YOURSAY 'Excellent piece, even I understood it! Unfortunately, I doubt deputy minister Chua Tee Yong will either read it or understand it.'
Jiminy Qrikert:
'For more than a decade under BN, one corporation owed the state hundreds of millions of ringgits' is not really the eye-opener for the rakyat, especially those in Selangor.
The real eye-opener is this - for more than a decade, the Umno-BN government had been able to refine a modus operandi that allows one MB succeeding the previous MB to continue to fleece the rakyat and burden the unfortunate rakyat caught in this web of deceit.
Looking in on what was done and how it was done simply shows that each succeeding Umno-BN MB continued and built on the corrupt legacy of the previous MB to enrich himself and his cronies.
The loss of Selangor to Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 now allows this dirt to be uncovered and properly 'booked' for all rakyat to see.
It is no wonder Umno-BN is desperate to retain power in GE13 and more crucially win back Selangor so that Umno-BN can continue their legacy of corruption and prevent any further exposes that will totally destroy Umno.
Not Confused: Excellent piece, even I understood it! Unfortunately, I doubt deputy minister Chua Tee Yong will either read it or understand it.
Like his father and the rest of the motley crew in BN, they are only interested in sex and money (in whichever order). It just shows how Umno-BN cheated and lied about things that were allowed to occur, and this is in Selangor alone. What about the other states in Malaysia?
I think we have seen this BN modus operandi before. Set up companies that spawn subsidiary and associate companies, transfer assets and debts and create such a complex web of transactions that it becomes very difficult to keep track of the trail of money.
Assets and money then usually end up in the private accounts of individuals (BN YBs and other well-connected, shadowy figures).
It's going to take some time, and similar efforts to those of MB Khalid Ibrahim in Selangor, to unravel the many other webs of deception once Pakatan takes over Putrajaya.
Headhunter: See how quiet former MB Mohd Khir Toyo is on this sordid affair. One can fairly guess that if the money trail is followed, it will lead to the most corrupt politicians in Selangor.
No price for guessing that the former MB is right on top of the heap. And now they have the cheek to attack Khalid for doing an excellent job of saving their necks.
If I were Khalid, delve into the case in details, especially the money trial and expose them for what they are, a bunch of thieves out to steal from the rakyat through land scams and other methods.
The good thing that come out of this is that it goes to show how much more open and financially competent Pakatan is compared to the thieves in BN.
Annonymous 6941: Heaven only knows if one happens to be a chief minister commanding a stable of loyal excos for a rich state like Selangor.
A dentist was exposed in court owning a sprawling mansion paid by a contractor and a ‘Tyson' was caught in Australia smuggling in hard cash, topping up his kitty there.
A switched-over federal minister shed crocodile tears in public swearing that he and his family never become rich as a chief minister, yet forgetting that he had alienated a big piece of swampy land in Port Klang for a few hundred ringgit in premium, parked it under a two-ringgit incorporated company, Teliti Kekal Sdn Bhd, with his daughter and other Umno warlords as shareholders, and later sold to TNB power station for more than RM50 million to be used as ash pond.
The debt restructuring of Talam carried out by the PKR new sheriff in town, in simplicity involves the unbundling of the forest to see the individual trees. This exercise opens up, scrutinise and evaluate all the transactions that had taken place in Talam.
Khalid's methodology offers the best level of transparency and accountability which we rakyat have been crying all these years.
For a bailout carried out by the ala BN regime, taxpayers money meant for the poor are diverted to pay out losses in companies as a consequent of fraud and poor business decision-makings committed by inexperienced managers appointed by the BN government.
Anonymous #58437020: This article is a good summary on what happened especially on the housing glut phenomenon in Malaysia, and also East Malaysia during the years of 1980-1988, and how banks dispensed with their loans.
And also the amount of land that got converted from agriculture to commercial, how the land got sub-divided and made many billionaires in this country. Again, only the 10 percent of the Ali Baba gang and cronies (developers, contractors, valuers) got rich, whereas the layman ended up paying higher prices of houses.
Chua junior is operating out of his league. He should focus on what his current role is - as deputy agriculture Minister and MP of Labis - and stop witch hunting on areas where he is obviously an amateur.
Aquinas Says: This is an excellent article by Nathaniel Tan. Often BN will try to ape Pakatan, but it always seems to make a monkey out of themselves, whilst Pakatan often comes out roaring like lions.
Why the difference? Because one is still indulging in monkey business whilst the other is laying their stakes to be the new king of the jungle.
Bystander: Nathaniel, you have save me the trouble to explain to the people of how skillful Khalid is and should be highly complimented for this manoeuver for killing three birds with one stone.
1) People got back their property which was abandoned for a long time (resolved hardship in servicing loans) and boost the economy with the resuscitation of the projects.
2) Shareholders of Talam (especially the public spread) can have a new lease of life in Trinity (all is not lost).
3) Selangor is much richer with the debts recovery which otherwise would be written off conveniently by those fools who were running the state before GE12.
Let's give Khalid a round of applause ladies and gentlemen. He deserves it.
Vgeorgemy: The recovery of Talam debt was the best opportunity politically to prove Pakatan's financial acumen to manage the financial affairs of our beloved country.
We would have missed this opportunity if Chua Tee Yong didn't pick it up. As a layman even though with certain accounting background, I couldn't get it why Pakatan is not aggressively selling such a noble action unless something is at amiss.
As mentioned, such corporate exercises are passion for Khalid and nothing to exhort it. Khalid's apprenticeship under late former Bank Negara governor and PNB chief Ismail Mohd Ali has really paid of for the benefit of the rakyat.
Absalom: This kind of debt restructuring and financing deals happen all the time with PLCs (public limited companies). Investment bankers will get it straight away, lay people will find it complicated.
The thing is, deals like these can be done two ways, one with the honest intention to get the best outcome for stakeholders and bring closure, the other is called what's in it for me?' where the stakeholders interest become secondary (maybe non-existent) and people working the deal or pulling the strings behind the scene suddenly become much more wealthy.
Then the PLC becomes like a used prostitute and all minority shareholders lose all their money. In this case, this poor guy, who was obviously not qualified to open his mouth on the subject, chose to find fault on the wrong deal.
Good Men: "It would be insulting to suggest that this article is titled specifically in the hopes that Chua Tee Yong would take the time to carefully peruse the facts within."
I love this snide remark. It's not insulting to suggest that at all. He is doing a good job by being more stupid than his father. Bad apples don't fall far from the tree.
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