UEM Group in the news yesterday

UEM Group mulls jobs in Vietnam, Cambodia

By Mustapha Kamil and Shahriman Johari
Business Times, Friday, July 10, 2009

UEM Group Bhd has been offered huge projects in Vietnam and is also mulling whether to accept a contract to build a bridge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The projects in Vietnam are worth a "few billion US dollars", chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.

They are in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, and work includes building an airport and a port.

"It's so big that we may have to rope in other Malaysian contractors," Tajuddin said.

The bridge project in Cambodia is worth about US$100 million (RM356 million) and UEM is in the final stages of evaluating the job.

Vietnam has been a favourite destination for Malaysian builders, with companies like SP Setia Bhd and Gamuda Bhd already having a presence as they seek to grow profits amid a slowing home market.

UEM Group has ventured abroad through its construction arm UEM Builders Bhd, mainly to countries like India and Qatar.

Tajuddin also said that UEM was confident of defending itself against a legal suit from the Qatar Public Works Organisation.

"We have received from the Qatari authorities the certificate of completion for the entire Salwa Road project. We have also got the extension of time for the job to January 31 2009," he said.

Because of this, UEM Group will not make provisions for the suit. At the same time, it also has a RM1 billion claim for work already done for the same project.

It is understood that the Qatar Public Works Organisation is seeking damages, reportedly about 878.3 million Qatari riyal (RM880 million), against design consulting engineer Parsons International Ltd, UEM and Qatar Insurance Co over work on the Salwa International Road.

UEM has been named as the second defendant in the suit, Tajuddin said.

Note: I knew it. I can feel it. Just as anticipated yesterday, I couldn't been able to sit down to write about the meeting. My appointment yesterday took me all the way till 11:00 pm and its a similar schedule today.

I am rushing to put up this posting as I try to avail myself somewhere for an early morning event. After that, the Friday prayers. A rush to Putrajaya for a late afternoon do. Then, back to the venue of the morning event.

Much regret.

In the meanwhile, read the above news clipping from Business Times yesterday. Tan Sri mentioned similar things to "A Voice" that morning. That must be the reason he looked calm and confident. When asked, "How big is your problem?", his answer was, "No. We do not have any problem."

I will share with you'll Monday la. Enjoy your SFA or at least, pretend to enjoy it. Have a good weekend.

"A Voice" met the UEM Chairman

Two commentators asked about a rumour that there was a meeting arranged between myself and UEM Group Chairman Tan Sri Tajuddin Ali.

If I've got my little birds, someone else would have their PIs. If it is a PI and they can afford it, use it as long it has positive intention. But not to victimise staff.

Yes, someone close to "A Voice" did met up Tan Sri Tajuddin yesterday morning in PJ. Someone really close. He could be A Voice or he probably is not.

Tan Sri was wearing a red T Shirt and so was "A Voice". Rocky Bru was there. They had breakfast and spoke on many issues. The conversation was open, frank and friendly.

They touched on a wide range of issues - about the UEM Group, the delisting excercise, new CEO, off course the Qatar deal, and personal stuff. It so happen Tan Sri's wife was from an area "A Voice" grew up in JB.

It is seldom that "A Voice" is willing to meet his subject matter. "A Voice" is not a journalist but merely "A Brick in the Wall" expressing his personal concerns. "A Voice" is not obliged to self restrain and sometimes intensive checking in journalism. It is journalist self restraint that there is now the unreasonable expectation on bloggers to be the "Woodward and Bernstein".

In this case, "A Voice" was willing to meet the man simply because this Tajuddin he has much admiration. Furthermore, his reaction to the expose by "A Voice" has been open. Thats good. He has nothing to hide. Off course, he could do more in engaging the new media but he has his reasons.

"A Voice" trust his integrity to keep his anonymous identity under wrap. "A Voice" doesn't not need the personal fame but merely wants the privacy to blog in peace without being frequently stopped by pretty young things for autographs.

It would have been timely to write about it this morning but I am on kind of a tight schedule today. "A Voice" do cari makan and as normal human, has his commitments. And some blogger claim some politicians keep me on their payroll?

Having met the man, "A Voice" can't simply whack. Probably, that meeting blunted my sharp keybords. On the other hand, I can't requote whatever was said in its entirety. Someone is likely to accuse me of being bought over an omelette, sausages, tomato mushroom and croissant. Man, am I cheap?

Frankly, "A Voice" need to gather his thoughts first. The conversation was going on so smooth that "A Voice" didn't want to disrupt Tan Sri's flow. We were on eye to eye contact. Perhaps "A Voice" must be thinking he is a hotshot like Rocky Bru who could rewrite a whole quote from memory only.

Arrogance may have creep up his head. "A Voice" was having breakfast with a Tan Sri. Pakai selekeh-selekh pun ada Tan Sri nak jumpa.

Do allow me to gather my thoughts and check out some facts. Remember that I have not wrote anything on UEM since June 22nd. I need to sieve through the 125 comments on my June 22nd posting and the postings before.

Omigod ... you people can really bash each other up. Frankly, a lot of the issues raised is too personal in nature and some are out of my scope. But it is indicative of pent up frustation and poor staff morale. And, I raised this issue with Tan Sri.

Dato Izzadin needs to learn up interpersonal skill and public relation fast. None of that apple stuff, ok Zadin? You don't need Cik Zaherah's acknowledgement. We are in adult world.

It is indicative SFA, or WTF it is, didn't really work. Little bird said one can really have a good time at SFA, really really good time.

Apart from sieving the comments, bear in mind that UEM have a legal case in Qatar. Tan Sri said he had nothing to hide and left it to my good judgement. Shoot, now I am responsible to make good judgement. Frankly, I can't divulge all that was said that could affect the gameplan for the case.

My assurance is I didn't take in everything Tan Sri said "hook, line and sinker." Kita pun ada kaki yang high level. Tan Sri was not in thick of the action of the Qatar deal. He joined in 2007.

But one thing I agree with him. He wouldn't have join UEM in 2007 just to soil his good reputation.

The writeup should be up tomorrow, if I do not get called up on last minute somewhere. In the meanwhile, I repost a commentators who divulge management's knowledge of the Qatar problem back in 2006. That was before Tan Sri joined.

There are other gloomy pieces of information and dicument/(s) but I will limit at that. After that gloomy senario, then come my more positive posting of the meeting.

I am sure the few of you guys must be sharpening your knives. Tan Sri felt or probably was briefed that the resentment towards management is not widespread but limited to a few.

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PREDICTED LOSSES FOR UEMWORLD (UEMW) FOR 2QFY2006

Preamble

During the month of April 2006, Dato’ Ahmad Pardas Senin (DAPS) had pledged to the business community that “UEM World to turn around” (Star Business Section 18 April 2006). He added that “no provisioning would be made this year” suggesting that the projects in Qatar and India by UEM Builders will cease reporting losses for the year 2006. He went on to add that “If we do not meet the KPIs, someone else would be presenting this corporate briefing next year.’’ Well, that someone else should start warming DAPS seat as the report below describes the imminent losses that UEMWorld and UEM Builders will face.

Tracing the financial reports over the past 3 years, it appears that UEM Builders have been making provision for its operational losses in Qatar and India to a tune of RM400 million. UEMW books reported a provisioning of loss of RM103million last year and DAPS promised that there will be no more. Was he misleading the business community with his ignorance of the issues that his management team have been trying to advise him? The context of this report was based on information from concerned staff from all quarters in the UEM Group.

1 - Salwa Road Project

Salwa Road project was procured through a competitive bidding in 2002 but the project was only awarded in Nov 2003 (Gulf Times). The tender was won on a fair basis and the tender price submitted by other bidders from Europe, Korea and China was close.

Unfortunately, when UEM commenced operations, it coincided with the sudden expansion of construction projects in Qatar who will be hosting the Asian Games 2006. The Middle East region was also booming with the increase in oil prices that pushed other material prices in the region upwards. The boom in China and the “sponge effect” also contributed to the spiraling prices to essential materials such as steel, copper, aluminium, etc.

Basically, UEM was caught at the wrong time and at the wrong place. Not wanting to abandon the project as it was seen to be a “National service” to complete the project at whatever cost, the Board of UEM/UEMW/UEMB did not heed the advice of the management to terminate the contract and stop the potential financial bleeding that was to come. The Boards looked for a scape goat to cover its tracks and the former MD of UEM Builders Dato’ Mohd Nor Idrus was given the privilege under the pretext of early retirement. DAPS again let his cannon loose by informing the world through ITP, an international and market leader publisher in the Middle East on technology, business, consumer and construction matters. He blames the overseas losses in Qatar on “its previous sporadic opportunistic strategy” (ITP Construction 3 May 2006).

In other words, he had faulted Dato’ Wahid Omar his predecessor for the “sporadic strategy” thus further rubbing salt into the wound. But what was eye catching was that DAPS had reported a QR514million loss (equivalent to RM503 million). This is in contradiction to that was reported in the annual audited reports described earlier. Did DAPS knew something about the actual losses and had withheld information from his Board and the business community?

2 - Current State of Affairs

The authorities in Qatar have been blamed for contributing to the increasing losses faced by UEM. It was informed that UEM had told the authorities that they have incurred cost of QR688 million against revenue of QR288 million. This is against a backdrop of 55% physical progress. A deficit of QR400 million has been bandied around but the Qataris are holding firm to state that they will not entertain the claims from UEM as per the provisions of the contract.

Whilst it can be arguable that UEM may have some cause for claims, traditionally, any disputes will have to be channeled through the litigation route via the Courts of Qatar. The process is long, tedious and may cause UEM to spend more money for hiring international Arabic lawyers, translators eventually. Notwithstanding this, the litigation route would spell an end to further forays into Qatar by the UEM Group as the Arabs are known to expel companies that take them to court! DAPS in his press statement (Sun 26 May 2006) confirmed that UEM will take legal action to recover additional costs it incurred. The Qataris are aware of UEM’s intention and is now positioning themselves for a battle. Was it a wise move to tell the whole world your intention especially to your enemy who is now preparing his counter strategy?

3 - The Loss – What next?

So what is the loss that will be suffered by UEM in Qatar eventually? There is a strong possibility that the losses will eventually be in the region of RM500 mil as quoted by DAPS. The costing personnel and auditors are now coming up with projections to this estimate. So how is DAPS going to treat the provisioning of further losses to a tune of about RM500 million when he promised the business community and the financial world that there will be no provisioning in 2006? Was the road show with the media and finance analyst in April 2006 to hood winking everyone to spice up the shares of UEMW and UEM Builders? It was rumored that prior to this event, the image and performance of DAPS was not impressive and there was a need for him to show to his Masters at Putrajaya that he had the magic wand to turn around UEM. So did he do it to save his own skin?

It is always said that “desperate man will do desperate things”. If the additional provision of losses is inevitable in the coming financial reporting, it would not be surprising that some form of fudge actions will be put in place to cover up the entire affair to save embarrassment and of course his position as MD. What are his options? For one, he may look to his faithful friend at UEM Builders to fudge the figures to hide the losses. Second, if this is not possible as the cash flow will eventually rear its ugly head, DAPS may try to pass on the losses into UEM Bhd books since it is not a public listed entity. Is this morally correct as whoever is carrying the can, it involves tax-payers money! This is a more likely scenario but this option will need the blessings from Khazanah. Tough call ahead by Datuk Azman Mokhtar who selected DAPS as the man to turn around UEM but instead will discover that he will be “turned around” by DAPS.

The third option would involve a Government to Government settlement that is indirectly a bail-out for UEM. For this to happen, it is almost certain the Government of Qatar will ask for favors in the international agenda e.g. trade agreements, geo-political issues such as OIC chairmanship support, etc. All these at the expense of the Government of Malaysia. At least, some compensation can be received to minimize the bleeding suffered by UEM. Having said this, the loose cannon speech by DAPS stating that legal pursuit will be activated has not helped this option to be materialized.

Summary

Whatever it may be, DAPS will need to reprimanded for the way he has handled the business community by misleading everyone from day one. The Masters at Putrajaya must be alerted so that something can be put right before it is too late.

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PREDICTED LOSSES FOR UEMWORLD (UEMW) FOR 4QFY2006

Latest news from Qatar is that the losses by UEM continue to mount and things are not getting prettier by the day. Despite declaring a provisional loss of about RM 200 million in 2005 and Mr Ahmad Pardas Senin (MD of UEMWorld) committing to no further provisions of losses will be made in 2006, the attempts to hide the truth is becoming more and more difficult by the day. 2006 is coming to an end and what has been achieved in terms of progress is just over 60% progress. The main line expressway was rushed to be completed in time for the Doha Asian Games. The "so called completed expressway" was a actually a cover up as the final pavement layers were not carried in accordance to specifications and design in most areas. This is now obvious as reported in the Gulf Times(refer to news article in Appendix 1). And if one were to travel along Salwa Road, one would observe the pavement layer in several areas to be cracking after opening to traffic less than 2 months ago. At this point in time the damage is still being investigated but the cost of repairs would probably be in the region of QR 200 million at the expense of UEM.

The attempt to cover up the cost overrun incurred by UEM is becoming more and more obvious. Staff involved in the project has been told that all documents regarding budgetary cost plans and claims related to the project is off limits and there is a clamp down on circulation of these documents. Even the contracts claims staff have no access to these documents, suggesting that the cost overrun has now ballooned to more than QR 800 million in losses. It was also reported that UEM has not been paid for 4 consecutive bills totaling QR80 million as the Client Ashgal is now going to impose Penalties. Our source in Ashgal has informed us that UEM has been issued an Extension of Time of about 40 days from the original completion period of April 2006 and UEM is now incurring Penalty cost at a tune of QR 315,000 per day starting from June 2006 to the anticipated completion date. Even if UEM is terminated in February 2007, the penalty will aggregate to a sum of QR 94,500,000 for 10 months. Please note that there is no ceiling in the Contract and the exchange rate for QR and RM is almost 1:1!

So what is the cost overrun anticipated by UEM which the company is so tight-lipped about? 2 scenarios exist:

Scenario 1: If UEM is terminated by Ashgal, the direct impact is encashment of performance bonds (QR 44mil), the loss of working capital borrowed (QR400mil), the loss of 4 months of unpaid claims & retention sum (QR 120mil), the loss of plant & equipment (QR 50mil), rectification cost of defects (QR 200mil), penalties (QR 94.5mil) & Ashgal’s back charges to complete the remaining work (QR 400 mil). All this comes to a staggering total of QR 1310 mil.

Scenario 2: If UEM continues with the project and are unsuccessful with the claims, the cost overrun is anticipated to be construction cost (QR 500 mil), Penalties (QR 113 mil for 12 months), defect rectification (QR 200 mil) totaling QR 813 mil.

Notwithstanding the high probable imposition of Penalties, Ashgal is now mooting to terminate the contract due to the insipid performance displayed by UEM over the last 1 year. With many experienced staff being removed and or leaving the project and frequent changes to the top hierarchy chain of command, major confusion exist at the site level of who is really in charge of the project and the staff are generally demotivated and lost in the woods.

Should UEM be terminated or even strive to finish the project, the consequential losses to UEM will be definitely exceed QR 800 million and will be the final blow adding more woes of the GLC in making a comeback trail.

Khazanah to hit or be hit by the M&A trail?

The frontpage of last Thursday's The Star Business Section placed Azman Mokhtar's quote at the top page. Thinking of the failure and questionable deals by Khazanah companies abroad, the prospect of Khazanah's plan to go on the Merger & Acquisition trail is shuddering.

Khazanah was originally formed in late 90s/early 2000s as a holding company to place all of Governmnet's strategic investments into one. When it was formed, the idea was to consolidate the Government's strategic assets and increase ability to invest for the nation's economic future in building capacity and capability in new technologies and economic sectors.

To-date, that objective have not been for all intended purposes met. In fact, that's a common recurring problem in this country. Institutions are established for a specific long term purpose. Change in national leadership and some smart alec will propose an idea to change the objective and the original purpose is ignored. Problems remain unsolved to eternity.

During Tun Abdullah's administration and Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop leadership of GLC, Khazanah was turned into a portfolio manager of Government's asset. Instead of acting as true managers able to turnaround companies and enhance companies, they were merely financial man taking shortcuts through corporate restructuring after corporate restructuring and financial asset shuffling.

That made billions for the Merchant and Investment Bankers but it did not translate into enhancing the brick and mortar of businesses. All these had minimal direct impact towards the creation of real goods and services that could help increase economic activities domestically, create export income, and create jobs and oppurtunities for Malaysian entrepreneurs, if not Bumis.

It's too far fetch to expect them to carry the Malay Agenda. These accountant trained CEOs understanding of Malay Agenda is only limited to scholarships and jobs for Malays. The term Malays is very much interchangable with Bumiputeras.

Talking about jobs and unemployment, Khazanah companies were the biggest contributor of unemployment. Their idea of corporate turnaround is merely finanical. By retrenching staff of GLCs in the hundreds of thousands, they show cost and overhead is down. As far as revenue building, don't ask. ACCA, ICMA and MACPA taught them that only via low cost could more profit be achieved. There is no such thing as production and marketing in business (sarcasm).

With the current economic situation, is another round expected from this lazy buggers?

Such thinking comes along with the introduction of the magic KPI culture. Quarterly results in the US pleases market players but puts companies into myopic short-term outlook driven by short-term profits. Long term investment slacks and innovation put aside. Institutions became gamblers and players in financial markets and esoteric investment products.

The heavy emphasis on KPI as part of its restructuring plan introduced into GLCs by Ethos Consulting basically retune workers, officers and managers, not only short term outlook but, into turf mindset.

Other than the introduction of KPI, the first phase of GLC transformation was about assessing performance, reforming the Board, restructuring and leadership change. That is suppose to last between 2004 to 2007. The second phase (middle 2005-2006) was manualisation and tehre are some 10 manuals in all types of colurs. The third phase (2007-2010) was about achieving significant results.

Only at the fourth phase will it be about benefiting the nation. It must be too grandiose and alien for a Government corporation to put the people and nation ahead of everything else.

There were four claiemd mandates placed upon them. The fourth mandate, after restructuring, GLC transformation, and corridor development, is new investment. Khazanah announced it will be selling off assets not related to it's businesses. This substantiate the earlier claim that Khazanah is a mere portfolio manager and not subscribing to the idea and spirit of it's formation.

Question is to whom will these assets sold off to? Now that Najib had made his liberalisation announcement, the concern is will it mean strategic assets falling to foreigners' hands? The former Tingkat 4 are experts and will always lend their experise and network in this area. Tingkat 4's Ganen Savaranan is still working with Khazanah and have an important position and role.

The fact that M&A is announced as the way forward shows the myopic, generic and predictable thinking of Khazanah management. M&A should not be the only way for new investments or creation of new businesses. But it is the easy and lazy way for corporate and finance man to expand or create new businesses and/or investments.

The predictable and comfortable choices for these corporate and financial men are usually limited to financial assets - property, development, land sales, banks, share equity, bonds, and stuff like that.

M&A serve their purpose to short circuit time and achieve perception of results fast but comes with its own set of problems. Ask ourselves the extent of socio-economic benefit to the people and nation in M&A excercises? Compare that to organic generation and growth. Organic approach supported by R&D help to build capability and capacity in knowledge, experiance and expertise.

Where is the balance and right approach? It depends on the objective and strategy. Does Khazanah have a clear objective and strategy? To date, it is not clear and operationable. It sounds like consultants talking nothing.

Returning again to Khazanah's original purpose of inception, will these investments they intend to be on the M&A trail bring about that much needed expertise for capability and capacity expansion for the future? Will Khazanah invest into the much needed innovation and R&D? Does transforming SME into giants too leceh for Khazanah? Are they merely talking rhetorics about building global brand? What happen to UEM The Nation Builder?

But off course, buy buy buy and we have things instantly. But is it enhancing value or tambah nilai as Tun Lah used to talk about? Or an expensive and lazy way to fulfill KPI?

What if the M&A target is abroad? This is where more shuddering.

Khazanah have failed miserably in it's overseas foray. Ganen is now very quiet waiting out for public to forget his failures and newspaper and blogs stopped talking about him.

Under his responsibility, Ganen was buying overpriced assets and at wrong timings. Bank Indonesia Internasional buyout by Maybank is a glaring example. Then, the cases of Telekom investment in Singtel subsidiary and in return a major block of Telekom shares are given to Temasik. There are than the increasing list of losing concern contracts abroad like in the case of UEM in Qatar, and India. With some research, the list of investment failures could be really long.

The thing is Khazanah have been very generic in it's transformation and there is no substantial value enhancement except the corporate game under the disguise of "enhancing shareholders value".

Imagine the hundreds of millions spend for endless new names, imaging and corporate branding such as Axiata for this purpose. Why must a Malaysian company not have something Malaysian as brand like Singtel, Indotel, etc.?

Have they been turning around companies as they claim. UEM is deep in a shit of mess but hiden from the public eyes. Till today, they don't know how to turnaround MAS other than cut routes to give to Airasia, retrench staff, replace with young Ernst & Young Chinese staff without inkling of Airline business, and sell assets to pass off as operational profit.

On the Malay Agenda, Khazanah's role have been mere tokenism and copycating efforts already done by Government but with a little different branding.

Former MARA Directors like Abdul Wahab Alwi, Mohamad Gani etc can come out with better programs than Khazanah's Oxbridge and Ivy Leaguers. There is nothing extraordinary and no profound significant effort. Purely polemics.

They are now creating a PTD exclusivity culture in Khazanah to turn a set of people as CEOs to be circulated at the top management of all Khazanah and GLCs. A dismissed CEO will be the coach. Imagine staff and management morale in the Companies?

Having read all these, can you blame me for shuddering?

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Khazanah hits the M&A trail

By DANNY YAP
The Star Online, July 2, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd is in the offensive mood for potential mergers and acquisitions (M&As) now that the global economy is on a better footing, says managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.

For the first-half year, Azman said Khazanah had to be defensive, which reflected its crisis-management stance then, to ensure that government-linked companies (GLCs) could weather the economic crisis.

“It appears that the worst is over for the global economy. Khazanah is now more on the offence for business opportunities that may entail M&A activities,” he said yesterday.

He was speaking at a media briefing after delivering his speech on Graduating To A Higher Class – Catalyzing A New Domestic Economy at Invest Malaysia 2009.

Asked if any M&As were pending, Azman declined to comment, except to say that the company was more open to M&A activities under the current economic climate.

“We are always in talks with various parties,” he said, adding that in any M&A activity, it would like to have the majority stake and management control of local companies, although that could be different with foreign companies.

Azman also said Khazanah would accelerate the trend of divesting through trade sales and reduce its stakes in large listed GLCs, subject to value, over the next two to three years.

“In the last five years, Khazanah has made divestments totalling RM12.6bil, locking in gains of RM3.6bil over 20 transactions,” he noted.

The Government’s investment arm had been gradually selling down stakes, especially through the issuance of exchangeable bonds and sukuk over the years, and might use the same instruments for future divestments, he said.

“We like exchangeable bonds and sukuk mostly because these instruments allow us to build value and get premium. However, one caveat is that it depends on the stage of the market and the value in the company.

Azman cited some of the successful sales – Bintulu Port, Port of Tanjung Pelepas, RHB Bank, Tradewinds Hotel and Time DotCom – which had resulted in a more efficient ownership structures that allowed new owners to gain more scale or enter into new and better alliances.

However, he said, Khazanah would retain investments in strategic assets in specific sectors such as power.

Meanwhile, Bernama quoted Azman as saying that investments totalling a staggering RM11.4bil had been executed in Iskandar Malaysia. The amount is 26.7% of the RM42.7bil investment committed since the inception of Iskandar Malaysia in November 2007.

It said Khazanah was also investing about RM90 mil in Small Bone Innovations, Inc, a leading US-based specialised orthopedics company.

* Edited and Updated 6:25 PM

Musical Interlude: Independence Day ... Ma B'day

Since the release of Bruce Sprinsteen's 1980 album, one song I kept playing on the night of July 4th (US time) would be Independence Day. My favourite on that album is album title, The River (Go hear here).

The night of July 4th is the early morning of July 5th in Malaysia. One morning several decades back, a child was born in a kampung in Johor. The mother returned to her mother's home to deliver her first baby and it was her mother's first grandchild.

That child was me. I was born just before subuh at around the time this posting is uploaded. The azan greeted my arrival.

Why do I associate my Birthday with Springsteen's Independence Day?

One reason would be my birthday coincide with the night they celebrate Independence Day firework by the Charles River in Boston or at Times Square New York. I happen to have celebrated Birthday at both these places.

Secondly, the song title gives a patriotic sound to my Birthday.

Thirdly and last, it is a soulful song about the coming of age a young man whose time has come to leave the nest. It has a rebelious ring to it.

At one stage in my life, I had suppressed my desire to be more expressive and forthright. It is this song that keep reminding to be my own.

Listen to the You Tube and the lyrics are below:

Well Papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now
I'll be leaving in the morning from St. Mary's gate
We wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow

`Cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us
There's a darkness in this town that's got us too
But they can't touch me now and you can't touch me now
They ain't gonna do to me what I watched them do to you

So say goodbye it's Independence day
Its Independence Day all down the line
Just say goodbye it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day this time

Now I don't know what it always was with us
We chose the words and yeah we drew the lines
There was just no way this house could hold the two of us
I guess that we were just too much of the same kind

Well say goodbye it's Independence Day
All boys must run away come Independence Day
So say goodbye it's Independence Day
All men must make their way come Independence Day

Now the rooms are all empty down at frankies joint
And the highway she's deserted down to breakers point
There's a lot of people leaving town now
Leaving their friends their homes
At night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone

Well papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say can change anything now
Because there's just different people coming down here now
And they see things in different ways
And soon everything weve known will just be swept away

So say goodbye it's Independence Day
Papa now I know the things you wanted that you could not say
But wont you just say goodbye it's Independence Day
I swear I never meant to take those things away

Ish Ish Ish ... You shouldn't call KJ corrupt, Karpal :)

Karpal-Khairy name-calling in Parliament

Karpal being wheeled out of the Dewan Rakyat chamber after being ejected by the speaker

By Deborah Loh, The Nutgraph

KUALA LUMPUR, 2 July 2009: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parliamentarians staged a walkout in support of Karpal Singh who was ejected from the Dewan Rakyat today following an exchange of words with Umno Member of Parliament (MP) Khairy Jamaluddin.

Karpal, the DAP chairperson, and Khairy, who is Umno Youth chief, locked horns over the fracas with four Selangor Umno Youth leaders who on 26 Feb 2009 harassed and obstructed Karpal from entering Parliament.

Karpal, the MP for Bukit Gelugor, was told to leave the house by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia after he retorted that Khairy was "unworthy" of accusing him because Khairy was "a person guilty of corruption".

Plenty of name-calling was exchanged between the PR and Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs as they debated a motion to adopt the punishments recommended by a select parliamentary committee set up to probe the February incident.

The proposed punishment for the four Youth leaders was a RM1,000 fine each, which they paid in Parliament today. The four leaders who were fined were Serdang Umno Youth head Ungku Mat Salleh, Petaling Jaya Utara Youth chief Latt Shahrizan Abdullah, Gombak Youth chief Megat Zulkarnain Omar Din, and Shah Alam Youth chief Azhari Shaari.

The committee had also called for eight PR MPs to be admonished by the speaker for refusing to attend the inquiry either as witnesses or as committee members. They are Karpal himself, Fong Po Kuan, Lim Lip Eng, N Gobalakrishnan, Fong Kui Lun, Lim Kit Siang, Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, and R Sivarasa.

The motion was passed by BN MPs after Lim (Ipoh Timur-DAP) led the remaining PR legislators out of the House when Karpal left.

Karpal stood his ground for a while after Pandikar ordered him out, demanding higher fines and stiffer punishment for the Umno Youth leaders, including arrests and court action.

Fong (Batu Gajah-DAP) said Pandikar should not chair the session to debate the motion due to a conflict of interest, as he had also chaired the select committee that investigated the incident.

Datuk Razali Ibrahim Khairy (Rembau-BN) tried to rebut Karpal by saying that the Umno Youth leaders had already apologised to Parliament for their actions.

Khairy added that none of them had touched Karpal's body and that the four had only wanted Karpal to account for his allegation that Umno Youth had sent him live bullets and for his use of the word "celaka" on the youth wing. Karpal had made this accusation in the Dewan Rakyat on 25 Feb.

Karpal started it

In the Parliament lobby, Khairy told reporters after the motion was passed that Karpal was "a big fat liar" who "did not dare" to repeat his allegation about the live bullets outside of the House.

"He knows that he can say it inside the Dewan because of parliamentary immunity. I have challenged him to repeat it outside but he will not.

"He is the root cause of why the incident happened, his lack of respect for Parliament, for the rulers, for Pemuda Umno, and his tendency to keep on lying. Today is proof that he is an MP who lies through his teeth," Khairy said.

Khairy said the payment of the RM1,000 fine and the Youth leaders' apology to Parliament showed that they had taken responsibility for their actions, whereas no action was taken against Karpal for his "foul mouth".

"We should have more strenuous punishment for MPs who flout rules and who disrespect the House. He should apologise to us as what he said was unprovoked," said Khairy.

Karpal told reporters earlier after leaving the Dewan Rakyat that the four Youth leaders should have come inside the House to make their apology.

Anwar playing sympathy to shore up crumbling support

Anwar's Wednesday nite rally at Kelana Jaya only gathered 4,000 attendents

AFP report and a Cyber1trooper's blog posting dated yesterday saw a different tone from the strong denial, divertionary tactic, and conspiracy story one is accustomed from Anwar and his supporters. The AFP reported Anwar surrendering to the fact that he will go back in. Cyber1trooper reported PKR strategist, Saifuddin Nasution and Nurul Izzah expressing the same tune.

There was supposed to be a hearing of the defense application to request the original evidences yesterday. However, the mainstream only reported on their appeal to revert the case back to the Session Court.

The change of tone is likely to mean copies of evidences already provided to Anwar are convincing and the defense is without a reply. The request for original documents only serve to buy time. Anwar is changing the tone of his propaganda to play victim.

His aggresive approach is not working. His conspiracy game is not working and is well pre-empted with information by such blogs. Last Wednesday nite rally is a clear indication that support for Anwar is fizzling out. The 100,000 drummed out only had some 4,000 appearances.

Crumbling Surrounding

Pakatan Rakyat is crumbling with factions within PAS has expressed dissatisfaction with the Anwar and DAP-determined agenda of Pakatan Rakyat. Another faction are seeking for PAS dominance in Pakatan Rakyat. There is another faction believe in ummah unity.

In fighting and frustation is emerging everywhere in PKR.

DAP's mentality is still not out of their opposition shell, despite taking charge of Penang and at one time Perak. Their chauvanistic and repressive tendencies is rearing it's ugly head in Perak, Selangor, Penang and latest Kedah.

In the meanwhile, Ketua Pemuda PAS and Naib Ketua Pemuda UMNO has already agreed to meet for a debate. It would serve to move the two group closer.

A significant number within PAS leadership believe Anwar is guilty on the latest sodomy charges. With Anwar's political career look set to end, win or lose, PAS is looking beyond the Manek Urai by-election. Do not discount that the latest PAS theatric is to only win Manek Urai.

Everything around Anwar is beginning to crumble. He is left but without any choice but play sympathy to sustain support for his fight.

Will his team and new entrants like Zaid Ibrahim able to carry the mantle of his fight?

Things will unfold soon. But is UMNO ready with a truly creative and convincing change agenda able to negotiate and balance the competing interest?

In the meanwhile, read the AFP report below:

Anwar prepares for the worst

AFP, July 1, 2009

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who faces trial this month on sodomy charges, said his Pakatan Rakyat alliance would survive even if he is convicted and jailed. Anwar has rejected the allegations levelled by a 23-year-old former aide as a conspiracy to derail his plan to topple the government.

He was found guilty of separate sodomy and corruption charges a decade ago in a case widely seen as politically motivated. In 2004 the sodomy conviction was overturned, allowing Anwar to go free after six years in jail.

“There is no question of the Pakatan Rakyat continuing, surviving. It will continue to defend the rights of the people and challenge the government, gaining strength from any conviction made against me,” Anwar told AFP.

“In fact I think a conviction against me will enrage a lot of people,” he said after a political rally late Tuesday.

“I am ready for all eventualities and prepared to face attacks – expect the best and prepare for the worst.”

Anwar addressed a crowd of 4,000 supporters in a stadium in Kelana Jaya in a two-hour rally organised by his opposition alliance to show their solidarity for him.

He could go back to jail

Anwar’s PKR party has joined forces with the conservative Islamic party PAS and the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party in an alliance which gained unprecedented ground against the ruling coalition in national polls a year ago.

After seizing control of a third of seats in parliament, it is now vowing to unseat the Barisan Nasional coalition – which has ruled Malaysia for half a century – in the next general elections. However, Anwar’s political success story has faced a formidable challenge with fresh sodomy allegations that could see him jailed for 20 years.

The sex act, even between consenting adults, is illegal in predominantly Muslim Malaysia. Anwar’s trial will begin on July 8 and he has already said he fears he will not get fair treatment. - AFP

Strategy is of utmost importance for online presence

Know your enemy and yourself and in 100 battles you will never be in peril. - Sun Tzu

This simple message seemed not to be getting through.

Before sending the troop to battle, a clear instruction on the objective of the mission, outline objective of the operation and each role need to be spelled out.

And, before one can actually do that, one must make an assessment of ones asset, capability, etc. Plan the mission around the availabile resources.

Its no point providing all the resources without a strategy to make the troop into a cohesive and working force. Giving only materials and asset is not sufficient for the troop and in fact secondary.

For an inkling of what needs to be done, read how PAS prepares it self below:

Bantu Pakatan Rakyat, PAS akan bertemu blogger

Mohd Sabri Said
Harakah Ahad, Jun 28, 09

PULAU PINANG, 28 Jun (Hrkh) - PAS Pulau Pinang akan mengadakan pertemuan dengan semua blogger yang pro Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di negeri ini tidak lagi untuk menyampaikan misi terbaru sesuai dengan perkembangan hari ini. Iklan

Ketua Penerangan PAS Negeri, Zulkiply Ishak berkata, pertemuan itu membawa banyak erti kepada PAS kerana peranan blogger tidak dinafikan membantu mengembangkan pengaruh Pakatan Rakyat dalam masa yang singkat.

"Melalui pertemuan itu nanti kita akan menerangkan misi dan visi terbaru PAS Negeri bagi diketengahkan dalam blog mereka. Kita juga berharap rakyat akan menerima corak dan persembahan PAS selari dengan perkembangan masa kini, " ujarnya.

Beliau yang juga bekas Setiausaha PAS Kawasan Kepala Batas menambah, apa pun tempat dan waktu akan diberitahu kelak kerana buat masa ini Penerangan PAS Negeri sedang merancang mengadakan pertemuan dengan Ketua-ketua Lajnah Penerangan PAS seluruh negeri untuk memperjelaskan misi dan visi terbaru itu.

Beliau berharap semua blogger di Pulau Pinang dapat bekerjasama dengan PAS untuk membuktikan PAS sebenarnya boleh merealisasikan perjuangan di negeri ini hasil kemenangan bersama parti gabungan Pakatan Rakyat.

Menyedari hakikat itulah sambungnya, PAS memerlukan blogger yang pro Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat untuk meningkatkan peranan yang selama ini agak malap padahal semua tahu PAS lahir di Pulau Pinang.

"Tempat lahir PAS mestilah kuat bukan macam sekarang tidak menyengat. Oleh itu, satu pembaharuan mesti dilakukan demi perjuangan kita masa depan, " terangnya.

Menurut Zulkiply lagi, selepas ini beliau yakin PAS di Pulau Pinang dapat nafas baru dan beliau juga berharap semua lajnah lain melonjakkan produktivi dan kreativiti supaya perkembangan dan imej PAS dapat dibawa dengan baik. - mks. _

It takes former soldiers and strategic minds with familiarity and understanding of the battlefield and terrain to put a stratagy together.

** More on The Art of War, browse from here onward.