1 sen per SMS from DiGi?

UPDATED VERSION: December 2 (08:00hr): Confirmed 1 sen/SMS till January 15, 2005. Click this URL.
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I was told every 29th of the month, DiGi will roll out something new to excite the market. This is from somebody in the reload business:

Watch Out! More telephony wars happening.

Look out tomorrow (Dec 1) when Digi Prepaid allows you to call anyone within M'sia for 15sen/min and 1 sen/sms anytime.

Only snag is that you can designate only 6 nos for this rate. But then its so cheap to get another line to assign another 6 nos.

If this competition sustains, pretty soon, intra-network SMS will be free so long as you stay loyal to one particular operator.

For context, read this earlier blog.
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BTW, DO YOU Skype?

Do you 'skype'?

Forget about VoIP and discounted call cards. Thanks to the KaZaA boys, they have formed Skype, and Skype is very hot.

I was skeptical about such P2P telephony when a Maxis insider first told me about Skype some three months ago. I wasn't impressed with Firetalk when talking to associates in Beijing using P2P telephony circa 1999. Then, my so-called broadband was only 128kbps.

Now, with Skype, I am hooked, TV Smith is hooked, and I want all bloggers to be hooked.

And yes, let me put it upfront, I want to see Maxis ARPU for postpaid customers further reduced, thanks to Skype.

In layman's term, Skype is a non-traditional telco that provides Global P2P Telephony services by offering consumers free, superior-quality calling worldwide. Your eyes blink?

So did Michael Powell, chairman of the powerful Federal Communications Commission, USA. He said in Fortune Magazine, February 16, 2004:

I knew it was over when I downloaded Skype... When the inventors of KaZaA are distributing for free a little program that you can use to talk to anybody else, and the quality is fantastic, and it's free - it's over. The world will change now inevitably.

As if coming back with a vengeance, Niklas Zennstrom, CEO & Co-founder of Skype said:

The idea of charging for calls belongs to the last century. Skype software gives people new power to affordably stay in touch with their friends and family by taking advantage of their technology and connectivity investments.

Skype, BTW, is the newest venture of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, co-founders of KaZaA and Altnet, a secure peer-to-peer network.

To enjoy the free calls, PC-to-PC, you will need to download a 10MB software. Get yourself a RM20 multimedia speaker, a RM25 PC-microphone, or an affordable PC headset available at Low Yat plaza, make use of the embedded soundcard on your PC, and an unlimited broadband connection like Streamyx 512kbps.

So far, there had been more than 39,500,000 downloads of the Skype software. So, you are not alone.

And let me tell you this, the voice quality is superb. No echos/delays, no drop-calls. And Skype handles 5-way PC-to-PC conferencing - free of charge!

You may also like to know that Skype works behind most firewalls and gateways and Skype calls are encrypted. Besides, Skype maaintains a strict privacy policy.

Soon, if what Skype says is true, it will be expanding to new platforms, including mobile devices and handsets. This means, you'll be Skyping at home, in the office and on the road - free-of-charge PC-to-PC from anywhere to anywhere in the world. You by-pass the telcos' money-toll, that's the beauty.

Charging for voice calls is as good as dead

The fact that Skype gets so widely accepted is not because it's free, but the rapid proliferation of broadband has also helped.

So far, Skype has kept to its brand promise in providing high-quality connectivity, and it professed to be working with world class telecommunications companies now faced with supply-exceeds-demand wholesale access capacity.

Please allow me to play an evangelist role again (no apologies, but I simply relish whatever techno-newbies that can potentially take a dent at Maxis' ARPU for postpaid). With Skype and unlimited access broadband, you are no longer beholden to one celco company, because you now have the choice - and option - to make free, unlimited calls using an Internet connection.

BTW, Skype has prepaid version - called SkypeOut Credit - if you want to terminate your calls at a fixed line or mobilephone (the caller still needs to log-in and talk via PC. Talk time charges are in Euros - Skype is HQ-ed at Luxembourg - and the tariff is still at least four times cheaper than what Malaysian celcos and telcos offer at promotional rates. Check the calling rates and you will know. (The SkypeOut Credit expiry policy has changed a little, though.)

I have made the comparison, it's still cheaper to use the prepaid SkypeOut to call from PC to Maxis mobilephone at any tariff zone!

Currently, mobile charges within the same zone in Malaysia averages 30 sen per minute, and 60 sen/minute for adjacent zone (eg calling Penang from Subang Jaya) and RM1.50/minute for East Malaysia. With SkypeOut Credit, you pay a per minute flat rate of €0.022 (8.2 Malaysian sen) for any landlines in Malaysia, and €0.047 (20.2 Malaysian sen) for mobile.

That is because SkypeOut Credits works on a new mantra for alternative telecommunications, and the central thesis is that geographical distance is no longer a valid determinant to cost and call tariff as we are looking at the packet-based data transfer over Internet Protocol.

In Skype's model, it does not matter where you're calling from, only where you're calling to. Sitting in London and calling your friend next door costs the same as sitting in Beijing and calling your friend in London.

SkypeOut has a Global Rate - 1.7 Euro cent, or 2 US cents, or 7.6 Malaysian sen - that is only for calling regular landline telephones in selected countries with liberal telco framework, while calls to mobile phones are more expensive.

To road warriors, always book your hotel which provides a Wi-Fi hotspot. Then you Skype without having to pay Maxis international roaming charges using your notebook or PocketPC.

Go now, fellow bloggers! Go get Skype software, tell your friends. Break free from Maxis Hotlink or whatever. Tell them, no chocolates, but charging premium for voice-calls is as good as dead!

When losing out is not an option...

Guest Blogger
Peter Joseph
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 05:41:56 +0000

I read in today's Singapore Straits Times that Malaysia will ask the laggards among its more than 500 tertiary institutions to close shop as the country moves to improve its quality of education.

The report mentioned that Malaysia's National Accreditation Board (LAN) had revealed that nearly 5 out of 6 courses offered by private colleges nationwide were not accredited. There are more than 500 private institutions in Malaysia. Of the 3,000-odd courses offered by the private colleges, only about 530 have received certificates of accreditation.

Malaysia has aspirations to be a regional education hub. The government has plans to raise the number of international students to 50,000 next year and expects to earn more than RM1 billion a year from these students.

It seems that the authorities (specifically the Higher Education Ministry and its predecessor) had chosen in the past to emphasise quantity over quality for private higher-learning institutions. There is a dearth of brand-name, internationally recognised foreign universities and institutions who have set up shop here.

Contrast this with Singapore, which has chosen to go for quality and brand-names insofar as education is concerned. Singapore is totally focussed on being THE education hub for the region, and it has succeeded brilliantly thus far. Brand-names in education which have already set up campuses or joint degree programmes in Singapore include the French business school Insead, China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins, Cornell and Stanford Universities from the US. Australia's University of New South Wales will set up a branch campus in Singapore in 2 years' time, and there are reports that Singapore is trying to attract at least one of the renowned Indian Institutes of Technology to set up shop in the republic.

What is worrying is that Malaysia seems to be always losing out to Singapore as far as the next big thing is concerned. You name the field - biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, high-end electronics, information technology, private banking and wealth management, aerospace and aviation, logistics or even real estate investment trusts - and you will find that Singapore has taken the initiative to position itself as the regional hub in these fields. Malaysia, by all accounts, is lagging several years behind.

It is indeed ironical, for example, that AirAsia has chosen to have its aircraft maintained in Singapore by Singapore Technologies Aerospace. It was reported in the Singapore newspapers that AirAsia has entered into multimillion-dollar maintenance, repair and overhaul contracts with ST Aerospace over the next 10 years. Logically, one would have expected AirAsia to have its aircraft maintained in Malaysia. Sadly, it appears that the quality of aircraft servicing in Singapore is way ahead of what is available in the region.

Singapore's ministers and bureaucrats seem to have this ability to think "out of the box" and to consistently come up with initiatives and policies to attract foreign investors to commit big bucks in the country. Malaysia seems to lack such focussed and aggressive forward thinkers. And that will pull the country down in the great game of global competitiveness. Yet, everyone here seems to be busy playing to their domestic agendas, with no one, apparently, even caring two hoots about the country's competitiveness. I, for one, wonder what needs to be done to wake people here up to the fact that the rules of the game are changing rapidly, and that we are not on the cutting edge to benefit from it.
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The writer monitors closely Singapore's media and their reports on Malaysia.

Fernandes: 'We just need a simple airport'

AIRASIA Bhd has appealed to the Government to turn the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang into a regional hub for budget airlines.

Of course, Tony Fernandes is pitching from a Low Cost Carrier's (LCC) standpoint.

Fernandes says we cannot have LCCs operating at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang.

Even if the Government decides to build a new LCC terminal at KLIA, it just means a reduction in AirAsia's cost, but not low cost.

"We really need a simple airport," said Fernandes.

Recent press reports, says NST-Business Times, suggested that the Government is unlikely to agree to this. Rather, it will continue to promote the airport as a maintenance, repair and overhaul centre.

Dr Goh Ban Lee on Penang's fading pearl

Dr Goh zeroes in on the City Council.

A must read, theSun November 30 (Online version not available at the time I blogged this).

P/S Another Penangite, Khoo Kay Peng, also lamented over the faded Pearl, Nov 19.

It's best to ignore racism taunts

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 10:04:13 +0800Subject: Letter to

The blog entry on the 'racism' charge levelled against Straits Times Singapore was
extremely informative but highly worrying, in the sense that it has many implications for the world of news reporting,

I wish to comment on similar but more open display of 'racism' in sports, rather.

The ugly side of racism in sports was reared again in the Football match involving Spain and England. I am not sure why that was the case, probably due to the Spanish coaches' comments and the backlash which inevitably may have caused these bigots and morons to try and unsettle players with these taunts.

I, however, think we must see this in it's right perspective. The beautiful game must go on. I heard very clearly that there was audible 'monkey' sound being mimicked in the background of that game. So what? Perhaps they have been living in the jungle and need their banana intake soon?

John Barnes once said that in his early days there were very few players and the racist taunts was a bit annoying, but when he was at his peak, 'there were so many non white players on the field that if, before, they were throwing bananas on to the field, now they will need to throw the whole tree in'.

In similar fashion, isn't it ironic these jokers paid huge load of monies to come and watch 'monkeys' play if that is what they think? Surely, the fact that they were there watching means that all this is mere hype, publicity-seeking endeavours.

Perhaps, next time they start screaming like monkeys, the players all should throw the banana towards them, that will be amusing to watch, isn't it?

Jobstreet & Unrealmind

UPDATED VERSION: As at 10:25hr, The EdgeDaily reported that debutante JobStreet was the most active counter with 13.31 million shares traded. It was trading at RM1, up 46 sen above its offer price of 54 sen.

The counter opened at 85 sen, a 31-sen premium over its offer price.
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Today, Jobstreet Corporation Bhd goes IPO on Mesdaq.

First and foremost, I must declare my interest that I am not entitled to any Jobstreet shares, nor do I intend to buy some in the near future. But I'd very much like to see this company succeed. It's the sole role model in Malaysia that can vindicate my despise on skeptics' scorn on dotcoms of the late nineties.

Last week, during the pre-IPO PR releases, it was announced that JobStreet's net profit increased by 237% to RM6.71 million for the nine months to Sept 30, 2004 from RM1.99 million a year earlier on the back of an 84% surge in sales to RM25.39 million.

These results are a profitability record for the JobStreet group and a reflection of its investments overseas that have begun to deliver solid returns and increased acceptance of online recruitment services, said CEO Mark Chang.

Another of the tech-entrepreneur I greatly admire is Unrealmind Interactive Bhd, which is already listed on Mesdaq late June. Its share price jumped 17.4%, or eight sen to 54 sen, in early trade on Nov 23 after UK-based Monstermob Group plc acquired a strategic stake of 29.97%.

Unrealmind is a mobilephone entertainment content provider for the licensed games market. I first discovered this company when I was sitting on a panel of judges for the APICTA Awards a couple of years ago. I found the CEO Tan Swee Yeong a man with a clear business focus.

The 3-year old company has already achieved a leading position in the South-East Asian market, compared to some 400 mobile content providers in Malaysia.

According to Tan, UnrealMind is now the largest entertainment content provider in Vietnam, and is among the top five in Malaysia and Indonesia. The company has joint ventures in Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Tan said about 12% of the company's revenue now comes from overseas operations.

For the domestic market, the company has since teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment to provide ringtones using original song clips for Maxis subscribers. It currently supplies 95% of the content to Maxis' caller ringtone service.

Financial results: For the half-year ended June 30, UnrealMind reported a net profit of RM1.5mil on turnover of RM6.8mil. Earnings per share were at 5.15 sen. And it has forecast a net profit of RM4.05mil on turnover of RM17.8mil for the full financial year ending Dec 31.

OTHER KIDS ON THE BLOCK

I am looking at the early dotcom kids, Chris Chan of Media Shoppe (TMS) and Tengku Farith Tengku Ahmad Rithaudeen of Skali Berhad, and hoping anxiously that they, too, would prove dotcom skeptics wrong.

At the launch of its prospectus last Friday, TMS announced a net profit of RM2mil for the first seven months ended July 31, 2004, up 332% from the profit after tax of RM463,000 in the same period last year. Revenue rose 41% to RM5.2mil from RM3.7mil.

Lately, I noticed TMS consistently taking half-page ads in the English dailies, running up to the IPO.

On the other hand, I can't find much report on financial results for Skali, especially on the web. Could anyone help?

However, I did stumble on news items which reported that Skali is embarking to spend RM2 million - government grant through MATRADE - to promote its brand abroad.

The casualty

For posterity's sake, it would not be truthful to ignore the fact that another of the same-age dotcom kid, GO2020.com, has GONE(bust)2000, putting paid to RM3.5 million invested by MSC Venture Corporation (MSCVC), together with undisclosed amount of funding from Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd and Go2020's top management team.

In the aftermath of the casualty, I remembered Chris Chan saying this in May 2001 in The Edge:

One of the true trades of a great CEO is to be able to stand out, whether during good or terrible times. Look at the big guys, like Microsoft, Oracle or Virgin. There's always the CEO associated behind the company.

The same goes here. GO2020 will always be Derrik Khoo.

We need more visionaries like him to lead Malaysians into the 21st centure. (And more finance guys to assist him!!)

He'll be back.

On hindsight (which is always 2020), I think the visionary CEO label now befits more people like AirAsia's Tony Fernandes and Jobstreet's Mark Chang.

All in all, it's truly a case of lain padang, lain belalang even in the tech-entrepreneur scene.

DRB-Hicom: Third bidder?

Is there a third bidder for the 15.8 percent stake in DRB-Hicom Bhd?

According to news report, the potential bidder, who has yet to reveal his identity, would arrange for a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to present a fresh proposal.

On Friday, Nov 26, Leslie Lopez reported in the Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) that confidential audit by Ernst & Young indicates that whoever wins the managing block of DRB-Hicom shares will inherit a company beset by severe financial problems.

AWSJ said, citing a copy of the audit report it reviewed, DRB-Hicom is saddled with about RM2 billion in debt, and it is facing a potential liquidity crunch in late 2005 when large debt repayments are due. Excerpts:

The audit, carried out by accounting firm Ernst & Young, also shows that at least one DRB-Hicom unit has already defaulted on a 79 million ringgit loan. The report cautioned that the default on a loan taken by a DRB-Hicom subsidiary involved in providing baggage-handling services at several Malaysian airports could potentially trigger cross-default clauses on borrowings from other creditors.

Ernst & Young was commissioned to carry out a due diligence audit in mid-August by investors led by Mr. Nasimuddin, who controls one of Malaysia's most successful auto distributors. Mr. Nasimuddin and his partners have been locked in a four-month struggle with Mr. Syed Mokhtar for a stake in DRB-Hicom currently held by the estate of Yahaya Ahmad, the company's former controlling shareholder.

Ministers involved in lobbying

The AWSJ also said that the government has been asked to intervene in the dispute and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also finance minister, is under pressure to decide who will be the successful bidder.

The paper also quoted financial executives close to the situation as saying both Nasimuddin and Syed Mokhtar have been lobbying political figures, including cabinet ministers, in recent weeks to win support for their bids.

On the other hand, according to AWSJ, many corporate analysts said they couldn't understand why the two bidders are so eager to acquire ailing DRB-Hicom. Quote:

What's most puzzling, say some investment bankers, is the price that Mr. Nasimuddin's group and Mr. Syed Mokhtar are offering for the company. The takeover offer of 3.60 ringgit a share represents a huge premium over the current stock price and the 2.10 ringgit that Ernst & Young estimates each DRB-Hicom share is worth based on its asset-backing. [...]

Malaysian corporate analysts suggest that whoever wins control of the company will have to quickly sell off unprofitable subsidiaries as well as some profitable investments, such as the group's 20% holding in mid-sized EON Bank Bhd., in order to avert a financial meltdown.

Apart from restructuring the conglomerate's debt-load, analysts say DRB-Hicom's new management is likely to refocus its operations on core
businesses: auto assembly and distribution as well as property development.

A breakup of DRB-Hicom would mark the end of a company that was the centerpiece of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's industrialization drive in the 1980s. At one time, the company functioned as the state's vehicle for investments in auto making, steel and cement production.

It is now known that, early this year, the share vendors were threatened by their creditor banks to foreclose on loans of more than RM400 million, borrowings that are secured by the Yahaya estate's shareholding in DRB-Hicom.

Left with little choice, the estate four months ago invited bids for
its stake in DRB-Hicom, triggering the corporate fight between Nasimuddin and Syed Mokhtar.

AWSJ portal is subscription based. You may read the entire story in BeritaMalaysia's YahooGroup.

Money politics and the (hitherto) Outlaws

Brendan Pereira's column this Sunday: Money politics is just criminal:

At the moment, Malaysians believe in their Government and Parliament... that Malaysians had faith in their legislature.

To keep and nurture this precious commodity of faith, the ruling party should make sure that MPs or State Assemblymen found guilty of money politics and suspended from Umno give up their places in Parliament or State Legislative Assemblies.

Any action other than this will convey a conflicting and demeaning message to Malaysians: that the person not fit for party work is good enough to sit in Parliament.

Pereira also said Malaysia's law does not offer Umno members any immunity from criminal acts.

Hence, Those found guilty by the party's disciplinary board have committed a criminal offence punishable in Malaysian courts. Therefore, once found guilty, their cases should be handed over to the ACA. All the more if they occupy senior positions in the Government.

Good rhetoric.

But what we get to see right now is that Titiwangsa MP Astaman Abdul Aziz, who has been suspended by his party, Umno, for three years for money politics and corruption, has not been disallowed from attending Dewan Rakyat sittings.

Two, Putrajaya Umno Youth division chief Ahmad Zaki Zahid, who is also a special officer to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was found to have contravened Section 2.2 of the party's code of ethics during the division elections. But he keeps his post as PM's aide, and remains privy to government's official secrets by virtue of his appointed post.

P. Gunasegaram, too, tackled this November 9, and I am now regurgitating it.

How do we reconcile all this in public eyes when you keep asking people to start charity from home?

Penang: The Pearl of Orient?

In the Sunday Star today, Ng Su-Ann and Priscilla Dielenberg start a two-part series looking into the issues involved in the decline of tourism in Penang.

The Pearl of the Orient seems to be losing its lustre as tourists avoid it in favour of other destinations, they say. Substantiation? They quote the warning given two years ago by the task force of a travel body, the Pacific Asia Travel Area (Pata).

According to the story, the state government has received a 10-page report stating a one-line conclusion: "Penang must Reform, Repair, Renew, Regroup and Reprioritise otherwise, tourism will continue to Retreat".

Ng writes a separate story, depicting the sad state of affairs at island's tourism info centres.

Two weeks ago, Star's Wong Chun Wai also commented on the same issue.

He said,

There are now news reports that Penang has lost its shine as the Pearl of the Orient.

It may hurt but the fact is that the state lost its competitive edge long ago. It's not news any more but what is sad is that there appears to be a state of denial and indifference on the part of the state leadership. [...]

I see little point in anyone, especially politicians or those in the tourism trade, pointing their fingers or being defensive because the damage has been done.

It's better for the Penang leaders to put on their thinking caps and come out with an innovative and creative marketing approach to sell Penang as a popular destination.

I expect Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Khoon on repond to the matter soon.

I used to shake my head at the antics performed by former state exco Kee Phaik Chin, who helmed the tourism portfolio for some 10 years before she bowed out from politics last March. My friends said she promoted herself more than Penang.

Now, the portfolio has been entrusted to Teng Chang Yeow, a Johorean who studied in USM and became a state assemblyman and Dr Koh's political secretary for years. My impression of Teng is more a consummate political animal than a strategic thinker, but I am willing to discard my biases and I hope he does something meaningful and strategic about Penang tourism, soon.

Good old days

It's true that Penang's sparkle as the famed Pearl of the Orient was - knowingly and unknowwingly - lost in the last two decades. The decline falls within the time when he and his predecessor, Dr Lim Chong Eu, were helming the state. Now that Dr Lim has retired, and Dr Koh is the reigning chief minister, the task is obvious who should do something to rekindle Penang tourism and the economic benefits it brings to the state.

On the other hand, Penang folks - just like the Kelantanese and any natives in other parts of Malaysia - are sentimental about their homestates. I can attest that Penangites, as they proudly call themselves, are particularly saddened that the legacy about Penang that they grew up with - from the Nyonya heritage, the romance of the Straits Settlement era and even the free-port memories - are now all history.

My kids can no longer spit meshed biscuit onto the Gurney Drive beach to catch sandworms for angling - things that I used to do when I was small. Gone are the 8-feet waves that hit the Esplanade in December mornings.

The Penang Ferry, the Botanical Gardens, the Penang Hill and the Batu Ferringhi beache, just to name a few, are now in shambles. Even the famed hawker food - from char koay teow to nasi kandar - has given in to excessive MSG and fluctuation in quality. (Wonder my favourite banana pancake along Beach Street is still there?)

Traffic and public transports are also not immune to big city woes. I can't help lamenting the good old days when I could take the Yellow Bus to go south island, and Hin Co. bus to the north - and Lim Seng Seng if I remember correctly - and the City Council bus to get around 'por tay' (downtown). Such ease is gone. Even Greenlane is so choked up nowadays.

Hence, I echo what Wong Chun Wai has said:

Every time I return to Penang to visit my parents and friends, my heart aches. This sentiment is not mine alone as it is shared by my many colleagues and old schoolmates who now live in Kuala Lumpur. [...]

Penangites are parochial and passionately proud of their state, like I am, and they would chide Teng, a Johorean, for not knowing Penang as much as they do since they were born and bred there but an outsider's perspective can bring fresh ideas and impetus, too.

The state should consider setting up an advisory council of prominent Penangites from various industries, both living in Malaysia and outside, to come out with a comprehensive plan.

These Penangites, with their extensive business, social and political contacts, can form a powerful network to help revitalise Penang. These people, having no agenda except their deep sense of belonging to Penang, would serve as a good promotional tool for the state.

So, what would Dr Koh do to resuscitate Penang tourism, one thing that he has not done so well in the past 10 years, in the next four years he's in office?

We will see. But Wong Chun Wai has evoked the grandeur of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, an anak Pulau Pinang, urging him to consider restoring Penang's free port status.

Penang needs all the help it can get to make the pearl shine again, the editor said.

UPDATES: Also read Lucia's blog and Penang4U YahooGroup.

Thug-Sin-ism... ( 3 )

Via Financial Times:

On the eve of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit, Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has threatened to walk out of next week's south east Asian summit if neighbouring countries raise their growing concerns about Bangkok's handling of the intensifying Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand.

Thaksin has said he sees no reason to listen, or talk, to his counterparts about the worsening carnage. "If there is any attempt to raise the issue at the Asean summit, I will fly straight home", the premier said. "I will treat it as a serious breach of etiquette."

But Indonesia, Singapore and especially Thailand's neighbour, Malaysia, are increasingly nervous about what they see as Bangkok's inept and heavy-handed response to Muslim grievances.

Via Bangkok Post:

Social critic Thirayuth Boonmee yesterday called on Thaksin Shinawatra to turn crisis into opportunity by using the Asean summit in Vientiane to clarify what happened at Tak Bai.

"Prime Minister Thaksin should be mature enough not to walk out of the summit. Instead, he should use the summit to clarify what happened or to express regret for the military crackdown," he said.

PM Abdullah Badawi denies Malaysian's concern over security in Southern Thailand is an intrusion into Thailand's domestic affairs.

Barisan Backbencher Club president Shahril Abdul Samad told the Dewan Rakyat that it is in unison with Queen Sirit's appeal for peaceful resolution to the unrest in Southern Thailand.

Read The Nation: Diplomatic flurry to keep lid on Tak Bai, and Farish A. Noor: Another ASEAN durbar?

Via Singapore Sunday Times, an AFP story:

The Thai government is moving to suppress a video CD of security forces beating Muslim protesters in the restive south on a day in which 87 demonstrators died.

The VCD shows soldiers beating and trampling on protesters whose hands were bound behind their backs after a riot at Tak Bai in Narathiwat province on Oct 25, according to Bangkok Post.

The daily said the video was compiled from news footage as well as private video coverage of the day in which 87 Muslim demonstrators died, most of them through suffocation after being piled into army trucks.

Thaksin repeated yesterday that he wanted the general election, tentatively scheduled for Feb 13 next year, to be brought forward. He also denied his plan to give 40 billion baht to CEO governors for development projects as a disguised attempt to buy votes ahead of the general election.

Via The Nation: THAILAND'S FUTURE: Another crisis is looming:

Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura, a respected economist and former finance minister, warned yesterday that Thailand's "weakened" people sector has raised the spectre of another economic crisis occurring in the next six years.

Virabongsa argued that the lack of a sound understanding in politics on the part of the majority of Thais had resulted in a weak democratic governance system in the past few years.

He said that if voters did not know how to choose honest politicians over bad ones, the poll results could easily lead to the formation of another set of economic bubbles and then a crisis like that of 1997.

"Is Singapore racist?" asked fired journalist

One wonders how an 8-month stint at Singapore Straits Times could make one imported journalist so bitter when he leaves The Firm?

I am talking about Pranay Gupte, the Global-Affairs columnist and Senior Writer at The Straits Times (picture left).

Gupte joined the Singapore paper in April 2004 after serving for three months (January 2004 to March 2004) as the Editorial Director for The Daily Star/International Herald Tribune, Beirut, Lebanon.

He claimed to have worked in The New York Times, Forbes and Newsweek International in the more distant past.

He left The Straits Times November 16, describing it as an "involuntary departure", an eulogised version for abrupt termination.

I first saw the newsroom feud in Danny Lim's blog, and later an lert from reader, call-sign ap345 nil.

This article titled A Farewell to Singapore - which Gupte wrote on November 25 about former intelligence personnel (read: Special Branch/CIA-alike) running the media - comes on particularly strong on newsroom chemistry:

Some Singaporeans, of course, don't necessarily value the good will, professionalism and experience that veteran outsiders such as me bring. I came to Singapore wanting to share my extensive life experience with young journalists; I leave with great sadness that I never quite got to do that.

I leave with sadness, too, over how journalism is practiced in Singapore, at least at The Straits Times. Call me old-fashioned, if you will, but I honestly think that intelligence personnel -- whether past or present -- do not belong in the news room. The associations and practices of several Straits Times personnel are highly questionable. That's the paper's business, of course, but I scarcely think that such people should be educating longtime and established journalists such as me about professional practices and conduct. Such lectures are best given by those who truly understand the rules of evidence required for reporting and writing -- and I'm afraid that most Straits Times personnel don't qualify. [...]

Meanwhile, The Straits Times will continue doing just fine, of course. And why not? It's the only broadsheet in a one-horse town. I wish the paper well, even the nail-pullers and bureaucrats whose idea of journalism begins with tolerating no professional disagreements - however minor - and ends with complete, unvarnished propaganda that ill serves Singapore in a world of rapid globalization. It's a news room culture that is totally alien and inimical to the very idea of honest, fair and open journalism.

It's also a sorry reflection on the secular and progressive society that Mr. Lee Kuan Yew courageously set out to build nearly 40 years ago. I don't believe that The Straits Times, as it is run now, brings honor or prestige to Singapore. As a journalistic vehicle, it's actually quite a disgrace.

Gupte describes himself as aged 56, and as an Indian-born, US-educated journalist, who has never been exposed to racial discrimination.

Now the question is: Was Gupte fired because of his stauch defence of his journalistic values and principle? Or is he simply an alleged Indophobic freak (read: Danny Lim's blog for context)?

Fall-out

Gupte believes his fall-out with Singapore Straits Times - a newspaper in a state he calls a "rules-driven society" - was because of his defence of - quote - "my friend Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean of Indian descent who was his country's Permanent Representative at the United Nations and is now Dean of the new Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy here in Singapore".

In Gupte's own words:

I believe that what precipitated my termination from the paper on the morning of Tuesday, November 16, was my refusal to include in the article about the LKY School some falsehoods about Mr. Mahbubani that two editors suggested that I should insert. They both claimed that Mr. Mahbubani has had problems with the nation's security services and that he was viewed as a radical when he was a student at what was then the University of Singapore (now National University of Singapore).

There was no way that I could independently confirm such suggestions. Moreover, I believe they were false. Mr. Mahbubani may have been a student activist in his writings for the university newspaper - but since then has distinguished himself for nearly four decades as Singapore's emissary in various places. The fact that he was named head of the LKY School is testimony to the high regard in which he is universally held. [...]

It would have been simply inappropriate to include unsubstantiated stuff about Mr. Mahbubani's alleged radicalism during his student days. And it's highly unlikely that he would have risen as high as he has, had he been really considered a national security risk. My own feeling is that among some of the intelligence and bureaucratic types who run the Straits Times, there isn't universal good will toward the LKY School or its dean.

That's Gupte's protruding thoughts on November 19, three days after he packed up from The Straits Times, as read from his personal website.

He targets his (former) direct editor, Chua Lee Hoong, whom he describes as "an intelligence officer". I have a context for her, but more on this, later in this blog.

Gupte, evidently, has a mouthful to say about The Straits Times, a place allegedly run by 'nail-pullers':

The Paper

... let me say a word or two about the paper, which will be 160 years old next year. It's a beautifully designed paper, with 90 percent of a typical day's edition of 200 pages consisting of ads.

The Straits Times has no competition in Singapore. It's owned wholly by a company called Singapore Press Holdings, whose stock is sold publicly but whose affairs are closely monitored by the government of prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, son of Singapore's founding father, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Colleagues

The paper is run by editors with virtually no background in journalism. For example, my direct editor was Ms Chua Lee Hoong, a woman in her mid 30s. She was an intelligence officer. Other key editors are drawn from Singapore's bureaucracies and state security services. They all retain connections to the state's intelligence services, which track everyone and everything.

At the newspaper, I was struck by the total absence of conversation or banter in the huge newsroom... I was accustomed to the spirited atmosphere of news rooms, not to mention disagreements and disputes.

How newsroom is run, how journos behave

Like newsrooms everywhere, the newsroom of the Straits Times has its share of jealousies, resentments and fiefdoms.

It is also a poorly run organization. For example, my editor, Ms Lee, killed a substantial quote that I obtained from Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of the New York Times, on the grounds that he was "distracting." When I wrote an e-mail note to Arthur, whom I've known for a long time, to explain why his generously given quote to me was not used, here's what I received from Mr. Cheong Yip Seng, the editor-in-chief of the Straits Times:

we do not do this on this paper, namely apologise to a newsmaker whose quote we did not use. if i were the newsmaker, i would think poorly of the paper. if the nyt uses every quote of a noteworthy newsmaker, they will need to double the pages they use daily.

----- Forwarded by Cheong Yip Seng/SPH on 14/11/2004 06:37 PM -----

Needless to day (sic), Mr. Cheong missed my point entirely. Arthur Sulzberger had made a special effort to communicate with me from 13,000 miles away to give me a long personal statement about the New York Times and its directions. I used the quote in a column on the media, but, of course, it was edited out. I felt that in view of my own long tenure at the Times, and my friendship with Arthur, I owed him an explanation, at the very least. It was common courtesy on my part, not brown-nosing to Arthur, who doesn't take to kindly to obsequiousness anyway.

Working relationship with Chua Lee Hoong

Ms Chua (after allegedly killing off two of Gupte's stories on Dr. Supachai Panichpakadi, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, and Mr. Peter G. Peterson, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations) further recommended that I should turn to a white colleague in the news room for lessons on how to ask questions. Since I didn't come to the Straits Times to be re-educated in journalism - after a pretty distinguished career of my own - I felt that her advice was inappropriate.

The behaviour of Ms Chua, the editor, may be simply the kind of office politics that people holding power engage in every now and then. But it's also part of a broader attitude that I detect among many Singaporeans in journalism's top echelons here - that no one else's record or accomplishment or opinion counts but theirs. Any divergence of view is immediately regarded as subversive dissent.

Deepavali Column & Racism?

Interestingly. Gupte's article swiftly plunged into a flurry of thoughts on ethnicities - sparked off by his column on Deepavali, or Diwali, that was edited. This thought has, apparently, triggered his leading paragraphs, quoting an unnamed Indian cabinet minister:

Not so long ago, an important member of India's federal cabinet took me aside and asked why was it that Singaporeans were racist. I was floored by the question, which the official asked in all earnestness. In his long career dealing with ethnicities and communities all over the world, he said, he had never quite encountered the sheer arrogance and hubris demonstrated by Singaporeans.

"They think that they know it all," he said, noting the absurdity of a nation of four million people taking on a country of 1.2 billion people. "Even a minor Singaporean official will talk down to someone as senior as me."

Gupte continues:

Now some people I know in Singapore regard Ms Chua's behaviour as racism. I do not. But another episode in the news room last week certainly suggested racism to me.

But he repeated his gesture in a manner that was so dismissive that I then addressed him by the only appropriate response, a barnyard epithet. I was struck, not by his gesture alone - I've seen worse during a career in journalism spanning four decades - but by the expression on his face. It left no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he would qualify for what my friend, the Indian cabinet official, would most certainly call a racist.

Racists & Racism in Singapore

Gupte further says that "Racist" is a hot-button word never to be employed lightly. "As an Indian-born, US-educated journalist, I have never been exposed to racial discrimination. Quite the contrary. America - supposedly still a land of great racial divides - has been generous to me, truly a land of monumental opportunities."

He says when he arrived in Singapore early this year, he was quite astonished to see how many non-Singaporean Indians in professional positions were serving with coolie-like servility that they would never display back at home. What was going on here? he asks.

"You have to play by the rules," one Indian-born colleague said. "You cannot shake the boat too much. In fact, you dare not shake it at all. The money is good here, so I can swallow an insult or two." [...]

And so back to that question: Are Singaporeans racist? Well, of course some of them are, just as surely some Americans are, and Australians and Argentineans and, dare I say, even Indians.

Life after Straits Times

Journalistic values are not subject to cultural relativism; they are universal. There's only one way of telling the truth. At least, that's what I was taught at The New York Times, Forbes and Newsweek International, where I have spent most of my journalistic career. And four decades after starting out in international journalism, I continue to believe that as strongly as ever. [...]

But the Straits Times as a model of dynamic, open-minded journalism? It will happen on the day that it starts to snow here on the equator.

Would I still recommend Singapore as a place to visit? Yes, I would, most definitely. And as a place to stay? Yes, I would, most certainly. But don't expect to practice the journalism of fairness and forthrightness. This simply isn't the place for that. At least, not as long as nail-pullers are running the news room. I got out before they pulled out my nails. But it still hurts.

On the same day after this article was uploaded, Gupte went on to write an Open Letter to PM Lee Hsien Loong complaining about his abrupt termination by The Straits Times.

'Intelligence Personnel' cum Media Practitioners

For context on Chua Lee Hong, please revisit Screenshots on how she took a swipe at Dr Mahathir last year over the water supply dispute by calling him '21st Century Hang Tuah'. For that, someone called her Singapore's Maureen Dowd.

In 2001, The Australian has identified Cheong Yip Seng, editor-in-chief, Cheong's boss, Tjong Yik Min; Irene Ho on the foreign desk; Susan Sim, Jakarta correspondent as other intelligence personnel practising journalism in The Straits Times.

For context, please read Climate control in the Singapore press by Eric Ellist of The Australian, June 21, 2001.

No doubt, one would have to precariously sieve between gospel truth and utter lies in what has been read from Gupte's outburst. Think a step deeper, we may even tend to reflect into ourselves about the state-of-affairs in our mainstream media here.

Time dotCom income declines. M&A; soon?

Time dotCom Bhd's revenue declined to RM456.6 million for the nine months ended September 30 2004 against RM627.2 million last year.

To the layman, that translates to

1. A net loss of RM37.9 million for Q1, Q2 and Q3 2004 against a RM5.6 million net profit made at the same period last year.


2. A pre-tax loss of RM37.2 million from a pre-tax profit of RM6.2 million in 2003.

For the quarter review, Time dotCom registered

1. Q3 2004: A net loss of RM24 million on the back of a revenue of RM149 million.


2. Q3, 2003: A net profit of RM1.4 million fit on a revenue of RM160.5 million.

It said in a statement that the lower revenue was due mainly to lower traffic volume from international interconnect business, and the exclusion of revenue of TIMECel Sdn Bhd after its disposal to Maxis in May 2003.

Via NST-Business Times and Bursa Malaysia (MS Words).

But the grapevine is hot with a story saying that a major M&A; announcement is on the way, perhaps early December. It will be transformed into a major player in data services.

Cigarettes that are 'less harmful'

GOOD NEWS: British American Tobacco (BAT) acknowledges that its products are harmful and recognises the significant responsibilities that its business entails.

BETTER NEWS: The company's global research centre in Southampton, England, is working on developing cigarettes which are less harmful (but no less still harmful).

BAD NEWS: The 'less harmful' cigarettes could take years to develop and "it isn't going to happen quickly".

Oxymoron? Via NST-Business Times.

Can Journos and Bloggers both survive?

That's one of the blunt questions that cropped up during the recently concluded BloggerCon III held at Stanford Law School.

Online Journalism Review's Staci D. Kramer sums it this way:

The constant drumbeat of the notion that blogging and journalism are mutually exclusive -- that one can or will replace the other, that one is better than the other, that they don't require each other to exist -- damages all involved.

Journalism and blogging are not monolithic. They are not mutually exclusive and they can't be for either to survive. Not all bloggers want to be thought of as journalists, although, as I heard often at BloggerCon, many are using or want to make the most of public access to information and government. [...]

Meanwhile, some very good journalism is being committed both by professional journalists who blog and bloggers who choose to be citizen journalists. I define the former as someone who trained to be a journalist and/or someone who makes his or her living as a journalist. (Personally, I prefer to think that anyone who claims to be a journalist is also opting to adhere to generally accepted journalism ethics and standard journalistic practice. Otherwise, why call yourself a journalist? It's not like it's the most respected occupation these days.)

This is what blogger Claude Muncey has noted from the session, some 'new' wisdom:

What journalists can learn from bloggers:

• you can blur the line between the personal and professional without corrupting the process;


• you can learn to improvise in real time;


• how to have a conversation with their readers;


• to be humble - you don't know everything.

What bloggers can learn from journalists:

• the value of leg work;


• the nature of accountablility;


• that editing is a good thing;


• to be humble - you don't know everything.

The term 'citizen journalists' is getting louder by the day. Enough to chew for the time being.

'Blog' revolution across China?

When Issac Mao (Shanghai) and Zheng Yunsheng (Fujian province) met online and started CNBlog.org in late 2002, China had 67 million internet users.

Today, it has more than 90 million, and most are hungry for information.

Mao enjoys a large following among Chinese bloggers. He has transformed himself from an Intel engineer to be a successful high-tech investor and uses his blog to gather donated books for rural schools.

While others see blogs as a tool to promote social change in China, is Mao a blogger with a political agenda?

Quote from NewScientist.com , in a report by Xiao Qiang, blogger and director of the China Internet Project at the University of California at Berkeley:

Asked whether he has a strategy to expand blogging under China's censorship regime, his response is Taoist: "What is our strategy? We do not have a strategy. But the information flow in the blogosphere has its own Way. The Way is our strategy: personal, fast, connected and networked."

I look foward to meeting up with Mao and Xiao Qiang in the next few weeks.

Video-Blogs... ( 6)

NO ENTRY.

From reader SC Fun. Short pause in the video-clip is intentional.

Maybank2U starts charging RM12 annual fee

The hottest topic from the emails I received yesterday is this: Maybank2u.com registered users will have to pay a RM12.00 yearly subscription fee effective 20 December 2004.

In other words, Maybank has decided to change its Terms of Engagement with you.

So has Public Bank.

This is Maybank's rationale and FAQ, and these are what Screenshots readers say:

From: MANIK
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 09:25:42 +0800

Just thought I let you know that Maybank will be charging all their customers RM12 per year per account for use of the Maybank2U online facility.

I have 3 accounts under MBB2U; current, savings and credit card and have been using it loyally for from the day it was launched. It is indeed a truly convenient facility to have but now we, the "loyal" customers are being victimised. I guess Maybank is now following the smelly footsteps of ASTRO, MAXIS and PROTON.

With my 3 accounts they each will be AUTOMATICALLY debited RM12 per year (total RM36). This is on top of the RM8 per year for my ATM smart card, RM60 per year for my credit card and RM15 per year for my current/cheque book account. Also, reloading your TNGO at atm costs you RM0.50 per transaction, withdrawing from your ATM card more than 4 times per month cost you RM0.50 per subsequent transaction and interbank funds transfer via MBB2U will set you back RM2 per traansaction.

Question is, is this RM12 per year per accoun justifiable?? I don't think so. Especially with the recent reports of record profits for the Maybank Group.

Anyway, I have decided to close my ALL my accounts with Maybank and will be taking my money somewhere else, where customer loyalty actually means something.

From: David Chew
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 09:21:02 +0800

Just like what's in the business books:
- Give them the service for free first
- Sign up millions of users with this "free" service
- Once you have enough users, charge them a "minimal" fee
- Make millions of Ringgit...

*sigh*

From: Kok Leong Chan
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 10:16:01 +0800

As of 20 December 2004, Maybank will be charging their account holders who use their online services RM1 per month.

Question is, is this fair? Isn't online banking supposed to be one of the "features" to attract more customers? Why pass the buck to us? Why did they not charge account holders earlier but only decided to do it now?

From: Desmond Ha
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 13:28:15 +0800

I just wish to inform you that Maybank will start charging all registered users for a subscription fee of RM6 every 6 months starting 20 December 2004. Personally, I think this is not a fair move to all of the users. Moreover RM0.50 is charging to every user who withdraw more than 4 times in a month using their ATM facility.

From: chik hsin yee
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 00:03:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Maybank2u.com

Maybank is going to charge us on using Maybank2u.com.my $12 per year starts on 20/12/2004.

From: Paul Wong
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 17:57:51 +0800

I am a loyal follower of your blog. What do you think of the trend that our local banks are starting to charge its depositors all kind of fees ranging from ATM card annual fees of RM8 and now maybank's online banking?

From the page, Maybank was giving the excuse that this online banking fees are needed because it spends $$$ on its development. But doesnt online banking eliminates a lof of paperwork for its branches and reduce customer service expenses? Maybank pays rent, employees, electricities and etc to maintain a branch and why don't they charge the customers who use the physical branch office, let say RM12 a year membership for branch visit?

In fact, online banking will save the bank even more by reducing the number of branches needed and the number of employees needed.

I think we are taking our steps backward.

From: ChongPin Hoe
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:42:07 +0000

You may want to blog this issue for the benefit of Bank's customers. I think this is the most ridiculous action by Maybank to charge its online banking customers for using the online channels that help the bank to save cost (compared to transaction done at physical bank branch or even ATM).

In case you don't already know, on November 8, the Maybank Group announced that it has recorded a profit before tax of RM793.2 million for the quarter ending September 2004, that's a 13.2% increase from the RM700.6 million registered in the previous corresponding quarter ending September 2003.

Profit after tax for the quarter rose 11% to RM555.0 million from the RM501.2 million in the previous corresponding period.

Also read Guest Blogger Radha K Vengadasalam's take on banking in Malaysia.

Public Bank charges varied monthly fee for current account

Public Bank has decided to change its Terms of Engagement with you, if you have a current account with them.

This is an email from EL Ong, very unhappy.

From: EL Ong
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 19:47:15 +0800
Subject: Bank rob customers with current account service charges

The Public Bank Berhad has issued a notice with regards to the service charges for the current account effective from 1st December 2004. They will charge their current account holder the following monthly rates instead of a yearly rate of RM 10:

Individual/joint account:

• Balance in account less than RM 1000 - Charge of RM 10


• Balance in account RM 1000 to RM 3000 - Charge of RM 5


• Balance in account RM 3000 to RM 5000 - Charge of RM 3

Company account:

• Balance in account < RM 5000 - Charge of RM 10

The bank service charges imposed is exorbitant and it is like a daylight robbery committed by the bank. If a customer has less than RM 1,000 or RM 5,000 (for company account) in his current account for a year, he/she must pay RM 120 per year of service charges.

If there are 10,000 customers were charged maximum of RM 10 per month for a year, the bank will make RM 1.2 million per year. This is a real robbery by a legal business entity or worst an Along doing a legal business.

What are the justifications that allow the bank to charge so high a fee?

The bank does not pay any interest for current account and the bank charge a yearly fee for each current account. Beside that, they also imposed fees for check returned, check book, outstation check deposit, etc. All these fees if added up per year is quite a sum.

The Bank Negara and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer must step in to stop the exorbitant fees charge by the commercial banks to ensure that the consumers were not burdened unnecessarily and to halt this profiteering practice. The authority must come out with a guideline or ceiling rate for commercial bank to refer to whenever they want to increase any charges and the bank should not be allowed to increase the rate unilaterally. If the ceilling rate can be imposed on taxi drivers and public transport operators, there is no reason why the same can not be done to the commercial bank. They too are servicing the consumers.

October 25, Public Bank announced that it achieved a pre-tax profit of RM1.36 billion for the nine months ended 30 September 2004. This is a 30% improvement compared to RM1.05 billion registered in the same period in 2003.

The Group's operating revenue grew 13% to RM3.6 billion while profit attributable to shareholders increased by RM230 million or 32% to RM942 million.

Read the Press Release.

Also read Guest Blogger Radha K Vengadasalam's take on banks in Malaysia.

Comparing local and overseas banking

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 09:45:03 +0800

There were some discussion in the media recently which highlighted certain diabolical banking practices in UK, eventually put right by the watchdogs or the courts. This was articulated in The Star, Nov 14.

To me, banking services in England is better compared to Malaysia although some have the views that Malaysian banking is better then England based on account opening procedures and cases reported.

I have lived and worked in UK for many years and on the count of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, I would rate Malaysian banks 3 with UK being rated 8.

The stringent account opening procedures in UK is designed to cut down on fraud as well as face the challenges of money laundering activities, which Malaysia is only now becoming aware.

On the many customer horrific cases reported recently in UK, this is in fact the testament to the legal and voluntary compliance protection available to bank users, which we in Malaysia are not privy too.

One thing not mentioned often is that Malaysian's are reported as one of the highest group when it comes to credit card fraud as well as account misuse, so if they are a bit wary of us, don't blame them.

Their banks are very much more responsible when it comes to lending to customers as well as compared to the free for all credit card campaigns that has driven many to bankruptcy in Malaysia.

Shopaholics who gets themselves into serious debts problems are worthy of a second opinion and one of which the responsible authorities must take heed.

In my observation, the issue of overspending on credit cards especially in Malaysia partly if not wholly lies squarely at the doors of our banks, who have embarked on massive credit card competitions in the country to attract customers.

If one is to add up the number of credit cards issued in the countries it probably exceed the total number of customers few times, why is that, because many has multiple cards but who can ill afford them.

Although each banks issues cards up to the limit they think is suitable to a particular customer financial background, if more then one bank is to do that, then people end up with lot more credit than they can afford. In this modern age where credit information can be easily checked via CCRIS, it is amazing that banks are still irresponsibly dishing out cards.

If there is a financial implications such as bankruptcy and financial ruins follows this, I urge the authorities to make the banks pay for it. That will be just medicine.
__________________

The guest blogger is a Chartered Accountant member of MIA and ICAEW.

DRB-Hicom: 'Ball no longer in government's court'

Via Bernama, 19:16hr:

The saga continues on the tussle over the 15.8% 'management block' of DRB-Hicom shares between the two Tan Sris' camps.

Playing the role of a referee under the watchful eyes of the spectators (investors and informed Malaysians at large), Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop also talked in terms of a ball match.

Today, he summed up the latest developments by saying "the ball is no longer in the government's court".

He said the government had given the necessary advice and recommendations to the parties which had expressed interest to buy the shares, and it was now up the parties involved to make the decision.

He said the vendors are in the process of implementing a resolution plan recommended by the government.

However, Nor Mohamed declined to disclose the government's recommendations saying: "I can't..really..you will hear it from the vendors. It is just a matter of a very short period of time."

Bernama still hints at a win-win formula to prevent a "winner takes all" situation.

What would the headlines be in Jalan Riong?

Streamyx down

ANNOUNCEMENT

My home Streamyx went down around 11.15pm last night when I was in the midst of preparing the next day's blogs. Called 1300-88-9515, but was routed to TM Net, whose telephonist re-routed me to Streamyx and the call dropped dead there. Subsequently, I called the VADS-run Streamyx call centre but no one picked up after 6 tries. I gave up.

Apologies, as I could only upload today's blog when I get back home after work.

(This blog is uploaded by using borrowed PC and Internet login.)

DRB-Hicom: All eyes on 'referee'

As if taking a cue from Screenshots which placed NST 1 (own goal) vs. The Star 1 in the partisan media reporting over the DRB-Hicom share tussles, Bernama's Yong Soo Heong says Governments are sometimes referred to as referees as they decide on the manner on how things should be run fairly in the country.

For fairness' sake, Yong says, the referee ensures a fair game that prohibits unfair scores by opposing teams.

After last Sunday's media ruckus, with one paper twisting the PM's original fair comment on the Fight of the Tan Sri's, and distorting it in its frontpage headlines, Bernama runs a thought-provoking story at 17:17hr today, probably the eve of an anticipated major announcement on the share tussle. (Read The Edge FinancialDaily, updated 6:40pm today.)

It seems like a tactical, preemptive reporting to me.

The Bernama journalist borrows from the live-telecast a fortnight ago where Manchester United ended Arsenal's unbeaten 49-game run in the English Premier League with a 2-0 win. Many claim that the turning point of the match was when referee Mike Riley awarded a controversial penalty to the "Red Devils" in the 73rd minute.

This is what Yong says (bold fonts are mine):

In the world of economic soccer, he (Kenyan commentator, Shikuku James Shikwati) said individuals are the players and the government is the referee.

When a government favours certain people at the expense of the others the economic game could be messed up, he said.

Yong also quotes a South Korean industry captain, Park Yong-sung, who similarly used the referee analogy for governments. Known for his blunt remarks, he said governments need to allow business activities to run by market principles.

"And the government has to take a referee role, punishing the violators of the market rules. Put in another way, the government has to leave battles to corporations while it sets up strategies to win the war," he said.

This brings to mind the referee's role that the Malaysian government has to play for the tussle for a block of 15.8 percent of DRB-Hicom Bhd's shares by two rival parties.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has asked Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop to mediate on the matter.

In his remarks from Santiago recently, Abdullah has described the proposal by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary in splitting the company's business between the two consortiums as good in resolving the protracted tug-of-war.

Syed Mokhtar has proposed that local automobile czar Tan Sri Nasimuddin S.M. Amin take the automotive business of DRB-Hicom while he (Syed Mokhtar) takes the non-automotive business.

This appears to be a win-win formula to prevent a "winner takes all" situation.

But on the other side of the coin, the vendors of the shares are still split over who they would like to sell the shares to -- Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd, a firm associated with Syed Mokhtar which has offered RM3.60 per DRB-Hicom share, or the consortium led by Nasimuddin, which has offered RM3.50 each.

The vendors of the strategic block are the estate of the late Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad, Tan Sri Mohd Saleh Sulong, who is also DRB-Hicom's chief executive officer, and Aziz Salleh, on behalf of three companies -- Citaria Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Manhamat Sdn Bhd and Billiard Distributors Sdn Bhd.

Following Abdullah's remarks, both sides are anxious to see an amicable end to the drawn out corporate battle.

They are hoping for a win-win formula as no one party wants to be the one having to purchase the stripped off assets at inflated prices or the short end of the stick.

One of the earliest responses to the prime minister's remarks that came in a mobile phone text message was, "So who gets to buy (the block) first?"

It looks like the referee will have to decide judiciously.

Somehow, Yong is polite enough not to fault the cheer-leaders - in this case, the mainstream press which rally behind their respective vendor-buyer camps - for stirring up commotion among spectators to the extent that it may have distracted the referee from making fair judgment.

As you know, off arena, bookies are also making tons of money for every high-stake soccer match that goes to play.

China blogs: Timidity reigns

Dan Gillmor says if a free-speech media arises in China, it might well start with bloggers.

Last week, Gillmor visited Fudan University and spoke in a graduate-level class about the rise of citizen-journalists who use increasingly low-cost and powerful digital media tools, and met with some student bloggers. This is his observation:

Shanghai, an amazing city that seems to grow a new skyline every year and has become the commercial center of a vast land. Freedom of expression, the heart of political freedom, is making considerably less progress.

The government continues its paranoid surveillance and steering of the traditional media and Internet. Dissidents are still being jailed for online activities. Yet technological trends may be working in favor of freer speech. It won't happen overnight, needless to say, but if a free-speech media arises in China it might well start with bloggers.

But how is China's blogosphere for now? Gillmor sensed that a certain timidity reigns.

Via Isaac Mao via Global Voices Online.

Nades, can you be more specific?

In his column today, Citizen-Nades writes:

We all know that the PMC is the flavour of the month and its open hunting season. Many have renewed their gun licences - notable exceptions being the "ever-ready willing to comment Datuk-Dr" and the "Tan Sri Press Release" who have yet to join the fray.

Nades, would you be kind enough to tell us who these "ever-ready willing to comment Datuk-Dr" and the "Tan Sri Press Release" are?

Or shall I get Kirby to wake Perry Mason up with his aromatic cup of tea? It's time for classic movie-on-TV.

Time to bite the peg bullet

Screenshots has been advocating the removal of the US-Ringgit peg as early as January this year. Echoes come only now.

While Bank Negara and Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who tanked once in foreign exchange debacle, are overly cautious in making the re-peg/de-peg decision, economist Dr Chua Hak Bin says the ringgit's peg to the US dollar has outlived its usefulness six years after it was first introduced.

He says it is time for Malaysia to de-peg the currency and shift to a manageable float.

Excerpts from The Edge FinancialDaily:

Chua said the peg had done its part to stabilise the economy after 1997-98 Asian financial crisis but questioned its sustainability as the weakening US dollar was exposing the local economy to rising import inflation.

He also said the US dollar was approaching the 100 yen and 1.40 euro threshold levels that could prompt the central bank to review the ringgit's peg to the currency.

In February, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said Malaysia would have to review the peg if the euro and the yen strengthened beyond those levels.

Over the last 12 months, the US dollar has fallen 13% versus the euro, 3% against the yen and New Taiwan dollar, 6% to the South Korean won and 5% versus the Singapore dollar.

This is Dr Chua's suggestion:

• De-peg the ringgit in the next six months, after which it should appreciate 5% to 10% against the greenback.


• Adopt Singapore's way of managing its currency float by limiting the ringgit's movement to the trade-weighted ratio of a basket of currencies, possibly 10, of its choosing.


• The basket of currencies could be a mix of Malaysia's major trading partners and competitors.

DR. CHUA HAK BIN. The FinancialDaily describes Dr Chua as a foreign economist. He is in fact a Malaysian. He lectured my Financing International Business module when I studied for my MBA.

He is now based in Singapore as the DBS Bank Ltd Singapore vice president and DBS Group senior regional economist (South and Southeast Asia).

See the brain drain effect?

* * *

Last weekend, The Edge's Anna Taing said it's time to bite the peg bullet.

She said a shift to a more flexible exchange rate system may cause short-term pain in Malaysia's growth rate, but the benefits far outweigh the cost in the long term. We should not be myopic in our perspective.

For example, an undervalued currency is artificial protection for our manufacturers and exporters - in the short term, it can be wonderful but over the long term, it creates structural problems. If the peg is kept in perpetuity, the cost to the country is our manufacturers will have no incentive to be innovative, improve productivity and efficiency.

Taing also brought up other salient points:

• We had been taking gamble in the last six years. Had rates in the US remained high, Malaysian exporters would have continued parking their funds there to take advantage of the differentials rather than repatriating export proceeds here.


• So, a decision to remove the peg is to ensure Malaysia keeps its economy on a healthy growth path. The fact is, we really don't.


• We leveraged on the peg to compete on price in the global market. Are we short-changing ourselves when Malaysia sells its goods at cheaper prices? BTW, other low-cost production centres like China and Thailand are fast catching up.

Caveat: A decision to adjust the peg would be tantamount to rewarding the speculators. But, removal of the peg has to happen one day, so the bull has to be taken by the horn. It has to be done sooner rather than later.

Mean time, I am glad to note that the central bank is saying Malaysia's ultimate de-pegging exercise will not be subject to taking cue from China.

See The Edge's cover story this week:

• HOT issue: The ringgit peg


• Short-term catalyst for stock market


• Opt for long-term stability


• US dollar to weaken further

Notoriously blogged, Dan Rather retires

Dan Rather, the seasoned news anchor whom bloggers alleged has used forged documents in questioning President Bush's National Guard service record during the Vietnam War, will be gone effective Spring 2005.

Rather, 73, will resign as top anchor and managing editor of Viacom's CBS Evening News after 24 years of service. Reason: Retirement.

US media circles say Rather's departure could give an opportunity to boost the ratings of CBS Evening News, now third behind The Walt Disney Co.'s ABC World News Tonight, and General Electric's NBC Nightly News.

Rather will, however, remain a correspondent for 60 Minutes. His replacement has not been named so far.

Via Forbes.com.

ASTRO's success due to CFO? Facts please!

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:01:57 +0800

This letter was written in response to an article in CFO Asia. It was sent to the Editor on Oct 2 but was not carried in either the October or November edition, which I must add is their rightful prerogative.

I thought I will share it with Malaysian readers as it is a 'entity' that has got much coverage in Screenshots.

From: Radha K Vengadasalam
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 9:11 AM
To: tomleander@economist.com
Subject: Letter to CFO Asia Editor: One need to carefully evaluate ASTRO's past, present and future before passing judgement

Your piece titled Reinventing Malaysia Inc in the July/August 2004 jolted me into penning this letter in response to some parts of the article written by Cesar Bacani and Abe De Ramos.

Top of my concern is your narration of 'Astro itself is a product of former Prime Minister's Bumiputera policy that handed out business rights to favoured individuals'. Astro was masterminded by Ananda Krishnan and the last time I checked there is nothing bumiputera about him although one has to concede on the term favoured individuals.

It is also a bit over the top to keep attributing many of the policies or successes to the CFO herself when they should have been many others who have directly contributed and responsible for the eventual listing of ASTRO. If I am not mistaken, the position of CFO itself was not created at ASTRO until listing was imminent.

I do agree that ASTRO can be termed as a crony company but one must also pay detailed attention as to whether that 'crony' is a capable person with a list of successes behind him or merely a 'food stall' operator who suddenly had this massive opportunity fall on his lap. Ananda Krishnan belong to the former, having established himself in all areas that he put his fingers in, unlike some other 'cronies' who perennially needed the government to keep saving their rear end with tax dollars.

In fact, it is not wrong at all to say that it was not ASTRO's profitability track record or the brilliance of the CFO, which resulted in the overwhelming response to the ASTRO IPO's, but it was Ananda's reputation alone. Period. Otherwise, who in the right mind would pay more than RM4.00 for a share in a company that has been clocking up losses and the prospect of dividend payoff was as bright as the chance for Luxembourg winning the World Cup.

I would opine that that it is not correct under the accounting-matching concept to write off all subsidies to subscribers as the income from that expense is being collected over a future period. Is this not similar to write off in one go all assets purchased without depreciating then over a number of years? In fact, ASTRO now locks in its customers for a varied period so there is ample justification for amortising these cost.

I suspect it is a matter of cherry picking which standard to follow as writing them off at one go allows a better profitability numbers in the future. That is not correct in my books as an accounting period must be looked at in a self contained manner as different shareholders are holding at different times.

In closing, Ananda's track record has been built on innovation and excellent customer service and willingness to push the boat in everything he does.

Recent developments in the manner and approach at dealing with the consumer public by his stable of companies, albeit after many new appointments in key senior positions, may result in antagonizing just that consumer public. It is given that there will be adjustment needed to placate investors and the analysta. Sadly, it may just alienate the customers who gave you the chance to IPO in the first place.

One must wait and see if there is a ripple due to that.

R K Vengadasalam,
Chartered Accountant
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
_________________

The Guest Blogger is a Chartered Accountant member of MIA and ICAEW.

KL chosen as Al-Jazeera's Asian hub

Qatar-based Arab satellite television network Al Jazeera has picked Kuala Lumpur as the Asian hub of an English-language news channel it planned to launch by November 2005.

With an initial budget of up to US$30 million, it will hire more than 300 people and operate out of three regional centres.

The network said that the new channel, to be called Al Jazeera International, will try to counteract what it says unbalanced reporting from Western networks such as CNN and BBC.

Kuala Lumpur was chosen over Hong Kong and Singapore as the Asian hub mainly due to economic factors such as manpower costs, location and communication facilities, said Reuters.

Via NST-Business Times.

Video-Blogs... ( 5 )

YELLOW LINES?

Another video clip by reader SC Fun. MPG file, 1.48MB. Broadband preferred.

The short pause in the video clip is intentional, so that you could make up the numberplate.

Blogger Kevin Sites videos Falluja killing

Broadcast journalist aka combat correspondent Kevin Sites, whose blog was ordered shut when he was on CNN payroll to cover the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 (Screenshots: here, here and here), is headline news again for the video he took of a US Marine shooting what appeared to be an unarmed prisoner in a Falluja mosque.

You should read about his position and the circumstances around his taking and releasing the video, as he talks down to 'Devil Dogs of the 3.1':

So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera -- the story of his death became my responsibility.

The burdens of war, as you so well know, are unforgiving for all of us.

Via Dan Gillmor's eJournal.

Sites is currently a freelance solo journalist on assignment for NBC, which allows him to blog while on-the-job.

Video-Blogs... ( 4 )

Malaysians have given the 'thumbs down' to the idea of renewing their driving licences annually, The Star says.

Even Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy has expressed reservations about the proposal, saying that the majority should not be subjected to such 'punishment' just because of a few errant drivers.

Take a look at the latest video clip sent by reader SC Fun. It shows how typical errant drivers behave at a traffic light junction.

MPG file, 1.85Mb, broadband preferred. (The short pause in the video was intentional.)

Isn't it more a matter of discipline and lack of enforcement?

Malaysian Auto Scene: Entreprenuerism or Decadent Symbiotics?

Guest Blogger
Attila the Hun
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 00:10:26 +0800

This follows on the heels of rumours of Malaysian companies wanting to partner with, or worse, acquire Rover.

Also note the banners along Jalan Tun Razak near the UMNO building, in this past year, with the "Malaysia Boleh" tag line advertising MG-Rover.

In 2001, BMW dumped Rover for a US$4.5 billion write-off. According to the CNN report (here) - BMW sold MG-Rover for 10 pounds solid British sterling! Rover was the literal icon of the 'British bulldog breed' at least in appearance. (See cartoon.) Solid British Rubbish in other words. My late uncle owned a Rover 3 litre which was always stalling or leaking with oil!

We seem to value style albeit still shackled with the third world competency in auto manufacturing. This brand is ideal for a conspicuous crony consumption trapped in the inertia of a colonial legacy. But with the chip-on-the-shoulder ambivalence of datukville - i.e., KL.

Rover rebranded as Sterling was kicked out of the US market in the late 1980s because of poor quality compared to Japanese brands. The only good thing about Rover, the US auto journalists opined, was that it had a Honda drivetrain!

I've just returned from the US, and noticed that the US respect Japanese and even Korean cars more than the Brit and most Europeans brands, excepting the Teutons(German and Swedish). In a free market there is meritocracy, even for cars. Jaguar cars owned by Ford has closed its factory in Coventry England due to a very simple reason - poor quality and production has since moved to the USA.

In Malaysia, it appears to be a meritocrassy posing as class! We can flaunt style but lack business sense and depth.

In China, nine months ago, Chinese consumers sued Bentley (owned by Volkswagen) for poor quality! China is a shrewd emerging market. Ironically, Bentley's former owner was Rolls Royce which, in turn, is now owned by BMW!

Last week, Proton CEO Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff rolled his eyes in craven, orgiastic delight at his own unabashed fantasy of being able to secure Bentley as part of the Volkswagen-Proton non-brand-specific-MOU. If this can be excused as a merely spontaneous and relatively innocuous frivolity, and that I should lighten up, it belies the fact that there must have been a serious strategic intent in the acquisition of Lotus. Or was that frivolous too? Is there no shame after the 20 years of protection, loss, and failure in R&D; for Proton? This was national prime time tv on Astro news.

Do we still have to pay taxes? Tun Mahathir recently said in Beijing that Proton can take its time to find a foreign partner since it is cash rich. Cash from where? Whose riches?

Even poor old and laughable India has emerged as the Number One outsourcing destination (80%) for demanding US auto manufacturers. Indian exports of autos jumped to a staggering 60% this year. And its not low-end assembly, but design and R & D. Examples are aplenty such as Sundram Fasteners in Chennai. Further, a chaotic Thailand has emerged as the 3rd ranked country of origin for auto imports in pricey Singapore after Japan and Korea.

Engine migration path

Also note the migration path of other countries to hybrid engines and hydrogen fuel cells away from internal combustion engines. In the EC and the US, hybrid Toyota's Prius and Honda Civics have hit the roads since 2002, Singapore and China have plans for steady migration.

In Malaysia, even in Tengku Mahaleel's admission we can't even design an internal combustion engine. Note that the internal combustion paradigm is over a 100 years old!

So are we saying that, in technology transfer, we have even failed to pick up the residue of a 100 year-old dying industry based upon, pardon the pun, fossil fuels, while the rest of the world (emerging markets included) is designing anew for alternative source power plants? How does this make you feel? Stupid? Precisely.

Proton has not even made it into US shores after 20 years. The US remains the proving ground simply because it's the freest and most competitive market in the world and has rewarded Japanese and Korean brands handsomely. These two Asian countries went through a painful learning curve just like their US counterparts. Those that remained arrogant and didn't learn, like the Brits, simply died. Even in the decadent UK market, Proton has received disparaging reviews for its Gen II as was seen in your previous blog recently. The Lotus collaboration was effectively speaking panned as a void at worst or cheaply cosmetic at best.

In Bolehland, there are certain segments or communities fantasizing that they are the classy but decadent Brits of the old colonial order. It appears that 'the Sun still never sets in the British Empire'. All you need is a ready-made feudalistic crony-infested and protected market. The protectionism favours the rich cronies to partner with dubious brands (French and British) for conspicuous consumption while the rest of the nation pays the taxes. While Approved Permits (APs) are meted out selectively, the fact is luxury isn't scalable. It's not volume based. It only benefits the rich consumers. This warp of national market development exacerbates an undesirable outcome. A schism then results between the strategic marketing and the need for strategic knowledge based development.

Crony genesis

Here's how crony genesis works. Cronies beget APs and sell luxury cars. Cronies get rich and beget more cronies to import more luxury brands. But there is no learning curve in the importation and the marketing hustle of such vehicles in a small country like Malaysia. While the prestige marques are definitely visible on KL roads rendering an image of increasing affluence, it belies the fact the that the real key to sustainable development in the automotive industry demands a learning curve that accompanies the economics of scale, and truly scalable at that, of large volumes of production. Large volumes of inventory have to be sold, in a competitive, unprotected market for autos that are affordable by both the middle class and lower-end segments.

That's what allowed Fiat to own Ferrari, and Volkswagen to own Audi and Bentley. Making money from R&D; for sustainable, affordable, scalable quality and volume. Volume makes you rich to acquire higher-end brands, not the other way around as was in Malaysia. This turn demands a free market so that if the domestic market isn't sufficiently large the domestic brand can be exported with competitive pricing and value. But of course, road blocks to this logic have been both the protectionism and the woeful lack of mandatory knowledge based competencies that enable R&D; at best, or even just plain old scalable quality (read: just putting things together in an assembly line.) You mean to say after 20 years we can't even achieve that. Why?

Knowledge worker value chain

There are of course more fundamental issues and polices that fraught our ascent up the knowledge worker value chain that directly impact our attempts even at heavy industrialisation let alone sexy ICT and Biotech.

For example, education, the awards of contracts on the basis of meritorious competency, and plain old human motivation that will allow a subcontractor to bite the bullet in the face of margins being squeezed so that he/she is still motivated to deliver quality in a protracted and protected affirmative action-based supply chain.

What we really need for our auto industry is the scalable execution of consistent quality. Even better is of course R&D;, so that we can design and assemble. For the mass market can even be tweaked into mass customization. This strategy is market share and the Japanese were masters at this. The luxury brand strategy is simply skimming or hit and run with no learning curve.

Do the rest of us have to subsidise this unmeritorious vanity? We have to drive substandard vehicles so that quality, let alone luxury cars are out of reach? Ironically, the rakyat are paying the bill for this schism in the uneven playing field in the importation and marketing of luxury brands based upon APs, and the sustainable development of the domestic auto industry.

To further rub salt into the wounds, the rakyat can only afford cars that are deemed uncompetitive even in the middle and lower ends of global and regional markets.

If you connect the dots further you will find the Colonial Sun as is aided and abetted by the "Sons" of Bolehland as front partners to furnish the veneer of expertise albeit dubiously!

Overall, the great Brits lost 23 auto brands in under 35 years. I guess the Sun never sets in Bolehland.

British consultants

Shifting gears slightly, do you also notice the preponderance of British consultants in the Klang Valley? When I was a student in the UK, most Brits had never heard of Malaysia.

Their value-add is skimpy at best and spurious at worst (I've worked with them in global consulting firms, Indians, Chinese and other Asians from all over Asia). But they like their cars cost a premium with dubious quality. I've also noticed, factually but perhaps anecdotally, the number of 'contracts' that go awry in major 'big ticket' public works from IT to project management (e.g. building KLIA's TAMS) that involve Brits being fronted as partners with Bumi firms that have the right connections. Perhaps, others in this blog can shed more accuracy in magnitude on my informal albeit concrete observation.

From consultants to expats, they are desperate for jobs, markets and contracts here. They need the US as they do Malaysia. Recently, they fed faulty intelligence on Iraq to George Bush and even unintendedly exported infected flu vaccine to the US - their staunchest ally! Talk about quality! Now, isn't that just pitiable - can you trust these guys' competency? In the USA, Asians shine more than the Brits. Why not here? Reward and recognize the valuable human capital already here or else they'll just pack up and leave.

Recently, The Star Online (by Hariati Azizan, August 26) carried a story that brutally described how British education has declined in quality and is forced to peddle its degrees to overseas students by compromising standards. The reason is economic survival.

Its high time we recognised and liberated Malaysian talent that is bright, competent and honest for us to truly have a valid self -esteem and be a competitive nation in this new century.

If we can't take our money back, can we at least take our country back from sycophantic morons and further ruin? Otherwise the only depth that the Klang Valley can boast of is in its mud.

Malaysian blogger to speak at Harvard conference

This blogger has been invited by the Harvard Law School to speak at an international conference on the Internet, which will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next month.

The conference, organised by Harvard Law School's research arm Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, will discuss key issue-based Internet campaigns, emerging business models and new technologies that are affecting politics throughout the world.

Titled 'Votes, Bits and Bytes', the conference will also look at the blogging phenomenon and how it has affected the political and media landscape.

One of the highlights of the conference is to look at South Korea's OhMyNews.com portal as a case study of Internet's influence over politics.

Speaking together with me at the panel discussion on this case study will be Rebecca MacKinnon, former CNN bureau chief for Beijing and Tokyo; Stephen Ward of the University of Salford and Oxford Internet Institute; and OhMyNews founder Oh Yeon-ho.

OhMyNews, a collaborative online newspaper with a readership of two million and more than 26,000 registered "citizen journalists", has been credited with playing a key role in sweeping President Roh Moo-hyun to power.

I really look forward to meeting up with Rebecca. She has just started the BloggerCorps. The first organization seeking volunteers from BloggerCorps is Onevoice blog for Mideast peace! They need volunteers from New York City, Ramallah, and Tel Aviv.

The following day, I will partner Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, a.k.a. Hoder, in leading international bloggers at a session on promoting the global 'blogosphere'. This session will form the input for Global Voices Online, a cyber-movement which the conference is aiming to establish.

Recently, Hoder and other Iranian bloggers faced some death threats coming from a blog called Islamic Army. So, Hoder and I must have a lot of things to share.

Last but not least, I will certainly mention about the Malaysian blogosphere, especially the role of PetalingStreet.org in aggregating Malaysian bloggers and their voices.

My trip is hosted by Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

More details:
- Star In-Tech: Pushing the 'new' Fifth Estate
- Malaysiakini: M'sian blogger to speak at Harvard conference

This is the almost finalised schedule.

Video-Blog... ( 3 )

How do you rate bikers in urban areas? Aren't they the king of the road!

This video-clip on biker behaviour was sent by reader SC Fun: MPG file, 796kb, broadband preferred.

* * *

ONE-YEAR LICENCE. Because of the rampant road menace, police are proposing that driving licences will only be renewed for one year and not up to five as at present.

The rationale is to allow the law to catch up more quickly with motorists who ignore traffic summonses.

PanduCermat.org.my BTW, did you know that you can help 'shame' lousy drivers by sending your digital photos to PanduCermat.org.my, a website initiated by the Road Safety Council, Ministry of Transport? Take a look.

REVERSE ENGINEERING. Meanwhile, the JKR is looking at the reverse engineering methods - including some of the unconventional, cheap and short-term methods - to solve problems at "black spots" on federal roads, would help in the short-term.

PMC: What we've learnt so far...

What we have learnt on hindsight (which is always 20:20):

• FACT 1: PMC concept was started in the 1990s, during Dr Mahathir's 22-year administration.
• FACT 2: PMC concept was discontinued in March 2004, during the first year of Abdullah Badawi's administration.
• FACT 3: Works Minister S. Samy Vellu was a 'blur sotong'. All along, he seemed to have thought that PMC was one company. Or did he simply 'make don't know'?

  The protem committee for the Persatuan Perunding Pengurusan Projeck Bumiputera (BPMC) said there were over 120 PMCs; and former Ministry of Finance Secretary-General Samsudin Hitam circulated a Treasury directive sanctioning the privileged five PMC consortia to cover five regions, effective September 2000 through August 2001, - the time when Daim Zainuddin was the Finance Minister.

  Dr Mahathir took over as the Finance Minister from Daim effective from June 5, 2001 until his retirement on October 31, 2003.

• FACT 4: Almost all reigning senior ministers have sat through the the length and breadth of time when the PMCs were entrusted with projects sucking up billions of taxpayers' money. Only Samy Vellu and Dr Lim Keng Yaik have spoken up thus far.
• FACT 5: Until recently, nobody - including the Auditor-General and the Publuc Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament - had questioned the fact that, instead of project management efficiency, the PMC concept - with consultancy fee reportedly fixed at 1.5% of project cost - had contributed to massive cost overruns and individual project failures.

Yesterday, DPM Najib Abdul Razak added to FACT 6:

There are two issues involving PMCs, he said.

"One is over-design; hence it is overpriced, compared to the requirements. The other is the issue of failure to comply with standards," he said.

For details of what is meant by "over-design", read Utusan Malaysia today:

"Apa yang kita dapati kegagalan untuk mengawal kos ini telah membebankan kerajaan sedangkan ini perlu dielakkan kerana kita berhasrat mengawal defisit dan kita juga dapati ada projek-projek (di bawah PMC) mempunyai skop yang besar (bukan projek itu tidak perlu) tetapi skopnya boleh diperkecilkan lagi," katanya. [...]

"Ini mengakibatkan perbelanjaan kerajaan mengenai sesuatu projek bertambah kerana skop projek itu lebih besar daripada apa yang sepatutnya diterima pakai," katanya.

When PMC was brought in, it was to solve the project management bottleneck problems facing the JKR as a result of pump-priming the economy. It have now produced a politico-economic Frankenstein. Quote Najib via Utusan:

"Kerajaan pun sedar banyak firma PMC yang telah ditubuhkan ini melibatkan profesional di kalangan bumiputera.

"Jadi, ini satu isu yang perlu ditangani oleh kita sekarang," katanya.

But, Kit Siang won't get his White Paper on all this.

DRB-Hicom: News-mongering

ADVISORY: Set your browser to Unicode-UTF8 to view Chinese text for this blog topic: (View > Encoding > Unicode UTF8)

The Sore-Thumb & Berita Hairan

• The New Sunday Times: Abdullah says Naza is a 'good choice'
  Hardev Kaur in Santiago

  SANTIAGO, Nov 20: PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confirmed a New Straits Times report that the Government was agreeable to Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin taking control of conglomerate DRB-Hicom Berhad's automotive division, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of the group's business.

• Berita Minggu: PM: Nasimuddin 'cadangan baik'
  Laporan Azizi Othman

  SANTIAGO: Kerajaan bersetuju dengan cadangan Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary supaya penyelesaian bagi perebutan menguasai 15.8 peratus ekuiti dalam Kumpulan DRB-Hicom Bhd (DRB-Hicom), dibuat dengan menjual bahagian automotif syarikat itu kepada Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin SM Amin.

The Confused

• Sin Chew Daily: 首相：多元資源15.8%股權 政府贊同納西姆汀收購 (PM: Government agrees to Nasimuddin's takeover)

  聖地牙哥訊）首相拿督斯里阿都拉上週六證實，政府贊同丹斯里賽莫達的多元資源（DRB-HICOM）工業15.8%股權的解決方案。[...] 阿都拉認為，丹斯里賽莫達致函給他的多元資源工業解決方案非常好，該方案建議多元資源工業將汽車業務賣給納西姆汀，而賽莫達本身則取得多元資源工業其他業務。

  (PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Saturday confirmed the government's agreement to the proposal submitted by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar to resolve the tussle over the 15.8% block of DRB-Hicom shares.)

The Consensus

• Bernama: Syed Mokhtar's Proposal Is Good, Says Abdullah
  From Mikhail Raj Abdullah

  SANTIAGO, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says that the proposal mooted by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary to resolve the prolonged impasse relating to the sale of the 15.8 percent stake in DRB-Hicom was good.

• The Star: Talks still going on over DRB-Hicom stake, says PM
  By Wong Sai Wan

  SANTIAGO: The tussle between the two Tan Sris for control of DRB-Hicom Bhd has not been resolved and Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop is holding talks with the two parties, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Abdullah said the Government favoured a proposal by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary to split the company’s business between the two consortiums.

• Mingguan Malaysia: DRB-Hicom: PM minta halusi cadangan Syed Mokhtar
  Daripada Zaharuddin Mohd. Ali

  SANTIAGO 20 Nov. - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkata, beliau telah meminta Menteri Kewangan Kedua, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop menghalusi cadangan Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary untuk menyelesaikan kebuntuan penjualan 15.8 peratus kepentingan dalam DRB-Hicom yang disifatkannya sebagai baik.

• Nanyang Siang Pau: 争购多元重工业15.8%股权 首相赞同赛莫达献议 (PM says Mokhtar's proposal is good)

  圣地亚哥20日马新电-首相拿督斯里阿都拉巴达威说，丹斯里赛莫达布哈里针对多元重工业的15.8%股权转让，而提出的献议案是不错的。

PMC scandals: Will truth prevail?

There have been four key developments to the PMC scandals in the last 24 hours, coming from the protem committee for Bumiputra Project Management Consultants (BPMC), Minister S. Samy Vellu, Parti Gerakan and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

The stage is now set to determine whether, in the words of The Edge editors, "the average Malaysian is allowed to avenge this country for the hurt that has been caused to it".

1 ) Persatuan Perunding Pengurusan Projek Bumiputera (BPMC)

October 20, Utusan Malaysia frontpaged a response from Persatuan Perunding Pengurusan Projek Bumiputera (BPMC) which questioned Works Minister S. Samy Vellu for putting the blame squarely on its members for problems faced in the government projects.

BPMC alleged that Samy Vellu was not aware of the real situation in any of the development projects handled by them, and that the minister had blamed PMC when projects ran into problems, without proper investigation.

According to BPMC protem chairman Dr. Rosli Nekmat, he was appalled at the Minister's claim that PMC was more 'powerful' than the Public Works Department (JKR).

"We are now being looked upon as nothing more than an amalgamation of several developers doing contracted work; and that we are empowered to appoint any contractors who are qualified," he said.

He said his members are only empowered as technical advisers who prepare technical, commercial and management reports on the project contracts for their clients from various ministries.

He said they were not in anyway involved at the level of Tender Board to appoint contractors.

He added that PMC did not have the power nor had at any instances escertained project costs that had been determined by the Ministry of Finance and other ministries alongside the contractors that had been chosen.

Rosli also disclosed that, to date, there are 120 Project Management Consultants (PMC) registered with the Ministry of Finance throughout the country, and each of them comprises two constructors, two engineers or two quantity surveyors, and an accountant or economist.

"All directors or shareholders in the PMC must have the expertise in the fields determined by the Ministry of Finance," he added.

Meanwhile, secretary of the BPMC pro tem committee, Abdul Latif Mohd Som, said the PMC's job is no different from that of a lawyer employed to manage a property deal.

Taking the case of abandoned computer projects in schools, he said
it was not their responsibility to complete the computer labs, but the contractors'.

Abdul Latif said using PMC in the government's development projects was to save time and cost.

"If JKR were to be given similar tasks 100 percent, for sure they would take time to obtain services that we are providing," he said.

He said Samy Vellu's confusing statement has resulted in the Ministry of Finance passing down project management contracts to the government's technical agency.

"Now, many university graduates working with the PMC have become jobless," he said.

On the other hand, the pro tem committee's treasurer, Hamdan Zambahari said PMC had succeeded in completing many government and non-government projects, including nine projects under Institut Latihan Perindustrian totalling RM1.5 bilion, Rawang-Ipoh double tracking railway, the Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial (Perkeso) building and Pusat Latihan Polis in Kuching, Sarawak.

He said the abandoned computer labs and the five community colleges had nothing to do with PMC as they did not handle those projects.

2 ) Minister S. Samy Vellu

In Mingguan Malaysia's frontpage story today, Minister Samy Vellu maintained his statement about the PMC being 'more powerful' than the JKR in managing government projects.

In response to BPMC's comments in Utusan Malaysia yesterday, Samy Vellu said whatever that he had wanted to say about the role and responsibility of PMC were final and there was no necessity to make any addition or further comments.

3 ) Parti Gerakan

At least, there is a BN component party that's bold enough to tackle the bull by the horn.

October 20, the Central Committee of Parti Gerakan brought up the matter and discussed it during the three-hour meeting, and the party's central leadership wanted party president Dr Lim Keng Yaik to convey their views on the matter to the government at the next cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The Gerakan's stance is that it wants the government to take action against those responsible for any wrongdoings in the implementation of projects supervised by consultant firm, Project Management Consultant (PMC) even though its services have been terminated since the end of last year.

Quote:

Gerakan president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said: "There seems to be something wrong somewhere and even the Works Minister, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu does not know very much about PMC projects, carried out through the Ministry of Finance."

"We would bring this matter to the cabinet. How can the government be short-changed. Those responsible for making the decisions must be answerable," he told reporters after the Gerakan Central Committee (CC) meeting at Wisma PGRM here Saturday.

For the record, Dr Lim also said that the cabinet had already discussed some of the projects handled by the PMC, mostly related to the construction of schools. Some of the building structures have not been built according to standards and specifications.

As a result, the cabinet had decided not to use the PMC anymore but things seemed to be surfacing out now on individual project failures.

Therefore, he said, the party felt that those responsible for any wrongdoings should be held responsible.

4 ) Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang

In a statement issued yesterday, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said Samy Vellu should not mislead Parliament, people and nation into believing that the RM400 million MATRADE Building scandal is one of the PMC disasters.

Lim said no PMC had been involved in the project right from the beginning.

The full text of Lim's statement can be viewd at Bungaraya forum on Yahoo.

Lim said there is a lot of confusion and ignorance about PMC - what and who is the PMC - as many are under the impression that PMC is one consultant firm with only a handful of people registered with the Finance Ministry.

"There are in fact more than one hundred PMCs in the country," Lim said.

"The then Ketua Setiausaha Perbendaharaan, Tan Sri Samsudin Hitam, had issued a list of 82 PMCs registered with the Finance Ministry to all Ministry secretaries-general in a circular dated 7th June 2002," he said.

According to Lim, one of these PMCs is KLIA Consultancy Services Sdn. Bhd.

At an international conference on project management in Kuala Lumpur in September last year, Lim said, KLIA Consultancy's President and CEO, Tan Sri Jamilus Hussein disclosed that project management began to be introduced in 1990 after the experience with two world-class projects, namely the Petronas Twin Towers and the KL International Airport.

"He said since 1999, there were an estimated 130 private companies of various sizes and track records registered under the Treasury that offer Project Management Consultancy (PMC) services," Lim added.

"Tan Sri Jamilus also said that 'an estimated RM7 billion worth of development projects are currently being entrusted by the Government into the hands of these PMCs, so that these projects would be delivered efficiently on time, within the budget and of the specified quality'" Lim said.

However, said Lim, Samy Vellu had pointed out to the contrary: PMC projects are more costly than PWD estimates, double or even more times!

The question is why the billion-ringgit PMC scandal had been allowed to fester for so long without proper check, Lim said.

Lim maintained that Samy Vellu should not be the only Minister to be held solely responsible in the long list of failed government infrastructure constructions, involving government buildings like the MATRADE Building, highways, schools or hospitals.

He said full accountability might require more than one Cabinet Minister to resign.

PMCs at 5 Regions

In The New Sunday Times today, Brendan Pereira said the PMCs became deep-seated in government projects during the Government's pump-priming era circa 2000. The rationale, especially among Finance Ministry, officials was that the JKR would not be able to implement all the projects at the speed that was required by the Government to give a boost to the economy.

According to Pereira, it was around this time that Finance Ministry secretary-general Samsudin Hitam signed a Treasury circular, effective from Sept 1, 2000 till Aug 31, 2001.

The circular exempted government departments from following the usual work procurement regulations. Under this regime, government agencies were allowed to carry out their own projects through limited tender or direct negotiations.

The circular specified that the government agencies had to appoint the PMCs according to the location of the project. It listed five PMCs according to area of coverage.

The five PMCs were:

• Kinta Samudra: Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.


• UMI-Ross Project Management: Johor and Malacca.


• Worldworth: Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.


• Ambangan Height: Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang and Perak.


• KIP Management: Sabah and Sarawak.

The critics of the PMC argue that the consultancy fees of 1.5% of the project cost only served to drive up costs.

The five regional PMCs' silence has been deafening in this debate, Pereira said.

Badawirism, Badawarism, Badawi-ism?

Dr Sivamurugan Pandian terms it "Badawi-rism". Bernama terms it "Badawar-ism".

Ism of all isms, isn't it more fittingly termed as "Badawi-ism"?

DRB-Hicom: NST 1, Star 1

Did NST score an 'own-goal'?

The Star News Editor Wong Sai Wan, who's currently in Santiago, Chile, to cover Pak Lah's entourage to APEC, has a breaking news updated on Star Online at 10:51am today:

DRB-HICOM deal still being negotiated

SANTIAGO: The tussle between the two Tan Sris for control of DRB-HICOM Bhd has not been resolved and Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Noh Mohamed Yakcop is holding talks with the two parties, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah said the Government favoured a proposal by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary to split the company's business between the two consortiums.

"Tan Sri Syed Mokthar has proposed that Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin should take the automotive business of DRB-HICOM while he (Syed Mokhtar) takes the non-automotive business.

"I think this is a good proposal that can resolve this protracted dispute. I have sent the proposal to Tan Sri Noh Mohamed and instructed him to hold discussions between the two parties," said Abdullah to Malaysian reporters covering the Apec 2004 meetings here on Friday evening.

The Prime Minister said he wanted the matter resolved as soon as possible.

For context, read my earlier blog at 7:56am this morning: DRB-Hicom: Rajan romps home.

Will Rajan Moses and his masters persist to create a perception through the media they own and impose on its readers that it's a reality?

I want to see how much longer Rajan sticks his neck out in the name of business reporting, and reporting business.

A time for the average Malaysian

The Edge (Nov 22, Pg 70) comments on Minister S. Samy Vellu's revelation in the Mingguan Malaysia interview, via the Frankly Speaking column, its editorial of sorts:

The minister's (Samy Vellu) message was clear: contracts were awarded without regard to prudential practices. So let's bring whoever needs to be, to book. This would include those who did not know what was going on but should have, those who passively allowed such practices to continue unchecked and, of course, those who actually did it.

It's time the average Malaysian is allowed to avenge this country for the hurt that has been caused to it.

The time and place are no better poised than in the solemn Dewan Rakyat, I'd say.

Video-blog... ( 2 )

Location: Any traffic light junction.

This one is a reference video used by road safety researchers, sent by reader Abbasher. Download file (MPG) in 1.42Mb, broadband recommended.

UPDATE (Nov 24): Thanks reader earl-ku for telling us the source.

DRB-Hicom: Rajan romps home

Malaysia's business reporting has taken to a new level and financial analysts are hopping onto the band-wagon, helter-skelter and headless-chicken style.

Barely had the Government made its official announcement on the final outcome of DRB-Hicom's 15.8% share tussle, The NST-Business Time has garnered sufficient input from analysts from local and overseas-owned financial advisories to drive home a yet-to-be-confirmed government intervention, however likely it may be.

When the NST went to town yesterday with an unofficial announcement that the Nasimuddin consortium has out-foxed Etika Strategi in the tussle, DRB-Hicom's share price climbed to an intra-day high of RM2.37 before closing up 1 sen at RM2.29.

It will be a pity if you didn't already make your weekend money during that short trading window.

Rajan Moses' tune today is this: The source-story of government's decision has already been cast in stone, and The NST-Business Times is the first to report it ahead of the government's official announcement.

Read my lips:

1. I am not saying The NST, an Umno mouthpiece, is THE Government's gazette. So, it should be treated as such;


2. The Securities Commission is invalidated even if unconfirmed news items were to rock stock prices and insiders were to predate and trade on privileged information.

Quote:

"The impending entry of a new shareholder controlling the strategic 15.8 per cent stake in DRB-HICOM Bhd is set to add zest and provide new direction to the conglomerate, which analysts say, has still more room to realise its full potential.

Automotive tycoon Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin 's consortium, which includes former stockbroker Datuk Nizam Razak and property developer Datuk Muhamad Azaham Wahab, is set to move in soon as the new stakeholder.

Analysts predict this will turn on more exciting times for DRB-HICOM, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in the country.

Who are Rajan's analysts, by the way? In his story today (picture above), they were "identified" as ( 1 ) Advisory note from MIDF Sisma Securities (analyst anonymous) which put a "Buy" recommendation for DRB-Hicom stocks, and ( 2 ) "another analyst at a major bank-backed securities firm who declined to be identified".

In addition, Rajan also quoted Bloomberg which reported Edward Ong, a Kuala Lumpur-based analyst with Macquarie Bank Ltd, was maintaining his "Outperform" recommendation on DRB-HICOM.

The Edge FinancialDaily

Meanwhile, The Edge's FinancialDaily reported at 8:51pm last night quoting Deputy Finance Minister Ng Yen Yen as saying that the government is still hoping for the parties involved in the tussle for to come to their own resolutions, instead of requiring its intervention to resolve their disputes.

She said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had said he would not want to intervene unless it was really necessary.

"There has been a misconception that the Ministry of Finance decides who gets what. The Ministry allows this business entity to resolve among themselves," she said.

When asked on The NST's report yesterday that the government has decided a preferred bidder for the 15.8% stake in DRB-Hicom, Ng neither denied nor confirmed it.

She added that it had not come to a point where the government was going to step in. "When we say we would make a decision is not who gets what, it means we give some point of reference."

Oriental Daily News also quotes Ng on the same vein on its frontpage today.

The Star

On the other hand, StarBiz continued to lend its sympathetic ears to Syed Mokhtar as Jagdev Singh Sidhu reports this:

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary will wait for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to make a decision on the preferred bidder for the controlling 15.8% block in DRB-HICOM Bhd.

"We will leave it to the wisdom of the Prime Minister. Whatever solution the PM decides on, Syed Mokhtar and Etika Strategi will respect and abide by it," Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd director Datuk Mohd Khamil Jamil said.

"We have not been officially informed of the PM's decision," he told StarBiz yesterday.

Abdullah is currently in Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit.

Is everything over when, ultimately, the Government officially announces its intervention and declares Nasimuddin consortium the winner of the bid? Jagdev Singh highlights some salient points:

• The vendors of the 15.8% block - the estate of Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad, Tan Sri Mohd Saleh Sulong, and Aziz Salleh - are divided on whom they would prefer to sell the shares to.
• There is a dispute over the ownership structure of the 15.8% block, with Saleh and Aziz claiming to own 60% of those shares.
• The administrator of the estate and son of Yahaya, Ahmad Othman Yahaya, has picked the Nasimuddin consortium while Saleh and Aziz have opted for Syed Mokhtar.
• Should the Government officially decide on Nasimuddin as the preferred bidder, Saleh and Aziz would request that the Nasimuddin consortium increase its bid from RM3.50 to RM3.60 per share, thus matching the offer made by Syed Mokhtar.
• To ensure that any disagreement over the ownership of the 15.8% block of shares among the vendors does not delay or allow the DRB-HICOM saga to drag on, and that the shares are not foreclosed by the lenders, it has been proposed that the buyer of the shares pays off the lenders and place the profit the vendors would have received for the shares in an escrow account.

  That would enable the vendors to decide on the rightful division of the profit after control of the company changes hands.

But to editors and readers of Jalan Riong newspapers, you set the perception, and you set reality.

The aftermath of pump-priming the economy

Guest Blogger
Teropong Negara
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:23:44 +0800 (PC clock acting up?)

We have of late heard many horror stories about the sub-standard quality of public buildings, such as hospitals, schools and government offices. This also includes other infrastructures such as roads, flyovers and even computers that are supplied to schools and government departments. Accusing fingers had been pointed in all directions with claims and counter claims made by contending parties. Finally the buck appeared to have stopped at the relevant ministries, contractors and consultants.

This, however, does not mean that we have made much progress in understanding as to what had really had happened in the past four years that had triggered all this sudden surge of very sad state of affair that had caused billions of Ringgit (read: public money) going down the drain.

After a careful review and some investigative work, it becomes very clear to me that these are the aftermath of the so-called pump-priming the economy and the stimulus package undertaken to sustain the economic recovery especially from 2000 to 2003.

Various ministries were asked to identify special projects that could be undertaken for the purpose of pump-priming the economy. Fast track projects with tenders being given to contractors on negotiated basis was then the order of the day. The then Minister of Finance himself monitored disbursements to contractors to make sure that they are made speedily in what was made out to be great efforts to reactivate the economy following the economic crisis of 1997/8.

At the same time, any of the influential names and their associates was welcomed to propose any infrastructure projects for implementation by the government as part of these grand pump-priming projects. The issue of whether they were really needed and whether the scale of the project was appropriate was of secondary consideration. Businesspersons and politicians with strong connections had their most rewarding times that they ever had.

Front-end loading

At the same time, words got around that what was being negotiated was not the terms of the contract but rather the so called "front-end loading" of between 20% to 30% of contract value to be paid in advance to cronies upon these contracts were being awarded. The situation was so blatantly done and rampant that even wives of senior government officials and their friends were paddling this so-called government negotiated contracts at parties and gatherings on the understanding that they would be given some commission.

In the light of this situation, it is not surprising that contractors are forced to cut corners in order to recover the heavy front-end loadings that they have to pay in securing the negotiated contracts. Many of the buildings and public utilities such as roads and flyovers were under engineered and under specified in terms of their specifications and facilities. The landscape, geological and climatic conditions were not factored in the design of the projects to cut cost.

Schools and public buildings were not necessarily located at places where they could provide the most convenience to members of the public but at odd places that are not easily accessible to them. For instance in the state of Trengganu and Kelantan alone, there are at least 10 schools that are located at places where there is no public transport.

The result is that there is poor enrolment at these schools. Four of the schools are yet to be opened, as the student registration at these schools had been reported to be very poor. The school buildings are large and massive and would take up to 5 years to be fully utilized.

Meanwhile, the excess classes and spaces are let to rot with poor or no maintenance. The same applies to hostels. There is a lot of wastage in terms of excess capacities from beds, lockers to bathrooms.

Some of the contractors abandoned many of the schools and public building projects due to them losing money or they were not paid the progress payments due to them on time following the governments' cash flow problem in the last 3 years.

Some of the projects appeared to have been taken back by the government even after the construction site had been taken over by the contractors. A few of these contractors are in the process of filing suits against the government for breach of contracts.

Meanwhile, the government's cash flow problem appeared to be far from over. It becomes apparent that when Pak Lah took over the government, the Treasury till was empty with at least R5 billion of over due payments to contractors and suppliers. About 3 billion of it was paid just before the general election early this year. It is now generally believed that at least RM1 billion is still overdue.

With the above scenario, we should not be surprised that the quality of most of the projects undertaken in the last four years had been very much below par. The only exception is the luxurious government buildings and the six-star suites of the ministers in Putra Jaya. The sad part of the whole drama is that those who had made their golden pie had been allowed to go scot-free.
________________

The views articulated by the writer are his own and they do not necessarily reflect the stand of Screenshots.

OPM model for MiTV

MiTV will attempt to exploit the OPM (Other People's Money) model when it launches the PayTV service next month. It's nicely called "Pre-paid subscription".

MiTV marketing manager, Rizal Baharom told Bernama today that the subscription fee would be around RM80 plus or lower "depending on the market", and it would be offered as an alternative to the viewers especially to Astro's subscribers.

The prepaid nomination range would be between RM50-RM100.

In comparison, Astro employs a post-paid model, with incentives for half-yearly and annual pre-paid subscription programmes.

PMC & KSU not new issue. But where are the answers?

Internet archive is amazing.

This is what I have found from DAP's online archive: A media conference statement issued by former DAP Secretary-General Kerk Kim Hock on July 7, 2003 at the Prime Minister's office.

On that day, Kerk said he handed over two documents to the then Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, through the good office of Mohd Johari Bin Baharum, First Political Secretary to the Prime Minister.

The documents were titled, respectively:

1. "Keputusan Perolehan Yang Dibuat Secara Tidak Teratur / Tidak Mengikut Prinsip Dan Tidak Mematuhi Peraturan"


2. "Kepincangan Pengurusan Kewangan Negara"

Senior Treasury official?

However, Kerk did not name the said senior official of the Treasury in his media statement.

Interestingly, in his interview with Mingguan Malaysia, Works Minister S. Samy Vellu had put the blame squarely on the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance in relation to failed projects implemented through PMC - also without naming names.

In contrast, on November 18, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang upped the stake by saying a ministerial statement should be made in the Parliament this Monday on the outcome of the government's investigation, including serious allegations against "Tan Sri Dr Samsudin Hitam (picture left), who was then the Ministry of Finance's secretary-general and responsible for running PMC" (see theSun, November 19 Page 2).

In the first set of documents titled "Keputusan Perolehan Yang Dibuat Secara Tidak Teratur/Tidak Mengikut Prinsip Dan Tidak Mematuhi Peraturan", it contained 17 pages of information and allegations about the abuses of powers/procedures by the official, in his then Treasury position, as well as while he was serving as a senior official in a different Department.

The second set of documents, Kerk said, was a 5-page report titled "Kepincangan Pengurusan Kewangan Negara" which alleged that the same official has committed financial mismanagement/ irregularities.

Kerk said, after going through the documents, he was most concerned about the seriousness and implications of the allegations - if they were true - in terms of "how Malaysia's public funds can be mismanaged and policies can be wrongly decided or prioritized due to non-compliance with established principles, procedures and even facts manipulation".

Because of that, Kerk said he was duty-bound to hand over the documents to the Prime Minister,and hoped that the PM would carry out a thorough investigation into the allegations contained in the two sets of documents.

No 'Check and Balance'

Kerk further revealed that the Prime Minister has set up certain mechanisms to be abided by the Finance Ministry, such as the establishment of various committees for the purposes of carrying out objective evaluations and serving as check and balance mechanisms.

However, according to details contained in the first set of documents, it was alleged that government procurement decisions were made in violation of the established procurement principles which wre:

• Open competition
  
• Best interest and values


• Processed in a transparent manner


• Processed in a fair and just manner


• Based on public accountability

These committees are:

1. Minister Tender Committee (Jawantankuasa Tender Menteri)


2. Deputy Minister Tender Committee (Jawatankuasa Tender Timbalan Menteri)


3. Selection and Appointment of Consultants Committee (Jawantankuasa Pemilihan dan Perlantikan Perunding)


4. Procurement Special Committee (Jawantankuasa Khas Perolehan)

Kerk also summarised examples of cases believed to be made without compliance of the procurement principles. Some allegations made in the two sets of documents include the appointment of Perunding Pengurusan Projek (PMC).

• It was alleged that the appointment of PMC was made without very clear reasons. For example, UMI - Ros Project Management Sdn Bhd which has only 15 professionals, 4 management and 17 staff personnel, was appointed to manage projects worth RM 2,000 (sic) million at any one time.
• QSC Project Sdn Bhd, which has 5 professionals, 6 management and 7 staff personnel, was appointed to manage projects worth RM 1,000 (sic) million.

QSC was also picked to carry out Audit and Assessment for projects like Hospital Selayang, Pusat Teknologi Kulim, Institut Latihan Perindustrian Perlis, Perumahan Rakyat di Perlis, Perumahan Rakyat di Sabah, Perumahan Rakyat di Sarawak. etc.

You may read more details in the DAP Online archive, here.

No proper reply at Parliament

But the key thing is, after reading Citizen-Nades' Wednesday column, in which the journalist pressed Works Minister to tell more about PMC, Kerk contacted theSun on October 17.

Kerk complained that he had brought the matter up in the Parliament but did not get a proper reply.

Kerk said that during the last sitting of Parliament last year, the MoF said it would look into the matter but "they evaded the question till the end".

On Thursday, the DAP called for a press conference at the Parliament lobby, demanding the government to present a White Paper on projects handled by PMC when the Dewan Rakyat convenes on Monday.

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said since Minister Samy Vellu has revealed details about PMC in his interview with Mingguan Malaysia, it would be most appropriate for the government to present a White Paper to clear the air over the awarding of infrastructural contracts.

He added that the White Paper must spell out all projects which PMC must be held responsible for.

theSun ran the story as its frontpage lead today.

Quotes:

"Since Samy Vellu has said he is not at fault in all the infrastructure failures of certain projects like schools, hospitals and highways. JKR and the Works Ministry were victims of the tyranny of PMC, and we do not know who is right and who is wrong until now."

"If Samy Vellu is not responsible for any of these failures... I think Members of Parliament whether Barisan Nasional or the opposition who called on him to resign should be prepared to publicly withdraw these demands and apologise to Samy Vellu," said Lim.

How are we going to elevate the Dewan Rakyat - the solemn house of legislative process - into a world-class parliament when questions raised were not adequately answered and addressed by the same process?

We will see if Monday is D-Day for truth.

Crackdown On Camera Cellphones At Saudi Border

Is is advisable for Malaysian pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia for the haj to bring along their cellphones which are equipped with cameras?

Qatari daily 'The Peninsula' said Umrah pilgrims and other visitors from Qatar who have just returned from Saudi Arabia have reported a crackdown on camera cellphones at the Saudi border entry points -- both by air and by road.

Visitors carrying camera cellphones are asked to keep their SIM cards and surrender the handset in exchange for a token which entitled them to reclaim their handset on the way out.

Otherwise, the Saudi officials would scratch the lens of the camera cellphone with a glass-cutter to disable the camera function.

Via Bernama at 11:09hr:

The move is a first since the last haj season in January this year came before Saudi Arabia banned the import and sale of camera cellphones in March.

The Saudi daily 'Arab News' reported on Sept 30 that Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority, had publicly condemned as un-Islamic trading in camera-equipped mobile phones which "could be exploited to photograph and spread vice in the community."

Feedback?
___________

UPDATE: Minister in the PM's Department, Dr. Abdullah Md. Zain, has an advisory: Comply with the Saudi requirement.

Details in Mingguan Malaysia, Nov 21.

DRB-Hicom: NST 1, Star 0

The Star and the New Straits Times are torn apart in their editorial stance over the mega battle for control of the prized 15.8% stake in DRB-Hicom. Each is sympathetic to their respective chosen camp, and each has been willing to provide them a mouthpiece. (Read Screenshots here, here and here.)

Today, Rajan Moses risks his reputation as a business journalist by pre-announcing the winner of the DRB-Hicom shares tussle. But he will most likely be vindicated based on the sources he has been fed with all along, says a little bird.

Both NST and Berita Harian announced the consortium led by SM Nasimuddin SM Amin - the AP King - as the winner.

In The NST, the headline treatment is in explicit Academy Awards style that's just short of a drumroll impossible on print media:

No winning criteria was given. However, the NST frontpage report has subtly framed it this way:

The Government, as major shareholder in DRB-Hicom with 35 per cent stake, has decided that a consortium led by Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, who has vast experience in the automotive business, is the preferred bidder for the stake, sources said.

This is because the automotive division accounts for the bulk of DRB-Hicom's total revenue and business and the Government felt such a decision was in the best interests of the conglomerate's shareholders while adding value to the company, they said.

Nasimuddin owns the Naza Group whose core business is in automotives. The other members of his consortium are former stockbroker Datuk Nizam Razak and Datuk Muhamad Azaham Wahab, who has experience in property development.

Can we, again, expect a rebuttal from the Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary camp within the next hour?

Looks unlikely. Because The NST said, quoting sources, that both Nasimuddin and rival bidder Syed Mokhtar's group were informed of the decision yesterday, and both have accepted the Government's decision.

A formal announcement will be made soon by the Government, added the NST.

In contrast, both The Star and theSun/FinancialDaily draw a blank on the issue today.

The NST rationalised that the Government had to move towards its decision after expressing concern that any further dragging on of the corporate battle could affect the company and investor confidence as well as create uncertainty among its 30,000 employees.

However, investors and financial analysts in contact with Screenshots are waiting for two lessons to be leant from this mega-tussle:

1. How will good corporate governance prevail in Malaysia? In true business sense, will the highest bidder be allowed to win?

   Thus far, the Nasimuddin consortium has not challenged its rival's claim on having put in a higher bid at RM3.60 per share.

2. If the highest bidder fails to win, is that a sign of renewed cronyism?

It is to remember that the 15.8% block, or 155.4 million DRB-Hicom shares, were put up for sale for the purpose of repaying debts totalling over RM400 million to creditors that include Lembaga Tabung Haji.

Digital Divide both sides of Causeway

Instead of harping on web fora akin to soc.culture.malaysia - as evident of what Jalan Riong is capable of - I wonder if we could spend some time pondering over an issue that challenges our thoughts on the "Competitive Advantage of Nations"? We just need to take a leaf off old Michael Porter.

Singapore Business Times reported two days ago that a 'supercomputing grid' is to be set up at National University of Singapore (NUS) - probably the first in Asia.

Blurb of the story will make your jaws drop:

The 800 PCs can potentially offer a peak performance of two to six teraflops or trillion floating-point operations per second.

In layman's term, setting up a 'supercomputing grid' like this will initially link 800 personal computers (PCs) to act as a single massive unit. But NUS has longer term objectives. The aim is to link more than 3,000 PCs in the grid in two years - which will probably make the NUS Grid the world's largest by then.

And it's not a mega-buck project. The overall cost to be spread over two years will not exceed S$500,000.

(No. I didn't see the NUS had to engage the services of Project Management Consultants.)

The current world record is held by the University of Purdue in the US which has linked 2,300 PCs in a single grid. The University of Texas is next in the US with 1,000, followed by the University of Florida's 500.

The NUS project is the largest of its kind by an education institution outside the US and Europe.

Yes, that's how First World mentality approaches ICT from a grandiose platform that propels the country to continue moving forward, not navel-gazing into things like this and this.

Perhaps, we need some simple explanation on what grid computing really is.

In theory, a PC 'grid' links hundreds of PCs to harness idle computing capacity - such as when a PC is not being used - to help generate massive computing power.

Such grids are used in intensive R&D; projects in genetics, biotech, defence studies, weather forecasting and even for computer animation and entertainment.

In 1999, this blogger participated in one of the earlier efforts - SETI@home - organised by Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). It is a scientific experiment championed by UC Berkeley, using Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). I allowed my computer to linked to the grid by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. (More details here.)

Now, let's take a look at how the digital divide between us and Singapore will get wider if we continue to be a wining sitting duck.

The NUS venture is called the Tera-scale Campus Grid at NUS (TCG@NUS) and is a joint project with public-listed Singapore Computer Systems (SCS) which is supplying the middleware.

The project began end-October and so far 150 PCs have been connected, and 800 PCs are expected to be connected by the first quarter next year. By the end of the contract period of two years, the project would be able to connect all the 3,000-plus PC desktops in NUS into the grid.

The overall project cost would be about S$500,000.

With just 800 PCs logged into the grid, they can potentially offer a peak performance of two to six teraflops - trillion floating-point operations per second - which is a measure of supercomputing performance.

The rub-off is this: Such ability will catapult the TCG@NUS grid to the top 500 ranking of the world's fastest supercomputers if implemented within a single machine.

By comparison, the top five supercomputers in the world - including the Earth Simulator in Japan - have a theoretical peak performance of between 15.30 to 40.96 teraflops.

From a macro perspective, according to research house International Data Corp, the market for grid computing is set to cross US$12 billion in global revenue by 2007 - from less than half that now.

The industry is expecting to see an increasing use of grid technology in areas such as digital media, life sciences and engineering R&D.;

World-class financial services provider Charles Schwab, for example, uses grid computing to integrate data, analyse customer profiles and provide specific product offerings to customers.

Lucasfilm - which made the Star Wars trilogy - uses grid computing to make high-definition films. Some movie production houses are using the technology to digitally restore old films, or provide layers of special effects to new ventures.

Imagination on what grid computing could do does not stop there.

Just to rub it in further. This year, NUS ranked 18th among the world's Top 200 universities in The Times Higher World University Rankings.

What shall we Malaysia do other than navel-gazing into web garbage and before a 28-year-old becomes the Prime Minister?

Don't play it up!

According to Bernama (Nov 17, 22:29hr), the Water, Energy and Communications Ministry is in the midst of tracking down the writer who posted seditious and religiously inflammatory remarks on the "Forum Malaysia Boleh" website.

Its minister, Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had submitted a preliminary report to him on the matter, saying that the website has been closed, and the authority was now tracking down the writer whom the Minister described as a "mad person".

The "Forum Malaysia Boleh" website is reported to give freedom to the public to say anything including sensitive issues without control or screening.

Most importantly, according to Bernama, the Minister also appealed to the media not to highlight the stories related to this issue as it would be perceived to reflect the situation in the country when in actual fact it was the work of only a few irresponsible people.

"I would bring up the matter to the cabinet next week and request the newspapers not to play it up," said the Minister as quoted in Bernama.

However, there are parties who defied the Minister's advice and, instead, went to town with it in the same paper, on the same day.

How many of you knew of "Forum Malaysia Boleh" till Harian Metro played it up?

P/S: Both Bernama and Harian Metro had wrongly cited the acronym for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) - a high profile government agency that's already six years old.

Bernama termed it 'Multimedia and Communications Commission' MCC, Harian Metro termed it 'Suruhanjaya Multimedia dan Komunikasi' MIMC.

From blog to print

A task that blogs didn't get to complete, print media did it.

The pictures of Mutiara Hotel with billowing black smoke that TV Smith took on November 16 had just completed a communication loop.

One of the pictures, which first appeared in Screenshots, went up on The Malay Mail (Nov 18, Page 10), and the question that Screenshots didn't get a definitive reply from the hotel, two days ago, is now answered.

Malay Mail reporter Eddie Chua found out that the hotel was having a problem with its chimney as the filter to prevent the emission of black smoke from the boiler had broken down.

Azrina A. Afendi, Mutiara Hotel's marketing communications manager said the problem is being rectified by the contractor.

TV Smith has obliged Malay Mail's request for a high-res image, and for that, he was duly given a photo-credit.

The Power and Politics of Blogs

I hope practitioners in mainstream media, including born-again journalists like Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan who had the distinction of repeatedly vilifying Malaysian bloggers in the New Sunday Times (see May 31 and October 3), have grabbed a copy of Foreign Policy to update themselves on new trendlines in opinion-shaping.

The truth is: Times have changed. Can you?

Articles carried in Foreign Policy normally command a reasonable degree of esteem as the authoritative journal is published by none other than the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In the November/December edition of Foreign Policy, there is an article titled Web of Influence which researched into the unstoppable phenomenon of weblogs, and how bloggers weave together an elaborate network with agenda-setting power on issues that is changing the landscape for journalists and policymakers alike.

Blogs are "Fifth Estate"

Whether you like it or not, weblogs are now a "fifth estate" that keeps watch over the mainstream media, according to Daniel W. Drezner of the University of Chicago and Henry Farrell of the George Washington University, who co-wrote Web of Influence in Foreign Policy.

The authors observed that with the growing clout of bloggers that has transformed over the last few short years, blogging is now the single most transformative media technology since the invention of the printing press.

The speed of real-time blogger reactions often compels the media to correct errors in their own reporting before they mushroom. The acid test was on UK's Guardian, my favourite paper.

In June 2003, the Guardian trumpeted a story in its online edition that misquoted Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz as saying that the United States invaded Iraq in order to safeguard its oil supply. The quote began to wend its way through other media outlets worldwide, including Germany's Die Welt.

In the ensuing hours, numerous bloggers led by Greg Djerijian's "Belgravia Dispatch" linked to the story and highlighted the error, prompting the Guardian to retract the story and apologize to its readers before publishing the story in its print version.

Bloggers have become so adept at fact-checking the media that they've spawned many other high-profile retractions and corrections.

The most noteworthy was CBS News and Dan Rather's acknowledgement that it could not authenticate documents it had used in a story about President George W. Bush's National Guard service that bloggers had identified as forgeries. Screenshots featured this three times: here, here and here.

When such corrections are made, bloggers create the impression at times that contemporary journalism has spun out of control, said Drezner and Farrel.

More excerpts from the article:

1 ) The numbers are growing

The number of weblogs has grown at an astronomical rate. In 1999, the total number of blogs was estimated to be around 50; five years later, the estimates range from 2.4 million to 4.1 million. The Perseus Development Corporation, a consulting firm that studies Internet trends, estimates that by 2005 more than 10 million blogs will have been created. Caveat: Burnt-out and drop-out rates could be as high as 66%.

Read Perseus' latest report: The Blogging Iceberg, released October 6.

2 ) Adoption by media institutions

Media institutions have adopted the form as well, with many television networks, newspapers, and opinion journals now hosting blogs on their Web sites, sometimes featuring dispatches from their own correspondents, other times hiring full-time online columnists.

3 ) Blogs are already influencing U.S. politics

The top five political blogs together attract over half a million visitors per day.

Jimmy Orr, the White House Internet director, recently characterized the "blogosphere" (the all-encompassing term to describe the universe of weblogs) as instrumental, important, and underestimated in its influence.

If in doubt, ask Trent Lott. He had to resign as U.S. Senate majority leader in December 2002 because of bloggers' expose on him for making inflammatory comments on racial segregation at Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party.

4 ) Blogs are also influencing world politics

Blogs are becoming more influential because they affect the content of international media coverage.

Journalism professor Todd Gitlin once noted that media frame reality through "principles of selection, emphasis, and presentation composed of little tacit theories about what exists, what happens, and what matters". Increasingly, journalists and pundits take their cues about "what matters" in the world from weblogs.

For salient topics in global affairs, the blogosphere functions as a rare combination of distributed expertise, real-time collective response to breaking news, and public-opinion barometer. What's more, a hierarchical structure has taken shape within the primordial chaos of cyberspace.

A few elite blogs have emerged as aggregators of information and analysis, enabling media commentators to extract meaningful analysis and rely on blogs to help them interpret and predict political developments.

As a result, blogs increasingly serve as a conduit through which ordinary and not-so-ordinary citizens express their views on international relations and influence a policymaker's decision making.

5 ) Bloggers create icons from virtual to real world

A classic example. University of Michigan history Professor Juan Cole had a lot to say about the war on terror and the war in Iraq. Problem was, not many people were listening. Despite an impressive resume (he's fluent in three Middle Eastern languages), Cole had little success publishing opinion pieces in the mainstream media, even after Sept. 11, 2001. His writings on the Muslim world might have remained confined to academic journals had he not begun a weblog called "Informed Comment" as a hobby in 2002.

Fellow bloggers took an interest in his writings, especially because he expressed a skepticism about the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq that stood apart from the often optimistic mainstream media coverage following the successful overthrow of the Baathist regime.

As a prominent expert on the modern history of Shiite Islam, Cole became widely read among bloggers - and ultimately journalists - following the outbreak of Iraqi Shiite unrest in early 2004.

With his blog attracting 250,000 readers per month, Cole began appearing on media outlets such as National Public Radio (NPR) and CNN to provide expert commentary. He also testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Cole's transformation into a public intellectual embodies many of the dynamics that have heightened the impact of the blogosphere. He wanted to publicize his expertise, and he did so by attracting attention from elite members of the blogosphere. As Cole made waves within the virtual world, others in the real world began to take notice.

6 ) Blogs win on speed

One good thing about weblogs is that the skewed network of the blogosphere makes it less time-consuming for outside observers to acquire information.

The media only need to look at elite blogs (blogs with huge visitor traffic) to obtain a summary of the distribution of opinions on a given political issue. The mainstream political media can therefore act as a conduit between the blogosphere and politically powerful actors.

The comparative advantage of blogs in political discourse, as compared to traditional media, is their low cost of real-time publication. Bloggers can post their immediate reactions to important political events before other forms of media can respond.

Speed also helps bloggers overcome their own inaccuracies. When confronted with a factual error, they can quickly correct or update their post. Through these interactions, the blogosphere distills complex issues into key themes, providing cues for how the media should frame and report a foreign-policy question.

Small surprise, then, that a growing number of media leaders - editors, publishers, reporters, and columnists - consume political blogs.

You doubt it?

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said in a November 2003 interview: "Sometimes I read something on a blog that makes me feel we screwed up."

Howard Kurtz, one of the most prominent media commentators in the United States, regularly quotes elite bloggers in his "Media Notes Extra" feature for the Washington Post's Web site.

Many influential foreign affairs columnists, including Paul Krugman and Fareed Zakaria, have said that blogs form a part of their information-gathering activities.

7 ) Blogs complement what mainstream media are deprived of

For the mainstream media - which almost by definition suffer a deficit of specialized, detailed knowledge - blogs can also serve as repositories of expertise.

And for readers worldwide, blogs can act as the "man on the street", supplying unfiltered eyewitness accounts about foreign countries. This facet is an especially valuable service, given the decline in the number of foreign correspondents since the 1990s. Blogs may even provide expert analysis and summaries of foreign-language texts, such as newspaper articles and government studies, that reporters and pundits would not otherwise access or understand.

An example: Even foreign-policy novices leave their mark on the debate. David Nishimura, an art historian and vintage pen dealer, emerged as an unlikely commentator on the Iraq war through his blog, "Cronaca".

In the month after the fall of Saddam's regime in April 2003, there was much public hand-wringing about reports that more than 170,000 priceless antiques and treasures had been looted from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. In response to these newspaper accounts, a number of historians and archaeologists scorned the U.S. Defense Department for failing to protect the museum.

Nishimura, however, scrutinized the various media reports and found several inconsistencies. He noted that the 170,000 number was flat-out wrong; that the actual losses, though serious, were much smaller than initial reports suggested; and that museum officials might have been complicit in the looting.

Prominent right-of-center bloggers, such as Glenn Reynolds, Andrew Sullivan, and Virginia Postrel, cited Nishimura's analysis to focus attention on the issue and correct the original narrative.

8 ) Blogs are beginning to emerge in countries with limited outlets for political expression

But can blogs affect politics in regimes where there is no thriving independent media sector? Good question.

Faced with various domestic obstacles, political scientists Margaret Keck of Johns Hopkins University and Kathryn Sikkink of the University of Minnesota note that activists who are unable to change conditions in their own countries can leverage their power by taking their case to transnational networks of advocates, who in turn publicize abuses and lobby their governments.

Keck and Sikkink call this a "boomerang effect", because repression at home can lead to international pressure against the regime from abroad. Blogs can potentially play a role in the formation of such transnational networks.

A solid example is Iran.

The Iranian blogosphere has exploded. According to the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education's Blog Census, Farsi is the fourth most widely used language among blogs worldwide.

One service provider alone ("Persian Blog") hosts some 60,000 active blogs. The weblogs allow young secular and religious Iranians to interact, partially taking the place of reformist newspapers that have been censored or shut down. Government efforts to impose filters on the Internet have been sporadic and only partially successful.

Some reformist politicians have embraced blogs, including the president, who celebrated the number of Iranian bloggers at the World Summit on the Information Society, and Vice President Muhammad Ali Abtahi, who is a blogger himself!

Elite Iranian blogs such as "Editor: Myself" by Hoder (whom I would be meeting up with this December) have established links with the English-speaking blogosphere. When Sina Motallebi, a prominent Iranian blogger, was imprisoned for "undermining national security through 'cultural activity'", prominent Iranian bloggers were able to join forces with well-known English-language bloggers including Jeff Jarvis ("BuzzMachine"), Dan Gillmor ("Silicon Valley"), and Patrick Belton ("OxBlog") to create an online coalition that attracted media coverage, leading to Motallebi's release.

Meanwhile, former CNN bureau chief for Beijing/Tokyo, Rebecca MacKinnon, has started a blog on North Korea, titled NKZone. It has already been cited in such prominent publications as the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Sunday Times of London as a source for information about North Korea.

Incidentally, NKZone also became the subject matter for MacKinnon's research paper, titled "The World-Wide Conversation: Online participatory Media and International News" (PDF here). It's published through The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Blogs are also erupting in the African continent.

BACKGROUNDER. I need to highlight that the article Web of Influence carried in Foreign Policy is an abridged version of an academic paper titled: "The Power and Politics of Blogs", presented at the 2004 American Political Science Association (APSA) annual meeting.

The authors are bloggers. Daniel W. Drezner is assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago and keeps a daily weblog at www.danieldrezner.com; Henry Farrell is assistant professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University and a member of the group blog www.crookedtimber.org.

Speed up broadband take-up

Screenshots blog on November 10 gets an echo in Star In-Tech today (Page 3 lead).

This blogger advocates the unbundling of local loops with fixed timeline in order to propel the broadband take-up.

Consumer culture and disintegration of society

Mailbag
Jonathan Kent
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 12:37:15 +0800

Dear Screenshots Readers,

Recently, two things have caused me to stop and think about an under-discussed aspect of what's come to be known as the 'clash of civilisations'. The first was a comment in a book 'No Full Stops in India' by Mark Tully, who was, for more than thirty years, the BBC's India Correspondent. The second was an observation by the Malaysian actress Jo Kukathas. Both honed in on one aspect of modern Western culture that Mark Tully argues has been particularly destructive of traditional society in India; consumerism.

Jo's comment on the Malaysian context was that Malaysians are increasingly asked to be more pious and yet more consumerist at the same time. Both UMNO and PAS make every effort to establish themselves as pious political parties in the minds of the electorate. However the Barisan Nasional government is also committed to strong economic growth and in broad terms promotes a business-friendly, and essentially capitalist agenda.

As a result, Malaysians, like most people around the world, are exposed to all the tools that business can deploy to make people spend money. Of course, the government to some degree regulates many of those, like advertising, requiring it to reflect Malaysian sensibilities.

However, critics of consumerism (and there are a growing number not least in the West) argue that modern business culture is about want creation rather than need fulfillment - so consumer culture is geared to making people feel that life isn't complete and that they can't be happy without a (for instance) Gucci handbag, a Kancil or even the latest Hotlink top up card featuring a picture of Siti Nurhaliza. I wonder whether Hamdan Ibrahim's observations, about young women wearing the tudong with make-up and tight fitting clothes, are part of this phenomenon?

Critics of consumerism further argue that as part of the process of turning us into consumers we're encouraged to think about ourselves, our own wants, our own desires and the fulfillment of those rather than about the needs of others. What most of the world's religions have in common is that they encourage us to put a high value on the needs of others and our society while reminding us not to ride roughshod over the well-being of others in pursuit of our own desires.

What I am interested to know is what Malaysians of different backgrounds feel about consumer culture. Do you think it's a good thing that makes life more fun and brings you products; TVs, phones, cars, cosmetics etc, that make your life better? Is it a factor or even a major factor in the disintegration of society that Hamdan talks about? Or is it simply irrelevant; something that has no bearing at all on the country's moral well-being? Do you see any contradiction or even conflict between the two?

Jonathan Kent

The real issue with our habits

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 11:05:23 +0800

The papers and Screenshots carried quite extensively the yearly issue of wanton 'cave dwellers' mentality at open houses. (My apologies to cave dwellers if they are offended).

There is another big problem in Malaysia, lack of respect for punctuality or time keeping (or deadlines).

Many aspects are being banded about but, to me, there are two major reasons for this diabolical and appalling habit. I will not call it a Malaysian habit but rather I am only prepared to call it 'Morons' habit. Media widely covered the issues paralysing our daily life, which are corruption and the many uncompleted projects.

I believe this can be tied, at least the latter, to this issue of lack of respect for timekeeping in all things we do.

Firstly it is mainly due to being selfish and a lack of respect for others that make one perennially late for engagements. Selfish as you make others who are early wait and lack of respect as you think others’ time is not as important as yours.

Secondly, this may receive some brickbats, many think that they must be late to stress the point that they are more important or superior than the rest. They think if they are titled or holding position of higher hierarchy, then one can just swan in later then others. (It is interesting to note that Dr M was a stickler for punctuality, irrespective of any other attributes.)

People tend to blame others for this diabolical habit but it is within one’s power to ensure that time is kept. This decease is not only limited to being late for engagements but this ‘Moron’s habit’ is also what ensures that the simplest task are sat upon while the world goes round and round. Civil servants think that their duty is just to punch in the attendance card and while away time at coffee shop or attend incredibly sounding and grandiosely themed seminar and collect the almost guaranteed yearly bonuses and not bother to processes queries, applications, complaints and what not on time.

Private companies think that their duty stops once payment is collected. Phone lines out of service, shoddy workmanship not attended to after much complaint, and refunds, are just left for the fairy godmother to resolve.

All this is purely a case of bad time keeping. All these are due to bad time ethics. Things will not change unless we start implementing and expect zero tolerance.

We need to kick some ‘rear end’ soon, fast and hard. Otherwise, we may have to wait until 2020 before we can acquire the documents and explanation one seeks for the Martrade building or Sukom accounts. The problem is by then, they may be no longer a legal requirement to keep the records. The protagonists are perhaps hoping on just that. Like I said, not keeping to time is a ‘Moron’s habit’, don’t tar all Malaysian with it. Until we resolve this 'root cause' of perennial delays, we are fighting a losing battle, let alone the war.

Following on from that, it is perhaps also time we evaluate again our other favourite pastime in Malaysia, dishing out state and federal awards by lorry loads. This has sometime transcended to absolute hilarity which contributes to the they and us dilemma, including being late and not respecting other's time.

The month past and weekend edition of newspapers carried many coverage on these titles pieces. One SUN's Weekend could be renamed as 'Titles: A critical analysis' as there were many articles and letters commenting on the giving of titles, especially in relation to Datuk or Dato'.

The was a letter from BEIM in the papers that suggested that only civil servants should be given titles and not businessman. Why? After all titles are supposedly being awarded for service to the nation and if that is the case civil servants are already being paid for that service (including the almost guaranteed annual bonuses without any performance measurement). So why award them again. In fact to follow that argument one should only award non civil servants as any service to nation would have been beyond the call of duty.

Actually, I am of a completely different and draconian view. Just stop altogether this practice of giving awards. This is actually a colonial leftovers which we have assimilated with great abundance. Even if you look at England, where this diabolical practice started, they don't generally give it to serving civil servants and almost none to serving politicians. Only retired politicians who are elevated to the House of Lords are bestowed, even than sparingly, unlike here where is open season all year long.

The world most powerful men and woman including names such as Bush, Blair, Putin, Bill Gates, Dell and so on are called purely as MR. Our national honours carry no weight overseas, only we are in a 'contained' view that it is important.

I think as Malaysia moves to a modern setting, we must shed this remnants of colonial habits, let us just get rid of this silly practice once and for all and move on with other important and more needy endeavours, such as trying to built hospital and schools that can be opened on time, a civil administration that is efficient, a family life which is better and a workforce that is more discerning and assimilates modern methodology.

Just stop giving awards and cancel all the old ones, I say.
_________

The writer is a Chartered Accountant member of MIA and ICAEW.

Tell us more on PMC, Nades urges Samy

Citizen-Nades took objection to Works Minister S. Samy Vellu's assertion that people could lodge reports against malpractices and corruption involving public works projects - whether they were implemented through JKR or PMC.

How can people report when they do not have facts and figures? [...]

As long as all documents related to this scandalous episode are deemed "secrets", Joe Public cannot do anything. But in the wake of what he (Samy) knows, shouldn't the minister be lodging a report to the ACA?

More importantly, this had been going on since the 90s and nothing had been done. Even after the Cabinet directive was defied, a report to the ACA would have been in order.

Why the reluctance to initiate investigations which would lead to the prosecution of the wrong-doers? Or were there hidden hands providing protection and comfort while public funds were being abused?

Citizen-Nades, who said he read and re-read Minister Samy's interview with Mingguan Malaysia, said there are many more unanswered questions. But in line with the PM's call for an open and accountable government, Nades said Samy must tell all and come clean on this matter.

This is what Citizen-Nades said in conclusion in his Wednesday column, today (online version not available at the time I blogged this):

While it is accepted that Samy Vellu had nothing to do with the current mess, he owes a duty to taxpayers to tell us how and why our money was paid to a two-man team which had neither the expertise nor the experience to carry out mammoth government jobs.

We all know that it could embarrass a few, it ought to be done in the name of accountability and transparency.

If this is not done, citizens who gave this government a resounding victory in the April hustings have every tight to feel shortchanged.

I hope the Ministers have read theSun before they went for the Cabinet meeting today.

Video-Blog... ( 1 )

The first video-blog material was sent by reader Tam YS.

It shows the MO (modus operandi) of a motorcycle-bound snatch thief. Action area was a Shell station in USJ2. Dated: October 25.

You need Media Player to view this AVI file (820k).

Ugly Malaysians... more and worse

A reader wrote to The Star sharing what was seen as the ugly side of Malaysians who thronged the Hari Raya Open House hosted by the PM - nothing dissimilar to what was blogged yesterday - only worse. Excerpts:

• ATTIRE: The visitors should be more decently dressed. Many non-Muslim visitors were not properly attire. Some of them came in shorts and slippers.
• FOOD: A lot of food was left on the table and wasted by guests who had taken more than they could eat. Waitresses were seen busy throwing such food into garbage bags.

  Although the food was free for the guests, they should not have wasted it.

  It is a sin to commit such act. They should think of the less fortunate who die of starvation.

Here's the famous last words from the Star reader: "I hope to be able to attend the next Hari Raya open house at PWTC together with my fellow Malaysians again. But please remember to be decently dressed and eat as much as you can but don't waste."

Bridging blogs in globe-spanning context

This December, I look forward to meeting Iran's Hoder (Hossein Derakhshan) to shoot at the breeze, and to exchange ideas about building a blogging community in a globe-spanning context. Recently, Hoder faced death threats against him and other Iranian bloggers coming from a blog called Islamic Army.

I also look forward to meeting the three Iraqi blogging brothers (Dentist Mohammed, 35; Doctor Ali, 34; and Dentist Omar, 24) and to learn from them how to "bridge blogs". I think Kenyan blogger Ory Okolloh would also enlighten me on how she uses digital tools to build links between people in different countries and cultures.

And Dan Gillmor and Joi Ito would be present, I was told.

Joi Ito, in particular, is enthusiastic about the idea of "Blogger Corps" mooted by Rebecca MacKinnon (former CNN Beijing/Tokyo bureau chief):

For early blog-adopters, blogging was an end in itself. For the activist community, blogging has to be an effective means to a concrete end.

In the final wrap-up session of Bloggercon III, I suggested that socially conscious members of the blogging community (of all political persuasions) might want to organize a "Blogger Corps." Through it, bloggers could donate their time to help poorly funded activists or non-profit groups to figure out what blogging tools are right for them, set up blogs, and develop effective blogging strategies.

More of the big picture later.

Blogging-on-the-move

These pictures were taken by TV Smith when he was driving around KL's Central Business District at about 5.55pm just now.

It's not an issue of whether Mutiara Hotel has caught fire or was spewing pollution into the air.

Instead, it's a simple demonstration of how bloggers could network together, using day-to-day communications tools to blog ahead of old media.

This is what we did.

TV Smith took the photos with his Olympus 8080, found a parking slot, powered on his notebook computer, downloaded the images from the Compact Flash card and resized the JPG with Photoshop to suit my specs.

He then hooked up his Celcom-GSM mobilephone to the notebook via the Infra-red connection. With Internet connected via 019-3001519, he sent the images to my email account at jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com, followed up with an SMS alert.

Meanwhile, I remained desk-bound to compose this blog, and to make phonecalls to Mutiara Hotel to verify what the smoke was all about.

The beauty is we did all this blog-loop using a 9.6kbps GSM connection - far more cheaper than what GPRS would charge for data transmission.

The only catch: We need to shorten the time-lapse between TV Smith's on-the-scene image-gathering and my ultimate uploading of the blog after verifying the facts.

BTW, Mutiara said the smoke came through the chimney connecting to the boilers. We didn't know why the boilers were billowing black smoke instead of white one, though.

Tan Sris' doors, name-dropping and Hari Raya moods

Was it because Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has been putting words in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's mouth that the Prime Minister has to emerge to set the record straight on the DRB-Hicom tussle?

Or are spin-doctors hard at work?

In a two-paragraph statement, picked up by Bernama at 17:44hr today, PM Abdullah said he wished to clarify that Syed Mokhtar did send a letter on behalf of Etika Strategi informing him (the prime minister) of his proposed solution but the government had not made any decision on it.

Abdullah added, "The government's interest is to ensure that the decision made by the vendors of the 15.8 percent stake and the consequent events are in the best interests of all stakeholders of DRB-Hicom, including the minority shareholders."

An hour earlier, at 16:50hr, Bernama despatched a commentary by Yong Soo Heong, who noticed some similarities between two feuding consortia embroiled in the tug-of-war for the block of shares amounting to 15.8% of DRB-Hicom Bhd:

First of all, the analogy of doors: Both parties have often spoken about opening doors for further negotiations or claiming that the other party is keeping them shut altogether.

Second, both sides have constantly invoked the name of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in their statements.

Third, they have also spoken about seizing the opportune moment in the current festive mood of goodwill and forgiveness of Hari Raya Aidilfitri to resolve the deadlock.

Other than those three similarities, says Yong, they differ a lot in their positions if their statements and counter-statements are anything to go by.

November 15, tycoon Syed Mokhtar announced he has offered a way out to end the deadlock by offering the SM Nasimuddin SM Amin-led consortium the automotive business of the company. The former's consortium, Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd, said it would concede the automotive business of DRB-Hicom to the latter's, but it would work on the other existing core businesses of DRB-HICOM group, which included banking, property, utilities, defence and infrastructure.

According to StarBiz, Etika Strategi's statement, which was signed by Mohd Khamil Jamil, stated that the Prime Minister had been informed of Syed Mokhtar's decision, and had given his blessings for the sale of the motor vehicle division to proceed.

However, Syed Mokhtar's announcement was swiftly rebutted - within hours - by SM Nasimuddin, someone touted in business circles as Malaysia's AP King.

According to StarBiz, Nasimuddin said Etika Strategi's statement was factually inaccurate and "certainly not the understanding that we received from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi".

Nasimuddin said it would be premature for the consortium or anyone, at this stage, to talk about divesting any part or parts of DRB-HICOM. This is because there is no conclusive outcome to the purchase of the 15.8% stake in the group.

He added that there have been pertinent questions raised, which remain unresolved. "Therefore, we cannot understand why others are resorting to making claims that the consortium had been given the right to buy certain assets of DRB-HICOM," Nasimuddin said.

What I find amusing is that the PM's language is aligned with the tone set by SM Nasimuddin 24 hours ago.

This is lifted from StarBiz today, quoting SM Nasimuddin: "...any decision taken must be in compliance with good corporate governance, in the best interest of all shareholders, in compliance with existing rules and regulations, and be above board and acceptable to the shareholders and the board".

It was only last month that Syed Mokhtar's consortium complained to Utusan Malaysia over the heaps of 'misinformation' disseminated by certain media reports that are deemed "'lop-sided' and 'emotional'.

Where's the beef behind the doors, in between name-throwing amidst Hari Raya moods - within and outside boardrooms and newsrooms alike?

Op-Ed pages on Powell's legacy

Good Soldier Powell, New York Times editorial

From the start of his tenure as secretary of state, there was a question about which Colin Powell had moved into Foggy Bottom. Was it the decisive, charismatic general who coined a military doctrine that called for waging war only after the establishment of a political consensus behind achievable goals and then the commitment of overwhelming force to reach those ends? Or was it the faithful soldier who prized loyalty above all else? [...]

But it's now clear that Mr. Powell long ago chose loyalty over leadership and was not a major figure in the biggest foreign policy decisions of the Bush administration. Most accounts of the rush to war in Iraq show that Mr. Powell was deeply troubled about the planning for the war, its timing and the intense opposition of most of Washington's European allies. But he was unwilling or unable to exert much influence over the president in that critical time, and it's not clear whether Mr. Bush even consulted him before making his decision to go to war.

There were moments in his tenure when Mr. Powell could have resigned over principle. But he soldiered on, leaving when it was safe and convenient for his boss. Yesterday, he told the world that he'd long ago given up any ambition of sticking around for a second term. In the end, his legacy may simply be that the administration that bungled the handling of a war because the president failed to heed the Powell Doctrine was the one in which Mr. Powell himself served.

Mr. Powell Departs, Washington Post editorial

Mr. Powell's departure may well lead to fewer arguments and more consistent action by a second Bush administration as a team of officials closer to Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld takes over at the State Department. Yet it is a measure of the stunning absence of accountability under Mr. Bush that it is Mr. Powell who leaves, while the architects of the failed and even disastrous policies he opposed, from postwar Iraq to Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, remain in office.

Mr. Bush has signaled lately that he would like to repair some of the diplomatic damage of his first term, starting with U.S. relations with Europe. We trust he's sincere, but it's hard to be optimistic that he'll succeed without acknowledging that the secretary of state who lost all those first-term arguments, and who now has been let go, more often than not was right.

Colin Powell's Redeeming Failures by Walter Isaacson, New York Times Op-Ed contributor and the chief executive of the Aspen Institute

Colin Powell's problem is that both the Bush administration's loyalists and its critics are disappointed in him, the former because he was not fully supportive of the strategy and tactics that led to the occupation of Iraq, and the latter because he did not publicly throw himself in front of that train. He is deemed a failure because he lost the war of ideas to Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and their neoconservative outriders. [...]

Mr. Powell entered office as perhaps the most respected man in America, a heroic soldier and wise statesman with rock star appeal. But his tenure as secretary was eventually marred by the unforeseen consequences of his one major bureaucratic success: persuading the president to go to the United Nations for a resolution of support on Iraq. His reward was the photograph that will dim his legacy, that of him and George Tenet, the director of central intelligence, sitting before the Security Council, presenting the intelligence evidence that Iraq was busily developing weapons of mass destructions. It was convincing - except in hindsight.

Powell's Flawed Exit Strategy by Richard Cohen, Washington Post Op-Ed columnist

...The pity is not that Colin Powell has resigned as secretary of state. The pity is that he did not do so quickly.

Had he resigned during the buildup to the war in Iraq, which he privately opposed, history might award him an asterisk and note that his tenure as secretary of state, while notable for nothing notable, ended over an important disagreement.

Had that happened, Powell could then join just two secretaries of state -- William Jennings Bryan and Cyrus Vance -- who resigned because they differed with their presidents, Bryan with Woodrow Wilson, Vance with Jimmy Carter.

The best that can be said about Powell is that he disagreed. The worst is that he did nothing significant about it. [...]

Colin Powell came into office with enormous public support and popularity. The tragedy is that he left pretty much the same way. He should have used his immense standing to oppose a war he knew was unwise and was being fought in ways he knew were wrong. He was, paradoxically, in violation of his own doctrine: caught in a quagmire and with no exit strategy.

Ugly chinaman

Oriental Daily News Editor-in-Chief Phuah You Lai writes in his column today what he would rather not see during the PM's Hari Raya Open House at PWTC on Sunday.

He says the many Chinese well-wishers who thronged the Open House - including those who greeted Pak Lah - came clad only in T-shirts and slippers while their kids were beautifully dressed.

He says there's nothing wrong for Pak Lah for being a PM trained on populace, but it's essentially discourteous for the 'chinaman' to attend a joyous occasion hosted and celebrated by fellow Malay-Malaysians in selekeh attire.

Phuah says as a Chinese-Malaysian, he feels shameful seeing people forget the very basic of courtesy.

He says we need to revel many people's good points to rectify the shortcomings of a small group of people in order to earn the respect of others in upholding a courteous society. However trivial a shirt and a pair of shoes may pose, it radiates the courteousy inherent in a person. Nobody can take it for granted.

I feel exactly the same.

Respecting sources

People misguided into believing that America practises press freedom should rethink for a moment.

Washington Post runs an editorial today, putting the investigative needs of special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald on spotlight.

The case in hand is this: Two reporters - Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of the New York Times - are facing jail in the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a covert CIA operative.

What the two reporters are doing is to honour promises of confidentiality to their sources.

Washington Post considers itself an interested party as two of its are being grilled by Fitzgerald for printing news stories after their sources were given the go-ahead by the lawyers.

The paper anchors it appeal with this argument:

The courts don't force psychologists to testify about conversations with their patients, and they respect the silence of the confessional and the attorney-client privilege. They have decided, in these areas, that protecting professional communications is worth losing certain evidence.

The role that journalists play in enabling democratic debate also warrants such protection.

As a newspaper, we are generally troubled by aggressive leak investigations, which rarely bear fruit but may chill legitimate journalism.

The point here, however, is not simply the press's institutional interests but the public's interest in the flow of information on important public issues. Leaks can be, and in numerous instances have been, a means by which honest whistle-blowers get the truth out and senior officials disseminate information they are not yet prepared to release officially.

The public will be ill served if information stops flowing because reporters cannot promise their sources confidentiality without risking imprisonment, concludes Washington Post.

Are there investigative reporters in Malaysia ready to probe further on Samy Vellu's revelation on PMC?

Power reads on Powell

Insightful articles:

• Powell's painful four years by Martin Sieff, UPI Senior News Analyst

  For four years Secretary of State Colin Powell was the most indispensable lame duck any president could have asked for.

• Powell: A dove among hawks by Simon Jeffery, Guardian

  Colin Powell was pitted against the Pentagon over the Iraq war, after his attempt to build a UN coalition failed... A foreign diplomat encountered the secretary of state on the eve of the Iraq war and recited a news report that the president was sleeping like a baby. Mr Powell reportedly replied: "I'm sleeping like a baby, too. Every two hours, I wake up, screaming."

• Powell's Tenure Marked by Frustrations Over Iraq War, Bloomberg

  Colin Powell may be remembered as the U.S. secretary of state who ended up a victim of his biggest success: his role in making the public case for the war in Iraq.

  "Colin's been working very hard the past 12 to 16 months to get himself on the right side of history and to sort of fight back to some extent from the debacle of the UN testimony," Howard Means, author of "Colin Powell: Soldier/Statesman, Statesman/Soldier", said in an interview with Bloomberg radio in response to a question about whether Powell used a book by Washington Post assistant managing editor Bob Woodward to get his point of view out. [...]

  Powell remained too loyal to publicly criticize the administration, though he became frustrated by his eventual exclusion from Iraq war planning, Woodward wrote in his book, which was released in April.

  Powell, as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the architect of U.S. strategy in the war to oust Iraq from Kuwait in 1991. His plan, known as "the Powell doctrine", stressed the need for overwhelming force and a clear exit strategy.

• A symbol of moderation exits by Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor

  Certainly, Secretary Powell was a loyal servant to President Bush. He was a reassuring presence in the administration for many of America's foreign partners. But in the end he was never a member of the White House inner circle.

  "In so many of this administration's policies and pronouncements, he has been the note off key," says Karl Inderfurth, a former assistant secretary of state. "When they said 'alone,' he said 'with the world,' when they said, 'preemption is a doctrine,' he said it is 'an option.'" [...]

  Despite often being at odds with the White House on policy, Powell knew whom he worked for. He was aware that his job was to promote the president's foreign policy. As a result, his legacy is likely to be that of the "good soldier" who put a kinder, gentler face on a foreign policy that detoured from the traditional American path in an era of heightened terrorism.

  "I think he [Powell] thought he would shape foreign policy," says says Lawrence Korb, a former Pentagon official in the Reagan administration who worked with Powell in the past. "But as it turned out it was really done by Vice President Cheney and [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld. He thought it would be him, and instead it was them."

• 'Dove' in a nest of hawks, Al-Jazeera

  Though his resignation was long expected, the timing of the announcement was not - coming amid plans for him to visit the Middle East after the death of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat.

• Transcript: Powell Announces His Resignation, Washington Post

  My purpose here today is not to give you a listing of what we have done over the last four years, but to just take note of the fact that in recent weeks and months President Bush and I have talked about foreign policy and we've talked about what to do at the end of the first term. It has always been my intention that I would serve one term.

  And after we had had a chance to have good and fulsome discussions on it, we came to mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time.

  (Later, during Q & A) QUESTION: Did you offer to stay for a little while, some period of months or something? And did the president just choose to say, "Let's do the letter now"?

  POWELL: I made no offer. We had pretty much come to our mutual agreement without anybody having to make any offer, counteroffers, anything like that. We knew where we were heading. [...]

  ... I'm still the secretary of state and, as President Bush has made it clear, I operate with his full authority. [...]

  So I think I'll be able to be quite effective for the remaining period of my term.

  And what am I going to do next? I don't know.
  

• Bush pays tribute to Powell, AFP:

  "He is a soldier, a diplomat, a civic leader, a statesman and a great patriot. I value his friendship. He will be missed," Bush said in a statement three days after accepting Powell's resignation. [...]

  "He has helped to build two great coalitions that have liberated more than 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq from brutal dictators and which are now helping those nations emerge as successful democracies."

This is the text of Powell's resignation letter to President Bush on October 12.

William Safire ends his 30-year column

William Safire (picture below), New York Times' Op-Ed columnist for political commentaries, is stepping down, the paper said yesterday (November 15 US time).

The newspaper said in a statement that Safire would make his final appearance as an Op-Ed columnist on Jan. 24, 2005. His column has run for more than 30 years, since 1973. That roughly translates to 5,000 columns and 3 million words.

"Whether you agreed with him or not was never the point," Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The Times, said in the statement. "His writing is delightful, informed and engaging."

No successor to Safire as an Op-Ed columnist has been chosen yet.

However, Safire, 74, will continue to write his Sunday column, "On Language", which has appeared in The New York Times Magazine since 1979 and has led to the publication of 15 books on the English language.

"In my more scholarly persona, I couldn't resist continuing as Sunday language maven, so although Mr. Hyde will close up shop, Dr. Jekyll will carry on," Safire said.

I enjoyed very much Safire's column and his occasional appearance in Tim Russet's Meet The Press. He's opinionated, provocative and insightful, all wrapped in one. His criticism of (Safire's term is "zapping") John Ashcroft for attacking American free press was a classic.

He celebrates himself for being a sore thumb, and for going against the grain. This is his motto:

Screenshots last blogged about him when Bush won the US presidency.

Can Bush stick to principles that elected him while taking some of the poison out of the political atmosphere? The atrophy of the usual checks and balances requires a certain internal restraint.

Danger comes from the temptation to bull ahead that awaits lopsided government. [...]

This imbalance will ultimately trigger Rayburn's law: "When you get too big a majority," said Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Democrat, after F.D.R.'s 1936 landslide, "you're immediately in trouble."

BACKGROUNDER. In 1978, Safire was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. Before joining The New York Times in 1973 as a political columnist, Safire was a senior White House speechwriter for President Nixon. He had previously been a radio and television producer and a United States Army correspondent. He began his career in 1949 as a reporter for a profiles column in The New York Herald Tribune.

From 1955 to 1960, Safire was vice president of a public relations firm in New York City and then became president of his own firm. In 1968, he left to join the campaign of Richard Nixon.

There is an interactive conversation with Safire that you shouldn't miss.

Powell bows out

Colin Powell, the first black secretary of state in U.S. history and the most respectable figure in the Bush administration, resigned on Friday, October 12 (US time).

His deputy Richard Armitage is likely to follow suit.

CNN devotes to breaking news in early Washington morning with a key question: Was Powell pushed before he jumped?

Already, Condoleezza Rice's name, among several others, were being bandied as potential replacement way before Powell throws in the towel.

There were resignations from three other Cabinet secretaries yesterday - at Agriculture, Energy and Education - in what seemed to be a routine when a president moves into his second term.

Bush has been served six resignations so far.

Earlier, Attorney General John Ashcroft, an ultra-right wing ideologist, has announced his retirement, and a replacement immediately found.

Commerce Secretary Donald Evans also announced his resignation last week.

But the resignation of Powell, regarded as the Voice of Moderation in the Bush regime, gives the world a different meaning.

CIA SHAKE-UP. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that misled Colin Powell into unprovable premise for war on Iraq is in for major shake-up.

Stephen R. Kappes, CIA's deputy director for operations, and Michael Sulick, the associate deputy director, became the highest-level casualties of an effort by Porter J. Goss to overhaul the agency's spying operations.

According to The New York Times, they submitted their resignations at a morning staff meeting after days of clashes with advisers to Goss, the new director of central intelligence, intelligence officials said.

Both Kappes and Sulick had been highly regarded within the CIA, and their departures suggest that Goss is confident of having a mandate from the White House to make sweeping changes at the agency, despite loud protests from former intelligence officials, said The New York Times.

The paper also quoted sources as saying resignations of other senior officials within the operations directorate are expected to follow.

PM comments on PMC and JKR

The echo that Mingguan Malaysia designed has cometh. Via Bernama at 16:52hr today:

The Public Works Department (PWD) has been directed to supervise all government development projects, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Monday.

The directive also applied to projects implemented by the consultant firm, Project Management Consultant (PMC), which is said to be facing problems.

Asked whether the government would cancel development projects awarded to the company, he said: "We will decide after receiving a full report from (Works Minister) Datuk Seri Samy Vellu."

Abdullah said this when asked to comment on Samy Vellu's statement on PMC which is said to be having problems completing several projects and to be sidelining the Works Ministry.

Abdullah, who is also finance minister, said he did not have details on the number of projects that PMC is developing.

According to Bernama, PMC is a consultant firm registered with the Finance Ministry and it owns several local developers companies.

Samy Vellu vs. 'MoF-KSU-PMC' Alliance... ( 2 )

Works Minister S. Samy Vellu revealed that the major project fiasco involving billions of ringgit - MRR2, Matrade building, Hospital Sultan Ismail, computer labs in shambles etc - is not entirely the fault of the Public Works Department (JKR).

He said the Ministry of Finance (MoF), its Secretary-General (KSU) and the two-man-show Project Management Consultants (PMC) were the root cause of all problems.

Screenshots blogged about this yesterday. For the benefits of Screenshots readers who are not proficient in Bahasa, here's the translation of an excerpt of Minister Samy's interview with Mingguan Malaysia published yesterday:

Ministry of Finance & KSU

MINGGUAN MALAYSIA: So, whose responsibility are these (MRR2, Matrade, Hospital Sultan Ismail, computer labs), really?

SAMY: It's the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance, not ours. The contractors were appointed directly by the Ministry of Finance at that time. Many of the projects facing problems now had their contractors appointed by the Ministry of Finance.

Why were these construction projects given directly to the Ministry of Finance?

SAMY: In the past, when JKR recommended certain contractors, they (Ministry of Finance) rejected them. They asked for the contractors to be changed. An example is the construction of Matrade's (Perbadan Perdagangan Luar Malaysia) headquaters building whichis now facing problems.

At the beginning, we recommended one contractor by the Ministry of Finance asked to redo the tender offer. When we had redone the tender offer, we were asked to stop the new tender offer and to give the job directly to Perangsang International Sdn Bhd (PISB) although we had advised the Ministry of Finance that its price was RM10 million more than the other contractor.

Actually, when the Ministry of Finance had given a project to a particular contractor, my responsibility as a minister is only to direct JKR to appoint the contractor chosen. I gave the power to the Director-General of JKR to appoint the chosen contractor at a price that has been determined. That's all.

This means the Ministry of Finance has far bigger power even though the Works Ministry has the expertise to give advice?

SAMY: Yes. That's correct.

With that power, how many times have they rejected the expert advice from the Works Ministry?

SAMY: That seldom happened. In a year there might be one or two suggestions that were rejected. What is more problematic, actually, are like what has happened to the computer labs in the schools, where they appointed the contractors directly. Those appointments had nothing to do with JKR.

On the issue of the computer labs, the Cabinet had appointed three ministers to handle them - Works Minister, Finance Minister and Education Minister. We had a meeting. I had also called my senior officials to attend the meeting.

When they (Works Ministry officials) clarified what had happened at the contract offer of the computer labs, the Secretary-General of the Finance Ministry became angry. I said: "What's this? You don't shoot at the thieves and now you want to shoot at the police? What's this?" Only after that was he quiet and could we carry on with the meeting.

But in the last one year such problems did not arise any more; many things have been taken care of.

Project Management Consultants (PMC)

Can Datuk Seri tell us what PMC actually is?

SAMY:It was set up by the Ministry of Finance during the 1990s. It's role was to abolish JKR projects. There was a belief that if the projects were given to PMC they could be completed earlier, more beautifully and many other things. But the projects they completed actually ended up more expensive.

Schools that can be completed by JKR at RM5 million now costs RM10 million. When I brought this up at the Cabinet meeting, they (PMC) gave reports saying that the price did not include the cost of school land.

In the reports to the Cabinet they have in fact confused the Cabinet. They said, each classroom that JKR built cost RM100,000 while the one built by PMC only cost RM95,000. But the fact is JLR's infrastructural cost was only RM2 million while theirs was RM6 million.

I am not accusing any Finance Ministers. But the person responsible for all this was the Secretary-General of the ministry. It was the Secretary-General who issued the directives and he always did not accept opinion from others. In any meetings, if there were officials from JKR to protect the interests of technicalities, he would always humiliate them. He said, if you don't know you shut up.

Many of the officials who attended the meeting would come back to report to me. They said: "Like this shylah, Datuk Seri. We go there only to get scolded. What's the point of going there?"

But according to the law, we must go there because we are the technical agency for the government.

This is what Datuk Seri had meant as 'kahwin paksa' ('forced marriage') recently? When would such things stop?

SAMY: This is no more 'kahwin paksa'. This is 'kahwin lari' ('eloping'). When there was problem would they come to JKR.

PMC is a private entity consisting ofly two officlas - a chief and an assistant chief - but their job was to appoint contractors, engineers and many other things they all did.

Who owned PMC?

SAMY: It's made up of several developers who were registered with the Ministry of Finance.

Is it correct to conclude that PMC frequently sidelined JKR's advice?

SAMY: They didn't come to JKR to ask for advice. They we not answerable to JKR. They were only responsible to the Ministry of Finance.

But the Ministry of Finance did not have officials who are expert in the field of construction?

SAMY: That's the reason why they (MoF) are dependent on PMC. PMC became their technical division.

Who inspected PMC?

SAMY: No one.

The Government has JKR but why did it choose to place its confidence in the private sector to handle projects worth millions of ringgit? What's the rationale?

SAMY: There's only one answer to this. They said, the works could be completed within a shorter timeframe.

Without considering the costs?

SAMY: Yes, without considering the costs. When JKR opened the tender for each classroom at the price of RM55,000, there were developers who were willing to complete it. But each classroom offered through PMC was set at the price of RM95,000 and there were occasions it breached RM120,000 per classroom.

The cost has doubled. When we asked why the cost had gone up so high they would give all sorts of excuses.

Schools built with that high price no doubt look beautiful. But who is the one losing the money? The government.

Did the developers complete the said projects swiftly as promised?

SAMY: Not really. There was once JKR was asked to issue an offer to build 500 schools and we had chosen over 200 developers to implement them.

But when we were about to issue the letters of intent, JKR was asked to withdraw the offers and award them to PMC. As easy as that.

PMC and the Cabinet

Datuk Seri must have brought up this issue (about PMC) in the Cabinet. What was the answer given?

SAMY: In the past, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was also the Finance Minister. Although he was the Prime Minister I always challenged him (on this matter).

I said: "Datuk Seri, can't do like this. What is the Secretary-General of Finance Ministry trying to do?" After that, we discussed the issue and Dr. Mahathir said, we don't have to use PMC any more.

After that, ICU sent out a report on PMC - failing to complete projects according to timeframe, failing to complay with standards, excessive costs and many others. The report was discussed at the Cabinet meeting.

After the meeting, Dr. Mahathir said all works must be implemented through JKR and no longer through PMC. But the decision was only implemented for a short while, only for one month.

What is so special about this PMC?

SAMY: PMC is more powerful than us.

[...]

How did a ministry decide whether to use the service of JKR or PMC?

SAMY: It has to obtain the approval from the Ministry of Finance. Going by procedure, all government agencies must refer to JKR. If JKR did not have the relevant capability, only then would it be allowed to appoint other parties.

But what has now become a problem is even that was not being practised anymore. JKR was no longer referred to, and in the opposite, all were done directly through PMC.

As an example, the construction of Hospital Kangar was originally a project under JKR and it has obtained due approval from the Ministry of Finance. And then, the Health Ministry asked that the project be given to the people they wanted to implement through PMC.

We gave way, and now the project was given back to JKR (chuckles)

How come JKR could not reject it?

SAMY: Cannot. JKR is the government's last frontier. If JKR rejected it, where would the government go to?

Bumiputra Contractors

So, is it true that there were other matters that the public did not understand as far as those related to the confusion triggered by all these issues are concerned?

SAMY: People did not undertand the real issue. Truly speaking, we wanted to establish a bumiputera contractor group. They are not like the Chinese contractors.

They don't have money. They need to obtain government projects and to build them on their own. Many bumiputera contrators operate thsi way.

But when they did wrong, we have to correct their mistakes. When we correct their mistakes people would ask why we didn't blacklist or cancel their contractor license.

How am I to cancel (the license of) Bumihiway, for example, whne it is one of the best Class A contractor in the country? I was asked by the reporters on this matter. I said, if I blacklist all the contractors, we would not have anymore contractors.

My statement was misinterpreted by the public. They said I wanted to defend the contractors and so on. People did not understand that the government has a huge responsibility to produce and protect bumiputera contractors.

From the group of existing bumiputera contractors, we chose a paortion that were the best.

What should be done now? The government wanted to produce bumiputera contractors but, at the same time, we are faced with all these problems.

SAMY: We do not protect bumiputera contractors who malpractise. We cannot simply draw a conclusion that whenever we have problems it's because of contractors' fault. Sometimes, the problem originates from designs and so on, and that's the reason why we have to investigate first whenever a problem crops up.

But if the problems were intentional then we will not compromise. We can no longer place our confidence on such contractors for future projects.

Public Perception & Corruption

Public perception is that all problems that have surfaced indicate that something is not right. In simple language, people believe that it involved corruption.

SAMY: If there were malpractices and corruption, action can be taken. The people could lodge reports and their reports would be investigated upon.

Since 1979 when I first became the Works Minister, we have never faced such problems. Problems only started when PMC came into being duringthe 1990s.

Before that, when we recommended projects to the Finance Ministry they would accept them. If there were matters arising they would present their forwarding questions.

People always accused on corruption, here corruption, there corruption. I said, if you believe there was corruption, report to the relevant authorities. I don't have the power to investigate.

Sometimes, some of these problems arose and they had nothing to do with corruption or malpractices, but they were due to contractors who were not efficient, and many other problems.

Let me give an example, the project to widen the road from Mentakab to Temerloh. The contractor still fails to complete the works because other agencies have not relocated the existing cables for electricity, telephone and water piping. But people's perception is that it was trhe contractor who did not do the job after so many years.

How do we go about explaining all this? We can't put up a noticeboard by the roadside saying that "the delay was not because of me but because the cables have not been shifted". We can't do that (laughters).

What next?

Only until now did Datuk Seri give a clear picture about PMC. How long more will this matter be silenced?

SAMY: Now there's no more PMC, it has been stopped. Now, all works have been given directly to JKR.

[...]

If Datuk Seri is solicited for opinion by the Prime Minister on what should be done now, what will Datuk Seri tell him?

SAMY: The government possesses an experienced engineering division called JKR. If they were to implement projects through JKR, I believe many of the problems we are facing now can be avoided.

This doesn't mean that when JKR takes over it will be 100 percent without problems. Problems will always be there but they will not be like what we are facing now.

I didn't say we at JKR are right and 100 percent perfect. I told my officials that we also need to improve the situation. All these problems gave us a new experience. With this experience, we will not repeat the same problems in the future.

Keep this in mind. The Parliament will sit again November 22.

Samy Vellu vs. 'MoF-KSU-PMC' Alliance

UPDATED VERSION. Screenshots took a contrarian view when all and sundry from Barisan Nasional backbenchers and the Opposition called for the resignation of Works Minister, S. Samy Vellu.

The politicians had wanted Samy to be accountable and responsible for all the high-profile fiasco involving government projects worth billions of ringgit. But there's more to what has been scratched on the surface.

October 22, Screenshots said Samy being Works Minister for more than a decade, he is a true reflection of how the system works. If he's wrong, the whole system can't be totally right.

October 26, Screenshots said Samy shouldn't be the lonely guy taking the heat all by himself. He should, instead, shed light on the Matrade building fiasco in the hands of Perangsang International Sdn Bhd (PISB), which has been fined RM80 million for the 7-year delay.

November 9, Minister Samy gave an exclusive interview to the Mingguan Malaysia team led by Group EIC Mohd Khalid Mohd. The Minister was given a media opportunity to tell his side of story regarding Perangsang and the Matrade project fiasco, and more.

The interview is published today.

It points to the systemic dysfunction that Screenshots has suspected all along, involving the Ministers of Finance holding office in the 1990s, the Ministry's Secretary-General (KSU) and the unfairly-favoured Project Management Consultants (PMC).

In the interview, Minister Samy revealed that "PMC adalah sebuah entiti swasta yang hanya ada dua orang saja pegawai - seorang ketua, seorang timbalan - tetapi kerjanya melantik kontraktor, jurutera dan macam-macam lagi kerja mereka buat." (PMC is a private entity made up of two officers - a chief and an assistant chief - but their job is to appoint contractors, engineers and many other things.)

When asked who owned PMC, the Minister said: "Ia terdiri daripada beberapa buah syarikat pemaju yang berdaftar dengan Kementerian Kewangan." (It comprises several developers registered with the Ministry of Finance.)

Samy, however, did not name names.

So, why is PMC effectively more powerful than JKR and the Works Ministry? The Minister said:

Saya tidak menuduh mana-mana Menteri Kewangan. Tetapi orang yang bertanggungjawab itu ialah Ketua Setiausaha kementeriannya. Ketua Setiausaha saja yang memberi arahan dan dia selalu tidak boleh menerima pandangan lain. Dalam satu-satu mesyuarat kalau ada para pegawai dari JKR untuk menjaga kepentingan teknikal, dia selalu malukan mereka. Dia kata, kalau tidak tahu tutup mulut.

(I am not accusing any Finance Ministers. But the person who is responsible is the Secretary-General (KSU) of the Ministry. The KSU is the only person who gave instructions, and he always did not accept others' opinion. In any meeting, if there were JKR officials present to protect the interests of technicalities, he always shamed them. He said, if you don't know you shut up.)

We are not sure if Samy was referring to Samsudin Hitam a.k.a. Sam Black, the KSU of the MoF who has just retired. For context, you may like to revisit MGG Pillai's November 8 article: Pak Lah makes a point.

More!

Salam Aidilfitri

"I was misquoted," says MAL

Just as I have suspected, Jaring CEO Dr Mohamed Awang Lah has been misquoted by the Press. His email to Screenshots is reproduced verbatim, below.

From: Mohamed b. Awang Lah
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 12:59:26 +0800
Subject: "Come again, MAL?"

I refer to your blog dated 9 November.

You are right, I was misquoted.

I said the service would be launched after Raya. I never said that it was delayed because of Puasa. It's actually delayed due to equipment delivery (from various sources).

---mal

UN Anti-Corruption Day: 28 days to ratify

Malaysia took a giant step in fighting corruption on December 9 last year. On that day, our country joined the UN Convention against Corruption when it was first opened for signing in Merida, Mexico.

In less than a month's time - on December 9, 2004 - citizens around the world will celebrate the first ever United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day.

For the record, the creation of an Anti-Corruption Day is in large part a result of the international lobbying efforts by Transparency International to recognize worldwide anti-graft initiatives.

According to official website, the UN Convention against Corruption is "a milestone for global efforts to combat graft and provides a unique opportunity to create public awareness and commitment to curbing corruption".

For those countries which signed the Convention, their signatures were put down as an "evidence of global commitment and (it) gives citizens around the world a basis for ensuring that their respective governments follow through".

It is pertinent to note that the Convention requires ratification by 30 countries for its entry into force.

As a signatory, how much has Malaysia followed through in fighting corruption in this context?

On last count, only nine states have ratified the Convention, and they come from the Third World countries, namely Algeria, El Salvador, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Namibia, Sri Lanka and Uganda.

Malaysia has signed, but has not ratified the Convention to date. (You can view the UN list of those countries that have ratified the Convention, here.)

So, come December 9, there is still a lot more that each citizen can do before we get to celebrate Anti-Corruption Day.

The Transparency International Secretariat, which is coordinating global activities on December 9, suggest the following:

• a Convention ratification campaign,


• participation on a international panel on business, human rights and corruption,


• the launching of the Global Barometer Survey, a survey which measures attitudes towards corruption and expectations of future corruption levels,


• television spots to be aired worldwide about the effects of corruption and,


• a television documentary on the topic

Doubtlessly, to determine our commitment level in fighting graft, the spotlight is now trained on the National Integrity Institute.

Streets of Shame

Reader Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah emailed this JPG showing a vehicle with a Member of Parliment's crest (see inset picture, below) which double-parked along Jalan Datuk Hj Eusoff, Off Jln Ipoh, KL during busy mid-day, November 4, 2004.

As the MP is setting his leadership by example, so there's no surprise of 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' syndrome plaguing Malaysia.

Check out this weblog dedicated for lousy-drivers at http://lousydrivers.blogspot.com/.

UPDATES ON OPS SIKAP. Via Bernama, November 12, 2004 21:12hr:

Sixty-four people were killed in road accidents on the first five days of 'Ops Sikap VII' launched on Nov 7.

Of the total, 36 were motorcyclists, five pillion riders, seven car drivers, four car passengers, two van drivers, one lorry driver, one jeep driver, four cyclists and four pedestrians.

Did you know that you can help 'shame' lousy drivers by sending your digital photos to PanduCermat.org.my, a website initiated by the Road Safety Council, Ministry of Transport?

Clik here to look at the Hall of Shame. The lousy drivers come from 'civilised' places like Bangsar, Phileo Damansara, Klang and PJ.

Jomo's appointment: Now I know...

Finally, it was Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar who shed some lights on the appointment of economic expert Prof Jomo Kwame Sundram as UN Assistant Secretary-General (Economic Development).

He said the appointment was made under the purview of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan whom, he said, has the prerogative to appoint anybody he wants.

Asked on Jomo's record as being critical of the government, Syed Hamid said:

"We did not choose him.... The government did not play any role in his appointment...

"We have never lobbied, proposed or submitted any letter of recommendation to the UN for the appointment of any individual from Malaysia to the position," he said.

However, he said that the federal government and Malaysians welcome his appointment.

Jomo's portfolio is a new one, created by Annan in his effort to reform the management of the departments under the UN, says Bernama.

Jomo is the second Malaysian to be appointed to the post, the first being legal practitioner Rafiah Salim who was in charge of the Human Resources Management Affairs portfolio.

Penang-born Jomo, 51, will assume his duties at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in January next year. He is a professor at Universiti Malaya and a research fellow at the Asia Research Institute in Singapore.

He has a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a doctorate from Harvard University.

Statehood unrealised

Yasser Arafat leaves behind a troubled legacy for Palestians.

Tony Blair and American spins have started to say that Arafat's death will give Middle East a new opportunity for peace. But isn't it a fact that peace needs the efforts of all parties?

I hadn't researched into Arafat's life history in depth, but I do remember him as someone who had virtually devoted his entire adult life - with so much energy, zeal, and some say fanaticism - to struggle for the statehood for the Palestinian people. Regretably, he did not see it in his life time.

Thanks reader Calvin Ngan for the montage he did, above. Washington Post defines Arafat's struggle in a slideshow and photo gallery.

Malaysiakini 5th Anniversary Dinner

UPDATED VERSION. Good gracious, Malaysiakini managed to allocate an additional table for Screenshots. I have broadcast emails to those who had wanted to crowd around for the dinner for their info. Please check you mails.

Meanwhile, I am passing other diners (21st an onward) to Malaysiakini to fit in the loose seats, if they don't mind.

Screenshots' two (voluntary) webmasters will head the second table.
_____________

A Wednesday call for five people to help fill up the Screenshots table was answered within hours via email. Now I have a spillover of 13 people who wish to join.

I will contact Malaysiakini afterwards, and see if they can squeeze another table for us. Even that's done, we may still have three people who will get disappointed, going by a first-come-first-served basis.

More updates via this blogger private emails to those who have contacted me. Thanks for supporting the Malaysiakini event.

Happy Deepavali

Save your muruku and ketupat...

Screenshots is taking up one table in support of Malaysiakini's 5th Anniversary Dinner this November 27.

There are already five seats taken for the Screenshots table. We need five more to fill up a table for ten. Each seat goes for RM60 (subscriber's rate secured by this blogger).

Interested, please email me to book your seats so that I can pass over the ticket to you.

World-renowned Instant Café Theatre (ICT), a comedy group famous for its parody of Malaysian politics, will feature two of its 'Weapons of Mass Delirium' at the Malaysiakini bash. Crowd favourites Jo Kukathas and Patrick Teoh will be there to present their side-splitting comedy skills in a 40-minute sketch.

Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran says, to date, hundreds of the anniversary dinner tickets have been sold to readers, subscribers, donors and fans who have helped the independent news website survive and thrive against the odds.

Senior members of government, leaders of political parties, media members and the diplomats are also expected to grace the event, he added.

This is 'National Integrity'

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) must be applauded for practising transparency.

The report on Industry CEO's Dialogue with the Minister of Energy, Water and Communications - the first in a series organised by the MCMC after the new cabinet was formed in March - was published on the web yesterday, barely 10 days after the meeting was held on October 29.

The 13-page summary report is available here, and MCMC's response to issues raised is available here.

If only other government agencies could be as forthcoming as MCMC, much of the Government's effort in promoting good governance through the National Integrity Institute would be achieved with swifter results. What the Government does behind doors should be open to public scrutiny as often as national interest ( ! ) allows.

Here are some snapshots of the Industry Dialogue which I feel pertinent to share with Screenshots readers.

INDUSTRY REPRESENTATION

MCMC chairman V Danabalan reported that there were 142 companies represented at the Dialogue, with 150 CEOs present. There was a good spread of licensees present, comprising 23 NFPs, 30 NSPs, 10 CASPs and 60 ASPs.

In other words, the 70 licensees that were not present missed out on an opportunity to have a say to shape the industry.

MINISTER'S POINT OF REFERENCE

The Minister highlighted that he has received numerous complaints for the last 6 months – ranging from ( 1 ) public dissatisfaction of services, ( 2 ) foreign investors who complained of high cost, ( 3 ) inconsistent quality, ( 4 ) the Government dissatisfaction with coverage and quality of service, ( 5 ) the last milers and ASP licensees with their access concerns and ( 6 ) the content issues - including those discussed and criticised in the media.

The Minister also highlighted communication indicators to further enhance national development:

• As the concentration of services is in the Klang Valley, he asked how the rural areas can be better served;


• Mobile users faced insufficient coverage, and unavailability of number portability, and he asked how the coverage and service quality can be improved;


• As there are difficulties and restrictions in access and pricing of facilities and services, he asked what measures can be taken to
  improve access;


• With the low broadband penetration rate in Malaysia as compared to
  other Asian countries, he challenged the participants to accelerate
  broadband penetration and to successfully implement the NBP


• Finally, he asked the participants what measures could be taken to
  compete as a regional hub.

His vision for the industry is that it should ( 1 ) be innovative, competitive and profitable, ( 2 ) provide efficient and affordable services and ( 3 ) be aligned to the objectives of national development.

In that context, one of the key imperatives from the Minister is that licensees must ensure that they fulfill their social responsibility and contribute to the national development.

The Minister took the opportunity to reiterate the Directive from the Prime Minister, that national development comes first, for the objective of building the nation and to go forward. "Therefore, profit motivation is not the only determinant for business ventures," the Minister said.

I wish Screenshots readers would input on this.

Setting the tone for the Dialogue, the Minister concluded his opening speech by commenting that the trend is going into biotechnology, leaving ICT behind.

"My Cabinet colleagues were still asking what happened to the MSC, as they couldn’t even get connected by mobile phone," the Minister said. "The onus lies on the industry to take the advantage of the dialogue to voice out their concerns and challenges."

TWO PRESENTATIONS

The Dialogue was followed by two presentations: ( 1 ) "National Broadband Plan" by Dr Halim Man, Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Energy, Water and Telecommunications; and ( 2 ) "An Overview of TM Wholesale Business" by Dr Idris Ibrahim, Chief Operating Officer TM WholeSale.

SNAPSHOTS OF BROADBAND STATUS IN MALAYSIA

Briefly, there's nothing that you don't already know:

• PC ownership is only 16.7% of population. This is lower than the penetration rate of developed countries, which is at 40%.


• Internet penetration is at 11.4%, and at end of 2003, there were
  100,000 ADSL subscribers.


• The ratio for internet subscribers to users for Malaysia is at 35%, whilst the ratio for developed countries is at 40%.


• Broadband penetration is at less than 1%.


• There is grave need for government intervention and the implementation of the NBP to achieve critical mass of 1.3 million connections by 2006 and 2.8 million connections by 2008.


• Both the public and private sectors are required to work together in this initiative. Some policies and strategies and the implementation committee structure to implement the NBP were highlighted.

ROLE OF TM WHOLESALE

Telekom Malaysia's Dr. Idris presented the model for TM Wholesale which would own and provide the infrastructure for the fixed networks to resellers, which would include other NFP, NSP licensees, ASP licensees, international carriers and its own subsidiaries, to resell to the end-users.

CEO's INPUT

This is the most lively session as insights into the industry dynamics almost sparked if not for the restrained mood of officialdom prevailing at the Dialogue.

For easy understanding, I try to 'compartmentalise' them according to industry segments and the systemic challenges facing them.

1 ) Threats from other regional hubs

Dr. N Ganabaskaran, Director of One Call Network Communications Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP)

• Better connectivity is needed in Johor Baharu, and the calls in Johor Baharu beaches would go into Singapore.


• The bigger telcos, namely Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TMB), Maxis, Celcom and DiGi were pushing ASP licensees into a corner. Their rates were higher than what the International players were giving. This may not be seen as fair price.


• The Enforcement Division was laxed, he claimed. There were a lot of Singaporean companies "pumping" cards in Johor.


• He said that the regulator were too tough on local companies and should provide guidelines to ASPs, rather than merely penalising them for small mistakes made.

Steven Chia, CEO of Bizsurf (M) Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP). Chia also sits on the WTO Committee in the Ministry:

• Chia said his company was able to obtain upstream bandwidth with TM, TIME and the fibre providers, but the local loop is the killer.


• He said his best friends were the foreign bandwidth providers, who charged half the price, but the problem was they could not get the bandwidth to him because the local loop cost was double that amount.


• Chia said the best bandwidth comes from across the sea or Singapore.


• He also doubted the local loop prices would change, and the only
  choice would be wireless.


• However, he said that there was a great problem at the local loop - it costs 3 times as much. "It would be ridiculous to take the wireless signal from Cyberjaya to KL," he said.

Edwin Ng, CEO of Mercury Global Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP):

• He explained that illegal service providers sell 10-15 types of cards in KL, Johor Bahru and Penang. They obtain an international toll free service from their home telco provider to connect from their country to Malaysia, and it is released as a customer service number.


• The service is disguised, and the calls are channeled out of Malaysia back to the home country and taken from there. As a result, the money is siphoned out of Malaysia.

2 ) Liberalisation and Licensing Regime

Steven Chia of Bizsurf (M) Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP) also commented on this aspect:

• Since coming back from the US 4 years ago, Chia said he has been providing broadband services on 2.4 and 5.7 GHz band, and built up the infrastructure and supplied the services to 64 buildings. He claimed to customers in Desa Hartamas (Mont Kiara) and 70% of Puchong waiting to have access.


• In September 2004, the rules changed, Chia said. To connect from building to building, a NFP/NSP license is required, or else his business would remain as just "hotspot" services.


• He said he complied to apply for the licenses and came to MCMC 24 times. Instead of 4 months, he waited for 1.5 years, and in the end, he still did not obtain the NFP/NSP license to roll out.


• According to Chia, his company's applications for license was rejected in a 1-page reply: "Kekurangan kewangan. Bisnes pelan tak lengkap."


• He said he visited the Ministry and was told that there was no room for appeal under the CMA1998. The Ministry said that they would check with their legal department, and asked him to talk to MCMC.


• Subsequently, said Chia, MCMC responded that that the Minister needed to give direction before the file could be opened.

At that juncture, the Minister responded that he did not even know about it, and it was something new to him.

• Chia concluded with a remark: "License is a product to be traded and not the services.
• To join a global hub, Chia said, it should be commercial decision and not a licensing issue. Anyone who wishes to do business, license should not be the commodity, it should be either to make money or "to go bankrupt."

Screenshots wishes to get your feedback on this closing remarks from Chia.

Rosman Redzuan, CEO of MiTV (License Status: CASP):

• MiTV, as a CASP, wants to deliver internet content end-to-end.
  Rosman said Malaysia is a good hub if there is a good IX (Internet Exchange). He gave the example of Palo Alto in California with the metropolitan hub, which is similar to Cyberjaya.


• He recommended for an independent 3rd party IX. If Jaring was not
  going for access, then it qualifies as an independent provider, he said.


• He said there is a conflict of interest in TMNet in relations to access issues, and they charge too much.

3 ) Impediments to Malaysia becoming a Regional Communications Hub

3a ) Access, Service Delivery and Billing Disputes

Au Kean Hoe, CEO of Xintel Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP):

• Xintel paid money to main telcos such as TMB, Time, Maxis for access, and yet, Xintel customers could not get proper access to the Xintel network.


• They get messages such as "semua litar sudah diguna", "nombor tiada dalam perkhidmatan".


• Xintel has applied their numbers from TMB for the past 2 months and yet have received no response on their application. There are not
  enough PRI numbers.


• There were claims of double billing – Xintel billed its customers and TMB also billed Xintel's customers.


• He claimed these issues were outstanding for a year. Xintel has brought this issue to MCMC and nothing has been done by MCMC as a regulator. As a result, they lost a lot of customers due to unsatisfactory services.


• Xintel claimed there was a lot of bullying done and not enough refereeing.
• 
  
• Xintel proposed, among other things, that ground rules should be established, such as certain standards eg: for ISDN – 1 week for the line; and issues to be resolved within 24 hours or 48 hours.

Zainal Amanshah Zainal Arshad, CEO of REDtone Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP, NSP):

• TMB - including TM Wholesale and Retail, should move faster in decision making. In particular, he pointed out the 8 months taken to deliver a new circuit. It should be streamlined to weeks.

3b ) Unbundle the local loop

Kenneth Liew, COO of Pacific Internet (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd which is an offshoot of a Singapore-based ISP (License Status: ASP):

• Liew commented that in Thailand, HK, Singapore, it was the same price for the local loop. Here, the local loop increases with the distance.


• The telco lease line from Tuas to Changi is the same. It is the same in Bangkok and Manila. However, if we’re going from KL (port) to Shah Alam (customer), the price increases.


• He hoped that the wholesale boys would look into this. With RM80,000 p.a., companies won’t go for internet.


• The Minister thanked him, and said that they’ve been too protective in the past, and would look into it, and go to the Cabinet and the Government. He would look into the pros and cons.


• The minister also said that businesses want to do business and were prevented by licenses. When they get going, the local loop is so expensive that they go to foreign players. Finally, the connection only gives them the 280 Kbps rather than the 1 Mbps.


• When asked by the Minister on how to unbundle the local loop, Chia of Bizsurf replied that he was on the NTT-MSC network, which is in the same license category with him, and even NTT-MSC is not able to deliver (the last mile) to him.

3c ) Benchmarking Against Industry Practices Overseas

Kenneth Liew, COO of Pacific Internet (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd which is an offshoot of a Singapore-based ISP (License Status: ASP):

• Pacific Internet currently has offices in 7 countries which included HK, China, Thailand, India, Philippines. The company asked whether there were plans to encourage more foreign players to grow the business in Malaysia.


• Liew commented that Singapore's OFTA had an open policy to allow foreign players to come in.


• He said, when the Singapore Government invited foreigners to the playing field, a lot of the local players were worried as well. However, it has promoted competition and this move is seen as very positive in the Singaporean telecommunication industry.


• His observation was that there were not many international players in the Malaysian environment.


• Another observation Liew made was that in Thailand, it takes 14 days to obtain a leased line. On the 7th day, the line would be ready, and the line would be handed over on the 15th day.


• On the other hand, it takes 4-6 weeks to be ready in Malaysia.


• Another good example was cited. When he applied to obtain a 1 Mbps line in Penang, he was told by TMB that they were only sold in denominations of 128 Kbps. This meant that he needed 8 x 128 Kbps, and he needed a huge router to produce the 1 Mbps.


• There was also not enough fibre infrastructure in Penang. There is intention to grow the business but there is no infrastructure, he said.


• As a result, players who do not want to lose business would consider Shanghai, China.

Before closing the session, the Minister interjected and asked whether it is fair to benchmark on neighbouring countries that were hubs. The Minister asked: "Is it fair to look at wholesale/retail prices from Singapore, HK, or Thailand?"

TMB CEO Abdul Wahid Omar responded that there is a need to look at the proper context and the different terrain. Singapore and HK are city states, it is not possible to have a single price in Malaysia, he said.

I wish Screenshots readers would input on this point.

3d ) Commitment to Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Liew of Pacific Internet highlighted the importance of SLA.

• In Singapore, IDA monitors the SLA of Starhub at 99.5%. In Australia, there is broadband SLA. Downtime is provided in SLA.

4 ) (Dis)Incentive to Content Development

Lim Kian Khoon, CEO of iNavigate Sdn. Bhd [License Status: ASP(C)]:

• Framing its proposition in the context of mobile content services in the overall National Broadband Plan, iNavigate commented on the measures to stimulate demand.


• iNavigate said current revenue sharing arrangement benefits the telcos, set at 30 – 50% is for the telco. In comparison, telcos in Thailand, HK, China only rake in 10 - 20%.


• iNagivate also said local content developers were being squeezed by the cost of the infrastructure on one end, and the R&D; cost on the other. It is unfair to increase the price for the end user.


• iNavigate said tax rebates were given to facility provider, yet, they are continuing to squeeze the developers.


• An example cited was for TMB's 3G pricing to end users. iNavigate said the margin TMB demanded from them is unsustainable.

5 ) Unlicensed Spectrum: 2.4 and 5.8 GHz

Chew Choo Soon, CEO of MyKRIS Asia Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP, NFP, NSP):

• Chew reported that he was surprised to see antennas on the rooftops of buildings, and there were a handful of unlicensed providers, like FreeServe. He asked whether there is any monitoring by MCMC of the unlicensed spectrum – 2.4 and 5.8 GHz.

At this juncture, someone in the audience stood up and asked "where were the answers to the questions", and reminded the panel that the Muslims had to leave at 12:15 for their prayers."

6 ) SMS Services

Ati M. El Bakush, CEO of Matrix Internet & Wireless Sdn. Bhd (License Status: ASP):

• Matrix is a company that provides SMS services, where the SMS messages are delivered through the mobile gateway. There is a lot of congestion in the mobile gateway. The optimal speed of 4-5 SMS
  messages per minute would drop to 1 SMS message every 2 minutes
  during times of congestion.

RESPONSES FROM THE BIG BOYS

Abdul Wahid Omar, CEO of TMB, replied among other items:

• TM Wholesale would sell to ASP at the same rate as retail - the principle is that big volume and big commitments, which means an increase in discount.


• To the question from REDtone on negotiation that took too long, he said it was a fair comment as related to the speed of decision making. He said this was something TMB "could try to improve".


• To BizSurf's question on unbundling the local loop, Wahid said the word local loop is overused. He said it actually means local access or last mile provided through wireline or wireless. He cited that BizSurf itself is offering wireless local loop, connecting the local loop in the form of leased circuit.


• On leased circuits (typically called the backhaul), whether it is expensive or otherwise, Wahid said it is an industry issue, and with 4 or 5 players the prices can be determined.


• Wahid said the overseas players who operate at wholesale level "are not there (local market) yet". For the local backhaul, costs were involved, and therefore the pricing is higher.


• Nevertheless, Wahid said TMB is into it and there will be further discount next year.


• On the question on leased lines raised by Pacific Internet, Wahid said, in relation to leased lines being offered in Thailand in 2 weeks, and the current 4 – 6 weeks in Malaysia, TMB would strive to improve.


• In relation to the specific issue relating to Penang specifically on the 1 Mbps issue, he said TMB would look into it.


• On the issue of unbundling of local loop, Wahid said to increase penetration rate, the target set by the government for 1.5 million is
  "supportable".

However, Wahid also said, if the Ministry and MCMC were to mandate access by unbundling of local loop, the objective would not be achieved in the following situations:

1. Length is more than 5 km from the local exchange.


2. No fixed line to certain residences, such as Kota 12
   Damansara. They were going wireless, and beyond 5 km – it is
   the same issue for other NFPs.


3. The point of access and cost of technology is prohibitive for everyone involved, he said.

TM Wholesale COO Dr Idris Ibrahim said:

• TMWholesale’s pricing is based on the duration of the contract and volume discounting.


• In response to the question of price benchmarking with other countries, he commented that TMB needed to sustain its business and it could not go below cost.

He, however, didn't say whether efficiency is a factor that impacts TMB's cost.

• On the issue of double billing, he said it came to his notice 2 days ago.
• While admitting that the issue was riased about a year ago, he said TMB has made a decision that there were no errors in the billing during the time they investigated the system, though only some intermittent calls were double billed. He, however, will reopen the investigation.
• On the multiple 128 Kbps rather than 1 Mbps being offered, as raised by Pacific Internet, he said that the leased circuits were based on common utilised bandwidth. Digital lines start from 64 Kbps, then 2 Mbps.

MOVING FORWARD

The Minister said the following in conclusion:

• Fair and competitive policies were needed to develop ICT in Malaysia.


• Most importantly, all affordable prices are needed in ICT hub to develop k-Economy.


• He encouraged the licensees to get more organised – to look into problems and to solve them together. For example, he proposed that ASP or CASP form their own clubs to raise their issues in a collective manner and interact with the wholesalers.


• Liberalisation is required but there is a need to balance it to an extent that the market is available, rather than to end up killing each other.

As a parting shot, the Minister said he read that the Japanese Senate banned the use of prepaid cards.

Why London? Why not Monte Carlo, Paris or Vegas?

London casino, Ritz Club, is going after Malaysian Ariana Abdullah a.k.a. Chuah Kim Cheok over £2 million (RM14 million) cheques that bounced.

Her estranged husband, Tunku Kamil Ikram Abdullah, is the son of Negeri Sembilan royal family member Tunku Abdullah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, who is the brother of former Yang DiPertuan Agong.

Tunku Kamil has this revelation in The Malay Mail today (online version not available at the time I blogged this) on Malaysian high-society's preferred casino destination:

He (Tunku Kamil) believed he also knows why London and not Monte Carlo, Paris or Las Vegas was the preferred destination for Arina when it comes to casinos.

"London is a favourite haunt for high-rollers to mingle with some of the 'Who's Who in Malaysia'.

"Anyone who is in the know among our high-society will find glamorous VIPs, including those with distinguished titles, and their buddies lounging at the betting tables at the London casinos," he said.

Tunku Kamil added that most of them were easily recognised by their fellow gamblers, to be given referrals. [...]

In the US or Europe, Tunku Kamil said, no one would have recognised Arina.

How come Tunku Kamil knew so well about Ritz Club? He was quoted in Malay Mail as saying:

"Some years ago, I was at the Ritz Club. Since I don't gamble, they served me real good food. At the club, you know who's who, Malaysians included."

Internet spins on Arafat's ailment

They come especially from Israeli sites: here, here, here and here.

Internet will be damned if they aren't true.

Special Aid for 'Special 8'

News:

THE STAR:

Eight sports have been identified by the government to receive special aid to achieve excellence on the world stage.

(Satirical) Analysis:

TV Smith's DUA SEN:

15 ministers picked 8 sports headed by 6 datuks and 2 sultans for 1 gold medal. Dua Sen selects eight other promising sports for The Real Olympics. Not surprisingly, many of the events involve our unmatched driving skills...

Pick your choice, here.

Astro difficulty in cities? Try Tenom!

UPDATED VERSION. We are doing Astro COO David Butorac a public service. His subscriber RURAN from outer Tenom needs urgent attention, and his staff - who needs emails or fax - isn't of much help.

Via New Sabah Times, November 8:

ACTIONLine:
Raw deal for Astro subscriber in Tenom

MORE that two weeks had passed by since RURAN paid her instalment fee. And she is still unable to view any of the Astro channels at her home in Kampung Tomani, Tenom.

"I paid an instalment fee of about RM180. But I am unable to view any of the channels on my television set. And because the area where I live has poor telephone connection, I have no choice but to drive all the way to Tenom town to use a public phone booth just to call the Astro office in Kota Kinabalu!" RURAN said.

"However, what upsets me more was the fact that the numbers (088) 290 488, 265 668 and 290 438 were not answered at all whenever I called," she said.

"And on several occasions, I was put through a voice machine, which I felt was only a waste of time and money," RURAN said.

She also said that she had paid a local store in Tenom town to have an Astro receiver installed at her house.

"In fact, I related my problem to the Astro staff members manning the store in Tenom but they were unable to help me since they were only dealing with selling products," RURAN said.

WHEN contacted, a spokesperson at the Astro office in Kuala Lumpur said that RURAN’s problem had been forwarded to her superiors and they are now looking into it.

In the meantime, she said that all other Astro’s customers needing any assistance can also provide details of their grievances through its e-mail at wecare@astro.com.my or fax at (03) 9543 7333.

"Customers can e-mail us with a subject heading ‘Astro Customer Service’. They can also fax us with the same heading," she said.

The spokesperson explained that the e-mail or fax should include the Astro subscriber’s account number or identity card number as well as the serial number of Astro’s New Smart Card on the decoder.

Satish, my neighbourhood friend in Subang Jaya, has a simple question to ask in USJ.com.my web forum: "If a customer has to travel to a town to make a fone call, how is he/she supposed to send email/fax to Astro?"

Answer, MCMC? Does Tenom come under 'under-served areas'?

UPDATE: An MCMC official who monitors Screenshots called in during lunch time to inform this blogger that Tenom is indeed one of the over 20 regions in the country categorised as 'under-served areas'. Telecommunications services in Tenom - voice, data and fax - are provided by TimeDotCom. Hopefully, Astro operations would understand the hassle its subscribers have to go through in order to file a complaint on quality of service.

We just need one complaint from Perlis, and we will play the Berjaya patriotic song: "Dari Perlis sampailah ke Sabah..." real loud!

Come again, MAL?

Unless Star In-Tech (Nov 9, Pg 3) has quoted Jaring CEO Dr Mohamed Awang Lah inaccurately, I really can't believe my eyes reading the reason for Jaring's delay in rolling out its wireless broadband service:

The still-unnamed service was supposed to be launched in mid-October but was delayed due to the fasting month, said Mohamed.

Everyone should know know that Jaring has hyped its wireless broadband as early as July!

Just a real question: Is the proprietary SOMA Networks' solution, insiders said tested and rejected by TimeDotCom, but adopted by Singapore's M1, giving undue problem?

For the record, SOMA (July 27) / Cadmus Technologies, and Star In-Tech (May 25) and StarBiz (July 28) should know the truth, one way or another.

Gmail users... you've got company!

My Gmail was down last night, how was yours?

Reader JH Hoe gave me this warning: "As one GMail account holder, you may want to know this...

http://net.nana.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=155025&sid;=10

An Israeli hacker has found out a security hole in Gmail that allows the compromise of users' email boxes - without the need of a password. Read!

BTW: Blogger LiewCF has an alert on Nov 1.

Mother of all potholes - Sized '3 kancils x 1 kancil'

The Subang Jaya Municipal Council, to whom I pay my assessment rates (cukai pintu), used to be hyped as model municipality for best-in-class local governance.

Apparently, a resident has a contrarian view:

Jeff,

If you pass by Jalan SS15/7, you could not have missed this Mother of PotHoles. It has been festering for the last six months and has grown to 3 kancil x 1 kancil in size (see pics).

This pothole is located right in the heart of Subang Jaya. How can MPSJ be so callous in neglecting their basic reponsibility?. Its enforcement officers are on daily non-stop rounds towing away double-parked cars in this area. Surely they could have alerted their couterparts on this problem.

Thanks reader KYW for the pointer.

Dr Goh Ban Lee has a timely piece in theSun: Councils must place local interests first.

SorryEverybody.com

UPDATED VERSION. Meddie has a faster load site, web here, gallery here, FAQ here.

Thanks.
______________

This JPG, captioned 'The United States of Canada' and Jesusland (existing USA) comes from the frontpage of MichaelMoore.com.

His Link of the Week, last weekend, is Sorry Everybody - a message from America to the world.

SorryEverybody.com is collecting photographs from across America to express to the rest of the world "our deepest apologies for the present political situation in our country and how it will affect everyone for the next four years".

The pictures may load slowly, but it's worth a look.

Thanks blogger Akmal Zahri for the pointer.

Happy hunting 120

CY Leow laments the passing of great cameras the way I do locomotive trains.

Last week, he read with sadness that Tamron is discontinuing the BRONICA camera range, and his long liaison with the 120s, right from his Illustrative Photography studies at the RMIT through his professional career.

Rummaging through his press clippings through the years, CY found the 1980 NST calendar to which he contributed three pictures.

Here's one of the shots that was done in good old Penang. The script was a road side market stall, sounded simple, but the preparation!

He remembers Cathie Khoo (center), the NST Creative Manager, was there to arrange the vegetables with her art dept staff for the shoot. The lady in kebaya holding an umbrella was the model. Location was a lane beside the Pulau Tikus market in Penang.

Did you notice that car with PG 18 plate!

More on CY Photoblog!

Suicide protest against Bush re-election?

Andrew J. Veal, a 25-year-old Georgia research aide, breached the heavily guarded ground-zero site at former World Trade Center and killed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the head.

In the absence of a suicide note, there was speculation that his choice of the site had been intended to protest the re-election of Bush and the war in Iraq, both of which he is known to have vehemently opposed.

Via New York Times. There are over 281 items on Google News so far.

ntv7 back on air in Sabah again?

UPDATED VERSION. This is a follow through to Screenshots blog topic of October 22, where reader Ratormo Ratormo complained that ntv7 has been off-air since September 23, 2003.

Here's the good news:

From: DMM
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 09:57:01 +0800
Subject: NTV7 broadcast in Sabah is back!

Jeff,

Just a short note to inform you that NTV7's public broadcast in Sabah is back. Not very sure when but it could be since last week.

I don't know if it is due to the unwanted publicity in your blog, but I guess the people in the top echelon of NTV7 must have been following your blog ;)

Mind you, I don't subscribe to Astro anymore, having terminated my account some 6 years ago. I think I didn't get values for my money as it looked as if I am paying to watch too many advertisements!

Thanks Jeff for Screenshots...!

Don

From: Ratormo Ratormo
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2004 12:07:31 +0800
Subject: Re: no nTV7 in Sabah

Dear Jeff,

Yep NTV7 is back in Sabah. Good Job man!

Ratormo

Server upgrade... RM11,609.83

As at 07:55hr today, the Screenshots Server Upgrade Fund stands at RM11,609.83. It was RM8,659.06, some 15 days ago, on October 22. This is 72.56% of the planned target. Thank you folk!

Work in progress is available at this blog entry.

Irrespective of whether we will hit the target fully, the fund will stop receiving contribution by November 30. To know more about the campaign and how you could contribute, please visit this blog.

Video-Blog. Now that we have additional resources on the new server, I am attempting to create a new feature called Video-Blog.

Taking note that the point-and-shoot digital camera nowadays comes with short movie-clips feature that allow you to capture live events playable on Microsoft Media Player and most mpeg players, I'd like you to send me your recordings of colourful Malaysia.

Topics can range from express buses that defy Ops Sikap; police cars which double-park; beautiful cuti-ciuti Malaysia sceneries; to nice, cute human-touch topics that pull our heart-strings, especially during the coming festive seasons.

If you can feature movie-clips on national integration, I'd be most delighted.

Screenshots will publish them, and you retain your copyright 100%.

Room for DeepaRaya in layman's heart

Via Star Online today:

Housewife Umi Kalsom Arriffin, 48, will have a "Deeparaya" menu for her guests this Hari Raya.

While she will continue to serve the normal ketupat, and beef and chicken rendang dishes, she has decided to add Deepavali delicacies to mark the Hindu festival which falls two days before Hari Raya.

She shopped at the Little India stalls along Jalan Pasar, Taiping, and went home with 7kg of Indian sweets, muruku and milk candy from Letchu’s Sweet Shop.

Among other items she bought were ompodi, pagoda ladu, parpu, kerepek and chittu ourdai nuts.

Having failed to feature Deepavali in Astro Guide, an issue some citizenry are annoyed with, it's highly recommended that the monopoly PayTV highlights the rich Malaysian culture in its festive programmes. Not to late to make up for a DeepaRaya, isn't it?

The world after Arafat

The world is staring at Yasser Arafat whose life hangs in the balance right now.

Both Palestine and Israel are busy preparing for his burial ground - Jerusalem or Gaza Strip.

And both Palestine and pro-Israel countries are finalising post-Arafat security plan.

The world also awaits in bated breath whether the window for peace will be shut again in the troubled land.

DeepaRaya at CJM

Besides Parti Gerakan, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CJM) will also be having a Deepavali-Hari Raya open house on 17 November.

Details and updates as things confirm on www.cijmalaysia.org.

Thanks Sonia Randhawa for the alert.

Thieves hit home, Mirzan selling Vancouver property

For those who don't have subscriber access to this Canadian news portal (All currencies in Canadian dollars):

Thieves hit home of son of former Malaysia PM
The Vancouver Province
Fri 05 Nov 2004

The West Vancouver home targeted in a $600,000 break-and-enter belongs to the son of a former Malaysian prime minister and a relative of one of the world's richest men.

According to B.C. Assessment Authority records, the home in the 7200-block Arbutus Road is owned by business executive Mirzan Mahathir (picture left, copyright Screenshots), eldest son of former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamed.

Mirzan is married to Jane Mahathir, a relative of Liem Sioe Liong, who is one of the richest men in Asia -- and the world -- and was a close friend and business associate of ex-Indonesian president Suharto, the dictator who ruled that country from 1967 to '98.

Liong is the founder of the hugely successful Salim Group, which has business interests ranging from food and cement to trading and transport.

Police say whoever robbed the Mahathirs' 7,700-square-foot, waterfront home got away with about $600,000 in merchandise and used the couple's $90,000 SUV to haul the goods away.

Among the stolen items were two Fendi sable fur coats, worth more than $100,000 each, two $30,000 Rolex watches and two $20,000 sculptures. The SUV -- a grey 2001 BMW X5, B.C. plate 862-AAA -- is also missing.

Police say the robbery happened some time between midnight Oct. 25 and 2 p.m. Nov. 1 while the owner was out of town.

It was one of 40 break-and-enters in West Vancouver since Sept. 1, with more than 20 of those in the wealthy area near Horseshoe Bay.

The Mahathir home is assessed at $3.6 million, but is listed on various websites at $5.4 million to $6.9 million. Mahathir bought the house in 1994 for $3 million.

A woman driving from the house in a Porsche Cayenne SUV on Wednesday night said it appeared the thieves stole items that could be quickly sold. She identified the coats as hers and said the caretaker of the home was away at the time of the robbery.

The theft left her shaken.

"I'm selling the house... I don't think I want to be here," she said.

Neighbours on the quiet cul-de-sac near Whytecliff Park say news of the robbery came as a surprise, especially because most, if not all, homes on the street are very secure with remote-control gates and other features to keep people out.

If you intend to take over this property, talk to Malcom Hasman the broker. It's currently his feature home of the month.

S. Jayasankaran writes for theSun

Former FEER correspondent S. Jayasankaran starts his first opinion piece in theSun today since leaving the Dow Jones group.

The Speak Easy topic: The best person money could buy.

Not too late for DeepaRaya

Readers Piara Singh and Visithra Manikam respond to Naveen Kumar's email lamenting at Astro which allegedly sidelined Deepavali in its November edition of Astro Guide (picture below).

The readers thought this is a golden opportunity to foster national integration as Deepavali (October 11) falls days apart from Hari Raya.

From: piara singh
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 20:01:11 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Naveen Kumar's letter/comment

I refer to Mr. Naveen Kumar's observation about the November issue of Astro guide. I can't seem to post in your Screenshots Comments as everytime I click send, the whole text disappears. Anyway, I write a letter here.

Astro should immediately send out individual Deepavali greeting cards to each of their Indian subscribers. It would not be a problem as, in their database, they can categorise the population/subscribers according to race.

This will appease the Indian subscribers in Malaysia. If they don't do so, it would indicate that Astro is unaware of the fact that they might be offending nearly 2 million Indians in Malaysia and not just their Indian subscribers.

What is more interesting is to see whether David Butorac replies Naveen Kumar and also Jeff Ooi on this issue. After all, even the government has acknowledged that the upcomng season is not just Hari Raya but DeepaRaya.

What is even more interesting also is to see whether the MIC looks into this November issue blunder. If this were to happen to Chinese New Year, the MCA would pounce on Astro by now. I respect the MCA for this.

Now, it is a good test to see whether the MIC will do the same. If the MIC represents Indians in Malaysia, someone from MIC will bring this matter up in public and ensure that Astro gives a public apology for this blunder.

Yours always,

Piara Singh

From: visithra manikam
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 08:54:00 +0700
Subject: A non existent DeepaRaya

Dear Jeff

It's the season of Kongsi Raya again as Deepavali and Hari Raya are but days apart. We're told its the spirit of Muhibbah with the DeepaRaya celebrations. But sadly most establishments are ignoring this. Walk in into any KFC, Maybank, Petronas Stations, Toll Stations and its the same, only Raya has been highlighted. It's as if Deepavali and Indians don't exist.

Then came the November issue of the Astro guide - and there's not even a mention of Deepavali on the cover or any of the inside pages. Nor was there any mention on Milo promotional packets distribute at tolls a few days back. There are more major companies who have showed their lack of understanding and have decided to ignore.

I know this sounds like a trivial matter but how long will it take for a trivial matter like this and us just accepting it to create bigger problems in the future. A lot of people have been sending complain emails to Astro or even the papers The Star, NST but the papers have totally ignored this not wanting to upset the companies. I'm hoping you can highlight this on your website as people tend to sit up and notice what you write. How long will it take for the nation to ignore us just because we are but minorities. Today advertisements and decorations tomorrow our already minor rights?

Regards

Visithra Manikam

I encourage you guys make it to the DeepaRaya Open House that Parti Gerakan is holding at its headquarters on November 17. If anyone has info on other DeepaRaya celebrations, please alert us.

MiTV: RM80 for 50 channels?

MiTV is set to launch in December, charging RM80 per month for 50 channels, COO Jonathan Chan was quoted as saying in Bloomberg.

A source said the RM80 per month charge is at the higher end of various packages ranging between what RM60 and 80 per month.

Even at RM80, the rate is a little below Astro's average collection (ARPU) of RM84 per month. The difference is that MiTV offers 50 channels while you will probably get 30+ channels on Astro for about the same amount.

However, it's still premature to determine whether MiTV's product offering is compelling and relevant enough to the target audience.

On the other hand, sources said Astro is likely to counter-act by mid 2005 when more transponders are available with the launching of Measat 3 next March.

Apparently, MiTV's launch in December is later than its earlier target date of October. This gave it less time to gain th market share before Astro launches additional channels in mid 2005.

A source said the launch date may even be delayed to Quarter One next year (1Q05). Problems contributing to the delays include the final choice of set-to-box (STB) and the securing of sufficient content. Recruitment is also still off-target.

The MiTV's STB is expected to be priced at RM200.

A Malaysian in America

A friend of mine happened to be in the United States when Bush and Kerry fought tooth-and-nail over the presidency.

This was his inital response immediately after Bush was returned to the White House, touching on Kerry's concession and the erraneous exit polls.

Wednesday 12.30 pm eastern time (1.30am Thursday Malaysian time): Seems that (Colin) Powell will stay on for some time but had expressed his wish to be relieved. W is very loyal to his people and there may be few changes. We heard that Kerry had phoned W and Laura to congratulate W on his win. After lunch at 3.00 pm eastern time, we watched on TV Kerry conceding the election. It was a good speech. Very touching.

Some results were surprising and showed that we shouldn't depend too much time on the exit polls. They were wrong in 2000 and they were wrong in 2004.

The Dems urged new voters and those who didn't vote in 2000 to come out and do their part. Yes, they came out but they voted Republican. The Republicans increased in the senate and congress as well.

W is not as dumb as some people think. He learns fast. And, he had learnt many things. War is always an unprofitable business whichever way you look at it. I do not think we will see America venturing into any other area. I guess even North Korea won't be bothered much apart from the usual hot air, whatever it does.

The W team, as we read the local papers, is generally more organised especially in intelligence. During the Clintonian years, people did not seem to know what was happening, who was working on what and there was generally a lack of team spirit. Reports did not reach the people who mattered. Clinton's team even left the White House in shambles. Files were not in place and furniture was broken. Some offices were thrashed. Madeline Albright had good PR but was a very poor organiser.

Things are in place now and everybody is hoping that all goes well for
the next 4 years.

Following the track, I immediately engaged him for more feedback on the ground from US (I need to keep the locality confidential).

Screenshots: I was very attracted to the rise of Barack Obama, who is going to be the sole African-American Senator this January. He was described as a neighbourhood activist. I don't know much about him yet. You?

Friend: No track record to speak of. Straight-talking and talks sense. Appreciated by Dems and Reps as he is the type they all want to cultivate. He's there on his own merit and hasn't got that "oh my forefathers were slaves and you owe me" kind of mentality.

All would prefer to be more inclusive with more Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans up there. It got so that you can get rid of a white worker who slacks from your department in a jiffy but you wouldn't even dream of doing it to him if he's a 'minority'. And, don't even dream of it if the officer is not only black but a female! Females are considered minorities too.

Are the Americans split right at the middle, politically and dogmatically, with this election result?

In America, only the analysts and academicians (mostly liberals) talk endlessly of splits. Americans take all this in their stride. Life goes on as usual even when they had literally no government in 2000. They are more mature in their democracy. You won't find the rumbling of army tanks in the streets, no, not even during 9/11.

Anyway the American system is to argue opposing views openly. Of course, as in all societies, the sleazy chicanery and shenanigans are there and also the lunatic and fanatical fringe all add colour to the landscape but so long as you do not breach specific laws, you can jolly well do what you like. Sometimes you do get cases of crass expediency coming in as in the case of Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman" impeachment episode as both sides found it 'unprofitable' to impeach a sitting president for lying in that case. They take it as something 'domestic' and not political with no other implications than a chuckle or a sly wink or two.

Believe you me, the backstabbing etc are all there. However, normally you pay the price for such things if found out and the newshounds here are pretty good for sniffing and ferreting out even the most closely guarded 'deviations'.

Anyway, W, as with other 'new' presidents will not have the luxury of a honeymoon. The long knives will be out soon after all these guys recovered from the election fever. That, is the American way.

To be fair, Kerry/Edwards put up a good fight.

Yes, the fight was a good one. Edwards was the wrong choice though. If you think Kerry 'flip flops', Edwards is worse. He's a good lawyer, but that's all you can say. The general consensus during the campaign was that Kerry could be better with a more businesslike running partner.

It seems that, shattered by 9/11, the Americans place homeland security (and a cowboy fighter) first...

No, majority seemed to have forgotten 9/11 inspite of the W team trying to remind them. Even New York and New Jersey where most deaths come from (and most affected economically) voted for Kerry. They generally try to forget unpleasantries and have that Scarlett Ohara "tomorrow is another day" kind of mentality.

... domestic economy second...

The mid-west conservative Christian vote was very decisive. Even the Hispanics swung towards W over the gay marriage, abortion and stem cell factors.

We didn't get to see how Jewish influence in economy and media have swung votes, did we?

No evidence of that. In fact most of the Jews in the DC and Maryland area have always been democrats and voted Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. They don't vote as a block. It's a myth that they do. You'd be surprised at the number of Jews unhappy with Israel. They're Americans first and Jews second.

It is just that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and a developed one at that. Sense of fair play too, so many guys trying to wallop one guy. Good example is our own 'moron' Soros. He's quite anti-Israel.

Dua Sen!

No, it's not about TV Smith's column.

Pre-paid War gets even hotter! Celcom has lowered the bar for intra-network SMS (013, 019) to 2 sen per message from 12.00am through 5.59am, valid till January 15, 2005.

The lowest rate for intra-network SMS used to be 3 sen per message, set by DiGi.

This is the second occasion Maxis becomes a follower rather than industry leader in price-cuts and giving out consumer benefits. To date, Maxis Hotlink still charges 5 sen/Message for intra-network SMS.

How soon will Maxis and DiGi follow suit on the Dua Sen drive?

P/S: Celcom has a 3-tier tariff for intra-network SMS: 2 sen/message from 12 t 5.59am; 5 sen/message from 6,00am - 5.59pm; and 10 sen/message from 6.00pm - 11.59pm.

UPDATE: Today's StarBiz (Page 4) hints at free SMS as celco's battle heats up.

Thanks reader EDGE for the pointer.

Management & Leadership: It's not magic... Part 1

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 19:17:06 +0800

Pertinent to issues raised in Screenshots: Writing ex-employee's resume, I am interested to pursue further two of the conundrum highlighted:

1. Would what was said by the Mimos CEO, one way or another, reflect his own leadership quality?
2. As professionals, would you ever say such things to help your ex-employee update his resume?

These are two of my pet topics, i.e. leadership in action and the seldom misused and messed up 'reference from previous employer' shenanigans.

I will concentrate on No. 1 only (No. 2 for later).

'I spend a lot of time working on how I manage.'
Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco

The above quote caught my attention when I was reading a magazine. You need to go through all sorts of tests and age requirement before getting permission to drive a vehicle on the ground that you may endanger yourself and others. Good thinking I say. Terry Leahy went from a supermarket shelf stacker to become the CEO of the undisputed No. 1 supermarket in UK. That is how you gather experience and 'license' to lead and manage.

Therefore, it is mind boggling to fathom how one can become parents or assume leadership position without any sort of qualification or track record. Weird I would say. Perhaps, this is the key factor in the almost slip shod manner that many organisations or departments are run these days. To me, management is about managing the people in your company as much as managing the company itself. Many of the twits who occupy positions do not know the difference.

Perhaps the European soccer teams have got it spot on. You mess up in the field, the managers get shown the door. No wonder that game is growing from strength to strength. In the corporate and normal world, when things go wrong, they get rid of the low level staff rather then the incumbent CEO/CFO who messed up big time. That’s why corporate shenanigans repeat itself.

I have a very critical and sceptical outlook of leadership based on my many years of experience both as subordinate as well as in managerial positions. In fact most of us are both at the same time at some point in our life. That is not to say that I am an expert on it but sufficient experience has been gathered and observed to note shenanigans that goes on in the world today under the guise of leadership and managerial ability or choice.

Let us get a few records crystal clear. Being popular does not mean you have leadership qualities. Being given a position due to nepotism also does not make you a leader. Being the best in your area of expertise also does not make you a leadership Einstein. To me, the last variable mentioned is the key mistake many organisations make in promoting people to position of power and influences, hence the chink in the flow of leadership if that person lacks the skill.

Oh yes, off course being highly profitable dose not mean you have first class leadership and management qualities. That could be mere fluke as you may be in charge of businesses that are profitable no matter how you mess it up. Perhaps a monkey even could do no wrong.

It is almost suicidal when promotions are given to a higher role based on the technical ability of a person. Many a times, leadership or management promotion is based on how well one does his/her work. I believe that this alone cannot be a criterion for promotion. If that person is good at what he/she does, pay them a fat bonus and a huge salary increase but do not give them management position unless they have shown an ability to manage and lead.

There are very good managers or leaders who may not be able to do the work themselves but are natural when it comes to motivating and driving their underlings to higher achievement. This can be seen very well in the almost uncanny ability of many football coaches who have been extremely successful but were crap when they were players.

I don’t like managers who abuse their standing by making the life of their subordinates difficult. I also cannot agree with those who intentionally give task to those who they don’t like, just to 'torture' them. Unfortunately, in this day of non stop and very intensively competitive corporate world, the finer qualities that should be horned to perfection is often ignored as those who are in the driving seat lacks the capability of the vision to make that happen. The blind leading the blind like.

One must always remember that being in a leadership or management position, one has the responsibility not only to cajole and motivate those they lead, but also to ensure that work and work flow are designed and evolved all the time to ensure staff have a easier time working. This is an exercise in simplicity. Easier work methods and happier staff increases productivity, even my cat knows that.

'So much of what we called management consist in making it difficult for people to work.' Peter Drucker

I am a firm believer in the philosophy that one should not spend too much time on preparing for internal meetings and communication as concentration should be on external profit orientated matters. But you will be surprised how many of these so called leaders and managers have their own pet rules on presentation. I know of some who like their font in 14 sizes, for others it must be only of a particular font; some do not like landscape material, some do not like portrait presentation and so on.

Leadership is also one that many can learn from observation but if your superior lacks any, then you can only learn how not to do things but not how to do things. As a leader, one must set the correct example. Clear your in tray regularly, respond to e-mails promptly, deal with urgent matters in a timely manner as your subordinates will be watching and will pick up the habits.

Organization should also send very clear signals along all level of management of what is accepted and what is not. If screaming and shouting at staff is frowned upon, then for heaven’s sake doesn’t promote anyone who shows that tendencies as these give the wrong signal to others.

Incompetence should not be acceptable under any conditions. Do not keep a person who is suspect, on the grounds that you require the extra hand as you are snowed under. Can you imagine what will the backlash be if you continue to ignore someone’s drawback, keep promoting when the times comes only to be told, many years later, that you are a real failure as the company needed you all these while? Believe me, this has happened and will continue to happen as long as leaders in companies do not have the morale and the sense of fair play to deal with the matter promptly.

I have worked in many different type of organisations and under many superior personnel and can tell you that many are very good, those that you can learn from; but many are also nincompoops, just getting the post due to other criteria rather then competencies. Also, incompetence and nepotism transcend racial divide, it is not an exclusive ownership of anyone. It is sometimes very hard to still maintain your own style of management that you know for sure is far superior then those employed by other morons, who happened to be your bosses only because they are older and reached there before you did.

'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.'
Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865)

In conclusion, the word of Abraham Lincoln as above comes to mind. Leadership and Management position are privileged areas that many are not privy too. The problem is many do not realise the awesome power that they yield in making working life an easier one but choose to concentrate on picking on petty issues that are totally irrelevant for any purpose whatsoever.

Not many people can handle power. The difficulties are sometimes flukes and hereditary success is translated as qualities that one should emulate.
_____________

The writer is a Chartered Accountant, a member of MIA and ICAEW. He laments the poor leadership and managerial ability that confronts many working hours of our life.

Op-Ed pages, New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times:

Two Nations Under God

Despite an utterly incompetent war performance in Iraq and a stagnant economy, Mr. Bush held onto the same basic core of states that he won four years ago - as if nothing had happened. It seemed as if people were not voting on his performance. It seemed as if they were voting for what team they were on.

This was not an election. This was station identification. I'd bet anything that if the election ballots hadn't had the names Bush and Kerry on them but simply asked instead, "Do you watch Fox TV or read The New York Times?" the Electoral College would have broken the exact same way. [...]

Meanwhile, there is a lot of talk that Mr. Bush has a mandate for his far right policies. Yes, he does have a mandate, but he also has a date - a date with history. If Mr. Bush can salvage the war in Iraq, forge a solution for dealing with our entitlements crisis - which can be done only with a bipartisan approach and a more sane fiscal policy - upgrade America's competitiveness, prevent Iran from going nuclear and produce a solution for our energy crunch, history will say that he used his mandate to lead to great effect. If he pushes for still more tax cuts and fails to solve our real problems, his date with history will be a very unpleasant one - no matter what mandate he has.

William Safire, New York Times:

The Dangers of Lopsidedness

Can Bush stick to principles that elected him while taking some of the poison out of the political atmosphere? The atrophy of the usual checks and balances requires a certain internal restraint.

Danger comes from the temptation to bull ahead that awaits lopsided government. Bush has the re-legitimated White House power backed up by a more rightist House of Representatives, now bolstered by a Senate with a 55-to-45 Republican majority. On top of that array of political muscle, a Supreme Court already tilted slightly rightward will soon be ready for an infusion of new justices.

This imbalance will ultimately trigger Rayburn's law: "When you get too big a majority," said Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Democrat, after F.D.R.'s 1936 landslide, "you're immediately in trouble." [...]

In democracies, the pendulum always swings. Cheer up, this week's saddened losers, and take heed, this week's euphoric winners - Hillary Clinton's restoration campaign is already under way.

Maureen Dowd, New York Times:

The Red Zone

The president got re-elected by dividing the country along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts; he wants to bring any riffraff who disagree to heel. [...]

The president says he's "humbled" and wants to reach out to the whole country. What humbug. The Bushes are always gracious until they don't get their way. If W. didn't reach out after the last election, which he barely grabbed, why would he reach out now that he has what Dick Cheney calls a "broad, nationwide victory"? [...]

Just listen to Dick (Oh, lordy, is this cuckoo clock still vice president?) Cheney, introducing the Man for his victory speech: "This has been a consequential presidency which has revitalized our economy and reasserted a confident American role in the world." Well, it has revitalized the Halliburton segment of the economy, anyhow. And "confident" is not the first word that comes to mind for the foreign policy of a country that has alienated everyone except Fiji.

New York Times editorials:
- The Next President Bush
- Lessons of the Ballot Box

War More Years

Daily Mirror, UK.

Musical chairs in telcos

Today's lunch came in very big helpings, thanks to the little birds.

DiGi

With new CEO Morten Lundal applying his own management style to get desired results, DiGi may go the Maxis way of hiring expatriates in fields locals can match.

The latest development is that DiGi CFO Ho Meng has resigned and will be leaving by January 31, 2005. In the restructuring exercise, Ho was supposed to remain heading finance albeit with an added risk management role.

Ho will be replaced by Johan Dennelind, who will be the new CFO from November 15 2004. Press reports say Dennelind has 10 years of telecom experience in various leading positions, last as the CFO and deputy CEO for Telenor’s operations in Sweden.

In contrast, it seems that Tore Johnsen and Erik Aas, who have both departed, were very appreciative of local talents.

Erik is now CEO of GrameenPhone, a unit of Telenor in Bangladesh.

Celcom

Another fave in the grapevine is that Celcom may have a new CEO. Is Ramli Abbas leaving?

Internet

A telecommunications group is said to have engaged AC Nielsen to conduct a study on Internet reach and its effective influence in Malaysia.

The brief given to the research company is to keep the client anonymous. But the community is so small that the paymaster's identity was immediately given away.

On Friday, Minister Lim Keng Yaik summoned all individual licensees for a meeting at MCMC, and warned that the Government may allow foreign players to offer broadband services in the country should the local operators fail to reach out to more users.

Tips: ACN's client is one noted for cherry-picking in the market.

Bravo Kudin...

Whistle-blowers will be protected! Umno disciplinary board chairman Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail announced yesterday that the party is promising immunity from disciplinary action for anyone with evidence on vote-buying.

He said the informants' identity "will not be revealed ... even if they themselves had taken money".

According to the New Straits Times, there have been several reports of money politics against candidates who contested for positions on the Supreme Council in September. But the reports have been sketchy and in some cases, the addresses of the complainants were found to be non-existent.

We will see whether whistle-blowers turn up by the hordes with such unprecedented assurance. The NST has aptly described it as "a last-ditch attempt to tackle money politics at the highest levels of Umno". 'Do it now or never' seems to be the imperative.

Putting things in perspective, we have to appreciate that Umno president and PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has set the tone right as he embarked on the second year of his office, that the "honeymoon period" for him was over. Quote:

He said Malaysians from now on would be less forgiving for any shortcomings on his part and on the part of the government machinery.

"I expect the comments directed to me and my government will be harsher. So I want to stress that going into the second year as Prime Minister, I want to see that programmes and projects which I have outlined earlier to be implemented in earnest," he said...

The significance is that as high as 40% of the upper echelon leaders in Umno were given government positions at both federal and state levels. Solving Umno's problems will definitely help strengthen a great deal the entire government machinery. It's this symbiotic.

Therefore, we should give Pak Lah all the support he needs to accomplish this by next October 31.

Complaints delivered to MCMC

This blogger is not to be misconstrued as cyber Michael Chong. Take it from me that information carried here is published specifically for transparency's sake.

Leveraging on a research trip to MCMC yesterday, I handed over several complaints against ASTRO that Screenshots has received. My cover letters and the relevant documents were addressed to the Commission's Chairman. I have taken time to brief the officials from the Monitoring & Enforcement Division - Toh Swee Hoe (GM), and Sharizan Abdul Aziz (Head, Consumer Protection Department) on the issues at hand.

To put things in perspective, the official complaints were forwarded In accordance with ( 1 ) CMA 1998 (Section 190), ( 2 ) the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum's General Consumer Code of Practice (PART 2 Section 1, PART 3 Sections 2, 4 & 6, PART 5 Section 1, and PART 6 Section 6), and ( 3 ) MCMC's Determination No. 4 of 2002 (CASP), pertinent to 'Standard on General Customer Complaint Handling'.

When forwarding the complaints, I had also declared my interest as I was a co-drafter of the General Consumer Code. Having spent over two years of my time in the code drafting process, I wanted the tenets of the Code to be upheld.

Truthfully, I had hoped that the Consumer Forum secretariat could have been more proactive in monitoring and acting on consumer complaints against service providers placed within its ambit. The reactive stance could easily be perceived as being bureaucratic.

Nevertheless, since the complaints have fallen on my lap, I took it up in good stride. Subsequently, the complaints were submitted on behalf of the following Screenshots readers, complete with their contact email addresses to enable MCMC make the necessary enquiries- and most importantly, ACTION!

1. Fivebros (No "Opt Out" option for ASTROmail)


2. Andre/ap345_nil (No "Opt Out" Option for ASTROmail)


3. Fahroe Ibrahim (No Opt Out" option for ASTROmail)


4. Malte Winter (Non-resolution of subscription disputes for 2-and-a-half months)


5. Amrith Bhat Kandlur (No billing for two months but slapped with late-paymemt penalty; non-receipt of Astro Programme Guide for three months; non-receipt of new smartcard by the October 1 timeline)


6. Chook Ka Wah (After termination of subscription, non-refund of account balance for 6-month advanced payment)

MCMC officials have given their commitment to act on the complaints. If you don't get your problems resolved soon, please write to Screenshots. I am taking this as a test case and would like to follow through.

I have also posed the MCMC Chairman a major enquiry on the status of Astro/MBNS as a CASP Individual Licensee mandated in accordance to Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. More information on Astro/MBNS that I have has been shared with MCMC, and I sensed some information has been withheld from public consumption by the regulator that gave rise to numerous questions.

I will update here once I receive an official reply from the MCMC Chairman. It will be for public interest purposes.

Astro Guide and 'DeepaRaya'

This is an email reader Naveen Kumar sent to Astro COO David Butorac, with a cc to Screenshots.

From: naveen kumar
To: david_butorac@astro.com.my
Cc: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 15:48:23 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Nov'04 Channel Guide Issue

Dear Mr. David and Mr. Jeff Ooi,

I, as an Indian (from the minority ethnic), was unhappy with the front cover of the November's issue of Astroguide. The front cover only shows the picture of Malays and a wish to them. What happened to the minorities and wishes to them? Is Astro going to publish in December's issue?

I was really very angry looking at the issue as I had throw(n) them into gabbage (sic). Is it wrong or very hard for Astro to have pictures of Indians and a greetings to them in the front cover? Is this what they called as 'Kongsi Raya'? Is the any intergration? How could this happen when the major shareholder in Astro is an Indian? Was there any conspiracies among the top management? Are Indians paying nothing to watch Astro?

No, we are paying and we have the rights to ask for our community. Please don't always forget the minorities. Try to respect us. Don't hurt us.

I do understand that there are parties who wish to step down us. I am still wondering whether to continue the service of Astro.

Mr. Jeff, What can you do to the minority ethnics?

Saddened!!!!!!!!!

JEFF OOI says: The email and opinion contained therein is entirely the writer's and it does not necssarily reflect the stand taken by Screenshots. However, we do note that, in an effort to promote national unity, Parti Gerakan, a Barisan Nasional component party, would organise a "DeepaRaya" event at its headquarters on Nov 17 in conjunction with the Deepavali and Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivals.

Deepavali falls on Nov 11 while Hari Raya Aidilfitri is expected to be celebrated on Nov 15.

If you have 2 Astro decoders...

From: gillgk
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 15:04:51 +0800 (MYT)
Subject: [Screenshots...] 'ASTROmail: What Butotrac has left unsaid'

Dear Jeff,

Guess what? I called Butorac just now to make a few enquiries and was passed on to Butorac's secretary. This is what I have told her and I hope she logged my complaints for her boss to act, and for Astro customer service team to track.

I have 2 decoders - would you believe it? I recently found out that I get 50% off the second decoder if I have two. Happiness right? Wrong!

Not only do I have to subscribe to a minimum subscription of RM79.95 for both but I have to maintain my account for 2 YEARS too or risk getting fined RM500 if I terminate my account before that!

Hmmpphh. I would be treated as a new customer and my previous years of subscription would be discounted. So much for being rewarded for loyalty. So, it's back to paying the full amount for me while newer astro subscribers reap all the benefits.

p.s. How did the meeting go?

World's most expansive (expensive) democracy

Bush wins convincingly. GOP control-manages the Congress with enlarged majority. Kerry snuffs many a Democrat's hope and concedes graciously: "We can't win this election."

So, Americans get the President they deserve. Osama keeps his favourite punching bag. And the world awaits in bated breath for things to come.

To quote Kamrul Idris: The world is taking a bronco ride to OK Corral.

Are we also staring at a non-WASP-president-to-be? Read about Barack Obama, a neighbourhood activist who has made it to Senate on landslide victory. He will be the only black member among 100 senators when Congress convenes in January - and only the fifth African-American to serve there. Obama is a Democrat.

The cost to give Bush four more years: US$4 billion so far, and still climbing.

Deja-Vote & Deja-Who?

America wakes up to deja-vu.

• Washington Post: Bush won't wait for Kerry to concede.


• Reuters: Arabs disappointed at Bush lead, many see conflict.

Today's headlines coast-to-coast.

Key Pro-Kerry paper in Ohio...

Not again...

Too close to call...

Bush leads...

Subsequent important dates after November 2:
- December 13: Electoral college meets
- January 6: Counting electoral college's votes
- January 20: Inauguration Day

Read the rationale behind Electoral College votes system which has both shortcomings and strengths.

Tally as at 7.30pm (Malaysia Time)

UPDATED VERSION. 7.30pm (Malaysia Time): White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., said that President Bush won Ohio and re-election, but Kerry-Edwards rufuse to concede just yet.

Ohio ("too close to call") repeats 2000 Florida limbo - an 11-day 'No Counting' state law may be invoked. Results are also delayed in Iowa and New Mexico.

Via New York Times: Bush 249, Kerry 242.

Via Washington Post: Bush 254, Kerry 242.
_____________

Tally at 6.00pm (Malaysia Time), via ('Newspaper of Record') New York Times:

With 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, Bush had captured 249 electoral votes to Kerry's 242 votes.

This is worrisome

Tabloid NST (Nov 3, Pg 10) has this headline and two pix:

Southern Thailand Unrest:
Buddhist village leader beheaded

Similar headlines are all over the place by now.

Screenshots was wary of this on October 27.

'Who is PMC? Who is the consultant engineer?'

Works Minister S. Samy Vellu has recently cancelled his religious pilgrimage to India. Does he also have good night's sleep for now?

The NST frontpaged this just in time for today's cabinet meeting:

Serious defects
in 16 schools, 5 colleges
...AND ALL BUILT BY SAME CONTRACTOR!

The contractor, according to NST, is Project Management Consultant (PMC).

The paper says the issue is serious enough for PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to direct the Public Works Department (PWD) to take over the buildings and prepare a complete report on the matter.

In one case, Sekolah Kebangsaan Danau Perdana in Sungai Besi, the school building may have to be demolished and rebuilt.

"Sixteen schools and five community colleges, all under the PMC, have structural problems and some don’t have amenities like access roads. Now we have to find out who is the contractor? Who is PMC? Who is the consultant engineer?"

That's a quote from Samy in the NST. The minister was also quoted as saying PMC is bona-fide, having been appointed by the Finance Ministry.

Readers' response to Butorac email... ( 2 )

I continue to receive readers' response to Astro COO David Butorac's reply on the "No Opt Out" issue related to ASTROmail.

To avoid repetition, I will publish some of them. But I promise to forward them to MCMC for their deliberation.

This email, seemingly coming from the expat community in Malaysia by reading into the context of its content, was sent directly to Butorac yesterday, with a copy to Screenshots.

From: Malte Winter
To: david_butorac@astro.com.my
Cc: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 2004 05:09:27 +0100
Subject: Treatment of existing customers

Dear Mr. Butorac,

I came across the issues that you and Jeff Ooi are engaged with by means of Jeff Ooi's Screenshots (http://www.jeffooi.com/).

I could not help but feel bewildered by your opening statement that feels like you are acusing Mr. Ooi in soliciting you by means of pseudonyms but fail to show any substantiated proof of this. I would kindly ask you to clarify this particular matter publicly.

Mr. Ooi highlighted one of many (at least from my point of view) problems that ASTRO seems to have in treating their customers as what they are - customers.

It seems to me that ASTRO is getting increasingly incapable of dealing with customer complaints or issues in a civilized manner that might actually resolve the underlying problems.

I would like to take the statement I came across to highlight my personal dissatisfaction with this policy as I was treated in a very similar matter by your company previously and could only resolve the issue by ensuring your departments that I would seek legal aid and bring the matter to court and at the same time use the support of the Consumer Forum of Malaysia.

I found it sad that for months your staff ignored numerous phone calls, registered mails and faxes (transcripts, registration slips and recordings of the calls have been made) and only (!!) acted once the Consumer Forum forced you too.

Personally, you have not lost me as a customer for life but also encouraged me to share this personal "story" with all of my friends from the expat-community so that they can be spared any such incidents by canceling their subscriptions or not bothering to enter a business relationship with you in the first place.

For your information: For the price increase I respectfully requested 3 times via phone that we are sent a formal notification of this increase. Otherwise I would not be willing to accept the increase (the amount did not matter btw). I have been met with ignorance and arrognace (we dont send it, we dont need to, we did send it - if you did not get it that is your problem etc.) and as a result decided to discontinue our business relationship.

It took me 2 1/2 months to actually get the service canceled properly and NEVER received an confirmation note even though I requested a written notification via fax or mail. Then I had to engage into numerous conversations to get the remaining balance of RM 44,95 paid out - a process that took almost 3 months and only found resolution by means of all legal options available.

I have in the meantime received the check without any comment. Your staff Maureen has failed to call me back to explain this mess even though I left several messages on her voice-mail and requested that someone explains the situation to me. Silence is probably not a good strategy but then again I am not running ASTRO.

This is a sad showcase of inefficiency, incapability and business malpractice and most certainl does not help in creating happy customer-relationships. It does however fit very well into the recent business-tactics and approaches.

I wish you best of luck with your future business but hope that many Malaysians will start to become fed up by such behaviour and vote with their wallets - by closing them for ASTRO and spending the money in more rewarding endevours such as charity donations or the (upcoming) competition.

For myself, this little episode was certainly most rewarding. Not only did we gain space that was previuously occupied by ASTRO receiver and TV but also can we use our time more efficiently.

Thank you for taking the time to read my comments on your reply to Jeff Ooi and my personal frustrating experience.

kind regards,
Malte Winter,
P.J.

Readers' response to Butorac email... ( 1 )

I continue to receive readers' response to Astro COO David Butorac's reply on the "No Opt Out" issue related to ASTROmail.

To avoid repetition, I will publish some of them. But I promise to forward them to MCMC for their deliberation.

From: Fahroe Ibrahim
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 09:33:29 +0800
Subject: AstroMail Opt-Out feature.

Hi Jeff,

My name is Fahroe Ibrahim, and I've been a follower to your web site for quite some times. Most the issues you brought up really make me think about the country we're living in and all the issues we faced here, somewhat make me think if I've been ignorant of the issues too much. This is my first time writing and please excuse for bad grammar if any. :)

When you brought up the AstroMail problem, I went back home and checked out about it. True enough, there is NO "EXIT" or "OPT OUT" feature on the screen. ASTRO should have this menu or indicator. It has the feature on the MENU, GUIDE, MULTILANGUAGE (the "..." button) and I believe on others menu as well (such as the interactive menu on selected channel).

However, on assuming that the same button (which is the Message/ Envelope button) would exit the screen, I pressed this button and, true enough, the screen asked for confirmation, was gone. I do not have to reboot my decoder as per your experience.

On a second try, I did go on and press OK. The next screen showed the user to key in Parental Security code, which I did and immediately, the decoder tried to dial the Astro site (I believe this is configurable on the Menu area). Since I did not connect the decoder to the phone, this however does not work. But, the subsequent menu instructd the user to press OK or INFO for help. The only way you can get out of here is by pressing back the Message menu.

I strongly believe that, we as consumers, should have choices in the things we get. I would like to thank you for the effort you have done in asking Astro to clarify it.

Some of the things I mentioned above might already caught your attention and I appologize for it.

All the best. :)

Regards,
FahRoe Ibrahim

Carry on, Karamjit

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 15:04:56 +0800

Everyone else wants all sorts of support and incentives. People have been given Dato’s as well as state land as perk. They appear to flatter on achieving only to deceive. Maybe one day sports achievers will get automatic position in Parliament as senator?

On the other hand, Karamjit is clocking up achievement after achievement on the quiet. The mainstream papers reported his latest achievement. He has won for the third time the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. I am a novice when it comes to sports but am sure it is not easy to win that many times, right?

How come no one has taken full page adverts in the paper congratulating him?

This is the example all sportsmen, at least the ever under-achieving and full-of-excuses sportsmen and sports bodies must emulate. Let the achievements, consistent achievements, speak louder then the ever perennial boast and toast which always fall flat on their faces. No amount of meeting and sponsorship will resolve this. It is purely personal commitments. Just look at the new tennis heroines from Russia, it is all about commitments.

Congratulations again Karamjit. You have yet again proven that lack of government support and finance is not really an excuse for achieving victory. You may not be awarded datukship or you may not even get state land or condominiums, but we are very proud of you nevertheless.

Hope you will continue to keep the Malaysian sport flag flying high as you have been doing all this while.

HANDICAP SYSTEM. On the related matter, perhaps it is time the world sport introduced a handicap system like golf to help countries like Malaysia out.

The question about Malaysia's inability and pathetic state of sporting affairs can be addressed in this manner then.

Countries like Malaysia are so far behind in the sporting arena that we may never be able to play catch up with the other more advanced races.

Therefore, my suggestions are for Malaysia to seek special relief in sporting events.

For example, in a football matches, we should start, say with a 2-0 lead, and any goals scored by the other party is counted as one whereas if we score it is counted as 1.05 goal.

In the track and field event, we should be given the special rights to start say 3 or 4 seconds earlier then the rest and this should be agreed and put in writing in the world sporting understanding.

They is no shame attached to this as otherwise the Brits, Australian, Americans and the Chinese will always be winning everything in sight, so this is the only way we can level the playing field. After all in golf, one useS the handicap system to even capabilities out. why not in all sports as well.

Birthday wish

November 2 is my birthday, and the Americans happen to go to polls to pick their president today. It's still too close to call.

Before I go to bed, I reserve my birthday wish for the Americans:

Be blessed or be cursed with the president you deserve - it's all in your hands. Whoever you choose, we will all be affected out of your Home Land. The last four years just proved the potent worst.

What 'revolutionises' US prez election this time?

Every four years, The New York Time says, by journalistic if not political tradition, the presidential election must be accompanied by a "revolution".

So what transformed politics this time around? The rise of weblogs!

The NY Times says the commentary of bloggers helped shape the 2004 race. Its Op-Ed page today asks bloggers from "all points on the political spectrum" to say what they thought was the most important event or moment of the campaign that comes to an end today s US wakes up for poll.

It's worth a read.

Meanwhile, for David Brooks, a professed conservative columnist in NY Times, says everywhere he looked - from his favourite conservative bloggers to his friends at conservative think tanks and magazines - he saw many coming out for John Kerry... even those who would never vote for a Democrat.

All of them, he says, have looked at the Bush administration with a mixture of admiration, frustration and anger.

To him, the initials of Democrat - JFK - now read surreally as Just For Kerry.

Another interesting thing. Though New York Times beats other institutional papers to make known it was siding Kerry, Paul Krugman reveals that the paper's rules prevent him from giving any explicit endorsement in his regular column.

So, he can only hint: "I want to see democracy vindicated, and the stain of 2000 eradicated", (especially in Florida).

Got the drift?

Writing ex-employee's resume

Remember Lim Heng Jin a.k.a H.J. Lim (picture below) who was brought in mid last year to resuscitate Mimos subsidiary, Mimos Semiconductor Sdn Bhd, or MySem?

Screenshots featured him July 1, 2003. But before we could revisit him and his progress at MySem, he's gone.

Was his work appreciated? None other than his hirer/employer is more qualified to give him a testimonial.

This is what the recently re-employed Tengku Mimos said about Lim in Malaysian Business MBe (Cover-date: Nov 1):

QUESTION: You seem to have trouble holding on to your management staff, especially at Mimos Semiconductor Sdn Bhd (MySem).

ANSWER: That is not the case. Every company needs a CEO that suits its requirement. In Mimos, we see all businesses as start-ups. And business requirements change over time as the company matures.

It was the same case of MySem. When Lim Heng Jin, who recently departed as the CEO of MySem, came onboard last year, there was a need for MySem to strengthen its manufacturing operations. Lim was the right candidate for that due to his vast experience in the manufacturing side, including stints with giant MNCs such as Intel and Quantum.

However, over time this need changes as MySem moved from the manufacturing phase into the business phase. And we needed someone who has business building skills.

Unfortunately, Lim was not able to accomplish this as well as he would like to. He understood that. We understood that.

We are now in the midst of looking for a new CEO, but the need is not imperative. We are taking time and have been on the lookout for the last six months. Hopefully we would be able to choose someone by the end of this year.

As professionals, would you ever say such things to help your ex-employee update his resume?

Would what was said by the Mimos CEO, one way or another, reflect his own leadership quality? As records have it, Lim have been recruited with the consent of, and made answerable to the board of Mimos, of which the Tengku is the president and CEO for the group.

Hence, a few other questions came to my mind.

1. Did Mimos make a wrong judgment when it hired H.J. Lim slightly over a year ago?


2. Where was Mimos' medium and long term strategic intent when it has proven its capacity to shift from manufacturing to business phase within a year?


3. Was Lim not maintained because Mimos shifted its strategy soon after he was hired, drastically disrupting his job description and deliverables?


4. Who is the captain at MySem now while Mimos decides to take its own sweet time to recruit a replacement?


5. What is the current MySem output and revenue since it has shifted gear from a manufacturing phase to business phase as claimed?

If you recall, in July last year, MySem proclaimed that its has spent RM631 million (read: Taxpayers' money) in two fabrication facilities known as Fab 1 and Fab 2. Fab 1 costs RM178mil while Fab2, which includes wafer test facilities and failure analysis facilities, costs RM453mil.

The Fab1 facility has the capacity to produce 600 pieces of 6-inch-diameter wafers a month using 1 micron technology while Fab 2 can make a maximum of 3,000 8-inch-diameter wafers monthly using 0.5 micron technology.

Mimos also said, then, that it "intended to transform MySem into an integrated design and manufacturing (IDM) plant capable of manufacturing semiconductors and ultimately world-class integrated circuits (ICs)". As a follow through, MySem "fully intended" (sic) to design and market its own products.

What's the performance so far? I have not even asked Tengku Mimos of the ROI for MySem since its inception.

To juxtaposition the size of the quantum involved in MySem Fab1 and Fab2, visualise this: How big was the Perwaja Steel debacle?

MBe writer Jai Shankar's context of management staff turn-over can be seen from this blog.

I also do not know where Dr. Ahmed Marbouk, former MySem IC Design Director, is attached to now.

ASTROmail: What Butotrac has left unsaid

In a response to blog topic on AstroMail without an "Opt Out" option, and my open email, Astro COO David Butorac said:

The Astro Mail option... (is) a service that has been offered for some years on the platform and one that is available to all of our customers.

However, two inquisitive Screenshots readers discovered other wise.

From: Low Yu Siang
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 02:07:46 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Astromail

Check out
http://www.astro.com.my/stocklink/services/index.html

The page on the Astro's website shows that Astromail is a coming-up new service, rather than "rather a service that has been offered for some years on the platform and one that is available to all of our
customers".

I am not sure whether Astro's webmaster forgot to update their website("some years" ago) or their COO isn't too familiar with their own services.

This is a screenshot of what reader Low talks about.

Meanwhile, reader Andre digs deeper into what Butorac has said. He writes directly to Butorac, with a cc to Screenshots, which is reproduced verbatim, below.

From: Andre (ap345 nil)
To: david_butorac@astro.com.my
Cc: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 2004 17:05:19 +0000
Subject: Responding to your reply to Jeff Ooi

Hi Mr Butorac

I've read about what Jeff Ooi has written in http://www.jeffooi.com/ and I felt rather uncomfortable reading your reply. To be fair, I did not read the email that Mr Jeff Ooi had sent (to you) earlier, but judging from your reply, I could sense an air of arrogrance.

You wrote in your email:

"Many thanks for your email. I'm very pleased that you feel confident enough to mail me directly rather than via the range of pseudonyms you have previously used in soliciting communication with me."

I suppose Jeff Ooi has a stronger ground as he is denying this publicly. I would really want to know what your response is to this.

From the Astro screenshot at http://www.jeffooi.com/, it is clear that user is anything but forced to press OK to continue. This will automatically be taken that user are complying to terms and user guides. It is to my basic understanding of the law that the terms and conditions are to be presented before user should agree to it. Perhaps the ASTROMail User Guide was sent through 'snail-mail', perhaps it was published through the newspaper, but in whatever case, the terms and conditions should be made readily available.

AND in any case, user should be given the option to opt out (this is clearly not in the ASTRO screenshot of the tv)

Perhaps, I can find more about ASTROmail through Astro website. So I decided to do a search for ASTROmail at www.astro.com.my and in return, I found one page. I've included a snapshot of the search (astro search result.jpg)

High-Res is here.

Upon clicking on it, I was given this page:

High-Res JPG is here

Upon reading it, I've a few questions. my question are related to the numbered boxes:

1. Is ASTROmail an integrated function of Stocklink (1)? If so, do they share the same terms of use (2)? In any case, I do not see anything mentioned about ASTROmail in the terms of use.
2. I do not understand (4). It is non-clickable, I simply do not understand its function (if it's a simply static graphic to enhance the look of the website, well, it's not enhancing anything)
3. In your reply to Jeff Ooi, you mentioned this:

   "...a service that has been offered for some years on the platform and one that is available to all of our customers."

   By "a service", my understanding is that it refers to ASTROmail. However, from the website, as highlighted (3), this service is a future service, which has yet to be implemented. Thus, this contradicts what you've written.

In any case, please

1. do not apologize and make it seems like I don't understand what's being discussed/ written/ misunderstood in www.jeffooi.com or at ASTRO website.

   I'm just an average joe, who's seeking not words of apology but action.

2. do not apologize if it seems like you've sounded arrogant. I'm not seeking that, but action. (in this case, your action to prove that Jeff Ooi has indeed use RANGE of pseudonyms to write to you before this)
3. do not tell me that the ASTRO website is not updated. If it is indeed so, please rectify asap.
4. do not give excuses anymore. Again, all I want to see is action.

I am certainly waiting to see what's your response to Jeff Ooi's 2 Nov 2004 deadline. As an ASTRO customer, I would like to at least see that the chief operating officer is doing his job well in respond to customer need. Why did I say that I sense an air of arrogance, well, I could be in Jeff Ooi's position one day and if my query, as a customer, is given such a feedback, I couldn't help it but to feel rather unappreciated as a paying viewer.

Thank you
Andre

I really appreciate Screenshots readers' kind understanding of the issue at hand and we want the buck stopped at Astro COO's feet. I hold you in high honour for taking time to argue the issue in a rational and professional manner.

I will certainly print out Andre and Low's emails and forward them to MCMC officials when I meet them.

At the moment, I want to focus on the issue of unfair terms of service and the absence of "Opt Out" option in particular relation to ASTROmail. The context is utmostly important, and this has been, and still is, the original premise of my argument in the name of public interest.

Number portability by mid 2005?

The Star In-Tech (Nov 2 Page 2) says portability of cellphone numbers is expected to begin by the middle of next year.

To make this happen, Minister Lim Keng Yaik has signed the "Ministerial Direction No. 2 on Number Portability" in September. This was featured in Screenshots on October 12.

When the policy is implemented, you will get to keep your existing cellphone numbers, say 012, when you switch over to a rival operator network, say 019, and vice versa.

Too close to call?

The latest USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll says it's too close to call.

Electoral Votes

Either candidate just needs 270 of the 530 electoral college votes to win. The swing states still hold the sway in the electoral college votes.

Abnormal traffic in October

Screenshots visitor traffic had an abnormal surge in October due to several days of unwarranted publicity which I have learnt to cope.

This is a graphical illustration of the traffic pattern which captured almost a quarter million pageviews last month:

Compare the October traffic with the last one tracked at end-September, the month Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted. Highest daily page views (excluding pages cached at various ISPs): About 8,000 on September 3, and 16,000 on October 5.

I hope to get back to normal visitor traffic to allow me track the organic growth of this weblog.

Butorac responds, key questions dodged

UPDATED VERSION. Here is a reply from Astro COO David Butorac. He dodged my key questions on the "Opt Out" option for fairplay.

Meanwhile, MCMC has confirmed my appointment for November 3. Both MCMC and I agreed that we should meet over the issue ASAP. I want to pursue the "Opt Out" issue as all media consumers must be treated with fairplay. This is an issue of public interest.

This is David Butorac's response published verbatim, with my reiteration on "Opt Out" function immediately following his reply.

From: BUTORAC, David david_butorac@astro.com.my
To: Jeff Ooi , "BUTORAC, David" , shtoh@cmc.gov.my, shahrir@cfm.org.my
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 14:12:12 +0800
Subject: RE: Unfair terms of service - AstroMail & 'Opt Out' provisio

Dear Mr Ooi

Many thanks for your email. I'm very pleased that you feel confident enough to mail me directly rather than via the range of pseudonyms you have previously used in soliciting communication with me. I'm always very pleased to help any customer with a query on how to use our service.

With relation to your issues below.

The answer is somewhat simpler than your assumptions.

The Astro Mail option would have been brought to your screen by your daughter pushing the mail icon on the remote control. It was not a message sent by Astro, as you assumed, but rather a service that has been offered for some years on the platform and one that is available to all of our customers.

You perhaps may not have noticed, but when the button is pressed to bring the Astro Mail option, the initial page explains how to navigate out of the screen if you made a mistake in pushing the button. You simply follow the simple on screen instructions and press the mail icon button a second time. This reverts to the viewing channel you were previously on.

Customers who chose to use the additional service do so by accepting the standard terms and conditions for the service that are published. If they choose not to accept those terms, they choose not to use the additional service. Their existing Astro terms and conditions and level of service remain un-changed.

With regards to the terms and conditions and your concerns about wishing to "ambush unsuspecting minors" into accepting services. You will also note that the page after the acceptance of our terms and conditions contains a parental pin. It is an added safeguard on many of our services to ensure that the customer is able to ensure an appropriate level of control over the use of the platform and one I am sure you agree adds considerable control to the parent. As you will appreciate, if the pin is not correctly entered, the service is not loaded and no commitment is made.

I am pleased that you are able to discover the full range of services that are available to the Astro customer, should they choose to use them.

In addition, I thank you for your advice with regards the laws of Malaysia. I can assure you that Astro remains fully aware of and is compliant with all legislation with regards our business.

I thank you for the opportunity to clarify the facts so you can avoid the embarrassment of publishing in-correct information on your site, as has previously been the case.

As with all customers, I am very happy to assist you to enjoy the full range of Astro channels and services and to clarify any concerns you may have about the Astro package.

Yours sincerely

David Butorac
Chief Operating Officer.

My question to Butorac remains: Where's your "Opt Out" Option for Astro subscribers?

From: Jeff Ooi < jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com >
To: "BUTORAC, David" < david_butorac@astro.com.my>
Cc: shtoh@cmc.gov.my, shahrir@cfm.org.my
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 15:22:10 +0800
Subject: Re: Unfair terms of service - AstroMail & 'Opt Out' provisio

Mr David Butorac

LIBELLOUS STATEMENT

Please retract your statement in which you said: "Many thanks for your email. I'm very pleased that you feel confident enough to mail me directly rather than via the range of pseudonyms you have previously used in soliciting communication with me."

This is libellous.

I have never emailed you "via the range of pseudonyms I have previously used in soliciting communications with you." Please show proof within 24 hours to substantiate what you have said in your email pertaining to the above.

YEAR AND USER GUIDE FOR WHICH SERVICE WAS INTRODUCED

You said "AstroMail is a service that has been offered for some years on the platform and one that is available to all of our customers."

( 1 ) Please substantiate your claim by showing us the documents the exact year and time you introduced the said services.

( 2 ) Please show us the AstroMail User Guide (and its terms and conditions) which I had asked for in the previous email.

SIGNAL DOWN TO ZERO AFTER POWER-OFF

( 1 ) You have not serviced me the explanation for the decoder to
experience satellite signal being down to zero (in order) to exit the "OK & CONFIRM" function for the said AstroMail service.

( 2 ) Where is the "Opt Out" function?

You have until 8.30am November 2 to answer my questions before I lodge an official complaint with MCMC.

Regards
Jeff Ooi

I want Butorac to fully understand the following intruments placed within the ambit of MCMC and their implications:

1. In accordance to CMA 1998 (Section 190), the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum's General Consumer Code of Practice (PART 2 Section 1, PART 3 Sections 2, 4 & 6, PART 5 Section 1, and PART 6 Section 6) mandate that the consumer's interests relevant to a CASP Individual License is protected.
2. MCMC's Determination No. 4 of 2002 (CASP), pertinent to 'Standard on General Customer Complaint Handling', can be invoked accordingly.

You will be shocked to find out the threshold of customer complaints - measured by the number of incidents per 1,000 customers over a 12-month period - allowed under this MCMC Determination.

However, I will be more interested to discuss with MCMC with a larger-picture question in mind: Why is Astro allowed to operate "out of the law" without a CASP individual license issued by MCMC as exemplied on its published register?

Why is Malaysia, under the CMA 1998, practising 'One Country, Two System' - one system of licensing regime specifically in favour of Astro, and one system for other private TV stations who have to compete tooth-and-nail?

It's a test for both the industry and the industry regulator. But I believe Malaysian law shall triumph.

Where's the 'Opt Out', Astro?

As my 7-year-old was watching her favourite cartoon channel yesterday, a little overlay popped up on the TV screen. It was very irritating as it refused to go away no matter what you click on the remote control.

It's an announcement of AstroMail and SMS 'service'.

My daughter was too minor to make a decision, so she sought my help. As it turned up, I was equally helpless, no doubt that I am more experienced than her.

I discovered that there's only one way out for the viewer: You are 'forced' to choose either one.

So, I chose to click on AstroMail (if it spams, i will have documentary evidence). And the next screen popped out.

As you can see, there is also only one option made available to the viewer: You can do nothing but to click OK and CONFIRM.

I refused to be coerced into "by doing this, you will have accepted the terms and conditions contained with your AstrolMail user guide" - I wasn't given one anyway - so I tried to click to exit. I have the right to Opt Out. for services that I don't want.

No, the remote control wouldn't work.

So, I shut down (power-off) the Astro decoder for 30 seconds. It refused to start-up when I switched it on again. The signal strength went down to 0.

My questions for David Butorac, Astro COO, are as follows:

1. Even Bill Gates respects my right to opt out from any Microsoft updates. Where's your 'Opt Out' option for Astro subscribers who refused to be spammed by AstroMail and SMS?
2. Whe did you hide your AstroMail User Guide?
3. Did you intend to ambush an unsuspecting minor like my 7-year-old daughter so that I the registered Astro subscriber, by default, "will have agreed to your terms and conditions"?

I am sending an email to Butorac to respond within 24 hours.

Tomorrow, I am going to ask Toh Swee Hoe on Astro's CASP licensing status today. I want to ask him whether MCMC should invoke Sections 99, 100, 188 and 190 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to deal with Astro for unfair service terms unilaterally laid down on its subscribers.

Since Astro appears not in the CASP Individual Licensees Register kept by MCMC, is Astro allowed to roam free as an 'out-of-law' broadcaster?

Section 100 carries a fine of RM200,000 for non-compliance of a Commission's direction - which I shall if necessary - while non-compliance under Section 188 carries a maximum of RM20,000 fine or maximum imprisonment of 6 months, or both.

I want Butorac to know what can happen for non-compliance of a particular Malaysian law.

Meanwhile, I strongly suggest that, if you face the same situation as mine, you express your disapproval of the no 'Opt Out' option that Astro enforces on you via AstroMail and SMS. Shut down your decoder for 30 seconds.

If the signal drops to 0, give Butorac a call at 03-9543 6688 and at email david_butorac@astrro.com.my.

After all the rhetorics, what next?

Reader Teropong Negara responds to blog topic: PM materials after Pak Lah and Najib? To the writer, the new epoch in Malaysian psyche belongs to those empowered by information and knowledge, propelled by Internet.

From: Teropong Negara
To: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 2004 23:13:19 +0800
Subject: PM materials after Pak Lah and Najib?

The tail end of the Mahathir era and the beginning of the Premiership of Pak lah had witnessed profound changes in the maturity and outlook of the middle class segment of the Malaysian society. We now begin to sense vibrations that mark the beginning of a new wave of nationalistic sentiment among a new generation of Malaysians.

They have been signing a harmonious chorus clamoring for a truly Malaysian Malaysia and the creation of "Bangsa Malaysia". A Malaysian society where all Malaysians will stand together as a unified citizen having equal claims and rights to their country, Malaysia, for which they bear together the responsibility for its defence and wellbeing. A country that embraces meritocracy and transperancy. A caring society that takes upon itself to help the less fortunate and the needy in offering them with better opportunities. Their minds and emotions are ready for the establishment of this new social, economic and political order.

Many have viewed this as a national imperative for national survival in the globilised world.

The more significant events that have evolved recently could be summarised as follows:-

1. The growing popularity of the Internet as a new domain that liberalises personal communication and facilitates dissemination of information. It provides the new generation of Malaysians with a new channel and forum to deliberate current issues and challenges that confront them. This has enabled them to understand each other's aspirations and their differences better. Most of them have good educational background, curious and eager to take new challenges. This has made them more liberal in their racial outlook. They appreciate the impact of globilisation on the survival and livelihood of the country.
2. This development has resulted in the evolution of the Bangsa Malaysia vision. It marks a period of deep contemplation into the Malaysian soul as a society: the common survival, challenges, glory and hope that they need to built and share together.
3. The "feeling good" factor that envelops the nation following the shift of power to Pak Lah and the overwhelming victory for the National Front during the last general election are eloquent testimonies to this.

   Indeed, The environment for once appears to be conducive for the release of their long bottled-up aspirations for a more enlightened and democratic leadership. A Malaysia that embraces meritocracy, a polity that has abandoned crude racial bargaining as a basis for working together; the concern for national competitiveness for survival in a globalised world for once appears to be real.

4. The process, conduct and outcome of the recent tri-annual UMNO Supreme Council election was a major shocker to the new generation as it graphically exhibits the true colour and creed of UMNO. The whole episode turned out to be an ancient opera, with deceit, corruption, betrayal and avarice as its central theme. A shocking revelation indeed: the king, alas, is announced naked: a painful contradiction of what had been preached had been breached by the preacher himself.

   The disappointment and disenchantment with UMNO that follows may result in the new generation to find a new vehicle for the realisation for their dreams.

5. The release of Anwar Ibrahim has ignited a new breath of hope among his cult members, the opposition parties and some NGOs. All may not be lost after all...! The scarred tiger, beaten but not lost, is readying himself for a dramatic return to the arena giving an alternative hope and promise for the birth of a "civil" Bangsa Malaysia.

   Yes, UMNO with all of its hypocrisies, betrayal, and contradictions is not only set to implode but has made itself irrelevant with the rapid loss of cradibility. Whlist the opposition parties are still in shambles, Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters are actively preparing themselves to grasp any opportunity and eventualities. The new generation of Malaysians is mentally and emotionally ready for the realisation of a new "Bangsa Malaysia". Malaysians, therefore, are on the threshold of a new epoch in the history of their nation building.

The question now is who will be the great hero that will win the day to emerge as the architect who will help colour and shape the vision of "Bangsa Malaysia" and a civil and more democratic Malaysia.

Could he be Pak Lah? Najib? Anwar Ibrahim? Or even Ali Rustam? Your guess is as good as mine!

They would be fighting with each other ala mice fighting for a stolen cheese. Let it be reminded however that the cheese in the first instant belongs to the new generation of Malaysians and old Malaysians who are young at heart.

Let us together watch this episode unfold itself with interest.

Teropong Negara

Earned bonuses must be paid even if staff has left

Guest Blogger
Radha K Vengadasalam
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:18:05 +0800

I was extremely delighted to read about the recent Federal Court ruling in the appeal brought by a Tanjong Jara Beach Hotel in deciding that a terminated worker is still entitled for the bonus on a pro rata basis.

This happens quite a bit in the corporate world and has been a concern for many of us who follow employment-related matters keenly.

Many companies out there escapes paying earned bonuses by delaying the payment for some time, resulting in those who leave after the performance period but before the payoff date losing out.

Take for example a company whose appraisal period is from July to June the following year, which is also the bonus period one will be entitled to. If this company delays the bonus payment and says that payment will only be in August, then those who worked their socks off contributing to that results where the bonuses is accrued miss out if they leave after end June but before end August.

We are not talking about the corner shop mamak stall here, some of the culprits are multinationals who espouse the philosophy of integrity and corporate social responsibility, writing very nice articles in the papers on the need to look after staff but continue to implement policy that cheats people due to technicality.

I have always maintained that performance-based bonuses must be paid out if people have worked during that period, to impose additional criteria like one must stay on for a few more months before being eligible is diabolical and downright dishonest. To impose additional conditions is merely turning it into loyalty bonuses.

Many may have been cheated of thousands of dollars this way and this Federal Court decision would now enable those who have been so deprived to start actions to recover the amount lost. Who say that the courts do not protect the small people?
_____________

Radha K Vengadasalam is a Chartered Accountant, and a member of MIA and ICAEW.