All the Buzz about PETRONAS appointments- initial thoughts

I am very sure the reading public must have read some stiff opposition over some possible appointments of high office with PETRONAS. PETRONAS of course as everyone knows and will come to know, came into being sometime in 1974. The principal protagonists of the creation were the PM then, Tun Abdul Razak, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who went on to become the 1^st Chairman, Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan who was then active as an oil trader. Tun Salleh Abbas was responsible for drafting the PDA- Petroleum Development Act which ushered the creation of PETRONAS and the various regulations that control the oil and gas industry in Malaysia.

It confers, by LAW, sole monopoly to the government through PETRONAS, over the oil and gas business in Malaysia. So before we go on singing over-exuberant praises to PETRONAS, let us take stock of the fact that it is a near monopoly. Unless you are an imbecile and flounders at the management of this august institution- the mother lode of Malaysia's revenue source, PETRONAS remains a sustainable entity.

Of course it is to the credit of the PETRONAS Management in particular to Tan Sri Hassan Merican to ensure PETRONAS is managed on an even keel. We have seen many near monopolies of the government go under, capsize, or gone adrift as a result of poor, incompetent and even corrupt management. We must also be mindful that before Hassan Merican went over to PETRONAS, this MCKK chap did not have any inkling of the oil and gas industry.

I am moving ahead here- all this reservations about one Omar Ong not knowing anything about oil and gas is all balderdash. What's so mysterious and insurmountably difficult of knowing the oil and gas that prevents any one of calibre from understanding it? Unless of course you are a graduate of sekolah atap or you are just a ketua kampong somewhere, then maybe you will find it difficult to differentiate what's RON 98, what's regular (RON 85) and premium grade petroleum. Unless you are really thick, that you would be thinking, these oil majors are selling different products whereas in fact, they are all the same. Will all those cars using Shell petroleum in Sandakan break down if they switch over to use PETRONAS or Esso's or Mobil etc? No sir and marm- they are all the same.

I will tell you a secret. Whenever any one of the oil majors in Malaysia run out of any oil grade, they will borrow from each other. Hence car owners who think they are using oil from Shell may in fact be using that from PETRONAS. I know, because I was doing this 'borrow and loan' for Shell with the others in the late 80s.

What it means, that it can be anyone with the calibre of this Omar Ong who can be appointed if this does materialise, to the PETRONAS board. Omar Ong is luckier than most others because he knows the PM and maybe some others. His association with the 4^th Floor Oxbridge Mafia is irrelevant. This guilty or tainted by association should be stopped. Everyone in the cabinet is tainted because most of them have been associated with the flaccid Pak Lah and also tainted, according to not a small number of people with Tun Dr Mahathir.

And of course if you were to ask or allow any PETRONAS employee, they will say the entire world about PETRONAS. This is a highly specialised industry. You require engineers, technicians trained in the various fields to operate and make PETRONAS thrive. You can't have an apam balek maker to work as an offshore engineer. Yes, you do require specialised knowledge obtained through rigorous college and university training to be a PETRONAS executive. I am sure, these gentlemen and women are all dedicated workers and are damn good at what they are doing.

But to use their personalised testimony to support our arguments that the appointment of such persons exemplified by this bloke Omar Ong as being a misfit or even worse, bearer of ominous signs, is a different matter. That would be an insult to the thousand other PTERONAS employees who are in fact desirous of quality management changes. Have you ever asked those outside PETRONAS who are dealing with them- the production sharing contractors, transporters, oil dealers, about how and what they think of PETRONAS employees. I mean no disrespect, but if you were to hear actual testimony of those who interact with PETRONAS employees, you will get the impression that technical proficiency does not automatically translate into profitability for PETRONAS. You will need the manager and executive who fine-tune all the various capabilities.

It's the PM's call.