Tan Sri Azman "Amokh" Mokhtar
So many speculations rambles for too long now about Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak’s Cabinet reshuffle. Too many names speculated in and out, in various permutations. PM Najib’s himself went through a barrage of press questions about this and he skilfully stone-walled himself out of all of them.
One notion we would like to put as a food for thought. Khazanah Holdings Bhd. President and CEO Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar a Cabinet Minister, soon?
The public expects Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop to leave the Federal Government. A replacement is necessary. Bringing a corporate man and parachuted direct into the highest level policy and decision making forum already has a precedence. PM Najib brought in former MAS CEO Dato’ Seri Idris Jala as the PEMANDU CEO with ministerial rank right from the GLC cushy job. Before that, former Maybank Managing Director Tan Sri Amrisham A. Aziz was brought in as Minister-in-charge-of-EPU, right after PM ‘Flip-Flop’ Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s second general elections. So, why not the top most agent of PM Najib’s New Economic Model (NEM) gets the same appointment and perks?
‘People in the market’ are hedging bets that Azman be given the 2nd Minister of Finance or Minister-in-charge-of-EPU. He is a chartered accountant with corporate and merchant banking experience when he started his consulting firm Binafikir Consulting Sdn. Bhd. Whether or not Azman or Amokh (fondly known by his MCKK-mates) would do well as a Minister is anyone’s best-guests. However, many would expect him to continue the culture of employing consultants which include foreign based to advise and even do macro-economic planning for the Government, a legacy started during PM ‘Flip-Flop’ Abdullah and his infamous ‘Level Four Boys’ notoriety.
Khazanah's holdings in GLCs
As a comparison, both corporate leaders who did well in their MNC top-jobs and were ‘parachuted’ into their Cabinet posts did miserably as public servants. Running a corporation is very different from running a Government. Amirsham’s stewardship in EPU saw RON 95 shot up by 78sen overnight in mid 2008. That was then seen as the final ‘nail-to-the-coffin’ which saw the exit of PM ‘Flip-Flop’ Abdullah within the same year, who actually served the shortest tenure in Malaysian democratic history. It is believed that Nor Mohamed brought Amirsham into the Cabinet, as an ‘escapade’ from the Bank Internasional Indonesia acquisition blunder.
PEMANDU laboratories worked and ‘consulted’, including the industry. Coyly, in May Idris ‘frigthened’ Malaysians when he announced the Federal Government “Will go bankrupt in 9 years time” with the current trend of public spending, subsidies and increasing debts. His consultants-induced New Key Economic Area 12 cores lack seriousness when they completely missed out strategic sectors property and construction, automotive and SMEs and SMIs in their New Economic Model planning.
Khazanah Holdings structure
A renown economist who served as a consultant to Khazanah Holdings Bhd. told us recently that PM Najib’s NEM is about harnessing the best of what Malaysia could offer and utilising to the fullest all economic variables to generate the economy on a steady 7% per annum, as a two prong approach to propel Malaysia at par with the region’s growth and achieving the ‘Vision 2020’ set in 1991 to place our economy as a ‘Newly Developed’ by 2020. However, many are very skeptical in the approach to bring consultants such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Booze Allen Hamilton and the likes to do the macro-economic planning, for either the Federal Government, Khazanah and/or other GLCs. They are neither cheap nor effective.
Let’s see how rumours which are highlighted here in the digital dimension of bloggosphere, turn out. Yesterday, we already got a Cabinet Minister denying a ‘rape allegation’.
*Updated 1030pm
The "thirteen million plus Ringgit" guy rambles.... 
Khazanah Nasional yg tak membawa apa-apa MANAFAAT kepada NEGARA tu?? Lupakan la saja NAJIB ooiii
BigDog,
Minister Idris Jala is a Nor Mohd Yakop crony.
Minister Awang Adek (ex Bank Negara) is a No. 1 Nor Mohd Yakop crony.
Minister Amirsham Aziz (ex Maybank) is a No. 1 Nor Mohd Yakop crony.
Minister Azman Mokhtar is a No. 1+ Nor Mohd Yakop crony.
Talent Corp CEO Johan Merican is a Nor Mohd Yakop crony (ex setiausaha to Nor Mohd Yakop).
Zarinah Anwar SC is a Nor Mohd Yakop ‘appointee’ now (her lifeline held by Nor Mohd Yakop)
New Economic Model is Nor Mohd Yakop project.
ETP, GTP, KPI also Nor Mohd Yakop project.
The Malaysian Gomen is now under the solid influence of Nor Mohd Yakop.
Apo nak di kato – PM bodoh. Mamak siru boleh lipat dalam tikar.
Laksa Mana.
PM bukan sahaja bodoh, ikut telunjuk bini. Kalau bini pun tidak boleh manage, macam mana hendak manage Malaysia?
Biggie & Laksa,
This appointment of Amokh suspiciously look like NMY is cleaning the Pak Lah Al-Flip-Flop & co mess/scandals/misdeeds. Amokh, along with Wahid Omar, Ismee Ismail, Che Khalib, Shahril Ridza, Abd Rahman Ahmad, Zainal Shaari & others are the original ‘NMY’s Boys’, who were nurtured & groomed for these GLCs job. Their loyalty is to NMY. That means, indirectly to KJ as well!
Probably PM Najib agree to this becoz he wants all these mess be cleaned up before PRU 13. Read ABITW
http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com/2011/01/whispers-along-corridor.html
This is typical of Najib. Try to please everyone & be popular at it. Never want to make bold & decisive (but controversial) decisions! Example: He wasn’t too bold in ‘cleaning up’ UMNO. No one post-2008/9 party elections were reprimanded, which incl KJ!
I hope I am wrong. Becoz if I am right, then we could be in far worse shit compared to the Pak Lah Al-Flip-Flop & Lvl 4 ‘dark years’, which set us back more than 5 years behind!
I regard Azman Mokhtar as a ‘civil servant’. This is becoz he’s the boss of Khazanah, the investment/commercial arm of the government. Khazanah is supposed to be the extension of Treasury. Hence the name Khazanah.
So those serving part of the Khazanah family aka GLCs are de facto ‘civil servants’ also. Majority shareholders of GLCs are Khazanah, which means that the rakyat via govt owns these corporations.
Bringing civil servants into cabinet is not new. Tun Razak started it. Ghazali Shafie & Chong Hon Nyan were former KSUs brought in as ministers. Sleepyhead also was a former DG of Youth before brought into cabinet.
Today, we see Najib doing exactly what his father & Sleepyhead did. NMY, Amirsham, Idris Jala are all civil servants brought in as ministers. And now Azman Mokhtar.
Funny, this is also a very much a trait of those shit-drinking-chauvinist in the little red dot.
Khazanah under Amokh has been asked to implement a lot of projects the government want to see being implemented.
But all failed. Miserably. Example is the Blue Archipelago in Setiu. MAFC failure in Temerloh is a failure! Langkawi Tuna Corp is now none operative.
Sharidan Faiz who was brought back from World Bank to manage Blue Archipelago has just resigned & going back to where he came from.
They bought the studio outside London a little over two years ago & nothing happened.
The Graduate Employability Management Scheme (GEMS) where unemployed graduates undergo training & then interned in GLCs for ‘relevant experience’ (6 months under Khazanah payroll) were expecting placement thereafter. But non avail. After 6 months, they just roam the city like unemployed. Tens of thousands Malay boys & girls went thru this program & still nothing!
Lets not go into the Parkway investment.
In short, Amokh is a failure in planning & implementing government specific plans. So, how is he supposed to be given a cabinet position & ministry???
QED,
Yes, the talk about Khazanah’s notorious & indiscretion spending is too glaring. A few hundred of millions RM is just like loose change to the Khazanah execs!
Hv you ever seen a ‘report card’ of Khazanah? Has it ever tabled in parliament?
How come no one ever asked for these?
PM Najib talks about moving forward. Harnessing the best within of all of us & optimize all these reources. Its the symbiotic agenda of ‘1 Malaysia’ & New Economic Model. Big plans, big targets!
Then again, how could we all come together & go with him if we haven’t the faintest clue what sort of assets we hv & what sort of ROIs our investments are making.
Idris Jala talks about cutting subsidies & downsize/optimize government & public spending. But Khazanah ppl is wasting money, just like spoiled rich kids of the GCC states! Spend as they like, blow money as & when the please!
And we’re supposed to eat all these lemons????
Laksa Mana, you are right.
Najib is NMY telok.
Amokh tak ada sosio-economic midas touch. Tak aka bawa apa-apa munafaat kepada Negara. Polisi Khazanah Nasional Berhad dibawah teraju Amokh terlalu mudah untuk dilaksanakan. Janji punya “unlimited” capital, buat lah apa jua business model pasti berjalan. 5 tahun lepas tu baru tahu implikasi nya.
Lihat saja merger, demerger yang menelan beratus juta kalau tidak berbillion duit rakyat untuk bayar underwriting, apa hasilnya kepada rakyat?
Celcom dulu sendirian, kemudian merge dengan TM Touch dibawah TM. Kemudian dipecahkan kepada TM dan TM International, kemudian timbul AXIATA, kemudian nak quit dari Axiata….. Line 019 dan 013 tetap macam tu juga.
Saya setuju 100% dgn komen sedara Mat Herba. Sejak Amokh menjadi CEO/MD Khazanah, tidak ada apa yang boleh dibanggakan dengan pencapaian GLC di bawah Khazanah. Lihat sahaja Proton, Tenaga, UEM, MAS, Telekom, Silterra, Pos Malaysia. Kebanyakannya hanya jaguh kampung mengharapkan status monopoli atau bantuan kerajaan. Malah banyak persoalan timbul tentang strategi Khazanah yang terlalu ghairah dengan M&A keliling pinggang. Kekerapan melantik konsultan-konsultan adalah pilihan utama Khazanah walaupun rata-rata pegawai-pegawai di Khazanah di bayar gaji yang begitu lumayan. Pegawai Khazanah hanya sibuk menguruskan konsultan-konsultan dan terbang merata dunia dengan alasan mencari peluang perniagaan kepada syarikat-syarikat sekutunya. Sudah tiba masa untuk Azman M (M untuk Mangkuk) dan kuncu-kuncunya berambus dari Khazanah untuk selama lamanya.
Expect a bigger consulting bill for the government when Azman Mokhtar is in as a minister! As if its already not enough!!!!!
Biggie,
Pls lah!
No more consultants-driven-economy!
Running a country is a bloody serious business! This is not MBA or Harvard management development program case study/corporate games material. This is the Real McCoy!
I hope Najib would no longer make the stupid mistake to appoint another McKinsey-loving goon into strategic position. Enough with Omar Ong already in Petronas!
Actually, I heard this rumour too. Popular belief that your Rais Yatim would be thrown out. Rumour has it also either Omar Ong or Zarinah Anwar will take over fr Amokh. Both, would DEFINITELY BE DISASTROUS!
Some one told me that what Pak Lah Al-Flip-Flop did six years to dismantle the core of the Malaysian system, Najib now is just doing it in his first 18 months! The appointment of Amokh as a minister would DEFINITELY BRING MALAYSIA TO DESTRUCTION FAR SOONER!
They always achieved their KPIs! Isn’t that amazing?
No doubt those CONsultants would be praying that another believer (of CONsulting) will be in the Cabinet.
Najib should be running scared when Malaysians start to ask awkward questions. Like
– how did Singapore, a city-state with a population of 5 million, manage to clock up a GDP of US$210 billion last year, when Malaysia could only manage US$205 billion?
– why Singapore’s GDP per capita in 2010 was US$36,573, compared with Malaysia’s US$6,975, when, in 1965, Singapore and Malaysia has GDP per capita of US$512 and US$335 respectively?
Simple questions, right? Mahathir, Pak Lah and Najib had better come up with some sound answers. People can see concrete examples of success south of the Causeway!
Jeng jeng jeng!
Here comes the fellow who always promotes Singapore and hardly has a kind word about Malaysia.
He has the filthy habit of licking Lee Kuan Yew’s balls in Rocky Bru’s blog. Now he comes here.
Jijik!
@ Skilmoron1066
You Singapore-lickers should better ask WHY the hell Singapore’s NATIONAL DEBT soars at ~102% of Singapore’s GDP, when your nak-mampus Great-Grandfather Minister keep telling the world that Singapore economy is all about efficiency and meritocracy-based with no lavish subsidy and no corruption IN comparison with one of your neighbours.
Instead, the so-called corrupt, inefficient, subsidy-ridden Malaysia manages to control her national debt to ~50% only, and that debt figure is ever dropping nowadays with recent progressive subsidy rationalisation.
Don’t tell us that you need 50 man-years (it was your nak-mampus Great-Grandfather Minister who said this 1st, not me!) to figure out why your national DEBT soars so high despite of your so-called efficiency and meritocracy.
My warning: In the event of another likely economic collapse in the near future, don’t you ever arm-twist Malaysia and other ASEAN nations into subsidising all your reckless debts!
And your another half-truth (halfway to a downright lie) is when you purposely qouted Singapore’s percapita GNI based on PPP US$ and quote that one of Malaysia using nominal US$ figure. Using equal PPP derivation, Malaysia’s figure is ~PPP US$ 13,900 according to the current UNDP Human Development Report.
If you’re already so stupid (yet pretending to be super-smart), then don’t ever try to stupidify us by HYPOCRITICALLY quoting Singapore’s and Malaysia’s percapita incomes using DIFFERENT calculations JUST for the sake of showing how low Malaysia stands.
According to that authoritative Human Development Report, Singapore fared even worse in terms of Human Development with respect to Percapita Gross National Income with Singapore’s GNI Percapita Rank Minus HDI Rank sits at a staggering -19 and Malaysia instead demonstrated better human development parity and less inequality with -3.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2010/chapters/
Perhaps you should advise your nak-mampus Great Grandfather Minister to sue UNDP officers before Singaporeans on the street start asking awkward questions based on your soaring national DEBT and findings in that UNDP HDR!
Just a simple statement of fact: Singapore’s international credit rating is “AAA”, while Malaysia’s rating is “A-“.
You mean that all the hotshot whizzes at S&P, Moody’s and Fitch got it wrong vis-a-vis Singapore?
I raised this very same point in rockybru, only to be faced with an embarrassed silence when no one could refute this point.
And you might want to enlighten us why the gloriously strong Malaysian ringgit is worth only 40-something Singapore cents? Or why Brunei persist in keeping it’s dollar on par with the Singapore Dollar?
Could it be (the horror of it!) that the international financial community has more confidence in Singapore’s public finances and fundamentals than they have in Malaysia’s?
I thought that during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, it was Malaysia which approached the Singapore government for a loan? That’s a historical fact, right?
Average Joe.
Your ignorance is astounding, but not surprising, given that this is typical of most wannabe pseudo-intellectuals in Malaysia.
First up, Singapore’s “AAA” sovereign ratings are a matter of public record. What are Malaysia’s sovereign ratings (hint: Fitch put it at “A-“)?
Next, go to the country comparisons of PUBLIC debt as a percentage of GDP as listed in the CIA World Factbook (www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html).
It shows Singapore’s public debt at 102.4% of GDP (2010 estimate), rank #10. Malaysia’s public debt is at 52.6% of GDP (2010 estimate), rank #48.
But read the qualifier in the report: “public debt should not be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the private and public sectors and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings…public debt is the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country’s home currency”. You didn’t mention that, did you?
The CIA World Factbook’s country comparisons of EXTERNAL debt (2010 estimates) shows Malaysia at US$62.8 billion (#47) and Singapore at US$21.7 billion (#71). Simply put, Malaysia owes approximately 3 times as much to overseas lenders than Singapore owes to overseas lenders.
So, why didn’t you distinguish between PUBLIC debt and EXTERNAL debt? Any half-way decent economist could have pointed out the differences to you! Ignorance or wilful oversight?
Average Joe
I haven’t finished with you yet.
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita? According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2010 (http://data.worldbank.org/indicators), per capita GNI (in current US$) in 2009 were:
Singapore US$37,220
Malaysia US$7,350
That’s pretty conclusive, don’t you think?
Or, if you want to consider GDP per capita (in PPP terms):
Singapore US$62,200
Malaysia US$14,700
(2010 estimates, according to the CIA World Factbook)
Suddenly Average Joe seems to have lapsed into an abject silence!
Or didn’t you understand the difference between public debt and external debt?
The sillyanon fellow should read The Temasek Review blog.
In fact, he should go and comment there against the multifarious anti-Lee Kuan Yew regime comments.
There’s a very good article there right now saying Singapore is not as good as it’s made out to be.
@ Encik Wan
Of course this Skilmoron1066 chap will never go to any place where Singaporean commoners critically discuss their national problems. He/She is only good in twisting figures and news solely for the sake of showing how low Malaysia stands. Yet his/her criticisms against Malaysia still get thoroughly rebutted almost if not all the time.
Average Joe,
Not at Rocky’s Bru. He got away with his scathing remarks against Malaysia unrebutted quite a few times.
My last comment against him and monsterball there was not printed by Rocky. A bit harsh but you know Rocky has printed much worse language than the one I used that time. Maybe it’s Rocky’s ways of maintaining popularity of his blog. Those two blokes do comment a lot in his blog.
After a few days of not seeing my anti-sillyganon and anti-monsterball comment not published, I merajuk and ceased going to Rocky Bru any more.
Temasek Review? A big joke, when the people behind it don’t even have the guts to stand up and identify themselves (unlike, say, the people behind Malaysiakini.com). They don’t exactly have the courage of their convictions, do they?
And Mahathir, who expected LKY to come crawling back after being expelled from Malaysia, had his hopes dashed when Singapore chose to let a water supply agreement lapse this year. No more water card to play, much to the disappointment of the ultras in Umno!
Wan – go take your best shot! Let’s debate on the facts. And internationally acknowledged rankings.
Unlike you, I don’t back away from a fight.
The weird thing about you guys is you keep on whining about this and that, with no alternative option. You know what, you don’t need a degree to do that.
From what I see, it’s Dr M who recommends NMY due to his CONsultation for the 97-98 economic crisis. That makes NMY as the biggest crony of Dr M at that time.
Well, that was before.
After some time, people (i.e NMY) tend to get delusioned and greed, same like most of us, so I agree that he should go (unless proven otherwise)
Well, assumed that I agreed with all the nonsense and whining above, anyone else that you think fit then?
Better give some option big dog.
p/s: I’m not against CONsultant by the way. Sometime, we need a man with brain to solve problems, not a whiner.
Malaymind, since you sound very intellectual unlike others that are mostly whiners, what don’t you volunteer yourself to Najib or Rosmah to be the “man with a brain to solve problems” of Malaysia Inc?
NMY was brought back into Govt in 1998 becoz of his extraordinary skill: Currency trader. That was when Tun Dr. Mahathir invoked ‘capital controls’ (which including pegging RM to the USD) as an instant solution to stop the economy from bleeding.
As they say, “It takes a thief to catch another thief”.
It was PM ‘Flip-Flop’ Abdullah who gave NMY more power when the latter was made a full minister post 2004 11GE.
Malaysia enjoyed rapid growth and progress prior to PM ‘Flip-Flop’ Abdullah’s premiership, without CONsultants. Go back to how things are done and work on that. These CONsultants approach and advice on how to do things have been proven to be failure, with a very large bill!
Well done! Bravo!
These CONsultants approach and advice on how to do things have been proven to be failure, with a large bill!
BD, Yup!!!
and I like the “appropriateness” of the phrase “use a thief to catch a thief” here.
If what Laksa Mana says above is correct, perhaps the fault lies not in the stars but in DS Najib who appointed these people.
Appointing those holding top UMNO positions is understandable because that’s what politics is about – he needs the support of those people.
But appointing fellas like Omar Ong got nothing to do with UMNO at all and it’s what “non-politics” is all about. Especially when the fellow was a Petronas loan delinquent.
Similarly, “re-appointing” Nor Mohd Yakcop who is not a big UMNO stalwart. Especially when so much has been written against him.
It begs the question what the “non-politics” is all about. If what the accusations against such people as NMY and brother Nazir amassing huge wealth in a relatively short time are correct, then it becomes clearer why NMY is retained in the Cabinet and NMY’s cronies are placed in strategic places.
But we have to continue shouting against such “non-politics” to lessen the raping of national assets. Raping there’ll be – even a Cabinet member is now linked with rape. But we must lessen the raping of what may constitute as assets held in custody for the rakyat. Like Khazanah, Tabung Haji, Sime Darby, and other GLCs.
Wan, Tabung Haji bukan sahaja telah di”rape” malah telah diliwat oleh lanun-lanun yang diketuai oleh CEO, Dato Ismee Ismail, Konsul Tabung Haji Jeddah, Tuan Haji Khalid Nordin, Pengurus Besar Kanan (Jabatan Korporat) Dato Syed Salleh, dan Pegurus Besar (Jabatan Kewangan) Tuan Haji Adi Azuan. Jangan sampai bila Tabung Haji sudah rugi RM2 bilion macam Sime Darby baru hendak kecuh satu Malaya. Duit di Tabung Haji bukan duit takpayers tetapi duit orang kampung hendak pergi menunaikan ibadah haji. Cuba pikir-pikirkan semua.
p/s Tabung Haji rugi RM200 juta kerana pembelian saham Ramunia namum tiada siap pun ambil peduli. Malang sungguh nasib bakal-bakal tetamu Allah.
Siti,
Cuba dapatkan sesiapa lapurkan keSPRM – yang boleh keluarkan sikit alasan kuat (tak payah bukti kalau tak dapat, tapi alasan atau hujah hujah kuat) menunjukkan 1-2 penyelewengan yang penyangak itu buat.
Tak boleh biarkan depa melanda landa dan berleluasa. Jahanam negara dan harta Tabung Haji tu hak Melayu.
Lapuran sudah banyak kali di buat kepada SPRM, akan tetapi Abu Kasim dan CEO Tabung Haji adalah sahabat karib. Mereka saling bertukar nota untuk menjaga periuk nasi masing-masing. Hendak minta tolong siapa ya wan? Kalau wan ada contact lain yang boleh menolong (selain SPRM), minta tolong forwardkan segera. Terima kasih.
Cuba Public Complaints Bureau, Prime Minister’s Dept. Ini diketuai Pegawai Tadbir & Diplomatik (PTD).
Kalau takut tak ada tindakan, cuba Tan Sri Koh Siu Koon yang jaga prestasi Menteri Menteri, termasuk Menteri berkenaan dan perkhidmatan Kerajaan pada umumnya.
Biasanya, kalau surat dialamatkan kapada nama penuhnya, serta jawatan yang disandangnya, akan dibuka sendiri olehnya, atau oleh Setiausaha Peribadinya dan diletak dimejanya untuk dibacanya sendiri.
Kalau tulis nama jawatannya sahaja, Pegawai Pentadbiran yang buka dan hantar kapada Pegawai yang berkaitan – tidak semestinya sampai kemeja Menteri itu sendiri. Sebab depa sibuk, itu sistem yang saya dapat tahu depa gunakan. Cubalah.
Satu lagi – cuba Tan Sri Phang yang Pengerusikan Jawatan kuasa ke jemaah pengawas perjalanan SPRM. Dia baru lepas marahkan Tan Sri Navaratnam, Pengerusi Task Force ke Jawatan Kuasa SPRM berkaitan kerugian besar MAS, yang dikatakan lepaskan bekas Pengerusi MAS Tajuddin Ramli dari tanggungjawab baginya.
Siti,
If you are still reading the comments to this post, here is the latest news on whistle blowing:
100 blow the whistle on corrupt colleagues
Malaysia Star – Isabelle Lai – 2 hours ago
PETALING JAYA: Encouraged by the Government’s guarantee of anonymity, some 100 people have taken the bold step of telling on corrupt practices – mostly by their own friends and colleagues – since the Whistleblowers Act came into effect …
Good luck and best wishes.