Oh, by the way, the Telenor-Axiata may or may not happen

Norwegian Wood, 18 June: It's not a done deal yet. In other words, a lot of things can happen that may make the proposed Malaysia-Norway telco deal NOT happen. For example, the PMO may (or may not) ask that it be put on hold, y''know. The Prime Minister, after all, was reportedly anxious about job losses resulting from the merger. And Norway is not the friendliest when it comes to our precious palm oil.

But, honestly, before reading this statement by Gobind, I had the impression that the Telenor-Axiata merger was in the advance stages. That's because quite a lot of details had been reported in the media. For example, Telenor was to own 56 per cent of the merged entity and Axiata the remaining 44 per cent (which means it will no longer be a Malaysian company even if the CEO and the Chairman are Malaysians). We also learned that no Malaysians will lose their jobs against their will (only VSS will be offered). And we were assured that the Malaysian telco industry and economy will benefit tremendously  from the merger. [For other details of the proposed deal, read the announcement].

Now, thanks to Gobind, it is now being re-emphasised that the merger proposal is "still at proposal stage". If there was a preliminary agreement if was probably oral, it's quite certain that there has been no due diligence, but for sure a lot of media "play".

Axiata-Telenor merger still at proposal stage, says Minister

In 2000,  many will still remember, Singapore Telecom came so close to buying from Malaysia's troubled Renong 14.5 per cent of its subsidiary Time Engineering. Both companies had reached "preliminary agreement" on the deal, just awaiting regulatory approvals form both countries and a due diligence on Time Engineering before the deal could be sealed.

And then the deal simply unhappened. It was stopped by none other than Dr M, who chuckled something about his worry that the Singapore telco giant might "sing and tell" and the whole deal fell through. The real reason was Mahathir just wouldn't sell to Singapore out of pride - the nation's and of course his own. Analysts gave other excuses, one of them was the deal would put too much pressure on Telekom Malaysia. 

We were talking about a mere 14.5 per cent then. Today, these people sponsoring the Telenor-Axiata deal are talking about selling off 56 per cent. 56.5 per cent, to be exact. Now, what are the chances the talk will go beyond the proposal stage, you think?

There's a new group CEO at TM, did you know?

PMO prevails, June 17: All that excitement over that intimate video that has become the latest scandal to discolour Malaysian politics, dubbed #haziqgate by one daily (why didn't the paper called it #azmingate instead?), and the appointment of a new group CEO for Telelom Malaysia came and went without most of us noticing. And without the fanfare it deserved. Especially after all that jazz about the appointment being a proxy war between the Prime Minister's Office and the Minstry of Finance Inc., Daim Zainuddin vs Lim Guan Eng, homegrown boy Imri Mokhtar vs the Outsiders led by Rosli Man the chairman. 

But it's done, finally. NK or Noor Kamarul Anuar Nuruddin, 60, is now the Group CEO of TM.   

NK and RM guaranteeing 'quick wins" for TM. Pic by NST

In fact, while you were watching the video, listening to Haziq's confession, replaying Azmin's denial and getting acquainted with deep fake, the NST even had time to run an exclusive interview with the new TM boss. Read TM revamp plan to bring back its hey day. 

And now Azmin has made it 4 out of 5!

Deep in thought, 14 June: Just a quick follow up to my last posting, where I stated (not with pride, I should add) that 3 out fo 5 of my all time most-read postings were related to our politicians and their sex scandals. Well, less than 24 hours after posting it, Have you seen Azmin's (oral) sex video has reached the No 4 spot.  

What does that say? About you the blog reader, about me the blogger, about our politicians and their aides ... 

Other deep follow ups:
Ministry suspends sex video officer
That's not me, Azmin says
Part 2, just hours after Azmin's denial

Have you seen Azmin's (oral) sex video?

Not in a hotel in Sandakan, 12 June: You know what sucks (pun intended)? Out of the top five of my all-time most read postings I've made on this blog of mine, three are related to our politicians and their sex scandals. [Scroll right to the bottom of this blog's right hand panel to see the longer list]. And you know what's the real bummer, my Dear Readers? All the politicians purportedly or allegedly involved in those sex scandals are alive and kicking. 

And all that kicking has produced yet another sex scandal, this time involving someone who  (according to those who have watched the video) resembles Azmin Ali, the Economics Affairs Minister and the one (again, they say) Mahathir Mohamad wishes (wished?) to be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Me, I don't wish to watch the video lah. I'd rather go and watch Godzilla again.

The quick confession by the other individual said to be in the Azmin video is as repugnant as it was totally unexpected, I must say. Right down to business, no foreplay. 

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In memoriam, Lynas protesters

Green-friendly or, er, just green? Helen Ang's latest posting "Exploding' in Guan Eng's face is dedicated to Malaysians, here and abroad, who had been made to believe all these years that the Lynas rare earth plant near Kuantan would breed mutants and decimate the population. 

PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who last week unilaterally ruled that Lynas will continue to operate in Malaysia, was one of the first to defend the project way back then. In an early posting, he said he could only surmise that the protests against Lynas was "political". "I have nothing against the Lynas project. The Government should not be afraid to let the project to go ahead," he wrote in Radiation. That was in September 2011.