Perwaja Steel Closure Is Inevitable

Published by Free Malaysia Today on 12 December 2014.

The Terengganu government has assured the 1,500 workers of Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd that their welfare will be cared for although Perwaja will cease operation by year end. Trade and Industry Committee chairman Tengku Putera Tengku Awang said the state government has urged China-based Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd to employ Perwaja workers.

“The state government has negotiated with Eastern Steel who agreed to employ skilled Perwaja workers. However, Eastern Steel did not set a quota for the workers,” he told reporters after winding up debate in the state assembly today.

Established in 1982, Perwaja changed ownership several times and was beset by financial problems, forcing operations to be closed. Eastern Steel is Malaysia’s largest steel plant with investment of RM1.8 billion on a 500-hectare site in Teluk Kalong, Kemaman.

Tengku Putera said the state government via the Workers Coordination Committee was willing to meet with the Perwaja workers involved. “The retrenchment of Perwaja workers was decided one year ago but the first phase only began in early September. The closure is inevitable, although some capital injection and a rescue plan had been implemented,” he added. The state government is also willing to provide assistance to Perwaja workers who want to venture into business.

- BERNAMA

Link: 

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/12/12/eastern-steel-to-absorb-perwaja-steel-workers/

China Businessman Paid Malaysia Politicians To Receive Honourable Title

By KEITH BRADSHER. Published on 19 Nov 2014 by The New York Times.

CAA Resources has been at the center of the push here, reopening Malaysia’s most famous mine. Discovered in the jungles of eastern Peninsular Malaysia in 1916 by a Japanese geologist, Bukit Besi became one of the world’s largest mines as it supplied the Japanese steel industry through World War II.

The British seized the mine as war spoils after Japan’s surrender and handed it over to a British company. The British mining company initially struggled with Communist insurgency attacks on its rail lines, including bombings that destroyed three train stations, but nonetheless became a big supplier of ore for Japan’s postwar industrial revival.

Then, in 1971, the mine closed because of what a historic marker here describes as bureaucracy and labor union troubles. The site sat idle for most of the next four decades.

Learning from the mistakes of his predecessors, Mr. Li, the 27-year-old CAA chief and scion of a Chinese family that had grown wealthy in the mainland iron ore industry, immediately worked to build ties with local and national political leaders, as well as with Malaysian royalty.

“If you’ve got these two to support you, then you can do anything you want, because the natural resources are all controlled by them,” Mr. Li said.

Mr. Li, who owns 56 percent of CAA, said that he had paid for each of the ruling party politicians with indirect stakes in the mine to receive the royally granted title of “dato,” which roughly translates as “the honorable.” It costs about $100,000 to arrange each royal grant, he said.

Although anti-corruption groups have campaigned against such arrangements, particularly indirect stakes, Mr. Li said he was simply following common practices in Malaysia. A government-linked industry group in Beijing announced plans on Oct. 24 to introduce standards for Chinese companies in areas like labor rights, environmental protection and community relations.

To avoid potential labor issues, Mr. Li has largely imported workers, who are not unionized. CAA Resources brought in about 40 mining engineers, accountants and other professionals from China, and filled the rest of its work force with laborers from low-wage countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. The workers are on 12-hour shifts, up to seven days a week, and are paid based mostly on how much iron ore each shift can produce, Mr. Li said.

Pacing across the jungle mine, Mr. Li described his recruitment pitch to potential hires. “You can save a lot of money, there is nothing to do here,” he said, “I say, ‘Each of you will be a hero, you will take back 100 percent of your savings, your wife will be happier, your children will be happier.' ”

He has avoided filing an environmental-impact statement by erecting an eight-foot-high, blue corrugated-steel fence across the middle of the site with a gate, and calling it two mines, each less than 500 acres. Only mines over 500 acres require environmental approval.

Now, CAA’s biggest challenges are from outside forces.

For one, Bukit Besi’s ore is less rich in iron than what rivals produce in Australia or Brazil, although better than most Chinese ore. Less concentrated iron ore needs to go through a costly extra step, known as beneficiation, before it can be sold. That eats into CAA’s profit.

Transportation, too, is a costly proposition. Australian and Brazilian iron ore mines are connected by rail lines to deepwater ports that can handle some of the world’s largest bulk freighters. That limits their shipping costs to China at around $8 a ton. By contrast, it costs $16 a ton to ship Malaysian iron ore to China because Malaysian ports are shallower — although a deeper port is scheduled to open by the end of next year.

But CAA benefits from a home-field advantage of sorts.

The Chinese steel industry — and the Chinese government, which guides purchasing policies — has been reluctant to rely exclusively on Australia and Brazil, given its past difficulties. In the years before the global financial crisis, such players sharply increased ore export prices.

“There is a strategic imperative — China does not want to be solely dependent on Australia and Brazil,” said Tim Huxley, chief executive of Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, a big Hong Kong shipping company active in carrying iron ore to China. “They’ve done that before, and it cost them a lot of money.”

With migrant workers, CAA’s labor costs are tiny compared with those of mines elsewhere. The company has brought in Chinese mining equipment at less than half the cost of American or Japanese equipment — and has the connections with manufacturers to get broken parts fixed quickly.

So Mr. Li insists that his company’s Malaysian mines could still cover their costs and show a modest profit shipping ore back to China at prices close to $80 a ton.

“We’re still positive by this time,” he said. “The open pit process has low costs.”

Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/international/chinese-interests-look-to-malaysia-for-cheap-iron-ore-and-profits.html

Lynas gets full operating licence before TOL expiry date!

By Eileen Ng. Published by The Malaysian Insider on 2 September 2014.

The Lynas rare-earth refinery in Gebeng, Pahang has been granted a Full Operating Stage Licence (FOSL), days before its two-year Temporary Operating Licence (TOL) expires midnight today.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) director-general Hamrah Mohd Ali said the board met on August 21 and agreed to issue a two-year FOSL to Australian rare earth miner and producer Lynas after it fulfilled all the conditions set.

"They have complied with all the conditions set by us during the TOL stage and that is why the licence was issued," he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted today.

He said this included having a permanent disposal facility, a condition set by the TOL, which Lynas detractors had accused the Australian company of failing to comply with.

To this Hamrah said: "We work based on science and facts, not hearsay. They have submitted all the relevant documents to the board which showed they have complied with the conditions set and that is why we granted the licence to them."

Hamrah said the board could issue FOSL of between one and three years but he could not explain why Lynas was given a two-year licence.

"It is up to the board to decide on the tenure of the licences. Lynas is one of the 2,000 plants in Malaysia where we issue licences but the company can renew their licence after the two years has lapsed," he said.

The Australian mining company chose Malaysia for its operations following generous incentives including pioneer status and a 12-year tax holiday. It employs some 300 personnel in its Kuantan facility.

Despite strong protest from environmentalists, in September 2012, the AELB granted Lynas (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd a TOL for a two-year period ending on September 2, 2014.

In December last year, the board said Lynas had submitted last July the results of its research on recycling its waste for commercial purposes.

However, it said further study was needed on the findings.

The main concern over the rare-earth processing plant was contamination of the coastal environment and the adverse health impact which could result from the mismanagement of radioactive waste streams.

This fear stemmed from the experience in the 1980s at Mitsubishi Chemical’s Asian Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah, Ipoh, which was shut down more than two decades ago and linked to cases of leukaemia because of radioactive exposure, some of which were fatal.

The board had on several occasions assured residents that it was monitoring the operations of the Lynas plant around the clock and said it had found radiation levels onsite and offsite to be within acceptable limits.

Link: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/lynas-gets-full-operating-licence-before-tol-expiry-date

Army Officer Recycles Military Surplus & Creates Fashionable Bags

By Angel Canales. Published by ABC News on 14 August 2014.

DENVER–Serving in the military while also being the CEO of a fashion company can be an intimidating but also a rewarding experience. It’s also a perfect match for U.S. Army 1st Lt. Emily Núñez, 24, who saw a need and filled it, helping her fellow veterans along the way.

“It has been challenging at times but the two roles complement each other. As an officer in the US Army your job is to lead soldiers and to motivate them to accomplish a task. As the CEO, my job is to ensure that we’re accomplishing our social mission while keeping the team excited about what we’re doing,” she says.

Núñez is the CEO and co-founder of Sword and Plough. Sword and Plough creates bags and other accessories out of repurposed military surplus, like shelter halves tents, laundry bags and sleeping bag covers.

Although Núñez was committed to a career in the military, she and her sister Betsy Núñez, 26, co- founded Sword & Plough in 2012.  Growing up in a military family Emily followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the Army. She currently serves as an Intelligence Officer with the Group Support Battalion in the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson, Colorado. Prior to joining the military, Núñez enrolled in the Army ROTC at the University of Vermont and and Middlebury College in Vermont in 2008. It was there during her senior year that the idea to launch her entrepreneurial venture was born.

The idea to create her fashion company came to Núñez after a talk at the Middlebury’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship. During the Social Entrepreneurship Symposium at Middlebury Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund talked about businesses that had incorporated recycling into their business model. Núñez took note and put her social entrepreneur spirit to work. She began to think about what around her was routinely wasted and could be recycled and turned into something powerful. ”I was aware that there was a lot of military surplus that was wasted, thrown away or burned,” Núñez says.

Emily told her sister Betsy about her idea to turn a military shelter halves tent into tote bags.  ”When she first told me about her idea I was so surprised and happy that she shared that with me. I knew this was something that could be very special and could become something really unique,” Betsy says. From that conversation the sisters continue to build on the idea and business model.

Sword & Plough’s name comes from the biblical phrase to “turn swords into ploughshares” from the Book of Isaiah.  For Emily and Betsy it means re-adapting military technology for a peaceful civilian purpose. The sisters are giving these fabrics and materials another purpose as stylish designs. “Some of the materials we use have been used by the Army and military since the Civil War,” Betsy says.

Emily and Betsy never went to school for business and they didn’t have any experience in fashion either but that didn’t stop them. “It was a challenge to start the business but at the same time it was a huge opportunity,” she says. The sisters thank the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship for helping them every step of the way.

To build the company, they sought out support and mentorship from other groups. They attended the Dell Summer Social Innovation Lab in July 2012. During the three-week program, they were able to build their business plan, supply chain, brand name and a prototype bag.

The idea caught on and last year Sword and Plough participated in Mass Challenge, the largest startup accelerator and competition in the world.  Some 1,200 young companies from all over the world applied for 120 spots.  Sword and Plough was selected and they were awarded $50,000 to grow their business. Preparing for that pitch was nerve-racking, Betsy says. At the time, Emily was serving in Afghanistan and they practiced over Skype how they were going to prepare their pitch.

The company’s social mission is to empower and promote veteran employment, strengthen military civil relations and reduce waste. All items are made in the US and the company works with veteran owned, operated and staffed manufactures. “I really wanted to create a product that would physically touch civilians in a beautiful way and to remind them of veterans and the sacrifice that they made but also the challenges that they encounter as they transition into civilian life,” Emily says.

For Emily, veteran employment was their main company goal. During her time at the Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia, she heard about veterans having difficulties finding meaningful employment. “I spent a lot of time with soldiers of all different ranks and services and many of them told me about friends of their who were getting out of the military and faced challenges as they tried to find employment and that experience always stuck with me,”  she says.

The company’s launched started on Kickstarter in 2013 with a goal to raise $20,000.   Their campaign exceeded their goal and raised over $312,000 and so far have provided jobs to 35 veterans and recycled over 15,000 pounds of military surplus.

Sword and Plough items are on sale on their website and they are being sold in Toms Marketplace.

Emily and Betsy are  happy to be accomplishing a social mission with their company. “I want Sword & Plough to be a leader in the field of social entrepreneurship that is able to communicate effectively the awesome skill that veterans bring to communities. As a fashion brand over the course of the next five to 10 years we want Sword & Plough to be known as a strong American heritage brand,” Emily says.

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/08/surplus-tents-become-fashion-items-as-army-officer-ceo-creates-jobs-for-vets/

It’s A Misconception To Think Sarawak Chief Minister Is Really Retiring

By Barry Porter and Manirajan Ramasamy. Published by Bloomberg News on 10 February 2014.

Abdul Taib Mahmud plans to retire as chief minister of Sarawak, after running Malaysia’s commodities-rich eastern state for more than three decades.

Taib, 77, intends to inform Sarawak’s head of state to of his intention to resign, Malaysia’s official Bernama news agency reported, citing the chief minister. The decision comes seven months after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission formed a multi-agency task force to expedite investigations into claims of graft. Taib has denied corruption allegations, and press reports say he may seek to become the state’s governor.

During his 33-year rule of Malaysia’s biggest state, Taib’s government handed out concessions for logging and supported the federal government’s mega projects, including construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric dam. Oil palm plantations spread as loggers rolled back the frontiers of Borneo’s rain forest, home to nomadic people and rare wildlife such as orangutans and proboscis monkeys.

Some stocks linked to his relatives fell after the Berita Harian newspaper first reported on Feb. 5 that Taib planned to retire as chief minister and become the state’s governor. Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd. (CMS), a construction and building materials maker, rose 3.8 percent today after declining 8.6 percent last week after the report.

‘More Powerful’

“It’s a misconception to think he’s really retiring,” said James Chin, professor of political science at the Malaysian campus of Australia’s Monash University. “When he moves up to governor, he becomes even more powerful. Certain things need his signature. He appoints the chief minister. All mining leases must be signed off by him.”

Taib and his allies control 25 Sarawak seats in Malaysia’s national parliament. That’s enough to ensure the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition falls from power should they ever choose to switch support to the opposition, said Chin. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s alliance was returned to power in May 2013 by its narrowest margin since independence in 1957.

Taib told Bernama he would step down from his current position by the end of this month. He is Malaysia’s longest-serving chief minister, in power longer than Mahathir Mohamad, who retired after 22 years as prime minister in 2003.

Important Role

“Taib is not really gone from Sarawak politics,” Ibrahim Suffian, a political analyst at the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research, said by phone. “From behind the scenes or even as the new governor, he will play an important role including handling economic issues. Most important now is who will be Taib’s successor.” Opposition parties have made some inroads in Sarawak in recent years, he said.

Taib had doubled up as the state’s finance minister, and minister for planning and resource management, according to his official website. He’s also president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, or PBB, and state chairman of Barisan Nasional, Malaysia’s ruling political coalition headed by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

PBB met at the weekend and gave Taib a mandate to nominate his successor, the Star reported, citing party Chairman Amar Asfia Awang Nassar.

Local media, including the Star, have named three candidates short-listed by Taib to replace him. They are the party’s deputy president Amar Abang Johari Openg, senior vice president Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and information chief Adenan Satem.

To contact the reporters on this story: Barry Porter in Kuala Lumpur at bporter10@bloomberg.net; Manirajan Ramasamy in Kuala Lumpur at rmanirajan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net

Link: 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-10/commodities-rich-sarawak-s-top-minister-to-retire-after-33-years.html

Published by Today Online on 10 February 2014.

But Mr Taib’s influence over the sprawling Borneo island state is likely to remain strong as he is expected to take on the job of state governor, a more ceremonial role than his current post.

His departure will raise doubts over whether a successor will be able to maintain Mr Taib’s political balance between defending the interests of native Sarawak residents, and supporting the national Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. The state is majority Christian in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Sarawak, the country’s largest state, has been increasingly crucial to the long-ruling BN coalition as its support wanes in peninsula Malaysia. Without the 25 seats that Mr Taib’s party and his allies won in last May’s election, the national coalition would have lost its majority in the 222-seat parliament, likely ending its 57-year rule.

Mr Taib’s party emerged from the election as the coalition’s second-largest party after the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), boosting his sway over national politics.

Mr Taib has short-listed three possible successors, including his housing minister who is seen as having close ties with the federal government and Prime Minister Najib Razak.

“I think the big question is what happens over the longer term, whether his successors will develop minds of their own,” said Mr Ibrahim Suffian, head of the Merdeka Center polling firm.

Mr Taib, who travels by Rolls Royce and private jet, has been under pressure to step down amid a growing focus on alleged timber corruption in the state.

Environmental groups say that under his rule, Sarawak — which accounts for a quarter of the world’s tropical log exports - has lost 95 per cent of its virgin forest. Sarawak officials say 84 per cent of the state is forested although this includes massive oil palm estates planted in place of forests.

UNDER INVESTIGATION

Mr Taib has been under investigation by Malaysia’s anti-graft agency since 2011 and is regularly accused by activist groups of enriching his family through his control over awarding huge infrastructure contracts.

Ms Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who has long been a critic of Mr Taib and who runs the Sarawak Report website, said Mr Taib was merely “moving upstairs” into the new role and would maintain his overall influence on state affairs.

“He will never willingly give up power as it would be too dangerous for him and threaten the business empire he has built up across Sarawak,” she said.

Mr Taib is presiding over a US$100 billion (S$127 billion) plan to harness the state’s rivers into 12 dams by 2020 and transform it into an energy hub that can power smelters built by Japanese and Australian firms and also light up the rest of Borneo island.

Shares in Cahya Mata Sarawak, owned about 40 per cent by Mr Taib’s immediate family, snapped three days of losses to rise 2.5 percent today on expectations Mr Taib will still have a say in how the state awards infrastructure jobs.

Timber companies such as Ta Ann Holdings and Jaya Tiasa that benefit from logging licenses awarded by Mr Taib rose 2.3 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.

All the counters outperformed the broader market which inched up 0.4 per cent. REUTERS

Read more here:

http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/controversial-malaysia-state-boss-due-retire?singlepage=true

Published by Free Malaysia Today on 12 February 2014.

Research by Swiss NGO, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), has shown that Taib’s family raised US$16.94 million (RM55.9 million) from the sale of one of his San Francisco properties. The historical 11-storey building at 260 California Street in San Francisco’s financial district was sold by Sakti in mid-2012. Sakti, a US company, is allegedly controlled by Taib via his closest family members.

Documents released by the late whistleblower Ross Boyert back in 2010 showed that 50% of Sakti’s shares were held “in trust” Taib by his two brothers – Onn and Arip – and his three children. The Swiss NGO said in a statement that Taib’s majority control of Sakti was kept a secret because the Sarawak constitution prohibits the Chief Minister from actively running commercial interests.

The constitution states that the head of government and the Governor “shall not hold any office of profit and shall not actively engage in commercial enterprise...The Sakti sale is a textbook example of money-laundering. A foreign politician who acts in an illegal and unconstitutional way should not be allowed to operate freely in the United States. The US and the Malaysian authorities have to act decisively and confiscate all Taib assets whose origin cannot be explained,” the statement said.

Read more here:

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/02/12/bmf-taib%E2%80%99s-us-property-sold-for-over-rm55-mil/

Blessed with oil money, but why is Malaysia in huge debt?

By Ng Kee Seng. Published by The Ant Daily on 14 January 2014.

Can any oil producing country in the world make all her citizens millionaires via prudent management and savings?

Norway achieved that on Jan 8, 44 years after striking oil in the North Sea in 1969. But it only set up its oil sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in 1990, meaning it took the Norwegians only 23 years to be millionaires.

According to a Reuters report, everyone in Norway became a theoretical crown millionaire on Jan 8 in a milestone for the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund that has ballooned thanks to high oil and gas prices.

The fund owns about one per cent of the world’s stocks, as well as bonds and real estate from London to Boston, making the Nordic nation an exception when others are struggling under a mountain of debts.

A preliminary counter on the website of the central bank, which manages the fund, rose to 5.11 trillion crowns (US$828.66 billion or RM2.7 trillion), fractionally more than a million times Norway’s most recent official population estimate of 5,096,300.

It was the first time it reached the equivalent of a million crowns each, central bank spokesman Thomas Sevang said.

Not that Norwegians will be able to access or spend the money, squirreled away for a rainy day for them and future generations. Norway has resisted the temptation to splurge all the windfall since its oil strike.

Finance Minister Siv Jensen told Reuters the fund, called the Government Pension Fund Global, had helped iron out big, unpredictable swings in oil and gas prices. Norway is the world's number seven oil exporter.

“Many countries have found that temporary large revenues from natural resource exploitation produce relatively short-lived booms that are followed by difficult adjustments,” she said in an email.

The fund, equivalent to 183 per cent of 2013 gross domestic product, is expected to peak at 220 per cent around 2030.

“The fund is a success in the sense that parliament has managed to put aside money for the future. There are many examples of countries that have not managed that,” said Oeystein Doerum, chief economist at DNB Markets.

Note the key word: Parliament. In Malaysia, only the prime minister has access to national oil producer Petronas’ funds and accounts.

Malaysia is the 27th largest oil producer in the world, rolling out 693,700 barrels/day. Only 114 countries were listed as at 2009 and 2010. Norway rolls out 2,350,000 bbl/day.

What’s the financial position of Malaysia? A federal debt of up to RM800 billion! (as revealed by then Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir at end of 2012).

And do we have such an oil SWF to save for rainy days for the rakyat and country? None.

According to a written reply in Parliament by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Petronas had contributed RM3 billion to the National Trust Fund (or Kwan, the acronym for Kumpulan Wang Amanah Negara) as at June 2011.

He also said the money had been invested in various financial instruments and that Kwan’s fund currently stood at RM5.43 billion.

Just a measly RM5.43 billion compared with Norway’s RM2.7 trillion!

The administration and management of the trust is handled by Bank Negara with a panel under Kwan monitoring the collection of funds. And, digest this moronic joke: Najib said Kwan was set up to ensure that revenue from dwindling natural resources would benefit future generations.

After 39 years (Petronas was founded in 1974), all we have today is a federal debt of at least RM800 billion, and the international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia stood at RM441.7 billion (equivalent to US$134.9 billion) as at Dec 31, 2013.

Now, it is clear why the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government is cutting down on subsidies. Its federal debt is so high that it cannot continue to borrow to serve the rakyat as before or Malaysia will go bust like Greece.

It’s time for Malaysians to take stock of the federal government’s lack of transparency and accountability in its financial management of the country’s wealth.

It’s utter nonsense and a disgrace for the 24-year-old Kwan to have a paltry savings of RM5.43 billion, unless Najib now wants to claim that the figure was erroneous and blame it on a scapegoat who prepared the written reply in Parliament.

What can RM5.43 billion (US$1.9 billion) do to help Malaysians and Malaysia during rainy days, like when our oil wells run dry?

Why is there no oil-based SWF for Malaysia?

Petronas is today a global player in oil and gas exploration.

Why is the government just satisfied with an annual RM100 million contribution to Kwan since 1988?

Where has Petronas’ hundreds of billions of ringgit in revenue over the past 38 years gone to?

Did Petronas’ oil and gas exploration presence in 32 countries outside Malaysia also contribute or help facilitate the bulk of the RM1.08 trillion in capital flight in the last decade?

Why avoid establishing an oil-based SWF for the people and country? Is it because financial transparency and accountability would be a pain?

Crude oil and natural gas are Malaysia’s two most abundant resources but their sustainability is being questioned with the country projected to become a net oil importer in a few years.

Now, let’s take a more detailed look on why other oil producing countries are doing better in terms of oil-based or non-commodity-based SWF management:

Kuwait (10th at 2,494,000 bbl/day), Libya (17th at 1,790,000 bbl/day), Kazakhstan (18th at 1,540,000 bbl/day), Algeria (15th at 2,125,000 bbl/day), South Korea (64th at 48,180 bbl/day) and Singapore (82nd at 10,910 bbl/day).

Malaysia’s non-commodity Khazanah Nasional, founded in 1993, is ranked 23rd with US$34 billion (RM110 billion) in assets and a Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index (LM-TI) of 5.

The world’s largest SWF, Norway’s Pension Fund Global, was in 2009 registered with assets worth US$664.3 billion (RM2 trillion) with a perfect 10 LM-TI.

UAE-Abu Dhabi’s oil-based Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, established in 1976, is ranked second with US$627 billion (RM2 trillion) and a 5 LM-TI.

At third spot, China’s non-commodity SAFE Investment Company, which was founded in 1997, now manages assets worth US$567.9 billion (RM1.8 trillion), with a 4 LM-TI.

That’s the top three SWFs in the world. Now, let’s focus on our neighbours.

Singapore’s non-commodity Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, which was set up in 1981, is ranked 8th with assets at US$247.5 billion (RM802 billion) and a 6 LM-TI.

Following at 9th rank is another Singapore non-commodity SWF, Temasek Holdings, which was established in 1974. It has US$157.5 billion (RM510 billion) in assets and a perfect 10 LM-TI.

Even countries like Kuwait, which was severely damaged by Iraq’s bombing and brief occupation, Libya, Kazakhstan, Algeria and South Korea, which were far poorer than Malaysia in the 60s, 70s and 80s, are all managing their country’s wealth better than Malaysia.

Malaysia’s economic and financial standing is baffling, don’t you think so?

Link:

http://www.theantdaily.com/news/2014/01/14/blessed-oil-money-why-malaysia-huge-debt

Ng Kee Seng believes that God helps those who help themselves. In a healthy democracy, every Malaysian has a role in politics and nation-building.

Baram & Murum Dams blockades: Natives Staking Their Lives for Their Land

AMIDST concerns that the "Allah" issue infringes on the religious freedom of East Malaysians, Bumiputera Christians in Sarawak are facing another struggle deep in the interior. It is the struggle for the right to land, livelihood and selfdetermination. The latest in this decades' old struggle are the Baram Dam and Murum Dam blockades.

The Baram blockade

Kayan, Kenyah and Penan natives are fighting plans for yet another dam which will displace up to 20,000 natives and submerge a rainforest area of over 400km2.

Blockades at different locations were launched in Oct 2013, one, to stop construction of an access road, and the other, at the proposed dam site itself. Both blockades enjoyed success when workers left the area and took their heavy machinery and other equipment with them.

Points to note in the Baram case are: 1) The affected villages have not consented to the dam. 2) No social or environmental impact analysis (EIA) has been conducted on the proposed site, and yet, road works and surveys at the site have started. 3) Nothing about the project, resettlement and compensation has been discussed with the affected natives.

On 6 Nov, two Baram villages, Long Na'ah and Long Kesseh, sued the Chief Minister and State Government at the Miri High Court. They are claiming rights over 4000 ha of their land which will be submerged by the dam. They are also challenging the constitutionality of provisions in the Sarawak Land Code on the grounds that land, being their source of life, cannot be taken away by such laws.

The Murum blockade

The wall of the Murum Dam was recently completed and impoundment began on 21 Sept. It has displaced about 1500 Penan natives. To date, three affected villages have resettled in Tegulang.

However, the affected Penan natives tell a different story: 1) That the first two years of the dam's construction was carried out in secret. 2) That the EIA report was not disclosed until the dam had reached an advanced stage of construction. 3).The villagers who resettled in Tegulang had no choice as their original homes would inevitably be submerged. 4) The compensation offered and living conditions at Tegulang are atrociously sub-par. There are no farmlands and forest to grow and hunt food. There is no clinic and waste disposal system.

The Penans have launched blockades since Sept 2012. The latest blockade began in September this year and still continues. With their land already lost to the impoundment, they are now protesting the terms and amount of compensation, and to stop materials from coming in to complete the dam's turbines and powerhouse.

On 7 Nov, 10 Penan protestors were arrested for blockading. They include two under-aged boys. All 10 were released after three days but will be charged with wrongful restraint and criminal trespass.

A critical juncture

The blockades against both dams continue and are manned by the natives numbering up to several hundred strong on some days. They include whole families; women, children and the elderly. They live in makeshift tents and occasionally receive food, drinking water and medicines supplied by groups of concerned Malaysians and some NGOs. Long-term exposure to the elements and lack of nutritious food has caused some of them to fall sick. At times, police have stopped humanitarian aid from reaching the blockade sites. Natives have also reported harassment and use of force against peaceful protestors.

Many among the tribes currently affected - the Penan, Kenyah and Kayan - are Christians, and so are the lawyers and the NGO leaders helping them. These NGOs include the Sarawak Indigenous Lawyers Alliance, SAVE Rivers, Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS) and the Society for Rights of Indigenous People Sarawak (SCRIPS). They are asking for prayer and support to cover the cost of food, aid and transportation to reach the interior and to help lawyers prepare legal cases.

As far as the natives are concerned, they will continue to hold their ground. But for how long? The state government plans to build a total of 12 hydroelectric dams for industrial parks under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) project. The first of these, the Bakun Dam, has already displaced 10,000 natives. The Baram and Murum blockades are thus appealing for help at a critical juncture that may determine whether more dams will be built and more natives displaced.

Link: http://www.necf.org.my/newsmaster.cfm?&menuid=43&action=view&retrieveid=1541

Sarawak Energy grants USD196 million in contracts to Chief Minister’s son amidst growing tensions over dam projects

Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCB) has bagged two new contracts totalling RM618.6 million from Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) to develop transmission lines in Sarawak.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, SCB said the group, via its unit Trenergy Infrastructure Sdn Bhd, yesterday received a letter of award from SEB for the Sinohydro-Trenergy Joint Venture the Mapai to Lachau 500kV transmission line project (Package B) for RM352.8 million. It also received a letter of award dated Oct 23, 2013 for the Lachau to Tondong 500kV transmission line project (Package C) for RM265.8 million.

Read more here: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/868887

Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, the son of long-serving Sarawak state chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, owns 20.69% of Sarawak Cable. State-owned Sarawak Energy, meanwhile, owns 18.75% of the firm.

Read more here:

http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/business-news/260759-malaysias-sarawak-cable-wins-state-contracts-worth-197-million.html#.Um-oZxE4fMA.twitter

Sarawak Cable is chaired by Mahmud Abu Bekir, the elder son of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. According to company documents, the Sarawak strongman’s son is both chairman of Sarawak Cable and its second-largest shareholder with a 33% stake in the company (21% held directly and 12% indirectly).

The Bruno Manser Fund is dismayed that Sarawak Energy under its Norwegian CEO, Torstein Sjøtveit, continues with the corrupt practice of favouring the Chief Minister’s family. Already between 2010 and early 2013, Sjøtveit had granted over 220 million USD in contracts to Taib family-linked enterprises.

“By granting contracts worth a grand total of over 400 million USD to the Chief Minister’s son, Mr. Sjøtveit’s conduct has passed all levels of decency”, Bruno Manser Fund director Lukas Straumann said on Thursday. “We ask Mr. Sjøtveit to resign immediately as he has lost all credibility when claiming that he contributes to the development of Sarawak. Instead, he has made himself a tool of the Taib family’s unrestrained greed and corruption. Mr. Sjøtveit should feel ashamed for what he is doing to the people of Sarawak and to the reputation of Norway in Malaysia.”

The explosive news comes amidst a situation of growing tensions over the planned Baram dam construction. Earlier this week, native communities scored a victory when their blockades forced Sarawak Energy workers to halt survey works for the planned Baram dam. 

Read more here: 

http://www.barubian.net/2013/10/sarawak-energy-grants-usd196-million-in.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The dam, one of 11 new dams being planned by the state government throughout Sarawak, will see the evacuation of 20,000 natives from the Kenyahs, Kayans and Penans ethnic groups...

Meanwhile, The Star quoted Telang Usan's Barisan Nasional state assemblyman, Dennis Ngau, as saying that the situation on the ground was "very hot" following no sign of the natives backing down. The politician claimed he was worried the matter would "boil over into a physical confrontation", urging restraint through a "cooling off period".

"Stop all ground works for the time being until further notice. Don't confront the protesters. Leave it to us politicians to find a solution," Ngau advised, referring to rock drilling works between Long Naah and Long Kesseh, some 200kms inland from Miri City. Ngau said he had also cautioned Sarawak Energy and officials from the state Land and Survey Department to stay away from the site for now.

Read more here: 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/swiss-group-slams-rm600-million-energy-contract-says-company-chaired-by-sar?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tmi%2Fnews%2Fmalaysia+%28TMI+-+Malaysia%29#When:02:57:37Z

Sarawak lagging behind in everything

By Joseph Tawie. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 23 May 2013.

Sarawak, which is the largest state in Malaysia, has only 212 government-run clinics. According to the Social Statistics Bulletin Malaysia 2012, this included only seven rural clinics (Klinik Desa), 197 health centres and eight 1Malaysia clinics.

Expressing his surpise, Ba’ Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian said in comparison Perak which has about the same population as Sarawak had 328 clinics of which 242 were rural clinics (Klinik Desa). “(Even) Pahang, the largest state in Peninsula Malaysia but with an area less than a third of the size of Sarawak, has a total of 324 clinics, 243 of which are rural clinics,” he said yesterday while debating the address of Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak.

“Whichever way one looks at it, it cannot be denied that Sarawak has not been getting her fair share of allocation, resulting in deprivation of adequate healthcare for her people. “The people deserve the same standard and accessibility of healthcare as that received by their fellow citizens in West Malaysia but it seems that this will continue to be denied to them for many years yet,” he said.

Fifty years ago, then prime minister of Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman said that one of the principal objectives in forming Malaysia was to further the economic development of the Borneo territories so that their standards of living and technical skills might be raised, and a firm basis provided for accelerated economic growth. He announced that “measures would be introduced to accelerate industrial development in the Borneo territories, and to minimise the disqualifying effect of free play of the economic forces so that the gap between a relatively backward state and the advanced would be narrowed and not widened.”

Bian said: “Half a century after the formation of Malaysia, the ethnic communities of Sarawak are still not able to integrate into the economic system of Malaysia. “At this 50th year mark, it is appropriate that we examine the extent to which Sarawak has benefited from the economic progress of Malaysia, given that prior to the formation of Malaysia, the political leaders of Malaya made many promises, tacit or expressed, regarding the potential diffusion of socio-economic development from Peninsula Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Poverty, education interlinked

Bian also touched on the issue of poverty in Sarawak, saying that while statistics showed that the situation had improved in 2012 as compared to 2009, he was still skeptical. In 2009 poverty levels stood at 5.9%. This figure dropped to 2.4% in 2012. “Whilst I would dearly like to believe this statistics, my observations during my trips in the rural areas and in the interior of Sarawak give me reason to doubt the accuracy of this figure. “The standard of living of a population is causally related to their educational attainment, which in turn determines their levels in the occupational hierarchy.

“In Sarawak, even to this day, the indigenous people, with only primary education or a lack of formal education, are relegated to jobs at the bottom end of the occupational hierarchy such as skilled agricultural workers or elementary workers. The Labour Force Survey Report Malaysia 2010 shows that Sarawak has the second highest number of workers in the labour force with no formal education that is 94,000 workers, which accounts for 22.6% of the national total.

“The figure for Sabah is even higher, and in total, both the Borneo states account for 55.5% of the workers in the Malaysian labour force with no formal education. “Worse still, there are 242,000 Sarawakian workers with only primary education, who account for 23% of the labour force of Sarawak and 12.8% of the labour force of Malaysia. “The number of workers with no formal education combined with those who have only primary education account for 31.9% of the Sarawak labour force and 35.4% of the national labour force,” he said.

‘Illiterate workers’

He pointed out that Sarawak accounted for only about 8% of the total labour force of Malaysia, but within that small fraction, Sarawakian workers accounted for 35.4% of the country’s functionally illiterate workers. This disparity, he said, bodes poorly for Sarawak in relation to its standing and competitiveness within Malaysia.

“With such a large proportion of the Sarawak labour force having inadequate education, how can the government hope to achieve its high-income economy goal by 2020? In fact, the energy-intensive SCORE region in Central Sarawak has plans to attract 1.2 million foreign workers over the next decade or so.

“Already, there are 600,000 foreigners in Sarawak and of these no less than 240,000, it has been estimated, are illegal immigrants from Indonesia and elsewhere. This leads to various other problems, which have been brought up here before in this August house,” he said.

He said that workers with no formal education combined with those who only have primary education are classified as ‘functionally illiterate’ by the World Bank. He said the majority of them currently worked in the primary or agriculture industry and in secondary (or manufacturing) and tertiary sectors as unskilled or elementary workers.

“Whatever mechanical or technical skills they may have acquired will not prevent them from being marginalized when micro-electronic processes are introduced to their work places in the near future,” said Bian, pointing out that skills are becoming obsolete more rapidly, and the demand for continuous skill training for the current workforce will be tremendous.

He said around 51% of this portion or 123,420 of Sarawak’s labour force are less than 35 years old and would still be alive by 2040. “The government needs to provide adequate training for them in community colleges so that they can acquire some form of skills and functional literacy to survive the Knowledge-based economy of the future,” he said.

According to the Social Statistics Bulletin Malaysia 2012, there are only three community colleges in Sarawak – Kuching Community College, Mas Gading Community College and Branch Betong Community College – with a total enrolment of 182 students. “Sadly there are only three community colleges in Sarawak. I urge the government to seriously address the needs of the 123,420 workers who will need to be trained,” he said.

Link: 

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/23/sarawak-lagging-behind-in-everything/

Outrage grows over scandal-tainted Malaysia state boss

By AFP. Published by MSN news on 23 May 2013.

Taib, 77, and his family are accused of massive corruption and running Malaysia's largest state like a family business, controlling its biggest companies with stakes in hundreds of corporations in Malaysia and abroad.

A Rolls Royce and flashy jet cover his transportation, while a vast war chest has kept his political authority unrivalled in 32 years in charge of the resource-rich Borneo island state, which remains one of Malaysia's poorest.

"The amount of control he has is astounding. He has been able to dominate politics and society here for nearly four decades," said Faisal Hazis, a political scientist with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

But pressure is rising both at home and abroad for action against a man referred to by his harshest critics as the "thief minister" and viewed as the prime example of a culture of corruption fueling public disgust.

Swiss-based activists Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), citing financial records, last year estimated the 77-year-old's worth at $15 billion, which would make him Malaysia's richest person.

Such revelations are hugely embarrassing for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who faces a slide in support due in part to corruption blamed for bleeding the country of billions of dollars annually.

But Taib, a member of Malaysia's 56-year-old ruling coalition, is widely considered untouchable because the Sarawak parliamentary bloc he controls helps keep the coalition in power.

"We don't see the political will to address grand corruption like this and it could destroy the country" by crippling economic development, said Josie Fernandez, Transparency International's Malaysia director.

A 2008 US State Department cable revealed by WikiLeaks called Taib "highly corrupt" and "unchallenged", saying Taib-linked companies dominate Sarawak's emerging economy.

He and his family are accused of routinely taking kickbacks for lucrative government contracts or awarding the projects to companies they control.

A prime example dominates the languid capital Kuching -- the state-assembly building whose swooping, golden roof gleams like a crown in the tropical sun.

A Taib-linked company won the $98 million contract to build the structure, which opened in 2009 and is home to a legislature he controls. A similar story surrounds a futuristic convention centre nearby.

Taib's office declined repeated interview requests.

A member of the Melanau tribe, supporters see him as defender of the autonomy of Sarawak -- which is marked by Christian and tribal groups -- against the Muslim Malay-dominated federal coalition based on mainland Malaysia.

Taib denies wrongdoing, saying Sarawak must be developed for its 2.4 million people. His critics spout "a web of lies and half-truths wrapped around ignorance and twisted logic", he fumed last year.

But pressure grows, including in the rugged interior where Taib is blamed for decimating vast rainforests through logging and dam projects and evicting tribes from ancestral lands, sparking protests.

Philip Jau travelled for two days by road with dozens of his Kayan tribesmen to protest this week in Kuching against a mega-dam pushed by Taib on the remote Baram river despite local opposition.

"The dam is a curse from hell," said Jau, wearing a feather-strewn traditional woven cap. "Taib will benefit, but he is killing the people."

Jau fears the dam will destroy a river ecosystem the Kayan rely on, noting that tribes near the already-completed Bakun dam, Malaysia's largest, say that has happened there.

BMF head Lukas Strauman said Taib and his family are the "chief culprits in destroying one of the world's last great rainforest areas."

In December, Swiss parliamentarians called for a freeze on any Taib assets there, saying he had abused office "in a spectacular way". Swiss authorities are yet to respond.

Malaysia's anti-graft agency launched an investigation in 2011, but it is widely accused of foot-dragging.

Faisal said action is highly unlikely as Sarawak seats proved crucial to the federal coalition winning May 5 elections, showing Taib is "more important than ever" to the government. Premier Najib's office declined to comment.

Taib has gotten even richer since the polls.

Shares of Taib-linked CMS -- Sarawak's largest conglomerate -- have soared 65 percent following the ruling-coalition win, and the compliant state assembly tripled Taib's pay to nearly $400,000 on Tuesday -- his birthday.

Link: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/outrage-grows-over-scandal-tainted-malaysia-state-boss

Radio Free Sarawak Receives International Media Award In Amman

Published by Sarawak Report on 21 May 2013.

Radio Free Sarawak received the highly prestigious Pioneer of Free Media Award from the International Press Institute at its annual conference in Amman last night.

Accompanied by two London colleagues founder Clare Rewcastle Brown received the honour on behalf of the whole RFS team of Sarawak Malaysian producers and presenters.

The award was established in 1996 to honour media or organizations which have fought to ensure freer and more independent media in their countries.

The other two honours presented by the IPI’s Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie were the World Press Freedom Hero Awards, bestowed on two highly distinguished journalists, Marie Colvin and Mika Yamamoto, who were both killed in Syria last year.

In her address to the 300 guests present at the gala dinner at the Hussein Club in Amman Alison Bethel McKenzie said:

“It is my pleasure and honour to hand the 2013 IPI Free Media Pioneer Award to Radio Free Sarawak.  Radio Free Sarawak was established by journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown and started broadcasting in November 2010 and bills itself as “the independent radio station that brings you the news you want to hear not what others want you to hear”. In practice this bold mission has involved among other things on-going attempts to expose alleged government corruption in Malaysia”

Ms Bethel McKenzie outlined how, broadcasting via shortwave radio and podcast, Radio Free Sarawak’s contributors have been detained by police and accused of possible acts of sedition by ministers in Malaysia.  Along with facing accusations of spreading malicious lies and threatening unity and harmony among races.

“During the bitterly contested 2011 Sarawak elections Radio Free Sarawak and its sister site Sarawak Report were subjected to what were believed to be deliberate, if ultimately unsuccessful efforts to silence them via cyber attacks. They have refused to be silenced. Instead they continue to broadcast loud and clear, critically and courageously”

Back on air shortly

The programme, which has taken a short recess following the election, is due back on air shortly to keep up its role informing the native people of Sarawak and hearing their views.

In her acceptance speech Clare Rewcastle Brown expressed honour and thanks for this recognition and support from the world’s oldest and most prestigious institute for international press freedom on behalf of her Sarawak Malaysian team of journalists and presenters and also on behalf of the station’s longhouse listeners.

“Malaysia is not used to a free media and we have provoked very aggressive reactions. Prominent politicians have accused us of sedition, filed police reports, accused us of poisoning the minds of the Dayak people of spreading lies, of acting as a virus and this has manifested itself in extraordinary cyber-attacks during this recent election and indeed jamming attacks as well and we find it telling that our small voice has provoked such an enormous and angry reaction in Malaysia, although it has also helped to enhance our status in many ways.  It has shown that reform is needed in the media and we will carry on our work in bringing an opportunity, a platform to some of the world’s most isolated and intimidated communities, living in the jungle far away from anyone and having that jungle cut away from under them, their rivers polluted, food becoming hard to find and really not knowing what is going on around them”.

Link: 

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2013/05/17779/?utm_source=Sarawak+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ca3eb925c7-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_97635b3a5d-ca3eb925c7-208017985