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Number of VIPs per capita

Anil Netto
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Someone should carry out a global survey to rank countries by the number of ‘VIPs’ per capita. This is one survey we might rank right up there along with the most status-conscious countries.

In Malaysia, apart from all those with official honorifics (and there are quite a few of them), there are those wannabe VIPs who are actually willing to pay good money to acquire instant ‘titles’.

Why is it that many Malaysians crave for titles? Perhaps they think an honorific would draw fawning attention at various public events, denote status, and offer privileges (like at airports, whether local or foreign). 

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-09-19

Anil Netto
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School still without a principal?

Anil Netto
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From what I hear, the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Putra Secondary School in Johor has been without a principal on duty for over a month.

School principal Siti Inshah Mansor has been away since 16 August after she was alleged to have uttered racist remarks to pupils.

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Machas and michos, it will be okay

Anil Netto
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Feeling depressed about Malaysia’s future? They say the youth are the hope for the future. Well, if these young people are any indication, the country could be a hip and multiracial place to be – never mind that grumpy macha at the end of the video. 😉

Who is behind Sarawak Plantation?

Anil Netto
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Sarawak Plantation Bhd, one of the major plantation players in Sarawak, has a reported landbank  of 52,071ha as of 31 December 2008.

Of this, 18,406ha is vacant land, which includes 10,786ha managed under the Native Customary Rights scheme (under which Sarawak Plantation holds a 60 per cent interest in the plots), according to a research house, as reported in The Edge Financial Daily. The native landowners hold 30 per cent stakes in these plots and the state, 10 per cent.

Who is behind Sarawak Plantation? Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s cousin Abdul Hamed Sepawi figures prominently.

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Boustead: Deal not yet stitched

Anil Netto
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Boustead Holdings Bhd has announced that it has not yet struck a deal with the Penang state government on the terms of the compensation for the scaled-down Royale Bintang Hotel project in George Town’s world heritage site core zone.

The firm said the compensation may include BHB being allowed to reclaim land on Penang island.

The question to ask is, should the local government compensate or fully compensate a firm for loss of future profits or gross development value arising from something that is beyond the government’s control – in this case, a Unesco heritage listing, with its attendant zoning requirements?

Boustead made the announcement in response to an article in The Edge.

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MPPP won’t take back occupied burial plots

Anil Netto
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8

Responding to concerns expressed, the MPPP has come out to say that occupied burial plots at the Western Road Christian cemetery will not be repossessed.

Yesterday, a Penangite wrote a letter published in Malaysiakini expressing concern that the MPPP’s ad in the press could even raise the dead(!).

See the MPPP’s clarification in theSun here.

Boustead reclamation deal: Please explain

Anil Netto
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Could someone please explain this deal with facts and figures. The circumstances surrounding earlier land reclamation deals were too hazy; that is why complete transparency and accountability are important.

Boustead was claiming RM60 million in compensation for scaling down its project in the world heritage zone in George Town.

In return for giving up that claim, it is now reportedly allocated land/reclamation area “very much less” than 100 acres in the southeast of Penang Island. How much less than 100 acres and how much is the gross development value of this land/reclamation area? (The Edge estimates that the entire 97-acre site could fetch RM870 million.)

Could someone please provide precise figures.

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Concern over Western Road burial plots ad

Anil Netto
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20

They may worship in separate churches belonging to different denominations, but in death they share the same cemetery in Western Road in Penang. Now, an ad inserted in the local press requiring those with burial rights and relatives of the deceased to register with the MPPP has raised consternation among segments of the local Christian community.

It was the bit about the one-month deadline to register “failing which MPPP would take necessary actions to repossess the burial plots for use” that created something of a stir. See theSun report here and a letter from a concerned reader here who asked, “I am of the opinion that MPPP only has the right to ask descendants, family members and their appointed personal representatives to re-affirm ownership of burial plots. But that is the most that they can legally do. MPPP does not have any legal right to seize old burial plots even if nobody comes forward to re-register claim.”

I got in touch with a couple of MPPP councillors to find out what was going on. Here’s what I learned:

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-09-12

Anil Netto
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