Thursday, February 20, 2014

MAS: National Pride Or National Shame ?.....Reposted!

Hantu Laut

MAS announced another massive loss close to RM1.2 billion for financial year ending December 2013. Story here.

The airline should be destined for the graveyard before more taxpayers money are wasted in propping it up for some stupid national pride. Irresponsible leaders who couldn't care less how the people's money being spent.

Some two years ago, I wrote the article below on MAS. Not missing a heartbeat, the airline remained  beyond hope in spite of the many changes in top management.

Saturday, March 3, 2012


MAS:National Pride Or National Shame?

Hantu Laut

There have been many fatalities in the airline business.

The three most well-known demises of national airlines were Pan Am, Swissair and Sabena of the U.S, Switzerland and Belgium respectively. 

I have had the honour of having flown with all three airlines before they were destined to the graveyard.

One must not have false sense of pride or foolish sentiments when come to running a business. If the business continued to lose money, sell it or close it down. Pouring taxpayer's money into this bottomless pit is completely irresponsible of the government, which eventually would become even more costly to shut down.

The Malaysian taxpayers should not be made to pay money to this sick child just because the government think they are beholden to keep employing those 20,000 grossly overstaffed MAS bumiputra employees and maintain a false and costly national pride.

The government should not be beholden to those good-for-nothing MAS management and employees, but should protect taxpayers money as trustee of the people.

MAS losses were not due to external market forces.It's just incompetence and bad management. Its major losses were due to gross mismanagement arising out of over staffing, overpricing of supplies by sub-contractors, high fuel prices due to poor financial planning and in a nutshell a blundering amateurist management team headed by people who have no knowledge of the aviation industry. MAS has enough business in the air, but excessively high expenditure caused the massive losses.

Its airline core business revenue increased by 2% to RM13.9 billion in 2011 but suffered a massive loss of RM2.52 billion.Higher fuel costs were due to management lack of foresight. A competent management would know how to hedge fuel prices.Since passengers help subsidised fuel cost by paying fuel surcharges, MAS management cannot claim that most of it losses were due to higher fuel costs.

Using the 2011 loss as a yardstick, MAS would have lost 10 Boeing 737-800 in 2011, literally chopping them up for the scrapyard, which hypothetically also means it could have paid the purchase of 10 units of new Boeing 737-800 in cash.Current price of Boeing 737-800 is at US$83-100 million depending on the configuration.

The airline had gone through various management changes over the past decade, yet nothing good had come out of it.

As I have predicted correctly of past management failures, I am still not convinced the new management team put in recently would be able to save the airline.There will be lots of talk but little improvement.

Political interference and corrupt practices are rampant in the airline.Many MAS supply contracts were given to relatives and cronies with highly inflated prices. Remember the RM75 or RM150 per serving of nasi lemak episode not long ago?

Can MAS pay for air crafts due for delivery this year and next? 

They are 5 units A-380, 13 B737-800 and 5 A330-300 awaiting delivery. MAS needs almost RM10 billion for the next two years to pay for aircraft deliveries.

How are they going to pay when they only have RM1.1 cash reserve, which will be exhausted soon to pay for the continuing losses. 

With a severe red balance sheet will the banks lend them money or they may have to go to Santa Clause to get the money, the people's money.

Three things the government can do, forget about national pride, it's a national shame.............sell the damned thing to a private concern, close it down, or chop it up, bit by bit, and feed to the dogs.

MAS, national pride or national shame?

Blast from the past, read here, talk is cheap!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Is PM Najib In A Limbo And National Disaster In The Offing?

Hantu Laut

The United Nations defines a disaster as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society. Disasters involve widespread human, material, economic or environmental impacts, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.

Well, that's for natural disaster espoused by the UN. 


In the case of Malaysia, we have a man-made disaster in the making. We are heading for inter-racial, inter-religious conflicts, which may reach a flash point anytime now and serious economic melt-down if nothing concrete is done to salvage the worsening situation. 


When people have no confidence in government, frustration and discontent can and will disrupt peace and the economy.


It is time for him to get rid of his highly useless paid con -sultants and starts using his government servants as advisers, which should have been the case in the first place.

His 1Malaysia sale-pitch had become the butt of jokes.

He should stop wasting public funds to buy favours because it ain't working.His BRIM has more negative outflow than positive inflow.

His so-called sovereign vehicle 1MDB is going to be the biggest liability on the national economy.

Post-election support had dropped steeply amid growing calls for him to take action or make for the door and let a new leader takes over.


Is PM Najib in a limbo ?

From the Asia Sentinel:

One of Malaysia’s most respected polling organizations is expected to release figures over the next few days showing that support for the ruling Barisan Nasional from all three of the country’s major ethnic groups is dropping steeply, to the point where if an election were held today,  the national coalition would be buried in a landslide.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

When The Carpetbagger Came-A-Begging, The Church Played Politics.

Hantu Laut

House of God. Every religion has this inviolable place where worshippers of the faith visit and pray to their God every now and then, a sacred place where one communicates with the Almighty.

Anwar has done what many others would have shied away from.

Was it desperation on the use of the name Allah that brought the church to its knees to one man whom they see as a saviour, allowing him to desecrate the sacred ground to hold his political campaign?

One should not trust someone proven unworthy of trust. True to his chameleonic character his response to the Allah issue is at best lukewarm.

This man of many faces, sly and manipulative as usual, when asked by a churchgoer about his opinion on the Allah issue told the congregation that even international Muslim scholars thought it was a subject unworthy of debate.

Anyone with enough intelligence can see through that thin sheet and know that was no positive response, giving not his own but third party opinion. What surprises me is the report by Malaysian Insider here that the congregation was impressed and happy with his ambiguity and ambivalence.

He, like most UMNO politicians is still afraid of losing the Muslims support.

Churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and any other holy places are not appropriate places for politics and Anwar had shown great disrespect to the Christian community for abusing his welcome. It goes to show his greed for power has no bound. He should have just visited the church without giving any political talk. 

He has tried many times to hold his ceramas in mosques but was not allowed to do so. Sadly, there are Malaysians who think he should be allowed to soil holy places to deliver his political platitudes. Father George Harrison is one. Christians should take Father George Harrison to task for his "angkat kaki" attitude.


Many Christians have taken to social media to express their disgust and disappointment with Father George and Anwar Ibrahim for tarnishing the sanctity of the church for politics.

His greed for power knows no bound, he is now on a political flight to oust one of his most trusted lieutenants and to take over as menteri besar of Selangor. He is going to play out Khalid as he had done to many of his friends and party officials before because he couldn't handle and control Azmin Ali.I wish Khalid Ibrahim do not give in easily.

It would also be interesting to watch whether DAP and PAS would sacrifice Khalid for Anwar? They rejected Azmin Ali and reappoint ed Khalid as MB. 

A loophole in the state constitution can allow the Sultan of Selangor to nominate his own choice as MB, as what happened in Trengganu during Pak Lah's time. Khalid seems to have the sultan as his ally. It won't be smooth sailing for Anwar, a crisis is in the offing.

Should he become menteri besar of Selangor, would he dare repel the state law that prohibits Christians from using Allah and tell the Sultan of Selangor to fly kite with his fatwa?

Wake up people, if you are so desperate to kick BN/UMNO out, please do so by all means, but don't allow this man to pull a wool over your eyes and lead you down the garden path.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Malaysia’s Anwar Takes a New Dare



Ousting a popular chief minister in his own party risks trouble but repositions him nationally
The surprise decision last month by Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to push aside Khalid Ibrahim, the respected chief minister of Selangor, one of the country’s two biggest states, and try to take the post himself is a complex gamble.
Among other things, it is designed to preserve or enhance Anwar’s standing as a national figure, according to political analysts in Kuala Lumpur, by giving him a state to run. Should he lose the March 23 state by-election that would give him the job – considered unlikely – it would consign him to political oblivion and make his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) appear riven with factionalism.
Former state Assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh raised the curtain on the drama last month by resigning his seat in a Kuala Lumpur suburban district that would allow Anwar to stand for the state seat. That has upset many within the party who view it as an opportunistic move by Anwar and who have applauded Khalid’s stewardship of the state.
One think tank head joked that watching the opposition crack heads also gives Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak a respite from the barrage of personal attacks he has been under from the ruling Barisan Nasional’s right wing.
Helpful moveWhatever issues Anwar’s decision raises, strategically it settles the problem of a nagging internal party dispute, repositions him politically and resolves the issue of a popular but tight-fisted chief minister who has come under fire for refusing to spend money on infrastructure projects.
“Anwar will tackle national issues using a state platform,” said a longtime United Malays National Organization political operative. “I think he is going to give UMNO real trouble. It is a good move for the opposition, but it has put UMNO on the back foot. I think as Selangor chief minister he will give Najib a tougher fight.”
Although the decision was a surprise, it has been percolating since before last May’s general election, when some elements of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition were already pushing to replace Khalid, who has clashed with PKR party chief, Azman Ali, over a number of issues, including state contracting.
Khalid responded to the brewing challenge by leading the opposition coalition to a smashing victory based on his corruption-free stewardship of the state; the Pakatan Rakyat took 77 percent of the vote while the BN got just 23 percent.
Anwar, despite his leadership of the PR coalition, is said to have been frustrated because he lacks a platform to influence national politics and leading the coalition in parliament was not a sufficiently commanding arena. As chief minister, he would attend the Malaysia Conference of Rulers, where he can interact with the country’s nine sultans, who play a role in amending the constitution.
It would also give him a forum at the National Land Council, Finance Ministry and other key meetings with the federal government chaired by the prime minister. In the past, Anwar has shined in such gatherings, in contrast to Najib’s performance in front of key civil servants and ministers.

How do we spell G-O-D?In any case, the decision to push Khalid aside was triggered in early January when religious authorities in Selangor seized hundreds of Malay-language bibles using the word “Allah” in reference to the Christian God. The issue has been boiling for months if not years, and appears to have been manufactured entirely by UMNO strategists, since Christians in the east Malaysia states of Sabah and Sarawak have been using the word to denote God for more than a century, as have Christians across the Middle East and Indonesia.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Sabah :The Sold Out State

Hantu Laut

I was still a young man when the idea of the formation of Malaysia was mooted by Tunku Abdul Rahman, supposedly? 

I believe the idea of the making of Malaysia incorporating Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei was fed to the Tunku by the British, who feared that independent Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei would eventually become territories of Indonesia. 

The Tunku can propose, but without tacit agreement of the British government it could not have become reality.

Sukarno, according to British intelligence at that time was already hankering for territorial expansion. Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei looked ideal for his greater Kalimantan and of his greater Nusantara dream.

The concept of Nusantara (the union of all Southeast Asian countries) is not new, it had been around since the days of Gajah Muda of the Majapahit Kingdom. 

Gajah Muda, a powerful military leader and Prime Minister of Majapahit had taken an oath called Sumpah Palapa, in which he vowed not to eat food containing spices until he had conquered all of Nusantara (Malay Archipelago) and to bring them under Majapahit's rule. Sukarno must have harboured the same ambition.

The British apprehension of Sukarno's expansionist policy was proven right when in 1969 Indonesia annexed West New Guinea, which was still under Dutch rule at that time. In 1975, under Suharto, seen less belligerent, Indonesia invaded and occupied East Timor and declared as its 27th province. East Timor was a former Portuguese colony. Only after mounting international pressure and a UN-sponsored act of self-determination did Indonesia relinquish control of the territory in 1999.

If Indonesia had been a British colony it would had been foregone conclusion that the British would have handed us over to Indonesia, not Malaya.

Besides, not giving the Tunku the credit for the idea of the formation of Malaysia, I also strongly believe Sabahans had been played out by the British and the so called Cobbold Commission. It was a mere fact finding mission as there was no real referendum held to seek opinion and consent of adult Sabahans. 

Initially, there were some dissenting voices, but were quickly muffled by promises of positions and largesses. 

It was just a few leaders picked from various ethnic communities that decided the fate of the country for the rest of the nescience population. 

Below is what Lord Cobbold wrote of the findings of his Commission.


About one-third of the population of each territory strongly favours early realisation of Malaysia without too much concern about terms and conditions. Another third, many of them favourable to the Malaysia project, ask, with varying degrees of emphasis, for conditions and safeguards varying in nature and extent: the warmth of support among this category would be markedly influenced by a firm expression of opinion by Governments that the detailed arrangements eventually agreed upon are in the best interests of the territories. The remaining third is divided between those who insist on independence before Malaysia is considered and those who would strongly prefer to see British rule continue for some years to come. If the conditions and reservations which they have put forward could be substantially met, the second category referred to above would generally support the proposals. Moreover once a firm decision was taken quite a number of the third category would be likely to abandon their opposition and decide to make the best of a doubtful job. There will remain a hard core, vocal and politically active, which will oppose Malaysia on any terms unless it is preceded by independence and self-government: this hard core might amount to near 20 per cent of the population of Sarawak and somewhat less in North Borneo.
—Lord Cobbold, Cobbold Commission

Lord Cobbold also stressed that all parties enter the federation as equal partners.

Are we equal partners in the federation?

We should be a federated state in a federal union with constitutionally guaranteed autonomy, not a unitary state as most West Malaysian politicians seemed to think 

There have been many disputations about the special conditions imposed by Sabah and Sarawak in the formation of Malaysia, which have eroded over the years given away by every leader of every succeeding state government. Most, if not all of the 20 points disappeared under the Berjaya government.

Sabah was sold out by its own selfish leaders.


Today, Malaysia is half-a-century old, it's water under the bridge and it's too late to cry over spilled milk.

What we need to do is to vote in politicians who would protect our state rights through the parliamentary process, not those who kowtow to West Malaysian leaders and look up to them as superiors for their own selfish self-preservation. It's time Sabah leaders stop subordinating themselves and start looking at Federal leaders as their peers, not as their bosses.

To bring in Pakatan Rakyat as alternative government will not solve the problems of the same colonialistic mentality, the same rule will be used by them to control state leaders. 

Unfortunately, we lack credible leaders to carry out this mission. I say the day will come and it's only a matter of time before we return to our senses.

Aspiring young educated Sabahans should pool their resources to come together to take on the mighty BN/UMNO and decide our own destiny within the concept of equal partners in the federation.

Below is a video of a speech by Ansari Abdullah, which depicts accurate events leading to the formation of Malaysia.





I am surprised  that there are Sabahans and Sarawakians, who were stupid enough to start idiotic campaign of wanting to pull Sabah and Sarawak out of Malaysia.

If anything, it won't be true Sabahans that will try take the state out of Malaysia, not the KDM, not the local Bajau, Suluk,Bugis,Malay,Chinese and DLL. It will be the illegal Filipinos  from Southern Philippines. They have the numbers, the balls and the arms.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Kajang: A Time To Kill

Hantu Laut

If you think you want to be more popular than Anwar, think again, it could be your political demise.

From Chandra Muzaffar to Zaid Ibrahim, many had vanished into political oblivion for wanting to enhance their popularity in the party, a forbidden territory exclusively the domain of Anwar Ibrahim and his family.

Be subservient, or be killed politically.

Kajang, Naib, Mahathir and UMNO were lame excuses, not the reasons. Wiz-kid Rafizi is becoming a clown.His circus act here.

Khalid Ibrahim was the reason, stood in the way of the treasury door and had become a torn in the flesh............ it's time to end his political carrier, Anwar style, pitting the pit bulls against each other......Azmin Ali vs Khalid Ibrahim.


Most of you would know Nathenial Tan, once upon a time a fervid supporter of Anwar Ibrahim.

Read what he has to say about Anwar.......

For years I defended Anwar Ibrahim. For years I defended PKR. I defended and I defended, until the day came where it became impossible to defend the indefensible. People always like to speculate whether people change their positions due to money. In all honesty, I think that’s a healthy speculation.

For too long now, I think Anwar, PKR and Pakatan have become convinced that they can get away with murder, because they believe those of us who hunger for change simply have no other options.


They assume we truly, truly will vote for Pakatan (and Anwar) no matter what, as long as no alternative (like another party, or say, Khalid) exists.I had always thought there was a limit as to how far they would go. It would appear not.