RM1.5m paintings hot topic

[Kevin Teh 0]

Wednesday December 21, 2005

 

 

RM1.5m paintings hot topic

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The purchase of three paintings worth RM1.55mil by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to decorate the chairman's office was to maintain the stature of the place, the Dewan Negara heard yesterday.

 

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar said the money came under MAS' current expenditure.

 

The paintings were a hot topic among members of the Dewan Negara yesterday, besides the hiring of expatriates on high salaries.

 

Tengku Azlan also clarified that the salary received by MAS senior general manager Chris Andrews of RM7,525 a day was normal, no different from the pay received by any individual who had held the post in the airline.

 

“If there are any unsatisfactory answers, please come for a briefing on MAS tonight (yesterday),” he told the senators during his winding up of the debate on the 2006 Budget.

 

Tengku Azlan also said that the appointment of British Airways senior executive Peter Reads as MAS operations director was announced by managing director Idris Jala.

 

He said the newly appointed managing director would need time and full authority to revive the airline's operations.

 

“All the problems that have occurred will be studied by the new managing director. That is why he needs time to fix the mistakes that were made in the past,” he said.

 

Tengku Azlan also stated that as an airline that offered international flight services, MAS did not plan to stop serving alcoholic beverages.

 

However, he said, alcohol was only served upon the request of the passengers..

 

Later, when asked by reporters about MAS' current expenditure to upkeep the “status” of its premises, Tengku Azlan said: “That you would have to ask the MAS management.” – Bernama

 

 

1.5m to buy three painting.... too much

Edited December 21, 2005 by Kevin Teh

[H Azmal 0]

Wow that much money can do a lot to change a few people's lives. Having it spent on something which lifelessly adorns the wall is recklessly thoughtless and in bad taste to say the least.

Edited December 21, 2005 by H Azmal

[Rozhan 0]

As I have said in another thread, often times the grapevine will turn out to be true, and so it has! And the deputy minister could say that the RM 7525 daily pay of one of the consultants as 'normal'?

[Tharan G. 0]

Maintaining the stature of the place by buying Rm1.5 million dollars worth of paintings would be good ONLY IF the company was doing well. Why would they be so dumb in buying sometthing so expensive when they knew they running in the red.

 

At first i thought the RM7250 daily was a typo and supposed to be RM7250 Monthly. From these 2 cases we can see that MAS has poor financial control, with their top guns spending the money like nobody's business and the goverment bailing them out whenever possible.

 

 

[Kevin Teh 0]

As I have said in another thread, often times the grapevine will turn out to be true, and so it has! And the deputy minister could say that the RM 7525 daily pay of one of the consultants as 'normal'?

20992[/snapback]

 

the 7525 daily paid is really too much, that will be 150k if you work 5days a week, 4weeks a month @@" that will be my dream job then

[T Azahan 1]

all the savings generated under Widespread Asset Unbundling gone!!!

 

if i were the chairman, i would have said no to any renovation or purchases of 'monuments'. how bad the existing chairman office can be???

and lots of downliners are hardly been given any incentive!

 

some people can be so selfish and insincere when given the post.

 

if RM7500++ is normal to MH, i dont know what is not!!!

 

so what would the staffs react??? .......five kolok go back!! aircraft delay mampos laaaa!!

 

sorry to be blunt but it is a fact.

[Fitri Shukri 0]

From the way the Deputy Transport Minister is replying, as if he is trying to downplay the seriusness of the issue or try to cover it all up

[Radzi 2]

Tip of the iceberg, really.

 

How about RM 8 for an egg, RM 80 for a bottle of mineral water, RM 120 for a kg of prawn....

 

Buffet.

[H Azmal 0]

Tip of the iceberg, really.

 

How about RM 8 for an egg, RM 80 for a bottle of mineral water, RM 120 for a kg of prawn....

 

Buffet.

21046[/snapback]

 

Were these made of gold?

[Walter Sim 1]

those are ridicolous man...

 

1.5 mil worth of painting, i''d rather spend it on something else.

 

think of the amount of oil you can buy with that sum of money..

[Izanee 0]

the deputy transport minister is downplaying the seriousness of all this...

 

when is it bloody normal to pay RM7500 daily to a consultant... ??? especially when you're losing hundreds of million of ringgit per year! also when the consultant is crap and NOT helping to improve their operations.....

 

i now suspect what people are saying is true...there are bigger hands dipping their fingers into this buffet...

 

RM8 for an egg!! hahahah...telur apa diorang pakai....gajah ke???

 

 

 

[Adrian M 0]

I guess some people got too pampered with the power they got. MAS really need to have someone (with a sharp mind like Tony Fernandez) capable to turn the company around.

 

Maybe Tony Fernandez can take another Director or CEO position in MAS and take control in Full Service business model. Can be a nice way to see Tony's capabilities.

[Walter Sim 1]

its the problem if Tony agrees to join MAS but i wont see it happening anyways, AirAsia is flying high at the moment and he does not need to go to MH.

 

Dude, seriusly the management is screwing the airline themselves..

[Denny Yen 0]

I'm unsure what's the percentage of the gov't shareholding in MAS, but I believe it is the major shareholder. Transport Ministry has supervision powers, and judging by the response, it seems the ministers are reluctant to take responsibility and are playing "table-tennis politics" with the media.

 

If this were to occur in a non-GLC public-listed co., shareholders would have created havoc at the AGM and challenge the mgmt to explain justifying their financial practices.

 

Tip of iceberg indeed it is...

What about the "decision" to buyback TR's 29% at RM8 per share when the market was trading at RM3.60 per share. Where's the economic justification in that? Has the Securities Commission (supposedly an independent watchdog) been sleeping on the job?

 

What happened to the criminal investigation in 4 countries (M'sia, Singapore, Germany and UAE) on TR and ex-MASKargo VP for financial irregularities and "deliberate" losses? bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=145324

Friday 15 July 2005

 

The New Straits Times

 

A painfully slow investigation into alleged wrongdoings by former top executives of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) several years ago may gain some fresh impetus.

 

The New Straits Times has learnt that a fresh police report was lodged by a director of the airline, implicating several executives for losses incurred following allegedly irregular company practices.

 

This report comes in the midst of an arbitration between the airline and a German company over a cargo handling agreement signed in 1999.

 

It was lodged two months ago and could result in former chairman Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli, former MasKargo vice-president Ralph M. Gotz and the airline’s former company secretary, Rizana Mohd Daud, being called in for another round of questioning.

 

The report was lodged with the commercial crimes division at federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman, but department director Datuk Hairuddin Mohamad declined comment.

 

However, sources disclosed the report was "related" to an earlier one lodged by former Malaysia Airlines corporate services senior general manager Dr Mohamadon Abdullah in January 2002.

 

Three years ago, Mohamadon alleged irregularities in the company and its dealings with German company Advanced Cargo Logistics Gmbh (ACL).

 

ACL and MAS had agreed to develop a European cargo hub around a former military airbase in Hahn.

 

Hahn and another cargo hub in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, were to be part of the MAS "Cargo Spine Network".

 

Last September, ACL initiated arbitration proceedings against the national carrier, claiming more than 60 million euros (RM240 million) for a cargo handling agreement dated November 1999.

 

Sources disclosed that the fresh police report alleges several offences related to non-disclosure of interests and other breaches of the Companies Act.

[Sandeep G 1]

I'm unsure what's the percentage of the gov't shareholding in MAS, but I believe it is the major shareholder.  Transport Ministry has supervision powers, and judging by the response, it seems the ministers are reluctant to take responsibility and are playing "table-tennis politics" with the media.

 

If this were to occur in a non-GLC public-listed co., shareholders would have created havoc at the AGM and challenge the mgmt to explain justifying their financial practices.

 

Tip of iceberg indeed it is...

What about the "decision" to buyback TR's 29% at RM8 per share when the market was trading at RM3.60 per share.  Where's the economic justification in that?  Has the Securities Commission (supposedly an independent watchdog) been sleeping on the job?

 

Govt owns a whopping 72% of MAS!! There are people high up who might think of migrating overseas with their newfound wealth courtesy of Malaysian Airlines Bhd in the coming months! Heck, they might even be allowed to charter all of MASkargos fleet to move their belongings and myriad of BMWs, Mercs, Ferraris etc etc etc...

 

Denny, Jangan lupa yah, the chairman of the Securities Commission is a former chairman of MAS in fact, he was the guy who took over just after Tajudin and announced the WAU program which gave MAS some rosey numbers in the past 2 years.

 

The new management is already in deep water over their idea to 'sell' the iconic MAS building in downtown KL... I think we are seeing a number of shot-gun decisions with not much thought... MAS needs to look at its core business model!

 

Seperate the airline into MAS International, MAS Domestic and MAS Rural services!!! each company being a Sdn. Bhd, subsidaries of MAS Bhd!!! Each company has an appointed CEO with airline experience!!! Preferably internally and Malaysian! Market our engineering services to regional and other international airlines!!! QF contract for the A330s would be a good one to secure.. after all, at present they have to travel all the way to switzerland for maintenance!!! How about lowering overhead costs??? This is malaysia... people come here for the love of the food!! WHY DOESN'T MAS PROVIDE MORE LOCAL FOOD OPTIONS ON ITS FLIGHTS WHICH ARE CHEAPER AND SOMEWHAT TASTIER TO PRODUCE!!???

 

Human Resources!! COME ON! Look after your people and then your customers!! They are one in the same! Get rid of these execs and staff who are not fulfilling their duties!! Encourage staff to multi-task. most importantly, give them financial and job security by endorsing and maintaining an innovative and efficient financial strategy for the airline! We got the ability! USE IT!

 

Competition works! Challenge AK, Challenge SQ, CX, TG, QF!!! What the hell are they thinking!! They want RM3 billion to get the airline running again! I don't care, but I don't believe in such an excessively large bail-out.. where is the money going to go?? RM3,000,000,000 IS A S**T-LOAD lot of money! Let's hear the plan! Let's see the action?! What is management doing??!! Learn lah, transparency and open-forums will allow greater success for the airline...

 

when lah will things change...

[Johnson Ooi 0]

use the money to help those flood victims in Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terenganu la

[Adrian M 0]

But I wonder why the gov't never figure out to make MAS, MAS Regional and MAS Express kind of subsidary idea? I never heard any official propose it.

 

Maybe DS Chan Kong Choy should login to MW for once and listen to public voices and ideas

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

I believe they know what the public has to say

 

They just don't act on it

[Walter Sim 1]

you know them... their attitude geez~!

 

but its easier said then done, they are politics involved that we might not se.

 

I've just seen the paper and they're saying MH is selling off their office to save the company.. why dont they sell the paintings instead.

[Ibrahim 0]

Well once you renovate your office for RM841,000 certainly you need some art works to grace the office. So Munir spent RM1,557, 000.00 (yes that is RM1.6 Million of taxpayers money ok) buying art works.

 

First here are the details :

 

ART SUPPLIER :

 

RUMAH SENI NUSANTARA SDN BHD 1st Floor, 17 Jln Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 2284 2348

 

INVOICE FOR SOPHIA VARI / FERNANDO BOTERO 1st April 2005.

 

i. Sophia Vari (Coeur de L'Impenetrable ) RM 75,000.00

*Don't Have It Pic..

 

ii. Fernando Botero (Still Life With Violin) RM 1,140,000.00

*Don't Know With One..

 

 

iii. Fernando Botero (Still Life With Lobster) RM 342,000.00

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------

Total RM 1,557,000.00

[Walter Sim 1]

Zz

 

waste money....

 

bleh.. menyampah aku tengok!

[Tharan G. 0]

Those paintings looks ridiculous to be worth RM1.6 million.

 

If Munir wanted to decorate his office,he should have paid MW a small sum and print some pics from MW collections.

[Walter Sim 1]

gg agreed.

 

call M-Wing forum to be advisor...

 

MH will be shaped according to the consumers that way

[Adrian M 0]

Yeah agree. MAS will turn out much more better his way, public voice control. And he better sel of that paint and try to buy new ones after MAS is profitable. His logic side of the brain maybe as small as peas. LOL

[Walter Sim 1]

probably his brain is covered with air...

 

EDIT: Or maybe VACUUM!

Edited December 22, 2005 by Walter Sim