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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Monday 17 May 2010

Sime Darby must do these


 

We hear some things aired in public to justify the losses. But not much is revealed. There seems to be another facet in the art of elegant silence. It is the art of saying a lot of things but revealing nothing. A lot of thunder emitting, but very little rain to cheer the barren corporate land scorched by Sime Darby.
The whole team of people assembled alongside with Musa Hitam the other night at the Sime Convention Centre should be fired and sacked. Each should be given the two swords to commit Hara Kiri. Begin with Musa Hitam first.
The public isn't going to be mollified and satisfied with an assurance that something is being carried out; that there's work in progress etc and a work committee consisting of individuals with impeccable credentials are inside the work group to ensure even handedness and complete transparency and uprightness.
That means nothing other than another form of CYA ruse. We were even told that Musa Hitam made a trip to Qatar to discover himself what's going on. He didn't find anything amiss so it seems because nothing happened following his visit other that some meekly audible of something being said by external auditors. In any case, Musa's overseas excursions often amount to nothing other than giving this former DPM a holiday.
It is no use too to report what Andrew Sheng said, looking stoical and detached, that risk management is not a perfect game. We all know that, the Class F contractor understands risks better than Andrew Sheng. Have Andrew Sheng replaced if all he can offer, is some wishy washy talk about risk management and all that. We don't want that, we can read things said about managing risks. We wanted to have things put right- not some artful justification of Sime's losses attributable to deficient understanding of risk management. It seems only Zubir Murshid in Sime Darby who doesn't understand risk management. All the rest do, because they were not asked to go on a leave of absence.
I call on the government to have the entire board of directors go on a leave of absence. I publish here a comment by a commentator who goes by the name Askar Tua, here as to why, the entire band of negligent brothers must go.
Musibah dan kerugian yg melanda Sime Darby ini amat memalu dan mendukacitakn.Memalukan kerana ianya berpunca daripada keputusan dasar yg amat tidak bijak kerana mengambongkan tiga syarikat yg tersendirinya cukup berdaya maju dan telah banyak membuat untung,menjadikan syarikat itu terlalu besar sehingga sukar diurus dan dikawal dengan berkesan oleh CEO yg tidak cukup berkaliber dan berpengalaman.Dan tidak pula dipantau secara efektif oleh Pengerusi dan ahli-ahli BODnya.Mendukacitakan kerana kerugian itu melibatkan wang rakyat dan mungkin ianya akan menjejaskan pendapatan pemegang-pemegang saham PNB tahun ini.

Oleh kerana Pengerusi dan seluroh ahli BOD ada peranan dan tanggungjawab didalam penyeliaan dan pemantauan terhadap perjalanan dan pentadbiran syarikat itu,mereka juga sepatutnya,dengan sukarela meletak jawatan.Jika mereka tidak bertindak demikian sudah tentunya mereka itu akan dikira sebagai orang yg tidak bermaruah,tidak ada harga diri,integriti dan tidak berperinsip.Mereka akan hilang kredebiliti dan status sebagai gentlemen.

It is a gross failure on the part of Sime Chairman and the BOD to provide effective supervision.
There was a pathetic CYA ruse to suggest that Zubir tolerated the massive losses in the Energy and Utilities Division to protect the previous head of the division. Are we hearing right in this? A Corporate Samaritan? A successor going all out to protect the good name of a predecessor? That's not the rule of CYA is it? So is Zubir asked to go for a leave of absence for not playing the game of CYA? He isn't one of us after all these years. After all the champagne and caviar on the jet stream, he wasn't converted into a thieving bastard like us.
Usually a successor will want to obliterate any legacies of the previous man. I find this argument very imbecilic as many of Sime Darby employees would volunteer to say that Zubir Murshid is one heartless bastard and an MF to boot! To impute a sense of a caring soul in Zubir Murshid is very deceiving. You mean to tell us, losing over RM 1 billion is ok because, we care for one miserable soul?
There was also a very infantile argument suggesting that one reason why Sime got into this trouble is because the board of directors is made up of old people. That to overcome this weakness in order to propel Sime forward is to inject young new blood into its BOD and by extension, the management team. Zubir is said to be 52 years old, while the rest of the board, including Musa are ageing fossils. What kind of argument is this and if it comes from those wizened analysts out there, which universities taught you this line?
What the board requires is not young or old members- what it needs are people of integrity and commitment to doing good business.
The very first step which Sime must take is to demand the resignation of the entire board of directors and call in the financial Ghostbusters to dissect every minutiae of transactions carried out by the 4 business units.

22 comments:

PANJI HITAM 61 17 May 2010 at 07:17  

Yes, call the Kor_paratbuster in!

We want action or we will vote for DAP!

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 07:44  

Dato',
In my heart I had questioned the idea of setting up this huge conglomerate. My thought then was to rip off this body of some huge commission from the merger and later use it as a cash cow for self gain. But God works in mysterious ways to show the world that bad intention is not good for all.
Time to change our country's leaders.
Pak Zed

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 09:50  

Sdr Sak
Sdr meminta semua ahli Lembaga Pegarah melakukan Harakiri.berasaskan prinsip ini Pak Lah juga harus harakiri sebab kita kehilangan pelantar minyak diLembang, Khir Toyo &bekas MB Kedah& Trengganu, Perak juga harakiri.Ramai pemimpin UMNO &BN yg patut harakiri sbb telah melakukan banyak kesilapan. Mungkin sdr juga dah lama harakiri sbb tidak menjalankan tugas dgn sampurna semasa menjadi wakil rakyat dulu.Bagaimana dgn pemimpin UMNO yg menyalahgunakan kedudukan mereka dgn memperkayakan diri mereka secara mendapat tanah, balak, kontrak dll melalui hubungan politik? Harakiri juga? Cap old fossil kpd orang tua amat unislamic & tidak beradab, uncalled for & unbecoming.easier said than done.semasa memegang jawatan sdr senyap,semua baik, bila sudah tiada jawatan, kritik pedas pada semua orang.benar boleh kritik tapi konstruktif, beradab & berhemah. Usah menggunakan istilah yg biadab kerana ia mencerminkan diri sendiri.

Quiet Despair,  17 May 2010 at 10:09  

Musa, of the elegant silence fame, is rather vociferous on this issue.
He and his band of directors must resign too.
Makan ramai-ramai tapi yang kena seorang.
Is this our corporate culture that only one person becomes the scape-goat when there's misdeeds?

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 10:22  

Salam Dato',

i'm a small time businessman myself....after reading the news, i'm not surprise coz i'm in the oil and gas circle and i've heard the news since last 2 years.

i have suffered losses before and what i did was to "release" the infective staff and rope in new staff...standard S.O.P la.....

ini multi bilion company ...takkan nak kena ajar kot.....

MALU LA.....

Ariff Sabri 17 May 2010 at 10:33  

anon 09:50.
nyata saudara tidak faham artikel ini. saya menyebut/quote analisa yang mengatakan bahawa sime darby memerlukan suntikan young blood dan menyalahkan ahlilembaga yang tua tua. sebab itu saya nyatakan isiu nya bukan tua atau muda. itu menunjukkan bahawa sebutan old fossil terjadi apabila orang lain menyatakan bahawa Sime memerlukan youn blood.

jika saudara tidak tahu latar belakang limbang- jangan sebut disini.

jika saudara tidak tahu latar belakang saya, ketika saya jadi adun atau sama ada saya hanya kritikal setelah tidak jadi adun, jangan buat komen.
dengan berselindung disebalik anonymous ternyata, saudara tidak mahu bertanggung jawab keatas pendapat yang di beri.
sekian terima kasih.

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 11:18  

Apologies Dato, I'm off topic here. But I need to get this off my chest:
If you ever meet the PM, pls tell him enough already with the gifts bearing at election time. What for? People still don't support you. Why waste millions on a school here, a church there?
Biar tentu kalah dari kalah DAN rugi.

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 11:25  

Elegant silence has be horned into an art by BN and our government.

There are hundreds of issues that have never been answered. At the most they deny and full stop.
RPK has made countless accusations but never rebutted.
Balasubramaniam did the same. Again silence.
We have lost billions of ringgit in foreign exchange, tin market manipulation. GLCs have lost monumental sums of money.
The Auditor General has exposed mismanagement by the govt.
But what he get is deafening silence.

Quiet Despair,  17 May 2010 at 11:33  

Sdra Sak

Please write an article on the penchant of our government to throw money around not only in elections but also to others.
We give lots of money to our sportsmen, thus pampering them.
Yesterday reward is promised to teachers who prop up high-performing schools.
Then there's reward for civil servants as promised on Labour Day celebration.
Are we becoming a money culture nation. Money, money to grist the mill.
Must we be given cash incentives to services which we must give to the nation as teachers, sportsmen etc.
luckily, we did not win the Thomas Cup. Or else we will get a holiday and the players get monetary rewards.
I don't think the Chinese government gave that much incentive to spur their players as world-class shuttlers.
Enough, please DS Najib.
We must be mindful of our budget deficit. In our zest to throw money around, are we aware do we have enough reserves left?

bat8 17 May 2010 at 12:17  

dato,

Sime Darby adalah GLC dibawah kerajaan federal. Tetapi MSM dan pemimpin kerajaan seolah-0lah play it down kesan kerugian tersebut.

Bayangkan jika SD itu GL dibawah kerajaan negeri pakatan. Tentunya kecoh seluruh negara dengan pelbagai tomohan.


bat8

kuldeep 17 May 2010 at 12:47  

UEM lost a big bundle in Qatar & locally but nobody lost their jobs?
MAS lost a bigger bundle on the fuel hedge but I see the perpetrators still in the favored list?
Maybank invested overseas at wrong time and paid high prices..no one lost their job too.
Pantai Hospital transactions is still a mystery but Khazanah still managed by same group.

There is enough evidence that can give serious doubts of the effectiveness and transparency of the "Khazanah" business model.

Fund management and business development & mgmt are two distinctly different skills.You don't manage a business by benchmarking to the stock market index.You don't decide on business strategies to please analyst or fund managers.

Lets not wait for another low tide to see all the rubbish..lets assemble a team of hard core and experienced scuba divers to tell us how it looks down there.

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 12:59  

Dato'

Apparently Sime Darby has learned the art of gobbledegook and regurgitation from the Court of Appeal judge in Zambry versus Nizar case as highlighted by NH Chan.

Much has been said but no truth is revealed.

Even the Art of Sun Tzu is in pale comparison.

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 13:32  

Salam Dato',

Sudah sah dan nyata sekarang iaitu Tun Musa Hitam adalah jenis manusia yg tidak ada maruah,harga diri,integriti dan "conscience"kerana beliau telah menegaskan yg beliau tidak akan meletakkan jawatan diatas kerugian Sime Darby ini.Perkara ini ternyata didalam blog Nuraina A Samad yg diposkan pada 15 May yg menyebut Tun Musa ada berkata,"...he was prepared to resign.But it(any demand for him to do so) has to come from the shareholders,and of course-as Sime Darby is a GLC-the Prime Minister".Jelas ternampak keangkohan dan "cynical"tersembunyi disebalek kenyataan itu.Tidak ternampak sedikit pun rasa kesal dan bersalah diatas kecuaian dan kelalaian dalam melaksanakan tugas dan tanggungjawabnya sebagai Pengerusi.Beliau semacam tidak dapat merasa betapa kecewa,sedih,dukacita dan marahnya rakyat jelata terhadap apa yg berlaku keatas Sime Darby ini.Penglibatan beliau mungkin bukan setakat menjadi Pengerusi tetapi mungkin juga idea pengabongan syarikat ini dicetuskan oleh beliau.

Satu perkara yg amat memeranjatkan ialah kecenderongan Musa untuk mengambil orang asing untuk memenuhi jawatan CEO.Kenyataan ini terbukti apabila beliau ditanya samada beliau sudah ada orang untuk memenuhi jawatan CEO.Beliau menjawab belum ada dan menegaskan"...he'd prefer a foreigner,but the decision was not his alone".

Kenyataan beliau itu jelas mencerminkan betapa tidak yakin nya beliau terhadap keupayaan dan kebolehan anak bangsa dan warga negaranya sendiri,disamping memperlihatkan betapa tipisnya semangat kebangsaan dan patriotisme beliau.Barangkali kerana beliau tidak begitu menjiwai semangat kebangsaan inilah maka terjadinya insiden Memali dulu.

Satu lagi perkara yg menghairankan ialah kenapa bekas CEO Zubir ini diber cuti bergaji sehingga kontraknya tamat bulan November ini.Bukankah itu merupakan satu keistemewaan sedangkan beliau sepatut dilucutkan jawatannya serta merta kerana bertanggungjawab keatas kerugian yg begitu besar.Barangkali inilah amalan dan budaya dalam dunia koprat di Malaysia.

Untuk membetulkan persepsi yg buruk dan menjernihkan keadaan DS Najib mistilah bertindak menyigkirkan CEO,Pengrusi dan semua ahli BOD serta merta atau dalam satu tempoh terdekat ini.Jika tidak,kewibawaan dan kredibiliti beliau juga turut dipersoal.

Apa yg berlaku dengan Sime Darby juga dibimbangi akan berlaku kepada Petronas.Petanda dan petunjuknya sudah mula ternampak dengan kemasukan orang yg tidak amanah dan keperibadiannya diragu seperti Omar Ong dan Sheryll Stothard.Walau pun beliau telah meletak jawatan tetapi cara dan agenda disabalek pengambilan beliau jelas ternampak sesuatu yg mencuriga dan menakutkan. Gambaran yg mencurigakan itu sermakin ternampak jelas apabila tindakan penyusunan dan penstruktoran semula dalaman Petronas dibuat dengan membawa masuk beberapa orang pengarah baru yg bukan Bumiputera.Lebih merisaukan,nampaknya Pengerusi/CEO Petronas ini juga cenderong kepada
warga asing untuk menerajui jawatan-jawatn penting dalam Petronas seperti disebut dalam blog Bigdog yg diposkan pada 13 Mei dibawah tajuk Model Baru Petronas yg berbunyi,"Shamsul juga dikatakan menyebut bahawa PM Dato'Seri Najib merestui jawatan penting dalam Petronas terdiri daripada warga asing".Bigdog juga berkata,"Satu perkara yg menarik ialah Shamsul juga dikatakan menegaskan bahawa PM Dato' Seri Najib juga bersetuju sekiranya jawatan Presiden dan CEO Petronas itu dijawat oleh professional dari luar negara,sebagai contohnya mereka dari Exxon atau Shell".

Nampaknya pemikiran Tun Musa dan PM DS Najib dalam hal pengambilan warga asing untuk mengetuai syarikat GLC ini agak sama saja.Dan jika inilah corak dan trend pemikiran mereka kita perlu merasa bimbang dan curiga.Sesuatu tindakan untuk membetulkan trend pemikiran yg boleh membuka ruang kepada penjajahan bentuk baru ini perlu dilakukan segera.

Askar Tua

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 14:29  

SAY SOMETHING ABOUT SIBU!!!

Donplaypuks® 17 May 2010 at 14:41  

"The very first step which Sime must take is to demand the resignation of the entire board of directors and call in the financial Ghostbusters to dissect every minutiae of transactions carried out by the 4 business units."

Bro, I couldn't agree more with you that the entire Board of Sime should go. The rot was revealed ever since the huge losses at their palm oil subsidiary was cleverly hidden in the 2008 merger documents, a merger from which CIMB made over #300 million in fees!!

But, it is Khazanah, PNB, EPF, EPU and MoF who will have to initiate the bold steps for a major overhaul of Sime's Management Team, and therein lies the major problem.

How can you expect those who oversaw the disaster and have thereby repeatedly demonstrated their incompetence of biblical proportions, to understand and initiate good remedial actions?

No, PM Najib will have to simultaneously do major spring cleaning in Khazanah, PNB, EPF, EPU and MoF.

And If I were him, I would get the auditor general or other independent financial experts to take a long, hard probing look into all our GLC's, including Petronas, to see if more is being covered up and waiting to explode in our (the Rakyat's) face!!

I also will not believe that in a nation of 26 million people, we cannot find competent, honest and performance oriented CEO's to lead the GLC's.

Even if there is an unwritten polict that these GLC's MUST be led only by Bumiputras, we should still be able to find the few good men we need.

The powers that be have not looked hard enough, clouded as they in their world of croneyism and non-meritocracy!!

dpp
we are all of 1 race, the Human race

otoote 17 May 2010 at 15:03  

Dato, there is another disaster in the making ala SD.... FELDA+FELCRA+RISDA. Malays on the ground like me sometimes wonder... politically, is UMNO top brass are planning to be the Opposition in the next GE that they are 'FARAIDing' whatever there is in the Malay hands.

Masam Manis,  17 May 2010 at 15:22  

In the name of transparency the BoD must explain whether Sime Darby still continuing its involvement with Bakun project and the Maersk Oil Qatar? If yes, what are contingencies plans it plan to do to mitigate future losses?

The last thing we like to see is SD using accounting provisioning mumbo jumbo to close all the losses for the next 2 years financial year reporting. Hope they still remember ENRON

KUSOH,  17 May 2010 at 15:24  

I STRONGLY BELIEF WE HAVE THE LOCAL TALENTS BE IT MALAY,CHINESE OR INDIANS AND OTHERS, IF WE ARE SINCERE AND HONEST, GIVE THE BEST MAN/WOMAN THE BEST JOB AND HAVE GOOD SUPERVISORY SYSTEM,REWARD FOR THE SUCCEESS AND PUNISH FOR THE FAILED JOB DONE,INSYAALLAH , WE WILL PROSPER.......

Donplaypuks® 17 May 2010 at 15:54  

Besides the Sime problem, there have been rumbles from many quarters for several years about the significantly higher than market dividends paid out by ASM, ASB etc., while EPF returns have languished.

PM Najib should now also look into whether there are are any grounds for accusations of a "ponzi scheme" vis-a-vis ASM, ASB etc.!!

dpp
we are all of 1 race, the Human race

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 16:38  

to anonymous 09.50 17 MaY
Fikir dulu sebelum berkata.Kalau perlu berkata biar berpada.
To dearest dato sak
Harakiri those buggers mana nak kenal? sushi dan teppanyaki maybe lah the Boardroom buggers tau.Makan, sapa yang tak tau!
The board members have no sense of remorse or accountability.Its not their money in the first place.
So who gives a damn.

Anonymous,  17 May 2010 at 21:10  

Sime Darby used to be called locally in Melaka where it was born, as SWINE BABI. The current controversies about the group's losses, fully justify its non-halal nickname!

Anonymous,  30 May 2010 at 21:52  

For everbody info
business as usual, Sime continue project in Qatar, ready to make another RM 100 million loss provision and more, we also starting to lose in Indian ONGC project

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