The unfortunate political appointments - Sime Darby Plantation

I have so far been supportive of the Muhyiddin's administration as it leads the country in the Covid-19 war.

However, that does not mean that I support everything that the administration is doing right now.

I have been trying to hold back my criticisms as I don't want Muhyiddin and his people to get distracted from their main priority that is to contain the pandemic, which they are doing quite well so far.

But today, I have to write this one criticism of the current government which I feel necessary because if the problem is left unchecked, it will cost the country dearly.

It's about the increasing number of appointments of politicians aligned to the current government into the GLCs.

This is actually the one issue which I don't have a proper reply to when brought up by Pakatan people.

I'm honestly not sure what is Muhyiddin's actual motive for allowing such appointments.

To appoint politicians to GLCs is one thing but to appoint unqualified and proven failed politicians to important posts in GLCs is simply bad and there's no excuse for it.

Still, I have ignored this issue till now as I wanted the focus to be on the Covid-19 war.

I have to admit though that I cringed upon reading news of those appointments....such as Khaled Nordin as Boustead chairman and Tajuddin Rahman as Perasarana chairman.

"Tak ada orang lain ke?" I asked in my heart.

Then came this story at The Edge;

Please click on image to read

The story is that TS Abdul Ghani Othman is to be replaced at Sime Darby Plantation by Pribumi Bersatu disciplinary board chief Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas.

Regular readers of this blog should know that I'm very fond of Ghani since my days in Johor till even after he had retired from politics in 2013.

The guy is one of the few confirmed good men that I know.

I was saddened that they are removing him from Sime Darby but decided not to make noise about it as maybe Muhyiddin has his good reasons to let his former Muar High School classmate being replaced like that.

I was also told by someone close to Ghani that he doesn't mind being removed from the post as he has been helming the company for almost eight years.

Ghani has been doing well in his post, so much so, that he was the only BN political appointee and an Umno personality at GLCs who was not removed by the Pakatan government after GE14.

As far as I know, being a non-executive chairman at Sime Darby, Ghani has never interfered with the actual running of the company and instead acted more as an advisor to the professional executives.

He is not at all like those usual political appointees who screwed up things for the professionals who are supposed to run the GLCs.

For the record, Sime Darby Plantation is doing relatively well, considering the circumstances.

This is the last story I read about the company,

Sime Darby Plantation’s net profit 

up to RM394 million in Q1 2020

That was among the just few good local business news since Covid-19 hit our country.

Then this morning I received a call from a close friend who knows what is happening in Sime Darby.

I asked about the removal of the former Johor MB from Sime Darby and it turned out that he knows quite a bit about it.

According to him, this was how it happened;

- On May 15, just before a Sime Darby Plantation board meeting, Ghani received a letter signed by PNB chief executive Jalil Rasheed informing him that Megat Najmuddin has been appointed as Sime Darby Plantation chairman with immediate effect from the date of the letter.

- Ghani was required to inform the board about the appointment. The letter however did not mention anything about Ghani's removal from the post. Ghani's contract as Sime Darby chairman was supposed to expire in June next year.

- Ghani had then dutifully informed the board about the content of the letter.

- The board members were however very unhappy about it and protested, saying that was not how a chairman of the company was supposed to be replaced. They said Sime Darby Plantation is a public listed company and that the way the irregular appointment was made will have a negative impact on the company as a whole.

- The board members were also most upset because Sime Darby Plantation was supposed to hold its AGM next month and preparations for it was at its final stage. To replace Ghani with Megat now will upset the whole process.

- The Sime Darby Plantation board members had then sent a letter to PNB chairman Zeti Akhtar Aziz to voice their unhappiness over the matter but so far have not receive any reply.

Well, that's the story so far.

I'm not writing this in an attempt to persuade Muhyiddin to keep Ghani as Sime Darby Plantation chairman.

I'm more into letting him know that people are watching and if these sort of nonsense continues, it will affect the people's perception of his administration.

If Ghani, or any of the other GLC heads really need to be replaced, then at least do so properly.

And please don't put useless politicians as their replacements.

I hope, some how, Muhyiddin will get this message and he will do something about it.

My request to him is that, please do things properly and don't squander the people's support given for the Covid-19 war just to satisfy the greed of some quarters for political expediency.

Farewell Tok Mat

Received the sad news that Datuk Ahmad A Talib passed away late this afternoon.

Ex-NST GE Ahmad A Talib dies

Innalillahiwainailaihirojiun.

I know arwah for more than two decades.

He was a good and kind man.

Anyone who knows him will agree with me on that.

Some may even say that he was sometimes too good and kind for his own good.

As some people like to say, nice guys never win wars.

But that's just Tok Mat.

"Ahmad is the quintessential nice-guys-don't-win-wars type. He hasn't got a mean bone in his body," said a friend when we discussed his illness two weeks ago.

Whatever it is, for me, life is not war. It's not about winning or losing.

Life is a journey.

And Allah judges us based on how we conduct ourselves on this journey.

I believe Tok Mat conducted himself well throughout his journey.

Ya, as a human being he, as do all of us have faults, but as far as I'm concerned Tok Mat's good deeds, especially his kindness to others far outweigh his faults.

I pray that Allah placed him among those that He favored.

My condolences to his family and loved ones.

Covid19 Raya: Putting loved ones at risk

I hope I'm wrong but I think there will be a new wave of Covid19 infections within the next few days..

This house where Im now is packed with beraya people.

Im sitting in a corner trying to keep my distance.

I don't know why they are not following the advice to celebrate raya in the safe confines of their own homes.

It seems that people are forgetting there's a pandemic at the moment.

The main road outside is also busy with traffic of people going berhari raya.

Don't know lah.

Hopefully not too many will die after this raya.

Sometimes I don't understand why people can be so reckless and thoughtless, putting the lives of their loved ones at risk.

Maybe it got something to do with our education system.

Honestly, I'm very dissapointed.

Well, what to do....just have to live with it and try to survive the best that we could.

I'm writing this using my phone, so I can't write longer.

Hopefully you all have a more pleasant and safer raya than me.

Cheers.

Raya eve blues, let us have fresh GE

Received this after Subuh prayers early this morning;

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/world/asia/malaysia-politics-najib.html

This is my reply,

EC ready for snap general election 

amidst Covid-19 crisis

excerpts;

EC chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said managing a large-scale general election while the country is dealing with the pandemic would be challenging but not impossible.

He said the commission began preparing for this eventuality when the Dewan Rakyat recently accepted a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, which was filed by his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Ya, I don't mind having a snap general election now....even amidst this Covid-19 crisis, so just to shut them up.

That nice guy Art Harun said his EC outfit is ready, so let's have it.

Hopefully Muhyiddin see this post some how and when they go after him again on July 13, he can just dissolves parliament and let us have a fresh general election.

If there's a new Covid-19 outbreak afterwards because of that, we can blame it on Pakatan for being crazy for power.

And for all you know, BN, Pas and their allies will win the election on their own....just like they did in the last five by-elections.

Baru padan muka orang Pakatan, especially those DAP ones.

Eh, enough lah. I need to help in the kitchen now. 

We are making lontong daun pisang for Raya tomorrow. 

Can't do ketupat because hard to get young coconut leaves under this MCO.

Banana leaves can just take from behind the house.

Okay, that's all.

Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin.

Covid-19 Raya: Let us not be selfish like those politicians

This is a very good advice,

Covid-19: Best to just stay at home during Raya

excerpts;

“Better yet, this is only an advice and not a policy, don’t leave home at all. Don’t go visiting and just celebrate Hari Raya at home with your immediate family members,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

That's exactly what I'm going to do this weekend.

I hope others will do too.

We really can't afford a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's really not worth celebrating Raya if only to later on being totally confined again and the economy takes even longer to be revived.

I also totally support this,

Covid-19: Zero tolerance for those 

attempting interstate travel for Raya

excerpts;

Those attempting to cross state borders will from now on be issued compounds instead of just being asked to turn back.

We really need to let go of everything for now so that we could quickly overcome this Covid-19 crisis.

Let's not be like those politicians who insisted on having their drama while we, the common people are struggling to survive the pandemic.

They wanted to topple and replace the current government, if possible right at this very moment, despite it having performed very well so far in containing the virus.

As if they could have done or will do better with their infighting and power crazy leaders.

If we look back at the way they conducted themselves during their 22 months in power, and if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that it would be a complete disaster if they were the ones running the government when Covid-19 hit our country.

And now, after kicking their own butt out of power, they want to create trouble again.

Selfish bastards.

Those who know me or read this blog since its early days should know that I hardly criticise Dr Mahathir. In fact, I defended him on many occasions to a point that I was accused by some pro-BN bloggers of actually being pro-Pakatan.

But for this Reuters' story, I have to say I totally oppose Dr Mahathir,

Mahathir promises 'very big trouble' for Malaysia's ruling coalition

excerpts;

“(Muhyiddin) is going to be in very great trouble. Because whatever chance we have to prove that it is not legitimate for him to be the prime minister, we will do that.”

What's the need to make things difficult for Muhyiddin and his administration while they are leading us in the battle against Covid-19 pandemic?

Is this what the rakyat really want?

Or is it just the Pakatan people who want to be back in power?

I actually felt sad when I read that.

Dr Mahathir is now 94 and he still has to continue doing that.

Honestly, I wish him to just rest and be at peace.

I really hope we don't have to go through another political battle before we could really overcome the Covid-19 crisis.

Reviving tourism more important than reviving Pakatan's ambition - Agong

They had a one-day parliament sitting yesterday under the Covid-19 cloud.

I'm sure you all have read it.

The Agong told the politicians to stop their political bullshit and let the government he appointed to revive the country as the pandemic slowly eases.

He reminded everyone that after Dr Mahathir resigned, he had tried to persuade the handsome old man to take back the job, but was not successful.

He then had to appoint Muhyiddin because the man has the most support in parliament as per required by the constitution.

Ya, what else they want the Agong to do?

I believe the Agong was directing that part of his speech yesterday to the Pakatan Harapan MPs, who were still making noises about immediately taking back power from the Muhyiddin's administration.

He even told them not to drag the country into another round of political crisis after what they did with their Game of Throne nonsense at the end of the Pakatan government's days in power.

The Agong also made a point to described the current government as "kerajaan beta", meaning that if you go against it, that means you are going against the royal institution and the country's constitutional monarchy system.

I like the diplomatic yet firm tone of Sultan Abdullah's message yesterday.

However, I'm not hopeful of the Pakatan MP to really understand what the Agong was trying to tell them.

They were still talking nonsense till today, saying that the government was not fair for not allowing their motion of no-confidence to be tabled yesterday.

Really thick skulls.

Eh, it's Covid-19 la. Can't wait for proper sitting ka?

Sigh.

And seriously, do they really have the number.

My last count, the best that Pakatan could muster was 107, short of the needed 112.

Well, even if they win the no confidence vote, Muhyiddin could just dissolves parliament for a fresh general election.

And my calculations indicate that they will get trashed by Umno, Pas and their allies if that happened.

You think people like it that you force the government to be dissolved while it was battling the Covid-19 pandemic?

People will instead punish you la.

People for now just want to survive Covid-19 and the unemployment that will soon follow for many of them.

The Pakatan people really should heed the advise of the Agong to give priority to reviving the country's economy so that people will have jobs to feed their family.

This is one of the highlights of his speech yesterday which I found to be fresh and interesting;

Agong wants tourism to be revived, 

expresses confidence in government 

Typical of Sultan Abdullah to be concerned about these sort of things.

He must have known how important it is to revive the tourism industry as so many Malaysians - from sophisticated stewardesses who work for airlines to Makcik Kiah who sells kueh to tourists who check out her stall by the roadside - are dependent on it for their source of income.

Reviving tourism is more important at the moment than reviving the Pakatan's political ambition, okay.

Even the Agong can see that.

Of course, other industries are important too.

Still, we need to get our priorities right - for now, rakyat didahulukan, politicians' ambition dikendian-kendiankan.

Oh, and with that, here is again the picture of Sultan Abdullah and his rakyat which I took myself during his visit to the flood relief shelter at the Temerloh R&R of the East Coast Highway during the major flood of 2014/2015,

Daulat Tuanku.

Please let Taiwan rejoins WHO

I learnt that they are going to vote tomorrow on whether to give back Taiwan its observer status at the World Health Organisation.

I actually read about it here just now,

Food hunting in Kuchai Lama

excerpts;

Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island, was expelled from the World Health Organisation in 1971 and from 2009 to 2016, Taiwan could still attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer. However, that came to an end in 2017.

Come Monday (May 18, 2020) representatives of 194 countries will have a virtual WHA and one of the highlights of the meeting is to vote whether Taiwan will be back on board as an observer.

It’ll be interesting to see if the bigger nations, especially India who will be helming the World Health Organisation (WHO) beginning Friday (May 22, 2020), will give its vote to the tiny powerhouse.

I hope they let Taiwan in again.

If I have my way, I want them to let Taiwan in as a full member.

They really shouldn't exclude that country in the first place just because of pressure from the communists in Beijing.

I believe that if Taiwan had not been expelled from WHO and later on ignored by it, the Covid-19 fight may have been much more successful.

Covid-19: US accuses WHO 

of ignoring Taiwan’s early warnings

excerpts;

Taiwan, which has succeeded in limiting its Covid-19 casualties to just five deaths despite the island’s proximity and ties with China, warned the WHO on Dec 31 of human-to-human transmission.

Its vice- president Chen Chien-Jen, who is an epidemiologist, told the Financial Times that Taiwanese doctors had learned that fellow medical workers in Wuhan were falling ill but their reports were not acted upon by WHO.

I really hope the countries of the world will change their attitude towards Taiwan.

They should stop just .thinking of profits to be made from doing business with the communists in Beijing.

The Covid-19 crisis should teach them that there are more important values that need to be considered other than just the corporate bottom line.

Covid-19 didn't start in Taiwan, okay.

Taiwan has better transparency and accountability because it's a democratic country.

Well, if you are interested to read more about what I think of Taiwan, please click on this link;

Chinese Merdeka 

Okay, that's all for today.

Here is a video of Taiwan's successful effort in containing the Covid-19 pandemic