MCA Faces Identity Crisis?

It's sometimes hard to read MCA these days. At times, they'll try to play 'hero' to the public by voicing out on certain issues - which they should rightly do, but at other times, they'll contradict themselves especially it appears, when there is a possibility of angering their "big brother".

Newly elected political comeback kid, MCA deputy president Chua Soi Lek on Thursday said that "it was time to change the concept of power sharing within Barisan Nasional."

He said that the oft-used slogan of ‘Ketuanan Melayu', or Malay supremacy, that indicated a master and servant relationship was unacceptable.

"We accept Malay leadership, but not Malay supremacy... When we say we reject 'Ketuanan Melayu', we are not challenging the Malay special rights. It is enshrined in our constitution and nobody can take that away at the present moment."

Well, without taking into consideration who made the statement, the content of it sounds like a good statement to me, something that I would say too.

But 2 days later, the MCA president himself, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, the newly elected "maverick" seems to have surprisingly decided to put in all sorts of disclaimers to Chua's statement.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek's remark that the concept of Malay supremacy was no longer relevant, is not the party's stand, party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said today.

"It is his personal view. The MCA's stand will be based on a resolution made by its president or state chairmen," Ong told reporters after chairing the Johor MCA liaison committee meeting here today.

I actually raised my eyebrows when I read the above report, both in Utusan Online, Sinchew Online and in The Malaysian Insider. Now has it got anything to do with dotted lines connecting Datuk Seri Ong's statement to the following statement by UMNO leaders?

From Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein who

...described those questioning the Malay supremacy concept as insincere and only pursuing their personal political interest.

From former Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad who asked MCA

...not raise issues which could hurt the feelings of other races but instead focus on efforts to rebuild the party."Umno could also bring up many issues, but what is the point? What is important is that we clean up our own houses.

Or from UMNO Secretary-General, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who said

...there is no point of ketuanan (supremacy) if Malays are not the masters... He should look at the incidents in Mumbai and Bangkok and not be emotional when making a statement.

Go figure.

Who Is In Charge of Licensed Money Lenders?

Malaysia is flooded with many "licensed" money lenders who we read about often in the newspapers. They are often viewed as licensed "ah longs" who have legal basis to lend money but uses not necessary so legal means to recover debts.

Here's a little trivia for you. Which Ministry is in-charge of these "licensed money lenders"? Well, if you are "new" to Malaysian politics, it's not the Ministry of Finance, where it logically should be. After all, logic is not what is the strength of our Government's administration (e.g., 13 agencies under different ministries takes care of public transportation).

What is possibly most surprising when I discovered this fact about 2 years ago is that money lenders are actually licensed by Ministry of Housing and Local Government. Yes, you heard (read) me right. How on earth is money lending activities related to this Ministry, you are likely to ask. Well, to understand the above, you'll probably need to understand the background to the Barisan Nasional administration, that is the Housing & Local Government ministry has always been the domain of component party, Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA). So you can further infer the connection between the political party and the business the Ministry is tasked to "regulate".

Well, out of curiosity of what the official answer from the Ministry is going to be, I asked the Prime Minister the following question:

...[apakah] sebab kuasa perlesenan syarikat pinjaman wang berada dalam Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan tempatan dan bukannya satu fungsi Kementerian Kewangan yang lebih berpengaruh dan berkepakaran dalam bidang kewangan.

The reply from the Prime Minister's office is as follows:

Untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, perniagaan pinjaman wang dan pajak gadai merupakan peninggalan (atau legasi) dari sistem pentadbiran terdahulu.

Peniagaan ini tidak diletakkan di bawah kawal selia Kementerian Kewangan ataupun Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) kerana syarikat-syarikat yang menjalankan perniagaan tersebut tidak dibenarkan mengambil deposit dari para pelanggan. Untuk menjalankan perniagaan, syarikat-syarikat yang dilesenkan perlu mempunyai modal sendiri yang mencukupi untuk memberikan pinjaman. Oleh yang demikian, syarikat-syarikat yang menjalankan perniagaan pinjaman wang dan pajak gadai tidak terdedah kepada ancaman kewangan yang boleh menyebabkan "economic risk" (dengan izin) atau ketidakstabilan kewangan, seperti yang terdapat pada bank-bank dan institusi kewangan komersil.

Sekiranya terdapat cadang untuk memindahkan kuasa kawal selia syarikat-syarikat yang menjalankan perniagaan pinjaman wang dan pajak gadai ke Kementerian Kewangan, satu kajian yang menyeluruh perlu dilaksanakan oleh Kerajaan sebelum sebarang keputusan diambil. Ini adalah kerana satu persetujuan perlu dicapai oleh pihak kementerian dan syarikat-syarikat tersubut mengenai tatacara pengurusan risiko kredit (credit risk manangement practice) yang dipraktikkan.

Make what you will with the reply above. I found the argument that a money lenders' license is unconnected with the country's credit system just plain ignorant or even ludicrous , or even the fact that these licensees need to agree before a change in ministerial responsibilities is effected.

RM64 Billion Toll Compensation For PLUS

RM63.83 billion.

That's the approximate amount which needs to be paid in terms of compensation PLUS Expressways Bhd between 2008 to 2038 (when the concession ends), should the Government for one reason or other decide to maintain the tariffs at the current rate. That works out to an shocking average of RM2.1 billion a year, and an incredible strain on taxpayers and the Government's finances.

For 2008, the Government has agreed to pay (or have paid) PLUS more than RM731 million in toll compensation (compared to RM698 million in 2007) . With toll rate hikes of 10% scheduled every 3 years, this amount will just keep increasing over the next 30 years.

For example, a Kuala Lumpur - Penang return trip costing RM86.60 today will cost an exhorbitant RM247 by 2038, if the tariff structure is fully complied with. And based on existing compensation terms in the agreement, the Government will have to pay for all loss of revenue from actual traffic volume, which is estimated to increase by 5% annually.

Of course, in between, the Government may just decide to raise the toll rates or alternatively, perpetually extend the toll concession with PLUS. But given the highly charged political scenario where the Barisan Nasional government has little political capital or credibility, the frozen rates may just be extended ad infinitum. Rates will never be raised in the 2 years before general elections, they will also not be raised when there is a change of prime ministers, or even before critical by-elections or for any other reasons.

Of course the compensation figure has yet to take into account the RM112 billion in actual toll which will be collected from the road users over the next 30 years based purely on current toll rates, and an annual 3% increase in traffic volume. The type of returns guaranteed for PLUS, relative to its RM5.9 billion cost of construction is just absolutely mind-boggling. Worse, PLUS isn't even the only highway concession in the country enjoying such lucrative returns (or compensations)!

The BN government has obviously dug a deep deep hole for themselves, and are now stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, with their past excesses fast catching up on them.

But for PLUS at least, there's an "easy" way out. DAP has proposed that the Government "privatises" PLUS Expressways from Bursa Malaysia with RM13.75 billion which will be more than paid for within 6 years of operations. This means that the Government and hence tax-payers do not have to fork out a single additional cent.

Come on BN, for the sake of the people, let go of your ego and pride and do something right for once! ;-)

"Unsound Mind"

I was speaking at a forum organised by the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) this morning with regards to the "Declassified Highway Concession" contracts. I won't bore you with many of the details which I have already written about, but I thought this particular exchange with a member of the audience was most witty ;-)

Someone asked, given the unreasonableness of the terms of these highway concession contracts, isn't it possible that someone challenge their validity in the courts? To a lay man like me, that certainly sounds plausible. No?

But my colleague who was speaking at the same forum, a lawyer and MP for Serdang, Teo Nie Ching, responded that the unreasonableness of the terms of these contracts can only be challenged for their validity in court for 2 possible grounds.

The first, was if the contracts were signed under duress a-la the alleged resignation letters signed by the Perak assemblymen. Well, this is clearly no go, for the Government couldn't have justified itself in court that they signed these unfair terms "under duress" (they're the Government, for goodness sake!). So that's out.

But the second, was more interesting. You could challenge the validity of the unreasonable terms, and hence the contracts, if you could prove to the courts that they were signed when you are of "unsound mind".

The floor cracked up laughing when Nie Ching asserted that, it might just work for not many would deny the fact that the BN Government (and its ministers) are of "unsound mind" especially in the light of the their many perplexing decisions, and worse, their subsequent flip-flops and U-turns! ;-)

Anybody want to volunteer giving it a shot? ;-)

BN Rubs Salt On Our Wounds

At a time when Malaysians are facing the greatest economic challenge, when 100,000 Malaysians are expected to be out of a job by the end of the year as projected by the Minister of Human Resources, the Barisan Nasional Government has decided to increase toll rates from 5 to 25% for 5 toll concessions, while at the same time still pay compensation amounting to RM277 million to these toll concessionaires! The act is clearly a case of rubbing salt onto the wounds of anxious and suffering Malaysians.

In announcing this, Works Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohammed said the increase was “minimal” and hoped the public understood that the increase was “stipulated in the concession agreements” that the government had signed.

Firstly we will like to reiterate that the increase was by no means minimal. For PLUS itself, even a 5% increase in toll rates will increase toll revenue by as much as RM120 million in 2009. This doesn't yet take into consideration the fact that the Government is likely to have to compensate PLUS for the other 5% which has yet to be increased, which may be an additional RM100 million. It is an insult for to all Malaysians to say that RM220 million to be incurred by road users and tax-payers “minimal”, especially in times of economic hardship, and shortfall in Government revenues.

In fact, we would like to ask the Government if the compensation sums being paid to concessionares are part of the “economic stimulus packages” to help turnaround our economy, badly affected by the global economic crisis.

Secondly, while the toll rate increase is indeed “stipulated in the concession agreements”, there were also other clauses stipulated in the agreements such as the “expropriation” clause which the Government has chosen to blatantly ignore. This selective compliance to the legal agreements smacks of a government favouring the interest of cronies instead of those of the people.

The DAP Ops Restore team has demonstrated using many examples over the past 2 months how expropriating these highways as per the terms “stipulated in the conession agreements” are more economical and cost effective for both the Government and the road users. But the Government continues to turn a blind eye to these constructive proposals.

Just yesterday, the team have outlined a detailed proposal on how the Government can “take back” PLUS Expressways Bhd without costing tax-payers a single cent and without unfairly penalising minority shareholders (they are to be offered 15% premium to the current share price) which will result in a toll-free North South Expressway by 2016.

Why does the Government who owns directly 65% of PLUS Expressway, continue to choose the route of unfairly “taxing” road-users and tax-payers (if compensation is paid) instead of taking appropriate actions to help the people?

It should also be noted that PLUS Expressways is extremely profitable. PLUS made RM1.31 billion in net profits before tax, which translates into an enormous net profit margin of 57.3% in 2007!

The privatisation policies a-la Barisan Nasional have brought an enourmous burden on all Malaysians and have profited only Barisan Nasional crony businessmen. If Prime Minister-elect, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak wants to commence his term on the right note, then we call upon him to take back these highways, and other unfairly privatised projects to relieve the burden of the rakyat, especially in these difficult times.

Bailout of Water Concessionaires Begins

Almost as if on cue, the Federal Government has dismissed the Selangor state government's attempts to return the rights of cheap water and efficient water supply to the people of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Two days ago, National Commission of Water Services (SPAN), on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, Water & Communications, surprised the state and the public by declaring that the Federal Government will unilaterally proceed to negotiate with the water concessionaires in the state directly, by-passing the state.

The CEO of SPAN, Dato Teo Yen Hua (one of those behind the failed original water privatisation exercise which screwed Malaysians throughout the country in the first place) gave some flimsy excuse of an alleged non-existent deadline which was missed by less than week, acting almost like a lackey for the concessionaires.

This came while the state government was still waiting for a response from the respective concessionaires on our earlier buy back offer. In fact, the SPAN U-turn trespasses the constitutional rights of the state and the Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim rightly rapped SPAN and demanded that Dato 'mischievous' Teo declare his interest in the matter.

It was a clear attempt at sabotaging the state negotiations as the concessionaires will clearly reject the offers by the state as they know that the Federal Government will definitely pay much more money to take back their concessions!

Unsurprisingly, as if on cue, these concessionaires rejected Selangor's offer today (Puncak Niaga & Syabas here, Gamuda & Kumpulan Perangsang here) while obviously twiddingly their thumbs and licking their lips for a much more lucrative offer from the BN Government to line their pockets.

As highlighted in my earlier post, the Minister in this case has near absolute powers to determine the outcome of the restructuring exercise. It now appears that he will not use these powers to protect the rights and interests of the rakyat, but instead abuse it only to enrich and bailout the water concession cronies. The country is getting raped twice, right before our very eyes.

Investors' Faith in Barisan Nasional

Further to my blog post last night with regards to a letter I have received defending the interests of investors and bondholders in the water concessionaire issue, there was a comment which highlighted that these investors and lenders who 'invested' blindly (without sight of the concession agreements) should not be protected.

Actually, chances are the bondholders do have "special access" to these supposed OSA agreements and documents (its only when opposition politicians get their hands on them, there's a problem ;-)).

But more importantly, these "investors" invested on the basis that the BN Federal Government would always act in the interest of the concessionaires as most of whom are cronies to UMNO. Hence, in all probabilities, many of them invested based on "faith".

Nobody expected the result of the March 8 elections last year and the subsequent focus of the Pakatan governments to give the people a "new fair deal".

Should the investors (or their advisors) then, be compensated for their blind faith in the BN government, at the rakyat's expense? You tell me.

(Remember the days when people invested and lent heavily in UEM, Time and Renong because they believed that BN will always back and bail them out - should these investors and lenders be compensated not only for their losses but also additional profits? BN bailed out UEM, Time and Renong alright, they rescued their cronies - remember Halim Saad? but left everyone else high and dry)

Don't Rape the Country Twice!

I've blogged on "We Want Our Water Back Too!" two weeks ago. The Selangor state government has since issued offer letters to the concessionaires to take back the water concessions.

The four Selangor members of parliament [Charles Santiago (Klang), William Leong (Selayang), Dzulkifli Ahmad (Kuala Selangor) and myself] who are involved in the Water Review Panel issued the following press statement today. Additional comments are available at The Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini and The Star.

Call Upon the Minister of Energy, Water & Communications to support and endorse the Selangor Government's Offer to Acquire the water assets and concession in the state

The water privatisation exercises in Selangor was started in the early 2000s by the Mahathir administration, where hugely lucrative concessions were granted to politically-linked private companies with neither the skills or experience in the water industry, nor the necessary equity funds to operate these businesses. As a result, the residents of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were forced to pay high prices for the water supply, unreasonable penalties as well as often poor service quality.

In view of the clear unsustainability and failure of the privatisation exercise, where some of these concessionaires are facing serious concerns in repaying its bonds and water tariffs are scheduled to increase beyond tolerable range, the Federal Government has embarked on an exercise to nationalise the water-related assets nationwide under the new Water Industry Services Act (WISA) enacted in 2006.

The people has suffered once already when the assets were forcibly piratised by the Government. We will like to call upon the Minister not to rape the country twice by buying back these water assets and concessions at inflated prices. Doing so will only provide the basis to the dictum that the Barisan Nasional government privatises profits and nationalises losses.

The Selangor members of parliament who sits in the Selangor Water Review Panel call upon the Minister, who is granted wide-ranging powers under WISA, to not only support, but help execute Selangor's fair and reasonable offer to acquire the water assets and concessions in the state. The offers to the concessionaires were made last week on Friday, 13th February.

The offer made by the Selangor Government was made on the basis of one-time book value of the water-related assets in the concessionaires as at 31st December 2007, and a fair and reasonable return to the actual equity invested by the concessionaires since the industry was first privatised. It should be noted that the offer made by the Selangor state government is guided by and in compliance with the terms and conditions willing signed by all parties in the concession agreement. Therefore contrary to press reports in the last few days, the acquisition offer is neither a cynical offer which is too low, or without basis.

It should be noted that all investment analysts have been using the “discounted cashflow model” which results in significantly higher valuation for these concessions. However, the “discounted cashflow model” is just a technical term for paying the concessionaires its future profits, which in itself is a totally unreasonable proposition, and defeats the purpose of the Governments' water restructuring exercise.

If we were to acquire McDonald's today, it will be fair to put a value to its future profits as it's a wholly private enterprise. However, we are acquiring government concessions in this case – which means that the Government should not be paying for future profits for licenses and rights which it has itself granted!

The Minister is granted wide-ranging powers under the WISA (2006) Clause 191(5) where:

The determination of what amounts to national interest issues arising from the coming into operation of this Act shall be made by the Minister and such determination shall be final and binding upon all persons and shall not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or questioned in any court.

Therefore with the powers vested in the Minister, Dato' Shaziman Abu Mansor, a newly minted Minister since the last elections, we call upon the Minister to do the right thing and act to ensure that the rights and welfare of Selangor people and that of all Malaysians.

Gerakan Bravado

Recently, clearly still stunned from the outcome of the March 8th elections, minority parties in Barisan Nasional such as MCA, MIC and Gerakan are beginning to be more vocal, and offering more palatable soundbites.

For example, at the recently concluded Gerakan national conference, Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon today suggested that the "Barisan Nasional (BN) set up a special task force to review the Internal Security Act (ISA), Printing Presses and Publications Act and the Universities and University Colleges Act in order to strengthen the parliamentary democratic system."

He made it clear that his party was against all laws of detention without trial and called for their abolishment as one of the five resolutions on strengthening democracy and human rights passed at the national delegates (NDC) conference today.

There's no question about the statement above. As a responsible parliamentarian, it must be supported wholeheartedly.

The question then is, with all these "talk", what is Gerakan going to do about it?

Firstly, all UMNO leaders have shown total disregard to the comments made by the Gerakan President. I've not seen any, none who has not resigned from the cabinet positions anyway, Minister or UMNO leader who has come out to support, or even offer sympathy and empathy to the views presented by Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.

Tan Sri Koh himself, has even highlighted previously that "the party will review its role in the Barisan Nasional (BN). And if the review finds Gerakan no longer has a "meaningful" role in BN, then it would pull out of the coalition."

So, may I asked the honourable President, does Gerakan still have a meaningful role in Barisan Nasional? One would have expected a more sincere and sympathetic response from their UMNO masters, in the light of the damage in the last general elections, but no, absolutely none at all.

Secondly, will the lone representative from Gerakan among the backbenchers in Parliament, use the opportunities presented by the Budget as well as the subsequent DNA and UUCA bill debate to forcefully, without unnecessary and face-saving disclaimers, reject these bills. Will Gerakan exercise their so-called "louder conscience" in Parliament and vote accordingly? Or will they in my opinion, remain as empty vassals, and remain subservient to UMNO in perpetuity.

In the interest of Malaysia and Malaysians, I hope for the former, but in reality, as much as I'm reluctant to pass judgement prematurely, it is only likely to be the latter.

Lawan Tetap Lawan

MEDIA STATEMENT BY V.SIVAKUMAR PERAK STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER AND DATO NGEH KOO HAM PERAK STATE SENIOR EXCO MEMBER, 5 FEB 2009

The Speaker of the Perak State Assembly and the Perak State Government will be filling a suit this morning at the Ipoh High Court to declare that the 3 State elected representatives namely Puan Hee Yit Foong, Encik Jamaluddin bin Mohd Radzi, Kapt(B) Mohd Osman bin Mohd. Jailu for Jelapang, Behrang and Changkat Jering are no longer elected representative for the said constituencies respectively. The speaker have already accepted the resignations of the said elected representatives and the state Government also recognizes that they are no longer elected representatives for the said constituencies.

This declaration is sought to compel the Election Commission to recognize that the said 3 seats have fell vacant and by-elections must be called. BN also cannot claim that it has the majority in the State Assembly as The Pakatan Rakyat has 28 members while BN also only 28 members. The position of 3 other elected representatives will now have to be determined by the court.

In view of the hung situation the Speaker and the Perak State Government are in full support of the requests by YAB Menteri Besar that the State Assembly be dissolved. We sincerely hope that HRH the Sultan of Perak will grant the dissolution of the State Assembly as requested.

In situation of doubt, it is best to go back to people to seek a fresh mandate as such practice is an inherent part of parliamentary democracy. We do not know why BN is so fearful of seeking a mandate from the people if it purports to rule with the people's support.

MIC Makan Padi

I had to chuckle when I saw this translated report from the Tamil press in the Star today. It was said that:

The MIC will continue to monitor the development of Tamil schools in the country and extend its help in their growth.

...the MIC, through its president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, was looking into the development of all Tamil schools in the country and also ensuring speedier action in rebuilding them.

Umm... yes, they'll certainly keep watch to look out for land allocated for Tamil schools by developers, which can be alienated to MIC, oops, or is it to Samy Vellu?

Can you trust them to look after your padi?