Malaysian Business, which has produced some of the country's best business journalists, including The Star's Steven Tan, The Edge's P. Gunasegaram and NST's Hardev Kaur, is no longer available for First and Business-class passengers on Malaysia Airlines.
Its publisher, the wholly-owned Bumiputera concern Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd, has also recently lost a lucrative contract to publish Going Places, the national carrier's in-flight magazine.
Berita Pub is owned by A. Kadir Jasin, the former NSTP Editor-in-chief and author of the influential Other Thots column as well as several books, who is regarded as a thorn on the Abdullah Administration's side and a constant critic of the so-called government-linked companies or GLCs like Malaysia Airlines.
Going Places is now in the hands of Blue Inc.
Hmmm......begitu teruk kah kita sehingga syarikat penerbitan kepunyaan anak Malaysia tidak layak?
ReplyDeleteRocky, who is the local partner of BluInc? Datuk Ibrahim Nor formerly from Berita Pub as well?
ReplyDeleteSebab itu saya sudah hilang kepercayaan terhadap Abdullah.
ReplyDeleteBeliau tidak dapat membezakan antara penyokong setia UMNO dengan hipokrit semacam kalimullah, brendan dan KJ.
Blu Inc is a JV between a Malaysian Bumiputera and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH), the parent company of Straits Times, of which Kali and Brendan were once it's Malaysian correspondents.
ReplyDeletesdr rocky,
ReplyDeleteApa maksud berita itu? Apa kaitan blu inc malaysia dan sph singapore? Siapa shareholder blu inc malaysia selain sph?
Apakah akhirnya akan hanya ada sebuah negara bernama singapura yang terdiri daripada Singapura, Malaysia, Sabah dan Sarawak? Nauzubillah!
Mana pemimpin2 kita? Atau apakah kita ada pemimpin sekarang? Atau apakah pemimpin kita sedang dipimpin? Oleh siapa? Masya-Allah!
Talking about Mas, maybe Bru would like to check whether it's true that Mas "is selling" its cabin crew to Qatar Airways and is ceding a lot of KL-Singapore flights to SIA.
ReplyDeleteI was told that on some days as many as three Mas flights were cancelled and passengers transfered to SIA.
I also heard that after so many years, the Mas top fellows still blame the Airlines shortcomings on Tajuddin's legacy. This business of blaming your predecessors is a Malaysian malady. Sad.
I thought Munir and Idris Jala are a perfect team; better than Tajuddin any time.
By the way, did Pak Lah not tell strong Bumiputera companies and GLCs to help the weak Bumiputera companies?
ReplyDeleteForget about Kadir's company. Many, many more Bumi companies are losing contracts to non-Bumi and foreign companies.
I blame it on the Bumis. They should "entertain" big time like non-Bumi companies. Sponsor MyTeam, batik, Songket, halal hub, force of nature and grease the palm.
I was told many Bumi vendors and suppliers of Mas, Proton and other GLCS suffer when new managements took over. I know this. I am a small time Bumi businessman. Even in besi buruk business, big boys and GLCs are getting involved.
Kalimullah is right after all.
ReplyDeleteHe wrote in NST describing MB as a dwindling magazine.
Did he have a hand in banishing MB from Mas?
I don't think so. He and KJ are closer to AirAsia.
Tengku Sharifuddin, is it true that Kali met Najib and told the DPM that he was not interested to stay on in the NSTP?
haih, lepas satu satu. apa pulak yang nak dijual kpd singapore lepas ni..
ReplyDeleteBro,
ReplyDeleteYou just laid the facts. Thank you. We will make our own interpretations.
It sure looks like dissent comes with a heavy price sometimes. Datuk kadir has always been like that. At Business Times, at NST -- he was a constant critic of Dr Mahathir, the Prime Minister then.
Oh well. different broom, different sweep.
Anon!
ReplyDeleteI will share that and some other stories related to conflicts of interest & abuse of power (eg editors having big stakes in companies they protect and promote, editors allowing their spouses to make tonnes of money by virtue of their powerful editorial positions, etc). Am working on a serial. Will call it Bad Press or Rotten Eds Part 1-9 or something like that.
Coming soon.
Nasi Beringin!
Yes, I remember Kalimullah Hassan saying that about Malaysian Business. He had nothing good to say about AKJ, from the start. He hates the guy's guts so badly that he bans Kadir from buying advertisement space in NSTP group of papers (and these papers NEED the ad revenue badly!) And mind you, AKJ is former long-time employee and boss of the NSTP and still a (minority) shareholder!
But if they can do what they are doing to the ex-PM, surely they can do worse to an ex-editor.
Hi Jebat,
ReplyDeleteYou mean syarikat anak Melayu? Hai, kite tak malu ke, sampai bertanya sedemikian? Kalu ayarikat kite tak perform, baik betul kite kena tendang.. Tak kanlah AKJ yang maha pandai itu tak dapat bersaing? Kite bezakanlah samada kita berkemampuan. Kalu tak, hah, berundur aje ler.. kalu tak, malu besor lah ya?
Kadir's powerful days were over long before he started appearing with Mahathir.
ReplyDeleteHis boys and girls in the NST had been systematically side-lined our pushed to leave. His favourites, Joceline Tan left for the Star and Ester Tan for NTV7. Ahmad Talib was made a glorified salesman and Rocky sent to Malay Mail.
He made it worse by being critical of Pak Lah, Kali and Khairy. Being seen with Mahathir was the last straw.
It's ironic. Kadir left NSTP in 2000 because of disagreement with Mahathir. But he wasn't stupid. He struck a hard bargain. Rahman Maidin was helpful. Without a recalcitrant like Kadir, his life in the NST would be easier. So he was given a golden handshake.
Remember how Kadir fought Halim Saad and his sidekick Aziz "Chonot" Hassan in the 1990's when Renong controlled NSTP and TV3? He even fought for parking bays for Boon and Zainon. Halim was backed by Daim.
Now everybody though Kadir is a Mahathir backer and Daim's good friend. But he's also seen with Anwar. Working under him was both a pleasure and pressure. Ask Sufi and Juhaidi Yean Abbullah. He sent Juhaidi to "Siberia". Those were the days when we were rewarded and punished at the same time.
Budak Padang Rengas, I heard the same thing. Contract or a letter of intent for the London sports complex had been given out to a Bumi/Syed company. Ask Azalina. This Bumi/Syed entrepreneur was involved in the PM's sinus treatment in Perth. He has a house in Perth.
I heard he has also been offered a heritage hotel in Penang. He has two important entertainment outlets in KL, one for you to rock and another for you to joget. KJ frequents one and Kamal frequents another. I go to both for good music and fine company.
Bru, you're a former business reporter like me. Find out more. Is the London land the same land on which the RRI-funded International Rubber Research Institute is located? Remember Ani Arope and B C Sekhar. Great guys.
Siapa punya angkara ni? Singapura jugak yang pulun...
ReplyDeleteI think this Kali bashing is not right. It smacks vendetta. Let us put ourselves in his shoes. He is only doing Pak Lah's bidding. He becomes powerful by default because Pak Lah doesn't know and doesn't care about the media.
ReplyDeleteKali takes order from Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ), Kamal Khalid and Mat Zaki. He's vulnerable because he is not senior enough and his journalistic background is questionable.
He also has to protect his widespread business interest and the interest of Noor Mohamed Yaacop, who is his real backer in the media and business.
So he has to be subservient to KJ, Kamal Khalid, Mat Zaki and he has to show respect for Anniar Zaini, Bernama Chairman and Berjaya ED, who is a true Pak Lah's buddy.
So Kali is really a pawn in the game whose interest in preserving his own interest by purportedly executing Pak Lah's order, including most recently, a black-out of Dr Mahathir's return.
You and your blogger friends will be less intimidated by Kali and his wolf pack in the NST and his budak-budak suruhan in BH if you consider him nothing more than a mercenary, trying to protect his commercial interest.
We in the NSTP know he'll be gone soon enough is PM does not keep insisting that he stays. Even Brendan is telling people, that he stays because PM wants him to stay.
the cancellation of contracts for kadir must surely be a massive blow to his mini empire. from what i understand, nearly half of malaysian business sales are accounted for in malaysia airlines. surely the advertisers will now have second thoughts about advertising in his magazine. anyway, kadir has a lot of enemies in the nst, past and present. when kadir was the nst boss, he ruled with an iron fist, prompting the staff to call his 12-year stint in the paper the reign of terror. you were there and i presume you know what happened.
ReplyDeleteBru Bro,
ReplyDeleteMalaysian Business is an offshoot of the NSTP. It serves a different set of audience. Msian Business also carries, though occassionally, Tun Dr M's articles. I remember his last one on corporate governance. It's not impossible that the Govt-owned MAS purposely block AKJ's magazine from their audience.
Maybe universities should subscribe the magazine, after all it also contain articles written by Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad. I'm sure AKJ can make his magazine available at all universities with some discount.
In the final analysis, it looks very much like a Malay drama with the plot very thick on jealousy and high-handedness. MAS can't say it's cost-cutting because other magazines are also available on board, including many foreign ones which are costly.
Ini cerita Melayu bunuh Melayu; Melayu tak tolong Melayu. AKJ's Other Thots are more relevant today than ever before and that certainly doesn't go down well with the present administration, despite its declaration of supporting a freer Press. It's all humbug!
I think it's a question of principle. Priority for this kind of small to medium size jobs should be given to a Malaysian company.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there are other qualified Bumiputera companies like Utusan magazine company and Karangkraf.
Why the need to include a Malaysia-Singapore JV?
If I am not mistaken, SPH is producing SIA's Silver Kris or had done so in the past.
I smell rats here.
Berita Publishing (BP) loosing Going Places has nothing to do with Bumiputra company issue. Kadir Jasin (KJ) and Ibrahim Nor (IN) own BP at 70%/30%. Going Places' project was managed and coordinated by a lady in BP. When she left to BluInc, the contract followed her as the client was happy with her (or was not happy with BP team).
ReplyDeleteIn fact one of BP's best selling english mag, Her World is now published by Magazine World Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of BluInc). Reason is that the editor of Her World Margaret Sebastian had some problems with one of KJ's wifes and threw in the towel. Well she is part of the Her World brand and to keep her, they had to move the magazine from (and the office) to BluInc. KJ has a stake in Magazine World but dont know how much.
BP is slowly loosing its leadership because its not well managed and nothing to do with AAB's administration.
ex-bt reporter, you are probably one of the few who enjoyed working under kadir. you are probably one of the few who has good words for kadir. i bet you ran for your life when kadir was vanquished. i agree kadir did some good things in nst but he allowed sycophants to rule the roost. these sycophants kept telling him he was wearing the nicest clothes in the world when in fact he was wearing nothing. during the last days of his rule, kadir was ranting and raving. he knew the end was near and probably he knew sycophants were plotting a way out. in the end, these sycophants (i don't have to name these sycophants, you know who they are) deserted him. and to make it worse, they are now holding top positions in the nst. they are like chameleon, they morph and change all the time. these are the animals.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteBerita Publishing (BP) loosing Going Places has nothing to do with Bumiputra company issue.
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Good observation! Question is who is the real owner of BluInc from Msia? What is Ibrahim Nor % share?