VW in talks to establish regional facility in Indonesia. Proton... how?

Proton and its dependents might have have missed the boat.

VW-Proton Talks Sputter
Date posted: 05-25-2007

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Malaysian government, which controls automaker Proton, said it will not provide a financial bailout for the struggling company, now that it appears discussions have broken off once again with Volkswagen.

Both VW and General Motors had expressed an interest in acquiring a stake in Proton, but neither automaker made an offer by the government's late-March deadline.

Instead, VW now appears to be looking at establishing a regional assembly facility in nearby Indonesia, according to government officials in Jakarta. Among the company's alternatives is a tie-up with a local assembly partner in Indonesia.

What this means to you: Once an automotive power in Southeast Asia, Proton continues to experience a waning of its fortunes as regional competition intensifies.

Maria Hertogh aka Nadra bt Maarof: non-Muslim -> Muslim, and -> non-Muslim. A recipe for religious riots

A young non-Muslim baby girl is raised by a Muslim family and converted to Islam as a minor and renamed Nadra. When she is 13, her birth parents goes to court to get her back. The custody fight and the subsequent judgement in favour of her natural parents (read: non-Muslim parents) leads to racial and religious riots that kill 18 and injure 200.

Does that sound like yet another Malaysian religious conflict tugging at the coat-tails of Moorthy, Lina Joy, Subashini et al?

Well, it isn't. This happened almost 60 years ago in 1950s Malaya.

But the scenario does sound familiar these days, doesn't it? It really saddens me that we have not closed the racial and religious gap, despite going through thick and thin together all these years.

Anyway, a film is being made of Nadra's story. It'll certainly be interesting viewing... watching the past mimic the present.

Kind of like 'Back to the Future'.

Belt up, or Suffer the pain

Here's a video about seat belts called 'human pinball'. It clearly illustrates the un-'seatbelted' human pinball effect in an accident at only 50kmh.

I know lots of people who do not belt up their children in the car, nor use booster / child seats. Please... watch this video and think about it. If a full grown man can be thrown around like that, imagine what will happen to a child without seatbelts and booster seats.

Most parents use the excuse that the child doesn't like being restrained and will cry & fuss if forcibly belted up. For god's sake, do you make the decisions or does the kid do it for you? Who's the parent here?! Better a fussy, tear-stained kid than a blood-stained one.

And if you're one of those parents who sits your kids on your lap, and don't be too quick to point out couples on motorbikes who squeeze the kids between them. At least they are putting themselves between their children and the road. You are using your child as an airbag between you and the dashboard / front seat.


Learn more about car safety from Volvo. Below's another thought provoking ad called 'heaven can wait'.

Zam Zam Ala Ka Zam - wishing the bloggers away

According to ol' magical Perigi Zam-Zam, very few people read political blogs.

Zam: Few people read blogs

No more than 20,000 apparently.

Political web blogs have a very small following of about 20,000 people, Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said.

“Only that number out of the 11 million Internet users in the country are actively involved in political blogs. The political bloggers just write for each other to read; they are not a threat,” he added.

Best thing is that we apparently write only for each other to read. So, I read your blog, you read mine... I tickle your balls, you lick my bum... and that's how we perpetuate the blogging phenomenon.

But the thing is... if we pose no threat... then why sue Rocky and Jeff for defamation? Technically, if blog readers are limited only to a few hardcore anarchists and don't have a significant & 'impressionable' public audience, the rules of defamation are not satisfied. You can't defame someone if the people you communicate those defamatory statements to, already agree with you.

If bloggers are have such little influence, why propose blogger registration? Or stir the shit with all the recent comments about blogging?

Why do you keep making statements about bloggers to the mainstream press, if nobody (except 20,000) reads blogs? Why bother?

On another note, he also said:

“Lately, I found that most of the bloggers have the tendency to question the basis of the social contract which had been agreed upon by our forefathers,” he said.

On the publication of a book on May 13 by former Petaling Jaya MP Dr Kua Kia Soong, Zainuddin said the book would only serve to arouse anxiety among multiracial Malaysians.

“Some issues raised in the book can harm the social contract that has been well-received by the Malays, Chinese and Indians,” he added.

Heck, would you honour a 'contract' supposedly agreed by your forefathers that indentures you, your children and their children after them - as subservient second class citizens for eternity?

And hasn't the validity of the 'social contract' been diminished beyond recognition by the many one-sided, open-ended amendments made to it since independence, by the UMNO controlled parliament?

Btw, the book is available at Popular bookstores and kinibooks.com now.

Govt funded private sector projects - Singapore style

You know, Singapore might be tight arsed and anal, but you simply cannot deny that they are right on the ball when dealing with greedy businessmen.

This is the kind of deal Malaysia should cut with all our concessionaires and privatisation companies. Lay out the profit target in black and white. If more than the target, govt takes back to offset the subsidy/grant. If less, the privateer takes the loss.

But instead we give profit guarantees, one-sided, open-ended concessions, impose no penalties for poor performance and even top up with more freebies to bail out the crony company if it gets itself into financial difficulties. We use taxpayer money with too much impunity and too little conscience.

Profit limit for F1 organisers

SINGAPORE : There is a cap on how much profit Mr Ong Beng Seng can earn from staging the Singapore Grand Prix. This is part of the co-funding deal between race organiser Singapore GP and the Government.

Any amount earned above this profit cap, which is confidential under the terms of the deal, will go to reduce the Government’s future grants. Any losses incurred, however, will be borne by the organiser.

Selangor MB adopts Sean-the-Man's proposals on national schools as his own

Here's a half decent suggestion from Selangor MB, Khir Toyo.

[He] today suggested that Chinese and Indian schoolchildren attend the national school in the morning and learn their language, culture and religion in their vernacular school in the afternoon, as a step towards greater integration as well as to "move forward".

He said the Malay schoolchildren were already practising this, adding that they attended the national school in the morning and learned about religion and little of Arabic in the Sekolah Agama Rakyat in the afternoon.

By learning together under one roof in the morning, the Malay, Chinese and Indian schoolchildren could compete with one another in education as well as learn and understand one another's culture and, at the same time, they would be able to learn their mother tongue, culture as well as religion in the afternoon in the vernacular school.

Hmmmm... do you reckon he pinched the idea from my blogpost dated 25th Sept 2006 regarding the NEP? Here's an excerpt of what I wrote 8 months ago:

I also feel the schooling system needs to be revamped to draw Malaysians closer to each other.

(a) No more venacular Chinese or Tamil schools, Malay boarding schools or MARA junior colleges.
(b) All Malaysian children attend National Schools. The Vision schools were a good idea.
(c) All subjects to be taught in BM and English.
(d) All Mandarin, Tamil and religious classes can only be taught AFTER a full day's "regular" classes and to be fully funded by the schools.
(e) Teachers and the Education Dept will be the first govt department to be revamped to make sure the composition of teachers and officials is balanced.
(f) Instead of a Higher Education and an Education Minister, there will be 3 Education Ministers of the same rank (one of each race or something to that effect) each with veto power that cannot be overwritten even by the PM, unless by a 2/3rds majority in parliament. The Party Whip does not apply to MPs when voting on education bills.

Well, he's got part of my point (a) and practically regurgitated ad verbatim my points (b), (c) and (d).

However, he leaves out both of the 'extremism limitation' controls in points (e) and (f). Without these unassailable safeguards in place (against the rampant Islamisation and the persistent sidelining of non-Malay teachers & headmasters in national schools), there is no guarantee that this initiative will not turn out to be a Trojan horse, where non-Malay and non-Muslim schoolchildren find themselves up shit creek without a paddle - where they have no alternative to these unofficial but forcibly religious, mono-cultural schools masquerading as 'national' schools.

For at the end of the day, that is the real all-important reason why non-Malay parents refuse to send their children to national schools in the first place. This proposal will not succeed without these safeguards.

Full article on Khir Toyo's proposal below:

Khir's Proposal On Vernacular Education

SHAH ALAM, May 19 (Bernama) -- Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo today suggested that Chinese and Indian schoolchildren attend the national school in the morning and learn their language, culture and religion in their vernacular school in the afternoon, as a step towards greater integration as well as to "move forward".

He said the Malay schoolchildren were already practising this, adding that they attended the national school in the morning and learned about religion and little of Arabic in the Sekolah Agama Rakyat in the afternoon.

By learning together under one roof in the morning, the Malay, Chinese and Indian schoolchildren could compete with one another in education as well as learn and understand one another's culture and, at the same time, they would be able to learn their mother tongue, culture as well as religion in the afternoon in the vernacular school, he told reporters after launching the Selangor Teachers' Day 2007, here.

"In this way, we will see that we move as one society of various races having the same vision and mission. At present, we see that there is no convergence and mixing among students, and this gap will become a problem for us," he said.

Mohamad Khir said the leaders of every community must open their mind on this for the sake of the nation which had attained 50 years of independence, and added that he was afraid of what would happen over the next 50 years if this integration issue was not ironed out.

"We have to think about the future. Let us do something; let us open our mind to this suggestion. I think there is no harm," he said.

Asked whether his idea was to help integration, Khir said: "Not only that, I think to move forward we have to move into this angle. Besides, we can maintain our sekolah jenis kebangsaan (national type schools)."

He said he saw some deprivation at present because Chinese and Tamil schools were not fully aided government schools and proposed that they use the funds for them to develop their own curriculum in the vernacular school after the schoolchildren attend the national school.

He said the Chinese, Indians or Malays should not be worried about the idea because they still had the avenue or platform to preserve their religion, language and cultural heritage.

-- BERNAMA

Royal Wedding: Blissful Moments ala NST

This was what I saw when I had a look at NST Online's front page this morning.

The headline reads: The Royal Wedding: Blissful moments... referring obviously to the wedding of the Raja Muda of Perak yesterday.

The picture directly above it however, depicts an orang utan hanging from a branch. The ape sure looked like it was having a blissful moment indeed.

I don't know about you, but if we were in Thailand... whoever webmastered this page would be slapped with a charge of Lese Majeste quick smart.

The fine print under the picture indicates that the monkey belongs to a different article. Fair enough but you'd have to admit that the layout truly leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Proton and its parasites... oops, dealers.

What other industry pays you profits when times are good, and then pays you compensation when times are not so good?

This holy grail of the business world is none other than the Proton dealerships.

WHY should the dealers be compensated even one cent if their dealerships fail? Where in the whole business of entrepreneurship, are profit guarantees handed out? My god, these dealers (who happen to consist entirely of politically connected Malays) had already enjoyed cheap loans and govt aid when setting up their dealerships. After which they have raked in more than 20 years of obscene profits from a captive car market. Now when the gravy train is chugging to a halt, they want to be paid to close shop?!

And Proton has the gall to ask the govt to foot the bill! What's worse is the govt is gutless enough to actually fork the cash over. If not for the political and racial complications, would the govt have done so? Isn't this another glaring example of the NEP's failure... where any affirmative action that is not tied to punitive consequences for underperformance, will amount to a waste of resources?

If you ever wanted to know why nobody respects bumi businesspeople... well, here ya go. Proof in the pudding. It's bastards like these that give other legitimate bumi entrepreneurs a bad rep.

What next? Paying compensation to Proton's suppliers because Proton is not buying their stuff anymore?

I ask again, do we need a national car industry?... Fucking hell, NO WE DON'T!

PROTON has asked the government for another RM16 million to carry out its consolidation exercise. Under this voluntary separation scheme, for which Proton has already been given RM10 million to execute, car dealers were offered RM150,000 in “relief assistance” to close their Proton dealer ships.

...many car dealers had snubbed it because the offer was too low. Some dealers have written formally to Proton asking for more while others have requested for amounts of up to RM500,000.

Sources said Proton had proposed to increase the relief assistance from RM150,000 to RM300,000 per dealer.

As if that's not enough to convince you that the Proton dealers are no more than filthy parasites, here they are asking for quotas to reserve a proportion of car loans for them.

PEDA has proposed that banks should either be given an industry fixed quota for the amount of loans approved for the end-financing of Proton cars and/or different terms of reference be given to loans disbursed to Proton customers.

Proton wants another RM16m to pay off dealers
By Fauziah Ismail (fauziahi@nst.com.my)
May 17 2007

PROTON has asked the government for another RM16 million to carry out its consolidation exercise.

Under this voluntary separation scheme, for which Proton has already been given RM10 million to execute, car dealers were offered RM150,000 in “relief assistance” to close their Proton dealer ships.

But sources said many car dealers had snubbed it because the offer was too low.

They said some dealers had invested a minimum of RM200,000 to set up their operations.

Some dealers have written formally to Proton asking for more while others have requested for amounts of up to RM500,000, through the dealers’ association..

Sources said Proton had proposed to increase the relief assistance from RM150,000 to RM300,000 per dealer.

To ensure fairness, sources said, dealers who had already accepted Proton’s earlier offer would also be entitled to the higher amount.

Last month, Proton managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the company was on track to downsize its network of dealers nationwide by 20 per cent by the middle of this year.

As of March, Proton had 186 dealers under its sales and marketing arm, Proton Edar Sdn Bhd (PESB), and 97 dealers under Edaran Otomobil Nasional (EON).

In the first phase of the VSS, targeted for completion next month, a total of 102 dealers were offered but only 36 confirmed acceptance.

Proton plans to reduce the number of dealers from 293, as of March, to 247 by the middle of the year and 227 by year-end.

The rationalisation exercise is part of Proton’s initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, cost competitiveness and value to customers.

Consolidation of nearly 400 Proton dealers nationwide is unavoidable as persistent poor sales have caused losses to many of them.

Proton sold and registered 115,546 cars in 2006 with a drop in market share to 31 per cent from 40 per cent in 2005.

Proton Edar Dealers Association president Wan Ahmad Sepwan had been quoted as saying that about 70 per cent of Proton Edar dealers had posted losses from early last year to the present.

“Our members have lost more than RM20 million or an average loss of more than RM240,000 each since then,” he said.

“Peda believes the number of Proton dealers, which is close to 400 nationwide, is too big for one brand.”

Proton Dealers Seek Removal Of Hire Purchase Commission Ceiling

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) -- The Proton Edar Dealers Association Malaysia (PEDA) has requested Bank Negara Malaysia to remove the ceiling for hire purchase commission.

Its deputy president Armin Baniaz Pahamin said such a move would provide some relief for the dealers who were currently suffering losses due to declining sales.

"PEDA suggests that the rate for this commission be determined by market forces as it can be a vital component in increasing revenue for Proton Edar dealers, thus enabling them to supplement their thin sales margin and survive in the current sluggish environment," he said in a statement here today.

Armin said the hire purchase commission was originally introduced only for Proton dealers to compensate for their low Proton car margin in the 1980's.

He said the commission was then extended to all car dealers, including those of non-Proton cars, until 2001.

"The origins of the hire purchase commission, to support the low car margin of Proton dealers, were forgotten and neglected and the Proton car margin was never revised since," he added.

Armin said the association was looking forward to meeting Bank Negara or any government officials to further discuss any issues that could further enhance the sales of Proton cars.

According to him, the situation is so dire that 90 percent of the Proton Edar dealers are currently unable to break even.

A report last month said that each of Proton Edar dealers were losing between RM15,000 and RM20,000 per month.

To ensure the survival of Proton, PEDA has proposed that banks should either be given an industry fixed quota for the amount of loans approved for the end-financing of Proton cars and/or different terms of reference be given to loans disbursed to Proton customers.

"This will allay banks' fears of poor KPI (key performance indicators) due to Proton customers' profile," Armin said.

"This is a normal practice in other developed countries such as South Korea to ensure the survival of their national car," he said.

Armin added that with the automotive industry being finance-driven, the sales gained by dealers are in direct correlation with banks' approval rate.

-- BERNAMA

Federal court dips its toe into the freezing pool of religious jurisdiction

In granting a fresh injunction to Subashini, the Federal Court coyly toys with the question of jurisdiction... ie. whether the Civil or Syariah courts have jurisdiction over cases where a Non-muslim is legally entangled with a Muslim.

Delivering the unanimous decision today, judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who chaired the three-member panel, said they have added one more question to the nine that will be deliberated by Subashini's lawyers during the appeal.

The question is, whether in an application for an interim injunction, the court can make a final determination on issues of law, particularly if it is a question of jurisdiction, as opposed to a consideration of only the existence of a serious issue of law to be determined.

My dear justices... it is beyond doubt that a serious issue of law exists. There is no need to deliberate whether it exists. It does and it's staring you and the country in the face. It is so 'in-your-face' that you can practically see the fillings in its teeth when it opens its mouth to spew religious encroachment.

If there was no issue of law, there would be no duality of jurisdiction. No struggle between the Muslim and non-Muslim couple as to which court should pass judgement on them. The fact that an application for an injunction to restrain another court (Syariah) is before you, makes this painfully obvious.

So do your damn job, and make a judgement. Come to a conclusion which court should have jurisdiction over cases involving a Muslim (convert) and a non-Muslim, especially when the contract or arrangement was entered into before the former converted.

Federal Court rules for Subashini's appeal

PUTRAJAYA (May 17, 2007): The Federal Court today granted secretary R. Subashini, 28, permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision which told her to seek remedy in a syariah court over her legal battle with her Muslim-convert husband T. Saravanan, 31.

The Court of Appeal had upheld a High Court's dismissal of an injunction she obtained to stop her husband, now known as Muhammad Shafi Saravanan Abdullah, from going to a syariah court to dissolve their marriage and get custody of their children.

The couple have two children aged three and one. Muhammad Shafi claimed the elder child converted to Islam with him last May.

Delivering the unanimous decision today, judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who chaired the three-member panel, said they have added one more question to the nine that will be deliberated by Subashini's lawyers during the appeal.

The question is, whether in an application for an interim injunction, the court can make a final determination on issues of law, particularly if it is a question of jurisdiction, as opposed to a consideration of only the existence of a serious issue of law to be determined.

Abdul Hamid said if the answer were to be affirmative, then the nine questions that Subashini sought to refer to would follow. However, if the court disagreed, Subashini's appeal would only focus on an injunction application.

No date was fixed for the appeal hearing.

Abdul Hamid also granted a fresh injunction, restraining Subashini's husband from dissolving their civil marriage and seeking custody of their elder child through a syariah court, pending the disposal of the appeal in the Federal Court.

Among the questions Subashini is asking the Federal Court to determine are:

* Does the syariah court have exclusive jurisdiction to grant divorce and deal with matrimonial assets and custody rights in a situation where one spouse in a civil marriage has converted to Islam?;
* Is the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 intended only to address marriages solemnised under Islamic legislation, and issues related to divorce, maintenance and custody rights?; and
* If the answer is yes for the second question, is it an abuse of process for the converted spouse to file custody proceedings in the syariah court, and an abuse of the Law Reform Marriage for a spouse to unilaterally convert the religion of a minor child without the consent of the other parent?

Updated: 08:27PM Thu, 17 May 2007

Chinese women don't like Chinese women

On one hand, you have Malaysian female politicians railing against the 2 BN MPs with the loudest, filthiest mouths for making smartarse comments about DAP MP Fong Po Kuan's menstrual habits.

On the other hand, in opposing the use of mainland Chinese maids - their argument basically generalised that all mainland Chinese women are immoral, husband-stealing sluts.

If even women stereotype their own kind like that, how come they expect better from men?

You know, some women deserve the shit deal they get. It's not always men oppressing women. Sometimes, it's women oppressing other women.