SUNGAI PETANI: With the police hot on their heels to break up large gatherings at ceramahs held in Bukit Selambau, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) have been forced to resort to having numerous smaller gatherings in homes of members and supporters.
PKR Kedah election operations director Datuk Johari Abdul told The Edge Financial Daily it was getting too frustrating to deal with the flip flop decisions on permits made by the police.
"We go by the book to apply by submitting forms 48 hours prior to the event, as required," he explained. "Usually we have these at homes with compounds or even with open fields near the houses.
"We never encroach into the open areas but we cannot prevent those who come to listen to us from doing so as there is only so much space at the houses or compound from where we have to speak from.
"As long as we have the approval of the premise owners, we are usually allowed the permit.
"The police would come inspect the site and then issue the permit, but these are cancelled at the eleventh hour.
"Hence, we have to do things on the sly, have smaller gatherings at more places instead of having rallies which usually attract large crowds," he added.
He said while those from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) were often dealt with the wrong end of the stick, those from the Barisan Nasional got away with putting up tents with tables and chairs in open areas and even school fields.
The temperature in Bukit Selambau is expected to heat up with PKR supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim making his first appearance in the constituency since nomination day.
Anwar, who has been abroad the past few days has his work cut out for him especially with allegations being levelled against him by disgruntled PKR members who have quit the party in a huff, including ex-Jerai division chairman B Kalaivanar who called Anwar a pharoah and dictator.
MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu confirmed that Kalaivanar would campaign for BN's Datuk S Ganesan in Bukit Selambau.
Kalaivanar is said to be a popular speaker whose services were always sought after by the PKR leadership to deliver fiery speeches in Tamil during ceramahs.
Another disgruntled PKR member is S Moganakumar, the personal assistant of former Bukit Selambau state assemblyman V Arumugam. Moganakumar is contesting as an independent after the party chose S Manikumar as their candidate.
Independent A Jayagopal is also an ex-PKR member.
With eight Indians contesting in this by-election, the chances of Indian votes being split is a reality.
There are about 29.5% registered Indian voters in the constituency numbering nearly 10,000 and the votes are crucial to PKR's victory.
During the 2008 general election, the BN only secured 20% of the Indian votes.
Towards the end of the campaign period, more PR big guns are expected to pass through this bustling constituency.
Among those who will come a calling include PAS spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who has confirmed his presence in Bukit Selambau on Friday.
PKR Kedah election operations director Datuk Johari Abdul told The Edge Financial Daily it was getting too frustrating to deal with the flip flop decisions on permits made by the police.
"We go by the book to apply by submitting forms 48 hours prior to the event, as required," he explained. "Usually we have these at homes with compounds or even with open fields near the houses.
"We never encroach into the open areas but we cannot prevent those who come to listen to us from doing so as there is only so much space at the houses or compound from where we have to speak from.
"As long as we have the approval of the premise owners, we are usually allowed the permit.
"The police would come inspect the site and then issue the permit, but these are cancelled at the eleventh hour.
"Hence, we have to do things on the sly, have smaller gatherings at more places instead of having rallies which usually attract large crowds," he added.
He said while those from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) were often dealt with the wrong end of the stick, those from the Barisan Nasional got away with putting up tents with tables and chairs in open areas and even school fields.
The temperature in Bukit Selambau is expected to heat up with PKR supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim making his first appearance in the constituency since nomination day.
Anwar, who has been abroad the past few days has his work cut out for him especially with allegations being levelled against him by disgruntled PKR members who have quit the party in a huff, including ex-Jerai division chairman B Kalaivanar who called Anwar a pharoah and dictator.
MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu confirmed that Kalaivanar would campaign for BN's Datuk S Ganesan in Bukit Selambau.
Kalaivanar is said to be a popular speaker whose services were always sought after by the PKR leadership to deliver fiery speeches in Tamil during ceramahs.
Another disgruntled PKR member is S Moganakumar, the personal assistant of former Bukit Selambau state assemblyman V Arumugam. Moganakumar is contesting as an independent after the party chose S Manikumar as their candidate.
Independent A Jayagopal is also an ex-PKR member.
With eight Indians contesting in this by-election, the chances of Indian votes being split is a reality.
There are about 29.5% registered Indian voters in the constituency numbering nearly 10,000 and the votes are crucial to PKR's victory.
During the 2008 general election, the BN only secured 20% of the Indian votes.
Towards the end of the campaign period, more PR big guns are expected to pass through this bustling constituency.
Among those who will come a calling include PAS spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who has confirmed his presence in Bukit Selambau on Friday.
The Edge
31/03/09
1 comment:
sources star biz, the star
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/13/business/2762941&sec=business
Saturday December 13, 2008
Are some CEOs worth their huge pay packets?
By TEE LIN SAY
Nazir the highest-paid GLC CEO
WHILE it was an issue that started as a financial cry for help, the automakers bailout plan in the US soon became an issue of accountability.
After being criticised during their last trip for arriving in Washington in corporate jets, not only did the chief executives of Ford, GM and Chrysler drive to the nation’s capital in hybrid cars, but they agreed to accept annual salaries of US$1 if the US Congress okayed their bailout plan. The pledges were part of the automaker’s proposal delivered to Congress, for the Detroit 3’s request to win a piece of US$14bil in emergency loans.
Huge sacrifices are made by these corporate chieftains in their aim to prevent the auto companies from collapsing, saving thousands of factories and millions of related jobs in the US recession.
Meanwhile, the proposed US$14bil bailout plan has been opposed by the US Senate, raising the spectre of an industry collapse.
The question arises: will Malaysian corporate leaders do the same should they be faced with the same grim scenario?
CEOs’ compromise
As the economy grapples with an enduring credit crisis, paycuts by senior executives are expected to be more widespread.
Last month, it was announced that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will lose 19% of his salary because of the global economic turmoil but will still earn almost US$2mil a year.
South-East Asia’s biggest property developer CapitaLand has also announced that its chief executive Liew Mun Leong will take a pay cut of 20% as part of company-wide measures to cope with a global downturn.
Moving into 2009, as public-listed companies (PLCs) cut cost and freeze recruitment, many expect a similar stance to be taken by their chief executive officers (CEOs).
“It will be a case of leadership by example. Times are bad, so the CEO makes a sacrifice to show his sincerity to his troops. There is also a likelihood that a stronger trend of performance-based bonuses will emerge. The key performance index (KPI) will be a stronger measurement for rewarding staff,” says a human resource consultant.
He adds that in recessionary times, sooner or later, the issue of headcount will transpire.
A director of a consultancy firm says that for now, Malaysia has yet to see any retrenchment or voluntary separation schemes.
Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group CEO Abdul Wahab Jaafar Sidek says that if there is any retrenchment, it has to be carried out smoothly, quickly and cordially, with least disruption to business.
“The CEOs and executive directors should be the first to make sacrifices and if need be, even forgo their directors’ fees,” he says.
Abdul Wahab says that what is important is how the CEO can raise productivity and efficiency during hard times under his leadership. “The outstanding CEOs must be rewarded appropriately. For, in difficult economic situation there will be some outstanding CEOs who can still shine.”
Reporting compensation of CEOs on an individual basis is the practice in the United States, Britain and Australia.
Generally in Asia, share owners do not know exactly how much corporate funds are going to the individuals entrusted to run the business. Reasons for this are a lack of regulatory measures and inadequate information in financial reports.
In Malaysia, while remuneration to company directors is listed on the annual report, it is hard to gauge as salaries of its directors are lumped together.
Most of the PLCs disclose the directors’ remuneration in bands.
“Unless there is greater transparency on the amount paid to directors or CEO, shareholders will find it difficult to assess whether they are fairly compensated, and more importantly whether the remuneration is linked to corporate and individual performance,” says Abdul Wahab.
There are also instances where the CEOs are not members of the board, therefore their remuneration is not disclosed in the annual report.
“In my opinion, the renumeration packages of Malaysian CEOs are quite fair. Even in good times, it isn’t exorbitant, hence in bad times, there isn’t likely to be a huge pay cut,” says the director of a consulting firm.
Malaysian CEOs (after converting to dollar terms) are regarded as the lowest paid in Asia Pacific, says a director of the consulting firm, adding that the salaries of CEOs who run big government linked companies are “honourably low and hardly exciting.”
At the same time, he opines that the American model of richly rewarding their CEOs as a bit of an overkill.
“In America, everybody wants to be a CEO, because the packages are so lucrative. Yet during bad times, or when earnings are poor, the CEO is punished ruthlessly. That is why they say CEOs in the US live quarter to quarter!”
He adds that there are many factors that determine a decent CEO package. To link the CEO’s pay package to the economic environment could be a double-edge sword.
“For instance, if Malaysian plantation CEOs were to tie their salaries to their KPIs, would this mean that when CPO prices increase three-fold, there would also be a three-fold increase in the CEO’s pay?” he asks.
Likewise in bad times, does the CEO deserve a big pay cut when it might be market forces bringing demand down?
Abdul Wahab makes some interesting observations from its MSWG-NUBS Corporate Governance Survey 2008.
“It was surprising to find instances of good Samaritans on the boards of corporate Malaysia in the context of directors’ remuneration,” he says.
The survey noted that two companies did not pay salary to their executive directors (EDs) for the financial year 2007. They are Integrax Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd.
While the ED of the former only received directors’ fees even though the company was reporting a profit, the ED of the latter company – which reported a loss – was remunerated substantially with share-based payments.
In the case of Sinora Industries Bhd, the ED was not remunerated at all even though the company reported operating profit for the year.
Invisible perks
Many have surely heard of CEOs who charge meals costing a week’s wages to their company’s expenses.
Or those that travel business class and stay in luxury hotels? These are perks which are clearly not seen in annual reports.
The human resource consultant says that he does not see many PLCs abusing their invisible perks.
“In reality, it happens less nowadays. Especially for executives in listed companies, they are pretty wary of being scrutinised for such things. Even family-owned businesses are subject to public disclosures.”
“I think CEOs would rather demand better bonuses, stock options or fringe benefits for themselves. As a CEO of a public listed company, there is a reputation to maintain,” he says.
Wahab agrees that flagrant abuses are not rampant in Malaysia. He sums it up by saying that while there is a need to pay CEOs attractively to run the company successfully, there is also a need to link rewards to corporate and individual performance.
BUMIPUTRA-COMMERCE Holdings Bhd’s chief Datuk Nazir Razak, stood out as the highest paid CEO with a disclosed remuneration of RM9.35mil for 2007. This doesn’t come as a surprise considering Nazir is seen as the single force behind CIMB’s dominance and aggressive venture into Thailand, Indonesia and China.
The salaries of other GLC heads pale by comparison. In 2007, the other highest paid CEOs in GLCs include the then Maybank CEO Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz (RM2.71mil); Sime Darby Bhd’s Datuk Seri Ahamd Zubir Murshid (RM2.05mil); Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff (RM1.97mil) and Boustead Holdings Bhd’s Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin (RM1.85mil).
For his efforts in turning around Malaysia Airlines, Datuk Seri Idris Jala received a remuneration of between RM950,000 and RM1mil in 2007.
It would appear that many of the GLC heads receive lower pay compared to their non-GLC peers.
The highest paid CEO in Corporate Malaysia continues to be Genting Bhd’s Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay at RM86.5mil. Other highly paid heads are those from family-owned businesses such as IOI Corp Bhd, OSK Holdings Bhd and YTL Corp Bhd.
Astro All Asia Network Plc’s group CEO Ralph Marshall received RM3.4mil while Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Rozali Ismail received RM5.2mil.
It is interesting to note that many main board and second board companies pay their CEOs less than RM400,000 a year. These include Mycron Steel Bhd, Scientex Packaging Bhd and Jobstreet Corp Bhd among others.
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