Whats with 'Khir' and 'lavish houses'?

Previously it was Khir Toyo a.k.a the former Menteri Besar of Selangor and his Balinese concept million ringgit bungalow in Shah Alam, and the case is still pending in court, and now it is Jamil Khir Baharom (no relations whatsoever with me) and his multi-million ringgit renovation of his house(or is it called mansion?) in Batu Caves. After lying low for a couple of days, finally Khir Baharom came out fighting, claiming that the renovation project was funded by no-one, and that it all comes from his hard earned salary during his tenure in Army, with his last position as Major General, and that he also obtained gratuity and retirement benefits due to his services.He also claimed that his need for a big house is justified because his parents are staying with him and that the large number of vehicles in front of his house is of his six children who are staying with him (the justification sounds similar...deja vu...ah.....similar with the late Zakaria).He is also willing to take oath in the name of the God. I am not saying anything more, all I can say is God Al Mighty is watching....whoever in the wrong better watch-out, be it the one who accuse or accused......ciao.....for now....a.h.baharom

Khir number 1

Khir Number 2

Lodging police Report: The new craze in Malaysia

Ever wonder on this new 'phenomenon' of making or lodging police reports against an individual or a group on trivial matters? Yes, sometimes the reports can be in hundreds, and it leaves me wondering, what are their real motives or intentions. they come in droves, carrying placards, and they will invite the media's and showcase their antiques. Sometimes it clearly shows their foolishness, not understanding the fundamentals of  the Malaysian law. And the media (TV and printed) will keep tab and continue announcing the number of these reports as though there is a competition or record to be broken. Favourite victims of these reports are such as Mat Sabu and Karpal to name a few.

Multiplying the number of reports does not add extra weight to the case neither does it proves the guiltiness of the parties involved. It only burdens the Police department, giving unnecessary work loads and many man hours of the Police officers are drained out doing unproductive work leaving the other critical areas unattended. How I wish the lawmakers could come up with some suggestion to penalise those who make these unnecessary reports and make them pay for their ignorance and stupidity.Most of these people are only publicity crazy and crave for public attentions and they should be taught a stern lesson.

Adios.......a.h.baharom

Malaysia: Land of "Associations"

Sometimes it is baffling and tickles me to the bones to see the number of mushrooming associations in Malaysia, and it beats me, the real reasons of their existence.Another strange thing is that most of the so-called Presidents or Chairmen or whatever name you call them....are the same recycled face.... They also try to come up with fancy acronyms and jostle for places in the local media's, be it printed, or others. To name a few, we have PAPA which claim to be championing the cause of employment agencies, we have MAMA for the maid employer's cause and welfare, we have ANAK the PAKATAN version of the group that champions the later generation of Felda settlers, which is opposed by BAPAK, the Barisan Nasional's version, than we have Ghani Jiman, the infamous Penang guy who seems to head a number of groups including Suara Anak2 Pulau Pinang, lately we have PERBIT, the association for mobile phone owners (yeah...you read it right!), you have PEMBINA (Persatuan Belia Islam Malaysia) as opposed to ABIM (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia, Persatuan Pengundi Malaysia (Malaysian Voters Association....whats next?.....It is scary ..... eh! ....adios.......ciao.......a.h.baharom

MAS to sponsor QPR jersey: What a slick move by Tony

"The ball is passed into the box, OMG. Tony jumps and poked the ball using his hand, he twist and turn, and he scores.....what a dirty move...and dirty goal...what? its the hand of GOD?....yeah right......"

I am pretty sure by now most of you had read or are aware of the news that MAS is joint sponsoring the jerseys or kit of Queens Park Rangers (yeah....the team recently acquired by Tony Fernandes).I hate to say.....I told you so..... Remember when I wrote previously on the so called smart partnership (what was it called...CCF...duh), some of you politely pointed out that I am jumping the gun, and that his presence is much needed to improvise and enhance the 'operational' side of MAS and you guys painted him as the Messiah....? Remember when I told you that he is no Messiah and he will 'screw' and 'squeeze' MASin every possible way to boost his personal standing and fortune and will have no regards whatsoever for the national carrier albeit MAS? Unless you have the Tun Mahathir syndrome...of ...apa name...saya tak ingat...I don't remember...mudah lupa...I hate to tell you this guys. You are wrong and I am right.

Do you think if Tony is not in the so-called board of decision makers, MAS would have entered into this agreement and pumped money into QPR, a team owned by Tony? Of course Tony and Co would want to differ, and will claim that this is a brilliant stunt and marketing act, yeah right, whose leg are you trying to pull?.Take my word, if left unchecked, Tony will plunder,squeeze,screw,smurf...or whatsoever name you call it,and by the time you people realize, it is too late, the damage is too deep, and you can't turn back the clock.At least now I have the comfort of knowing that...there seems to be a small bandwagon of people led by MASEU (MAS employees Union)...to smell the rat and starts initiating some form of resistance.

Tony, like the legendary Bob Marley sung "you can fool some people some time, but you can't fool all the people all the time"....ciao.......adios.......a.h.baharom  

Prepaid mobile 6% service tax: What's the furore?

Effective 15th Sept 2011, prepaid mobile users will need to pay a six per cent service tax whenever they buy a starter pack or reloads.So what does it means literally or to the man on the street? Well. basically it means, a customer will need to pay RM10.60 for a RM10 prepaid reload..Urghhh? Why? Why now? What is a service tax?

The Service Tax Act 1975 requires telecommunication companies to levy service tax at the prevailing rate on telecommunication services, including mobile prepaid services. This is similar to the service tax levied on food and beverage purchases from restaurants and hotels,and since it is an indirect tax, it could be passed and charged to the consumers.Why all the furore? It is not something which is alien to us, argghhhh.....but now it hits you hard, right?

Since the launch of mobile prepaid services in 1998, mobile operators have been absorbing the service tax.
According to mobile operators, the move was to ensure mobile prepaid services remained competitive compared with postpaid.So the question is, can't they keep absorbing it? Of course they can, but back to Econs101, the main or ultimate objective of these firms is profit maximization, ant not social obligation nor charity.Can't we force them? You could.....after all you have the consumers power, don't forget without you, they doesn't exist....show solidarity.....unity....fight back!

While the operators claim that it is unavoidable with prepaid rates progressively reduced over the years and it is currently offered at very competitive rates, in contrary they are raking billions of dollars in profits. Though telecommunications analysts view the news as "generally positive" for mobile operators, with DiGi.Com Bhd seen as the biggest beneficiary and Maxis Bhd benefiting the least, it will be hitting hard on the people, and we do not deserve this, especially during hard times like now, with all the inflation etc.

As at June 30 this year, 83 per cent of DiGi's customer base comprised prepaid users. In contrast, about 75 per cent of Maxis' customers were prepaid users.Today, prepaid users are spending about RM36 to RM51 a month on an average, imagine the service tax they could recoup.....Analysts believe the implementation of the service tax is unlikely to reduce prepaid users spending significantly, or in Econs, we call them inelastic demand


Adios......a.h.baharom

Tony and MAS: Cracks appearing?

Well, while at one point it seems like Christmas came early for Tony Fernandes, it seems now that all is not that rosy, as expected by many, Tony is finding some resistance. Though it was widely reported and understood that Tony's expertise was much needed for the operation side of MAS, his invaluable experience and knowledge was expected to restore MAS, pulling it out of the doldrums and out of RED. Though many expected (including yours truly) a difficult and almost impossible marriage, considering the conflict of interests, it was swept aside by powers to be.who were quite optimistic, even Tony kept ensuring that it will be beneficial for MAS especially.

Well, now the honeymoon or rather the Christmas is over, MASEU, the largest union representative of MAS, smelling something bad, have already taken the aggressive step before it is too late and damage is to bad to be reversed. Words are being passed around of a massive restructuring, though MAS in a late reply confirmed in the negative.And another bigger news, which is fresh from the oven, is that Tony is forcing FireFly to move out completely from KLIA and to operate from Subang only. Not many knows or realize that FireFly do operate from KLIA, from the selected fleet of airplanes.And it seems that  the powers to be are keeping quiet on the forced removal of FireFly.

Well, I guess it is high time for Tony to be told that he can't have it his way all the time and to get his wishes granted whenever he fancies, he is a businessman, for him it is always the dollars and sens that matters, he is no national hero as some quarters painted, and as for MASEU, do something before it is too late.

Adios......a.h.baharom

E & O and Kenchana shares purchase : Securities Commission privileged information?

Does the name Azizan Abd Rahman rings a bell?, well he is the husband of SC chairman, Zarinah Anwar, Well, he is the one who caused a ripple in the market recently when he purchased nearly half a million Eastern & Oriental Bhd shares this year (before Sime Darby made a RM2.30 payout to buy 30 per cent of the company, only from the major shareholders of the company). That news has certainly got people riled up, whats more it is coming hot on the heels of the incident whereby Azizan also emerged as a substantial shareholder of Kencana Petroleum Bhd in July, just days after an offer was made to take over the company at RM3 a share!

If you think that is puzzling and mind boggling, how do you think the folks albeit the shareholders of Ramunia Bhd would have felt upon learning and finding out that their chairman was a substantial shareholder of a rival oil and gas firm? And back to the E&O issue, it has been spreading like wildfire on the bloggers circa on the strange relationship, or could we say the sharing of beds between Sime Darby and E&O, triggering a conclusion of a possible insider trading by the Chairman of E&O, Dato Azizan Abdul Rahman. Like Rocky Bru jotted in his blog, though Azizan was not party to the sale but considering that other E & O board members who were party to the sale had also bought E & O shares from the open market, one is left wondering: Did the Board members know of the coming "windfall"? It seemed Azizan did not just buy for himself but tipped his long time business partner and collaborator, Dato Kalimullah to buy into E&O. Whether Kalimullah went in also is not certain, but ECM Libra definitely went in big time.

Well , like they say, Malaysia is the boleh land, anything goes, but to preserve the good name of SC, voices are getting strong urging Zarinah to leave......whatever it is ....Selamat Hari Raya...hey...its still Syawal... adios...a.h.baharom