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.

Malaysia: The Return of the E & E Sector

Trade figures, released yesterday (5 June) by the International Trade and Industry Ministry showed total exports in April rose 26.6% year-on-year to RM52.03bil, while imports surged by 27% to RM42.8bil.

Moreover, trade in April this year expanded by 26.7% to RM94.83bil, compared with April last year.

Trade surplus was valued at RM9.22bil, making it the 150th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.

On a month-on-month basis, exports and imports decreased by 12.4% and 5.1% respectively. Total trade was 9.3% lower.

The increase in exports in April of RM10.92bil from a year ago was largely attributed to higher exports of electrical and electronic products (E&E), which increased by 21.6% or RM3.67bil, crude petroleum (93% or RM1.35bil) , chemicals and chemical products (26.2% or RM698.1mil), refined petroleum products (50.4% or RM644.9mil) and liquefied natural gas (33.2% or RM643,5mil).

Singapore, China, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong were the top five export destinations, accounting for 51.4% of Malaysia’s total exports.

Total imports in April increased by 27% to RM42.8bil from April 2009 due mainly to higher imports of intermediate goods.

Total trade during the period January to April increased by 31% to RM373.32bil.

During the same period, exports increased by 29.7% to RM210.74bil, while imports rose 32.8% to RM162.58bil, resulting in a trade surplus of RM48.15bil.

RAM Holdings Bhd group chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the export and import figures fell slightly below RAM’s expectation.

Yeah said for April the increase in exports of 26.6% year-on-year was on the lower end of RAM’s expectation, which was range bound between 25% to 30%, while the increase in imports for April of 27% year-on-year was also within the lower range of RAM’s expectation bewteen 25% to 35%.


Yeah said it was difficult to gauge Malaysia’s trade performance over one month.

“Going forward, RAM expects Malaysia’s trade performance to improve further over the next four to six months,” he said.

RHB economist Peck Boon Soon also said Malaysia’s trade figures for April fell below RHB’s expectations.

“For exports, we expected an increase of 30% and imports an increase of 32%,” he said.

Going forward, Peck said there were worrying global economic trends could dampen demand.

“The Euro debt crisis is still on-going and demand from China, especially retailing end is slowing down and may potentially have an adverse effect on exports level worldwide, including Malaysia,” he said.

Ascot Sports: Is This the Tipping Point?

There has been too much brouhaha for Vincent Tan.

Angered by the conspiracy theorists that he has been bankrolling BN's by-elections thus far and that the sports gambling license is  BN's payback to him, Vincent Tan has decided to give away all the proceeds of the 70% sale of RM525 million to Berjaya Corp Berhad. He will continue to have his remaining 30%.

But is this the tipping point?

Will the parties who at adamant about the ban of the sports license be appeased?. To me, it is a positive negative here. They will go for the jugular and finally BN will have to pull back the licence to the grimace of the Berjaya Corp shareholders and the Better Malaysia Foundation.

I think this is one stormy cloud for magnate-tycoon Vincent Tan with a silver lining for the Malaysian people.

In this episode, the people will likely win against big government and corporate wheeling-dealing.

What’s love got to do with it?

I am pasting Tay Tian Yan's interesting story about sex and teachers.

Let's have some fun.

"I really had no clue how to give this article a proper title.

Should I just put it forthright: To be a good teacher, learn how to make love first?

Or: I’m a good teacher, and I make love every night?

If I did, I would have been smashed up by teachers and their spouses.

But what else could I say? This is the real thing! Kisah benar!

Two days ago, 41-year-old male teacher Alias Ismail, winner of the Tokoh Nilam award for outstanding teacher, revealed the secret recipe of his success. He said he derived his vitality and focus in teaching from, you guess, reading and sex!

Reading and making love every night, and the love-making always comes after the reading!

I have the slightest hint what these two things have got to do with each other.

For other people, the following might be the reality:

“Darling, what’re you reading now?”

“I’m reading XXX. What about you, babe. Are you reading something?”

“Put that down, honey! Roll over quickly!”

So, to ordinary people, reading and love-making do not seem to get along so well with each other, unless you are holding hard porn in your hands before going to bed.

But with the advent of CDs, DVDs and things like that, even this remaining possible linkage is now annulled.

It is not easy to emulate Mr and Mrs Alias for a number of reasons.

Firstly, people usually drift into dreamland having flipped a few pages, too exhausted for anything else including sex.

Secondly, if love-making is on the agenda, there is absolutely no place for reading mood.

As if that is not enough, these two things are physically and mentally exhausting, and the engagement in either of them could potentially kill the second day’s vibrance.

But our Cikgu Alias accomplishes both these daunting tasks, and still stays physically and mentally active over time.

Wait a minute! It shouldn’t go this way. Alias is a role model among teachers, someone the students should emulate and learn from.

But he is telling everyone that half his achievement has been attributed to his daily love-making routine.

Should other teachers and his pupils take the cue from him?

As a teacher par excellence, a prominent figure in the education sector, he should have shared his teaching experience instead, for example, how to advance holistic education and how to prevent our schools from turning into “hell schools” like the one in Rawang, among many other things.

What he must not divulge to the public is the contribution of his daily night-time feats towards teaching excellence.

If he has some special liking in certain fields, that will constitute wholly his personal undertaking.

Common sense tells us that there is no correlation between these two things.

Alias’ logic has been built upon the society’s misconception about sex. Many people are only partially informed of regular sex, resulting in a lot of exaggeration, distortion and misinformation.

Ubiquitous love potion ads on lamp posts and road signs, the aphrodisiac effects emphasised by coffee drinks, the open sale of X-rated pornography and cheap and fanciful love that abounds in our midst. And to top it all, we now have a model teacher-turned-sex sales master.

Perhaps, Alias should take up an offer to speak for Tongkat Ali products, but where education is concerned, he has been talking nothing but trash. And from the medical perspective, he should consult a physician, or a psychologist, to get his indulgence fixed. — mysinchew.com"

Walla! There you have it. A tall story?

Wilmar: Who Did the Boo-Boo?

Jakarta(2/6/2010)

Wilmar International Ltd. (Wilmar), the world’s largest palm oil trader, is being investigated by the Indonesian tax office over fictitious value added tax (VAT) refunds said tax director-general M Tjiptardjo, the top tax official said Tuesday. The taxes in question are from the period of 2007-2008.

Wilmar has denied the company ever falsified its tax returns.

“Questions of fictitious or false claims made by the group do not arise.Internal records in respect of the VAT refund claims vis-a-vis export sales will stand scrutiny,” Wilmar had said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange on May 19.

Wilmar said it was entitled to receive VAT refunds after it “exported more than US$3 billion worth of palm oil in each of the last three financial years”.

Lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said on May 18 he received a report from an unidentified tax official that Wilmar received VAT refunds worth Rp 800 billion ($87.2 million) in 2007 and Rp 900 billion in 2008. The company was set to receive another refund worth Rp 1.9 trillion. 

Let's wait ans see who did the boo-boo.