Three issues I would like to raise:
Petronas hospital – undermining the public health care system
Why is Petronas setting up a private hospital – the Price Court Medical Centre? I don’t supposed they named it after its pricey price tag of RM544 million… In the first place, what expertise does Petronas have in health care? Why is it jumping on the health care and medical tourism bandwagon? Shouldn’t it be supporting our government hospitals, which are badly underfunded and understaffed? By setting up a new hospital, wouldn’t it be encouraging more doctors to leave the government hospitals?
Look, the Coalition Against Health Care Privatisation has requested that the government allocate a portion of Petronas’ profits to improve our general hospitals. That would have been an excellent way of channelling the savings from the cut in subsidies to the poor, who badly need affordable health care. But for general hospitals got no money, Petronas hospital got … Just goes to show how much the government cares for the poor.
Bakun Dam – RM16 billion and rising: Sime Darby declines stake
Sime Darby has wisely decided to pull out of holding a stake in the Bakun Dam via Sarawak Hidro. Neither is it interested in holding a stake in the laying of cables under the South China Sea from Sarawak to the peninsula, which would make it the longest undersea cables in the world. The whole project stinks right from day one. They are building this huge dam in Sarawak, and they realise they don’t need the electricity. So they want to transmit it to the peninsula. But wait a minute, the peninsula already has a 40 per cent reserve capacity and TNB is even paying the IPPs for electricity it doesn’t need.
So what to do? They get polluting aluminium smelters to suck up the electricity from Bakun.
But Sime Darby obviously realises that the project is unviable and unprofitable – and would rather stick to the construction work. Has this anything to do with the extensive logging in the Bakun catchment areas that has threatened the viability of the project? (See “New doubts over Bakun Dam“) Or the serious doubts over the feasibility of the undersea cables and the likely risks and loss of power?
And now there are suggestions that TNB might take up a stake – and pass on the burden to the Malaysian public?
And that’s not all, they are building even more dams in Sarawak like there is no tomorrow. Make hay while the sun shines.
Let’s see, you have currently:
- Batang Ai Dam 108MW
In the pipeline:
- Bakun Dam 2,400MW
- Limbang Dam 160MW (completion 2012)
- Murum Dam 900MW (2013)
Under study:
- Baram Dam 1,000MW
- Balleh Dam 900MW
- Smaller dams in Miri and Limbang division.
Coal power plants proposed:
- Mukah (Phase 1) 270MW
- Mukah (Phase 2) 300MW
- Belingian 600MW
- Merit-Pila 1,200MW
But wait a minute, Sarawak only needs 750MW right now – and it already has a capacity of 900MW. What the…!
Bumi equity – par value again
They are still calculating the bumi share of corporate equity based on par value – 19.4 per cent bumi stake in 2006, up from 18.9 per cent in 2004. What kind of economics is that? Everyone knows that par value produces a distorted picture. They should be using market value and market capitalisation. A different picture would emerge. Just ask Dr Lim Teck Ghee.
Anyway, why are we still measuring wealth distribution based on race? Only a small number of Malaysians own a large proportion of the shares. The majority of Malaysians – Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, others – simply don’t have the money to buy shares. Shouldn’t we be addressing the widening gap between the rich and the poor of all ethnic groups instead of being fixated with the 30 per cent target, which only benefits the upper middle class and the elite?
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Dear Anil, I like your writings very much but i need to correct a bit on your view about the prince court hospital. Well, 1st for would need to see how they health care sector is developing in our country. The leaders of the country should be smart in developing the health care industry without ignoring the current government hospital. I bet that most middle class just like me working in a multi-national company are provided with medical benefit/ medical card for both government and private hospital. To say that all the private hospital is taking over the government hospital,… Read more »
BobMarley :- You can fool some people some time but you can’t fool all the people all the time!!!
Theres an old saying… Its only because they dunno how to cook rice, they are depending on others… So that will always be the Malays weakness… Let UMNO steal whatever they want… But the minorities will have to be smart and wait… Tomorrow when UMNO leaves… ( Cannot swindle and stay ma… See what happen to mahathir??? Kena whack only what!) So, the minorities will then be able to push around the Malays ma… Honestly the Malays cannot survive with Pulut and Ikan Bakar only ma…:)
You honestlt think these clown will let go of the gravy train so easily? No la! Let the Malays depend on the Gov, cuz tomorrow when UMNO leaves the Malays high and dry, then we can go shopping off the discounted Malay property! They dunno how to save and invest ma??? Only know how to beg/cheat and steal!! 🙂 The advantage of having the majority of a country under educated and stupid! So either this generation or the next of the minorities will own Malaysia! (Some of) these UMNO idiots will cheat and **** their fellow Malays for their own… Read more »
welcome to bolehland modelled by mahadare
another projek kerajaan bar.nas
Ganesh,
What you’re saying is partially true nowadays. Yes diesel is going Euro 4 and Euro 5 with the CRDi stuff. Most 2.0 / 2.5L pickups with CRDi can do 11 – 13 km per litre easily on city driving. Highway a little better.
However if you notice the new 2.0L Nissan Slyphy petrol version – it claims 16km/litre. So little difference. However diesel quality in Malaysia sucks so there is still the pollution.
Hi Anil, The Prince Hospital of Petronas really came as a surprise. Not many people were aware that Petronas had deemed necessary to forray into the health industry. Next they might even open restaurants for their fancy clients. How much of this money is waste – the imported orchestra that has cost RM500M, so far, the hospital and what else. Yet we are deprived of proper medical benefits. On the equity quota, they want to prove their stupidity in economics by sticking to their base for calculations, which as you have rightly pointed out shouldn’t be; we should cast the… Read more »
Nostradamus Quatrains on Malaysie In the year of the great games started by the greeks Hosted by the nation of heavenly emperors of times before In a land called Malaysie Great turbulence and strife engulf A land where a Genghis Khan’s Descendant was shred to bits Blown by the winds to the heavenly clouds Where the accused are finally crowned Amid great trepidation and acrimony Then arose among men of honor A man of the faith of … Kings and Rulers let him reign And a new nation was born Great leaders bring forth divination and revelations A land of… Read more »
everytime malay $$ compare to chinese $$. So what about indians and other natives. F****** hell, my mother tapping rubber to support you f****** rent seekers. Hell to all the suckers!!!!!!
After going through what you guys have wrote/commented, I believe this country may be rule by d*** and of course have gone to the dogs
This is what you can get away with if the populace is ignorant. Why spend more on education when that would mean a thousand more questions needing to be brushed aside? Like the nightmare world portrayed in the Matrix triology, many are blissfully asleep and fed a reality created by the BN machinery. Whoever came up with the idea of Bakun dam should consider a career in Hollywood, but I suppose even their standards of extravagance would pale in comparison. There’s always some future demand to be met somewhere and if it is not met now, it will definitely be… Read more »
as far as i am concerned, the prince-court is not worth RM544 million, it is actually worth more than that, to the tune of RM700 million, I remember one time when they don’t like the tiles, they have it removed, and replaced it with the shiny type. That’s why it takes quite long to complete the whole thing. It’s really 5 star in there. They even get the best specialists to work there. I heard that some doctors who are visiting only get paid around 50 – 60k a month, I cannot verify this, but sounds true considering how high-class… Read more »
PORR and Penang monorail slashed but useless projects which do not benefit the rakyat like Petronas hospital and Bakun undersea cable (RM15 billion) go ahead?
Why? Is it because they benefit Umno and that is more important than benefiting the rakyat?
Look at this govt! Totally immoral. The only way to save Malaysia is to vote them out.
This is an aspect of the Bakun dam issue, and possibly involving the other planned/proposed dams and coal powered plants too given the large excess total generating capacity, which has been bothering me. Much of the viability of the Bakun (and the other new dams/plants) is likely to hinge on the supply of electric power to Peninsular Malaysia via the submarine cable system. And the submarine cable system is of a length and complexity which has never been tried before, if my recollection of previous Press reports is correct. If the submarine cable system is successfully implimented, then a large… Read more »
KJ dia pergi OXFORD makan angin sja
i think he meant the 19.4% is still not in the XXXXputera hand yet.
why do we have to face these idiots all the time. Umno is (taking us for a ride) in the name of NEP. UMNO malays must get 30%. All of us Malays, chinese, Indians, kadazans, dayaks…..will have to pay for that 30% through the increase petrol price, petronas profits, income tax, APs for cars…..They will continue to “rob” us legally. Our fellow Malaysians please wake up. We are heading into a cesspool, A S***POOL. If UMNO is not sack we are all going to end up like Zimbabwe. Anwar you must make the move faster?
Aisay, some people in position are not able to count leh. 19.4% Malay value la… 3.4% inflation la .. small is good. But when come to project value, tak main million anymore. Everything in billions. That is why the government have to take out the subsidy to the rakyat, and pass it over to subsidize contractors instead.
calm down, anil. thats what the corridors are all about. contracts for fat cats. rakyat’s interest will always have to take a back seat. it makes no difference if the Pm is Badawi (which is supposedly clean) or Mahatir ( whose administration was) corrupt and the one who perfected cronyism in this country. As long as UMNO calls the shot, thats the end result. Anil, may be you can do some research and posting on the allegation by Jeffrey Kitigan on the 6 option holders which control the sale of oil from petronas. It is alleged that the additional profits… Read more »
ECM Libra has a par value of RM1.00 (per ordinary share, for those who are not familiar with accounting) and its current market price on Bursa is 51.5 sen. Maybank also has a par value of RM1.00. Its market price on Bursa is RM7.20. One share of Maybank is therefore worth 14x of one share of ECM. By using the par value to calculate the corporate equity share of the various races, one share of ECM would be deemed to be worth as much as one share of Maybank. Stupid, isn’t!? If KJ doesn’t even see fit to educate his… Read more »
Petronas should be investing in efforts to provide cleaner diesel and stick to oil and gas specialisation. In Europe, for every petrol car sold, 3 diesel cars are sold. Why? Because Diesel is a cleaner fuel and also, a very efficient fuel giving nearly twice the KM. Malaysians used to believe Diesel was dirty because old lorries and old taxis used them. But that was the diesel engine of yesteryears. Today, the diesel engine, especially the turbo diesel (TDi)produces higher Bhp as well as being a much cleaner fuel than Petrol. Why are current diesel cars emitting thick black smoke?… Read more »
Anil, this is the reason why foreign representatives have such a low regard for Bolehland. Just look at these irresponsible and half-past six cabinet ministers and political leaders, they can tell lies, manipulate economic datas and figures, distort facts and etc in the Parliament. Shame on them.
For how long can the Bolehland’s Rakyat bear the pressure and sufferings, I am not sure, but one thing for sure, these so-called ruling elites will not waste their time to enrich themselves and their cronies by chaneling all the fund in developing those stupid corridors.