SCwatch


MALAYSIAN FINANCIAL SCANDALS (of late) – “SUGAR COATED” CONMEN?
December 28, 2008, 5:48 pm
Filed under: Airlines, Asean, Global financial crisis, Malaysia, Malaysian politics, Rocky's Bru, Wee Choo Keong | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
When we read about high profile corporate scandals, it immediately brings to mind the Enrons, Worldcoms, Parmalats and Tycos. The commonality amongst these companies is that they were personality driven …. by Ken Lay, Bernie Ebbers, Calisto Tanzi and Dennis Kozlowski respectively.
There was therefore hardly any check and balance that prevailed in these companies and (if I could partially quote a recent Alan Greenspan observation) the employees’, directors’, auditors’ and creditors’ belief in the wisdom of these CEOs were infinite!
The more recent fall-out amongst the investment bankers (currently a defunct term) and now fund manager, Bernard Madoff seem to suggest that things have not changed much.
A well known financial daily that reported on the US$50 billion loss arising from Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme described him as follows:-  

“Bernard Madoff attained fame and fortune with his connections, ingenious marketing and a carefully cultivated image”

Doesn’t this description also fit many of our Malaysian CEOs of failed entities? These are also indicators of looming failures of Malaysian companies with CEOs of these characteristics!!
These CEOs will hide behind every facade of illusion to portray a sense of well-being, wisdom, courage, perseverance, philanthropy, passion, belief etc. They will also arrange for themselves to be awarded with all kinds of awards to elicit further this sense of “awe” from the people at large e.g. Global Brand Person of the Year, Tourism Personality of the Year, Global Green Product Design Award, Major Brand Award etc.
This immediately brings to mind the famous quote:

“You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time BUT you can’t fool all the people all the time”

Technology has to a large degree enabled many people now to see through the antics of these “Smooth Characters” in order to make their own assessment and decision.
Alas, there are still the many who just do not want to see it as it is ….. why should they, they ask? They are reaping the benefits like “Everyone can Drive”, “Everyone can Fly!’ etc. and they will bugger the rest!!
This is where responsible government comes into play. The government is the custodian of the people’s money and disbursements should not be made at their whims and fancies and certainly not to be used in order to play to the gallery!
Of course, we must give credit to some of these entrepreneurs who have built companies out of scratch ….. some to the extent of making them world famous brands ….. that we see such brands not only at airports but even at Premier League football games!
It becomes a problem when ego comes into play …. to the extent that one keeps emphasising that his surname ends with an “S”, not a “Z”, the latter of which somehow is perceived to being Indian!! It gets worse when things do not actually look as good as what had been portrayed earlier ….. then window dressing is adopted, the extreme case may be down right fraud when things become desperate. 
And these things occur during a down-turn …. “it is only when the tide is low that we can see who is swimming naked!” ….. does that explain why some people are regularly in the news announcing one deal after another, only to say later it cannot take place due to unacceptable terms …. ?
When we find out that EPF’s earnings are down 60% from RM6.5 billion to RM2.6 billion, we do wonder how much of those “opportunity costs” are due to the propping up of counters in the name of national interests!
Yes, Wee Choo Keong (MP for Wangsa Maju) has stated that as long as the tax-payers’ monies are not used to bail out companies, he has no issue with them (see here). But what if it is done indirectly? Choo Keong has his work cut out for him ….. luckily we have one of the most hard-working MPs looking into such matters!
I believe that Malaysiakini, which has been doing a wonderful job reporting objectively on the Malaysian political scene, should expand their investigative reporting repertoire to the Malaysian corporate scene. This would provide balance to the kind of advertisements that Ahirudin Attan of Rocky’s Bru gives to “corporate captains” (for example, see here and here) for being champions of change, for being Malaysian and all those kinds of rhetoric!
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“SEX COMPLAINTS” – TOOL TO DESTROY
December 22, 2008, 2:38 am
Filed under: Ahirudin Attan, Malaysia, Malaysia politics, Malaysian Bloggers, Malaysian politics, Racial Issues, Racial politics, Rocky's Bru | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Rocky’s Bru’s Ahirudin Attan and Star editor, Wong Chun Wai are surely our latest “Laurel and Hardy” show-act when it comes to coordinating their attacks on the Chinese educationist group, Dong Zhong.
Malaysiakini should wade into this educational matter (not sex complaint) to provide some balance to the matter.
Rocky refers to Wong Chun Wai’s blog (see here), who in turn refers to the vernacular papers reporting the resignation of Dong Zhong’s leader, ‘Teacher’ Loot Ting Yee, after “sexual complaints have been made against him” (see here). By the way, Teacher Loot is reported to be 80 years old!
This reminds me of how vicious people can be against their “enemies”. And these people seem to include our Malaysian “Laurel and Hardy” duo.
One similar incident that comes to mind immediately was the Chua Soi Lek saga …. distribution of CDs which recorded his bedroom scene with a friend. This led to his resignation and subsequent come-back as Deputy President of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). Well, MCA members seem to have viewed Chua Soi Lek beyond his indiscretion and have voted him in.
This reminds me many years ago about a sex complaint by a student against a headmaster, Kevin D’Souza. A court case was brought against him and he was eventually found not guilty. However, the damage was costly to him and his family. Kevin D’Souza was known to have been an exemplary teacher with a strong emphasis on discipline. It riles me when small minded people use this sex complaint avenue (that eventually is baseless) to further their agenda.
On a personal note, I remember vividly about a complaint a young female colleague brought against her male colleague (who was in his 60s) whilst on a foreign assignment. I was asked to look into the complaint and bring it to resolution.
Well, this young girl was no angel herself as it was known for a fact that she was having trysts with other younger colleagues of her liking. So I called her in together with her legal adviser and told her that any ensuing investigation into her complaint may be countered with allegations into her own ”activities” with other colleagues. Immediately, her sex complaint was withdrawn!
So maybe Rocky and Chun Wai should be concentrating on more relevant issues as responsible media persons. The fact that Teacher Loot resigned may be to prevent people like Rocky and Chun Wai from clouding the issue involving our Malaysian Educational System!

Latest: Someone sent me this quote which I thought was quite relevant to this posting of mine:- “When we notice someone of exemplary behaviour, we should try to emulate him/her. However, when we notice someone of contrary behaviour, we should take a good, hard look at ourselves!”

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S.E.C. of USA – SECURITIES REGULATOR OR “SECURITIES CONSPIRATOR”?
December 21, 2008, 9:40 am
Filed under: Global financial crisis, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Much has been written (not by Malaysiakini though) since the start of the global financial crisis with sub-prime loans that had been packaged with triple A ratings and then sold to clients the world over.
These packaged loans were usually acquired via Special Investment Vehicles …. hence the sick joke as to whether companies or countries were SIV positive!
The latest scam to come out from this crisis is the Ponzi scheme of Bernard Madoff and what has been reported has elicited a “So what else is new?” response.
What I have however noticed is that there is always a “fall guy” or somebody to blame for the fall out. In the last high profile Enron and Worldcom fall-out in 2002, it was the auditors who faced the brunt of the criticism, with comments like:-
a) the auditing fraternity  suffer not from a few bad apples but from a rotten orchard;
b) auditors are vigorous in youth, complacent in middle age and in older age, they become the “arms and tools” of the industry that they are supposed to oversee/report on; and
c) personnel from the auditing fraternity qualified as accountants only by virtue of their ability to “count”, not “account”!
Cruel comments, no doubt.
This time round, the roles (or the lack of it!) of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the USA, and to a lesser extent, the UK’s Financial Services Authority, have been heavily criticised in this latest crisis. Comments include:-
a) The regulators have been asleep at the switch ……. people are feeling frustrated that there is not a lot of adult supervision out there …. (Obama);
b) The SEC had not used legal powers to seek information about Madoff’s business in the past but that instead SEC staff relied upon information voluntarily produced by Mr Madoff and his firm …… (Christopher Cox, out-going SEC Chairman);
c) Bluntly speaking, supervision has been carried out on the cheap ….. (Lord Turner, new Chairman of FSA);
d) The SEC’s belief in the wisdom of the market is infinite. SEC became enablers instead of enforcers … (Alan Greenspan); and
e) Mary Schapiro (SEC Chairman-designate) will need to revive a depleted, demoralised and dysfunctional regulator while making sure that clamour for tighter regulation does not hamstring US business ….. (comment from prominent financial daily).
So the auditors and regulators have taken the wrap to date. Who’s next? Maybe the independent directors, valuers, or the bankers! But there will be one group that will somehow find themselves out of the “finger pointing” game – the lawyers.
How do they do it? I don’t know …. but somehow they do!
Someone did tell me that lawyers have such a reputation that more than 2,000 years ago, a wise person (some call him Son of God, another call him a prophet and one other, an enlightened being) even castigated the legal profession then with this recorded remark:-
“Woe to you lawyers for you load others with burdens hard to bear, yet you yourselves do not touch these burdens with even one of your fingers!“
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VERNACULAR SCHOOL CRITICS – “SHALLOW COMPREHENSION”?
December 16, 2008, 12:06 am
Filed under: Ahirudin Attan, Malaysia, Malaysia politics, Malaysian Bloggers, Racial Issues, Racial politics, Rocky's Bru, UMNO | Tags: , , , , , ,
Last night, I watched the movie, “Twilight”. In one of the scenes, Edward Cullen told Isabella that he could read everyone’s mind (literally) except for her …. hence his attraction towards her!
The trouble with me is that whilst I’m still unable to read/understand Rocky’s Bru’s (Ahirudin Attan) line of thought/argument, I am nonetheless repelled (rather than attracted) by his writing recently!
I’m referring to his criticism of the organisation he refers to as “Dongs” – the fundamental Chinese educationists – for insisting that the government reverts to the teaching of mathematics and science under their respective mother tongues! Read here.
Clearly, Rocky’s distaste for the Chinese educationists is evident. He even quotes Wong Chun Wai (Star editor) to highlight that these “Dongs” are a minority within the Chinese community! He raises his ire against what he perceives as “Ding Dong’s” racist tendencies in a later posting (See here)
Rocky then goes on to say that if Singapore can do away with vernacular schools, Malaysia should do like-wise. Further, he says that parties like DAP are being hypocritical supporting vernacular schools whilst at the same time claiming to be multi-racialists!
Whoa!! Whoa!!! Rein in your horses, man. Let’s not get emotional and over-protective over your fellow Mahathirite, Mukhriz here, Rocky.
For most Malaysian parents, it’s not whether or not to send their children to vernacular OR national type schools. Their concern is about the DETERIORATING STANDARD OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. And that concern has translated to many parents sending their children to these vernacular schools which are deemed higher in standard as compared to the national type schools. Pure and simple. 
And what’s wrong with being bi-lingual or even tri-lingual in this increasingly competitive world that we live in?
Yes, Singapore did away with vernacular schools but the replacement system was one that was admired not only within Singapore but in many other countries too. It is even partially emulated by the Japanese. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for the Malaysian education system?
So we need to be objective about this and should avoid perpetuating the politicisation of this issue and treating the “Dongs” as punch-bags!
The standard of the Malaysian educational system must be raised to a minimum level such that there will not be any reason for the supporters of vernacular schools to argue their cause!
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MALAYSIAN LANDSLIDES – RESULT OF “SLIMY COLLABORATIONS”?
December 13, 2008, 12:14 am
Filed under: Asean, Malaysia, Malaysia politics, Malaysian politics | Tags: , , , , ,

Whilst Malaysiakini reports that residents of Bukit Antarabangsa are planning to sue the government for their plight, it was of no surprise that the finger pointing exercise between the politicians has also commenced to lay blame for the debacle (see here).

It is also revealed that the owner of a hillside development has sued residents nearby for their protests (see Rocky here). Maybe these companies think that by dragging people to court, they can “fix” the protest.

Calamities like these do not happen overnight or over a few months’ time. They emanate from the time the development was approved and it falls squarely on the lap of Khir Toyo’s administration then. I note that the current Selangor State Government had banned hillside developments where land exceeded 25 degrees in gradient (see State Councillor’s [in charge of environment] representation here).

Maybe we should take an example to illustrate how the plot is played out and subsequently paid for by people’s lives …….

Let’s refer to the location of this ”slopey” land as ”Medan Perang” ….. for want of a better name! Land around this whole area were originally alienated to and owned by a government cooperative. However, if you do a land search, you will realise that ”Medan Perang” is now registered under a private company …. a sendirian berhad. But hang on, when you then do a company search on this private company, it reveals that the private company is in turn owned by a Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange listed company.

So this KLSE  listed company must have bought the land from the cooperative. NOT SO! The KLSE listed company’s filings with KLSE show that they had bought it from an individual ……. a Datuk Seri who was acquitted (due to shoddy prosecution) some years ago for allegedly murdering his nephew from China! And the cash paid to the Datuk Seri for “Medan Perang”? A cool RM66 million! Makes you wonder how he spent the cash from the sale, which was transacted soon after his acquittal!

So this Datuk Seri bought “Medan Perang” from the cooperative. Based on filings and prices then,  the Datuk Seri bought “Medan Perang” for RM15 million only. Therefore, the Datuk Seri made a whopping RM51 million profit by on-selling “Medan Perang” to the KLSE listed company!

However there was a more pertinent question to be asked: Why should the government cooperative want to sell the “Medan Perang” land when the cooperative was successfully developing and selling bungalows on land adjacent to “Medan Perang”? Let’s call this adjacent landed development “The Windy Land”.

Answer: Whilst “The Windy Land” is on flat land, the land gradient of “Medan Perang” is so steep i.e. more than 25 degrees, that it would have  failed miserably the current Selangor State Government’s criteria for development approval!

Break-through: Ah, so the government cooperative decided against developing “Medan Perang” into bungalow units as it would run foul with the surrounding residents and environmentalists.

So the government cooperative sells “Medan Perang” to the Datuk Seri whom we presume was “willing” to take the fall-out risk. However, the Datuk Seri did one better  ….. he on-sold “Medan Perang” to a cash rich KLSE listed company  ….  for RM66 million to be precise ….. and with those super-profits of RM51 million, the Datuk Seri can then afford to be “Santa Claus”!

The challenge to develop ”Medan Perang” is now with the KLSE listed company and they will definitely pull out the works in order to attempt to re-coup the RM66 million expended to acquire the land ……. and this will include lobbying Putrajaya, the Ministers, intermediaries and approving parties etc etc. …… with the mantra “We need to build it at all cost (including risking a landslide?) in order to show that the RM66m land acquisition was not done in futility” …. it becomes an ego matter after that …… for those ignorant chaps in the KLSE listed company!

Sounds familiar? Sure it does! Najib admitted so …. see here. ”Medan Perang” will then evolve into “Medan Super Bungalows” to be sold at RM10 million each!

And there will somehow be the super-super-rich who will be “persuaded” to buy these luxurious Super Bungalows at a price considered pittance to them!

Sure, I can hear you saying ….. let the super-super-rich buy and suffer later when the Super Bungalows all come crashing and sliding down! But let’s not forget the poor residents living down the slope in those old linked houses …… they will be the ones who will suffer the most when that fateful day comes!

Sigh! 

Latest: DrRafick confirms the role of Khir Toyo and previous Selangor State Government in recent landslides (See here)

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THAILAND’S DEMOCRATS – “SHORT CUT” TO POWER
December 10, 2008, 11:50 am
Filed under: Asean, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , ,

Since my last commentary on Thailand, the Constitutional Court has managed to neutralise the government by ruling against Somchai Wongsawat, personally and the party he leads.

The MPs of his party and coalition partners are now re-grouping under a new party. But even then, they may be blocked …… with what I view as a long shot by the anti-government establishment (which involves people at very high places!).

This may be the reason why the opposition Democratic Party are wooing the “kataks” or “frogs” or the “Thaksin loyalists” to jump over to their side so that the Democrats can then form the next government …. and they seem to be making some head-way i.e. they got some “kataks” to join them. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Maybe Abhisit Vejjajiva (Democratic Party leader) took a leaf out of Anwar Ibrahim’s book …. difference being he may just achieve what Anwar could not!

Right now, it appears as though the middle class, educated class, military class (dressed to repress?), police class, judiciary class …. seem to know better….. and appear to be calling the shots.  And they seem to justify it in order to “protect the monarchy”! Problem is that they are a minority operating in a democracy!

So, are we actually seeing the truth of the matter that is being played out to the world at large?

Many were hoping that King Bhumibol would intervene in his usual just, serene and reverred manner ….. just as he had intervened in 1992 when the coup leader, General Suchinda, went one step further by attempting to appoint himself Prime Minister even though he was not an elected representative in a pro-military government that was voted in a subsequent parliamentary election! There was also Tun Thanom Kittikachorn (yes a Malaysian Tun-ship was awarded to him!) who fled Thailand after His Majesty’s intervention when students were shot dead by the military. Tun Thanom became a monk subsequently!

It was therefore most unfortunate that the King was ill on the day that he was to speak to the nation recently.

Let’s hope he gets well soon and as usual, lead the nation out of its current crisis. And let’s also not forget about Thailand’s other crisis down in southern Thailand with its disenchanted Muslim minority!

Somehow, I feel this will be one of the King’s most challenging issue facing him. There seems to be rising criticism about the way the crisis is unravelling to the point that the Economist was effectively banned in Thailand for criticising the King ….. “lese majeste” ….. click here for what was said in the Economist.

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VINOD SEKHAR’S “SUPPORTIVE CLINTON”
December 8, 2008, 8:41 am
Filed under: Ahirudin Attan, Malaysia, Rocky's Bru, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , ,

 

The recent “Bill Clinton lecture” in Malaysia was to be welcome respite to Vinod Sekhar, who has been in equal limelight prior to that ….. but for the wrong reasons. Maybe there was not enough national relevance for the likes of Malaysiakini, Malaysian Insider etc to report on this but it certainly has lessons for us to ponder on!

It all started with a legal claim against Sekhar’s company from Bruce Willis (of the “Diehard” movie fame) for the return of about US$900,000 owed to the latter. It was subsequently announced that the matter has been amicably settled.

However, Sekhar’s foes seem to smell blood ….. and have subsequently been on the offensive against him.

I picked up this follow up offensive in Rocky Bru’s web-site when he subtly connected on his blog page’s side bar,  a New York Times article reporting Bill Clinton’s lecture visit to Malaysia under the “BC Sekhar Memorial Lecture” (See here). The article does not make good reading for Sekhar and really questions how he managed to be rated the 16th richest man in Malaysia by Forbes (Click here)!

The New York Times article also said that the property he lives in is rented! This reminds me of a local newspaper report back in June 2007 about his 3 storey bungalow in Bukit Tunku that was to be sealed by the High Court bailiff. The matter was apparently settled with Sekhar’s side attributing the incident to a “misunderstanding”.

I remember Sekhar coming into prominence as a host in a TV show. He then went into the high profile “Bufori” sports convertible business with Tunku Imran under the STI group of companies. Needless to say, the venture failed.

Now he is into the environmentally friendly rubber re-cycling business that was purportedly initiated by his late father. His father was a well known former senior official of Malaysia’s Rubber Research Insititue.

I hope Sekhar gets out of his current predicament ….. and the only way to do it is to be perfectly transparent and honest about the whole episode(s) – current and past! His father was a significant influence on him. We certainly don’t want Sekhar to create the perception that he has lost his way after the passing of his father …. just as they are saying of current Prime Minister, Abdullah, after the passing of his beloved Endon.

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MALAYSIA’S “SLIDING CONNECTIONS”
December 6, 2008, 4:07 pm
Filed under: Malaysia, Malaysia politics | Tags: , , , , , , ,

I read with a heavy heart Malaysiakini’s report about the landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa.

It did remind me of an old Malaysian colloquial saying …. “No come, all no come. But once come, three or four would come!”

This expression seems to apply to the recent landslides that had occurred over the past one week or so. First, it happened in Ulu Yam, just on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur killing two young girls. Then it happened in the city, right between the buildings occupied by our foremost investment bank, CIMB (fortunately no casualties). And the latest taking place at the suburb called Bukit Antarabangsa or International Heights (todate 4 dead).

The latest trajedy at Bukit Antarabangsa is not very far from the more infamous one at Highland Towers, where just under 50 lives were lost in 1993.  I remember a few years later, then PM Mahathir noticed blatant clearing of hill-side areas whilst travelling in a helicopter over the same Bukit Antarabangsa area and ordering a stop to those clearing ……. but the development still carried on subsequently …. after taking “certain precautionary measures” on the part of the developers.

It is so ironic that only when lives are lost, properties damaged, thousands of people displaced that the government decides that enough is enough.

What about those cracks on the Middle Ring Road 2 at Kepong that required the access to be closed several times for rectification works? What about the hillside development at Medan Damansara that has been causing residents to cry foul of procedures not being properly adhered to? Remember the landslide near the entry point to Genting Highlands that took away lives?

How can we say that it is “First World Infrastructure but Third World Maintenance”? My God, the “Infrastructure” is also Third Rate. And that mentality permeates right through …. be it the outskirts (Ulu Yam), in the city (Jalan Semantan, Damansara) or the suburbs (Bukit Antarabangsa). Will the banning of hill-side developments really solve the core problem? See Najib’s promise here. We’ll wait and see, Najib.

I remember once as part of my job, asking a senior official/engineer of a company specialising in foundation works ….. you know, me a layman (as far as foundation work is concerned) seeking clarification on the adequacy of work done. Frustrated that he could not respond satisfactorily to my enquiries, he blurted out, “Look man, any collapse will not happen in our life-time!” At the rate that they are going, many of these calamities will take place during our life-time! It shows how our standards have seriously slipped down the scale!

And why have our standards slipped? It’s the lack of enforcement …..  and somehow this “lack of enforcement” has a close correlation with the “increase in corruption”!

This reminds me of a quote from David Putnam (now Lord) – “One of the biggest trajedy today is the inability of many people to make the connection between cause and effect.”

Sigh!

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COMING TO FORE – LIFE’S “STRIKING COMPARISON”
December 4, 2008, 3:24 pm
Filed under: Malaysia, Malaysia politics, Racial Issues, Racial politics, Religion, UMNO | Tags: , , , , , , ,

I came across a web-site (that I view once in a while) – click here and whose pictures had an immediate impact on me. I reproduce them below:-

   

 

  

Whilst this matter has been reported extensively by mainstream media and the likes of Malaysiakini, I do admit the pictures have an element of over-dramatisation. But the message is poignant …… that the representatives put into Parliament and State Assemblies by the People had better reflect on their roles!

Enjoying the perks of an elected representative is definitely one of the benefits of a job …. but when one “over enriches” himself/herself by abusing the position that had been entrusted on that representative ….. or even a senior government servant (as alleged by Lim Kit Siang [see here]) ….. will only add people to the ranks of the SILENT MAJORITY, who will then make their opinion known at the next general elections!

All eyes will be on how Najib leads the way!

 

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