The Supra Sugar Retailer

Is selling sugar the work of a Ministry? Only in Malaysia,my good friend. Malaysia Boleh!

Yes, you read it right the first time. The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism will be a stop-gap supra retailer of sugar. This is to alleviate the current sugar situation in the country.  I guess this has something to do with a potential sugar hike sometime soon.

Hoarders have taken away the normal market supply and the people are crying for that addictive pinch of sugar for their cake and coffee.


So, instead of enforcement measures which they were never ever good since this would pit them racially against another ethnic group, they have decided to play supra retailer. [Chicken-livered? Yes, yes, yes!]


Have fun reading what a Deputy Minister has to say on this matter. Laughable?


“ Tan Lian Hoe, the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of consumerism says so long as there are complaints of sugar shortage from retail outlets or consumers, the ministry will sell it directly to the public to ensure there is supply of the commodity. She said this stop-gap measure is not something new as it was introduced last year and is carried out as and when needed.


Tan said this following a move by the ministry’s Perak branch to set up temporary stalls in the Indera Mulia Stadium in Ipoh on Saturday to sell sugar to the public.[Kah! Kah!Kah!]



It is learnt that the branch has 72 tonnes of sugar at its disposal for the purpose.



She said as long as the need arises, the ministry’s branches or offices will take the temporary measure to retail sugar at farmer’s markets, night markets, or stadiums, or even dispatch its enforcement officers to see to it that sugar is supplied to retailers.


Tan said she did not know yet if any state outside Perak is taking the same measure as she has not received any briefing on the sugar situation from the other branches.


She blamed wholesalers for the shortage of sugar in some areas, saying some of them impose conditions for supplying the commodity to retailers, such as via package deal that require retailers to purchase other items apart from sugar. [Ho ho ho, what a laugh here!]


Retailers who do not accept the package deal are not given their usual quota of supply, resulting in shortages.
"For example, a retailer who regularly receives 2,000 kg of sugar a month may be given only 300kg to 400kg instead for rejecting the package deal," Tan said.


She said retailers are afraid to blow the whistle on errant wholesalers out of fear that the supply will stop if they do. [Ho ho ho, what a laugh here, too!]


Tan urged consumers to report any shortage of sugar to the ministry She also said the new system of sugar distribution being introduced by the ministry will make certain parties unhappy but it has to be implemented to protect the basic interest of the consumers.”


I am still laughing, are you?

Greens Go Bullish!

Prices of vegetables are performing better than stocks on the Bursa KL these days. It has been a bull market ever since the government banned the intake of Bangladeshi foreign workers.

Since April this year vegetables prices for all categories and types have jumped from 50% to 100%.
The reason given by the  Cameron Highlands Vegetable Farmers Association is that is it mostly due to lack of labour.

Whatever labour they have at hand have to slogged through long hours just to get the produce out to market.
Labour costs has led to a spike in the cost of greens,so to say.

 

Citing examples, The Association said English cabbage had gone up by 40 sen to RM1.60 per kilo, leafy mustard (sawi) price doubled to RM4, French beans (from RM2.50 to RM4), dwarf white mustard or siew pak choy (from RM1.50 to RM4), and tomato (from RM1 to RM1.50).

Vegetable farmers here are appealing to the Government to review a regulation on reducing the number of foreign workers from 2.5 million to 1.8 million.

They also want the Government to lift the ban on workers from Bangladesh.

Apparently, the high vegetable prices are also attributable to a reduction of imported vegetables due to natural disasters in countries like China.

Cameron Highlands produces 550 tonnes of vegetables daily, of which 80% is for the local market and the rest exported to Singapore.

Chay said many farmers were forced to operate with a skeleton crew and also work additional hours to meet demand because they had difficulties in hiring foreign workers.

”We hope the Government will approve the entry of 5,000 foreign workers, especially Bangladeshis, for farms here,” the Association appealed.

The freeze on hiring Bangladeshi workers was re-introduced by the Home Ministry in October 2007 in view of the “scandals” surrounding their intake.

Chay said farmers preferred Bangladeshi workers because they were reliable, hard working and were prepared to work for more than five years.

He said only 10% of workers in Cameron Highlands were locals, comprising mainly orang asli.

A Brinchang farmer, Chong Sek Chuang, 47, said it took farmers about a year or two to train a new foreign worker.

By not extending their permits, he said Malaysia would become a training ground for workers.

“They can easily seek higher pay as skilled workers elsewhere,” he said.

”We will lose whatever competitive advantage we have.”

How true!

Is the government listening in?

The Comatose Bull: Will it at least Whimper?

Yes, the bull is definitely down, perhaps almost dead.

At the rate investors are reacting negatively to data that are merely 'work-in-progress', the market will indeed be gravitational, so this comes as no surprise.

Negative interpretation of data release by sundry parties, be it official or otherwise, have continued to sunk the market on a daily and weekly basis. I called this phenomenon as the ' Too Close to the Board' phenomenon.As you are always in the thick of the market, you failed to see the big picture akin to "seeing the trees for the woods". Amateur scenario builders fresh from graduate schools have also caused the market to come down with their dire self-fulfilling predictions. Are they in cahoots with short sellers?

 A perpetually weak US market and a sickeningly 'black hole' Europe filled with potential sovereign debt culprits is laying the EU to a ruinous future as the Euro plunged to its lowest rate viz-a-viz the USD.

Closer home, expect the market to trade in a narrow band. When bad news comes from Europe of Wall Street, expect morning falls as arbitrators and short-sellers dominate.Comes afternoon, selling should ameliorate as bargain hunters slowly crawl out. Blue chip selling will depressed the indices but they almost always recover perhaps a few notches down. But all is not lost.

If you are here for the long haul, pick a few good blue chips.

If you look at the major pillars supporting the  Malaysian economy,a few could maintain quite well just like a bear in winter.Look at hotel and commodity trading stocks like Tradewinds(M) Berhad. Tourism and staple commodity distribution is a sure bet for the nation right now. With a clutch of major world class hotel chains and selling staples like sugar and rice, not much can go wrong here, especially at about RM3.20 per share.

The other clear pick would be MRCB. A giant in the making in the mixed property development sector, it's book value will grow some more if it should get choice land parcels to develop in KL,Selangor and Johor. Apart from that its involvement in green technology and highway development will stand it in good stead.

Once the water rationalisation project can be resolved, relatively cheap counters such as KPS,KHSB and JAKS could be good plays. The Pahang-Selangor Water Transfer Project, which is an impetus for these counters to move, must be resolved. A Japanese funder is involved. PM Najib is not going to let the Japanese down by appearing as a global bad boy to them. So, watch these counters closely.

Also look at PPB. The counter will move up ever slowly as more issues get resolved with the incomprehensible tax evasion issue in Indonesia. I expect Robert Kuok's massive influence to play its role in the solution of this barbed matter. It will be a win-win situation where the Indonesian authorities and Robert will come out smelling like bouquets of roses. Watch my word on this !

Also do not forget the gaming stocks which are traditionally defensive stocks. BJ Sports Toto, BJ Assets, Genting Berhad and Genting Malaysia are good buys. Just ignore some of the downgrades. I think Kok Thai is worth more than what his silence is projecting. As for Vincent, BJ Sports Toto and especially BJ Assets should gain if the Ascot license gets through.

The Electrical and Electronic Sector is also showing impressive numbers. Data from the first quarter of 2010 was  good. Do not expect a straight line 45 degrees jump for such counters as many 'growth issues' may not be on terra firma.

This is the time to buy rationally. Traders can benefit.

Bung Mokhtar Wakes Up!

Yes, you got it finally, Bung Mokhtar!

So old is not gold,so get rid of them. If they were so-called 'competent' in days of yore for reasons best known to only their bosses or else 'nepoted' due to sheer favouritism and feudalistic loyalties , their capability or lack of it has finally showed up  in the the lane of Peter Principle.

Yes,Bung, you have finally separated the wheat from the chaff.

Question the PM, lest these Chairmen and directors all get away with not even a slap on the wrist after consuming fat allowances. Get rid of these 'dead-woods" for the sake of Khazanah, PNB and the nation!

This is one aspect Malaysia Boleh can be demonstrated positively!

Next, will he get a chance to do so given his gungo and gusto?

The issue before him is clear to see.

Hopefully these losses posted by such large GLCs will check Putrajaya to stop the practice of putting retired civil servants in those companies.

The move by concerned Parliamentarians to bring this issue to the august house comes in the wake of massive losses faced by POS Malaysia Berhad and Sime Darby Bhd, the government linked companies (GLC) mainly owned by asset managers Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Permodalan Nasional Berhad respectively.

“I will personally raise this issue. I feel the government should not appoint retired senior civil servants if they are not committed or unable to carry out their tasks,” BN Back Benchers Club (BNBBC) deputy chairman  Bung Moktar  told a local on-line daily today.

The  BNBBC will also ask Prime Minister Najib Razak to explain the losses in both companies which have totalled between RM200 million and RM1.6 billion, as he is also the Finance Minister.

Among members of the board in Sime Darby include former deputy prime minister  Musa Hitam, former chief secretaries Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid and Samsudin Osman and former Education director-general Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin.

The board in Pos Malayisa include Aseh Che Mat and  Nazariah Mohd Khalid.

Bung Moktar said he believe the lack of commitment by members of the board in both GLCs caused the financial losses.

Bung Moktar said he would also urge the Najib administration to revise the appointment criteria to the board of directors at GLCs.

On Thursday, the government will table the 10th Malaysia Plan while the New Economic Model is expected to be debated.

Financial losses in the GLCs rocked the country’s share market when it was revealed recently.

Last week, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee announced they would haul up the management of both companies  to explain the losses.

Sime Darby reportedly suffered losses amounting to more than RM1.7 billion.

Its chief executive officer Ahmad Zubir Murshid, whose contract was to end in November, has been asked to go on leave.

Last month Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussein told Parliament that POS Malaysia has incurred losses over past three years amounting to RM227 million.

Let us see whether the BN government will resolve this matter  to the betterment of all concerned Malaysians.