Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger

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WSJ editors misunderstand Malaysian Politics

3 Votes

May 26, 2012

WSJ Editors misunderstand Malaysian Politics

by Rusman Ahmad–Guest Writer

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial on on May 24, 2012 titled “Malaysian People’s Court“. In it the influential newspaper challenges Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to admit to committing “civil disobedience” at the April 28 Bersih Rally and accept the consequences of that action.  The paper says rather cynically “If Mr. Anwar wants to practice civil disobedience, he can’t pretend to be innocent at the same time.”

The Wall Street Journal seems to believe that the primary purpose of the gathering on April 28 was to protest the Public Assembly Act, which states in Section 4(2)(c):

     "a person commits an offence if he organises or participates in a street protest.”

More:

http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/wsj-editors-misunderstand-malaysian-politics/

World Bank warns there will be no high income economy for malaysia without implementing structural reforms

Media statement by  Dr Chen Man Hin,  Life Advisor DAP in Seremban on 24th May 2012

WORLD BANK WARNS NAJIB TO IMPLEMENT STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC REFORMS OR THERE WILL BE NO HIGH INCOME ECONOMY FOR MALAYSIA AND MANY MALAYSIANS WILL REMAIN POOR.

the World Bank in its bi-annual report on East Asia and the Pacific said that in view of the slow down in the economy in the years ahead, due to a massive world debit problem, the GDP of Malaysia would slow down to 4.6% this year and 5.1% in 2013

He advised that Najib should stop fiddling with the economy with his multiple reforms which have not brought encouraging progress. He advised Najib strongly to implement structural reforms to bring about a strong recovery  in the economy.

Structural reforms means that the New Economic Policy must be stopped and in its place, implement free market policies like those in Singapore, Hongkong, S Korea and Taiwan.  A free market policy propelled the growth of the economies of these four

ASIAN TIGERS, each of which has a per capita income of over US $20,000

For Malaysia to have a high economy, the GDP must grow by at least 6% a year, which would make Malaysia a high economy nation by 2020

Two months ago, Najib gave a glowing report and boasted that Malaysia had a per capita income of US$9500, and would attain high economy status by year 2020.   These predictions of Najib have been brushed aside by the World Bank

Many a time before, the World Bank had repeatedly warned Najib to change and scrap the NEP in order to quicken and strengthen the Malaysian economy.

If Najib wants to improve the livelihood of the people, he should tarry no longer, but should immediately accept the advice of the World Bank.

For the sake of Malaysia and for the poor households living in towns and kampongs,  Najib must listen this time.

Dr Chen Man Hin

Dap life advisor

Speed up reforms to join high-income club, World Bank tells Malaysia

Source: The Malaysian Insider

By Shannon Teoh

May 23, 2012

Najib previously said the economy needs to grow by an average of six per cent annually in order for Malaysia to achieve high-income status come 2020. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — The World Bank is urging Malaysia to expedite economic reforms and move beyond “quick wins” if it wants to achieve Putrajaya’s target of being a high-income economy by 2020.

In its bi-annual East Asia and Pacific economic update, the bank highlighted subsidy cuts and broadening the tax base as key initiatives to have stalled over the past year after cost of living spiked ahead of an impending general election.

The bank warned today that “downside risks have eased but persist” as Malaysia’s export orientation means that “ongoing risks to the global recovery constitute risks for Malaysian growth.”

It said the trade balance will subtract from growth as “strong domestic demand, combined with moderate export growth, will lead to faster growth in imports”, resulting in gross domestic product (GDP) growth coming in at 4.6 per cent for this year and 5.1 per cent in 2013, assuming a continuation of the global recovery.

“The government’s transformation programmes registered notable progress, but the challenge now is to go beyond quick wins and accelerate the implementation of more difficult — but critical — structural reforms that lie at the core of boosting the economy into high-income levels.

“There is momentum to the government’s reform agenda, but implementation could be accelerated,” the report said, referring to the Najib administration’s ambitious Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) launched in 2010 to double per capita income in 10 years.

The World Bank added that Malaysia should increase co-ordination of social safety nets and education, build capacity within the civil service to lead reforms, and work towards consensus in key areas such as education reform, subsidy cuts and broadening the tax base.

Although a goods and services tax (GST) had been mooted soon after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak came into power in April 2009, the government has said it will not be implemented before the general election that must be called within a year.

Subsidy cuts had also begun last year, but as inflation hit a two-year high of three per cent in March and persisted until December, Putrajaya’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) introduced instead a new key result area under it transformation plan to deal with cost of living.

The World Bank’s recommendations come a day after Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah said it will be “very tough” to meet the five to six per cent growth projection from Budget 2012.

The Tambun MP said the government would instead focus on the central bank’s revised target of between four and five per cent, which is lower than the growth of 7.2 per cent and 5.1 per cent in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

He said this was due to the impact on trade arising from China’s suddenly cooling growth amid the stuttering recovery in the United States and the persistent euro zone crisis.

The three markets make up three of Malaysia’s top four trade partners. Dismal economic data for April released last week suggest that China was heading for a sixth straight quarter of slowing growth, raising alarm bells in financial markets already worried about a slump in the euro zone.

Bank Negara will announce the first quarter GDP this evening, with a Reuters poll of economist projecting a figure of 4.5 per cent, a third consecutive drop since the 7.2 per cent registered in Q2 2011.

The business wire also reported that Malaysia’s export growth in the first quarter more than halved to 4.4 per cent from 9.9 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Strong economic growth is crucial for the Najib administration’s plans to cut the fiscal deficit with public debt at RM455.7 billion or 53.8 per cent of GDP at the end of last year, just shy of a statutory ceiling of 55 per cent.

The government has announced a slew of construction projects for intra-city rail and highways in the coming years, using infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy.

The government’s New Economic Model (NEM) forecasts more investments from the private sector although a number of the companies have Putrajaya’s sovereign wealth funds as their majority shareholders.

Putrajaya is also betting on development in the Iskandar region in Johor and various projects around the country to push Malaysia into the club of high-income nations.

Why the PM should scuttle the coming FGVH IPO

— Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider
May 18, 2012

MAY 18 — Prime Minister Najib Razak last week announced a “windfall” of RM15,000 to each Felda settler family.

The planned payout is to come from the initial public offering of the Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH). As part of the IPO of FGVH, Felda will be disposing 1.21 billion of its current FGVH shares at RM4.65 each, and from which Felda stands to make RM5.62 billion if these are fully taken up.

Among the targeted anchor investors are Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and other national and Bumiputera funds.

Ahead of the share sale to be held by June, Felda settlers have been given an assurance by Najib that the listing would yield profits. He had also lashed out at those opposed to the scheme, saying that they are merely trying “to confuse” the people.

At this stage it is not clear yet who is trying to confuse the settlers or other Malaysians since the planned IPO is a highly complicated transaction whose full details have not been thoroughly unravelled and evaluated by professional market analysts. This is because many analysts are fearful that they may antagonize the government and end up on the wrong side of the authorities.

Felda accounts for around 18 per cent of the country’s total palm oil output. The idea behind FGVH is to turn this newly created corporate entity into a “global conglomerate”.

The blogger Pirates of Putrajaya, who is one of the few to have studied the considerable documentation pertaining to the IPO, explains that what FGVH is offering to the public is its 49 per cent interest in Felda Holdings, of which 51 per cent is owned by Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd (KPF) and its one golden share held by the Ministry of Finance.

More illuminating examination of the convoluted deal is to be found in the Pirates of Putrajaya blog.

With such a huge amount of newly-minted money in the works, it is only natural that the FGVH listing should be subject to scrutiny with regard to its political and socio-economic implications.

One is that the Felda folk are a vital constituency numbering 112,635 settlers who will be receiving payment as a “hadiah” timed coincidentally just before imminent elections.

Two, more important than the voter headcount, the so-called “windfall” for the settler electorate is to reinforce the political message that Umno has always taken care of the Malay rural constituencies.

Three, it is impossible to downplay suspicions that the purpose of the exercise is to fill the Umno war chest on the eve of an imminent election.

To read more on the financial repercussions on the Felda settlers in the long term, please go to the Pirates of Putrajaya website.

Even if readers are not convinced by the political analysis of blogger “Pirates”, it is clear that settlers are not getting the best deal out of this FGVH listing.

Why list FGVH and not FHB?

Felda Holdings Bhd (FHB), which is the entity that manages the oil palm plantations, is the jewel in the crown that makes most of the profits. (FY2010, it achieved net profit of RM614.2 million on turnover of RM14.9 million).

Felda’s plantations and related businesses are parked under FHB, which also manages some 355,000 hectares leased from Felda in addition to the 500,000 hectares belonging to settlers that it oversees.

FGVH is presently owned 100 per cent by Felda (i.e. the government) and its major source of profit contribution — i.e. 85 per cent of its earnings — comes from FHB.

KPF is owned by 220,000 stakeholders, of which half are pioneer settlers. KPF is therefore the vehicle where the interests of the settlers are in alignment.

FGVH also owns MSM, a listed refined sugar producer; Twin Rivers, a loss making investment in downstream oleo chemical companies in North America; and a joint venture business in the Middle East with IAATEC, in distribution of specialty fats.

Without FHB, the FGVH IPO will not fly.

In CPI’s opinion, the FGVH listing is less beneficial than listing Felda Holdings itself, which makes most of the profits.

Why shift profits into a company with poor performance and with no strong track record to justify a listing, and with the company belonging to the settlers getting the short end of the deal?

It would not only be simpler and more straightforward, but also commercially more logical and less costly to list FHB instead of FGVH, where KPF has a 51 per cent interest and FGVH has a 49 per cent interest.

Why is it necessary to do a swap when the bulk of the profit comes from FHB? The profits are in the upstream oil palm plantations, not the downstream oleo/specialty fats etc or refined sugar business that FGVH owns. The integrated strategy to justify using FGVH is just a distraction.

A successful listing of FHB would probably have at least as high, if not higher market capitalisation than that of FGVH, and will be worth more to the KPF stakeholders.

The better alternative is for the listing of FHB. Of course, if FHB were listed, most of the benefits would accrue to KPF and the settlers, and there will be no scope to use a vehicle like FGVH for potential ‘monkey business’ to benefit a horde of other interest groups.

Readers are reminded that there are 980 million shares on offer to the public. Of this 980 million, 286.8 million will be on offer to local/foreign institutional and selected investors, 419.5 million to Bumiputera institutions and selected Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, 200.6 million to eligible employees and 72.9 million to the Malaysian public.

How and to whom the bulk of these 980 million shares are allocated is where manipulation can take place.

In a nutshell, the FGVH structure would appear to be a lot less efficient in value creation for shareholders of FHB than just simply listing FHB itself.

There is no need to have another layer of management in FGVH, as well as going through all the costly and unnecessary restructuring that does not only fail to add value to the market capitalization but also does not maximize the value to KPF’s shareholders.

The settlers and stakeholders of KPF appear to be much worse off in agreeing to the deal, notwithstanding all the sweeteners. This is because we must ask the question of who will actually benefit from the FGVH listing. It is certainly not the settlers, especially if they could end losing a controlling stake in their jewel in the crown (Felda Holdings), in substitution for a minority interest in FGVH.

If the prime minister has been advised that the current listing is the best way to benefit Felda settlers, he has been wrongly advised. He needs to do a quick turnaround, scuttle the listing in the interests of settlers as well as in the national interest, and go back to the drawing board. — cpiasia.net

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2012/05/19/why-the-pm-should-scuttle-the-coming-fgvh-ipo/

Tunku Aziz left DAP at own volition

DAP getting intensive flak from UMNO and its lackeys (utusan, perkasa), although it is quite clear that TA left on his own accord.

No leader castigated him or spoke ill of him, although TA claimed that Guan Eng was crude, unlike his father LKS, and probably because LKS said TA was a man of principle and integrity (before he jumped ship)

Going by the record, the first intimation of his intention to jump ship was when he opposed the Bersih 3 protest demo station on the grounds that violence would occur. By opposing, TR has gone against his principle of Transparency, because Bersih 3 was to fight for transparency in wanting clean, free and fair electoral reforms.

TR also forgot that past heroes like Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King also led peaceful demonstrations in their struggle for justice and reforms.  They found nothing wrong with demonstrations.

A few days later, the BIG SURPRISE CAME.  TA made a startling declaration by calling  the people to support  PM Najib in his reforms to uplift the economy.

TA was recognised as the paragon of Transparency which opposed corruption and injustices. But, by calling for people to support Najib, he was publicly acknowledging that he approves the action of corrupt and racist leaders

The new TA declaration means  that he condones corruption and injustices, and he does not champion the ideals of Transparency anymore.  He has adopted the ideology of Najib

It is quite clear that TA has made a dramatic change in his career, and has rejected his former ideals of Transparency, by declaring open support for PM Najib who heads UMNO,  the repository of racialism, corruption and conspiracies.

Since TA has espoused PM NAJIB as his new master, it is natural that DAP and TA must part ways because DAP does not follow the ways of corruption, racialism and injustices.

Dr Chen Man Hin

Negeri royal demands Hisham’s exit

*This article posted in Free Malaysia Today here

Zefry Dahalan

 May 3, 2012

 Tunku Harmy says the Home Minister must take responsibility for the violence during the Bersih 3.0 rally.

SEREMBAN: A member of the Negeri Sembilan royal family has demanded the resignation of Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, saying he must take responsibility for alleged police brutality during the Bersih 3.0 rally last Saturday.

Speaking at the grand finale of the “Jelajah Jom Ubah Demi Rakyat Negeri Sembilan” ceramah series on Tuesday night in Seremban, Tunku Harmy Tunku Hannan said the police had no reason to turn violent.

He said he was at the rally from noon to 11pm.

“The environment was just like we were going for a picnic at Port Dickson,” he told the large crowd. “There were elderly people and children as well. I didn’t see any bad intentions among the protesters.

“Instead of protecting the protesters, the police became aggressive and beat the protesters just like a pack of wolves.

“Some people in Bersih T-shirts were wearing boots. This makes me suspicious.

“I can’t think of any other theory except that (the violence) was well planned. Hishammuddin must take the blame for the havoc and duly tender his resignation.”

Tunku Harmy also called Hishammuddin a traitor, alleging that he was responsible for allowing foreigners to hold Malaysian identity cards.

“It doesn’t matter whether the MyKad is genuine or fake. As the minister in charge of national security, he should take responsibility for letting things go out of control. The card is given to foreigners to (help BN) win the election,” he said.

“Go and check at Chow Kit Road, Selayang and other parts of Kuala Lumpur. There are countless numbers of foreigners doing business who have MyKads.”

Other speakers at the ceramah included Negeri Sembilan DAP chief Loke Siew Fook, state PAS chief Mohd Taufek Abdul Ghani and Rembau PKR chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin. But the star speaker was former information minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.