Mahfuz: Najib should quit over FDI plunge

Mahfuz: Najib should quit over FDI plunge

Jul 26, 10 6:50pm

PAS has blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's performance as finance minister over the drastic 81 percent drop in foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2009.

NONE Commenting on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report released on Friday, PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar (left) said foreign investors are now avoiding Malaysia because of rampant graft and a questionable legal system.

"Foreign investors will invest elsewhere because they see a chronic bureaucracy, where they are forced to pay cabinet lobbyists, cabinet ministers' wives and their families," said Mahfuz in a statement.

He adds that foreign investors are also wary of the flawed legal system, citing the unresolved case of the VK Lingam video controversy, the BN takeover of Perak and the second sodomy trial of Anwar Ibrahim.

azlan"These examples gives the impression of 'law of the (jungle)' and not 'rule of law'," he said.

A CEO would have resigned

Mahfuz said that if Najib's role was to be compared to that of a chief executive officer, the premier would certainly have to resign.

"The prime minister is the CEO of a country and is responsible for bringing returns to the country... The 81 percent drop in FDI has stripped Najib of his qualifications to be premier and finance minister.

"Najib should step down gracefully to save 1Malaysia and his 'people first, performance now' slogan," he said.

Mahfuz also cites questionable management of government assets such as conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd, Federal Land Development Authority, and banking giant Maybank Bhd.

azlan"They (foreign investors) don't see the culture of accountability and responsibility," he said.

The UNCTAD report showed that Malaysia continued its downward trend in attracting FDI since 2007 and the drop in 2009 was massive compared to neighbouring countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Critics said the report had spawned red flags for the economy which needs immediate attention, while the premier and the Finance Ministry have yet to officially respond to the matter.

No contradiction between Najib, Vincent Tan

Watchman: If you examine the words used, they are not contradictory. Vincent Tan said approval has been given. The Finance Ministry said the licence has not been issued (presumably only approval has been given), but public views were still being sought.

This begs the question of why approval was given first and only then public views were sought. Shouldn't it be the other way round? Seek public views first and then, if favourable, give approval. But then again, this 1Malaysia. We always do things belakang first.

Loyal Malaysian: PM Najib Abdul Razak has misread non-Muslims sentiments - he expected a majority to favour his decision and thus allow him to carry through the sports betting licence, purportedly in the interests of the non-Muslim populace. But widespread opposition even among non-Muslims gave him a very big headache.

Harrisman: I think it is a case of the government of the day backtracking when they see the groundswell of support against gambling, in the hope that they will not lose the support of the common man.

Kancil: I think all the opposition MPs should demand for this to be referred to the parliamentary rights and privileges committee. Let them have a taste of their own medicine. Please pursue this relentlessly.

Reprint the letter to Bursa Malaysia in the local media. Citizens do not mind contributing to the cost of placing the advertisement.

If it anybody's found lying, they must be admonished in the most severe manner possible, so that no one will ever think of 'misleading' Parliament. Initiate action against Bursa also if it does not take action.

Artchan: Vincent Tan would not dare jump the gun to announce that approval was given if it was not given. So it must be Najib. But we have to give credit where it is due. Some people can lie with a bloody straight face.

Rocky: We know who is lying. They will make a play of words, they'll say it was a reissue of the license, it wasn't a new licence, blah, blah, blah. Maybe they'll refer the PM to the rights and privileges committee but don't hope for a fair hearing because he will be found innocent.

Beetle: We either have a lying, dishonest PM or a lying businessman. If the licence was not approved, how is it that VT (Vincent Tan) was able to sell his Ascot Sports shares to the tune of RM525 million?

Did VT cheat the shareholders of Berjaya Corp by releasing false information to the public to con the shareholders? The PM and his crony, VT, have to come clean on this matter.

Doc: Time and time again, it is the same scenario with Umno. After trying to bulldoze an unfavourable proposition for personal gain or to satisfy their cronies, without much thought on the ramifications of their exercise, Umno ends up being faced with stiff resistance from the opposition politicians and the rakyat.

As usual Umno will be caught with their pants down with no valid answer to offer for their act. That's when stupidity sets in and plagues Umno politicians' minds, and they will end up doing something stupid. In this case, deny that the issue ever happened and claim all this was the work of the opposition blowing things out of control.

Umno, Umno, Umno. When are you going to learn these most important lessons:

i) the opposition is strong in Parliament;

ii) don't assume the rakyat are stupid and can be manipulated;

iii) the Internet helps spread Umno's follies faster than wildfire.


Sports betting deal stinks: analyst

Malaysian First: It's obvious that the Finance Ministry has misled Vincent Tan. He is the victim here.

Of course, he is not going to sue or take any action against Najib, who is the finance minister - you just have to eat humble pie this time round. He needs the government more than the government needs him. He cannot afford to make Najib angry. There is just too much dealings between them.

Remember the "correct, correct, correct" episode? That's how it is, Vincent Tan. Just swallow this embarrassing blow and wait for the next business deal. I'm sure you won't lose out.

Malaysiasakit: If Berjaya has made an announcement at Bursa Malaysia that it has the sports betting licence, it really means it has been granted the licence. No ifs and buts, because making a false announcement can result in severe penalties and even imprisonment.

AEM (7146, Industrial Product) – a beautiful misunderstood story t

AEM (7146, Industrial Product) – a beautiful misunderstood story that drives it up from 0.44 on Jan 13, 2010 to 1.29 on Jan 15, 2010.

Fundamentally speaking, the stock is probably does not worth 1.29. However, the investors thought that it will go up so they are willing to pay more to catch it, finally, it has to come down.

This stock flied so fast and you cann’t even catch it unless you buy at the high. I discover the stock at around 0.44 and thought that the fundamental is not attractive and I thought the most it can go is 0.51. It went up many times more. Amazing. I have been able to spot some potential stock before it became the hot tips of the market.

On Jan 13, 2010, it suddenly shot up from 0.44 to limit up price at 0.75.

On the same day at 6:21 pm, the company, in replying to the query from Bursa Malaysia, came out with the following statement saying that it is not aware of any other activities that may have contributed to the Unusual Market Activity(UMA):

1. The corporate development relating to the Group business and affairs that has been previously announced that may account for the unusual market activities are:

(a) The Company has appointed MIMB Investment Bank Bhd as our Placement Agent to place out 10% of our share capital. Furthermore, the Company has successfully identified a place for the 10% over the last closing price.
(b) The Company has negotiated with an interested party to provide funding for up to RM 15 million for a term of 2 years at an interest rate of 6 % per annum subject to the funder having a right to convert debts or any part thereof to equity at conversion price of RM 0.55 representing a premium of more than 20% of current closing price. This arrangement is subject to the obtaining of shareholders and regulators approval wherever required.
2. AEM is not aware of any rumour or report concerning the business and affair of the Company that may account for the unusual market activity.
3. AEM is not aware of any other possible explanation to account for the unusual market activity; and
4. AEM is not aware of an material information that requires immediate disclosure in accordance with Paragraph 9.03 of Bursa Securities LR.

On the same day at 6:39 pm, it issued another lengthy statement as follows:


The Board of Directors of the Company wishes to inform that due to the change in the dynamics in the Printed Circuit Boards industry, the Company has decided to embark on an exercise to upgrade, improve its current production capabilities and explore new viable businesses to improve the Company’s performance.

Due to the recent financial crisis, Malaysian operations has been operating at below 60% capacity for the past 2 years and the Company has been looking unsuccessfully for the past 2 years for fresh funds in order to upgrade our production lines so as to compete for more businesses.

In order to address the concerns of the Company’s Bankers, the Company has retained their Corporate Advisors the prominent law firm of Omar Ismail Hazman & Co to assist us in restructuring and transforming the operations of the Company.

The mandate given to the Corporate Advisors of the Company includes negotiation with the Company’s bankers to restructure the Company existing facilities and for additional working capital facilities as well as sourcing for new investors to inject fresh capital into the Company. The Company’s corporate Advisors have also been given the mandate to look for good and viable investments to provide additional income to the Company.

In capitalising the recent increase in our share price, we have also appointed MIMB Investment Bank Bhd as our Placement Agent to place out 10% of our share capital.

In the past 6 months the Directors had been approached by many parties with investments proposals but on review found that the terms were onerous and will not benefit the Company nor the shareholders of the Company and were accordingly rejected by the Directors.

The company is now pleased to announce that the corporate advisors have now advised:

1. that the Company has successfully identified a placee for the 10% private placement at RM0.50 representing a premium of more than 10% over the last closing price.

2. that the Company has negotiated with an interested party to provide funding for up to RM15million for a term of 2 years at an interest rate of 6% per annum subject to the funder having a right to convert debts or any part thereof to equity at conversion price of RM0.55 representing a premium of more than 20% of current closing price. This arrangement is subject to the obtaining of shareholders’ and regulators’ approval wherever required.

On Jan 14, 2010, AEM continued to fly from 0.88 to 1.06.

On the same evening at 6:23 pm, it came out with another statement saying that it is proposing private placement of 8.4495 million new ordinary shares of 0.50 each AEM, representing not more than ten percent of the existing issued and paid-up share capital of AEM.

On Jan 15, 2010, it continued to go on a upward trend from 1.19 to 1.29 but later make a u-turn to come down to as low as 0.90.

Will it ever rebound?
What do you think? I cannot provide all the answer, you have to think for yourself.