Ada apa dengan MAS?

The 'early retirement' of Malaysia Airlines MD/CEO Datuk Ahmad Fuad Dahalan signals the beginining of Tan Sri Nor Mohd Yakcop’s second wave ‘peace time restructuring’ of Government Linked Companies (GLC).

Tan Sri Nor is a seasoned back-room campaigner.

He, as senior adviser, was the architect of the Malaysian Islamic banking system and was also the pioneer of Bilateral Payments Agreement, a central bank payments clearing system aimed at facilitating Malaysia’s trade with the developing countries without having to resort to the costly correspondent banks in London, New York, Frankfurt.

In the latter part of the Mahathir's Administration, Nor was the central figure in the fixed exchange rate regime introduced as a response to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis which lasted for seven years was recently dismantled by Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi.

But what Nor will be most remembered for his role in a currency trading at Bank Negara in 1992/93 when the country lost billions in the currency market.

He was then the Adviser in charge of the forex department.

Under his watch Bank Negara lost RM15 billion within a span of two years.

Going by conventional accounting practice, the RM15 billion forex loss wiped out Bank Negara’s entire paid up capital (RM100 million) and its general reserves massed over its history (RM3.6 billion).

In short, if Bank Negara was a private bank it would have been declared insolvent.

Nor and Bank Negara’s Governor - the late Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein took the rap. Three days after the Governor left, Nor tendered his resignation.

In his resignation letter he stated that ‘it was the most honorable thing to do’.

Nor remained low for a while before returning to Corporate Malaysia as the Head of Research for Rashid Hussein Securities and later as Vice President of Abrar Group International (AGI) and later as CEO of Abrar Corporation Berhad (ACB) when he, via his family company bought an interest in Mun Loong from the owner of Benta Plantations.

In a short span of time, Nor disposed Mun Loong’s retail division, and the company, under a new name ACB, found a new core business in infrastructure development and construction.

According to the now defunct business magazine - Corporate World, ACB was involved in the construction of the RM180 million Express Rail Link project, the construction of two rail projects for KTM Berhad costing RM400 million and government hospitals worth RM700 million. It was also involved in a tunnel project in Putrajaya and property development in Nilai.

Lima many others who were affected by the 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis, AGI was not spared, later was taken over by Danaharta.

The rehabilitation of MAS back to financial viability is perhaps Nor’s biggest assignment to date.

Since the break up of Malaysia Singapore Airlines Ltd. in 1972, MAS has been inconsistent.

It has made some profits and lose some money.

But, on the whole MAS has lost more money than it had ever earned.

The situation was not so dire, when it was under the ownership of Bank Negara, but, it was under the stewardship of Tajudin Ramli, that MAS's financial situation took turn to a worse.

Under Tajuddin, MAS went on a spending spree and as a result, accumulated RM9 billion in debt, and as a result was re-nationalised in 2000.

Some analysts said that, it was the re-nationalisation of MAS that became the 'straw that broke the camel's back' - in the relationship between Dr Mahathir and Tun Daim Zainuddin, and as a consequence, Daim was asked to leave Dr Mahathir's Cabinet.

In MAS' short history a lot of things have been done to make MAS a viable entity.

It was privatised in 1985.

1o years later, it was sold to a private entrepeneur (Tajuddin).

Barely 5 years later, MAS was renationalised.

Nothing seemed to have worked.

On the manegement side, in the past 33 years, MAS has been headed by some of the best brains in the country.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok was once the MD of MAS.

So did, the late Tan Sri Zain Azraai, the Oxford educated former Secretary General of Finance Ministry.

The late Tan Sri Azizan, the Chairman of PETRONAS - the richest and best managed corporation in the country and was also once the Chairman of MAS.

But it seemed that nothing has worked.

And now the task of nursing MAS to financial viability has fallen on Nor’s lap.

But, can Nor do something what others before him has failed to do?

ada apa dengan nuklear?

The increase in oil prices has prompted some to think of generating electricity from nuclear power.

The "go nuclear" calls was made by parties from Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) as well as Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Education Training and Research in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CETREE).

These parties see nuclear as a "clean" source since the nuclear plants themselves do not release air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide or nitrogen oxides.

This is not the first time the nuclear option for power generation is being considered.

At the height of the OPEC induced oil crisis of 1974, the Minister of Power, Technology and Research Mohamed Yaacob (later Tan Sri and UMNO’s last Menteri Besar in Kelantan) announced that the Government will be setting up the National Atomic Energy Commission.

The National Electricity Boad was ordered to prepare itself to go nuclear within 10 years.

However by 1980, the nuclear plan was shelved - arising from the huge discovery of oil and gas off the coast of Terengganu by Esso.

Another huge dampener in Malaysia’s nuclear ambition was the meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Pennsylavania in 1979.

The explosion halted further development of power generation by nuclear in the United States.

As a result of this incident the construction permits for nuclear power plants issued by the US authorities had fallen from 82 in 1980 to 9 in 1990.

No new nuclear power plants has been built in the US since 1996.

Now, there are only 104 nuclear power plants in the US compared to 112 in 1990.

The Malaysian pro nuclear lobby perhaps is oblivious to the dangers of nuclear industry’s safety record.

The nuclear industry’s safety record is also nothing to shout about.

Perhaps they have forgotten of the tragedy at the Lenin Power Plant, Chernobyl in April 1986.

The explosion contaminated large areas of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. A 2005 UN report estimates that around 4,000 people will ultimately die from Chernobyl accident-related illnesses.

Japan is another country which has faced a few accidents at its nuclear power plants.

The latest accident took place in August 2004, when four workers were killed and injured seven others after a pipe carrying superheated steam ruptured at the Mihama plant in Fukui prefecture on the Japan Sea coast.

The incident marked the second fatal accident in less than five years at a Japanese nuclear facility.

As a result of these mishaps, the Japanese Government has put plans for the construction of 11 new generation of self-sufficient reactors in deep freeze.

If Russia and Japan, two of the most technologically advanced nations in the world could not even ensure a 100% safety record at their nuclear plants, what more can we expect from Malaysia where a simple cable trip can take TNB more than 24 hours to rectify?

My advice to Malaysia’s very own pro-nuker: don’t waste your time taking Malaysia to the highway of mass destruction.

Spend a few hours of your time instead reading "Poisoned Power" by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin and "The New Nuclear Danger" by Helen Caldicott.

Hopefully it will open your eyes to the dangers of nuclear power.

ada apa dengan civil servant?

The problem the nation faces when losing a great visionary such as Dr Mahathir is the loss of the Government’s ability to see at the big picture.

Take for instance the classification of the Straits of Malacca as a ‘war zone’ by a group of London based insurers.

In early August, the Llyod’s Joint War Committee, a London based advisory body for insurers, declared the Straits of Malacca as a high risk area of war and terrorism.

This declaration has resulted in the increase of transportation costs as shippers has to fork out more for insurance cover.

The impact of this declaration couldn’t be more severe for Malaysia.

It is the world’s 17th largest trading nation. Trade accounts for more than twice its GDP.

Llyod’s declaration means that goods imported to the country as well as exported overseas will be higher.

By natural extension, the competitiveness of Malaysian goods in the international market could also be affected, as exporters from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand are not affected by Llyod’s ruling.

If this continues, manufacturers who are currently exporting goods from Malaysia would relocate their factories to other countries which are not subjected to Llyod’s declaration.

Industries which are totally dependent of foreign investment such as electrical and electronics will be the hardest hit.

Massive layoffs will follow and consequently the Government will loses billions in revenues from taxes and exports duties that could be collected from these companies.

This scenario is very real.

It is about time the Government realise how serious the situation could become if nothing is being done about this.

Government’s inaction so far is an evidence that the entire Government machinery is hibernating in a deep slumber.

Not a single Minister or even Senior Civil Servants from the relevant Ministries and Agencies such as the MITI, Economic Planning Unit, NEAC and Transport Ministry has offered their two cents of worth on this issue.

This ‘tidak apa’ attitude is shocking.

When the British left Malaya, our Civil Service was the best in the entire Commonwealth.

That’s the reason why we have reacted well to the shocks that has happened in the past, from the Communist insurgency, the first oil crisis in 1973, the global recession in the mid 80's and the transformation of the landscape of the economy from agrarian based economy to an industrial economy.

And now, 48 years after Merdeka it seems that the Civil Service has loss its shine and glory. It has not been able to execute the job that they are suppose to do: providing advice to the political leadership.

If this ‘tidak apa’ attitude continues, will the last person to leave Malaysia, please shut off the light?