IJN - To sell or not to sell...

Our DPM announced triumphantly that IJN would be sold to Sime Darby.

Trail of the news can be found here which many thought culminated when DPM announced that it would be sold...

PM says takeover only if poor taken care of. A very caring PM if you asked me but I think he left his brains somewhere. How can you sell off something and hope to influence or retain control on how they are being run?

Then Sime Darby came out with a statement that the fee structure will remain! WOW! What a Stupid statement... are you telling me that it will remain forever? Or was it a deceptive statement to cheat? HERE.

Of course another idiot and apple polisher in the form of current health minister who has been at best disgusting when the whole melamine scare hit dairy products, he needed an "advice" from ex-health minister Mr. Gigolo to tell him to accept Singapore's list to reduce the ministry's tasks as good, and at the moment, he is still unable to tell if 100 deaths from denggi is not enough to kick the butt of his ministry into action. Well, his introduction was a bit long, but this is what he said.. Govt will continue to REGULATE IJN's fees.... err... like how they regulate electricity tariff is it? Or toll concessions? Or payments to IPPs? Even the roti canai seller?

Well, the above news are all just mere whines from me. The crux of the news is here.

NO OBJECTION TO SIME DARBY STAKE IN IJN! Declares Najib.

I commented in Cikgu's blog the other day, that our dear Najib is trying to find more creative means to patch the hole caused by the failure of the EuroCOCKter deal gone sour... for now... or so it seems that the DPM is trying to exert his influence and make a pre-emptive statement ahead of the PM in this matter.

Then the mother of all spin came out...

THE CABINET DEFFERED IJN's SALE

and in a face saving spin, they depict the government as caring and sensitive in that they will have to deliberate it further.. HERE. The thing here is what is Najib trying to say? First sale, then no sale and his excuse is this...

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the study would focus on the interests of the rakyat, especially in guaranteeing that the Government’s social responsibilities towards the people would not be sacrificed.

The deferment, according to Najib, was made due to the negative reaction from the public following the Government’s announcement that it had agreed in principle to the takeover plan.

The statement made his sound as stupid as he looked. As if he did not conduct a comprehensive study and survey before he made the SALE statement. Ooops, I forgot, they are BN.


Now two questions:

1. Why did the DPM made the statement of sale then made a U Turn just a day after making it?
2. If the cabinet is caring and sensitive, the idea should have been dead a buried there and then? Why must it yet to be discussed?

Now, let me try to understand why the statements were made in that order. Najib is DPM and PM in waiting. He would have thought, he commanded the respect or wanted to see who in the cabinet are his YES men and who are not. Making the statement would weed out those who were not so co-operative and if he were to assume the seat next, his task of choosing his cabinet is made much easier. And while it is being deferred, it is being deferred until he assumes office in March 09. The deal will still go through come March 09. Make no mistake about it.

Scenario two takes a small twist. DPM made the statement, trumping his No.1... for want to show power, but when PM made the "caring" statement, he decided to muscle the cabinet into denying his No.2 glory for now. Can we assume that there is an acute power struggle from within? Can it be seen that DPM does not have the sort of absolute support that he seem to have as depicted by the Umno nominations for position of Presidency?

What a week!

Well, its only been about a week since I was gone from the blogging world yet... so much has happened.. and although I was away from rambling about the world and Malaysia in particular, I was never far away from a copy of newspaper or my tiny device that I use to read news... sometimes I feel that am getting old, the fonts seem "blur"... haha..

Now with some breathing space in between now and Christmas, am feeling Christmasy but sadly the events lately shows that we are far from it. Top of my mind was... guys, remember the guy? Nick Leeson? The famous one man that brought down Barings Bank with his rogue trades? What we have heard these few days probably made Leeson's folly to be a kids stuff... Bernard Madoff. I mean, how can one man command USD50billion worth of funds? Maybe his resume is impressive, but while it is understandable that gullible Malaysians will fall prey to "get rich quick" schemes, it is unthinkable for international banks to fall for the same or rather more impressive scheme helmed by the ex-boss of Nasdaq? If the financial market has not suffered enough, one man himself commanding the funds more than enough to save US automotive industry! And considering the fact that Washington is debating for weeks on a USD30+billion rescue package, we then hear of one man squandering USD50billion.

Then while all that has been happening, outgoing President Dodge Bush... dodged a pair of size 10. I bet my bottom dollar that Bush was the star dodge ball player in his days!

Closer to home, we have the MACC and JAC bills that has caused much concern to Malaysians. While I think the MACC was a commendable effort, the JAC reeks of about the same shit in different pail. The executive still holds power in appointments over the judiciary? I rest my case. Many people have talked about it and it sounds stale, so I let the others talk about it while I try bitching about other matters... let me put on my thinking cap to see what else I can bitch on and return later... for now, I just need a break, its been a rollercoaster week and my body is screaming out for a break!!!

Landslides and Tragedies... whose fault is it anyway?

My heart goes out to families whose members perished in the landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa.. anguished by the thoughts of people losing people they loved... also to those whose lives were taken by the terrorists in Mumbai and closer to home some unwarranted deaths on the roads like the one in Tangkak that claimed so many lives.

I just wonder what has the government done to avert all these disasters. Much as I was busy and too busy to write, my heart tells me that I need to write something on all these. News over the past few days really akin to rubbing salt onto the wound. While we see needless deaths due to negligent drivers and ill maintained express busses, we have the authorities telling us that the fourth passenger in the car need not buckle up. And their freaking excuse was only 5%-6% of vehicles carry the 4th passenger. They need not be issued a ticket either.

Try reading between the lines.... the laws should have been black or white... either you break the law or you did not. Right? Now, if the 4th passenger would not be issued a summon, then he/she is not breaking the law.. right? Then why must 3 flers at the back buckle up and the 4th be exempted? Now, do we have the statistics that say that rear passengers who do not buckle up had caused more deaths than the motor cyclists that carry an entire family on their two wheelers? Or deaths to motorcyclists without crash helmets? Are there any statistics to show that vehicles that zipped past traffic lights after it has longed turned red caused more deaths? Or could it be that cyclist or motor cyclist nipping in a one way traffic or riding against the flow of traffic causing more accidents on pedestrians than rear seat passenger do to the two in front? I was at best flabbergasted by the news that came out. It seems that the authorities just wanted to make some money from retrofitting some cars with rear seat belts at best in coming up with such a ruling.

Imagine you are driving... two kids in the rear seat. I think all the more these two would be "brazenly" breaking the rule. Now would the police expect:

1. The driver to be focussed on the road or
2. To be busy looking back reminding their kids to buckle up and be less focussed on the road?

Which is more important?


That aside really, coz I thought it was a big issue.. but not after I read our PM and DPM's oh so holy statement that all hillside developments be STOPPED. I was like wow... "should this not have stopped since Highland Tower tragedy? Isn't this too little too late?" Then... there was this piece of news today which compelled me to write. HERE.

Looting by the authorities and refusal to help buried victims.... and of course the police deny it. No one will know for sure... but if its coming from the victims who were there first hand... who would you believe? I would believe the authorities naturally if they had in the past held the high moral ground and proved themselves blameless and honorable but am afraid, the scars of their past does not allow me to believe them... and with statements coming from CPO Khalid, I am all the more suspicious after his statement on the detention of the candlelight vigil in PJ.

Indeed there are many things to write about... just too busy to do all that at the moment. At the top of my mind too was the Jerit folks who were arrested in Johor and their machines "torched" by arsonists... co-incidence? Arsonists working hand in hand with the police? And I am suppose to believe and trust the police? Gimme a break!

A day's silence...

Much as I would like to comment on what is happening in Malaysia, I think I would like to reflect on what is happening around the world today and what Malaysians are doing or are going to do to face the impending doom... if it ever happens.

India is the latest country now be ravaged by terrorism. More than a hundred were killed with scores other injured. Thailand... paralyzed after demonstrators took over the airport. The financial crunch is crippling Europe, America and the world over...

Well, one can say that we do not have any terrorist attacks wut.... well... yeah... but isn't the ease of attacks by these small pockets of militants drive fear into us? As cities grow, the need for security and the cost of it escalates exponentially if we are to ensure that our way of life is not being threatened by this phenomenon. The question is, who is going to bear the cost of it?

An attack on Mumbai is probably just a reminder of how vulnerable these places are. This come after a similar attack in Pakistan... prior to that, Bali, Indonesia. I guess, the question now is.. where are these terrorist going to attack next? How well are we protected against all these?

As if the economic quake is not bad enough, we have to grapple with the fact that there are a group of people who will stop at nothing to inflict more misery upon others regardless of color or creed. Where is the unified voice of the world in denouncing this? Where is the voice of moderates who claim that they form the majority? What would they do to prevent these perverted acts of carnage from happening in the future?

My heart goes out to the families of those perish in Mumbai. Whether its the government that has been unfair does not justify such acts of cowardice. This and other acts of terrorism are nothing more than acts of cowards. Show yourselves if you dare... stand for elections if you dare. Let the people judge you.

While all this is happening, I do hope that the Indian authorities do not conduct another slip shod investigation and point the root of matter to Kashmir militants. That seem to me has been their favourite punching bag all these years.

No Liquor? No Problem.

It seems that Pakatan is having a problem... Alcohol Ban!

Wow... must be something serious... But on the flipside, I think its a wonderful proposal. For one, if you flip through your newspaper on a daily basis, one can see that there are many licenses issued for the sale of liquor to individuals... I do not think that they cannot sell, but, there must be a place and location to do all these businesses.

How many times you come across a drunkard while having your dinner or supper at a coffee shop? I have... many times... and with kids around, its definitely not a pretty sight. And, is it good for the economy??? Well, making such stuff easily available certainly makes some money for some people.. but at the end of the day... is it good? I think not except for those people that sells and make money out of it.

While I am not a drinker, I do drink occasionally. Not beer but I love a good whiskey or red wine. Certainly I do not like to do this in a coffee shop. A pub or club or bar would be nice but definitely not a coffee shop. So was PAS really wrong in proposing that? I think they have done reasonable homework to come up with this. If we go through the BM version HERE... there are exclusion clauses..

Bagaimanapun, tambah sumber-sumber, semakan semula ini tidak melibatkan premis lain seperti hotel, kelab malam, kedai ubat Cina, pasaraya besar dan jualan oleh pemborong.

To a certain extent, I like that ruling... it makes sense. Bad news for drinkers though... a good rule to help them kick the habit... make the roads safer for all... and with that in mind, I also hope that the state government do something about the Mat Cemerlangs...

What else is important?

Anwar's motion on economy rejected.


"I am rejecting the motion to discuss, although it is specific and of public interest, it is not necessarily an immediate concern.

"Already during two different instances - the Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Oct 30 and the parliamentary committee on Nov 20 - have already dealt with this issue," said Kiandee.

See Kiandee, as long as it is being debated, I am sure the issue has not been dealt with comprehensively, and we are talking about an issue that will plague ALL Malaysians maybe with the exception of cronies.

What else is more important then???

Banning yoga... making tomboyism illegal... snooping on couples rather than catching criminals? Well maybe that is... in Murder is a Lesser Crime than Sodomy.

TIME: How does Islam perceive homosexuality?
Abdul Kadir: Homosexuality is forbidden in Islam. It is a crime worse than murder.

Wow.... I am speechless. So, blowing a person up with C4 is a lesser crime than playing with another consenting butt?

TIME: What about those who say that people have a right to choose who they want to be with?
Abdul Kadir: What right are you talking about? This is a sin, end of story.

This Kadir fler... playing God? But somehow from this interview, I get the feeling like he is talking pretty much like the Mamak Zam during his interview with Al Jazeera and that Al Botak in his interview with BBC Hardtalk...

TIME: What about gay women?
Abdul Kadir: We have never arrested lesbian women. There are no complaints, maybe because it is difficult to gauge who is a lesbian.

Now, who says Islam does not discriminate women? Maybe they do not understand them enough to not discriminate them.. maybe its an advantage eh?

Now for the jewel in the interview...

TIME: What happens when gay men are arrested?

Abdul Kadir: We charge them in court, but before that we put them through what we call Islamic counseling sessions. They recite the Koran everyday and we will tell them they have committed a grave sin.

TIME: Do these people change?

Abdul Kadir: It is difficult to make them change; it has to come from within. I know there is very little effect. Out of 100 people, only one will change.

TIME: If your approach is not working, then why not abandon it?

Abdul Kadir: No, we have to tell these people they are doing something very wrong in the eyes of Allah [God]. It is a major sin. Gay people think being gay is a fashion.

We can't change them, yet we are doing it.... what he is not telling them is that its money down the drain.

Secondly, these mofos do not have any other ideas to educate the people who are being "fashionable". Don't you think that this interview makes him look.... Utterly STUPID? Any word to describe?

Weekend Getaway...

Its been a hectic month and with holidays coming at a premium, I thought, since it was school holidays, I might as well take a break and give my kids a surprise. After all they were asking if we were going anywhere at all these holidays.

Its early though we do have something planned this December so, my wife and I thought it would be great to have a short weekend break up on a hill resort... so Camerons it was. Was a short 3 hour drive from KL to Camerons... it was about 18 months since we were last up there. But this time round, we thought we would give Equatorial a miss and decided to try something new... we gave Century Pines a go this time round.

Booking for the hotel was a breeze. It was just a click away. However, to truly experience Malaysian hospitality, we just need to be Malaysians. I am sure many of us have gone on holidays and the norm would be check in time to be at latest 2pm. This hotel is simply out of the world. I was told to check in at 3pm when I arrive at the reception table! No greeting, no smile, just an unexpressive look and... "your room is not ready. come back at 3pm. We are fully booked." Then I glance around the parking lot, its... well.. empty. Then I drove down to their basement park, its... well... empty.

My wife was aghast... it was 12.15 noon and we thought we would check in, put all our stuff in and then go off for the evening for lunch and some walk-a-bout in the cool weather. So, being a "diplomat" I asked the duty manager what are their policies. He dutifully told me that he would work on it and promised to call me back by 2pm to tell me my room is ready. We went off for lunch and 2pm came and went... no calls..... (typically Malaysian).

We went back to the hotel, well, now it has become their policy that they do not greet anyone and there were now a few more guests checking in/out.... and the mono-syllable girl now would not even dare to look up at me, while the other gave me the same reply when I asked her about my room... then I asked for the Duty Manager... and well, this reply is a gem.. "He has gone out to buy some groceries." My jaw dropped and was speechless for a few seconds, then I asked for the GM...

As usual her task was to do damage control as I rattle off a flurry of comments.... In Malaysia, after all these years, I learnt a few things... if you do not demand for your rights, you will be sidelined. I got my room in 10 minutes... and a free extra bed+breakfast thrown in as well...

This post is not to rant about the holidays or what you could get for being a pain in the arse but, really, its more of the level of understanding their job that is important. Imagine one being at front office, you are the face of the organization and if you show a face that in cantonese, looks like being tiu-ed a thousand times the night before, that is not going to endear you to the guests, would it? Your "guests" expect to be treated with respect and dignity. After all, they pay your monthly pay-check and I am sure they expect to be accorded some level of service.

The term, one can take a person out of the kampung but you cannot take the kampung out of the person sums up the whole episode. Had the same experience in Langkawi early this year as well, when the staff was apathetic to the cause when you have cockroaches crawling all over, instead of appeasing the guests by offering an upgrade without any fuss, they handed a bottle of Mortein to the guest. And guess what happens when you spray insecticide into the nest??

Now, back to my "experience". I find it really disheartening... really.. Century Pines is a wonderful hotel with a lot of promise but delivered little. Its great location, wonderful lush garden... with a bit of landscape and some fun activities for the guests and family activities at the hotel proper would have given much value to the hotel. The rooms were adequately appointed, I think we loved the super king sized bed... the timber flooring gave it warmth and felt cleaner than carpet... the coffee house with a portion of al-fresco dining area is great under such weather condition. I think everything else stopped there.

I would really recommend the hotel to everyone if they do not mind the rude front office staff attitude and just wanted a clean and comfy room for the evening at Cameron Highlands... just nice for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids.

Double Whammy...

First Government went on the offensive that wow! Petrol Price goes DOWN!!! They kept their promise.. then... WE WILL DECLASSIFY TOLL CONCESSION AGREEMENT!

WOW!! WOW!!!

Then, the whammy... Sharir talking nonsense.. and PLUS after years of screwing us rakyat with more than 100% increase in toll charges since its inception is "helping out" by dishing out 10% discount on toll charges for usage from 12midnight to 7am..... 10%??? I leave it to your imagination if the 10% is an insult or a gift.

I guess we rakyat cannot do anything but feel glad and thankful to BN.... so guys.. go down on your knees and give thanks and praise to BN for being so thoughtful! Petrol price DOWN... Toll DOWN.. that must call for a celebration... uncork the champagne folks!!! We are gonna save so much money!!!

Great! We pay more for fuel!

Is that it?

Sharir says that Govt has ceased petrol subsidies!

Adding salt to injury, he says that the government is making "some money" if fuel is at RM1.92. (ie the already increased price before the lunacy of the government brought the price to RM2.70/liter).

Now see if this statement made any sense.

At present, the cost price of RON97 is below RM1.61, said the minister. This means that consumers are currently paying 39 sen above the actual price.

Shahrir said even after considering the 19 and 12 sen revenue per litre going to the energy companies and kiosk operators respectively - the government can still marginally profit from pump prices at the RM1.92 per litre level.

Moreover, the energy companies and kiosk operators pay the government in the form of taxes.

Now... government realized that they are going to lose revenue from Petronas due to lower prices.. but aren't they saving on subsidies already? How much was it last year? 50+ Billion (or was it RM7bil? The number changes to suit their fancy? Anyway, from my archive of articles I have noted that the reported subsidies were about RM56billion! Anyway... Fine... Fine.. they are paying back in cash to Malaysians this year... how bout next year? So, isn't taking out the burden of 7bil sufficient in covering the shortfall in taxes from Petronas? Why do they want to make profit? Are we going to get better medical facilities? Better universities??? Better schools? Better public transportation??? Didn't they say that by increasing the fuel prices they will give us better public transportation??? Have we seen any improvements??? And this nitwit has the gall to tell us that they now want to make some PROFITS????

Now... get this.. the noted statements in RED! Petrol Kiosk operators are paying in form of taxes... and please read it in conjuction with my article yesterday...

Meanwhile, petroleum dealers said they would feel the pinch with the latest fuel price reduction.

Malaysian Petroleum Dealers’ Association acting president Abdul Wahid Bidin said: “We hope this reduction will be the last. Otherwise, we won’t be able to plan ahead and doing business will be very difficult.”

Why is our dear Sharir trying to "protect" the profits of these folks? I am sure if these people find that the business is not rewarding, some other people would only be too glad to take over. Anyway, who are the operators of the petrol kiosks?

They pay taxes????? You make me laugh Sharir... these are all Sdn Bhds.. and do you know what people do with Sdn Bhd???? Its an entity for individuals to evade taxes... wait.. let me rephrase that, evading tax is an illegal action... MINIMIZE taxes...

So Sharir, tell me... you are helping some mofos to keep their profits at the expense of the rakyats??? Is that it? So, we poor rakyats who earn so much more lesser than these petrol station operators, have to pay higher fuel charges so that these mofos can maintain their "profits" so that they can PAY taxes back to the government???? Can you now provide us rakyat with the amount of taxes paid by ALL the petrol stations in Malaysia???

Are we Malaysians so gullible and stupid to even believe Sharir and all the nonsense he is telling us???

Petrol Down Again...

Is it good news? RM2.00/liter?

Ever wondered if this is about the lowest it will go? Sharir says that they will cap the lowest price to RM1.92... remember that?

Now, does this sound like deja-vu?

Meanwhile, petroleum dealers said they would feel the pinch with the latest fuel price reduction.

Malaysian Petroleum Dealers’ Association acting president Abdul Wahid Bidin said: “We hope this reduction will be the last. Otherwise, we won’t be able to plan ahead and doing business will be very difficult.”

And how could they feel the pinch???? hint.. hint... when the price it at its highest... they were reaping huge profits!!!! Now their profits are down due to lower prices! Bloody profit swines! These buggers just want to make huge profits regardless of situation... selfish rent seekers!

I wonder how would the plan and doing business be difficult when in other countries where market price mechanism is in place? They will just have to plan within the context of volatile prices... if they are unable to do that, then they CANNOT be business folks.. Imagine these are the buggers that complain that credit card commission is eating into their profits when prices are up.. now they are freaking complaining when prices go down... And are they the only ones that is having difficulty doing business???? Geez....

So, do you all think that even if crude goes down to USD40/barrel, they will cap the price at RM1.92?

Wait, before that, lets look at how our DPM and soon to be PM spins on government keeping to promises to reduce price...

He said the people would be angry with the Government because prices of goods were still high.

“The Government had kept its promise but traders are not doing their part,” he said.

My my.... my... my... Its the freaking government's fault in the first place that the prices of goods today remain high! What is there to blame the traders??? Remember dear Najib, traders work on demand and supply.. as long as there is demand.. why should they reduce price? The government in their stupidity has allowed the traders this opportunity to increase price. Don't they know that prices of goods are sticky.. it won't go down after it has gone up? Was he just born yesterday????