Warisan Merdeka - Part Two

I know unlike the previous entry about Warisan Merdeka that I wrote with so much gedixness, this one has to be more serious about what am I trying to say because of the larger audience that I cater for unlike all of the previous entries. I never expected the last post that I purposely dedicated to two of my friends received lots of attention even in Egypt where some Malaysian students were having debate and discussion using my points without my acknowledgement. I am kind of scared actually, but being a staunch supporter of what I think beneficial, I think I should write another one.

As I said before, this post will be serious in putting forward my thoughts based on my research and my own analysis with several ideas come from various columnists from different views and parties.

Even in the last post, I already said some of my things that are very clear and with the responses I get from e-mails, SMSes and Facebook, many did not understand and deviate from the argument that I give.

Before that, let me clarify my use of terms as not to be confused when you read this because from the many responses that I received from the last Warisan Merdeka post, there were a lot of confusion. Let me explain the terms that I use so as not to be mistaken by anyone.

• opposition- if without the capital letter of 'o', I'm referring to those who against the building of the tower because those who oppose this project comes from those who support Government as well.
• Opposition- the national-level Opposition party
• Government- the ruling party

I will try to refrain myself to involve my arguments with any political parties. It is to be remembered as well that I am answering your questions and replying your arguments towards my thoughts before and they are only my thoughts. Period. Some have gone too far when they replied to me. How far is too far? Very.

1. Cmonla chukai insider, the government can release any statement that they want. Just because they r the government. Democracy is just a word.  GLC stand for government license company. Profit is shared with the government.How about the budget for Warisan Merdeka tower we give to build the fastest rail line in the world or the safest bus route in the world.

 Or improve our public health care and family health insurance.

Cmonla chukai insider, the government can release any statement that they want. Just because they r the government. Democracy is just a word

 Ok, what's the diff building u so called Malay tower and building the fastest rail line by Malay. Which will bring more comfort?

 Yes I'm with UMNO but I don't want any project that will give benefits only to the crony. We r a nation. Public right must be first.

There is a thing in this world called PRIORITY.

First of all, thank you for taking interest with what I wrote. Second, GLC does not stand for Government-Licensed Company, it stands for Government-Linked Company. What I understand also is that the writer is trying to say that since the government owns the PNB, they have full authority on what PNB is doing, so they can corrupt the process at any level. 

By two definitions, GLC is :

1. A government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise, state enterprise, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government.Source: Wikipedia

2.GLICs are defined as Federal Government linked investment companies that allocate some or all of their funds to GLC investments. Defined by the influence of the Federal Government in: appointing/approving Board members and senior management, and having these individuals report directly to the Government, as well as, in providing funds for operations and/or guaranteeing capital (and some income) placed by unit holders. The definition currently includes seven GLICs: EPF, Khazanah, KWAP, LTAT, LTH, MKD and PNB.

The category of GLCs comprises companies that are controlled by the respective State Governments and State-level agencies. This includes companies that the Government of Malaysia controls directly as its agencies such as Khazanah Nasional, MOF Inc., KWSP and Bank Negara Malaysia. Includes companies where GLCs themselves have a controlling stake, i.e. subsidiaries and affiliates of GLCs.Source:Khazanah

So, the profit/loss of the GLCs will be the stake that the Government put into its investment arms. So, we have our stakes in GLCs, is that what you are trying to say. As we want it, we can have our own Malay-built rail line for our comfort. 

This is the kind of argument that you put your **** on top of your hand. Do you know how much it cost to build rail line only? Not including the train. Even the MRT project alone that covers KL only costs around RM40 billions. So, why does PNB not invest in this kind of thing or healthcare as well? You know, since many people can't afford to go to hospitals nowadays (which place exactly, because what the hell the rural people in my place can have surgeries for free in public hospitals? So, where do you live exactly? ). PNB is an investment company, if you are the CEO, which one that you want, building RM 5 billion tower, which is a property investment that gives direct high return, OR you want to build the hospitals or even the rail line, when they are supposedly provided by the Government. PNB wants to maximise profit, isn't it? Will the company build railway lines that give very low returns or building hospitals that are expensive for the public to pay? The CEO of PNB said, the company will not use investor's money. 

Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) will not use funds from unit trust investors or the Government to develop the Warisan Merdeka project which will incorporate a 100-storey building.

Its chief executive officer and president Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said PNB, was also a big holding company with interests in several listed companies like Sime Darby, UMW and Island & Peninsular, besides being a unit trust manager for various government funds.

“We have more than enough money to finance the entire RM5bil project on our own if need be,” he told a special briefing for media editors here yesterday.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/21/nation/7270499&sec=nation, http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2010&dt=1021&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=Muka_Hadapan&pg=mh_04.htm&arc=hive.

So, with higher returns in property sector, you will get more maximise return when in unit trusts. Since they are many more Malays in unit trust fund than those who able to build railway line, many more will get the profit. Period. 

2.tentang cadangan mega project 5 Billion Warisan Tower? I disagree! Taxpayers feel cheated!

Can I say this is one of the without-research-at-all argument? Taxpayers? Seriously? How dumb are you? Bila exactly nak guna duit taxpayers to fund for this project? If it is so, I will be the one who open the group to reject the project. 

3.Your  1^st point :  You said that ‘jangan jaga tepi kain org’ .

For your information, kalau benda remeh temeh lah kan sperti hal rumah tangga org, gossip2 artis hal individu yang tak melibatkan rakyat itu barulah aku setuju kalau kau kata itu adalah konsep ‘jaga tepi kain orang’ tapi  regarding this matter ‘MEGA TOWER’  I STRONGLY feel that what you have said as ‘jaga tepi kain orang’  is NOT SUITABLE at all. HELLO you seriously think planning to build 100 stories MEGA TOWER  in MALAYSIA costs RM5BILLION  (or I have read that they made correction saying that actually the project costs RM3 billion. Which I think they are covering it up) is a SMALL  MATTER???  So maknanya kalau jaga tepi kain org, kita jangan lah bother pasal Malaysia ni. Semua org jadi lah passive dan jadi pak turut lah mcm tuh.

Ok I give you examples… firstly in Sweden, as you know… Sweden is not a Muslim country…  there is a private company owned by muslim people, they had this proposal given to d govermnet and  wanted to build a mosque which has a very tall minaret.  So diorg bg lah proposal diorg dkat kerajaan. So the sweedish government think it is better to decide this matter  bila kita mengambil kira PENDAPAT RAKYAT. This is because, the people r the ones yg dealing with this real situation. They r d one yang akan face d consequences or benefits once d project dah disiapkan. Ok in dis case…  after having musyawarah, they decided it is not suitable to build  tall minaret instead they built a masjid with medium sized minaret. Inilah bila kita ckp hak rakyat. Majority ikut suara rakyat. Maka ini bermaksud MALAYSIA BUKAN UNTUK MALAYSIA MALAH MALAYSIA ADALAH UNTUK MALAYSIANS. :D I hope you get what I mean.

Your hope is granted! I really do get what you mean. Okay, my dear..with regards to 'jaga tepi kain orang' you don't get what I meant actually. I use that term because PNB is using their own money from their own profits, so why they cannot use their money. Where is the democracy if I have my own profit but I can't invest it? Well, if you are talking about majority, that means we SHOULD not build the tower, and instead give very low food prices, very high wages and you know how? Government subsidy la. Isn't that what the majority wants? 

Frankly speaking, I grew up with Mahathir's leadership and with full admiration of Lee Kuan Yew's policies. I have read most of their books, so my thoughts are moulded that way. The two leaders agree, the voice of majority is not always right. Some more, you are talking about the investment from a company for their own. The mosque in Sweden involves socio-political with very strong religious issue, which is very sensitive. I don't know why the tower is very sensitive towards any people? What does the tower will represent as significant as the minaret in Sweden? Anyway, they are my thoughts. Will there be any killings or extreme religious act after we build the tower?

4.Another one example..kau ada ckp. Quoted from you ‘Ada orang bangkang ke you all nak buat rumah kalau ada duit banyak dengan duit you sendiri??Gila bangang. Bukan duit kerajaan, tapi duit PNB’ have you heard about project Damansara 21??? Aku rasa kau tak pernah dgr kot since kau ckp ada ke orang bangkang nak buat rumah kalau kita ada duit banyak. Well. Itu adalah salah sama sekali. Yes ada org bangkang.in fact ramai…. (aku adalah penduduk2 di sini. So aku boleh ckp hamper semua tidak setuju) Actually the initial plan oleh the developer  which is SDB Properties Sdn Bhd, they wanted to make 21 bungalows worth RM14-15 million each. They are a private company. Regarding on this bungalows project… do you knw that the residents in damansara heights  protest on this project? Kenapa org protest, ok aku rasa kau pun tahulah kan kenapa. Kalau kau duduk kat area2 ni, kau pun akan protest jugak. Dgn massive traffic jam lah dan juga bencana alam oleh sebab perasaan tamak haloba manusia sendiri. Dengan kekusasaan Allah, maka berlakulah massive landslide dekat bukit antarabangsa few years back after the project has been proposed,  Bcoz of that barulah project ini tergendala sebentar. Oleh sbb rmai sgt org protest, kerajaan pun kenalah masuk campur kan. (apa gunanya kerajaan kalau x hiraukan walaupun itu bukan duit diorg. Bangang lah kerajaan kalau x perlu ambil kisah atas plan2/ project 2 yg besar di Malaysia kan. Ok so bck to d story, after dah bincang2.. the cabinet agreed to  proceed d project but , is to be scaled down to only 16 bungalows from the 21 units originally planned. So conclusion nyer di sini, bila kau ckp it is not your money, my money, or government money… tapi bila pembangunan begini akan memberi impact dan kesan kepada rakyat adakah anda bermaksud kita tak perlu SIBUK/BUSYBODY/JAGA TEPI KAN ORANG??? mcm lantak korg lah…. Apa nak jadi jadi laah?? Adakah amalan seperti berikut harus ada pada setiap warganegara Malaysia?

Ok aku nk Tanya besides point yg kau ckp “sukahati PNB lah itu duit diorg’ ada kau terfikir apakah benefit2 yg akan dapat dgn buat bangunan tinggi??? Kalau nak ckp tertinggi mmg taklah.. burj khalifa, shanghai world financial center, international commerce centre.. smua adalah jauh lebih tinggi drpd ‘mega tower’ ni… kalau nak berlumba2 ni mmg xkan habis la.. nanti 50 tahun akan dtg.. tenggelam lah’mega tower’ ini… so bak kata PM alasan nyer bila ada tower2 ni.. ia adalah sebagai mercu Negara modern??? Investor byk masuk… ?? bcoz of that sahaja????????  Nak bangga buat apa.. smua engineers2 smua tuh diimpotrt la.. Basically kita guna smua org luar pastuh nnt kita bangga? What is the point? Seriously aku mmg x NAMPAK LANGSUNG  APA FAEDAH NYA. Klcc x cukup bagus ke? Out of date yer? Separuh tower tuh pun x penuh. Ni nak tambah lagi. Aku bukanlah nak blame kan kerajaan sgt… tapi kan faidhi… kenapa benda2 mcm ni dia x boleh nak bersuara untuk stopkan project2 mcm ni? He has d power. He has d rights to say NO when majority of d rakyat did not agree on this matter.  Oh ya mmg la takpe nanti keuntungan  dari project tuh masuk lah sikit kat dlm pocket dia dan isteri tercinta ya dan kroni2 nyer.. 

Some of it has been answered above. Okay, I'll play some linguistic game so it can answer that part. Is tinggi the same as tertinggi? This may sound, what a stupid answer, but my stupid answer is to answer stupid question. Are we competing with the rest of the world? PNB says no. If not, they can build talller and taller tower. But they don't, why? The CEO answers:

“PNB’s existing headquarters, Menara PNB will be 30 years old by the time the new tower is completed. We are looking for strategic positioning for the future and will need new office space for the expanding PNB group of companies. The Warisan Merdeka tower will become the new PNB headquarters while Menara PNB will be upgraded and leased out for recurring income,” Hamad added.

He said PNB had the capability to finance the project through internally generated funds but he did not discount resorting to borrowings “if the interest rates are attractive.”

Source:http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/21/business/7267251&sec=business

5. And oh ya.. balik kepada point kau pasal Mah Sing group , sunway group.. or whatsoever..  tolonglah aku percaya  kalau mana-mana parti pun yang propose nak buat bangunan tinggi2 ni. MAJORITY mmg X AKAN SETUJU.  Sedangkan banyak lagi benda yang perlu diperbaiki oleh Negara kita. Kalau negara2 yang dah maju nak buat lain cerita lah. At least kalau Singapore tuh nak buat ok lah lagi. They have achieved more than us.  Universities dia adalah tersenarai top in d world..  in term of corruption pun tak tinggi.  Diorg ranking 3^rd in d world. Malaysia?????? 57?? What a shame !!! pastuh nak bermegah2 dgn bangunan tinggi???? Padahal byk yg perlu diperbaiki..

Oh wow faidhi.. why aren’t you support the concept of 1MALAYSIA that has been proposed by d government? From what you have written.. . I can see that you are being racist.. nak segregate kan cina ngan melayu. You sendiri ckp ‘WE MALAYS HAVE TO WORK HARD, NOT COMPLAINING’… why do we need us to choose between “100 story tower with many malays share in it/ sunway build condos around KLCC? ‘ kenapa perlu ada special treatment kepada org2 melayu? Bukankan kita perlu compete dgn mereka bersama2? Adakah ini bermaksud  melayu adalah bangsa yg lemah sehinggakan kena bagi special treatment?And you are comparing condos and 100 stories tower.. condos are meant for individual.. that 100 stories tower are meant for company and share holder… yg 100 stories tower tuh adalah company2 yg sewa. You seriously think org2 biasa MELAYU mampu membeli lot2 kat 100 stories mega tower tuh but not d condos?? How do you know my dear? DUIT PNB buat nak bagi kita share dekat tower tuh? Amboi mana hang tahu? Nanti kalau u dpt duk sana, g taw I k.. or maybe kalau I dpt satu lot kat sana.. I AKAN BAGI TAHU you.(berzaman mmg x kan dapat merasa juga encik faidhi..)  And you said that Malays who oppose this are stupid???? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  I think it is more stupid those who agree with this project. And yes.. I do want you to list reasonssssssss kenapa kita  TAK perlu oppose bangunan tinggi ? kami yg oppose ni adalah sangat STUPID  smpai x tahu apa KEBAIKAN /ADVANTAGES dengan BANGUNAN TINGGI INI. 

All the changes that you said above have to do with people. Not PNB RM5 billion money. The Mah Sing and  all the Sunway Group that I said, of course was an example. I can't play rhetorical, aren't I? Or even metaphorical. Okay, the situation is this. Why exactly the people in Kampung Baru do not want to sell their land before this? If you do research and can answer this, you probably will understand why I said such matter. I know you will not, so let it be because I know I'm a hard-headed as well,  the problem in Palestin begun with this such thing as well. 

Okay, you want the list right? Here they are. Nothing to do with race at all.

1.First, the tower is environmentally sound because it brings density, more people into a smaller footprint, eliminating the long hallways a shorter building of the same square footage would require. Smaller footprint enables systems to be delivered more efficiently than in a shorter building with the same square footage, thus saving energy. And then less subsidies from government to pay electricity.

2.Tall buildings give buzz to the surrounding area. This will put the buildings and property surrounding it with higher prices. Is a 20-storey tower give the surrounding an increase in property prices? Yes, if it is in Mak Chili, Kemaman. In KL,  you know it doesn't.

3. You know what, with the free publicity that many already give to this tower, the property prices will soar high. So, thank you.

4. You know what is the purpose of PNB when it was set up? Incorporated on March 17, 1978, PNB was conceived as a pivotal instrument of the Government's New Economic Policy to promote share ownership in the corporate sector among the Bumiputera, and develop opportunities for suitable Bumiputera professionals to participate in the creation and management of wealth.Source:http://www.pnb.com.my/about/about_us.cfm?cat=1&subcat=1

So, this tall building will serve the purpose of PNB expansion plan that I said earlier while at the same time, fulfil its goal stated above. Well, have you ever heard of REITs? Well if you do, you know that's how I will have my share in the tower. Btw, the share doesn't mean in physical cash only, but in your heart as well, if you want to la..

6.There are lots more, but seriously I'm very tired of having answered question with the same answer..PNB's money, PNB's money, PNB's own money..

7. There are comments below from my dearly beloved friend. You know I can't answer you well if you are not in front of me and some more are much a better debater than me and I hope you will want to drink with me at Sonstar again next year. We do agree on the name though. Answer for all of the issues stated by you, they are Government's responsibilities, not PNB. Actually, I want to answer more, but later, sakit jari. And lapar, nak makan. Ada mood, ada la part three. 

8. Supposedly, if you do well -researched facts, you will come across one thing that I kind of agree. It is called property glut. None of you said that. Vacancy tu a different story for PNB because they are expanding.  No one even mention property bubble. If you mention this, I will probably agree, but none of you did. That means most of you main cakap je.

Overall, I do appreciate the comments and support even most of you are very far away from me. What I intended to answer one person becomes a very serious issue. Ooo...my thoughts okay. 

ps: lots of you don't do research and xde concrete facts and arguments ya...

-The Chukai Insider