Ganesh Sahathevan

First, there was Fetch TV, into which AK's Astro and other companies are investing:  Scott  Lorson  was appointed in September 2009 as the chief executive officer of FetchTV Pty Ltd, a start-up wholesaler that has designed a pay TV platform business for Internet service providers to deliver free and pay TV channels, movies on demand, and other interactive content to their broadband customers. FetchTV is 55 percent owned by management including the executive director, Simon Cathcart, one of the two Australian founders, and 45 percent by Astro Holdings, a Malaysian media and communications investment company. Freelance communications journalist, Liz Fell, interviewed  Lorson  for the Telecommunications Journal of Australia(  TJA)  in mid-October (2011)  at the FetchTV offices in Milsons Point, NSW. TJA : And at the top of UT is Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan, known as TAK these days I believe? Lorson : Yes, he’s often referred to as TAK. TJA : I...

THE STAR has announced that AirAsia CEO and major shareholder Tony Fernandes has been appointed a director of its publisher, Star Publications (M) Bhd. The Star has been a prominent publicist  for AirAsia, publishing commentaries usually in favour of AirAsia. Given the appointment Fernandes becomes part of the mind that directs the company and the paper. This is THE STAR, a Malaysian paper, owned by the MCA ,a prominent  member of the ruling Barisan Nasional, so arguments of editorial independence can be safely put aside. Consequently, it does appear that  each and every journalist at THE STAR , managing editor Wong Chun Wai downwards, would need, in accordance with the law as stipulated in the Securities Industry Act 1980, tto enter into the "register in the prescribed form ... the securities in which he/she  has an interest" . The  relevant provisions  are reproduced below: PART V RECORDS 29. Application of this Part. (1) This Part applies to a pers...

First , Tony Fernandes aka Choirboy, CEO of AirAsia and  owner Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in his own words: "If worse comes to worse, I'm sure I can persuade Air Asia or Malaysian Airlines to come on board and sponsor us (QPR)." http://www.marketingmagazine. co.uk/news/1085695/Fernandes- use-Air-Asia-fallback-shirt- sponsor/ Now according to Malaysia's Companies Act 1965 Section 131A of the Companies Act 1965- Interested director not to participate or vote S131A(1) provides that:   ‘Subject to Section 131, a director of a company who is in any way, whether directly or indirectly, interested in a contract entered into or proposed to be entered into by the company… shall be counted only to make a quorum at the board meeting but shall not participate in any discussion while the contract or proposed contract is being considered at the board meeting and shall not vote on the contract or proposed contract  ‘Shall not participate’ has been defined in  PP v Dato Haji Mohamed ...

No one paid me to say this, and no one asked me to say it. However, it now all seems so simple. Malaysia is facing a battle of the women, or at least led by the women. UMNO , and the BN , if they are to survive as a force in Malaysian politics, may have to come up with their own champion, a  cross between Corrie Acquino  and  Megawati Sukarnoputri, if they are to remain relevant to Malaysian politics.  In the Pakatan corner we have Nurul Izzah, who is able to draw the crowds and is spoken of by some (or is that many?) as the logical replacement for her scandal tainted father, Anwar Ibrahim.Her age counts against her, but she is Malay and satisfies the convention that the prime minister be bumiputera. Anwar himself must realise that he longer draws the crowds,and in any case carries too much baggage ,not the least from his UMNO antecedents.  Bersih 2, and now 3, has proven that it is no longer Anwar that draws the crowds ; larger each time , and always summoned...

None other than a former chief justice, Tun Mohd Dzaiddin Abdullah, recently denounced Malaysia's judges as being "subservient to politicians in the executive arm of government". His reasons I will leave readers to determine for themselves. What is of interest to this writer though is the comment by the current president of the Malaysian Bar Council, Lim Chee Wee , who is reported to have said "for commercial cases, Malaysia’s judiciary system was credible enough to handle cases from the region." “But the ultimate test is of course when it comes to politically sensitive cases or religious cases and how our appellate courts deal with it. “On that score, I still give them a minus because so far as religious cases go, the conversion cases, there is a fear by our appellate courts in having to make a decision. They keep postponing, the controversial cases just being postponed, then there is of course the Perak crisis,” he said. Lim's area of practice is -commerc...

by Ganesh Sahathevan The Auditor-General Malaysia DID report on NFCorp, and investigated it coincident to the "Fidlot" audit. The 25 October 2011 report from Malaysian Insider titled "Audit finds minister’s family made mess of national cattle farming project"; is a reasonably accurate translation of the Auditor-General's report, which mentions National Feedlot Corporation and NFCorp in at least 30 instances The Malaysian Insider report states: “An audit check found production in 2010 was only at 3,289 heads of cattle or 41.1 per cent,” the report said. The audit was conducted between January and March this year. Among the reasons cited were the NFC corporation’s poor management including its failure to train 130 farmers for the project, the 5,000-acre farmland in Gemas being overgrown with thorny acacia shrubs, and poor use and maintenance of its facilities. The audit report also found NFCorp did not finalise the standard operating procedure or implementation a...

The Star , 19 Aug 2010 reported Tan Sri Choirboy (CB) saying: “We have actually reached our target of RM40 spending per pax that we set for the last quarter. We have unearthed a gushing revenue stream that can boost the bottom line and also serve as a buffer to rising fuel prices.” He said baggage fees and AirAsia Cargo were significant contributors to ancillary income for the group. http://biz.thestar.com.my/ news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/ 19/business/6881852&sec= business I then said: This writer challenges Tony to find this "gushing stream " in any place where there are laws against misleading and deceptive conduct in the carrying out of a commercial enterprise. Now however Tan Sri Choirboy faces a problem even in Malaysia. Malaysian Airports Holdings Bhd wants part of that "gushing stream". Choirboy can see that each cent added to "his" "gushing stream" means an additional burden on passengers who are then likely to revolt against all ...