Dato Seri Prime Minister, you just have to drop Omar Ong

Today the Malaysian public is talking about the rejection by the Board of Director of Petronas for the Board appointment of Omar Ong. It came out in Singapore's Straits Times yesterday.

Remember you heard about it first on Another Brick in the Wall here on May 18th, 2009. The reason quoted in ST first came out here on May 26th, 2009.

Subsequently, it is here that you heard of an impending appointment of former Minister, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar for Chairmanship post.

This reminds me of the rejection of Khairy's request to be appointed Chief Operating Officer of Khazanah many years ago. Lucky thing it didn't happen. Pak Lah's legacy is already bad. One can't imagine how much worse thinsg could be if it had happened.

Before dwidling further, lets' read the Straits Times report in full below:

Najib’s bid to put aide on Petronas board hits snag

Directors say PM's nominee had defaulted on scholarship; Petronas Adviser says "not good idea."

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bid to appoint his key aide as a director of Petronas is being resisted by the board and could put the Premier at odds with the national oil corporation's influential adviser, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

According to senior government officials, the board of directors of Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) raised reservations over the proposal to appoint Omar Mustapha at its monthly meeting last month.

Omar is one of the premier's closest political confidants.

The reservations were made on the grounds that he had defaulted on his scholarship loan agreement with Petronas two decades ago.

Picture: Mr Omar worked briefly at Petronas, a tenure the oil firm

says was not enough to meet his scholarship obliogation

Najib, however, is determined to have Omar appointed as a director. He ordered the Petronas board to review its position over the appointment at a meeting this week, the government officials said.

Petronas officials have declined comment, and Omar could not be reached.

Dr Mahathir, who government officials said has been briefed about the situation, told The Straits Times yesterday that it was Najib's prerogative as Premier to “appoint a man who failed to honour his obligation to Petronas when he was given a scholarship by it”.

“Generally, I would say that it is not a good thing to appoint such a person,” he said in a written response.

Najib's office did not respond to requests for comments.

Petronas, Malaysia's only company on the Fortune 500 listing of the world's most profitable companies, is considered to be the country's most efficiently managed state-owned corporation.

Incorporated in August 1974, the corporation has firmly established itself as a global energy player over the last two decades. It currently operates in over 30 countries, and its overseas operations, including exports, account for more than 75 per cent of its revenue.

Many oil industry experts and bankers credit the oil company's phenomenal growth to the government's hands-off approach to the running of the oil corporation.

Omar, 38, has emerged as one of the closest political confidants of Najib and is often tapped for advice on economic and financial matters.

“A politician in Petronas may have other agenda which may or may not be in keeping with the national interest,” Dr Mahathir said in his comments to The Straits Times.

He added: “I think it is far better if no politician is allowed to interfere with commercial decisions which may not be good for the corporation.”

Positions on the board of Petronas and its subsidiary companies have traditionally been reserved for very senior civil servants and prominent private sector personalities.

Omar graduated from Oxford on a scholarship from Petronas in the mid-1990s and worked briefly with the national oil corporation and another government-linked corporation.

He then joined McKinsey & Co, where he worked for the international consulting company in London and Malaysia.

He left McKinsey in early 2002 to set up his own consultancy firm called Ethos with several close friends. Two years later, he was tapped by Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister, to become his special officer.

Government officials familiar with Omar's proposed appointment to the board of Petronas said that the national oil corporation takes a firm view against scholarship defaulters.

Omar did not complete the required number of years of service with the oil corporation or a related government agency as stipulated in his scholarship agreement

Dato Seri Najib should take not take this rejection personally but with pride, it auger well to revive confidence in the administration. It shows those assigneed as guardian of the nation's wealth are people of integrity, impecable character, and conviction. It bodes well for public confidence on the Government.

Omar may look to have an impressive resume but on further inspection, it is limited in depth and time. The problem with the Tingkat 4 boys was the same and without wisdom, the messed they have created is irreparable within Najib's first term. He and us have to certainly work hard to gain his second term.

Placing someone before due time is a disastrous decision. Paul Mason shall sell no wine before it's time. So does placing young untested wannabees at high places. If Omar is someone truly of great potential, he has to undergo the time honoured process to prove his mantle.

We can't afford to keep pushing untested young ones without experiacne and wisdom to the forefront. Allow me to quote few.

If we care to remember, what happened to Dato Rosman, a former CEO of Malaysia Airport berhad which was brought to the forefront by Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop and the late Tan Sri Basir Ismail?

After MAC, he joined Pernas Construction as CEO. What happen to Pernas Construction today? Without sufficient knowledge and experiance to guide his underlings, he was a CEO that merely assign and scold. Percon does not exist anymore and had went under. My childhood friend with 30 years in construction had the displeasure of worling under him.

Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop had the pleasure of plucking two young ones to the top of MRCB. Have they turned into wise and humble leaders with the compassion and respect of their army? I am not quite sure. Dato Abdul Rahman and Dato Shahril that used to together lead MRCB is described as a heartless and questioned of honesty.

Rahman is rumoured to takeover Tenaga Nasional Berhad CEO position from Cik Khalib. The disturbing words is he won't accept anything less than RM2 million a year with the pluses.

With Cik Khalib leaving TNB, words are he will be moving to Sime Darby to replace Zubir Mursyid. I am not too sure of the faith of Zubir. With practically "one-product company" TNB making a RM900 million loss, could CK manage a multi-business conglomorate Sime Darby, which is three diversified plantation giant all-in-one?

Is CK being groomed for Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar's Khazanah' top post? And, Azman for Petronas? At least, there is no more talk of Senator and MOF II Azman.

Picking on someone for the top post must not be based on merely personal preferences. He or she must be checked out thorougly and opinions of his peers, competitots and subordinates checked? How many peers and subordinates has Omar Ong accumulated in his career filled with many froggings of one place to another? What is his real core competency? Webmastering?

Thus, I beg of you, Dato Seri Prime Minister. You have to drop Omar Ong and he has to take the time honoured process. You have a wealth of other choices, if you care to ask the right network of people, sir.