Rising costs worry oil palm planters

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:52 PM PST

The minimum wage law, which took effect on January 1, is meant to incentivise corporate Malaysia to be less reliant on cheap labour. However, the Malayan Agricultural Producers Association tells Ooi Tee Ching that planters will lose money and consumers, would face higher food bills, if palm oil prices were to fall below RM2,000 a tonne

KUALA LUMPUR: OIL palm planters, including smallholders, will bleed red ink if palm oil prices were to dip below RM2,000 per tonne, said Malayan Agricultural Producers Association (Mapa).

Following the introduction of the monthly RM900 minimum wage in Peninsular Malaysia, palm oil production costs have gone up to between RM1,200 and RM1,900 per tonne.

In an interview with Business Times, Mapa executive director Mohamad Audong explained that the higher cost of production is mainly due to costlier fertiliser, more expensive foreign worker recruitment fees, higher transportation cost and various taxes imposed by the federal and state governments. 

"When the government set the monthly minimum wage at RM900, palm oil prices were trading at around RM3,000 per tonne," he said. 

As the minimum wage law is currently enforced by the Human Resources Ministry, palm oil prices are averaging RM2,300 per tonne. 

"If prices were to drop below RM2,000 per tonne, oil palm planters, including smallholders, will be in big trouble."

Planters who do not comply with the minimum wage risk a maximum fine of RM10,000 per worker. For continuous offenders, they will be fined RM1,000 per day and repeat offenders would face a RM20,000 fine or five years' jail or both.

Mohamad went on to highlight that as the government sought to propel Malaysia into a high income nation by introducing monthly minimum wages of RM900 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak, it may have overlooked the possibility that planters could suffer severe profit erosion while consumers face higher food bills.

He explained that oil palm planters are price takers. A planter's earnings have always been at the mercy of pricing in the world's commodities markets. If palm oil prices were to plunge further, planters will definitely lose money.
"Don't forget, many of our planters borrow money from banks and issue bonds, of which bankers and insurance companies are subscribers." 

Depending on the year of planting, Mapa calculated that palm oil production cost of these heavily-geared planters ranges between RM1,248 and RM2,975 per tonne.

"If palm oil prices were to fall further, some planters may face difficulties in repaying the banks. They'll then hire less hands and there'll be less harvest. 

"With less cooking oil available, consumers will have to contend with inflationary food bills." Every year, the government pays more than RM1 billion in subsidy to keep cooking oil price at an affordable level of RM2.50 per kg.

"As you can see, the minimum wage policy works best if commodity prices are on the uptrend, not when prices are falling," he said.

Mapa represents 184 plantation companies in Peninsular Malaysia, with estates spanning across 700,000ha. These oil palm planters employ some 125,000 workers at the fields, of which 80 per cent are foreigners.

Last year, profits of plantation companies listed on the stock exchange declined by an average of 40 per cent as palm oil prices fell from a high of RM3,600 per tonne to a low of RM2,200 per tonne. 

The loss of profits was also compounded by the RM200 monthly wage increment to workers of plantation companies since September 2011.

Mohamad noted the cost of getting food ingredients from farm to table have gone up but planters are not able to testify the same for productivity.

With the minimum wage law taking effect this year, daily wage has gone up from RM27 to RM34.62. Following this, Mapa estimates that plantation companies' profits are likely to shrink by another 10 per cent or so, provided that palm oil prices do not plunge further from the current RM2,300 per tonne.

UOBKayHian, in its latest recommendation to investors, downgraded the plantation sector to "underweight" from "overweight", citing that the new minimum wage will raise pressure on production costs and compress planters' operating margin.

Meanwhile, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, having proposed that transportation and housing costs for foreign workers be included in their wages at the National Economic Council earlier this week, said he will instruct four MCA ministers to also raise this issue in the next Cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. 

He said these costs, including the annual RM1,250 levy, should be regarded as part of the minimum salary so as to ease employers' burden.

In a recent statement, Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan concurred that the RM1,250 annual levy on foreign workers should be shifted back to the employees in view of the minimum wage policy.

As it is now, oil palm planters are already providing free housing, water, electricity and healthcare for its workers in the estates.

In response, Mohamad said planters welcome the proposal but noted it would take a long while for it to take effect, even if all parties agree to it.

"Even if the National Economic Council were to agree to the proposal, it would still need the agreement from the National Wages Consultative Council. Following that, it will also take a few more months for the government to re-gazette the new way of calculating minimum wages."

When contacted, a National Union of Plantation Workers spokesperson said the minimum wage policy is being enforced by the government and "it is most appropriate that the Human Resources Ministry comment on this matter".

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam could not be reached for comment as he is on overseas travel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lessening employers' minimum wage burden


KUALA LUMPUR: The government will assess the severity of manufacturers' burden following the implementation of the minimum wage law, said Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin.
Effective January 1, employers must pay a minimum wage of RM900 a month in Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 a month in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.


Hamzah noted that having a national minimum wage in Malaysia is a new development and as such, there are bound to be some teething issues.


"Timber and furniture exporters are not opposing the minimum wage law. The dissatisfaction is more of the way the salary is being packaged," he said. "They appeal that subsidies (including transportation and accommodation) be deducted from the RM900 minimum wage."


Timber manufacturers and exporters had also proposed that the government annual levy of RM1,250 be borne by the foreign worker.


"We will forward their appeals to the Human Resources Ministry," he told reporters after chairing a dialogue session with furniture and timber panelling exporters here yesterday. Also present were officials from the Home Affairs Ministry and Ministry of International Trade and Industry.


While the government wants to encourage mechanisation and automation wherever possible, Hamzah said the government endeavours to ease the manufacturers' burden.

Friday sermon: ‘Enemies’ of Islam staking claim over ‘Allah’ to confuse Muslim

Source by: The Malaysian Insider

By Clara Chooi
Assistant News Editor

January 25, 2013

JAKIM cited “scientific” research to back its assertion that Christians have no legitimate claim to the word “Allah”. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 ― Federal religious authorities warned Muslims nationwide today of attempts by “enemies of Islam” to confuse them into believing that all religions are the same, prolonging the debate over the usage of “Allah” by Christians even as it drives a deeper wedge between the country’s two most dominant religions. 

In today’s Friday sermon prepared by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) here, Muslims were told that being too open-minded and allowing Islamic rights to be abused by other religions was a “dangerous” act.

“It is very clear that, today, enemies of Islam are seeking to divert and undermine the Muslim community’s faith.

“They are united among themselves and are attempting, with their many tricks and ways, to stake their claim on the usage of ‘Allah’ in their scriptures,” the sermon said.

JAKIM insisted that “Allah”, a word that millions of Arab Christians and those in non-Arabic-speaking lands use to describe their God, belongs to Muslims and is an exclusive right to those who profess Islam as it is clearly to prevent Muslims from becoming confused over the true identity of their God.

Citing unnamed “academic” research, JAKIM said that the word “Allah” was never found in the Bible as God ― to Christians ― exists as the Trinity of “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”

The general term for the Holy Trinity, said the religious department, is “The Lord”.

As such, JAKIM insisted that the National Fatwa Council’s 2008 decision on the matter was accurate in stating that “Allah” cannot be used by those of other religions and cannot be likened to the gods of others.

“We would like to say that as Muslims who believes in Allah and his messenger, then it becomes our responsibility to preserve the sanctity and defend the word ‘Allah’ in the best way possible, and should there be elements of insult and abuse, it should be stopped in accordance with provisions in the Federal Constitution.

“Muslims must be firm in protecting the sanctity and the identity of their religion,” JAKIM said in the sermon.

The authority also warned that painful punishment would await disbelievers in the afterlife, noting that these “symptoms” of Islam’s collapse would only destroy the glory and prestige of Muslims here.

The “Allah” dispute, which first erupted after the watershed Election 2008, remains a hot-button topic in the run-up to this year’s polls.

Debate resurfaced last month after DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is also the Penang chief minister, called on Putrajaya in his Christmas message to lift a ban on Malay-language bibles in Borneo Malaysia.

Hot on the heels of the DAP leader’s remarks, several state Rulers and Islamic religious authorities reminded non-Muslims of state laws banning use of the word, despite conflicting with a 2009 High Court judgment that ruled “Allah” was not exclusive to Islam.

In his defence of the issue, Muslim cleric Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said in a recent lecture that Muslims who dispute the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims are those confused about their own faith.

In a 14-minute video clip posted on YouTube, the former Perlis mufti explained that while the government has a right to restrict usage of the Arabic word for God, it should not use religion as an excuse because Islam allows for followers of other faiths the right to call their gods “Allah” if they are referring to the Supreme Being.

Mohd Asri highlighted that Jews and Christians in the Middle East have been using “Allah” from long ago and continue to do so without any confusion — an argument adopted by non-Muslims in Malaysia, particularly the churches.

“Firstly, when did Christians first call Al-Masih the son of Allah? When? Yesterday? Did it start with the Penang gang? Or has it been since a long time ago? When?” the 42-year-old Islamic studies lecturer said in a seminar that was video-recorded and posted online under the title “Penggunaan Nama ALLAH Oleh Bukan Islam [Use of the name ALLAH by non-Muslims]”.

Al-Masih is the Arabic name for Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe to be an aspect of God, but the Muslim community here has argued that the use of the word “Allah” should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word denotes the Muslim God.

But the scholar had also insisted that he was not defending the Christians but simply stating a fact.

“Allah refers to the Supreme Being, it does not refer to the idols. Allah refers to the essence of God,” he said, stressing that “basically, they can if they are referring to the Supreme Being”.

But stepping into the fray was Malay rights leader Datuk Ibrahim Ali who rejected all claims to “Allah” by non-Muslims, even invited Malays last Saturday to burn Malay language Bibles that use the word.

Ibrahim’s remarks sparked an even greater firestorm of protests and resulted in several police reports lodged against the controversial Pasir Mas MP.

Islam allows non-Muslims right to ‘Allah’, says ex-mufti

By Debra Chong
Assistant News Editor

January 17, 2013

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Muslims who dispute the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims are those confused about their own faith, popular Islamic scholar Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said in a recent lecture as the religious row on the subject continues to hog headlines nationwide.

In a 14-minute video clip posted on YouTube last Saturday, the former Perlis mufti explained that while the government has a right to restrict usage of the Arabic word for God, it should not use religion as an excuse because Islam allows for followers of other faiths the right to call their gods “Allah” if they are referring to the Supreme Being.

Mohd Asri (picture) highlighted that Jews and Christians in the Middle East have been using “Allah” from long ago and continue to do so without any confusion — an argument adopted by non-Muslims in Malaysia, particularly the churches.

“Firstly, when did Christians first call Al-Masih the son of Allah? When? Yesterday? Did it start with the Penang gang? Or has it been since a long time ago? When?” the 42-year-old Islamic studies lecturer said in a seminar that was video-recorded and posted online under the title “Penggunaan Nama ALLAH Oleh Bukan Islam [Use of the name ALLAH by non-Muslims]”.

Al-Masih is the Arabic name for Jesus Christ whom Christians believe to be an aspect of God, but the Muslim community here has argued that the use of the word “Allah” should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word denotes the Muslim God.

“Let me ask, are there Jews and Christians in Medina? Are there?” Mohd Asri asked, before nodding.

“Are they alive? Did the Prophet let them live?” he asked again, and then raised his right hand as if to stem any argument.

He explained that Christians are considered by Muslims to be mushirikin or polytheist because they practise syirik — while they believe in a Supreme Being, they associate godly qualities to another.

“Because they say ‘Beside Allah, apart from Allah, there is another God, therefore they are called musyrikin [polytheist]. If they don’t believe at all in Allah, that’s called an atheist,” Mohd Asri said.

He related that if Muslim Malaysians were to visit the Middle East, they would meet Arab-speaking Christians and Jews who would spout the words “Daud”, “Ibrahim and “Alhamdulillah” referring to the prophets David, Abraham and the phrase “Praise be to Allah” respectively because they were commonly used there.

“Okay, that is the reality. Confused? Those who are confused are those who are not clear on their aqidah [faith],” the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) don said.

He insisted that he was not defending the Christians but simply stating a fact.

“Allah refers to the Supreme Being, it does not refer to the idols. Allah refers to the essence of God,” he said, stressing that “basically, they can if they are referring to the Supreme Being”.

He explained that it would only be wrong for non-Muslims to use “Allah” to refer to deities, and gave as an example Lord Murugan, the Hindu deity that draws thousands of worshippers annually to the Batu Caves temple complex housing a giant-sized statue of him.

“For that, we can have a guideline,” said the popular preacher.

He also highlighted that many state anthems in Malaysia contain “Allah” as part of their lyrics and reiterated his previous opinion that it would not be practical, even ludicrous, if non-Muslims were barred from uttering the word.

Diving into the crux of the “Allah” tug-of-war, Mohd Asri said while Muslims may think it strange, “like there is a hidden agenda” and question the motives of Christians with some accusing the latter of turning followers of Islam into apostates, he stressed that Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have been using the word in their native-language bibles for a long time and the allegation should not be used as an excuse to bar Christians from an established practice.

“Say, because of our situation, we don’t want tension, so we allow. Don’t say, who allowed apostasy,” he urged.

Mohd Asri acknowledged “Allah” to be a hot-button topic in Malaysia and could stir chaos, saying the government had the right to draw up rules to restrict usage of the word, but reiterated that Islam allows it.

“Certainly from an Islamic perspective it is can [be used] but in Malaysia, the situation does not allow it. Not wrong to allow. After that can argue it out in Parliament,” he said.
He drew a comparison with how some Muslims say it is haram or forbidden for a non-Muslim to enter a mosque despite having helped build and furnish the house of worship.
“Don’t like some people say, don’t allow non-Muslims into the mosque. They will be puzzled. They put in the carpets, the dome, the roof, paint and when it’s all done, they are forbidden to enter,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

“So, the non-Muslims get a headache,” he quipped.

The 14-minute clip has drawn over 62,000 views, 545 likes and 16 dislikes since it was uploaded on YouTube on January 12 by TV Sunnah, an Islamic broadcaster.

Race and religion are inseparable issues in Malaysia, where the Malays — who make up 60 per cent of the 28 million population — are constitutionally defined to also be Muslims, and therefore are subject to the dictates of the state Rulers who are each the head of Islam.

The country’s supreme law states that Islam is the religion of the federation but also provides for other religions to be practised freely.

The “Allah” dispute, which first erupted after the watershed 2008 Elections, remains a hot-button topic in the run-up to this year’s polls.

Debate resurfaced last month after Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng called on Putrajaya in his Christmas message to lift a ban on Malay-language bibles in Borneo Malaysia.

Hot on the heels of the DAP leader’s remarks, several state Rulers and Islamic religious authorities reminded non-Muslims of state laws banning use of the word, despite conflicting with a 2009 High Court judgment that ruled “Allah” was not exclusive to Islam.

Subject: The Reasons Behind ...SHOCKING

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

All of us know what happened in Perak. However what many do not know is why it happened. If you can remember, it took one week for the Perak and Selangor State Governments to be sworn in after the March 2008 General Election. The Sultans of these two states wanted to first 'discuss the matter' with members of the Pakatan Rakyat State Assembly. The Sultans then set certain terms and conditions before agreeing to swear in the new Pakatan Rakyat State Governments.
 
This one-week gap allowed the old Barisan Nasional State Governments time to remove and destroy quite a lot of very damaging evidence of their wrongdoings.
 
This delay also allowed Barisan Nasional to negotiate the possibility of PAS teaming up with UMNO to form the State Governments in Perak and  Selangor. UMNO even agreed that PAS would become the State Ministers. And, to add icing on the cake, UMNO even paved the way for PAS to implement Islamic laws in these two states.
 
But PAS remained loyal to their two other Pakatan Rakyat partners, PKR and DAP, and they declined UMNO's offer. Finally, the two Sultans had no choice but to swear in the Pakatan Rakyat State Governments in Perak and Selangor. But this did not stop the state royalties from plotting to bring down the governments behind their backs.
The Sultan of Selangor was quite prepared to consider the whole matter a fait accompli. After all, Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor had a very clear majority, making it difficult to buy off so many in the State Assembly. But Perak was another matter altogether because Pakatan Rakyat's majority here was much thinner.
 
As soon as the new State Government was put in place, the Sultan of Perak began asking for this, that and the other. The new State Government would have been tolerant of some of the demands of the Perak Palace just to maintain a good relationship with the royalties but what the Sultan and his family wanted was just too excessive. That was when the Pakatan Rakyat state government had no choice but to reject the Sultan's overbearing demands.
 
And this, of course, upset the Sultan. So when Pakatan Rakyat lost its majority in the Perak State Assembly, there was no persuasion required to get the Sultan to  agree to swear in a new Barisan Nasional State Government.

Initially the Sultan was unsure if he should kick out the present State Government in favour of one ruled by Barisan Nasional. When the Pakatan Rakyat State Minister, Nizar Jamaluddin, went before the Sultan requesting that the State Assembly be dissolved to make way for fresh state elections, the titular head said he would think about it first. That was immediately followed by Najib's visit where he successfully persuaded the Sultan to reject any request to dissolve the State Assembly thus paving the way for a new Barisan Nasional state government to be sworn in.

Najib's 'persuasion' was simple.
 
Nazrin, the Sultan's son, should not be the Raja Muda of Perak, which means  he should not be in line to become heir to his father's throne. In the event of the Sultan's death, the federal government will, in other words, not support Nazrin as the next in line. Look at what happened in Negeri Sembilan: Despite the Yamtuan appointing his son to be the regent, he failed to become his heir.
 
So Nazrin's succession to the Perak throne ultimately depends on the goodwill of the federal government. But only if it is a Barisan Nasional government will this goodwill be there. If Pakatan Rakyat remains in power, then expect Nazrin to pay the price when the time comes to succeed his father.
 
Furthermore, the Sultan and his family had asked for a lot of things from the Pakatan Rakyat State Government; all of which were rejected.
As a counter overture, UMNO assured the royal family they would get anything they wanted - if only the Sultan sanctioned a takeover by the Barisan Nasional as the new State Government.
 
And with that Pakatan Rakyat's fate was sealed. The Sultan swore in Barisan Nasional as the new State Government and Pakatan Rakyat was jettisoned to the opposition aisle. So here's the real question: What did the royal family want that Pakatan Rakyat rejected and which Barisan Nasional acquiesced to?
Perhaps this might shed light on how this family became one of the richest of state royalties in the country in a short space of a few months and why Pakatan Rakyat chose to reject its demands.


Reason #1: Lot 183578

UMNO placed on the silver platter a piece of state land known as 'Lot 183578' for the Sultan. About 600 acres in size and located in Tanjong Tualang in the district of Kinta, this parcel of land is parked under the name of the Sultan's proxy, a certain Mohamed Khaair Johari Hj Osman.

Reason #2: 1,000-acre timber concession UMNO handed over to the Sultan a vast 1,000-acre timber concession along the 11km Gerik-Kupang Highway in Ulu Kenderong, Gerik, Hulu Perak. This concession was supposed to be given to the Universiti Utara Malaysia. For reasons we now know, it was then revoked and given to Pusat Kreatif Kanak-Kanak whose Chairman is a certain Raja Datuk Seri Ashman Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah.

Reason #3: Compartments 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 49 UMNO gifted the Sultan seven lots of timber concessions at compartments 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and 49 in the Kenderong Forest Reserve in Hulu Perak. These lots, which amount to about 600 acres, are now parked under two proxy companies belonging to the Sultan, namely, Syarikat Zotonjaya Sdn Bhd and Kibaran Wang Sdn Bhd.

Reason #4: 10,782 hectares to the Sultan's son-in-law UMNO is scheduled to grant approval to a reforestation proposal that
involves some 10,781 hectares of which 5,781 hectares is at the  south-side Gunung Besout Forest Reserve in and 5,000 hectares at Pondok Tanjung in the Larut Matang district. The company that will freely get this huge project is Permatang Utama Sdn Bhd (Co. Reg # 513583-D) whose Executive Chairman is Datuk Seri Ismail Farouk Abdullah, the son-in-law of none other than the Sultan himself.

Reason #5: Casuarina Hotel was sold for a song. Furthermore the same Datuk Seri Ismail Farouk Abdullah was handed the state-owned Casuarina Hotel in Ipoh for a song. Priced at a paltry sum of RM43 million, this lucrative prime land property is easily worth magnitudes more on the open market. The land alone would have been worth far more.

It is not that the Perak royalty is a destitute lot. Far from it (if you look at the cars they indulge in). A more likely reason is GREED.

The Sultan's daughter, Raja Datuk Seri Eleena Azlan Shah happens to be one of the Directors of GAMUDA BERHAD. She is also the country's 25th richest person with assets worth over RM773 million, making her the second richest woman nationwide after Puan Sri Chong Chook Yew, who, with more than RM1 billion in assets, is positioned at number 18.

Gamuda Berhad has been awarded more than RM10 billion worth of contracts. It operates and maintains 230 kilometres of highways including a major township. With the handouts given by the federal government through cronyism, they are also a property developer with four township projects featuring no less than 30,000 houses.

So there you have it.

All of you in Perak, particularly the Malays, have long assumed that the opposition did not show the Sultan of Perak the respect due him.
What all of you hadn't known is that he does not deserve yours or anyone else's respect in this country. Many up till now were also unaware why the he so wanted Pakatan Rakyat kicked out of his beloved state.

Well we hope they do know now.

UNQUOTE

So for those who vote in the State of Perak, I do hope you'll know what is your immediate course of action come GE13!!!

CHEERS !! VOTE FOR CHANGE & STOP THIS PLUNDERING OF THE NATION'S RESOURCES THAT BELONG TO THE PEOPLE OF MALAYSIA...& FOR THE SAKE OF OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS!!!
Seize the day!