New man at Sime Darby

Tun Musa Hitam, chairman of beleaguered Sime Darby, has announced that Mohd Bakke has replaced Zubir Murshid. Who is Mohd Bakke? He is hailed by the papers as:-

"Mohd Bakke is highly regarded in the corporate sector. Prior to his appointment at Felda Global, Mohd Bakke served in various capacities within Government-Linked Companies and Government-Linked Investment Companies.

We hope Mohd Bakke is what he is. He is a graduate of LSE. He has all the marbles. That should put him in good stead.

It was also reported that his appointment has raised serious misgivings among the rank. This is a recurring problem with many of the government GLCs. The conventional wisdom is to bring in outside talent without thinking of the demoralising effects in that organisation. What about the in house talent?

This means that years of training, years of cultivation with the Sime Darby ethos bear no effects on in house talent.

This usually leads to the new broom sweeps fast syndrome. The quickest way to clean the books will be carried out through the Chainsaw Al Dunlap way. Or nearer to home, the head-hunter Jala Way. Sack staff, sell off assets, sell noncore businesses to cronies of course, do so some creative accounting.

The other way of course is to sack the entire dissident forces which dare to raise misgivings. Then the new man can craft a new way of working for Sime Darby.

Experience with GLCs mean nothing to public spirited members of the public. We have seen many of these much touted blazing guns creating nothing but destructive impacts.

Mohd Bakke's experience with Felda Global ventures or whatever does not erase the fact that Felda hasn't got its cash reserves. I mentioned in a short essay, that from 4.3 billion cash reserves, Felda has RM200 million cash reserves. Even that I hear is no more. Felda is borrowing from EPF.

If Bakke has been that good, those things would not have happen would they. So don't BS us with this talk about who he is. We are interested in what he can do now at Sime Darby. While at Tabung Haji I hear what Bakke was fantastically fast at was to secure placements for VIPS to perform the Haj pilgrimage.

Since he has plantations experience, we urge him to remove the false information that the problem with SD is confined only to energy and utilities division. Its plantation businesses are severely affected by labour shortages and un-harvested fruits. Money doesn't grow on trees in SD's case. The money need to be plucked and transported to the mills.

While we wish Mohd Bakke Godspeed and best wishes, we caution the public into believing the hype with these guys with GLC training. Remember what Chief Zed said to all the candidates who failed to become MIB agents:-

Zed: Gentlemen, congratulations. You're everything we've come to expect from years of government training. Now please step this way, as we provide you with our final test: an eye exam...