Aha05192013

Kemaskini terakhir04:26:14 PM GMT

Back Ruangan Ruangan A Kadir Jasin -Other Thots

A Kadir Jasin - Other Thots

Whither credibility?

Pledges of closer supervision and tougher action by the authorities appear to have gone unfulfilled, as epitomised by several high-profile corporate misdemeanours. When will things change?

THE VERY PUBLIC, LONG-RUNNING SPAT BETWEEN Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and AirAsia Bhd does not appear to be abating.

It continues to be a case of a lack of honour and decorum among the nation’s corporate players.

Disputes, litigations, disciplinary action and criminal investigations involving Bursa Malaysia-listed companies, shareholders and top executives seem to be on the rise despite the corporate and enterprise governance mantra.

Pledges of closer supervision and tougher action by the authorities appear to have gone unfulfilled...

BN’S future hinges on UMNO

Regaining Malay support is the precursor to improving theBarisan Nasional’s chances in the coming general election. How hard is Umno working to fulfil this?

IT HAS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR SINCE TALK OF AN EARLY general election surfaced, and it could have come only from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders themselves, in particular, Prime Minister Datuk Sen Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, as they are the only ones who can decide when.
               
Since then, the speculation has...

Praying for the brave at MAS

That after numerous restructuring exercises Malaysia Airlines is still languishing is something of a shocker. The new people at the helm have their work cut out for them, for sure.

IT IS STILL NOT TOO LATE FOR ME TO SALUTE THE heroism of an old New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) colleague, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, who, on Sept 19, accepted the appointment as Malaysia Airlines Bhd’s Managing Director. Only the brave or the foolhardy would want to helm the airline.

Ahmad Jauhari had a...

A budget to woo the voters

While Budget 2012 dished out the goodies to appease the rafryaf for the impending general election, there is no guarantee that the voters will vote for the ruling coalition, as history has shown.

I WAS, AT FIRST, LOST FOR WORDS TO APPROPRIATELY and intelligently brand the Finance Minister’s 2012 Budget. In this era of branding, label is the key to selling. So say the branding gurus.

One has to be prim and proper to avoid being branded contrarian. And no commentator wants to be seen as...

Translating perception into reality

While the news that Malaysia has climbed five steps in this year’s Global Competitiveness Report compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum augurs well for the country, more needs to be done to counter bureaucratic ineptitude abuse of power and corruption to.further boost our image.

THE NEWS THAT MALAYSIA HAS CLIMBED FIVE STEPS IN this year’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) could not have come at a more trying...

Affirmative plan poser

NEW As the legacy of affirmative plans is slowly but surely being replaced by market-driven merit-based policies in the country, the dismal showing of some government-linked companies is proof that we are, perhaps, not ready to go the free market way at full steam.

ON JULY 8, PRIME MINISTER DATUK SERI MOHD NAJIB Abdul Razak dedicated Bandar Pusat Jengka in Pahang to the memory of his late father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, the country’s second Prime Minister and the man best remembered as...

Disrupted flight plan

With a dwindling presence globally and poor financial results, can Malaysia Airlines take on the likes of fast-expanding low-fare giant AirAsia and the soon-to-be-operating low-fare long-haul subsidiary of Singapore Airlines?

SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE AIRASIA X, THE LONG-HAUL subsidiary of the regional low-fare giant AirAsia Bhd, announced that the Malaysian Government had lifted restrictions on its routes out of Malaysia, I had written an article outlining my thoughts on the national aviation...

Merging for the better

The country’s bank consolidation exercise takes another interesting turn with the proposed takeover of RHB Capital by suitors Malayan Banking and CIMB Group Holdings. Whatever the outcome, it must not turn out to be a mega-merger for the sake of being the biggest without any real benefits for all parties involved, especially minority shareholders and personnel.

MALAYSIA’S SEE-SAW BANK CONSOLIDATION TAKES another turn. In the midst of a flurry of the issuance of banking licences to...

BN'S election poser

It would be unwise to rush into holding a general election at a time when it would seem that the ruling  coalition’s parties and their supporting machinery are not ready to work as a team.
 
AS TALK OF AN EARLY GENERAL ELECTION CONTINUES, a clearer trend is emerging. It concerns Prime Minister Datuk Sen Mohd Najib Abdul Razak’s approach to fighting the battle for the hearts and minds of the voters.
               
The Umno President and Barisan Nasional Chairman...

Even mighity PAP not spare

Although the ruling Peoples Action Party of Singapore won the recent election, it was its worst ever performance in the island-republics history as the Opposition made greater inroads into the Parliament. Other regional governments would do well to sit up and take notice.

NOBODY EXPECTED THE RULING PEOPLE’S ACTION

Party (PAP) of Singapore to lose the May 7 general polls, and when the results were announced, no one was shocked either that the mighty party had its worst outing in...

Whither good corporate governance?

While the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional sees ifs grip on Sarawak loosen in the recent state election, the Sime Darby merger is being investigated for insider trading. What has happened to credibility and transparency?
 
IN SPITE OF THE STATE-BASED SARAWAK BARISAN Nasional (BN) successfully retaining power in the April 16 state election, the rolling effect of the 2008 political tsunami continues.

 The BN’s monopoly of power in the resource-rich state was further broken. The...

MEGA PLANS, MEGA DUTIES

The recently announced mega property projects by the government, while on one hand bringing cheer to certain sectors of the economy, raises some pertinent questions on the other. Among them, would not such massive projects worsen the over-supply situation in the local property sector, and will local expertise be sidelined in favour of foreign consultants and cheaper imported labour?

 

DO WE NEED MORE RESIDENTIAL AND commercial space in and around Kuala Lumpur?

That’s the billion-ringgit...

CALLING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AT SIME

With losses running into the billions, the enlarged corporate behemoth Sime Darby is besieged by problems, among them a probe for graft and other criminal abuses. There has clearly been a lapse by both the management and board members. An overhaul is timely.

 

WHEN SIME DARBYBHD’S CHAIRMAN TUN MUSA

Hitam and President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Ahmad Zubir Murshid feted a band of bloggers at the Sime Darby Convention Centre last year, everything about the iconic plantation-based...

POVERTY ERADICATION A MUST FOR NEW MODEL

The New Economic Model, said to emphasis a high-value and high-income approach, must not under any circumstance ignore the development of the rural sector, as this would have an adverse effect on bridging the rich-poor gap among the people.

 

DEPENDING ON HOW THE PROMISE MADE by Prime Minister Datuk Sen Mohd Najib Abdul Razak to give equal emphasis to rural development under the New Economic Model (NEM) is crafted and implemented, it would either lead to large-scale improvement of the...

PNB MUST CONTINUE TO ENSURE BUMIPUTERA STAKE

The New Economic Policy has spawned numerous entities to improve the lot of the Bumiputeras. While some have succeeded and opened the door to non-Bumiputeras, there is still a lot to be done, especially in a tough economic climate.

 

IF THERE IS ONE CREATION OF THE NEW Economic Policy that cannot be faulted for any serious shortcoming, it has to be Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).

The state-owned Bumiputera investment agency was established with the purpose of investing on behalf of the...

TAKING THE PEOPLE’S VIEW INTO CONSIDERATION

TAKING THE PEOPLE’S VIEW INTO CONSIDERATION

Judging from the series of formal consultations and private discussions that have been held recently, it would seem that the government is keen to get feedback from the people on its new series of policies and programmes. But now that the channel of communication is open, the rakyat’s views, requests and demands must be taken seriously, as otherwise, the repercussions could be far-reaching.

AFTER ANNOUNCING A SERIES OF POLICIES, programmes...

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION QUANDARY

While it is acknowledged that the government should be more transparent and efficient in its pursuit of market-friendly affirmative action, the real question is whether the market wants to be a willing partner in any such action, especially since the recent global economic crisis has shown that the market cannot self-regulate.

 

THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN INTRODUCED via the New Economic Policy (NEP) 40 years ago continues to be hotly debated.

Although it came to an end a full decade ago...

DELIVERING THE GOODS

While on the one hand the government’s recent win in the Hulu Selangor by-election shows that the people are still behind it, there are other areas in its efforts to make good the promise of transparency and accountability that are still lacking, as indicated by the recent boo-boos concerning the mysterious handing over of two blocks of petroleum concessions off the coast of Sabah to Brunei and the shooting dead of a 15-year-old boy in Shah Alam by the police.

 

IT’S TIME FOR THE MIC...

WILL THE NEW ECONOMY WORK ?

As we await the Prime Minister’s new economic model for the country, wecan’t help but wonder what exactly it is going to be. Clear communication is vital to enlist the cooperation of all in implementing it and forging ahead as a nation.

 

Later this month, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak will announce the country’s new economic model. Last Dec 22, he said the new economic model would form the basis and direction of the country’s future economy.

Since taking over...

TOWARDS EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT

That the recently launched New Economic Model has a vision of a more equitable society is laudable. But in our pursuit of a high-income economy, we cannot ignore the interest of the poor and the needy and take a short-term approach at the risk of jeopardizing the long-term well-being of the economy.

 

ONE OF THE KEY PROJECTS UNDER PRIME Minister Datuk Sen Mohd Najib Abdul Razak’s recently launched New Economic Model (NEM) is the privatization of government-owned land.

Announcing the...

RESULTS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

From absent MPs in the Dewan Rakyat to missing aircraft engines, the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak has been dogged by problems in the nine months it has been in power. Unless the Prime Minister starts taking a tough stance on issues such as these, the ruling coalition could pay a heavy price in the next general election.

 

DESPITE HAVING LAUNCHED CATCHY SLOGANS and a slew of policy and programme initiatives, the government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri...