Amanah Saham 1Malaysia-Another 1Failure?

The On-line STAR today's report (3 September 2009)by Lee Kian Seong entitled "AS 1Malaysia fund may not meet target" must be really hurting the image of PM Najib.Why create a fund that is not popular with investors? Why do it to the new PM in his golden hour? Why can't it be similar in nature to Wawasan 2020?

Some people will have long sleepless nights and have to answer at their moments of truth.Who are these people that created this big boohoo?

Do read on....

" Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS 1Malaysia) fund, which was launched by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), may not hit its 10 billion units target before the Sept 30 deadline due to its low return, say market observers.

More than two billion units had been subscribed by 148,830 investors as at Aug 25.

UOB KayHian research head, Vincent Khoo said 10 billion units was a difficult target to meet given the low return for such an equity income fund.

As stated in AS 1Malaysia’s prospectus, it is noted that the fund’s returns will be benchmarked against the five-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS). The current yield of five-year MGS is only about 3.7%.

Khoo said the return was slightly higher than bank interest rates but it was not as attractive as previous Amanah Saham funds.

“Some investors might be interested in this fund but the general public would look for higher-return funds,” he added.

Asked on whether the bumiputra allocation should be opened to others, Khoo said it could be a way to push up the take-up rate if the non-bumiputra units had been fully taken up.

The fund is open to all Malaysians, with an allocation of 50% for bumiputras, 30% Chinese, 15% Indians and 5% for other ethnic groups.

A fund manager from a local house also said that the 10 billion target was hard to meet as the return was relatively low.

“The risk is higher for an equity income fund while the return is lower. Hence, the risk reward does not swing to its favour. It is not really attractive,” he added.

Kumpulan Sentiasa Cemerlang Sdn Bhd director of research Choong Khuat Hock said the fund was not perceived as “attractive” due to its lower return.

“There will still be some demand for the fund but the 10 billion target is really tough,” he said.

AS 1Malaysia is the fifth fixed price unit trust fund launched by PNB after Amanah Saham Bumiputra, Amanah Saham Malaysia, Amanah Saham Didik and Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020.

The equity income fund is similar to Amanah Saham Malaysia and Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 and being highly liquid, there is no sales charge and is transacted at a fixed price of RM1 per unit.

Last week, PNB had announced the extension of the AS 1Malaysia subscription allocation deadline to Sept 30.

However, the maximum investment limit for subscription of the new units will be abolished after the 30-day offer ends today.

The original maximum investment limit of 50,000 units was imposed for investors aged 18 to 55 years and 100,000 for those 55 and above."

It would be interesting to get data on which of the allocated quota has not been taken up by 3rd September. This is to gauge the appeal of the fund. Assuming that the Chinese portion is not taken up, then it is a clear signal to the government that the Chinese are waiting for better and higher paying funds and would not stoop so low to buy unappealing funds irrespective of who launches it.

Pan Malaysia Corporation Berhad-Is this a Good Bet?

'Value Investing in KLSE' has studied this comapny and think that it could be a good buy. As usual caveat emptor and trade with caution.Here goes:

Pan Malaysia Corporation Berhad, an investment holding company, engages in manufacturing, marketing and distributing confectionery, and cocoa-based and other food products primarily in Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. It also involves in operating departmental and specialty stores, and property investment activities. The company is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

PMCORP is in the process of restructuring.Recently,it posted a positive net income compared to losses in the last few year.the attraction of PMCORP comes from its assets. Its book value is at around RM 0.45/share.This gives a safety margin of over 50% at current price of RM 0.135.

PMCORP has come a long way to 'cut some of its rottenning poisoned limbs'. It has let go subsidiaries which are loss making and focus on its profit making businesses such as retail and manufacturing. So,PMCORP does not need to consolidate any losses and will be able to report good profit.

A few good points on PMCORP:

a) The cash level is at RM 127 mil while total liabilities is at RM 54 mil.This means by paying off its liabilities,investors will own some of the assets (properties,businesses,subsiadiaries and fixed assets) at half the value plus a clean balance sheet.

b) Expected to post cumulative earning per share of RM 0.013. At current price of RM 0.135, its forward P/E is 10x

c) It's a closely held company

Since it is in black now,PMCORP should be trading at around its Net Asset per share. PMCORP is a classic story of a frog turning into a prince.

The Roots of Negara Ku-It's Settled Then!

Malaysia’s alleged use of an Indonesian song for its national anthem appears — rather embarrassingly — to have been misplaced, according to a leading Indonesian musician and artist, Remy Sylado.

And so he set the record straight as to the roots of Negara Ku, the national anthem of Malaysia.

Sylado, said the so-called Indonesian song “ Terang Bulan ” (“Moonlight”) was actually an adaptation of “La Rosalie,” which was composed in the 19th century by Pierre-Jean de Beranger of Francey.Citing a Dutch historical text on national anthems, Sylado said the song became popular in the former French colony of the Seychelles and arrived in the Malay archipelago at the turn of the 20th century, where it was eventually used as the basis for Malaysia’s anthem, “ Negaraku ” (“My Country”).

“It is written clearly that ‘Negaraku,’ the Malaysian anthem, is adapted from Pierre-Jean de Beranger’s song. Not from ‘Terang Bulan,’ ” Sylado said.

He said the adaptation of “La Rosalie” to “Negaraku” had a long evolution. In 1888, during British rule of the Federated Malay States, the lyrics were rewritten and localized to “God Save the Sultan” by Raja Mansur, the eldest son of Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah II Habibullah of Perak.

The song was first performed formally during the sultan’s royal visit to England, where the song was presented as the Perak state anthem.

Sylado said this version of history had long been recognized by the Malaysian authorities and was used in the nation’s history books. He said that before declaring independence in 1957, Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, decided to use a revised version of Perak’s state anthem as the national anthem.

“If the Indonesian government wants to sue Malaysia for copying ‘Terang Bulan,’ it would be a bad move,” Sylado said. “I’m concerned there will be a countersuit for using bahasa Indonesia , which is adapted from Malay and is indeed a part of Malaysia.”

And so you have it. Will the controversy be put to rest, for once and for all or will it be as liquid as the molten lava in a potential shimmering Krakatua?

The Origins of Negara Ku-Contentious?

While our Inodnesian brothers are making a ruckus that the Malaysian national anthem sounds so much like their song 'Terang Bulan', we have another source that said it came from m the South Seas or possibly,Hawaii. Then again, we know it came as a song from that old Dutch film, 'Orange County'.

Listen to 'Mamula Moon'. Does it sound have we have lifted some bars from this number?



Now listen to 'Terang Bulan'from Indonesia. Eerily familiar?



Now let us compare. So which is the original?



So, are copyright issues involved here? How about national pride?

That is the $64,000 question!

Whitney-The Rise of the Diva Phoenix

September 1, 2009 marks the return of Whitney Houston to the singing fraternity. Her latest album "I Look to You" came out on Monday, marking the singer's comeback after almost a lost decade.

A former model, singer and actress, Houston starred in The Bodyguard in 1992. The film's original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for album of the year, and became the world's best-selling soundtrack. Its lead single, "I Will Always Love You", became one of the best-selling singles in music history.



Undoubtedly, she was one of the best-selling artists with the most striking opera voice. Despite a sad history of domestic issues, alleged drug abuse and scandals, the diva has returned. The come-back album, “I Look to You,” released Tuesday (Malaysian time), revealed her husky, vehement voice applied on some catchy and pleasing new songs.


The New York Daily News, however, sounded out a cautionary note: “Whitney still possess that broad range and respectable force. And she gets to apply it well here. But there's no getting around the fact that something key is gone. Namely, her genius” Is that gobbledygook or what?
So, do listen to the album yourself and feel the magic of this diva yet again.

CIMB-A Bad Judgment Call

This has to be the worst EGM meeting of all.

On such an auspicious day as this when you want to effect a name change, you fumbled BIG TIME. Shareholders came for the EGM and was shocked at the insensitivities of this so called first-tier bank. No refreshment, no door gift. Not even a bottle of water to quench the thirst of the senior citizens who have diligently woke up and come to the SDCC to support you.

We understand that it is puasa time. We would not push it if you do not serve breakfast. But couldn't you have given food coupons tenable at SDCC food joints instead? You were not thinking,right.Someone took away your thinking caps?

Again, you could have held the EGM after Hari Raya,then everyone would have a great time with food galore and all the merriment. You could even have provided shareholders with commemorative gifts that will remind them of this occasion. BUT NOOO! You were also not thinking. Missing thinking cap syndrome again? What a laugh!

To make matters worse, your honourable Chairman came late for the meeting;by some fifteen minutes, blaming his lateness on the traffic. Macam mana,tuan? You should have shown good teladan and come in early. Sit sown in the holding room or better still come down from your public high horse position and shake hands with the shareholders. Create goodwill. Show that you are an approachable Chairman,willing to be part of the whole CIMB community. Tetapi apa sudah terjadi?

Insensitivities!!! That's what you are, CIMB.

Remember your stakeholders. They have elephant memories!

Tape Recorder Bird

I couldn't believe it until I saw and listened to this wonderful bird. Fantastic, I am speechless watching it. Seriously,how do you feel after watching this short video of the lyre bird? Gimme your comments.

EPF Shows a Better Performance

This is good news, The government's whipping boy provision fund has shown quite a good performance this time around.

In a report to Bernama today (Sept 3), The Employees Provident Fund (EPF)recorded an investment income of RM4.8 billion in the second quarter of 2009, as investments in equities raked in better returns.

The income was 46.64 per cent better than the RM3.27 billion accrued in the first quarter of this year.

“Despite the instability of the global economy, the EPF managed to meet expectations and deliver better investment results in the second quarter,” said its Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol.

Equities was the highest income contributor for the quarter, growing seven-fold to RM1.74 billion, against RM239.55 million earned in the previous quarter.

He said improving global and domestic markets contributed to the surge in income from equities for the quarter under review.

Azlan said the second quarter showed signs of recovery in major global equity indices especially in countries where the provident fund had invested.

“While we cannot say the worst is over. Should the trend continue, or at least maintain at the current level, EPF is positive we can reverse the bulk of the allowances for diminution in value of equity investments that we made last year,” he added.

In the second quarter, loans and bonds were the highest income earner, contributing RM1.81 billion to EPF’s total investment income compared with RM1.78 billion attained in the previous quarter.

Another major contributor was income from Malaysian Government Securities, which rose marginally by RM830 million to RM1.11 billion.

Meanwhile, money market instruments recorded an income of RM94.27 million during the quarter, a drop of 21.51 per cent from RM120.11 million earned in the first quarter 2009.

EPF’s total fund size currently stood at RM353.93 billion, up 1.61 per cent from the first quarter’s fund size of RM348.31 billion.

“While there are signs of stabilisation in the global market, it is nevertheless too early to see how this will affect us for the remainder of the year,” he said.

Azlan said as a long term investor and custodian of more than RM350 billion in retirement funds, the EPF would continue to take proactive measures.

He assured that the fund would continue to enhance the value of its members’ savings, in these challenging times, while maintain prudent approach at all times.

As members, we certainly hope that the EPF can really stand up and perform and not be used as a cheap fund provider for the government.

Mission Impossible. Eat Your Heart out, Tom Cruise!

Watch Ethan Parrot do his trick. Wunderbird!

1Submarine

In line with 1Malaysia propounded by PM Najib, we have now commissioned the first submarine.It is called the KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, after the first Prime Minister of Malaysia. 1 Submarine arrived in Malaysia on 3 September 2009 at 9.20 am.

Malaysia’s second submarine, KD Tun Razak will begin its journey home on Jan 26, 2010 and arrive here two months later.

Truly we must be blessed to have 1Submarine in service now to guard our coastal waters.Hopefully,crime in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea will be minimized.


1Malaysia! Now 1Submarine! 1Malaysia Boleh!