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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Monday 10 September 2012

Losing ground over Felda


What is happening to FELDA now, illustrates the state of our democracy under UMNO. Settlers and employees got 200.6 million of the 2188.9 million shares to be sold. The people representing the majority and overriding interest are the settlers and the employees. There are 112,635 settlers and 3835 employees. These represent directly the interest of FELDA people. They are the majority on whose backs and on whose name, this listing was supposed to be done for and benefits meant.
Question to FELDA people. Why get only 200.6 million out of the 2.188 billion shares offered and owning the same from the 3.6482 billion of the enlarged share capital? That’s 5.5% of the interest in FELDA. What Najib and the government are doing to you are just cosmetics.
Because you are 116,470 strong you are bribed with RM15, 000, RM380 duit raya, 810 shares worth RM3685 at listing and that your sons’ and daughters’ PTPTN are being paid by the government using money that belongs to YOU. Najib will do anything to keep you corralled and addicted to the cocaine of handouts.
Question to Najib. If settlers represent your vanguard in the agenda to transform the economy, why assign only 5.5% of the enlarged capital? Why not allow FELDA people through their KPF, own 70%?
Because minority and moneyed classes control the actions and decisions of FELDA and the same with government.
So what has the FGV issue got to do with the state of democracy under UMNO? It illustrates that special interest groups determine our democracy instead of the wishes of the majority. The listing of FGV has more to do with the agenda of the moneyed class than the agenda of the un-moneyed settler class. Similarly the same is happening to the state of democracy under UMNO. The country’s future is being determined by special interest groups who are self-selected and thrive on a single chosen issue.
When the FGV shares rose up to near RM6 per unit, everyone said that was a testament of the confidence people have with FGV. But who are the people exactly? The ’people’ a nebulous and hazy term which could be infused with whatever meaning one wishes, refers to the various state governments that were asked to buy the shares and the various GLCs that Najib directed to buy FGV’s stocks. More important, the `people’ are really the moneyed and special interest groups. And of course, Najib alone represents the people and naturally he wasn’t shy to pat his own back. He must have been an accomplished contortionist.
Now that the price has gone down to around RM4.78, everyone who previously jumped up and down, says that the normal course in share trading. Going down is part of the normal course, but going up is taken to mean much more?  
Our take is this- going by the logic of the majority of us with only weak school certificates to vouch us by, the reduction in price, must be testament to lack of confidence. If the trending is more downwards than upwards, then lack of confidence is the stronger force.
We are not confident FGV will take settlers new heights nor are we confident Najib, UMNO and BN can take our country to new heights. Najib’s only strategy in economics is to give out money, here, there and everywhere.
Right from the beginning, the listing of FGVH and the choice of the vehicle for listing of FELDA’s business interest was questionable. There weren’t any settlers’ rep on its board. FGV does business mostly overseas. Its business record was far from good or sufficiently good enough to inspire confidence that it can bring FELDA to new heights.  It incurred continuous losses in its business most of the time and only made spectacular rebound on the profits near the listing date. FGV may not do this, but we have heard of many cases where companies en route to listing cooked up the numbers.
Most of its profits came from the portion it owns in FELDA Holdings. Now what does FELDA Holdings do? The business done by FELDA Holdings is its brick and mortar business- planting of palm oil trees and selling CPO to the world. It wasn’t anything bordering on rocket science that seems to be preferred by FGV.
FGV wasn’t managing FELDA Holdings’ business. It was managed separately. If FGV was managing FELDA Holdings and the company made profits consistently, then we can argue that perhaps, the profitability was due in part to FGV management quality.
The facts are: FELDA Holdings made profits, its management was better. FELDA Holdings would be a better choice to buy out FGV shares in Holdings. With FGV out of the picture in Holdings, the other owner of Holdings- the KPF, representing settlers and employees’ interest can own 100%. KPF- who then owns 100% of Holdings can hire a management company that can bring in more profits.
It was just paper shuffling. Ask investment bank A to come out with a proposal, it comes out with one that promises an initial listing price of RM5. Ask investment bank B, it comes out with a price of RM6. Hey- investment bank B is better. A higher initial offer price means more money for the backroom boys. Those who have not soiled their feet in the plantations and perhaps may not even see a palm tree before. 
Now that the price is going down, Najib is doing all the firefighting. That is the reason why Najib announced that FELDA is financing all the 91.2 million shares. He has read the writings on the wall. If he doesn’t finance the settlers, they will go up in arms with Najib. At stake are the 50 over seats in FELDA areas.
At RM4.55, FELDA will spend RM41, 496,000. That’s RM1.496 million. It is a small sum to appease the 112, 635 FELDA settlers. And now has just up the ante- he says FELDA will pay all PTPTN loans of settlers’ children. We don’t know how much.
A number of inferences can be drawn from that. The fact that Najib has to continuously bribe settlers could mean support from settlers isn’t that solid. The additional fact that Najib has decided to finance the FGV transactions and now pay for the PTPTN loans taken by settlers’ children can only mean that indeed support from the FELDA people isn’t as solid as he would want everyone believe.
Najib’s every move now reveals his true character. He hasn’t got a well thought out plan and instead he makes it up as he goes along. I have to repeat myself- the settlers were supposed to buy the share with bank loan that came with a RM200 processing fee and a 5% monthly rest. If I am not mistaken, the loan was supposed to be repaid in 6 months.
Otherwise imagine this. The settlers who have held on to their 810 shares must pay 810x 4.55=RM3685.50 plus RM200 processing fee. That is a total of RM3885.50. If they now sell at RM4.78, they earn RM3871.80. Each settler who now sells loses RM 13.70.
That’s chicken feed. But RM 13.70 loss represents the anger of one settler. And there are 112, 635 of them. If each settler family has 4 voting members, that will represent 450,000 angry voters.
So it is as I have said from the very beginning. FELDA and Najib were selling an abstract idea formed from illusions and unclear business strategy. It’s just paper shuffling designed in the end to enrich holders of large chunks of stock, the investment bankers, the hordes of consultants. What new ground breaking businesses are offered by FGV? Nothing other than planting more oil palm and opening up more estates. That’s, the very same business that has been done quite well by FELDA on their own without FGV. You change the management, tweaked here and there giving the impression that FGV has evolved into something super. It’s all a corporate BS.
FELDA got RM10 billion. Najib gave FELDA RM 5.99 billion. Where did the balance go? Most probably as promised by the FELDA CEO, the money went to the minister in charge of FELDA- Najib himself. The PMO got almost RM4 billion to play around to implement the principal economic strategy of Najib- giving out money to buy votes and allegiance.
Lets see how votes bought stand up against votes given because of beliefs and convictions.

18 comments:

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 10:53  


Bro !
Just to add the latest FGV price as
at 10.49am.

Last closing price rm 4.77
10/9/12 open price rm 4.46
as at 10.51am price at its lowest
rm 4.69.
Down 8sen and does not look good for the rest of the day.
Those holding fgv shares have started losing MONEY.
In short they got "pukied"

Quiet Despair,  10 September 2012 at 11:10  

Hello Pak Sak

You seem to love the masses. The rakyat marhaein, so to speak.
This includes the Felda people.
But why gloat over the downturn in Felda shares. You should be sad for them.
Your dislike of Najib seems to over-ride everything else.
It's always I told you so.
Like padan muka aok Najib.Kadang-kadang Pak cakap macam pedaah. Macam mengelat. (Sorry for the Pahangspeak, guys).
This will not sit well with your would-be voters who will be mostly Malays.
Down here of course you are well liked by foremost my buddy Bruno.
But we are are not your voters.
Why not reset your thinking? Show them you can do better instead of just criticizing.
When I was in Pahang for the Raya holidays, people are talking about you.
They think you can be someone great in our state if only you town down your angst a bit.
Now you are seen as just another Najib hater.
You should have fought from within without pulling forces with a party anathema to the Malays!

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 11:28  

London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.....

As far as Felda is concern, i dont think any damage control done by Najib will be effective, so.. London bridge is falling down, falling down,falling down, my poor Najib.

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 11:39  

Salam Dato',

Kalau boleh perkara ini di teruskan saluran maklumat sebenar ke setiap rumah peneroka FELDA, jenerasi baru, hatta yanhg penyokong totok UMNO baru. Jelaskan dan suruh mereka buat perkiraan matematik asas yang paling senang. Tak payah guna kalkulus.

Kalau mereka salah kira, maka mereka akan pangkah UMNO sekali lagi dalam ujian PRU13.

Jangan jadi seorang menteri yang salah arithmetik bila menghitung peserta Bersih di KL baru-baru dulu.

Jangan jadi penyokong UMNO baru yang terpengaruh dengan jumlah Tweet, walhal mereka (penipu) guna programming sehingga satu tweet exponential hingga kuasa ribu ribu.

Saya rasa, Menteri Pelajaran kena didik penyokong UMNO ambik kelas matematik sekali lagi.

Asal jangan cikgu atau professor kangkung yang ajar.

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 12:25  

Salam Dato'.
Sedih bila memikirkannya Dato'. Dari dulu saya mengikuti blog Dato' pasal Felda ni...ianya menjadi kenyataan...
hari ini FGV jatuh RM4.69 dan akan terus jatuh...musang2 yang listing FGv makin jelas nampaknya dan dalam kepanasan.

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 12:35  

91.2m shares@RM4.55 is RM414,969,000 not as what you have stated.

OneMalaysian,  10 September 2012 at 13:03  

Dear Sakmongkol

“Lets see how votes bought stand up against votes given because of beliefs and convictions.”

The 112,470 settlers and their families represent the thin red line of UMNO’s last defence. If breached, UMNO will collapse. It is that simple and dramatic. That is why Najib is throwing buckets of money at the settlers.

The listing of FGV had 2 objectives: one, to “modernize” Felda by prizing control out of the hands of Felda folks (through co-op KPF); and to award the listed shares (at IPO price of RM4.45) and use cash from the listing to bribe (RM15,000 per family) them for the GE 13 votes. It was a kill 2-birds-with-one-stone strategy – clever and diabolical. This deal essentially is the kind of deals that UMNO had regularly given to the Malays. The ordinary Malay folks, trusting and unsophisticated, are always taken for a ride by big brother (or fatherly) UMNO, whose leaders pocket disproportionately large and undeserved share of the cake. That’s why the wealth gap between the rich Malays and the rural poor Malays is so wide.

But these rural folks are still trusting. They are still under the charm of the bomoh (UMNO), swaying gently to the aroma of incense (dollops of cash occasionally thrown their way). When they finally wake up and see reality they will be shocked and feel betrayed and bitter. We hope PR can break this spell before GE 13. Another 5 years would be 5 years too long.

Your readers here can see all this. Take your spell breaking anti-dote to the kampongs and Felda estates.

Patrick 10 September 2012 at 13:32  

Your analysis of FELDA has been correct all along. I think the opposition has made a good impact and choice to engage the FELDA demographics. And it is paying off. FELDA settlers are still getting screwed by Najib and gang. No matter how much crumb-money Najib throws at FELDA, it can never compare to have the bulk of it earnestly and wholeheartedly given to them. Isnt this the hallmark of a good PM and leader? For a country?

I look at it as the opposition is winning over the hearts and minds of FELDA than Najib's fear of losing the FELDA votes. Najib will always be fire fighting because thats all he knows. He has no forward planning or visions, except how to build his personal fortunes on the back of innocent population. OUTSOURCE on govt account has been his SOP.

How much can Najib keep spending on FELDA before elections? How many companies can he take public before the elections, to finance his own greed and power retention? If power retention is Najib's anal retention, he will die a slow, painful and smelly death. Dont forget that every other minister will also be doing the same thing, hence, the competition for limited resource generating vehicles are severely limited after all the plundering by TDM and Badawi and Rosmah. Najib just keeps taking the cookies but dust off the crumbs to keep the dogs happy.

A diet on constant dusted-off cookie crumbs will soon turn the dogs he feeds on him! And he has many hungry dogs growling louder by the day now....

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 13:58  

Najic practicing Dungu-nomics. Only Felda folks were gullible being lead into a false sense of hope...or were they being forced down their throat?

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 15:23  

Please forward this where RAKYAT could access to this comment. I really appreciate your help. Thank you for your kind help.
Rakyat’s Expectation to Govt. Govt or oppostions the obj is personal gain?
RAKYAT hardly fullfill their monthly needs!
The income gap is from hunders to hunderds of thousands of ringgit a month !
Govt Agenda is the RAKYAT INTEREST, PUBLIC WELFARE, NEEDS, ISSUES, & PROBLEMS MUST BE SETTLE,THAN I SAY IT IS ” EXCELLENT JOB.” AN EXCELLENT GOVT ! Tak habis2 agama,propaganda2,ceremah2politik,perhimpuanan2, guna nama parti, nama pemimpin utk mempolitikan agenda masing2, mempermainkan & memperbodohkan rakyat BAHAN POLITIK SEJAK 22 THN, menghasut pemikiran rakyat, guna taktik NORTH KOREA, pemimpin, ahli2 politik,berjaya mempengaruhi RAKYAT! meningati RAKYAT BAHAWA KERAJAAN TELAH BANYAK MEMBANTU RAKYAT, MAJUKAN NEGARA,it’s Govt responsiblity, every govt around the world does that! SELESAIKAN MASALAH RAKYAT DULU, JANGAN jadikan isu2 lain utk tarik perhatian RAKYAT, KHAZANAH NASIONAL,sumber utama kewangan Kerajaan, QUESTION the Govt? IS RAKYAT RIGHTS TO ASK WHY ! ,Hundreds Billions or MORE for 22 yrs? Any proper accurate Statments to RAKYAT? KESEDARAAN RAKYAT? It shows perception of RAKYAT towards Govt. TEPUK DADA TANYA SELERA !
PERSONAL POLITICAL AGENDA? (Cronyism & Nepotism) MYSIA PRACTISE CRONYISM & NEPOTISM FOR THE 22 YRS? CORRUPTION? WhyNEP? WhyPRIVATIZATION? Why GLC? Why Monopoly,Duopoly,Oligopoly? Why few is multimillionaires & rest still remain poor? Why benefits few Malays,Chinese,Indians,Others? rest remain same for past 22yrs? High Inflation? Please no hard feelings, straight to the point! The few enjoys high quality & luxuries life.ALL BN & OPPOSITIONS PARTY MEMBERS is high income group? Subsidies to Cronies?Penyalahgunaan kuasa sejak 22 thn. Always Ask Why?Always Question the Govt, TEPUK DADA TANYA SELERA ! WHERE professional RAKYAT, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, ACCOUNTANTS,OTHERS, not aware, busy, ignore,Low & Middle Income RAKYAT faces Welfare, Rights, Employment, Poverty, & other issues,Professional RAKYAT will defend, raise, assist this group of RAKYAT in any issues towards Govt?
HOW about the Sultan’s & King? hanya Lihat, menjaga, memantau, beri nasihat bila perlu? just give instruction, order, to Govt for personal demands & take home salary? STRAIGHT TO THE POINT, NO HARD FEELINGS, PLEASE ADVISE IF ANY OF MY STATMENT IS WRONG,I appreciate your Advise on this thank you.
Together We Contriubute to build a better MALAYSIA !
Mysia economy growth5%,6%,7%,.., to impress RAKYAT that mysia is better than any other nation? worth trust BNM,MOF,Economist,Financial Advisors whom link to Govt?
The Political Agenda is The most intellectual politics to convince RAKYAT. Again I stress out,the NEEDS, PROBLEM & ISU faced by RAKYAT. RAKYAT is Asset! ” More Public AWARNESS” ! RAKYAT AWARNESS! Don’t be slave to the System ! Terima Buta2 tanpa fikir, the hidden Agenda !
As ordinary rakyat I do my part same goes to ALL RAKYAT MALAYSIA ! BUILD A PROUD NATION !
TEPUK DADA TANYA SELERA!

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 16:07  

Dear Dato Sak

Lessons from the Philippines: the Economy Under Marcos


"The Philippines found itself in an economic crisis in early 1970, in large part the consequence of the profligate spending of government funds by President Marcos in his reelection bid. The government, unable to meet payments on its US$2.3 billion international debt, worked out a US$27.5 million standby credit arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that involved renegotiating the country's external debt and devaluing the Philippine currency to P6.40 to the United States dollar. The government, unwilling and unable to take the necessary steps to deal with economic difficulties on its own, submitted to the external dictates of the IMF. It was a pattern that would be repeated with increasing frequency in the next twenty years.

In September 1972, Marcos declared martial law, claiming that the country was faced with revolutions from both the left and the right. He gathered around him a group of businessmen, used presidential decrees and letters of instruction to provide them with monopoly positions within the economy, and began channeling resources to himself and his associates, instituting what came to be called "crony capitalism." By the time Marcos fled the Philippines in February 1986, monopolization and corruption had severely crippled the economy.

........

In the latter half of the 1970s, heavy borrowing from transnational commercial banks, multilateral organizations, and the United States and other countries masked problems that had begun to appear on the economic horizon with the slowdown of the world economy. By 1976 the Philippines was among the top 100 recipients of loans from the World Bank and was considered a "country of concentration." Its balance of payments problem was solved and growth facilitated, at least temporarily, but at the cost of having to service an external debt that rose from US$2.3 billion in 1970 to more than US$17.2 billion in 1980.

There were internal problems as well, particularly in respect of the increasingly visible mismanagement of crony enterprises. A financial scandal in January 1981 in which a businessman fled the country with debts of an estimated P700 million required massive amounts of emergency loans from the Central Bank of the Philippines and other government-owned financial institutions to some eighty firms. The growth rate of GNP fell dramatically, and from then the economic ills of the Philippines proliferated. In 1980 there was an abrupt change in economic policy, related to the changing world economy and deteriorating internal conditions, with the Philippine government agreeing to reduce the average level and dispersion of tariff rates and to eliminate most quantitative restrictions on trade, in exchange for a US$200 million structural adjustment loan from the World Bank. Whatever the merits of the policy shift, the timing was miserable. Exports did not increase substantially, while imports increased dramatically. The result was growing debt-service payments; emergency loans were forthcoming, but the hemorrhaging did not cease.

It was in this environment in August 1983 that President Marcos's foremost critic, former Senator Benigno Aquino, returned from exile and was assassinated. The country was thrown into an economic and political crisis that resulted eventually, in February 1986, in the ending of Marcos's twenty-one-year rule and his flight from the Philippines. In the meantime, debt repayment had ceased. Real GNP fell more than 11 percent before turning back up in 1986, and real GNP per capita fell 17 percent from its high point in 1981. In 1990 per capita real GNP was still 7 percent below the 1981 level."

Source: countrystudies.us/philippines/57.htm

Phua Kai Lit

Taikohtai 10 September 2012 at 16:43  

Dato,
Looks like real pain will soon rain upon the last bastion of UMNO strongholds, the very backyards they had depended for decades for blind support. Pity the settlers but Hisap couldn't be more happy as his Mat Rempit breeding houses will soon be in full recruitment mood. Your DAP bus in now at greater risk; just make sure the passengers wear helmets when travelling in the vehicle :).

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 17:29  

This is privatization at its best. In privatization the private sector if supposed to play a leading role. But privatization in Third World countries means privatization at rock bottom price or sometimes covered by cheap loans to the privileged and ruling class.

By the way the transaction cost alone is enough to make a billionaire laugh all the way to the bank.

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 19:06  

Felda folks have always been beholden to UMNO.
No matter how much they are being buggered by UMNO, they will still vote for UMNO.
Fools can be fooled all the time.And they are in Felda.

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 20:10  

Dato, even though I never stepped into a oil palm estate before, I get angry reading what Najib has done to Felda settlers. All their sweat and tears over the year are stolen by the rich dishonest Umnoputras under their very nose. And all practically just by a stroke of the pen. And they dare talk like they are so poise and religious.

Anonymous,  10 September 2012 at 23:44  

As salam Dato'
Saya ingin menyatakan pemahaman saya tentang 3 Agensi Kerajaan yg terlibat dgn orang2 luar bandar yg nampaknya sedang di tipu oleh samaada Menteri2 atau pegawai2 Agensi Berkenaan.
Felda pd asasnya ialah rancangan menyediakan tanah seluas 10ek/keluaga.Jadi Peneroka2 awal dahulu terpaksalah meninggalkan kg halaman mereka utk ke tempat baru meneroka tanah pertanian getah atau sawit.Mereka tiada tanah di kg halaman mereka.Itulah 112ribu peneroka.
Pd peringkat kedua Felda masih mengambil tanah2 Kerajaan Negeri tetapi tak di letakkan peneroka kononnya nak bagi saham saja dan akhirnya tanah ini menjadi milik Felda Plantation.Yg inilah di pajak kpd FGV sekarang.Kawasannya lebih luas dari yg di milik oleh peneroka.Maklumatnya lebih 200ribu hektar.
Felcra pula ialah utk memulihkan rancangan tanah yg gagal di bawah Kerajaan2 Negeri yg telah di tempatkan peneroka.Oleh kerana keluasan tanah tak sampai 10 ekar Felcra di tugaskan menyatukan tanah Kerajaan yg berdekatan agar keluasan seorang peneroka(1 keluarga)menjadi 10ek.
Pd tahun 70an 10ek dianggap keluasan ekonomik utk 1 pneroka.
Felcra ini kemudiannya di Swastakan dan memilikki agak luas juga kawasan yg tidak di serahkan kpd Peneroka.Ladang inilah yg buatkan Felcra kuat skg.
Risda pula di tugaskan utk membangunkan Pekebun Kecil setempat yg memiliki tanah di kg halamannya.Inilah diadakan Rancangan Tanam Semula dari Getah tua kpd getah yg lebih bermutu dan sejumlah jenis tanaman lain yg ekonomik,majoritinya sawitlah.
Dalam pd itu ada satu Rancangan dinamakan Tanam Baru Berkelompok.
Rancangan ini ialah utk memberi satu bentuk milikan diluar kg P/Kecil tersebut.
P/Kecil yg layak ialah yg milik 0.25ek hingga 7 ek. Mereka ini ditawar keluasan tanah hingga menjadi jumlah maksima 12 ekar.Jadi Risda melalui Koperasi yg Di Iktiraf pd masa itu(awal 70an)telah memohon tanah2 Kerajaan Negeri dan membangunkanya melalui peruntukkan Tanam Baru. Sekarang kebanyakan Ladang2 ini menjadi milik Risda bukan Koperasi milik P/Kecil.Adalah sedikit dividen mula di agihkan mulai pertengahan 90an kpd P/Kecil yg layak dulu.Kes pemilikkan Ldg2 ini masih dalam tuntutan mahkamah oleh Koperasi milik P/Kecil.
Nampaknya semua rancagan utk org luar bandar skg ni di putar belit dan tidak mahu di berikan hak sepatutnya kpd mereka.
Kalau perkara ni dilakukan mengikut kehendak asal Agensi2 ini di tubuhkan kita dah boleh atasi masalah kemiskinan dgn Peneroka/PKecil berdikari melalui institusi mereka sendiri iaitu Koperasi Peneroka atau Koperasi Pekebun Kecil bukannya koperat koperat yg keparat.
Tidak juga kita lupa kpd Pegawai2 Felda,Felcra dan Risda yg memasukki Agensi2 tersebut pd tahun 70an dan 80an yg amat didikasi menjayakan Ldg2 komoditi getah dan sawit ini.
Cumanya bila ada ahli politik dan koperat yg rakus ini baru terjadi spt yg Dato' Sak rungutkan.
Betulkan saya kalau salah'
Tkasih
Pengundi Bkt Gtg

vacation365 11 September 2012 at 16:08  

At the begining,epf drop fgv share to make money,but nobody cakap here?

Patrick 11 September 2012 at 23:19  

Many people and FELDA dont realise that Najib has single handedly destroyed his father's FELDA legacy. In the name of his father, Najib transferred FELDA settlers' 50 years blood, toil and sweat into his own bank account overseas.

Najib turned FELDA from an independant group of proud farmers into bankrupts and beggars overnight. I pity the FELDA settlers.


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