Thursday, July 31, 2014

Old Men Rise Again Part 2


So who killed the young Malay businessmen? I think we can eliminate the DAP. Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in fact, should be credited for giving life to Zarul Ahmad Mohd, the chairman of Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd which is tasked with building the Penang Undersea Tunnel, a project economically valued at more than RM10 billion! Read what Anil Netto has to say about the deal in The Sage Begins: Penang tunnel developer enters JV with Ewein Bhd.  
If DAP didn't do it, who did it then?  Could it be Idris Jala or Wahid Omar, famous for abbreviations? Or was it the so-called government investment arms that took over most Malay-held business after 1997? Institutions like Khazanah Nasional ... 
Remember Rashid Hussain?
Today Khazanah,  MARA, and PNB are fat owners of businesses that should be owned by Malay-Bumiputera individuals. 
Look at our telcos, for example: where there used to be Tajudin Ramli and Celcom, today it is "GLC" Axiata run mainly by accountants who take their orders from bigger accountants at Khazanah Nasional. 
Where there used to be Malay entrepreneurs in the banking sector, there is now a rush to further merge the banks and put them under the institutions. It is the same story in property sector, where PRIMA rules and dictates. 
The people at Khazanah, ETP, MARA and PNB are highly paid (they even fancy themselves as private sector) but to the Malay businessmen, who are perishing because of them, they are no more than a mere extension of the civil service. 
Still to be cont'd ...


8 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:39 pm

    I blame it on Viagra.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Datuk Rocky,

    1. The answer in "the government" and its agents. This is in part because many of the big time Bumi businessmen were created by the government.

    2. In the post-Asian Financial Crisis, very few corporate Bumis were left standing. No wonder only about 2% of corporate wealth belongs to individual Bumis.

    3. It's hard for genuine Bumi businessmen to progress or even survive these days. The GLCs, a few favoured Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputera companies monopolize government contracts.

    4. These companies hardly share subcontracting works with Bumis. Instead they formed their own subcontracting subsidiaries.

    5. Also many successful private Bumi businessmen are unwilling to surface for fear of being forced to share their businesses with politicians, their family members and cronies.

    6. Also there's the tendency for some unscrupulous GLC managers not to favour the Bumis because of "other considerations". Malu nak minta "habuan" daripada sesama Melayu!

    7. As for Bumi SMIs, only 15% of government business loans, excluding Amanah Ikhtiar, went to them.

    8. With so few big time Bumi entrepreneurs around, it's hard for up and coming Bumis to find Bumi business partners. The GLCs are generally interested only in big, mature businesses.

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:52 am

    Untuk melahirkan lebih ramai usahawan muda Melayu Bumiputra, wujudkan semula Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi atau MECD.
    Kenapa Kementerian tersebut dibubarkan? Kementerian tersebut telah banyak berjasa kepada orang Melayu dan Bumiputra. Berdasarkan rekod kewujudan Kementerian tersebut beberapa dekad yang lalu, jasa Kementerian tersebut tiada tolok bandingnya dalam melahirkan usahawan Bumiputra yang berketrampilan, maju dan berdaya saing.
    Sepanjang kewujudan Kementerian tersebut juga, ianya telah menjadi tunjang kepada pertumbuhan ekonomi Bumiputra dan menggalakkan penyertaan golongan Bumiputra dalam sektor-sektor ekonomi negara sekaligus dapat menikmati kek ekonomi yang selama ini dikuasai oleh golongan bukan Bumiputra.

    ReplyDelete
  4. stoopid rocky10:32 am

    Young Malay Businessman killed?

    Rocky, something must be wrong with your eyesight!

    Plenty of them around - look at the warongs, markets and roadside stall and also quietly successful ones - many hard-working ones out there!

    Do not just judge by ONLY looking out for those BIG tycoons businessman.

    Many of these tycoons cannot stand on their own, were/are actually supported from behind by govt. You must have forgotten about the effects and result of the Asian Financial crisis back then? They got into so much trouble and needed to be rescued by govt.

    So now, the govt decided these big biz should be "run mainly by accountants who take their orders from bigger accountants at Khazanah Nasional."

    What's your PROBLEM??????

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sri Temasek3:47 pm

    Rocky has a PROBLEM???????

    Strange. I thought that he operates on a very simple agenda.

    Now, it would be crass to label that as bring "opportunistic".

    "Pragmatic" is more palatable, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3:22 am

    Actually there are many capable Bumi entrepreneurs in the business world today but was made incapable by the Govt agencies set-up supposedly to help them. I give you guys a real live example where this Bumi businessman proposed to get a RM20 million loan to purchase shares in non-bumi listed company from a Govt agency. It took him almost a year to convince the BOD of this agency that his proposal was workable. Initially the agency was reluctant stating that it has not approve such proposal before. This agency is sitting on RM1.6 billion cash and has so far failed and was making losses for the last 6 years. They were financing franchising businesses and all franchise business they finance has failed to payback.

    Now back this bumi guy who finally got the approval from this agency after much convincing and terms put on him ridiculous. He has to make a 10% deposit (RM2 million), Rate of Return of 20% which is worse than the banks (banks charge credit card debts at 18% p.a. only), free shares worth RM200,000 to the agency, personal guarantee and loan term of 24 months.

    This Bumi guy was greatly disappointed with this Govt agency but he daringly took the challenge. He was confident that he can achieve his objectives. He borrowed RM2 million from a friend for the deposit and went ahead to purchase RM20 million for the listed co. shares at 15 sen.

    Before 24 months was over, he sold all his shares at 28 sen and paid back the agency RM28 million plus RM200,000 worth of shares of the company.
    Shamelessly the agency declared first time ever they made a profit of RM8 million for that year, not thru their own effort but effortlessly like Ah Long.

    His comment was he has no choice but to sell all because his appeal to extend the loan for another 12 months was rejected and the agency will force sell to recover all their monies which clearly the shares was making good progress. He said the shares of the company went up to 58 sen not too long after he sold. Imagine how much profit could this Bumi entrepreneur could have got, buying at 15 sen and selling at 58 sen.

    To put salt on the wound, the same agency approved RM30 million loan for a female Bumi stooge who stand for a renown Chinese tycoon and was given 7% Rate of Return.

    This Bumi male entrepreneur said those idiots who sits on the board consist of Govt officials who knows next to nothing about business and to add insult to this guy, there were rumblings among the BOD and management of this agency that this bumi guy has used 'our' money to enrich himself. Whats wrong with that ? they have forgotten that this bumi guy also made this Govt agency for first time ever in 6 years recorded a profit of Rm8 million.

    Thats how 'we' kill our very own capable bumi entrepreneurs and using money for bumis to be given to non-bumi businessman thru bumi stooges front. This bumi guy has the ability to read the movement of the market but his skill now has been curtailed due to this circumstances. What a waste.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2:04 am

    "3. It's hard for genuine Bumi businessmen to progress or even survive these days. The GLCs, a few favoured Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputera companies monopolize government contracts."

    When and under whom did the culture of "a few favoured Bumiputeras" begin? Interesting question. Ask your new boss at MR that question.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Iskandar Mat9:07 am

    Anon 322am, sadly I have the same experiience with Teraju.

    When complaints were made to higher levels like PMO and Pemudah, the committee and BOD took the complaints as insult and not as points for improvements. They made a bitter offer after 6 months such as the one you mentioned, just to show that they are still helping Bumi businessmen, only to want them to work days and night.

    I didnt take the offer but instead found a more angelic investor in the form of a jewish international private bank. If I dont take it, I will be denying myself, my family and generally other Bumi businessmen any chances for me to help them in their business should I have rezeki and wealth to be able to do so.

    ReplyDelete