Razak walked out a free man

Abdul Razak Bangida was freed by High Court today as judge Mohd Zaki ruled that the prosecution had failed to make out a prima facie case against him. With the acquittance of Razak Baginda, the murder case of Atantuya becomes more complicated. Who is the person behind the gruesome murder of Atantuya is everyone guess, but certainly the two UKT guys will not very likely to have any motive to kill her.

Police and public prosecutors take two years going around the bush, getting 84 witnesses to testify, in between the private investigator Bala made a statutory declaration, then retracted it then went into hiding. After such dramatic episode of high profile trial, and yet Razak Baginda walked out a free man, as the prosecutors failed to even provide prima facie evidence to get Razak Baginda to enter defence. What the hack is the public prosecutors doing? Is the whole prosecution team influenced by 'some powerful people' until the prosecution becomes so sloppy and haphazard?

The murder of the Mongolian lady has tarnished the image of this country. The police force and prosecution team need to put in concerted efforts to gather sufficient evidence so that the real murderers can be brought to justice. With the acquittance of Razak Baginda, the people at large have lost confidence in the police and the credibility of our public prosecutors is also at doubt. They are either prosecuting the wrong guys or could not even prove beyond reasonable doubt that defendants are guilty.

Crude Oil Prices - Highest Vs Lowest

Crude oil reached its historical high at around US147 a barrel in June 2008. Remember at that time when our cabinet ministers urged the people to accept the fact that we had entered a new era of high energy costs especially high crude oil prices and also urged the people to change their life styles in order to better coupe with a more challenging time.

In a short spell of not more than 4 months, crude oil prices start nosediving to the current levels of close to US60 a barrel. I wonder why the demands of oil can drop so drastically in less than 4 months even though a global recession or economic slowdown is imminent. The second finance minister said recently that the declining crude oil prices spell gloom for our economy as petroleum based products account for 40% of the government's projected revenue. Now, shall we be happy or not for a low crude oil price?

The question is; can the fundamentals change so drastically over such a short period of time with the anticipated global recession? Could the global energy demands decline so significantly just because of the fear factors rather than actual fundamental changes? Or the crude oil prices were skyrocketing since last year mainly due to the speculative ventures by certain parties and not because of actual surge in demands?

Speculative actions by big tycoons around the world have too often led to misery to civilians like you and me. Perhaps, economic slowdown like what we are currently facing is the time for those speculators to pay the price for their greed.

A live stunt on the road

While on my way to Banting yesterday to attend my boss' open house, I witnessed a horrible motorcycle accident. I was awaiting at a traffic light at a cross road to turn right towards North-South highway. As the light turned green, I turned right, a kancil was at my back but the car responded very slowly.

As I was turning, I saw a motorcycle speeding from 12 0'clock directions where all vehicles were supposed to stop for a red light. I wonder whether the dare devil rider wanted to commit suicide or he was a colour blind. He disobeyed the red light and sped through, and collided head-on with the slow moving kancil.

I suppose I was dammed lucky as I went past faster, otherwise It could have been me that was hit by the motorcycle. I could see the rider flew airborne like a stuntman from my back mirror. I think the rider must have been seriously injured or could have been dead. I didn't stop, as there was no place for me to do so. While my wife and I stopped at a nearby food stall to have some light meal before going to the open house, we heard the siren of an ambulance rushing towards the direction where the accident took place

There are so many die hard motorcyclists and mat rempit on the road, sometime even we are careful but could still end up in an accident as there are so many irresponsible drivers who simply do not obey traffic rules.

Low CPO Price

Many clients of mine have called to request that their fertiliser requirement for next year be reduced by 30 to 40%. Understandable, the CPO price has dropped drastically from a record high of RM4700 a tonne to the recent low of RM1565 a tonne. With the steep increase in fertiliser prices, the plantation companies are affected by higher cost of production thus, cutting down their profit significantly.

In my 14 years working as an oil palm agronomist, such cyclical changes in palm oil prices have occurred a few times. When the CPO is high, the estates are pushing for higher crop thus request the agronomist to recommend higher rates of fertilisers, some even topping up the fertiliser rates on their own. When the CPO price is low like now, they will start to cut this and that in order to save cost. In my view, the application of fertilisers should not be driven by the price of CPO but rather the yield potential and also the nutritional status of the palms. Palm oil price goes up and down. If the estates cut down on their fertiliser input this year, that will adversely affect the yield production the following year. Now, who know what's going to be the CPO price the following year. What happen if the price is skyrocketing again but the estates which cut down on the fertilisers suffer low yield.

Plantation investment is for long term. Similarly, application of fertilisers is also for long term. Hence, it requires a long term strategy in order to ensure success and sustainable profitability. Short term adjustment on the capital expenditure in the light of low CPO price is unavoidable but should be done discreetly under the advise of qualified professional. Knee-jerk reaction or fire-fighting approach would not do any good for long term profitability and sustainability.

What a "Kangkung"

The recently concluded MCA election has caught many by surprise. Chua Soi Lek has defied all odds to win the contest for No 2 post. Many could have wondered why MCA delegates still voted for Chua despite of his sex scandal which forced him to resign from his party post and cabinet minister.

In my view, It is not difficult to understand the choice of the majority of the MCA delegates. Since the political tsunami in 08-March, 2008, the mindsets of the people have changed. It can been seen that the grassroots want their leaders to be more vocal and assertive. The center committee of MCA also realise the need to move away from the traditional modus operandi of so called consultation or "closed-door discussion". Perhaps, that's why Chua Soi Lek is chosen as he is deemed more vocal and assertive as compared to Ong Ka Chuan, the preferred candidate by the party's leadership, who subscribes to "speaking behind closed-door".

Can "Tiger" Chua cooperate with his new-elected president remains to be seen as both are of equally strong character. Ong Tee Kiat is all along regarded as a "lone ranger", out-spoken yes he is, but can he get strong supports from his party members especially the loyal followers of Ong Ka Ting or Chan Kwong Choi and the likes? Tiger Chua will only become more fearless as no part of his body has not been seen by the public. But can he be accepted by other BN leaders should he be proposed by MCA to be a cabinet minister? One thing is for sure, the KANGKUNG combination of Ong and Chua should put down all their differences and work together as one as MCA can not afford to have another slip up again. The Chinese majority had already spoken loud and clear during the last general election, they would rather vote for the opposition if MCA continue to be "blind obedience".

Be greedy when others are fearful

The Sage of Omaha has spoken. He wrote in a commentary article in the New York Times that he is now buying US stocks and predicted that shares would substantially outperform cash over the next decade. As the world richest man and the world's most successful investor, Mr. Buffett's views and opinions are highly regarded by the investor community worldwide. Small investors may take lead from his optimism and start to buy in equities again. In the midst of the current financial crisis where stock markets worldwide have plummeted to the historical low, what Warren Buffett had written in the New York Times should provide a ray of hope to the panicky investors.

It is the time to be greedy when others are fearful, said Mr. Buffett. True indeed Mr Buffett, but most of the investors have no more "bullets" to be greedy. Most of the "bullets" had been miss-fired at stray targets when KLCI was approaching historical high last year when everyone was greedy and nobody was fearful. I just pray hard that KLCI will slowly recover so that my losses could be minimised.

Not safe to put up a police beat base

What the hack? In a written reply to Titiwangsa MP, the Home Minister said that the police beat base located in Chow Kit was closed down as the place is not safe due to the "presence of criminals which is unsafe for police officers". Of thousands of excuses that he can think of, he pick this one, too bad.

Isn't it the responsibility of police force to protect the civilians from criminal activities. If the place is unsafe, there are more reasons for them to intensify patrolling so as to reduce crime. Now, a police beat base is being closed down because the place is not safe? Policemen are trained to fight crime, surely they are capable of handling the criminals. I suppose the Home Minister is putting priority on the safety of police force on top of the civilians. No wonder the crime rates have not been contained for years as the police is running away from crime prone areas.

This is like asking the soldiers not to go the battlefield as it is too dangerous. Who will protect us then? What kind of logic is this??

Hardship in Ease

In a short period of 4 months, the crude oil has declined drastically from the peak of US 147 a barrel in July to the low of US 73 a barrel. What a turn of event that caught everyone by surprise. When the price was at its historical high, we worried that it would go up even higher, everyone seemed to worry about inflation. Now, when the oil prices declined to below US 80 a barrel, we worry that a recession is unavoidable despite multi billion bail-out measures taken by American, British and also EU countries. Similarly, the KLCI was at the historical high of 1500 points just a couple of months ago, now, most of the investors start panicking and thus liquidating their equities sending KLCI to a two-year low close to 900 points.

The volatility of crude oil prices or share market for that matter is an complicating issue. But one thing is for sure, investors at large have pressed panic button due to fear of the collapse of the global financial system. Even the congressional bailout plan by US don't seem to be able to contain investors' fear. In the pressing time like this, what can common people do to ease the hardship?

In the younger days in school, we were taught to always save for a raining day. We were taught to think about the past hardship when at ease and think otherwise during a hardship. Unfortunately, we don't think about the hardship when we are at ease, instead we are driven by greed. History always repeats itself, but the fools keep on falling into the same trap as they never learn from the past mistakes.

Rocky's bru Under Fire

Rocky's bru was under fire for his recent posting in defence of Utusan Malaysia which was sued by MP Teresa Kok for defamation. Rocky may have a soft spot for journalists and thus sympathising with Utusan' journalists for being sued by Teresa Kok. However, most of the readers/bloggers obviously thought otherwise and opined that Utusan was indeed responsible for inaccurate reporting which had resulted in the detention of Teresa Kok under ISA. Some even suggested that Rocky has shifted camp and thus speaking on behalf of UMNO.

I respect Rocky for having the gut to publish all the sarcastic remarks. The article had attracted some 300 over comments when I was reading it.Too bad that most of the criticizers are hiding under the skirts of anonymous and firing him rigorously as perhaps they too, are worried of getting sued.

Whose Head Will Roll?

Recent posting by SimeDarbyWatch and Rocky's Bru highlighted yet again, another trading losses incurred by Sime Darby amounting to RM 80 million following the previous incident of RM120 million trading losses incurred by Golden Hope prior to merger which had resulted in 4 top executives being sacked.

Trading losses is quite common for companies dealing with commodities such as crude oil and palm oil due to market volatility. Despite of stringent standard operating procedures and guidelines, the best analysts or traders in the world could still suffer losses due to varying circumstances and market volatility. For instance, when the government decided to increase the petrol price by 40 % a few months ago when the crude oil reached its historical high at about USD 150 a barrel, who could have predicted that crude oil price would nosedive below USD 80 a barrel just a few months later.

Hence, trading losses like what incurred by Sime Darby should be investigated thoroughly so as to determine the contributing factors rather than every time there is a trading loss, some body's head will roll. Even the best analyst in the world could not precisely predict the price trend of commodities due to complexity of the supply-demand chain. Let's be fair to those traders who work under very stressful conditions, they are not fortune tellers, neither are they a Warren Buffet or George Soros.

Malaysia Unlikely to Enter Recession???

The second Finance Minister commented today that Malaysia is unlikely to enter recession. Reason given was that our banking system is still intact despite the banking crisis affecting US and Europe. Nor Mohamad said that the government is still optimistic of achieving economic growth of 5.7% this year and 5.4% next year.

I hope the Second Finance Minister's optimism would not disappoint us. No doubt Malaysian economy is diversified, but which are the sectors performing well at this point in time? Plantation industry is affected by low CPO price, construction and manufacturing businesses are not moving as well. So despite of the diversification of our economy, can we be resilient enough to sail through this worldwide financial turbulence safe and sound?

I hope all politicians do not create any more chaotic conditions. As it is now, the livelihood of commoners have already been badly affected by the current uncertainties due to a possible recession in US. The sharp declines in major share markets around the world for the past few days is already scary enough.

During a crisis period like this, the common people are those affected the most. The rich people and big business tycoons may see their wealth reduce substantially, but they can still continue enjoying luxurious life. The common people could be out of jobs, and thus the livelihood of the whole family is affected. The people who are running small business such as hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant owners will tell you how bad is their business being affected now. Hopefully the smooth transition of power to Najib would ensure political stability in the country as instability in politic would not do any good to our economy.

Penan Peril

All along we know that the livelihood of the natives in Malaysia be it Penan or other aborigine groups in East and West Malaysia has been neglected by the authority. As the political parties are campaigning in the town or urban during elections, they often forget the minority native communities that are in the dire needs for help. It is not difficult to understand, political parties are campaigning for votes, ruling parties or oppositions alike, so it is only logical for them to go campaigning at places where they think they can get more votes.

The alleged abuse on Penan girls as reported by NGO Bruno Manser Foundation of late is nothing new. It has been in existence for a long time. It is not merely a criminal problem but more towards a socioeconomic problem. Young native girls become easy prey for errant loggers mainly because of the strained and reduced circumstances and poor living environment. Instead of blaming the NGO for tarnishing the image of our country by reporting issues like this, we should be appreciative as without them, our politicians will never step their feet on the barren land of remote countryside.

I often visit remote areas in Sabah, Sarawak and Pahang during the course of work. Sometime, I met up with some young native children studying in the primary schools located in the oil palm estates where I was visiting. These schools are mostly financed or operated by the plantation companies with limited resources or support from the government. Some native families are reluctant to send their children to the school as it is too far away from their home.

Sometime, I do come across some young native kids who look notably like Chinese. My friend in the estate always joked that they could be the offspring of one of the planters. Joking aside, if the alleged victimization of young Penan girls reported by BMF is true, then not only the culprits is guilty, the government is equally responsible for not being able to bring up the livelihood of the native minority.

Different Fate of Two Chinese

Many years ago I was assigned to guide a China man from Laos on how to establish an oil palm nursery. This man by the name of Liang originated from Jilin, China and working for a timber company joint ventured with a Malaysian businessman extracting timber at Paksan, Laos. The government of Laos wanted the Malaysian businessman to plant up the logged areas with oil palm. Liang was sent by his boss to Malaysia to learn what oil palm cultivation is all about. He was here only for about two weeks. I suppose he can learn some basic skills and knowledge on oil palm but it would be extremely difficult to learn from A to Z.

After a few days staying in Seremban, Liang started to ask how are we Malaysian Chinese doing in Malaysia. He was amazed and admired as to how well Chinese in Malaysia living happily and successfully as compared to him who was suffering in his home state in Jilin, China as jobs are rare and difficult to earn a living. His wife left him for another man and left behind a 12-year old son living with Liang's parents. That's why he left Jilin and worked as a logger in Laos, following a timber contractor also from his home town to earn about 200 to 300 US dollars a month.

While he was telling his story over the many dinners we had together, I often saw tears in his eyes. Liang said that I was lucky as my grand father had travelled long ago to Tanah Melayu and that's how I ended up here but unfortunate for him that his grand parents had not been courageous enough to find a better living elsewhere. We both laughed in agreement of Liang's theory of our different fates due to the actions of our grand parents. Before he went back to Laos after his 2-week stay in Seremban, Liang went to do some shopping and apparently, I saw him bought a gold ring and some ladies clothing. I asked him what was that for. He told me he was going to marry a lady he met in Laos after returning to Paksan. I was curious as to how Liang communicate with his lover as he didn't even know how to speak Laos. He told me they communicate through sign language and he was trying hard to learn Laos. I couldn't stop laughing at him and warned him that the lady might be cheating on him.

I went to Laos a few months after Liang went back. I met him there. He was so excited to see me as he could not remember a single thing that I taught him during his two-week stay in Malaysia. The oil palm nursery was in a mess. I pity Liang as the working environment in Laos was far from satisfactory. He was staying in a small hut at the nursery site far away from the logging camp without proper food and water and don't even talk about other basic facilities like electricity.

I was equally delighted to see him and asked him how was his married life going on. To my surprise, Liang turned on a sour face and started to curse his "to-be wife". Liang said the woman cheated on him. The lady had already married with three kids. As much as I sympathized Liang, I wanted to laugh, I warned him before that the lady might be cheating him as both of them can't even communicate. Liang then said he was so angry that he went to the lady's house and took back all the good that he bought for her including a ring, ladies clothing, bed sheet, cooking utensils and all others. I couldn't stop laughing at him, despite of his misery, Liang could still recoup whatever gifts he had given to the lady.