Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Khazanah against Labu airport

update:
No To Asia: Blogger SDW has launched a solo campaign here to boycott Air Asia over the Labu airport:
"As a sign of protest, I am no longer flying Air Asia. I am placing a logo on this blog to protest Air Asia's recent actions. If other bloggers want to use this logo on their websites, please feel free to do so ...
P.S. Stay tuned for a breaking news.... Sime Darby's heavy losses? Where and how."


Original article:
Khazanah is NOT supportive of Air Asia/Sime Darby's proposed Labu airport. [see the Bernama story below]
"In short, we do not support the Labu project. We should stick to the National Airport Masterplan as a lot of resources had been put in." - Azman Mokhtar, Khazanah chief.

Straits Times Singapore seems to be all FOR the Labu airport. Read here and wonder why.

Khazanah Not Supportive Of LCCT In Labu


KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the government's investment holding arm, is not supportive of the plan to buiild a permanent low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Labu, its managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said Monday.

He said the National Airport Masterplan should be used as a reference on what should be built for the sake of the country's development.

"Under the masterplan, 10,000 hectares have already been set aside, of which only about a third has been used," he told reporters after presenting Khazanah's annual review here.

He was asked to state Khazanah's stand over the issue.

According to Azman, the airport sector is one where the clustering or network effect is important.

"We cannot have a few airports here and there because then you cannot get the connectivity," he said.

Describing it as a national issue, Azman said: "Certainly we should follow through".

"We have the masterplan and we should go back to that. I am sure that AirAsia and Malaysia Airports can sit down and resolve (the matter) for the country's benefit," he said.

When building the airport, they should have software and hardware connectivity to enable seamless travel, Azman said.

"We are shareholders of Malaysia Airlines, we always maintain that both MAS and AirAsia can co-exist so that everybody can benefit," he said.

"In short, we do not support the Labu project. We should stick to the National Airport Masterplan as a lot of resources had been put in," he added.

Earlier this month, Sime Darby announced that it has received government approval to develop the proposed private LCCT project.

The conglomerate said the project was an integral part of its development plan for the Negeri Sembilan Vision City (NSVC).

NSVC is part of its Central Vision Valley (CVV) property development project spanning Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Sime Darby and budget airline AirAsia Bhd had proposed to jointly develop and operate the RM1.6 billion LCCT which will be known as KLIA-East@Labu.

The project will be privately funded.

The RM1.6 billion is an estimate of the cost of structures and the runway but does not include the 3,000-acre piece of land where it would be constructed.

-- BERNAMA


35 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:31 pm

    Bro,

    Khazanah was formed to protect national interest, just like Temasek. Luckily it's not run by family members.

    NST Singapore? sounds familiar. Isn't Kali and Brendan worked for them before.

    Dollah and KJ have to asked NST Spore to rally behind them for the Labu project which has nothing to do with the Singaporean.
    No wonder Dollah and co. loose KT.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:15 pm

    Tony,

    even the Sheikh of ABu Dhabi dumped the Kaka deal.

    so, Get real in the real world. This is not fantasy airline.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:17 pm

    If Straits Times Singapore voice out in favour of LABU, something is just not right.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bro, bukan ke your docs shows Strait Times quoted Bernama?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shit!! Salah baca. Sorry bro

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3:44 pm

    You asked - "Straits Times Singapore seems to be all FOR the Labu airport. Read here and wonder why."

    The answer is simple. The writer of the article - Leslie Lopez - is an Indian. Tony Fernandez s an Indian. Although both may claim to be of (*cough!*) Portuguese descent. What can you expect? Teh Indian Agenda is pushed all over the medias by Indians.

    As far as I am concerned, they are starting to be a threat and menace to the people of other races and country.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous4:23 pm

    salaam, pak rocky

    i happen to be in singapore and have read carefully the said report in the spore straits times today (jan 20).

    the report "turbulence hits airasia's airport plan" was written by leslie lopez, the paper's s-e asia correspondent.

    u and i know that leslie has excellent connections in malaysia, in the corporate world and in political circles.

    i am not sure if leslie reports to carolyn hong who is the spore paper's bureau chief in kl or to the top editorial team of the paper in singapore.

    i didn't see anything in leslie's report that indicated that he (or the spore paper he writes for) is backing certain parties or taking sides on this subject.

    he did ask in his concluding paragraph why mab and airasia could not work together in a win-win solution and whether the govt should get the two parties to the negotiating table.

    of course, khazanah is not exactly a disinterested neutral party. khazanah has a majority stake in malaysia airlines (like its spore counterpart temasek holdings has a majority stake in spore airlines). note also that temasek also has a stake in spore-based lcc tiger airways, which is why changi airport, sia and tiger airways all get along well together.

    i guess, if i were to be partisan, i should ask khazanah just why mas, in spite of its turnaround, is still way behind the likes of sia, cathay pacific, british airways, qantas, lufthansa and air france-klm in terms of fleet size and age, route network and destinations served.

    and perhaps the same questions should be asked of mab why klia is way behind changi, bangkok and hong kong airports in terms of airlines serving it and destinations served.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:28 pm

    Tony,

    since the NST singapura fully support your great LABU idea, why don't you build YOUR LABU next to CHANGI airport.

    I'm sure they have ample area on the reclaimed land nearby to park all your AA aircrafts by 2015.

    As long as you don't waste our money and land, you're free to apply your great ideas.

    Dum.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:08 pm

    why shld singapore have an opinion on this ? Are they supporting their puppets ? They should keep their opinions in their arse . Perhaps their puppets can suck out these opinions and expressed it as theirs.
    Singapor --stay out !

    puppetphuckers

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous6:00 pm

    This Tony 'fast facts-tall-poppy-envy-of-every-one' claim must be read with a fine-toothed comb.

    Ever wonder why S'pore paper in support of the airport?

    The last time the tactic was used, was when the Greek run of ways and means to deal with the Troy.

    By skewed thinking ,as normally used by TF ,the same arguement can be said of Labu, a Trojan Horse besides the fact that the banks are on his tail.

    Imagine one day when Mr 'fast facts-tall-poppy-envy-of-every-one' TF give up his interest on Labu(as any Luncai would do) and decided to sell to Temasek his interest,the government would be hand-tied force to buy it instead of being sold to Temasek and its attending national security issue.

    By then 'fast facts-tall-poppy-envy-of-every-one' TF would give the best thereathical act,better than what he is doing now and get the best price anyone can offer.

    The national security must not be compromised.Malaysian still viewed S'pore with suspicions much like the Thais did.TF bottomline is his survival,cornered wildlife would use any means at its disposal for survival,wildlife he is not,cornered he certainly is!

    The 'fast facts-tall-poppy-envy-of-every-one'was not that smart afterall when he hedged the jet at much higher price then the present cost ,now the jet fuel is burning his tail and we the Malaysian were to blamed for dire state of AirAsia share because we denied him a Labu to play with?

    For sake of discussion,S'pore army has in their possession the bomb that splinttered into a small bombs, the type that kills many children in Iraq, as they were not a signatory to the banning which include America and Israel.

    The point is that,these bombs and Labu does not seem to jive to me.

    Mr Kalahari(i am hot)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous6:34 pm

    SO CALLED MR OPTIONAL SAID ! Even TOUGH Airasia is not a fantasy airline like what u said,as far as i know this airline makes malaysia proud by carrying 50 MILLION PASSANGER ! so pls dun talk like Khazanah boy or MAB boy..if m not wrong maybe u may hv received chq from tiz 2 daddy (khaz n Mab)!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous7:22 pm

    aiyyah,
    how now tony? maybe u can build
    multi-level aircraft parking space.
    another world first right.
    then u can say Now Every Aircraft Can Park !!
    U knew that AA is point-to-point biz model & u ordered many aircrafts but overlooked parking space ! No wonder AA is going under.

    - Looney Tune

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous7:34 pm

    I SUPPORT SDW TO BOYCOTT FLYING WITH AIR ASIA.

    I HAVE TAKEN FREQUENTLY FLYING WITH AIR ASIA FOR COMPANY TRIPS.

    DUE TO MY PROTEST, INSTEAD TAKING AIR ASIA, I'LL TAKE MAS.

    GOOD LUCK AIR ASIA!

    JAYAPUTRA

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous8:53 pm

    Hello...Is Straits Times all FOR Labu Airport ? Which paragraph?

    I think it is quite a neutral analysis.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous9:45 pm

    I am just wondering why so many are against the idea of this new terminal.

    As a consumer, don't we benefit if there is competition?

    If we obstruct free enterprises from succeeding, are we happy with a state monopoly that constantly bleeds the country dry even after all the hand-outs?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous10:36 pm

    What opinion? I tend to agree its an "Indian Agenda" thing. The letter by 'skilgannon1066' is clearly in defence of Leslie Lopez with a swipe taken at non Indian Carol Hong. What a piss ars* bast*rd!

    Indians? Bah!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous11:02 pm

    I think there is another side to the story, Air Asia & Sime(same shareholders?) proposed the Labu airport and receive approval knowingly & hoping it will be objected by the masses , then more than willing they will sit down with MAB as supposedly advised and sort the matter out, then for all you know Air Asia receive approval to 'manage' their own airport & facility separately from MAB with probably ownership too, at KLIA.Its another way of getting what they want. I hope and pray I'm wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:47 pm

    If Air Asia decides to build its own airport using its own money to better serve us, then what the hell is the bloody problem? If you are so worried of govt/taxpayer money being spent unwisely, first go ask the govt what business it has got giving massive multi-million ringgit commissions to private companies for procurement of defence equipment, which is essentially a govt-to-govt transaction.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Why can't anybody tell the truth anymore?
    I remember a while back that Air Asia or T.Fernandez is using all the muscle around and behind him to not pay what they owe MAB for the services and rent.
    I believe this episode is now at MOF.
    Halo......transparent konon.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous9:46 am

    Thank you Amok for the brave stand......

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:06 am

    Finally, Najib (responsible for Khazanah) dare to tell Abdullah Badawi to fly wau:)))


    Pak Lah , Ka-Lah:)


    I think Najib tolerance level to Pak Lah has reached the tipping point.

    Pak Lah has shoved Wan Farid down to Najib in KT and Najib has to swallow it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:43 am

    When was this outrage when Tajuddin Ramli bankrupted MAS and yet was repaid handsomely with the Government buying back his shares at twice the market price ? Or the numerous privatisation deals involving the likes of Halim Saad who were bailed out using the tax payer's money. The annual Auditor General's report details billions of ringgit literally stolen from the taxpayers by almost every Ministry. Yet no one is found guilty and everybody forgets about this after a few days. While I still have trouble agreeing with his rationale for a brand new airport when I think that Air Asia and MAB should be able to sort out this mess out between themselves,Tony Fernandes doesn't deserve the kind of personal abuse thrown at him. He is one of the few real entreprenuers this country has ever had. Sure he has had Government support in his venture but he has made a success of it unlike a host of others given privatisation deals who have decimated their companies and required the Government to bail them out. Some balance please people.

    RAM

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:55 am

    Tony Fernandez is playing this labu labi thing with MAB, so that he dont have to the pay the money owed to MAB.

    He owed what! 130M or 180M RM to MAB. AA profit is only 870K RM.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous4:38 pm

    wotcher mister? 10:36 pm

    what's yr problem, bro?

    i just stated the facts:

    - leslie lopez is the spore straits times s-e asia correspondent and carolyn hong is the paper's kl bureau chief.

    - leslie's report in the spore straits times jan 20 was neither anti- or pro- airasia's proposal. he just laid out the viewpoints expressed by the various parties involved.

    pak rocky, who has been long in the journalism game, should be well aware of leslie's background and experience.

    both leslie and s jayasankaran (who works for the spore business times kl bureau) have made public information on corporate and political developments in malaysia that the malaysian mainstream media are either not aware of at that point in time or are aware and refuse to publish.

    if i were to be racist, i would say that indians make good investigative journalists! (lol)

    note that the msian transport minister has conveniently shifted the focus on klia-east@labu to the finance ministry as the supervising authority for malaysia airports. what are we paying the transport minister for?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous5:08 pm

    Tony loves football (MU sponsorship - which was paid by another entity, though AirAsia put up its identity everywhere for MU).

    And he also leaves, changing goalposts!

    Set up a new company to operate Rural Air Services in East Malaysia and got advanced subsidies. Operations almost came to a halt due to superb management and cannibalising of aircraft parts - as well as not paying up for aircraft maintenance by third party.

    He whined and whined and the governent paid up when returning the operations to the national carrier.

    Tony was bothered?
    Not at all - he got the subsidy and on top of that made the government pay up for dues owed by AirAsiaX for aircraft maintenance.

    His next announcement - AirAsiaX to go international.

    History has recorded how this outfit's K.L/Perth inaugural flight took off.

    Now this airline is selling tickets to London - subject to regulatory approvals.

    He cares if regulatory approval is coming or not?

    Why should he, when he has collected advance payments aplenty and is now making use of this money for other matters?

    He also whined and whined about Subang - even when the Subang Skypark project was given to another company, he still was begging for it to be given to him.

    And even when the Labu airport project was being debated, he made reference to 'preferential treatment' given to Firefly in Subang- a turbo prop operator, unlike AirAsia which is a jet aircraft operator.

    Now he also has lobbied for his own terminal in Penang - but using same runway.

    He could have used same approcah with the KLIA operator but no, Sime Darby is very 'intelligent' enough to buy his idea of a totally new airport. SD has enough cash to spare, at the expense of the rakyat?

    By the way, he is also a 'visionary' who knows that even when Labu airport is operating, his Tune Hotel being built in KLIA LCCT will still show positive performance in the years to come.

    Is there any award in Malaysia to honour this kind of 'wise' thinking fellow who is actually a showcase of Malaysia Boleh internationally?

    Please, please, give it to him and the MSM in Malaysia - please front page this fellow as many times as you can for his novel methods of playing the game according to his rules only..

    ANOTHER MALAYSIAN

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am writing from my seaside hotel in Krabi, Thailand, where I just arrived from KL on an AirAsia flight AK862. I paid only RM113 return, so why shouldn't I support Tony & gang? For deals like this I don't care from which airport his planes take off and land, as long as it is decent. :D

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous8:33 pm

    AirAsia is notorious for shitty service and I once refused to fly their airline for a year because of this. Even now, I find it more convenient to use Firefly for my frequent Penang-KL trips, as Subang is closer to the capital.

    Of course, if there's a good deal to the East Coast or abroad...


    Anyway, regarding another boycott on AirAsia over the Labu airport issue, how about MAS?

    http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/96829


    BTW, Khazanah (our so-called economic guardian) is also losing money... RM18 billion, I heard.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous9:39 pm

    Rocky,

    Im a pilot for Air Asia, like you I am Malaysian, and I have been working for 5 years ow and they have been great employers. KLIA does not have the infrastructure like i mean enough baggage carousels, docking arms etc. MAHB are a typical GLC that is ran by dinosaurs and always gives 1st right of refusal to the ever inefficient MAS carrier.

    LCCT is also an emmbarrasment and looks like a shack, and if London can have Gatwick and Standsyead what is the big deal? I mean heck, Firefly is operating out of Subang and no-one is making any noise.

    There are almost 8000 Malaysian jobs at stake here! And we are happy that everyone gets to travel plus MAS stops becoming a fatcat that it has been for many years.

    Azrin

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous11:16 pm

    Asslamualaikum,

    Jikalau ada airport baru di Labu bagus juga kerana orang di Negeri9 dapat kerja. Drpd berhijrah jauh jauh di KL dan mahal. At least 2000 perkerjaan dapat dijana.

    Ini hanya pendapat kecil sayalah.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous12:55 am

    Dear Azrin (pilot of AirAsia - 9.39pm)

    As an employee of AirAsia, thats the way to defend AirAsia.

    But you bloody well stop there if you do not know what is the real issue.

    Its about A NEW AIPORT PROPOSAL and not about operating out of established airports like Subang.

    But funny enough, while you can literally have a bird's eye view from where you actually work, you could only see Firefly aircraft?

    You are so innocent/naive that you do not know of another turbo-prop operator at Subang, that has been flying from there many years before Firefly?

    Have you heard of Berjaya Air? If not Google for it. You will get full details. Be enlightened then.

    And stop name calling other carriers.

    Otherwise you will also get a taste of your own medicine soon.

    Stick to the issue.

    In your professional opinion, the new airport is OK, as per ICAO guidelines and IATA's books?

    OK, lets leave out IATA - your airline does not want to be a member, so not fair to ask your views on IATA's statements.

    What about ICAO? The regulatory authority? You can challenge them on this issue?

    Dan kepada Nogori9 (11.16pm) sila maklum - sekarang pun rakyat Negeri 9 tidak ke KL untuk cari kerja yang ada kaitan dengan industri penerbangan.

    Mereka pergi ke KLIA. Ramai dari Nilai dan kawasan sekitar (di Negeri 9) cari makan di KLIA.

    Faham?

    ANOTHER MALAYSIAN

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous9:56 am

    i dont think its fair to compare Gatwick and Stanstead with the current situation in Sepang. the air traffic there is not as dense as it is in London. and the number of budget flights in Europe is much much more bigger than Malaysia.

    in this current financial situation, its better if we spend prudently.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous11:54 am

    skilgannon1066,

    Your comments? . Ho Humm..

    Your reference about Leslie Lopez not possibly reporting to Carol Hong but to the top editors in Singapore is NO fact but a negative conjecture. I could make that about you or your mother!

    And of Indian making good investigative journalists compared to other races? Hah! I had Indian journalist under me learning how to be good investigative journalists during my years of work. Mr skilgannon1066, the time for honouring yourself and your race is over.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous1:11 pm

    If countries like Switzerland can produce the best chocolate without having a single cocoa tree, France, Italy. Japan and USA can manufacture top class tyres without having a single rubber tree, I see no reason why our country Malaysia with abundant and rich natural resources cant be on top or equal with these countries.

    The question is...where have we gone wrong? Is it due to poor management? Are we putting the right people at the wrong place?
    Are we getting the right leadership?

    I am sure our readers have all the answers to these simple questions.

    A few years ago, one prominent MP said this to me : "My friend, this is my advice. Get into politics as fast as you can, make as fast as you can and get out as fast as you can." I decided to continue with my job because I do not think I could last as a politician.

    Corruption is not just in politics...its everywhere as we all know....and corruption is not just money...abusing power and authority without kick-backs is also corruption. And to prove that there is corruption is not easy especially when prominent people are involved.
    Take an office boy or a clerk who is involved in bribery/corruption. He cant engage a good lawyer because he just cant afford it……so there he goes….poor corrupted guy!!!
    The fear is that once corruption becomes a culture (from top to bottom) like what’s happening in countries around us, we need a total reborn of civilization to start afresh which is impossible.

    My sympathy goes to our DPM Dato Seri Najib because as I see it, there is so much mess for him to clean up. State Corporations are not doing well, most of them end up with deficits. Approved Budgets have to be spent or else the following year’s budget will be slashed….this is a norm in the civil/public sector….Ripley’s believe it or not. Ask any public servant, he/she will say that it’s an accepted standard policy. Strange isn’t it..,, but its true. Unlike in the private sector, budgets are constantly being reviewed and it is NOT mandatory that budgets must be utilized/spent before year end.

    As for GLCs, their CEOs mostly if not all are government appointees who not only will dance according to the tune of the appointers, they will parachute in their own generals/lieutenants who can be their relatives or college mates or neighbors from the same kampong to make their work easy. Its no surprise that these guys will be in cahout…so any decisions like disposing GLC assets, changing policies, reconstructing etc etc etc will not be a problem. After all everybody surely has a share in it in one way or another and in the end….”THEY ALL LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER."

    There is nothing wrong in selecting their own people as long as it is for the good of the business but unfortunately this has been proven wrong most of the time. We have to put our self interest aside. There is a famous saying…” Ill-gotten gains will only last 2 generations.” What has been happening off late should be an eye opener to all of us.








    What worries me most is about our future generation. When the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer....hell will break loose. Our leaders must go all out to narrow the gaps. We have not seen coup after coup in our country (THANK GOD) but nobody can rule out this possibility when one day, ordinary people cant even buy a loaf of bread or get a simple roof for shelter for the family. The signs are already showing……..people are brave enough these days to riot on the streets…..scenes that were uncommon 10-15 years ago.
    Prices of essential commodities have gone up and will continue to rise. The hardest hit will be to the poor or low income group of people. To the rich and famous, 100% or more increase on essential commodities is next to nothing because they have ways (legally) to offset the increase. Putting it in reality, just an example, what is RM 200 for a bag of rice today when it only cost RM 25 per bag yesterday ? To the rich and famous, this is nothing to cry about BUT the scenario will be different to an ordinary man in the street.

    Development has to go on otherwise our country will be stagnant but at the same time we have to look into the future for our generation to live in this country in peace and harmony. To a great extent, it is fortunate that very few of our people have gone ahead with the idea of achieving a population of 60,000,000 people !!!

    Leaders, regardless of whatever organization should work towards making Malaysia a self dependent country.

    1.Ensure that there is enough food supply by increasing the food industry (expansion by hectarage and technology) especially rice which is our staple food. We can call it an agricultural revolution. If a 4 season country like Holland which is smaller than Pahang can export milk etc etc, why cant Malaysia be self sufficient on milk or other dairy products like meat and poultry.
    2.Malaysia has oil and gas – allocate a fix percentage from oil & gas revenue for agriculture.
    3.Malaysia has rubber - We can be leaders in rubber related industries.
    4.Malaysia has palm oil - We can be the leading exporter of palm oil and downstream products from palm oil if we expand oil palm cultivation instead of losing them one by one.
    5.Malaysia has cocoa - We can be one of the leaders in cocoa related products.

    TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT AND DO IT WHOLE HEARTEDLY…. OUR GENERATION WILL CURSE US IF WE DON’T.


    (SENIOR CITIZEN)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Other locations might be more feasible for a low-cost carrier terminal.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I think this airport issue is all about money. Both Khazanah and AirAsia have interests that tey should fight for. I wonder how this thing will end.

    ReplyDelete