How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

My humble opinion on Petronas


I always believe that a good debate is likely to bring out points that otherwise would have been missed.

While Strait Mat’s letter in Malaysiakini, Stupendous profits for Petronas' option holders http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/85319/ tried to refute an earlier letter by So’od of Kg Dusun, I wish to add that So’od’s example seems too simplistic. What came to my mind when I first read his letter was the fact that Petronas produces higher grades crude oil, which are exported and imports lower grades for our local refineries. I am sure the prices are different which would have made a difference to the calculations.

Having read those letters and some comments, I have personally come to my own conclusion, based on uncorroborated facts, that:

1. Petronas is well managed but lacks transparency. Someone had rightly pointed out that it would have been disastrous if Petronas’s management were answerable to a board of directors comprising 222 MPs of Parliament!
2. On the other hand, there should have been some control by Parliament instead of PM alone, on major policies especially when it is obvious that management has deteriorated at any time in the future.
3. For transparency, either its management needs to reveal more, which may require PM’s approval, or someone needs to take it up as a dissertation project to gather all relevant data, collate and analyse them to form an opinion for an information starved public. If necessary someone with depth of knowledge in the industry should take up the challenge to do some investigative journalism work. Again, it is a question of who to trust in our present environment, not the auditor, not even the ACA!
4. Petronas should be answerable to Parliament where it involves spending mega bucks, which hitherto had been the privilege of the immediate past PM, and now the present, by virtue of Sections 2 and 3 of the Petroleum Development Act, 1974. I believe this is the crux of the public’s complaints because of the huge amounts involved and obvious disregard for ordinary folks whose lives are directly affected by fuel prices.

By the time we are ready with the right balance of control and accountability, the oil would have been depleted!

No comments: