the painful reality of Malaysia’s ‘racism’

I bumped into a friend while attending a jazz session at a club last night.

My friend is that famous and accomplished director and creator of some of Malaysia’s better movies and sitcoms a few years back.

The topic of race relations somehow came out and strangely, as liberal as we both are, we had a common opinion about the much-talked about race relations, the movie Tanda Putera, the May 13 incident and the flak the ruling party has been getting from the non-Bumiputras about being racists.

While we agree that the ruling party is not perfect, they did not deserve all that condemnation.

Although the shout “memperjuangkan mertabat bangsa” ( fighting for race dignity) has been too frequently used by the party leaders when we know that firstly, the leaders expect to be personally rewarded before anything else, the fact remains that they still fight for the betterment of the Bumiputra.

Because we realized from those early years, the Bumiputras hardly get an equitable treatment when it comes to decent employment with companies owned by the non-Bumi.

The joke that has been going around all these years is that the Bumis will only be employed as personal drivers and peons (office boys that is) in non-Bumi companies.

Perhaps in today’s scenario the highest posts Bumis will be given are at Executives level.

Forget about Bumis becoming CEOs, General Managers, Senior Managers and CFOs.

Unless the ‘senior’ positions given are specifically for lobbying Government contracts.

And the painful reality is that the Bumi-controlled companies actually do give high positions to the non-Bumis…among others a huge multi-billion conglomerate has a Chinese as a CFO whilst few private companies I worked at before had Chineses and Indians as General Managers and CFOs.

It’s really easy for the Government to get actual statistics about Bumiputras in non-Bumi companies, just analyze through the records at EPF and Income Tax Department ( but somehow I suspect the powers that be already have that analysis quietly done).

And that’s why this constant shout of  “memperjuangkan mertabat bangsa” is still valid.

After all, if the ruling party doesn’t fight for the Bumi cause, you really think the others care?

when directors bungle up, shareholders have to pay ?

The two main airlines in the country have been recently fined RM10 million each for infringing the Competitions Act.

The question everyone has been asking (except those with vested interests) is how come when a normal employee that is considered ‘non-performing’ by his/her bosses is penalized in terms of bonuses, increments or even sacked but when the company Directors make dubious decisions that caused the company to incur millions of losses, they get away with it?

Perhaps the exception is when the Directors actually own the whole company, like the Malay saying ” company bapak aku, aku buatlah apa yang aku suka ” (meaning ” it’s my daddy’s company so I can do whatever I like “).

But when the company is a public company (that means the company ask money from the public to operate its business) or when it is a government company, then the Directors should be held personally responsible.

If they don’t like it, then don’t be a Director in the first place, simple.

But as strange as it is, just like the characters in the Game of Thrones TV series, the really bad ones tend to go on and on…

lame stadium ‘ceo’

Barcelona FC is coming to town.

And just like my Chelsea team earlier, Barca rejected the Bukit Jalil pitch.

So the stadium ‘CEO’ promised to replace the turf in time for the August 10th game.

Which, according to my landscape specialist friend, to complete in 12 days time is a very, very tall order.

And because of the short notice, can be very expensive.

But in this case it’s okay, because it’s not the CEO’s money, it’s the Government’s.

The print media had this photograph of a bunch of blazer-wearing football officials inspecting the football pitch under the scorching sun and probably seconding the CEO’s proposal.

And we need a Spanish guy (obviously the English bloke from Chelsea is not good enough) to tell us that our football field is rubbish.

I read somewhere that now we have this dream of bringing the ranking of our national football team up to the top 100 from the 160 something position we are now, behind Maldives.

Good luck.

But with a young energetic new Sports Minister now, there’s hope.

It’s about time we give this football management a big shake-up.

From the clamour to be officials of the football body (must be the perks and allowances) , to the choice of CEOs of sports facilities and taking a comprehensive look at the football management & training set-up.

In the case of the stadium CEO, get someone who’s a corporate guy with a passion for sports.

Like Glen Frey of Eagles used to say, to be the best…you must have the knowledge, the passion and the fire.

You will see the difference in the strategies drawn up for a robust financial management slanted towards sports activities and rich sponsors.

Instead of the same old same old…making money for the stadiums through exhibitions, expos and political gatherings.

‘award winning’ development

Any of you been to the ‘award winning’ urban development of the newly developed old Brickfields railway yard?

Yes, that’s the office & condominium development surrounding the new KL Sentral Railway Station.

I had the unfortunate privilege of driving there for an appointment.

We had to drive round and round through ramps and between high-rises trying to locate our meeting point.

The place is horrendous with almost every inch of land seemed built up with concrete buildings.

A stressful place to go to and I’m sure a more stressful place to work at.

When compared to the other old railway yard in Sentul, the Developer in Sentul has a higher appreciation for the environment and believe in balancing the need to develop and preserving the green.

Of course the land value is different but that doesn’t give you the excuse to maximize everything.

The Sentral Developer seem to have that old Malaysian Developer mentality…wallop everything you can get approved.

Then find some non-buildable areas to plant new trees and call it your green area.

And this is one of the many reasons why people have less faith in government link companies when they get chunks of Government land and only have a one track mind on how to develop them.

Let’s pray that the Tugu Negara site is not next.

the postal services

So they finally found out where all the mail from last year had gone to.

One of the many ravines in upscale Ukay Heights was found full of mail that’s been allegedly dumped by our trusty Postmen for more than a year now.

And the postal management is now collecting all the dumped mail and planning to forward them finally to the adressees.

Certainly the right thing to do.

But the reality is, the postal service may later be subjected to lawsuits by some of the irate adressees.

So what do you do?

But whatever happens, the reputation of the postal service has been dented.

A long way since that funny sketch by the late comedian Yusof Chong imitating the new Minister of Telecommunication years ago.

The sketch was about the Minister’s first press conference after assuming his new ministerial portfolio. The ‘Minister’ said…” saya akan tentu kualiti Pos tukar. Kalau orang ramai hantar Pos Laju ini hari, saya akan kasi tentu itu surat semalam sampai ! ” (translated as ” I’ll make sure the quality of the post services improve. If you send by express mail today, I’ll make sure they get it yesterday “.

p.s. by the way, this dumping of mail into ravines is not a new thing…see this Lat cartoon from 15 years ago (hmm..sure looks like the same ravine…) :

glossing over battersea

The editors of the government-controlled newspapers were glossing and full of praise over the ‘successful’ Battersea bid.

It was quite nauseating.

The praises on the Malaysians ranges from conservation of heritage (of the British treasures of course), boosting the economies of the city of London, better relations with the British, etc. etc. etc…

Didn’t they hear the whispers around in London that the Malaysians ‘won’ because they offered so much money for the area that was abandoned for 30 years ?

A proposal for a theme park earlier also did not materialize ( this ‘theme park’ thing should make a particular Malaysian ‘Strategic’ Investment Company giddy with excitement ).

I can’t help but think that our people are still in awe and need the ‘pat in the back’ and admiration from the Mat Sallehs.

It’s that inferior syndrome all over again.

a malaysian in london

Lately there’s been a lot of news from London celebrating a Malaysian ‘coup’ in securing the rights to develop the famed Battersea power station.

Frankly I don’t see what the big fuss is all about.

A consortium of Malaysian parties including the custodian of our retirement benefits fund beat some notable contenders for the rights to develop the area concerned.

They won because they submitted the ‘higher-than-expected’ HIGHEST bid.

Big deal.

You’ll find out whether you really make or lose money only a few years from now.

Whatever profits you project on paper today is exactly what it is, a projection.

Any benefits to people like us here from the deal ? Don’t think so.

Three-quarter of the 400 million pounds funding is from a Malaysian bank. You can guess which one.

Somehow our misplaced priority in creating value, jobs and celebrating the heritage of others whilst maximizing the destruction of our own back home is perplexing.

developing Kampung Baru

Wonder what’s happening to the proposal to develop the prime 250 acres land of Kampung Baru ?

The last we heard was just before the recent election but since the guy who won the seat did not get appointed to be a Minister as he hoped, this development story I suspect shall remain just a story for a little while.

Perhaps if I may offer a suggestion…to get everyone there to agree on the redevelopment may indeed take a while. So why not develop the area based on one precinct at a time ?

A precinct could be as small as 15-20 acres.

First identify group of landowners who are agreeable to the proposals of the redevelopment and work on a master plan based on their parcels of land.

An ideal initial proposal of a precinct could be in a form of a well-planned eco-Business Park as in Perth for example, not the congested stressful KL Sentral-type of planning where you insert ( the descriptive Malay word is ‘sumbat’ ) as many high rises as you can.

While waiting for the 3 years that this first redevelopment to complete, make sure that the landowners still get their monthly income from pre-development as before.

When the precinct is completed and open for business, the other ‘reluctant’ landowners can then see for real what they are missing.

So there you are. If after this your overall redevelopment proposal is still stuck, work on the next precinct, and so on.

Eventually you’ll get everyone to see the big picture, maybe.

( a footnote : Not all areas need to be redeveloped. There are some nice traditional houses that need not be touched and can be planned around so as to maintain the character & historical significance. )

a gem in kampung baru

Just dropped off my daughter at this new swanky condominium in Kampung Baru for a birthday dinner.

When this particular Developer launched this project, a lot of us were skeptical that it will succeed. Not so much of the Developer but rather the location.

Remember the Cycle & Carriage Building in Jalan Raja Laut when it was first completed ?

We called it a very beautiful building at the wrong location until Menara Telekom Bangsar took that title away a few years later.

But I must say this new Kampung Baru condominium is simply breathtaking. And I heard the sales of the units went well too.

Kudos to this Developer…you are true to your reputation as the leader in the Malaysian property market.

Perhaps the Bumiputra Developers can take a leaf out of this non-Bumi culture of a continuous pursuit of excellence.

The trappings of Bumiputra as highlighted by chedet in his posting “UMNO Dahulu dan Sekarang” (http://chedet.cc/?p=998 ) are apparently very much prevalent within the Bumiputra corporate circles.

Just like the ‘Ketua Cawangan” who will not tolerate anyone smarter than him in the party until the day he dies or forced to retire, the same philosophy regrettably apply to the Bumiputra corporate circle.

The end result…an entity devoid of any new ideas and its eventual collapse.

” just minor changes brudder…”

The airport company just responded to their contractors’ claim that the delay is caused by additional new instructions.

The airport company senior management said the new instructions were just ‘minor changes’ and shouldn’t take more than a few weeks extra.

Did you read what the new instructions were ?

A massive increase in floor areas and multiple addition of counters of all sorts.

These specialized counters aren’t exactly the type that you can just ask your regular Balakong contractor to whip up within few weeks.

And noticed the official statement released by the airport company about the new extended completion date ?

“….the main contractors confirm that the new completion date will be…”

Hmm….saving room for another blame game when the new date not achievable are we ?

Isn’t there anyone in-charge out there ?