Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- The Proton saga continues
- Pakatan, be prepared for the worst
- ABU: Movement of the Rakyat for the Rakyat
- PD’s man in the hot seat
| Posted: 14 Dec 2011 10:14 AM PST Interestingly, the announcements on Proton's seemingly imminent sale — and even the likely buyer — are coming from Dr Mahathir, who is an adviser to Proton, rather than its major shareholder — Khazanah, which has been rather quiet throughout the episode. Written by Joanne Nayagam, The Edge The Proton-DRB-Khazanah saga continued yesterday with Proton Holdings Bhd issuing a statement saying that Khazanah Nasional Bhd, "in its normal course of business, it regularly receives proposals, enquiries and expressions of interests in relation to its various investments and companies where it has interest in, including Proton. Khazanah will make necessary disclosure at the appropriate time". Khazanah neither denied nor confirmed the rumour of the sale of its 42.7% equity stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom Bhd. This was the second statement from Proton in a week, although it sent a clearer signal that something may be brewing at the national carmaker. On Dec 6, in a response to an article in The Edge, Proton had flatly denied any corporate development. It announced to Bursa Malaysia that "after making due enquiry with the board of directors and major shareholders, the company is not aware of any reason for the unusual market activity in its shares and that there is no material corporate development not previously disclosed". Meanwhile, DRB-Hicom did not acknowledge that it is keen on buying into the national carmaker. The conglomerate had last week denied the speculation of it acquiring an equity stake in Proton.
Proton's announcement came after the comments made by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that DRB-Hicom "is likely to win the bid for Khazanah's equity interest in Proton" on Monday. Interestingly, the announcements on Proton's seemingly imminent sale — and even the likely buyer — are coming from Dr Mahathir, who is an adviser to Proton, rather than its major shareholder — Khazanah, which has been rather quiet throughout the episode. The Edge weekly reported over a week ago that Khazanah might sell its stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom, which also assembles cars for Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz and global car maker Volkswagen AG (VW). It is a well-known secret that Khazanah has been looking for a suitor for its majority stake in Proton, in which the the former does not have a board representative despite being the major shareholder. In 2006, VW was interested in purchasing Khazanah's stake in Proton, but the plan hit a snag due to what some said was nationalistic interest. Three years later in 2009, DRB-Hicom approached Proton and submitted a bid to buy 32% of Proton shares. Again, the talks failed for reasons unknown. Today, Proton is not exactly in the pink of health. Proton's net profit fell 76% to RM15.6 million for 2QFY12 ended Sept 30 from RM65.9 million a year earlier due to higher expenses incurred by Lotus Group. Likewise, its 1HFY12 earnings took a sharp 86.6% fall to RM20.1 million from RM150 million a year earlier. As at Sept 30, Proton had RM1.31 billion in cash, bank balances and deposits. Its short-term and long-term borrowings grew 158% to RM959.1 million compared with RM371.2 million six months earlier. Proton is in the second year of a five-year turnaround plan for Lotus Group that costs £480 million (RM2.35 billion). However, if Khazanah didn't sell its stake in 2006, one might wonder why the rush now, indeed? And why narrow the potential buyers to only a few local parties? Would it not be better to have a tender exercise open to global auto players as well? Limiting the pool of buyers will not get Khazanah the best price, or a partner for Proton that will ensure it thrives. Proton could definitely use a helping hand given its current weakening financial position, but certainly there should be no rush to make a transaction of such size and importance. Recently, DRB-Hicom in an announcement to Bursa refuted claims that it is looking to secure a substantial stake in Proton and would later divest part of the stake to VW. This wasn't exactly a denial of the possibility that it could buy Khazanah's stake and simply not sell it. If Khazanah is indeed interested in potential buyers for its stake, the national sovereign wealth fund should open up the bids in a more transparent manner for a longer period of time. This is especially since Proton is currently trading below its book value per share of RM9.81, net tangible assets per share of RM7.62 as well as Khazanah's estimated cost of above RM8 per share. Proton can rely on bigger automotive players to not only invest money in the national carmaker, but also to lend research and development (R&D) capabilities, something which DRB-Hicom can not offer. When contacted by The Edge Financial Daily, Aberdeeen Asset Management fund manager Abdul Jalil Rasheed said: "A lot of the car manufacturing brands are owned by one company, where divisions like R&D are shared by all the different divisions within the company". If a significantly large auto player like VW were to have a stake in Proton, the local carmaker could stand to gain substantially from its R&D capabilities. Back in its heyday from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, almost every Malaysian had a Proton car. Fast forward to 2011 and Proton is seeing a decline in its market share, despite strong protectionist policies that result in hefty taxes and Malaysia having some of the highest car prices in the world. Thanks to economies of scale and continuous investments in R&D, there are plenty of foreign carmakers that are selling much nicer cars, priced not much higher than Proton here and far cheaper overseas. This is Proton's biggest challenge. Jalil said the more pertinent question at this time is not if Khazanah were to sell its Proton stake to DRB-Hicom, but if Proton can just survive by being Proton. With all three parties neither denying nor agreeing to the claims of the sale of Proton, it really is anyone's guess how the saga will further develop. Proton's existing management is also said to have expressed interest in a management buyout, with the proposal spearheaded by its chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, and its CEO Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamad Tahir. However, on a brighter note for Proton, the group has seen some interest in its shares of late. Yesterday, Proton closed at RM4.27, four sen higher than Monday's close.
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| Pakatan, be prepared for the worst Posted: 14 Dec 2011 08:12 AM PST The recent Umno general assembly ignored critical national issues and continued to 'make other parties and races feel inferior so that they would have to crawl to Umno' for help. On the other hand, Najib Tun Razak, who succeeded Pak Lah in 2009, was initially uncertain on the kind of political system he would adopt, which explained the many flip-flop decisions on a number of issues which made Mahathir critical of his leadership. Awang Abdillah, Free Malaysia Today A statesman believes that political power comes from the people and that entrusted power should be used for the enrichment of the people and nation. A dictatorial political leader, however, believes that political power can be won or usurped by force and used to establish an authoritarian government. An undemocratic leader believes in the art of false leadership. The undemocratic leader bulldozes his way to secure political power from the people and will go to any length to maintain such power. Very often the border-line between an undemocratic political system and that of a dictatorial system overlaps. It is not surprising then for an undemocratic politician to walk through the corridors of power of an authoritarian government. Such different kinds of leadership and political system are based on the value system a leader adopts as explained in my earlier articles. In Malaysia, we have a number of political leaders who practise the undemocratic system where all kinds of malpractices are the hallmarks of their governance. Over a period of time this bad system will become worse when it turns into an undemocratic-dictatorial government and then, if unchecked, could turn into a worst kind – the undemocratic-despotic rule. BN has long been dysfunctional Let's look at Umno. The original true spirit of Umno – which existed in the party from 1955 till 1981 – which fought for the Malays and the nation is gone . Lost, too, is the spirit of national unity and cooperation that held together the Barisan Nasional (BN) entity which built this nation from 1974 till 1981. From 1981 till 2003 both these political entities were under the personal control of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his henchmen. Umno controlled the political power in the country while the BN coalition has long suffered from political dysfunctional problems. Hence, both the original Umno and BN can now be considered as a defunct party and entity respectively. During this period, Malaysia was ruled by Mahathir's undemocratic and authoritarian doctrine. Unlike a despotic rule where actions taken are more arbitrary in nature, an undemocratic-authoritarian rule, though bad, is more systematic and established. Even in retirement and after handing over the reins of the nation's administration to his chosen successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah), Mahathir wanted control. He wanted Pak Lah to walk the corridors of power wielding an undemocratic-dictatorial system. Pak Lah resisted. He failed as a leader not because he did not continue the Mahathir dictatorial legacy – it would be suicidal to do so – but because he did not pick the good value system and put it to work. But he seems to have redeemed himself in Mahathir's eyes with his stand in the recent 62nd Umno general assembly. Najib, it now appears, firmly believes in and is determined to pursue Mahathir's undemocratic-dictatorial doctrine. Hence, Mahathir now fully backs Najib and had openly declared that the prime minister is on the right track. However, unlike the Mahathir government – which, although undemocratic and authoritarian in nature, was backed by systematic policies and strode in economic development – Najib's administration has nothing to offer. Najib's government is best described as an undemocratic-despotic one where flip-flops and arbitrary actions are the order of the day. At the recent Umno general assembly, "Najib the Great" continues his agenda to hit hard at Pakatan Rakyat in order to win back the lost Malay support. He invoked history, race and religious rhetoric and launched personal and vicious attacks on the opposition leaders. Najib did not bother to beg for the support of other races because people like him and Mahathir believe in the unsinkable power of Umno as long as the said doctrine is in place. Part of this doctrine is to make other parties and races feel inferior so that they would have to crawl to Umno for help.
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| ABU: Movement of the Rakyat for the Rakyat Posted: 13 Dec 2011 03:47 PM PST "We (ABU) are not linked to any political party. We are independent and this is a movement, not an organization. This is the rakyat's movement," he said. Meanwhile, Haris of MCLM who had just been deported from Sabah on Dec 7 said ABU was set to reach to the rakyat with information that will show how Umno have been "manipulating" the country for the past six decades.
Something big may be brewing in this time of uncertainty surrounding our political landscape. And this time it has nothing to do with Anwar Ibrahim, Pakatan Rakyat, Perkasa or extremist, racist, religious groups or terrorist groups of sort. Instead, this one comes in the form of a sincere initiative by the people, for the people; and the main objective of this movement which fittingly call itself ABU or Asalkan Bukan Umno (Anyone But Umno) is to call out to the rakyat to come out from their silence to reject Umno. "We are calling out to all workers, farmers, fishermen, associations, organizations, government bodies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties – excluding Umno, opposition parties or Independent parties, professionals, academicians and intellectuals, artists and all those who are marginalized including Mat Rempits, the homeless, unemployed and others to establish clearly (through media statements or demonstrations) our loss of confidence towards Umno which has lost its purpose, corrupt, conceited, oppressive, ruthless and more lately IGNORANT and ARROGANT!" Badrul Hisham told a press conference held at the KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on Dec 9. Badrul, or better known as CheGubard, who is the president of Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) is believed to be one of the main men behind ABU. Among those alongside him at the media conference on Dec 9 were Haris Ibrahim of Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) President Haris Ibrahim as well as representatives from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and members of various non-governmental organizations. Calling All Malaysians The nationwide movement which had held media conferences in every state in the Peninsula on Dec 9 (the same announcement will be made in Sabah and Sarawak at a later date). ABU can be seen as the voice of Malaysians who are saying 'enough is enough'. The way they see it, Umno has taken their selfish and excessive desire for material gains too far and it is time to put a stop to this as it has become clear that Umno is beyond repair (NFC and PKFZ are just two of the many scandals that has been exposed of recent, imagine the others that have not been detected). Not Linked to Pakatan Even though Badrul is one of the most influential figure in Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) among the Opposition youth supporters, he is not playing his role in ABU in his capacity as a political party member, neither are the rest of the key people in the movement. He insisted that ABU is a non-structured movement and people from all segments of life are invited to join the movement. NFC Scandal: A Sign That Things Are Getting Out of Control Things are getting from bad to worse for the country under Umno/BN's rule. Looking at the latest development on the NFC issue, now even Umno senior leaders like its former president Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno supreme council member Bung Mokhtar Radin have come out to ask its main culprit Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to leave the party. Others like Batu Pahat MP Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi and Cheras Umno Division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee have asked NFC's executive chairman who happens to be Shahrizat's husband Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail to come clean on the controversy involving the family-owned company as it has tarnished Umno's image.
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| Posted: 13 Dec 2011 12:21 PM PST Municipal Council President Abdul Wahab talks about the problems he faces and the good things that lie in store for the tourist town Ravi said it's difficult for tourists to purchase the tickets on weekends. I don't understand what the actual issue is. There are no parking charges on weekends. But still, to say that the coupons are not sold on Saturday and Sunday is a lie. Zefry Dahalan, Free Malaysia Today Many people would envy someone who heads the local government in a tourist town, but Port Dickson's Abdul Wahab Samsudin says he has no time to bask in it, what with his state assemblyman constantly breathing down his neck. In a recent wide-ranging interview with FMT, he complained that PKR's M Ravi, sometimes aided by Ean Yong Tin Sin (DAP-Lukut), was always finding fault with his administration. He rejected the allegation that he held a bias against Pakatan Rakyat politicians, although he admitted to withholding written permission for their programmes. Abdul Wahab became president of the Port Dickson Municipal Council (MPPD) in 2009. He said it had been a hot seat for him since Day One. Apart from responding to various allegations by Ravi and Yong, he also explained some the efforts being done to improve Port Dickson's appeal to visitors. Excerpts from the interview: The Pakatan Rakyat representatives allege that you are denying them the right to put up festival banners carrying their party logos. What is your response? Those allegations are not true. I gave them permission orally, but I told them I could not give them written permission. They asked why. It is within my authority to give either oral or written permission. What's wrong with giving it orally? I told my officers not to dismantle the banners. I have no problem with them having their party logos on the banners. But previously we did remove the banners. At that point of time, they had not asked for permission. What about your recent rejection of their application to use the town hall for a badminton tournament? They wanted to use the hall on Dec 3. I rejected the application because the town hall was due for upgrading works at that point of time. They insisted that we give them a rejection letter. I said it was not necessary because I didn't want them to use the letter for political purposes. Recently, Pakatan representatives speaking at a public forum likened the Port Dickson beach to a rubbish dump. How true is that? I'm aware of the allegations as they were reported in a newspaper. They are lies. In the pictures published in the newspaper, one of the Pakatan leaders was holding an empty plastic bag. If Port Dickson is a dumping ground, then where is the so-called rubbish? We clean the beach regularly and consistently conduct cleaning campaigns with NGOs. How can they say that Port Dickson is a rubbish dump? When I took over the MPPD in 2009, "Cleanliness is our priority" became our motto. As an elected representative, Ravi should not tarnish the image of the Port Dickson with tags like that. It will give the town a negative image among tourists. It will have implications on the local traders and hotel operators as well. Let me speak about another issue that Ravi raised. He questioned the rationale of installing convex mirrors at the end of every row of shophouses. He said those mirrors should instead be installed at road junctions, where they would be useful to motorists. He did not check the facts with us. We installed the mirrors not for motorists, but for pedestrians. We fix them at the walls of banks and corner shops to alert the public against criminals hiding behind walls. He said the mirrors were a waste of public funds. This project comes under the Local Government and Housing Ministry's budget. We installed the convex mirrors as part of the Town Safety project under the ministry and we were accorded the Safe Town status by the ministry. What about the drainage system in Port Dickson? The town is flood prone, isn't it? We are trying our best to maintain the drainage system. Some parts of the system are under our jurisdiction and the rest are under the Drainage Department. Much of Port Dickson is below sea level. There will be floods no matter how big the monsoon drains are. What about the status of the Lukut landfill? Wasn't is supposed to be closed and rubbish redirected to a new landfill in Bukit Nanas? I can't comment too much on this as the matter as it is under the jurisdiction of the state and federal governments. The landfill sits on state government land and MPPD just supervises it. But I've learnt that the shift to Bukit Nanas is in progress. Ravi told the State Assembly that the counters selling parking coupons are too far from the parking lots and motorists had complained that agents selling the tickets were late in opening those counters. He said that both these facts had resulted in many motorists being fined for parking without coupons. Actually this is the result of the motorists' habit of buying the coupons at the last minute. As locals from Port Dickson, why can't you buy the coupons earlier? Ravi said it's difficult for tourists to purchase the tickets on weekends. I don't understand what the actual issue is. There are no parking charges on weekends. But still, to say that the coupons are not sold on Saturday and Sunday is a lie. Whatever we want to introduce is always seen as wrong. If they have the attitude of wanting to oppose everything, then it's very difficult for us. We initially gazetted 14 areas where we would use the parking coupon system, but we only implemented it in two areas. These two are business areas. We don't have parking charges at beaches or other tourist areas. The coupon system is superior to the coin machine system. Coin machines are very costly and prone to vandalism. We conducted a study on three parking systems—the coupon, coin and receipt systems. We found the coupon system to be the best. We collected RM400,000 six months after implementing the coupon system. Just imagine that! The system also generates income for the agents who sell them. Ravi spoke of cases in which motorists were compounded even as they were buying their coupons. This is not true. I told my enforcement officers to wait for the motorists to go back to their vehicles from booths or shops selling the coupons. The cases in which they were compounded were when they disappeared after parking their cars, or reappeared only after 30 minutes.
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