Looking back at our Malaysian Records

Flipping through The Star paper, saw this picture and got amused.

I thought why not blog a trip down memory lane to look at the various Malaysian record breaking news as well as to commemorate the Merdeka day celebration.

Maybe, its better to start with the Merdeka news and pics.

The Star had a nice two-page layout to project the image of the 48th National Day with the theme:

"KITA ANAK MALAYSIA!"

Maybe, they should have added the word "SEMUA" to remind the political masters and communal politikus that everyone born after Merdeka, be they of any color or race, are Malaysians.

NST frontpage some facts - Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra announced the date of Independence; "Tun" title is the most senior federal title; the village of Wang Kelian is the world's only large-scale cave mining; Gunung Mulu is the largest cave chamber in the world; Malaysia has the world's lowest death rate for respiratory disease; Tanjung Piai is in the Continental Asia tip; K. Kangsar has the last H.N. Ridley rubber tree (which actually don't exist now); Malaysia has 65, 877 km of highway; Sabah & Sarawak has 60 sub-ethnic groups; Cinema came to Malaya in 1933 screening Laila Majnun; Bursa Malaysia is formerly known as KLSE and dates back to 1930 ...... what crabs!!!!

Malaysia Boleh once more - A secondary school in Kota Kinabalu had used old newpapers to make 277 Jalur Gemilang within 40 minutes by 1501 students and 84 teachers of SMK Sanzac- another great achievements for the Malaysia Guinese Book of Records.

Well, the students must have spent days to collect the old newspapers and have them crumbled and colored and prepared the gum to stick them. After that, they would have to take it down, wrap it up into plastic bags and then disposed it into bins.

In total, they would have lost 10 days of studies as the teachers are also involved in this project. That's education of our youngs.

Malaysia hopes to put a man on the moon by the year 2020 as part of its $25m space programme. Last Saturday, the first group from a shortlist of more than 800 would-be astronauts set out to run 3.5km (two miles) in a leisurely 20 minutes. But only 12 out of 31 taking part passed the test. Jonathan Kent wondered whether their performance might be linked to the local diet.

Prof Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman announced a programme to put Malaysia's favourite food Roti Canai into space. A team will be sent to Houston in Texas to find out how to process teh tarik (sweet tea), roti canai (flaky griddled pancakes) and nasi lemak (coconut rice) for consumption in zero gravity. All are absolutely delicious, but rather fattening (Jonathan reported).

Selangor has declared themselves as a develop state status this month. According to Khir Toyo, the Selangor chief minister, this declaration is important in attracting more foreign direct investments, especially those involved in information technology, to be channelled our way (into a few of the pockets) which in turn would contribute something in our economic growth.

Malaysia tallest twin tower mooncake standing at 6.37m. Pak Lah, the then Deputy Prime Minister and MCA President Ong Ka Ting were among those present at the festival to commemorate the record breaking feat. The tower finally collapse because it could not withstand it's own self-weight.

Malaysia had another world record for making the Biggest mooncake at the Sunway Pyramid in September 2000. The only problem they discovered was how to eat such fatty food. The guest at the Sunway hotel must have been having a terrible time as they are pressured to consumed the brick-like cakes in order to enjoy a 10% discount in their hotel bills.

3,000 people made 1,001 clay pots of sweet rice at Rawang, Selangor – It's a new Malaysian Record and probably a world record except that the food could not be consumed as it was overcooked and the rice used was found to have an expired tag.

Longest satay line made by student of University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jan 2004. So, you can understand how competent are university students in making satay. I just hope their degrees are not satay as well. Small wonder if we should find our graduates unemployable graduates as they are extensively trained in university by the top lecturers to make satays and to eat them as well; not corporate management.

The Tallest Fruit Tower was built at Tanjung Aru, Sabah in July 2003. Our fruit trees are just as tall, if not taller, but the fruits are not that many. Anyway, the fruit thiefs came at night and have them taken and sold to the wet market. The following day, there was a big discount for fruits at the marketplace. Hundred of those who work hard to make this project a success was seen buying the cheap fruits for home consumptions.

This is another record - Malaysia made the Longest ikan bakar (grilled fish) measuring 260m. 2,000 tilapia fish was used to prepare this occassion in Kuala Kangsar on July 2003. Now the river in Kuala Kangsar is barren except for some tadpoles, ikan sepat and peacock fishes. Maybe once a while, some tilapia may swim there to see if the fishermen are still alive and fishing.

This world record was contributed by a multi national corporation. The 3.3m x 5m pizza-shaped map of peninsula Malaysia was prepared by Carrefour Seberang Jaya’s salad bar department in October 2002 after they found quite some flour and salads are not sold and it is difficult to find a dumping ground for the expired contents.

Patriotic Spirit - In a show of love for the nation, 34-year-old cowherd N. Balu spent more than $2,000 to decorate his bullock cart with the Jalur gemilang and even had red stripes painted on his two bulls. This Jalur Gemilang procession organized by the State authority was held in Buntong, near Ipoh on August, 26, 2004. I hope Balu did not borrow the $2,000 from Ah Long or the Chettiah. Otherwise his stripe cows would had to be auction off to pay the debts.

Who says only Malaysia Boleh? President Arroyo of Phillipines make sure that Malaysians would also recognized her effort in the New Men in Black.

Hollywood are considering to make the third episode of the Men in Black and is waiting for the retirement of Arroyo soon. If she doesn't retire, then efforts would be made to impeached her so that we can have the thrid episode soonest possible.

You want more?

Deo Govindasamy was the first person in the Malaysian Book of Records to walked backwards for 30km from Batang Kali to Genting Highlands on July 1, 2000. For that effort he was awarded an honorary PPS; not Project Petaling Street, but Pelahan-pelahan sakit. He has not walk forward since.

Multimedia University then decided to do the same and got hold of 1,843 participants in Cyberjaya to walked backwards at the same time for a distance of 3.8km. Most of the graduates who participated in the event had their results upside-down and had to walk the exam again.

Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Richard Curtis completed their journey across China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany and France within 43 days using Ford Saloon Model B in 1997. That car is now lying in Sungei Besi, kerlingbotol shop.

Longest karaoke marathon organized by Nestle Products and Giant TMC started on Sept 9, 2001 which began at 9am and ended at 9pm. There were 553 participants. At the end of the event, each participants has to pay their own bills because the fun starts after 9pm and the organizer checkout at 9pm sharp.

Malaysian Mountaineering association members M. Magendran and N. Mohandas are the first Malaysians to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 23, 1997. Both of them did not received their Datukship because it was reserved for swimmers only.

Malik Mydin swim across the English Channel and was given a hero welcome back to Malaysia. he then received his Datukship.

Lennard Lee, a medical student at Cambridge University, successfully swam non-stop across the 33.6kmwide English Channel in 9 hours and 45 minutes on Tuesday. Lennard, 20, has become the second Malaysian to achieve the feat after Datuk Abdul Malik Mydin, 29, from Penang, who made it in 17 hours and 35 minutes on Aug 3 last year. Lennard did not receive a Datukship but the Prime Minister of Malaysia gave him a letter of commendation and an ang pow enough for him to pay his medical bills because he suffered some minor injuries when the sharks bite his ass.

In year 2000, the same day as today, Pearl International Hotel made the tallest ais kachang which is 2.5m and 380kg, using 20 blocks of ice. The event attracted a lot of attention and draws large crowd for the day. Unfortunately, the coffee house could not serve ice-lemon tea as the ice is used up. Customers were told to take the free ais kacang or alternatively get hot drinks.

Hairstylist Lloyd Yeoh became the first Malaysian to trimmed the hair of Irene Song who was hung upside down. The hair-cut was completed in 2 minutes and 45 seconds. After that Irene was seen walk upside down for a few steps.

On Sept 10, 2000, 30,000 drinking straws were linked at Mid-Valley Megamall in KL. For every straw linked, 30 sen was donated to three orphanages. The orphans were so intrigued by the event that they decided to use the money received to buy 40,000 straws.

Alfred Ho, was named the first blind singer in the Malaysian Book of Records to have recorded two EP vinyls in the 1970s and has since recorded three more albums. This encourage Stevie Wonder to learn singing and became the legend of the music world of the blind.

Zainal Adzmar Mohd Ariff became the man who performed the longest non-stop whistling lasting 23.7 seconds on September 5, 1998. Since then he had not whistle because he was question by the police for sexual harrassments when the 300-odd lady audiences complaint that the whistling affected their libido.

R. Letchemanah was the first in the world to pull an airplane by using his hair. He used his hair to pull a 32,5 tonne Boeing 737 over 16.9m at the Sultan Aziz Shaha Airport in Selangor on September 30, 1990. The Boeing plane had till today needed a manual push in order to take-off. Letchemanah had retired and opt to be bald so that he won't have his hair pulled by his wife again.

Malaysia set a world record for the most trees planted simultaneously on October 15, 2000; a total of 110,461 trees planted at 152 locations around the country in conjunction with World Habitat Day. Unknown source reported that those trees were no more in existence as some were cut down by Bandaraya for causing nuisance to traffics and all others had died after only one week thereafter.

On April 21st 1998 a group of 23 Malaysian parachutists successfully landed on the North Pole from 200 feet above the sea level at a freezing temperature of 50°C. It marked another milestone in Malaysia’s quest to create the New Malaysian with a spirit of ‘Malaysia Boleh’. It was later found that they landed somewhere near Argentina.

Alex Yoong became the first Malaysian to drive in Formula 1. He achieved tremendous success in his first and only season when his car came in No.11 in Melbourne and No. 13 in Sao Paolo, Brazil out of 22 cars which had started the race. For your information, 12 cars collided with each other in Melbourne at the first chicane and 9 cars did not finish the race in Sao Paolo. In San Marino race, Alex did not lose to anybody (he did not race as he was out of the qualification time).

Michelle Yeoh became the first Malaysian and first Asian to co-star in a James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies. She has since then decided to take part in formula 1 and is partnering Ferari team as a personal advisor to team director Jean Todt. Rumours had it that she is marrying Todt but she denied it. probably those rumour-mongers are blind; she prefers Michael Schumacher.

Rathakrishnan Vellu, no relationship with Samy Vellu, set a new world record by pulling two KTM Commuter trains weighing 260.8 tonnes over 4.2 metres with his teeth at the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. He was crown the Raja Gigi by the then Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who watch his act. Since then, he had no need to visit the dentist; he has lost all his teeth.

PLEASE NOTE:

The pictures are real and the records are authentic. The narratives are spice up to generate the fun of reading. Please enjoy reading but treat the narratives as fictions. Happy Merdeka day!

MERDEKA, MERDEKA, MERDEKA

MERDEKA, MERDEKA, MERDEKA!


To all Malaysians, today we celebrate the day of Independence. Let our minds and spirit ponder over the achievements over the last 48 years and we hope the national leaders will direct the nation to a better, far more prosperous and meritocratic nation of tomorrow for everyone; I mean EVERYONE, EVERY MALAYSIANS!

Pahamin: AirAsia not the cause of MAS losses

AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes said the airline's domestic flights have reduced Malaysia Airlines (MAS)'s burden in the domestic sector.

The budget airline company held a press conference yesterday to deflect what it felt to be criticism made by a top MAS official in the press recently.

With AirAsia’s domestic flights and interest in improving flights in Sabah and Sarawak, MAS’ social obligation has lessened, Fernandes said.

“They (MAS) don’t have to worry about these internal routes because we can do it for them. And it provides them with an opportunity to be more focused,” he added.

“We are helping MAS, in fact, so they can focus on more profitable areas and compete with Singapore Airlines by improving frequencies to destinations like China, India, Paris and London, which are of no interest to AirAsia as we are a three-hour regional airline,” he added.

AirAsia chairman Datuk Pahamin Rejab refuted remarks made by MAS chairman Datuk Dr Munir Majid in a news report that someone has a vested interest in the low-cost airline and put impositions on MAS so as not to see AirAsia fail.

Rejab said that four years ago, when a few partners took over AirAsia from DRB-HICOM, MAS was already losing money.

“MAS’ problems are not caused by AirAsia As we want ourselves to succeed, we also want MAS to succeed. I don’t think anyone in particular has a vested interest in AirAsia. We are a public company, and everyone, from the staff to the people, own shares in it,” he added.

It is interesting to note that when our local little gaint companies and GLCs suffered losses, the reasons is always pointed at faulting others and they cry louder so as to get the government to shower them with far greater economic protection and insulation from competitors. We have corporations that prefers to remain as babies, wanting only breast milk and getting used to sucking nipples. They won't want to learnt to crawl and walk competently for they believe they can run albeit limping. They prefer the warm and nutritious breast even after decades of existence in the corporate world. At the same time, they are boastful of themselves ; they dream of going to the moon and they dream of matching the wealth of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. They believe they are entitled to those wealth without any sweat and stress because they are the chosen people.

You can restructure MAS a few more times and pump in a few more billions. It will last a few years, and they will be back to what they are today, or post 1997-era.

Renong back into the RED

UEM World Bhd has taken a gaint strike back into the RED book when the group announced a net loss of RM11.3 million for the first six months to June 30, 2005, compared with a net profit of RM37 million in the same period a year ago. UEM blame the loss was due to higher costs of producing cement and money that it set aside for an expected loss on overseas construction contracts.

UEM World is still optimistic of turning around in the second half of this year but acknowledged the difficulties that it faces.

UEM Group revenue was flat at RM1.2 billion. Operating expenses however, inched up 9 per cent to RM1.21 billion. At the pre-tax level, its construction, property and cement manufacturing division recorded losses. This was led by its construction business due to a RM56 million provision on overseas contracts. Its engineering, healthcare and environmental services units all made pre-tax profits.

How is it that our giant local corporation who had amassed billions of profit in their heydays are now crawling uphill, panting for survival? Coming back from a near disaster during the economic crisis of 1997 through a massive revamp and reorganization, the results in the last two years were positive signs of recovery and a new lease of life. Now, they may be back to where they are - the RED box area - from where they came from.

The hypothesis is that UEM World, or we can call them Renong in a new dress, may not survive without the golden handouts from the government. The organization had thrived during those golden years largely due to the massive handouts parlayed by the past oligarch. Now, with the new regime, and the absence of mega projects, they now are learning how to crawl.

The probable lesson to learn is that, in corporate management, you have to walk each and every of the steps of management process and learn the skills and knowledge of survival and competition until you reach the level of competency in order to achieve sustainable growth. If ever you do skip any steps or using short-cuts so as to go up faster, you may later have to come back again to go through the whole process.

A child had to learn to crawl, then walk and then jump and run. No amount of rhetorical agenda and keris-wielding will take you to the route of sustainable success.

NAIM, the making of a new Construction King in Sarawak

The construction industry has been contracting drastically over the last two years, and governments projects are running dry. Contractors can be forgiven for getting paranoid and may have to look into possible overseas action.

It is expected that the third quarter and fourth quarter economic results will fare no better than the second quarter of the year, and thus we should see far greater contraction.

In this weak economic environment, there stands out a company in Sarawak who has the ability to sustain their business, and are confidently projecting to generate 30% growth over the next three years.

The industry is ushering a new king of construction - Naim Cendera Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Naim Cendera Holding Bhd (NAIM) - reported that they had been recently awarded three contracts by the Federal and State government of Sarawak for infrastructure and building projects worth RM507.5 million.

The projects awarded include the bridge over Batang Belingian (contract value of RM35 million), the new Sarawak State Assembly building (DUN) worth RM296 million, and the upgrading of the Julau-Sibu Road which is RM176.5 million.

Naim is expecting another award for the Pasukan Gerakan Am project at Batu Kawa in Kuching which is expected to be about RM313 million and has also received a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the proposed Bengoh Dam which is also worth hundreds of millions.
In addition, Naim also is developing a 100-acre mixed development project at Sungei Kuap in Kuching and has other property development projects in Miri, Kuching, etc.

Currently, Naim’s value of confirmed order book is more than RM1.252 billion which may be sufficient to sustain its business earnings for the next three to four years and this book order is expected to be enhanced in the next few months.

Naim’s chairman, Datuk Abdul Hamed Sepawi is confident that the group is capable to maintain a cumulative average growth rate of more than 30% over the next three years.

Naim is poised to be the next kingpin of the construction industry surpassing former greats such as Gamuda, MMC, Roadbuilders, Ho Hup, Suncon, MTD, Mitrajaya, Binapuri and IJM.

The New Malay Dilemma with Mahathir

Dr Mahathir returns cars to Proton
BY WONG CHUN WAI

The strained relationship between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Proton management has taken a fresh twist with the former prime minister returning all the seven Proton vehicles given to him. It is learnt that the vehicles, which were to be used by Dr Mahathir personally and by his staff, were sent to the Proton headquarters in Shah Alam recently.

Sources said the vehicles included the VW Touareg, a four-wheel drive, and the VW Phaeton, which the Proton adviser often used for travelling. “The others were Proton Waja cars, including two in Langkawi, which he used whenever he visited the island to look at development projects there,” sources added.

It is understood that the Proton management had tried to persuade Dr Mahathir to continue using the vehicles but he was adamant.

The sources said Dr Mahathir had started using his personal cars to travel to work, adding that he was “deeply hurt” by developments in Proton. These included the controversial departure of chief executive officer Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff and the issue over the import of foreign cars through approved permits, which Dr Mahathir said had affected the sales of Proton badly.

The sources said they believed Dr Mahathir’s decision to return the vehicles was not made at the spur of the moment but after serious reflection.

”You must understand that Dr Mahathir was the man who mooted the national car project and for him to return the Proton cars is certainly something not to be taken lightly,” they added.

On July 26, Dr Mahathir indicated that the departure of Tengku Mahaleel might have been a result of “boardroom politics, which, I think, has spilled over to other politics.”

“Powerful hands might be involved, I don’t know ...” Mahathir said.

So, whose hand is that which is so powerful that Mahathir? What can make Mahathir react openly with such extreme actions of dissent - it signify a showdown. We may hear more and see more of further open clashes with the establishments. Mahathir knows what he is doing and he knows the impact such actions will bring. Will we see direct confrontations of this anointed Kalifa vs the young Turk? You know what I mean!

Keris Wielding Act a symbol of struggle, says Hisham

UMNO Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishamuddin reminded the Chinese community they need not fear and have a misconception of the “Panca Warisan keris”, a new symbol of the Youth movement’s political struggle.

Hishamuddin said the keris was aimed at injecting a new spirit among younger Malays and had no ulterior motives.

“The UMNO Youth sees the keris as a symbol of our renewed spirit in empowering the Malays through the umbrella of UMNO. This does not mean that we would not be empowering the Malays through Barisan Nasional.”

“If the community (Chinese) is still afraid of the keris, then I believe they are not able to compete in today’s globalised world which is the talking about atomic bomb, nuclear and scud missile,” he said.

Thank you Hisham for your explanation. Hopefully, the Chinese community can breathe easier now. But you need not choose a weapon to show your economic struggle. The Malays are sensible people and they are capable to think if UMNO Youth is sincerely protecting their interest. Many are successful even tho' they did not directly benefit from the APs and NEP. They had worked hard to earned whatever wealth they had now. Some are still struggling, particularly those from the kampungs. You can use UMNO building funds to help them. The keris won't help them; money will!

Fortunately, the MCA and Gerakan who also are championing the other communities did not resort to ape your act at the recent general assembly. If at the recent general assembly, MCA decides to copy your act and use a sword as a symbol, and Gerakan uses a spear to portray their struggle, and next year it will be MIC's turn to wield a parang to symbolise their struggle, then, if that happens, we may have to face a new clash of civilization . Then you would have set a new trend for the others such as Kadazan, Bidayuh, Dayak, Malanaus, Sikhs, etc to use such symbols like blow-pipes, changkul, water-pistol, ice-cream, cocks, chickens, ducks, dogs, pigs, etc.

Believe me, it is unnecessary to do so. There are more intelligent and sensible ways to motivate the Malays in UMNO like giving them better education and scholarships, spending more time in the constituencies to solve their problems, built more hospitals and clinics, and teach them English so that they will be able to compete globally with the Mat Sallehs. Otherwise, you can also give out more APs to a larger segment of the Malay community, or distributing Petronas and Khazanah's wealth to all of the Malays, but not to your few leaders in UMNO.

For me and the many Chinese and Indians, we are happy to be what we are, not rich, but not living below poverty level. Give my children education up to university level based on their merits; that, I am thankful. I will work hard to earn a few bucks to keep my family surviving. So, you don't have to give me APs.

Rejoice, I am Back to KL

Spent the last 10 days in Kuching conducting seminary duties. It was a marathon and exhausting period. Have to conduct seminars non-stop througout the 10 days and it totally drained me of energy, and caused great pain to both of my legs. Imagine, standing and talking for 8 hours each day continuously for 10 days. The worst was on Saturday where I had to start a session from 8am, finished by 12.30pm, then rushed to another hotel for another session which lasted till 9pm. Wow, that's 13-hours day of talking.

When the plane touch down in KLIA, my body and mind breathe easy and relax and so happy to be back. Now, I can take a few days rest and can do some bloggings. I am dead tired and my eyes is shutting but I had not blog for a number of days. So I am not going to sleep until my hunger to write something is fulfilled.

The only consolation from the exhausting trip is that my wallet adds a few bucks and I get to know hundreds of new friends in Kuching, mostly civil servants.

Thank you Alex & Jasmine of PM Resources, Charles of CMM, and Zainal of Harina Consultancy.

Special thanks to the Sarawak chief minister's office and all the officers from CM's office and officers of the various Majlis Daerah in Sarawak.

Not to forget; thanks to Raymond and James for your company and time. Thanks to EMC management center.

Hope to meet you all again soon.

Mahathir's AP-Proton Balancing Act

Dr. Mahathir suggested that a balance can be found between the issuance of Approved Permits (AP) for imported cars and the production of Proton cars. He believes that this balance would be necessary to ensure that the sale of Proton cars is not compromised as this in turn would jeopardise the livelihood of many parties such as sales agents and vendors.

Dr Mahathir was speaking this during a celebration organized by Naza Automotive Manufacturing Sdn Bhd in honour of his 80th birthday.

When asked further, he said that he did not have any specific formula to balance the issuing of APs.

Dr Mahathir said that while he was the Prime Minister, the government implemented the issuance of AP to give bumiputeras the chance to become entreprenuers in the sales of imported cars.

“But some parties had misused the privilege by selling APs. Because of APs, many entreprenuers have successfully opened imported car sales shops, but among them, some have had taken the short-cut to profits by selling APs, Mahathri lamented.

Is he turning around to soothe the AP Kings? He made this comment at Naza's organized function which was held to celebrate his birthday. Has Nazaruddin done a great job to change his mindset or is he really senile? He doesn't have any formula to balance the AP issue. Who is going to make the formula? Is he suggesting Pak Lah?

Nak or Tak-Nak 2

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek confirmed that the RM100 million "Tak Nak" national anti-smoking campaign has failed. According to Dr Chua, there was no indication that the number of smokers had gobe down since the 5-year campaign was launched in February 2004.

"The allocation of millions of dollars did not achieve the desired result because the hefty sum spent on billboards were a failure and the message through the media did not reach the target group. In fact, the number of female smokers had doubled," he said.


Commenting on a Universiti Putra Malaysia study that between 1996 and 2004, 1.1 million smokers had said "Tak Nak", Dr. Chua said: "When we checked, the figure is not correct. We counterchecked with cigarette companies and they admitted that the number of smokers had actually gone up. So, I don't know how they came to that conclusion." According to Dr Chua, the study by UPM did not reflect the actual situation in the country. On the contrary, the Tak Nak campaign had increased the awareness of smoking among the teens which had increased by 23% in 2005, and are on the rise.

In the opinion of FOMCA advisor, Datuk Professor Hamdan Adnan, the public have become immune to the gory pictures of cancer-affected lungs displayed in the anti-smoking campaigns. He said the Tak Nak campaign poster that showed a crushed cigarette was instead reminding smokers to smoke.

FT public health deputy director Dr Sallehudin Abu Bakar who pioneered the quit smoking clinics feels that the Tak Nak campaign wasn't a total failure. he believed that it would take at least 10 years before we see visible results.

If Dr Sallehudin's opinion is accepted as right, then, he looks to be suggesting that the government may have to spent another RM300 million more to make another Tak Nak attempt. This time, maybe, UMNO Youth should be awarded the project so that the Malay Agenda can be fulfilled to Hishamuddin and Khairy's satisfaction.

Try-lah; harm is already there! Pak Lah can take the allocation for agriculture projects to pay for this one to satisfy Salehudin and Hisham.

Read my earlier article on Tak-Nak; NAK

Khazanah must explain, Hishamuddin said.

Umno Youth wants explanation on the rational why Malaysians, in particular, Malays, are deemed not qualified to lead Malaysian Airline System (MAS), the national carrier.

UMNO Youth President Datuk Hishamuddin said the proposed appointment of a foreigner to lead the national carrier by Khazanah could be likened to allowing the country to be recolonised, albeit in a new manner.

“Don’t look at it from the commercial aspect but (we) should look at the bigger agenda, that is the Malay Agenda,” Hishamuddin said.

It was reported that Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the airline’s main equity holder and a wholly-owned corporation of the Malaysian government, are considering to appoint a foreigner to lead Malaysia Airlines after its Managing Director, Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan had resigned last week, impliedly due to the poor financial results.

So, what is the issue? What is the problem of employing a foreigner to spearhead a turnaround of a loss-making corporation? Is it that when a foreign expert is employed to head a Malaysian company that it would mean Malaysia would be colonised? What type of reasoning is it, especially one that comes from the mouth of our education minister? Are we becoming nuts or oxymorons?

Even the Japanese who are extremely proud of their own capability and are the second largest economy in the world, were willing to get Carlos Ghosn to lead Nissan, and here, the Malaysian minister is crying foul. Hishamuddin said such act is tantamount to betraying the Malay Agenda, and likened to allowing Malaysia to be recolonised. Oh, what shit philosophy is it? Are we having recalcitrants as ministers? Or is he suggesting that MAS would be better off being bankrupted for it to be headed by a Malay rather than having a foreigner who may turnaround the corporation and generate billions in profit?

I am not saying that Malaysians are incapable and morons. What we should have is rational thinking with emphasis of commercial senses since MAS is a commercial entity.

Over the historical years, MAS had been headed by various Malaysians and the corporation had suffered billions in losses. In 2002, MAS was revamped by the government through a financial reorganization plan referred to as Widespread Asset Unbundling (WAU) exercise. The restructuring plan involved the transfer of RM7 billion liabilities out of the books and include the sales of 73 aircrafts to Pernebangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB) which was a newly set up wholly-owned entity of the Ministry of Finance Inc (MoF), and later was transferred to Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Included in the scheme was the subsidisation of the loss-making domestic operations.

For your information, the restructuring scheme was crafted by BinaFikir Sdn Bhd which was then headed by Datuk Azman Mokhtar who is now the CEO of Khazanah.

Three years later, that's today, MAS is straight back in the red, suffering RM280 million losses for the first quarter of 2005. The reasons cited is rising fuel prices.

Ironically, tho' AirAsia is also affected by rising fuel prices, they had recently announced profits of more than RM110 million although they failed to meet their projected profit forecast of RM159 million as stated in it's IPO prospectus of October 2004. Why the results are at opposite end? Shouldn't Hishamuddin suggest that Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia be appointed to head MAS, or alternatively, MAS should be sold to AirAsia?

In an interview with BizWeek, MAS Chairman Datuk Dr Munir Majid admits that the airline's position today is largely due to a lack of follow through of the WAU plan. According to Munir, the restructuring scheme envisaged that there would be an organizational restructuring and transformation. The WAU scheme was suppose to be a financial exercise to deliver a strong balance sheet to MAS to afford it with the platform from which it could deliver strong operating performance.

"The problem is we have been doing so many things in a certain way for so long such that there are certain habits and cultures that had been in play for so many years and all of a sudden, we have to rip everything off and start anew. We now cannot continue to exist on the false security that WAU has indeed given us. Now we have to do the organizational restructuring," Munir asserts.

According to Munir, the plan now is to focus on a long overdue operational revamp and that the restructuring plan which consist of a 5-year change programme is aimed at improving profitability by up to RM1 billion.

Would Munir be given the absolute mandate to turnaround MAS with his 5-year plan? Would UMNO Youth constantly come and prick him and shove him so as to derive some benefits for the oligarch? In the words of Munir, "We have a mountain to climb" and it is a long process.

I think it is more than a mountain to climb. Maybe, the best solution is to appoint Pak Lah's son-in-law to head MAS so that we have less problem with Malay Agenda and the Keris wielding act. Good luck to Munir and Khairy.

Roti Canai, a Malaysian Identity?

Professor Dr Mazlan wants everybody to know that Roti Canai is a Malaysian Identity and that the potential Malaysian astronaut must bring along the roti canai and eat them in the spaceship so that when he comes back to earth, our prime minister can then asked him how was the taste as compared to eating them in a mamak shop in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Prof Mazlan, recently, a Japanese astronaut brought with him a Japanese mee soup and when he descended back to earth, the Japanese prime minister's first question was to asked him how was the taste of that soup. At such, he is convinced that our Malaysian prime minister can also ask our astronaut what is our identity when the spaceship takes off in 2020 (the mission impossible of Malaysia-Boleh).

Wow! congratulation Dr Mazlan on your extremely "excellent foresight and innovativeness". May I suggest that the Malaysian astronaut wears a sarong and wield a keris when he is in the spaceship. That would be an added Malaysian identity.

We must be proud of our Malaysian professors as their mindset is terribly moronic and a sycopant. Malaysia Boleh lagi!!!!

Read the text of the news in Bahasa Malaysia below:

Rancangan untuk membekalkan angkasawan negara dengan roti canai ketika berada di angkasa yang pernah mencutuskan kontroversi sebelum ini, akan diteruskan seperti dicadangkan. Ketua Pengarah Agensi Angkasa Negara, Prof Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman berkata, angkasawan tempatan yang pertama kali ke angkasa perlu membawa identiti negara. Beliau berkata, baru baru ini, seorang angkasawan Jepun telah mengikuti satu misis ke angkasa dengan membawa makanan kegemaran negara itu sejenis mi sup ramen. “ketika dia kembali minggu lepas, antara soalan yang di tanya Perdana Menteri negera itu ialah apakah rasa ramen di angkasa, jesteru kita juga boleh bertanya apakah identiti kita apabila di angkasa lepas nanti,” katanya di Kuantan hari ini.

Trophy Wife & Boy Toy

Trophy Wife



A trophy wife doesn’t have to cook and clean and get her manicured nails all dirty. A trophy wife refers to a marriage pattern in which men marry attractive young women as a form of display intended to exhibit their wealth and success to others.

Often rich and successful men who follow this pattern divorce their first wives, often with a generous divorce settlement, and then marry a second much younger woman.

And what happens when the trophy wife gets older, like Bianca Jagger and Ivana Trump? Why, the men dump them, usually with a fair settlement, and take another one! It’s like swapping your Jimmy Choos for a newer, better-looking model.

Toy Boy



Encouraged by Madonna and Demi Moore, increasing numbers of women are dating younger men. But what's in it for the toy boys? Oscar Humphreys, 22, explains the appeal.

The kind of woman who goes for a toy boy is usually financially and emotionally independent; she doesn't require a man for status or security.

This is what Sharon Stone had to say:

"They should watch out because if they're not careful, their wives will now be the ones leaving them for younger men."

"Only a few days ago I was chatted up in a bar by a 25 year old. I said, 'I could be your mother."

"A 25-year-old would be happy to spend the whole afternoon washing your hair for you. But a 40-year-old man who works too hard will get his secretary to send you flowers."

Read more ..

The Spirit of Rakyat Malaysia

In his opening speech at the MCA general assembly, Ong Kah Ting reiterated MCA's stand that the party is to champion the cause of all races. I hope he remembers what he says, and stop shouting communal policies and sensational issues that betrays the philosophy he enunciated.

In Ong's own word, the objectives of MCA in national advancements are both universal and inclusive [not idiotic]; and that the party will be sensitive to the feelings of other communities as achieving unity for the rakyat is consistent with their political struggles.

MCA must seek to serve all Malaysians regardless of race and religion, and it must include those from opposition parties and those who support the oppositions.

Jangan Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin. MCA must walk its talk and stop bringing out issues based on race alone. Any issue, be it a Chinese problem, an Indian problem or the Malay's problem, is a Malaysian problem and political leaders must look at it within the Malaysian context.

USD253 million damage award against Merck & Co

The Texas state court awarded USD253 million (RM936 million) in damages to Carol Ernst, the widow of Robert Ernst who died in May 2001 from heart failure after using Vioxx to treat arthritic pain in his hands. On August 19, 2005, the 12-member jury found US drug gaint Merck & Co guilty of wrongful death of Robert Ernst who used the painkiller Vioxx and awarded USD24 million for mental anguish and loss of companionship, plus USD229 million in punitive damages.

Merck said it would appeal against the decision.

The drug had been taken by about 20 million people worldwide before its withdrawal last September after an internal study showed it increased the risk of strokes and heart attacks.

It is reported that more than 100 Australians are preparing to take legal action. Lawyer Richard Meeran siad his firm was representing more than 100 Australians who believed they had suffered heart attacks after using Vioxx.

Merck has been deluged with lawsuits since it withdraw its billion-dollar seller Vioxx from the market.

8-Trial days over 25 years period

8 Trial days

There were only eight trial days over the 25 years it took for a case to go from the High Court to the Federal Court.

The case began in 1979 at the Kuantan high court. Businessman Ng Kim Thin and his wife were granted a valid licence to occupy a land under lease from the State Government. In violation of the lease agreement, the state authorities demolished their property and evict them. The couple sued the land authorities of Pahang for breach of contract and claim specific damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.

How much is 25 years of waiting for justice worth? RM350,000 plus interest for all those years, says businessman Ng Kim Thin, 65. He won the case in the Federal Court yesterday against land authorities in Pahang for demolishing their property located on temporary occupation licence land.

Ng's lawyer Shakuntala Sharma said there were numerous delays due to a host of factors. "I was young, enthusiastic and idealistic at that time. I’ve really grown old on this file," Shakuntala said. According to Shakuntala, it took 17 years from filing of the case to judgment in the Kuantan High Court.

What? Disposal up to the stage at high court takes 17 years?

"The hearing started before Kuantan High Court Judge Datuk Shaikh Daud Ismail in May 1984. When he was transferred following a promotion, there was a four-year gap before Tan Sri Lamin Yunus took over in May 1988," she said. In November 1994, the plaintiff submitted written submissions but it was not until December 1997 that Lamin delivered his judgment.

Ng filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal in December 1997 which was heard and dismissed in May 2003. The Federal Court; the court of last resort, finally delivered the judgment in their favor yesterday. And for the 25 years wait, Ng gets RM350,000 actual cost of damages, plus interest.

Shakuntala finds it "quite disgraceful" that her clients had to wait 25 years for a judgment from the Federal Court. She was disappointed with the Federal Court decision as it came with several restrictions in the nature of damage and claims the plaintiffs could seek.

"The judge ruled that we could only seek actual loss and damages (damages for equipment, machinery and products that were destroyed)," she said. This means that her clients will not be able to seek aggravated damages, punitive damages and damages for loss of income.

Oh..... What an effective system we had!!!!!. The appallent may have died before the outcome of the case conclude. With God's blessing, he lived till today to receive RM350,000 as compensation, while he will have to pay his lawyer about half of the award.

Welldone! Malaysia's Key Performance Index! My foot! Pak Lah, did you read the subject issue? What say you?

Tak Nak? Nak!

Statistics from NST:

1. Nearly 25 per cent of Malaysian youth smoke, most of them between 13 and 17.


2. A third of all smokers nationwide are young women.


3. In rural areas, children as young as six smoke.

Public Health Specialist Association president Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said:

"For many years, we have only been seeing older people, aged 50 and above, suffering lung cancer. Now we see patients as young as 18."

Smokers are vulnerable to cancers of the larynx, oesophagus, stomach, bladder, pancreas, cervix, colon and rectum. Smoking also causes heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension. Long-term smoking can reduce fertility in women and cause sudden infant death syndrome.

Among women, Dr Zainal noted, smoking also contributed to breast and cervical cancers. Dr Zainal, who is also deputy director of the Health Ministry’s communicable diseases control division, said the ministry had been promoting a healthy lifestyle among youth, urging them, in particular, not to smoke.

Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control president Professor Dr Syed Mohamed Aljunid said children were picking up the habit because of adults’ influence — including parents, teachers and school counsellors. "Advertisements, nicotine addiction and peer pressure also contribute to the problem."

Dr Syed Mohamed is worried about the financial cost of treatment, with the prospect of rising numbers of youthful patients. He said the Government did not have a specific health policy for those between 12 and 18, unlike one for children up to five years of age and senior citizens.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Assoc Prof Dr Lekhraj Rampal said a recent study of 4,705 people, 2,080 males and 2,625 females aged 25 years and below, revealed that 46.2 per cent of the males and 3.3 per cent of the females smoked. Of them, 25.4 per cent were Malays, 13.6 per cent Chinese, 10.9 per cent Indians and 50.1 per cent others.

Dr Rampal said 26.6 per cent of the smokers were Sarawak Bumiputeras and 27.3 per cent Sabah Bumiputeras.

A UPM study of 18,000 people last year revealed that 87.1 per cent smoked. What was truly startling was the revelation of the age of smokers. Among 15-year-olds, 21 per cent smoked; 16 (32.2 per cent); 17 (35.6 per cent); 18 (45.5 per cent); 19 (51.4 per cent); and 20 (49.2 per cent).

So, what is the effectiveness of the "Tak Nak" campaign? The government had spent multi-millions on the Tak Nak and the results is: "we had made the youngsters far more aware of smoking and the uhm associated with it, except to inform them that it is "possibly" cancerous.

So, the campaign had successfully generated far more smokers particularly, amongst the youth. Is that a success? Or, maybe, the government must triple the budget expenditure for someone to make it better? Is this also part of the NEP or MA, or should it be included there?

More stimulation for men

Since my posting this morning, a guy e-mailed me a couple of nice pics; I thought might as well share it here with you all.

Warning: Only for those men who wants to torture their lower bowels

35 Times of sex a week

He is a 53-year-old New Zealander. She is 41, a Malaysian, and a former air-stewardess. They cohort as life-time partners, presumably!

He needs sex up to 35 times a week; that is, a minimum of 5 times a day.

She may have thought that was extreme fun in the early phases. But his sexual needs was not a passing phase; it was a something like a diuretic abuse. Over time, she could not accommodate that amount desired by him and wanted it moderated.

So, she spike his drink with antihistamines and anti-inflammatory medicines. But that is not effective. So she had to add pet repellent into his meals.

She was charged in the court under Offences Against the Person Act, for the criminal offence of administering obnoxious drugs or poison with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

But Miss Ng Mee Kwan walked free when the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove a charge of administering poison with intent to cause inconvenience to 53-year-old Martin Walker.

35 times a week? 140 times a month? 1680 times a year? And consistently over the last few years? Gosh ... that's a fucktastic guy. He must be accorded a golden cunt medal and encrypt with his pie in the Guniness Book of Record!

Any girls who had such sexual bulimia, probably, you may consider Walker as the option.

MB & State EXCO Naik Gaji

Negri Sembilan State Assembly passed an enactment to increase the allowances and salaries of MB, EXCOs, & Assemblyment by 10%. MB will now receive $14,175/month, EXCO $6,109 & Assembly $4,112.

I believe all state assemblymen. EXCO and MB deserved it - it's just too little and it's difficult to survive.

But, funny lah ... most of them with such meager salary owns big mansions worth multi-millions. How eh??? Just funny eh? aiyoyo ... my salary is more than them; yet I own a terrace house and drive a small car. Maybe, the NEP is not working properly.

Rules for tea break

Teabreak

The dreaded "pegawai keluar minum (the officer has stepped out for tea)" response over the phone may be a thing of the past soon in some government departments. The Human Resources Ministry, and its associated departments and agencies, has directed its staff, with immediate effect, to take no more than a 15-minute tea break — including the time taken to walk to the canteen and back.

The move has been lauded by Cuepacs. This is believed to be the first time a ministry has introduced such a ruling.

Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr P. Manogran said the move was intended to encourage staff to be more productive, especially as they have been working a five-day week since July 1. "We must not be ridiculed by the public for taking long tea breaks," he said. Implicit in the ruling is that staff should also not spend working hours playing golf, should not become agents for direct-selling products, or surf the Internet for personal work.

The Public Service Department, which normally issues the dos and don’ts for civil servants, has yet to issue such a directive, although it has specified the duration of lunch breaks.

In 2002, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Samsuddin Osman reminded civil servants that tea breaks were a privilege and not a right. Civil servants should not keep the public waiting.

Our legislators and delegated legislators are like Sophomore mollycoddlers to our civil servants. They behave as montessorians and treat civil servants as urchins cum delinquents. These montessorian even have to continually teach them how to behave, when to have tea break and for how many minutes, how to treat the public and how to squirm a smile.

What? You mean the civil servants are dim-wits or imbeciles, and without civic conscoiusness and do you know that most of them are university graduates? Oh ya, so what? Otherwise, why is it that, so often that we need to have minister's eruditory exhortations?

Then, do we need to sent all civil servants back to school to study moral science and ethicology? NO, sent only the ministers and their acolytes; they are the ones that are schleps and klutzs; but they are the ones we voted in to manage us. So, who are the patsies? hahahaha!!!!!!

Touch No Go

Security upgrade launched for Touch ’n Go cards

All Touch 'n Go card users will have to register and upgrade their cards for better security features beginning tomorrow until Dec 8. Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd, which operates the electronic stored value card, said cards which were not upgraded would not function after the deadline.

Users should bring their cards to any Touch 'n Go counter, including “add value” lanes at toll plazas, for the upgrading process, RSSB chief operating officer Swinder Grewal said in a statement yesterday.

There are around 2.8 million cards in circulation and one million MyKad holders with Touch 'n Go facilities. “Touch 'n Go security features have not been compromised in the past but as new technology is available, it is time to update the card to maintain a fraud-free status,” she said.

On the registration process, Swinder said users who did not previously register should go to a Touch 'n Go counter and give their details by filling in a registration form. They could also call the Touch 'n Go Careline Centre at 03-76285115, she said. Forms can be downloaded from Touch 'n Go's website www.touchngo.com.my and either faxed to 03-76285100, e-mailed to touchngo_careline@rsegar.com or posted to RSSB's headquarters.

“With this exercise, details of card owners will enable RSSB to refund the money left in the card in the case of stolen or lost cards,” Swinder said, adding that the information would remain confidential. Registration would also allow RSSB to give out free itemised on-line Touch 'n Go transaction statements or e-statements, she said.

Swinder said all users who upgrade, register or purchase new cards would automatically qualify for “The Winning Touch” lucky draw contest and stand to win a 42-inch plasma television every week or a Volvo S40 at the end of the period. For more information, please call the Touch 'n Go Careline or check RSSB's website.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers' Associations (Fomca) advisor Datuk Hamdan Adnan said any security feature upgrading without any cost to the consumer was most welcome. “This move will encourage greater use of the card. People will be more confident putting money in their card as they can get refunds if the cards are lost,” he said. As RSSB would earn more revenue, Hamdan said it should reduce the cost of the SmartTag. He also questioned the durability of the MyKad, especially when it was used frequently for its Touch ’n Go facilities.

Cards which were not upgraded would not function after the deadline?

If that happens, will it constitute a breach of contract? RSSB will have to study the legal implications. Any change of terms in the contract by one party without agreement of the other party to a contract is a breach and constitute a repudiation of contract. The injured party can sue for loss and damages as provided under section 74 of the Contracts Act 1950.

Take care, Rangkaian Segar; we Malaysians are not dim-wits ... a plasma TV and a Volvo is definite an appetiser; but only 2 person can win out of the 3.8 million cardholders.

Innovative Art Ministry

The ministry name speaks a thousand meanings. The ministry is Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) and the minister is leading by example. Yesterday, Dr. Jamaludin Mohd Jarjis, the STI minister announced that the ministry is leading efforts to BUY acquire APs IPs , (Intellectual Property Rights) from foreign companies and universities for malaysia's Biotechnology sector.

Dr Jamaludin said the IPs will be acquired via GLCs (government-linked companies). “We will initiate the move to acquire the IPs through GLCs but will EVENTUALLY hand over the RESPONSIBILITY to the private sector as they know best the needs of the market,” Dr Jamaludin said.

“Besides the acquisition of IPs which is the fastest method to develop the biotechnology sector, Malaysia will in the same time plan to have its own research and development (R&D) activities to produce its products.

Dr Jamaludin really had the beforesight. He sees quite some distant into his the future.

What does he see? Oh, he see that Pak Lah has no more mega projects for the construction and utility industry and Pak Lah is passionate for lalang-planting agriculture and human waste biotechnology. So, his current action is in line with Pak Lah's vision 2090.

What else does he see? Oh, he see the government has no money; only Petronas, PNB, Tabung Haji, and Khazanah has the money. So, he target these acquisition through GLCs.

That's great, isn't it? Oh ya, and he says, the responsibility of nursing the babies success would eventually be delegated to private sector so that the GLCs can wash their hands from those IPs that will eventually transformed into shits because we don't have the market capitalization and global network, and most of all, we don't have the competencies of international product/service management. But how and to who do we delegate? Oh, don't worry; we have a system called PRIVATISATION, APs, NEPs, MA, and subsidies. It has worked in the past, and it should work now.

But, if we get GLCs to buy those IPs, why can't they nurture it and make it commercially viable and profitable? Oh, cannot; like that you cannot get undertable and over-the-table pecuniary advantages. Like that, politician cannot cari makan; you damn stupid!!!!!

Robert Kuok Exits Pelangi

PERMODALAN Nasional Bhd (PNB) expects to complete its acquisition of Pelangi Bhd, a property developer, by next week. PNB president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah said the company had sought a three-week extension for the mandatory general offer (MGO) from July 18.

"We have been given an extension until August 26 for the minority shareholders to accept the offer. We have to wait until then before we can conclude the MGO," he said.

"This was the third extension as some (minority shareholders) wanted time for them to decide (whether to accept the offer)," Hamad Kama Piah told newsmen.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Bhd said in a statement that it has delisted Pelangi, effective yesterday. Hamad Kama Piah explained that as PNB had acquired more than 90 per cent of Pelangi, Bursa Malaysia had to delist the company according to the listing requirements. Hamad Kama Piah also said an exco has been set up to chart Pelangi's future direction and programmes. "We have decided to let the Pelangi board members determine the direction they want to take and we will monitor their progress. We have appointed exco members to chart and oversee suitable programmes.“ Acquisitions of stakes in companies are very much in PNB's plans, he said, adding that PNB will buy and sell when the opportunity arises. "As a fund manager, we are strategically positioning ourselves in certain areas.“ On the current market sentiment, he said the trend is improving and he believed that the fundamentals are there.

On May 26, 2005, Business Times reported that PNB had made a mandatory takeover offer for the 50.74% stake it does not already own in property developwe Pelangi Bhd for RM 283.74 million. PNB offered to pay in cash for Pelangi’s 369.49 million shares at 77 sen per share. In its financial year ended March 31, 2005, Pelangi reported a net profit of RM32.17 million on the back of RM168 million in revenue.

COMMENTS:

Is PNB Buying into a sunset institution? Pelangi, is a household brand name in housing development, particularly in Johor Bahru, and is reknown for it's quality houses and strategic positionings, and locations. It is generally believed that Pelangi's houses has a 10% premium over market prices.

In fact Pelangi were the one of the pioneer property developer that offers largescale residential housing estates that are 8m wide (24ft width). Those houses, you can see them parking up to four cars within their fenced compound. Most Malaysian residential houses are 22ft or 20ft wide. In Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, you can even see houses of 18ft width. In fact, those buyers will feel claustrophobic.

With the exit of Robert Kuok, Pelangi announced the resignation of Frank Goon Swee Keong as the company’s MD and Datuk Musa Ayub Saad, Datuk Md Zahari Md Zin and Huang Yan Teo as directors.

The success story of Pelangi is synonym with Frank Goon. It was Frank's dream and vision that had brought Pelangi to what it is today, although the credit goes to Robert Kuok. Frank is a brunt and straight man, who is unassuming; he does not accept second best. He is the driver of the system and adopts a power culture. Frank is known to be one who will give stupendous reward to his people who are high performers.

Over the last few years, the property business in Johor Bahru is getting more competitive and less lucrative. Literally, Pelangi had ride on the good market time, a time where competition is not as stiff as of today. Johor Bahru is seeing a mushrooming of housing estates and the infiltration of myraid of "immigrant developers" coming from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Profit margins are coming down drastically, tho' still profitable. That seemed to be the objective reason for the readiness of Kuok to exit at a "ripe" time.

PNB will be acquiring an asset in the sunset period. It will pose a great challenge to the acquirer to emulate the previous success story of Frank Goon and his acolyte. Good luck to PNB; and it surely will be better luck to Frank Goon and Kuok Group.

"English is a Malaysian language", Hisham Proferred

English

Embrace English as ‘our language’

Malaysians must shed their "colonial baggage" and start viewing English as a "Malaysian language", Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

Saying English had a special place in Malaysia’s history because it was the language of the colonial masters, Hishammuddin reminded Malaysians that English was also "the language which our founding fathers acquired, took to London, and returned as masters of their own land".

Malaysians had traditionally been competent speakers of English and must remain so.

"Forty-eight years on, as a people increasingly confident and mature in their independence, we should not be shy to say ‘English is a Malaysian language’," Hishammuddin said.

The Government re-introduced the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English in schools about two years ago. However, examination results show a gap between rural and semi-urban schools and their urban counterparts. The Education Ministry tried to introduce additional programmes to improve English.

Hishammuddin was also instrumental in pushing for the use of English newspapers as an educational tool.

Earlier, Hishammuddin, speaking to the teachers, students and corporate figures who adopted schools as part of the programme, said English was spoken as a native language by 375 million people worldwide. Another 375 million spoke it as a second language.

This is definitely an about-turn, particularly, as it comes from none other than an UMNO Youth president; for historically, UMNO Youth had elucidated that English is associated to colonialism and that Bahasa Malaysia should be the only spoken and written language in all forums and signages; that anyone who do not, are considered as unpatriotic or unnationalistic.

Hishamuddins speech is definitely a positive sign of taking Malaysia to the path of progress towards staying relevant in the age of globalization. We must pray and hope that this part of his philosophy is adopted and adapted within his own and thoughout the nation.