Ethos Consulting co-founder Datuk Omar Ong, being photographed with the official White House bus for the American President
In the minds of so many people, the thought of Datuk Omar Ong no longer in the good books of Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak is a little bit far fetched since the former has been perceived to a close adviser and strategy confidante of the latter.
However, rumour is circulating within certain ‘inner circle’ about Ethos Consulting co-founder Omar Ong is leaving the BoD Petronas. This is the evidence of some degree of fall out between Prime Minister Najib and Omar.
Omar was appointed to the BoD of Petronas in May 2009, much to the displeasure of then the national oil company Adviser Fourth Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. In fact the appointment of Omar into BoD Petronas was one of the three burning points Tun Dr. Mahathir raised in his first meeting after Dato’ Sri Najib swore in as the Sixth Prime Minister on 3 April 2009.
Omar is believed to have brought in the ‘transformation’ in Petronas which saw Non Malays assuming strategic and very powerful operations positions replacing the functions and roles played by Malay professionals in one of the most profitable New Seven Sisters.
If this rumour turn out to be accurate then it would bring about new perspective of how Petronas is viewed and fresh expectations. The resignation of Tun Dr. Mahathir as Petronas Adviser was only three months ago and already created a ripple.
The "thirteen million plus Ringgit" guy rambles.... 
Good riddance.
Wish UMNO does that to Najib, too,
And I have the right to express this opinion.
Agreed 100%.Najib is UMNO’s archiles heel.Need to weed out the kangkung ministers as well.
He shouldn’t be there in the first place. Oil and gas is a highly specialised field and requires knowledge of the business and its operations or many years of experience dealing in national oil and gas sector, before one can even imagine to sit on its board. The current govt esp the PM is the worst govt Malaysia ever had. Little wonder , since incompetent people in the inner circle were hired to do the job ranging from macro and micro economics to oil and gas to finance to kangkung. The KPI of the current govt led by Ahjibgor can be considered as negative, a failure. I agree with Isa, good riddance to Omar Ong from Petronas. And good riddance to Najib and all his advisers after GE 14.
Hope Najib can be got rid of before PRU14 – so that UMNO/BN won’t lingkup.
2016 is another UMNO party elections – unless he does a Putin, makes a sudden and surprise decision to protect his interest, like postponing the party elections until after PRU14.
UMNO members who are disgruntled and fed up about Najib layan-ing the Chinese, Chinese schools, university places and scholarships for Chinese students etc must speak up. Go talk to the Branch and Divisional leaders.
How can Najib arrange for places at public universities and gave scholarships to Chinese students when they have a University of their own, which have so much money that they even rejected RM30 million donation by a Chinese Engineer multi-millionaire as scholarships etc for Chinese students. The Chinese have a system of helping the less fortunate Chinese by their numerous clan and sub-clan associations, business guilds of all sorts that are exclusive to Chinese only, no Malays or others can join or get any benefit from them.
Najib must be having warped thinking on such matters. After all the bending backwards for the Chinese, he got the Chinese tsunami at PRU13. Now he won’t bend forward because Anwarul Al Juburi is behind him. Get him out, UMNO. The party might have to bungkus if Najib is allowed to continue as President and as PM much longer.
And the KETUA PEMUDA as well…….
We should only believe it when we see it. Najib is the father of all procrastinators…
You are wrong – his father did not procrastinate, hehe.
But if we howl at him before the announcement is made, maybe he’ll get irked or provoked by the goons around him to not announce or change his mind. Never mind, let’s howl and growl.
If he keeps ignoring so many people howling at him, so often and for so long, the rakyat will notice those and will themselves treat him with disgust, spurn him and sembahayang hajat, perhaps. Nik Aziz, having retired from the Menteri Besar post, can lead the prayers – his brother did the KO Umno, KO Umno prayers last time.
This time, don’t KO Umno, just KO Najib from the UMNO Presidency.
Good news. He the one always give the wrong advise to PM with hidden agenda.
And PM is dumb, dumb enough to terima bulat2 the advice from this cunning opportunist.
Imagine the Caux Roundtable awarded Najib with the Certificate of Principled Governance? He got that for perhaps kowtowing to Foreign credit rating agencies, for giving too much incentives to foreign investors, for his ‘ I kowtow to Chinese 1Malaysia’ and for being totally aloof and disconnected with the sufferings of Malaysians. Has he ever stepped up to comment on the draught situation in Malaysia, of water rationing that has affected badly businesses in the restaurant and hawkers sector, of the plight of the people as a whole? Who does he think he is? Too mighty to show involvement with what Msians are going through? I blame UMNO totally for grooming this buffoon to be the President and the PM of Msia.
the Caux Roundtable award – upon getting that Najib must have been moist at where Anwar would love the most.
He must have swooned and gone moist at the rear every time he was endearingly addressed Ah Jib Gor pre-PRU13. Still slightly moist when he got the Chinese tsunami.
Who are the Caux Roundtable fellows anyway? But swooning fellows would take any praise he can get. Never mind if they are from a community of penguins in the North or South Pole.
The hidden agenda might have been devised jointly by the two of them. Business, man, business. Remember Ethos has been a business organization well before his Petronas BODship.
We might never know the proxies or nominees they may be using for their share of profits, commissions etc in oil and gas and any other Petronas ventures at home and abroad that might have been arranged. Omar Ong would not have been hammered into Petronas BOD for the fun of it or for his corporate or administrative genius – he was not known for those and has had no experience in oil and gas anyway.
Najib pushed him again into the BOD after Hassan Merican rejected him the first time on grounds of being a Petronas loan delinquent or something. Najib even eased out Hassan, a well regarded chartered accountant and Petronas CEO. Something huge in the planned placing of Omar Ong there. Of course, the father, Mustapha Ong, will not say anything beyond polishing Najib and his government. Btw, he’s not been here a while now.
I assume MACC will not move mountains to get evidence on any irregularities involving them – the mountains are immovable anyway. But maybe some disgruntled Pertonas Execs will blow the whistle in time to come. Even that Air Force Major blew the whistle on the PRU13 voting ink – he was stupid because he is a Military Officer under a military discipline and should have followed the rules – complain through the proper channels i.e established military channels. For non-Military people, they can complain to MACC or leak out details on the corruption, conflict-of-interest contract award, influence pedaling, cronyism or other wrong doing. Even if leaked to BigDog.com, I’m sure BD strongly protects his sources of information – that’s the uppermost journalistic principle.
“The resignation of Tun Dr. Mahathir as Petronas Adviser was only three months ago and already created a ripple.” –
I don’t want to see a ripple. I want to see a huge wave. A tsunami. Wiping out the uncalled for changes in Petronas that are damaging to the interest of the Malays and the Bumiputeras who have a Special Position in the Constitution, who have no culture of doing business, who can find training ground even in administrative positions, more so in business, within Petronas. The Omar Ong kind. Shoved into the BOD God knows what the hell for.
If not, I don’t mind seeing UMNO create a small tsunami on uncaring party leaders who have deviated from the original objectives, hopes and aspirations of those Malays who formed the party some 60 years ago – to protect and promote the rights and the interests of the Malays. So-called leaders like Najib. A shame to his beloved father, Tun A Razak.
You call me a racist? You do that to the ultra kiasus, the ungrateful ingrates. Plenty in the DAP and the Chinese tsunami at PRU13. Even billionaire Robert Kuok recently said publicly that he is “twin-footed – one in Malaysia, one in China.” Got the sugar monopoly that enabled him to make billions, yet took half of his wealth to China.
I detest Malaysia Chronicle, don’t trust what they say, but will exploit this bit of their writing –
WARNING DEJA-VU 1970: Rural Malays will be hit most by Najib’s fuel subsidy …
Malaysia Chronicle – 17 hours ago
Cuts in fuel subsidy could see rural-urban inequality regress four decades to the 1970 level, a Universiti Malaya study has found.
How idiotic of his fuel subsidy policy if the above is true. I note that Universiti Malaya used to be the most respectable higher education institution, but its quality went down with 1-2 lecturers becoming active in Opposition politics, for example, not being experts but wanting to talk funny about the interpretation of the Constitution.
I don’t know the political inclination of the UM Centre for Poverty and Development Studies or professor Fatimah Kari – she said the worst hit by the subsidy cuts are the poor Malay-bumiputera households that are in “deep pockets” of poverty, both in rural and urban areas. But academicians are also known to be bias, especially when they are Opposition-aligned. One UIA law professor aligned with PKR got his seat hot (for example, he glamourized Nurul Izzah who said Malays are free to choose religion) and resigned.
I suppose Omar Ong as a member of Petronas BOD has some influence in the fuel subsidy cuts. Hope he goes out.
I have served a life-time in many important GLCs and public institutions of our beloved Malaysia. My stand was always that I never owned shares of any Company in which I was a Non-executive Director or did not own the Company. I never claimed more than the stipulated Board Meeting fees of these Companies in which some of my colleagues bumped up to astronomical levels or used the Companies overseas offices and staff, holiday bungalows or motor vehcles. Last but not least, I avoid doing business with the important institutions or public companies in which I served.
Good on you. Good for Malaysia. Hope most of those in or on the BOD of the GLCs are like you.
I have only a slight problem – the name you choose conjures in me unpalatable images of the Pahang ex-ADUN blogger who turned coat to DAP – he also uses AK47 in his blog name if I remember correctly. I detest the bugger.