While I do not support the MCA takeover of Nanyang Press, in my humble opinion the recent offer from the consortium of Chinese interests to buy the stake is, quite frankly, a joke.

Regardless of the merits of the consortium's attempt to maintain the independence of the two newspapers involved, I feel that the offer price of RM5.60 per share is too low. Offering a mere 10 sen more per share is ludicrously low; why should MCA, or any other party for that matter, accept an offer that is a measly 1.8 percent more than the price that they originally paid for the shares? After staking so much in terms of reputation and political capital, it would be political suicide to accept such an offer. I will not blame the MCA if it rejects it.

One must question the seriousness of this offer. Surely the consortium, which includes experienced businessmen, should know better and offer MCA a better, more serious price?