Pantai returned, a Sin atoned
SIN, of course, is also the internationally-accepted abbr for Singapore. Just like MAS is for Malaysia and KUL is for Kuala Lumpur.
Pantai refers to Pantai Holdings, the company that owns Pantai Hospital and a major network of local medical services that was bought, without the approval of the FIC and without the knowledge of our Bursa, during the days when Putrajaya was a sleepy hollow and foreign agents were having a field day.
The latest news that Khazanah Nasional has bought over Pantai from Sin's Parkway throws me back 5 years into the past when I was the editor of the Malay Mail, which front-paged the sale of Pantai to Singapore. The order had come via a phone call to a Cabinet Minister from someone close to the Prime Minister, who was then in Australia for a minor surgery, so the Malay Mail article ruffled powerful feathers at the PMO's 4th floor. The rest, as they said, is history. I became a blogger soon after and posted several articles on Pantai, such as Joget Pantai Irama, Majulah Singapura Part 3, Jews Behind Pantai, among others (several postings on Pantai and Parkway had to be taken down and therefore can't be hyperlinked, by Order of the Court, to facilitate the court case against taken against me in 07 by NSTP and 4 of its chiefs).
Khazanah to buy Parkway stake for RM2.76 billion (the Star, Fri May 28), which comes right at the heels of the Tanjung Pagar deal, clearly shows that the current Administration is undoing the mistake of the previous regime which allowed the sale of a national asset without proper due processes. For the record, there was never any formal approval from the FIC for Parkway's purchase of Pantai and sources from Parkway back then were bragging that they were dealing directly with the "highest sources in (Malaysian) government". That was how 2 government concession landed up with foreigners .
That's all behind us now. But surely there is at least one lesson to be learnt. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. The Pantai-Parkway saga, and the merger of 3 to create Synergy Drive that is today loss-making Sime Darby, offer these lessons of how the boys at Khazanah Nasional and PNB tried to fix what wasn't broken and ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
Rocky, that just show how you, and similar small-minded parochial Malaysian who will howled "loss of sovereignty" and "selling out to Singapore" whenever Singapore invest in Malaysia or buy some listed company. I still remember the hue and cry of Malaysians when Parkway acquired Pantai. Fast forward to yesterday, not a single Singaporean utter a word when Khazanah bid for Parkway. Similar, Singaporeans hardly made noise when the iconic Raffles Hotel was sold to foreigners.
ReplyDeleteGrow up...
BTW, still waiting for your spin on the KTM deal.
The,
ReplyDeleteHahahah u r stupid. Singapore cannot howl because once they do that they will thrown to jail faster than they can say 'What The?'
That's how the Lee dynasty retain power.
Bodoh.
We all remember this fiasco perpetrated by Cabinet Tiga Beranak.
ReplyDeleteYet some people still want KJ to be a minister?
From-
We Were All Anti KJ and Pak Lah long time ago. Remember that.
Grow up ans smell the coffee The.
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahahahaha Singaporeans wanna utter words?
They wanna die ah?? Wanna be locked up in jail or declared bankrupt ah?
Long Live LKY!
Dear The,
ReplyDeleteYou missing the point again, as usual.
Parkway buying Malaysian, no problem. My problem with its purchase of Pantai is, it was not done rightly. Our regulations were not followed, understand?
If I may help you recall, Pak Lah even went on tv in a hurriedly-arranged interview with Anuar Zaini to deny that Sin's Parkway had purchased Pantai. Later the same week, he had to admit he was mistaken -- that the purchase had indeed taken place. That's because he -- the Prime Minister -- did NOT know of the deal or was not told of it. (The Star Biz confirmed the deal after the tv programme and Abdullah's denial was aired).
As for there not being a single Singaporean who uttered a word when Khazanah bid for Parkway, well obviously that's because everything's above board.
As for my spin on the KTM deal, well ... you'll have to wait, as usual.
Cheers, try to have a happy Vesak day.
Oh Boy:
ReplyDeleteLooks like commenter The chose to NOT understand a single word you have written, Rocky Old Boy!
Looks like The has a lot of growing up to do himself.
Singaporeans dare not make noise. you understand or not?
Malaysians will make noise. whenever and whatever.
Like right now. They belasah najib and government for the Tanjong Pagar deal...because they CAN!
Rocky, sweet guy.
You de Man-lah.
Stick and stones, eh?
saudara rocky,
ReplyDeletebetul, ke, bahawa duit negara banyak habis belanja entah apa, pada zaman sleepy hollow?
a little bird told me.
that is why PM Najib had to pick up the broken pieces....
As long yang kena jual/beli ialah Pantai and not PANTAT, i am ok. Happy Vesak Day.
ReplyDeletePeminat PANTAT
Khazanah's boys memang banghal, satu Malaya sudah tahu. Berangan lebih, 100% text-book materials, tak street smart pun, macamana nak buat good business decision for Malaysia? Podah.
ReplyDeleteRocky,
Bila lu mau kasi spin Khazanah's boys to the max? Bagi dia orang sedar sikit tinggi langit dengan bumi.
like petronas, they change to a new business model, fixing something which is tried and testedand succeessful( not broken)...am afraid its like tikus biaki labu......
ReplyDeleteI wonder why Nor Mohamed Yakcop's name keeps cropping up in all such Abdullah-era scandalous deals.
ReplyDeleteWhat was ECM Libra and Avenue Capitals role in Sime Darby? Looks like the only one who made hefty millions from the merger is the TopCat and his partners like HinduGod-MuslimPriest. We must look deeper into these scandals and put those guys behinds bars. There is no two-ways aboout it!
Apanama
ReplyDeleteBaca tulisan kami berikut:
Nor Mohd Yakcop: Setiap yang disentuh puluhan billion negara rugi
Nor Mohamad Yakcop = Kalimullah
Kalau Najib masih kekalkan NMY lagi, memang buta dan bodoh.
O.k la...since you find it difficult to say it, I shall say it! All this happened when Pak Lah Abdullah Badawi was Prime Minister and his SIL, one Khairy Jamaluddin, was sitting on top of him on the 4th Floor! Don't forget, they also screwed up the Halal Certification by hijacking it to HDC where you'd have found Ethos having been contracted to do a lot of work for them. What? Who cares! so we pay HDC, HDC pays Ethos and Ethos belongs to.....????
ReplyDeleteI have always maintain that, for the Malays to be in control they have to be RICH! SUPE RICH even, but because some dunggus(ulamaks) wants a piece of the pie, maybe? They spread hatred and jealousy to the people and the rest should be HISTORY..
ReplyDeleteada ngerti tak pak??
The...the issue is not so much of the sale and purchase but the undercurent that led to sale...senang cakap..its not proper.
ReplyDeleteElo Mat Som (Rocky)
ReplyDeleteWa tau u SINGAPOREAN,,sepatutnya banggalah FOREIGNERS in Malaysia pandai BERNIAGA,,,bukan macam MELAYU disini POKET kosong cakap ta'serupa bikin.
Tadi wa jalan Sekitar KL,,,banyak kedai tutup,,peniaga semuanya BUDDIST,,,lingkop MELAYU ta',,makan ari ni,!!!!
Malam nanti ada FLOAT,,jom ramai-ramai kita meraikan,,,!!!!
SAMBUTAN MAULUD ta macam ni yek,,,yek!!!!!
Nak SALAHKAN siapa???
-MATBODO-
Negara kita dah nak bangkrap dikerjakan KJ yang menjadi PM sebenar sewaktu Pak Lah suka tidur jadi PM.
ReplyDeleteJesus Christ is not the same as Allah.
Mungkin kita dipimpin oleh kumpulan manusia yang tidak pernah 'kenyang'. Mereka akan kutip semua komisyen untuk kroni mereka. Bila ada masalah, rakyat yang kena tanggung. Berpuluh bilion dihabiskan untuk kegiatan 'ekonomi ' yang tidak berfaedah. PKFZ sebagai contoh.. tidak ada cerita lagi kerana pemimpin UMNO turut sama menelan duit ini.
ReplyDeleteAnti Penipu Rakyat - Sarawak.
Tadi wa jalan Sekitar KL,,,banyak kedai tutup,,peniaga semuanya BUDDIST,,,lingkop MELAYU ta',,makan ari ni,!!
ReplyDeleteApa arr KFC open 365 days. MC D, Pizza Hut, in Malaysia you can't die because can't find food. just die because of eating to much food.
KJ, Kali, Pak Lah, Azman Mokthar and NMY were responsible for the Pantai sale.
ReplyDeleteBut why did KN buy Park Way now, thats simple, becoz although KN has a majority stake in Pantai, it does not have MANAGEMENT control over PANTAI.
So this, purchase of Parkway was done to acquire the said management control of Pantai back.
But at what cost? Well you guys can go check at what price Pantai was sold to Parkway, at what price, Parkway sold a small stake back in Pantai to KN, and at what price did KN buy Parkway.
Do all the minus, and decide if indeed yet ANOTHER SIN has been committed by KN and AZMAN Mokthar.
By the way, I saw Pak Lah and KJ in Sg Besi, they were kissing the ground there, kissing the LAND. And LAUGHING.
I wonder, whats going on.
Its me Boss.
There is no problem for a corporate deal to be executed, even if it involves international parties.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this Pantai deal, as Rocky said, is that it was not done following corporate rules & norms of this country.
That's why 2 govt concessions (fomema and medivest) landed with foreign equity when it clearly stipulates that govt concessions must be owned by Malaysians.
The parties that brokered this illegal deal (and they must be in positions of power) then realised their blunder and 'forced' Khazanah to step in and buy back Pantai, at a premium of course.
Even so, Khazanah only purchased 60% and management control remains completely with the Singaporeans.
Till today, the 2 govt concessions have part foreign equity.
KJ Blooper Fan Club
Najib Razak pls disclose details of CHINAMAN linked to YOUR son and wife Rosmah Mansor in Sungai Besi air base (TUDM) land deal.
ReplyDeleteNajib how did a 20 something CHINAMAN- TAEK JHO LOW secure a RM500 million contract for the development of TUDM in Sungai Besi.
And THIS F of a guy NAJIB, is telling us the NATION is going BANKRUPCT because of Subsidies.
Najib, PLEASE step down as Prime Minister, and allow Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin to take over.
Hidup, Tan Sri Muhyiddin.
Beli sabun colek
ReplyDeleteTapi kebanyakan
Liat pantat molek
Jadi deh tabrakan
Disini ada jembatan
Jembatannya pake kawat
Tiga kali tabrakan
Gara-gara liat pantat
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteStop trying to put a spin on everything. This partial offer made by Khazanah is strategic, nothing more. And definitely not the "menebus kesilapan zaman silam" spin you are talking about.
Pre Khazanah & Pantai, Parkway biggest shareholder was a Private Equity Firm, Newbridge Capital which is the Asian arm of Texas Pacific Group. They bought their stake in 2005 from the Tony Tan and Ang families.
http://www.parkwayhealth.com/about-us/investor-relations/pdf/annual-report/past/annual-report-2005.pdf
To smoothen the Pantai transaction soon after, CIMB, acting as financial advisor, suggested that Khazanah come into the picture to smoothen the process. It made sense since Khazanah had a stake in Apollo Hospitals which was acquired from the Reddy Group and this would enhance Khazanah's footprint in the South/SE Asian healthcare sector. Khazanah then took a 16.4% stake in Parkway back in 2008.
TPG being a financial investor was looking at Parkway purely as a financial investment and was open to exiting way back in 2007 if the price was right. The onset of the financial crisis shrunk the universe of potential buyers and it was only this year that TPG/Newbridge was able to exit, selling up to Fortis Healthcare of India.
Now Khazanah has a rival in Parkway, of about the same shareholding size. Rather than risk Fortis taking a controlling stake in Parkway, Khazanah has done so instead through their partial offer.
If Khazanah was purely concerned about Pantai, they would have made an offer to Parkway to acquire the remaining shares in Pantai which Khazanah does not own.
Khazanah wants to grow their healthcare footprint across SE Asia and India. Hence, the offer to take a controlling stake in Parkway.
So if you are jumping up and down over the fact that FIC was not consulted in the original transaction, well, I think Najib's actions last year to scrap it shows what a waste of time FIC was in the first place.
I suspect you have a chip on your shoulder and you bitterness hasn't dissipated in the past five years, all coming down to Mr K Mullah.
You should learn to not get so worked up. That anger and emotion can't be good for you. Let sleeping dogs lie.
Yea, if it aint broke, dont fix it. The next shoe to fall will be Pantai, now that Khazanah, a clone of Sime Darby, will be in charge. Believe me, Singaporeans do a better job of managing hospitals. Our Khazanah guys are good for one thing - profligacy and opacity. Need I say more?
ReplyDelete"...clearly shows that the current Administration is undoing the mistake of the previous regime which allowed the sale of a national asset without proper due processes..."
ReplyDeleteSince when was Pantai a national asset? It's just another medical/hospital group that has some of its shares listed on the KLSE. Such hospital groups have sprung up all over M'sia, especially in the Klang Valley.
Mahathir's son, Mokhzani, managed to get the Govt to approve the injection of monopolistic FOMEMA (where was proper procedures then?) into Pantai in which he was then a major shareholder, and then divested it to a local MCA tycoon.
If M'sia is going broke with national debts of $362 billion all owing to economic mismanagement by UMNO/BN, then shouldn't Khazanah be holding on to its cash? What's the hurry now to buy back the Parkway stake? Is that going to reduce the national debt or the $74 billion subsidies or $28 billion lost in corruption in Govt procurement every year?
The Govt and its Glc's seem incapable of focussing on priorities while exhorting the masses to tighten their belts!!
We are fast becoming a nation of the super rich and the super poor, which is a guaranteed recipe for national disaster and revolution!!
Remember what happened in Paris in 1789 when the Queen told the masses "let them eat cake"
dpp
we are all of 1 race, the Human Race
Due to Pak Lah's failed leadership,Najib has been taking an overdose of 'friendly fire' from all sides. Initially things do looks bad but given time I trust the ship will ride the storm.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia had its ups and down but there's always a way out. The hue and cry only shows malaysians have a high degree of sensitivity and awareness of the country's well being. Foreigners own a significant amount of assets in this country so what? But as a matter of course, certain assets are not for sale.
Wasn't Pantai Holdings owned by Mokhzani Mahathir via Tongkah Holdings ? So who is the traitor ?
ReplyDeleteHmm...this is the reverse psychology? Pinning KJ to lose his chances? Well Rocky, u are no better than KJ. Lowlifes, just ones a politician the other under the guise of a sopo blogger.
ReplyDeleteExactly how were procedures not followed? Any laws broken?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a commercial deal. Later, the Malaysians realised tha the deal could result in "national assets" and sensitive info falling into foreign hands that they went into damage control mode.
Former Pantai patient
may be those are not 'fix' but scam?
ReplyDeleteif one wants to steal money in the open or transparently without getting caught, one can't just pack the money out, right?
so how? just create a way to make up business transactions, like merger, consolidation, joint venture ... etc whatever you want to name it.
the idea is like the fake receipt syndicate, just make up receipts with no products involve and get real cash out of it. brilliant, isn't it? getting money without selling anything!
Dear Dato Rocky,
ReplyDeleteWhy not make noise when STT buys into U-Mobile? Just because Dr. Mahathir offficiated it it means its ok.
So its like this
If Dr Mahathir says sell, then its good
If Dr Mahathir says don't sell then its a not good
Perhaps you can educate the readers why Pantai is so valuable? Is it because of a license to operate FOMEMA which was given to Pantai? Who was the owner then?
Where is the money coming from?
No wonder country is going to go bankrupt in 7 years if we have this double standards
Wahab,
ReplyDeleteAsk your little bird to read the statements by Bank Negara and find out how much foreign loans Dr Mahathir left Pak Lah.
Malaysia was bankrupt then. Now whatever said and done, we have over RM 300 billion in reserves thanks to Pak Lah. With Dr Mahathir in charge we would have been in IMF status by now
Hai ya Bro all this hue and cry over Pantai. True a national asset was sold and now bought back (with rakyat's money surprise! surprise!) Lets not fight and argue over whats done and dusted. True wrongs have been corrected but we are still in deep shit my fellow brothers and sisters. Wake up and smell the roses or coffee or whatever fills your boots, we're gonna be bankrupt in 8 years if we don't do something about the government. We're slipping and sliding down a hill and no one in government is even bothered because they are not affected (money already transfered ma why worry eg Menteri Besar N.Sembilan has RM10million in UK or has everybody forgotten about that already!!!) Cut subsidies to avoid bankruptcy???? BN/UMNO now really sowing the seeds to their own destruction!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd they say azman mokhtar is the brilliant malay to run khazanah. Pooodahhhhh
ReplyDeleteAnd Najib extended his contract for three years..
Poodahhhhhhhhh to him too
Dear Dato' Rocky,
ReplyDeleteWhat's is the price of a U-turn to rectify a horse that has bolted?
In 2005,100% of Pantai was valued at approximately 'only' RM 1.0B.
http://competitivemalaysia.blogspot.com/2005/11/fomena-control-fall-to-singapore.html
Khazanah has already paid SGD 581 (RM 1.36B) for its 20% stake in Parkway...
http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BStraits%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20080501-62747.html
...plus this recent bid of RM2.7B...
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/khazanahs-rm2.7b-parkway-bid-in-challenge-to-fortis/
...assuming a general offer is not triggered. Which will could cost Khazanah another RM 9.6B for the remaining 48.5% it does not own.
And this is on top of the 'small change' that Khazanah had already spent on Pantai and its original 2pct stake in Parkwaypreviously?
http://powerpresent.blogspot.com/2006/08/malaysia-regains-pantai-holdings-thru.html
So in total, in order to 'regain' Pantai, Malaysia may have to fork out close to RM 14B. Do you really think it is worth spending all that money just to regain Pantai for jingoistic reasons? The horse has already bolted.
And you still want to make a big deal about Sime Darby's RM1 B 'loss'?
Rocky do u have heard about PROKHAS [Projek Khas formerly Danaharta Bhd] guys doing a lot of surveillance audit to many of the GLCs'...i am not very sure about their staff [read as consultants'] background as mostly are mid early 30's and offering ideas to MDs'/CEOs' [average are 50's years old] how to run the business...another brohahaha is coming in front of us...
ReplyDeleteThe is the classic case of gang raping our country assets and resources!
ReplyDeleteFrom disposal by one Dato Lim to Parkway, then Khazanah did the bail out FOR Parkway upon "discovering" Pantai has 2 government concession, ie Pantai Medivest and FOMEMA which not suppose to fall into the hands of foreigners.
There are loads of information found in Rocky's series of posting in his blog about Pantai deal, enough for MACC to move in. Overvaluation, non-compliances, by-passing authorities etc. Standard procedures for big case macam ini, semua sapu bersih bawah carpet.
Sime Darby, Khazanah semua sama rupa aja. Tapi, despite all the noise here and there, semua pun boleh, nothing will happen, only few elites proper. No Further Action.
Country bankrupt by 2019, Jala?, go find out all the thieves first. Cut subsidy to feed these "elite thieves"? Podalah!!!Rob the poor enrich the greedy blokes!
Lucky you, we only have one vote each, see your next election, is all we can say
Bro, on the Pantai saga you wrote "The order had come via a phone call to a Cabinet Minister from someone close to the Prime Minister, who was then in Australia for a minor surgery". My question is who is "this guy" who wields so much power behind the scenes even though Malaysians did not appoint him as Prime Minister then.
ReplyDelete"This guy" should be outed so that we the taxpayers can have a go at lynching him for first betraying his country's national interest and then making us the taxpayers pay more than we should for something that we should not have lost so easily anyway.
The powers that be talk about subsidies cut which if not done could make this country bankrupt, but a few more events like the Pantai fiasco, the Sime Darby mergers don't forget the Maybank purchase of an Indonesian Bank and then their huge losses...the country will go bankrupt a lot more faster if PM Najib does not implement serious oversight procedures to stop unnecessary leakages in Government spending by these white collar crooks. PM Najib please do not dissapoint us like Pak Lah dissapointed us immeasurably.
Dear Rocky
ReplyDeleteI respected you as a seasoned journo that had covered and opined on great many events that occurs in our beloved country. Your writings do make sense, though at times sounded a bit bias or have certain leanings towards certain group.
In this post, I beg to differ. You tend to sensationalize some things that are not sensational. The boys at Khazanah though seems to be boyish and cowboyish in their act do have noble intent of turning Malaysia into a respected powerhouse. It is always easy having the cover of an arm chair critic to point fingers at things done to further the interest of the country, which at some point later faced a little difficulty.
Is that a perfect excuse of inaction for fearing any drastic action will turn to haunt you in the future? In this age, one can't wait for something to get broken then only to get it fixed.. one had to anticipate and proactive action taken to correct the course. Now in each course taken the captain of the ship tasked to steer the ship may mishandle things... but that does not mean the course shouldn't be taken in the first place.
I hope you will be very fair and give credit where it is due in your writings. Otherwise, your will only leave legacy of a cockerel that crows like it is the end of the world but never themselves fly to see the world. Please do not trample on somebody who stumbles in his track wanting to do something good just because he stumbled!
MATBODO..dengar sini.
ReplyDeleteKalau kau betul melayu ,memang la kau bodo.
Kalau kau Cina yang menyamar Mat, aku cabar kau sekarang suruh semua Cina2 Budhist kau bukan sahaja tutup semua kedai tapi berhenti semua perniagaan dan balik Tongsan.
Tengok kite Melayu mati kelaparan ke tidak.
Ini bukan zaman Tok Kadok dulu tau.
Wak
Anon 11:21pm,
ReplyDeleteApa lu cerita beb? Semua orang boleh claimed "noble interest to turn Malaysia into a respected powerhouse". So far, since Azman Mokhtar jadi MD/CEO Khazanah, sudah berapa GLCs di bawah Khazanah yang menjadi "respected powerhouse"? cuba lu cerita sikit beb? Yang jadi powerHAUS banyak ler. Macam ini, CEO Sime Darby pun boleh claimed bila project di Qatar fucked up, er, "actually my interest is to turn Sime Energy into a respected powerhouse."
Sudah 5 tahun jadi CEO/MD Khazanah, the only results yang gua nampak is 1 datukship and 1 tan sri for that text-book CEO. In other countries, sure sudah lama kena sacked!
Syok sendiri lebih!
Anonymous @11.12pm wrote:
ReplyDelete"Please do not trample on somebody who stumbles in his track wanting to do something good just because he stumbled!"
Anonymous,
while you gallantly step to the defence of the Khazanah boys, don't you think they should climb down from their high horses and get free advice from those who have been there and done that?
If only they would get rid of their arrogant stance, then they would'nt stumble so much!
KJ Blooper Fan Club
To all Malaysians,
ReplyDeleteI still could not understand what the fuss is all about Pantai selling out to Singapore.
We will not protest if any malaysian companies come and buy Singapore hospital trains highways assets. It is not our company.
In fact if we are small shareholders of those companies, we welcome you to buy! Make the offer! We will accept if the price is right just like when Raffles Hotel is sold.
In fact the whole of Singapore is for sale at the right price to the seller and only if the seller is willing to let go! If Malaysia has the money, they can buy anything but that is also subject to govt approval.
We are rational.
Puzzled!
Dato, please free us from the colombian, we cannot take it anymore. She should not have human as subordinate - binatang boleh.
ReplyDeleteKalau take lepas bonus (kale ade) kami Belah Satu satu
Please dato bawa balk zul pun takpe