
That
statement could not have been stronger and clearer as it was made in an interview
with the airline’s own onboard magazine, Going Places.
Dr
Mahathir, who is also the Chairman of Khazanah, said the airline could still
retain its national identity even if it's privately owned.
He referred
to British Airways and Lufthansa as being no longer owned by the British and
German governments respectively but are still treated as national
carriers.
It is worth
adding that these privatised national carriers are so successful that they in turn
bought control of other European national carriers.
Lufthansa
of Germany for instance now owns Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Belgium’s
Brussel Airlines while Air France has merged with Dutch national carrier, KLM
to form Air France-KLM Group.
Spanish
flag carrier Iberia is owned by an Anglo-Spanish holding company called
International Consolidated Airlines Group with its registered office in Spain and
operational headquarters in the United Kingdom.
The Prime
Minister’s statement could be seen as an unequivocal message that the
government is considering the sale of the money-losing national carrier.
Any sale,
no matter how market-driven it may be, will certainly come with conditions in
order to safeguard the various stakeholders - among them the government itself, the
Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the remaining staff of the airline and the travelling
public.
The
government would have to make sure that as much money as possible is recovered
bearing in mind that tens of billions ringgit of taxpayer money had been spent
to keep the airline flying.
Whoever
the bidders may be, they must be willing to put their money down and not to
expect to get the airline for free.
MAS still
has a lot of value. Even after being stripped of its key assets in the infamous
asset unbundling by the Idris Jala-led management team back in the mid-2000,
MAS still has some good assets and its brand name is almost priceless. The
goodwill it enjoys is considerable.
No
freeloaders should be entertained and whoever that the government chooses to
take it over must have strong financial and management capabilities.
The
suitors’ business model must be compatible with MAS and can guarantee that the
"Wau Bulan" will remain high in the skies for a long time to
come.
It's
understood that a handful of local, regional and international aviation
companies had expressed interest in buying the airline and the decision as to
who the winner is would not be far off.
The
front runners are said to comprise a local company, a regional operator and a European-based
airline conglomerate.
May the best man win.
Thank
you.
6 comments:
Jual jual dan jual.
Tapi hutang negara tak surut.
Dan kalau benar pinjaman dan penjualan aset tujuannya utk memyelamatkan 1MDB, kenapa hutang 1MDB tak surut.
Kalau dulu 1MDB umpama racun kepada negara, kenapa tak dilupuskan saja 1MDB?
Datuk,
Tanjong Piai byelection is now the buzz word.
Two news items have surfaced, that the former MB Khaled Norden is tipped to take over MCA's territory and run for election, and the other is the idea mooted by Dennis Ignatius former ambassador that to save PH, vote for BN.
He said, "For many, the choice will be clear. Despite all its failings, PH is still a far better alternative to Umno-PAS-BN. All Umno-PAS-BN has to offer is the same old toxic mix of racial and religious extremism. The assurances of both Umno and PAS leaders that they will protect the rights of non-Malays are not worth a bucket of spit given their long history of race-baiting and extremist policies."
We are fully supportive of the above statement. He's right, the assurances of both Umno and PAS not worth a bucket of spit!
However, it's the height of idiocy to even entertain the foolish notion that to save one person/party, you give life to the enemy. My gosh, it's like opening the door to the murderer outside and invite him/her to kill everyone inside the house.
PH has lost 3 straight by elections, it cannot afford to lose one more. PH must go door to door, beg, borrow, eat humble pie, and get it right this time.
PKR, Bersatu and DAP, you are all in the hot seat, let's see your teamwork and winning spirit!
Not everything needs to make money, some are there to serve the public, eg tnb jkr no use to make billions at raakyat's expense. Mas is in the same group to serve the travelling malaysian public and bring in foreign tourists
You are right,law and justice, especially the last paragraph...about teamwork.
Kesian bila belajar tak habis.....1mdb dh lupus tp hutang masih ada
Salam Dato’ Kadir Jasin
work hard vs work smart
Bagi sayalah, kalau Air Asia boleh untung besar, kenapa pula MAS boleh rugi besar. Saya ingat nak serang Dato’ dan kerajaan PH lagi tapi rasanya dah cukuplah tu. Kesian pulak saya nampak PH ni. Kita akui mereka ni kerja kuat tapi tak kerja smart. Izinkan saya memberi sedikit cadangan. Orang kata kenapa pula Messi kita letakkan di bangku simpanan. Tak salah rasanya kerajaan PH minta tolong drp Tan Sri Wahid Omar utk menerajui MAS pula. Itu baru seorang dan ada ramai lagi superstar seperti Dato’ Ahmad Fuad Kenali dan ramai lagi. Rendahkan diri dan pujuklah mereka demi negara. Asingkan politik dgn professional. Kena akuilah hakikat tu. Sekian TQ.
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