Achilles Heels and Bad Leadership

As the 13 GE looms near, speculated to be held sometime in May or June, whether BN wins back some of its lost state governments or reclaim its two-third majority in Parliament is anybody's guess.

In evaluating the likely chances of BN coming back into strength, do read the mainstream media with a chunk of salt. Similarly those who read the alternative media, expect speculation galore too as most of the premises they are built upon may also be suspect.

Be that as it may,let me also do my own so-called fair bit of crystal gazing and musings while the authorities put their thinking hats to call the election in the near term or to serve the full term till April 2013.

I believe that lately, the BN government has been on the defensive. The flip-flops; while good for the targeted segments of the Malaysian population, does not augur well for the BN leadership. Perception is very important and the current report card shows that BN is assailed from all directions.

These range from the volte-face capitulation in education-where English will continue to be used for the teaching of Science and Maths except for those in Std 1 and Std 2. So much gung-ho from the Education Minister and then he bucked! Now the opposition civil society groups such as PAGE has now galvanised with other like-minded groups to form a bigger group to fight for the liberation of education; and the use of English in the national education system for the sake of the future of Malaysian children in a competitive globalised world.

The second is the complete reversion of the Public Services Salaries Scheme to square one; albeit with some new changes that would appease the lower rungs of civil servants. Where the government is going to obtain the extra RM3 billion to foot the bill only Houdini can conjure up!

The others imbroglios include the RM300 million loans to buyers of KL City Hall flats which has yet to take off because of the supposedly sub-prime status of its borrowers and the ineffective 1Malaysia First Home Purchases for graduates which has yet to see some semblance of success. Here, Bank Negara is not moving an inch from its new lending guidelines in order to check the increasing household debt.

The controversial Felda Global Ventures listing is still stormy as the courts will be used again and again to stall the listing. Side-lining the Felda settlers will be a bane to BN. Failing to resolve this problem amicably will mean FELDA-driven constituencies may fell to the Opposition,regardless whether Pakatan is weak or strong in those areas.

The protest against the Gebeng Lynas project is still smouldering and may cost seats particularly in constituencies around Kuantan and in Pahang. There is also the likelihood that the effects may also reverberate to other constituencies nation-wide.

As I have written in an earlier post,as the razor-sharp no-stones un-turned PR investigative teams zoom in from one issue to another, the BN is forced into an Alamo siege mentality of of sorts. The 'Cowgate' scandal has been a field day for the PR faction. They have got some of the protagonists turned antagonists into courts and more may be charged.

The winds is in their sails as they now take on the PM exposing his birthday and his daughter's engagement party do. How will the PM re-act on this? Elegant silence or take the bulls by its horns and expose the PR investigators?

In Sarawak. BN may have a fighting chance in Sabah as the Opposition is yet to show any strength. Also, you have leaders such as Jeffrey Kitingan and Yong Teck Lee and their counterparts that are coming up from hibernation mode to throw a spanner into the works further confusing the Sabahan voters as they grappled with the need for an RCI to look into the ugly problem of illegal immigrants being fast-tracked into becoming voting citizens.

It will be BN's bulwark in Sarawak helmed by 'Peh Moh' which will help BN to make it its day or break its back in this coming elections. Intrepid and adept in politics as he is, this veteran is putting his finger to the wind. He may jump ship if the Titanic sinks! As they say, politics is the art of the possible!

For PR,which is the weakest party in the Pakatan Rakyat alliance, they have to ensure potential frogs are weeded out from their candidate list. Most ex-UMNO candidates may have to be thoroughly vetted before they can be considered as deserving candidates. That is Keadilan's Achilles heel.

Will history repeat itself and cause another Perak debacle?

Random Walks and Oil and Gas Adventures

For the last few months, the market has been rumbling with rumours about corporate takeovers and asset injections. But do take notice, they are mostly penny stock counters.

Some parties have seen it worthwhile to take over these loss-making entities and in the process push their prices sky-high. Remember Tri-cubes and Karambunai? The latest to join the adventure is Naim Indah Corp (Nicorp)and Envair.

Nicorp has been invited by a party to tender for a takeover of some oil and gas facilities while Envair has a new majority shareholder in a politically connected carpet man.

The other phenomenon happening lately is called, in stock market parlance, the 'random walk'. Here, all stocks will naturally get out of hibernation and have their day of fame on the bourse's 'catwalk'. They prices will start to move up with heavy volume and then spurt upwards like a fountain only to fell back bringing losses to the uninitiated. Be careful. One such counter is Metronic Global. Is it doing a random walk or is it also embarking on an oil and gas adventure as it is an UMNO vehicle?

Now,both types of developments will occur in timely fashion,just before an impending general elections and since the election is looming closer every day, such counters are made into 'race-track horses' to make hay for the politically connected at the behest of greedy retail buyers and day traders. Once, they have amassed sufficient political funds to donate to their Godfather parties, the stocks will wither in price, lose momentum and be back to square one in no time. Look at Harvest Court,no one is interested really in it these days, though it has escalated so high because of some personalities. Money have been made, money have been lost!

For the weak hearted and weak-kneed, do stay away from these games.

YTL Corp-From RM1.55 to RM2.00

For those who bought YTL Corp shares cum share split of 1 into 5 way back in April 2011, you would have average about RM1.55 per share.

Subsequent to that, it rose as high as RM1.82 and went down as low as RM1.29. Currently it is back at RM1.73. [on 20 March 2012, it ended at RM1.76.]

If RHB IB forecast price of RM2.00 is achieved within 2012, that would mean that an investor who bought the share just after ex-split would have made RM0.45 sen per share. Assuming that you bought the share today at RM1.73, it means there is another 17 sen to be made if the share price moves and stays at that price of RM2.00.

So, let us re-calculate:

For the investor who made 0.45 sen, it meant a return of 29% gross or 23% nett.

For the investor who bought in today at RM1.73;with a potential 17 sen to be had, it means a return of 9.8% gross. Minusing brokerage and administrative charges, it means a return of 3.8%.This is still better than the current bank rate of 3%.

Today(20 March 2012)OSK IB predicts that YTL Corp will go further to a new top price of RM2.10.

So, would you still buy into YTL Corp at this stage?

Confessions of a Pharmaceutical Industry Practitioner

Truly shocking revelation of what the pharmaceutical industry is really up to.

So, if you are on any of the drugs mentioned by this lady be it anti-depressants or cholesterol lowering drugs, review your intake of these!

And the Proverbial Sun Doth Rises

With the Eurozone and Wall Street sending better than neutral signals,local conditions will determine the direction of our local equities market.

As I see it, the culprit EPF seller may have sold enough to lock in its profits.Khazanah has also posted rosy figures to appease its stakeholders.

As the price of the blue chips got eroded,smart buyers; however small, have got into the action to beef up their portfolios with Maybank,Sime Darby, Tenaga and Telekom Malaysia shares.

I also believed institutions are back and buying into Digi, Public Bank and YTL Corp.

So, the FBMCI index rose about 10 points to 1573.43 by 10 am.

There seems to be many weak sellers in the field today and if there is sufficient traction on the blue chips such as BAT, CIMB, Shell and UMW, we should hold strong with this index.

Let us see how the trading day pans out.

Where are you Driving YTL Corp?

Francis Yeoh has God on his side.

I believe he knows what he is doing.

Apart from amassing shares for the coffers of the Treasury from the recent wanton sell-out by EPF and the potential glut of weak sellers who converted from the now de-registered YTL Cement counter running amok,what is up in his sleeves?

Like the recent KL floods, YTL Corp shares were massively being sold down below RM1.65 by these mean EPF chaps.

Fortunately, strong buying support pushed the price up 5 sen to RM1.71 at noon today.

There must be something in the air. Otherwise RHB IB would not venture to give a top price of RM2.00 for YTL Corp.

I am very sure after the one to five share split,the absorption of YTL Cement shares from the market and the sale of its hospitality assets to STAREIT, Francis has become more focused and must have something special to grow YTL further.

Along with close to RM 13 billion of liquid cash in the vaults of YTL Corp, something is bound to happen.

What is it?

Transgenders in the Sky!

This must be the first time I have formally heard of the hiring of transgenders as flight attendants.

That it has occurred in Thailand aboard PC Air is no wonder, knowing that Thailand is a very open society, tolerant of transgenders.

They are no longer considered as queers and force to closet themselves. Just hear the momentous applaud when Bell Nuntita, a gorgeous transgender belted out in song in the Thailand Has Talent contest.

From Patthaya to Phuket, through such beauty contests like Miss Tiffany, transgenders are considered as normal people and can do as they like without aspersions being cast upon them. Given that most Thais are Buddhists and in a liberating globalised world, their forgiving and accepting nature is now well-known.

Let us together read some excepts of a news report for The SunDaily.

"Aboard flight GT210 on March 12; with her crisp uniform, immaculate makeup and hair swept up, Mew looks like any other air hostess, but she's one of a handful of Thai transsexuals blazing a trail in the skies.

Thailand-based carrier PC Air has now hired four transgender cabin crew in a highly publicised recruitment drive that has divided opinion over whether the move is in the spirit of equality or exploitation.

"I like a job where I can show my ability and I love to wear beautiful suits," said Phuntakarn Sringern, better known by her nickname Mew, embarking Friday on the airline's first commercial flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong.

"This is just like my dream come true, and maybe this is a first step for transladies, transgenders, to have a good job in the future," the 25-year-old said.

In their neat black uniform and fiery orange scarves, Mew and her colleagues ushered passengers to their seats, demonstrated safety features and filled coffee cups -- offering little indication that they were any different from the other air hostesses on the flight.

Some passengers, perhaps having seen PC Air's advertising, asked the transsexual cabin crew to pose for pictures with them, but many seemed unaware there was anything unusual about the flight attendants.

"Oh, I did not hear before about it," said Bay, a Thai passenger. "They look really beautiful, and they are really nice... it's pretty cool."

Thailand has a culture of tolerance on issues of sexual orientation and gender, and "katoeys", as transsexuals are known in the kingdom, are considered a "third sex" in their own right.

In spite of this, more conservative elements of society find it hard to accept, with some families sending their children to monasteries to be "re-educated" and transsexuals struggling to find work in many areas.

"In my heart, I always want to be a flight attendant but I was waiting for an opportunity," said air hostess Chayathisa Nakmai, aged 24. But until now "every airline is open only for men and women, transgender is not accepted".

PC Air's initiative is being welcomed by some activists, who applaud its efforts to offer a chance of ordinary work to transgender people.

The company "helps promote a positive image of Thai transsexuals, beyond certain stereotypes", said transgender advocate Prempreeda Pramoj Na Ayutthaya. But others are sceptical about the motives of the company, which has actively sought to publicise its recruitment drive.

"They use the zany, outrageous, bizarre side of transsexuals," said Yollada Krerkkong Suanyot, president of Thailand's TransFemale Association of Thailand.

"This emphasises the way that society has regarded these people as if they were strange, special, bizarre. Come see them, these are stewardesses!".

Buddhist Thailand is spared from the "weight of the Judeo-Christian sexual repression", but had in the past been influenced by some Western ideas that presented transsexuals as "mentally disordered", said Sam Winter, a psychologist and gender specialist at the University of Hong Kong.

The result is "a practical and bureaucratic intolerance" towards a group of nearly 180,000 people, he says.

With few avenues for employment, growing numbers of Thai transsexuals are moving into sex work as a way to make money and for a "rare chance to affirm their identity as women", said Winter.

Despite their sex change operation, the law does not recognise Mew, and her transsexual colleagues as women -- a situation that forces PC Air to contact the destination country in advance, to avoid trouble at immigration gates.

PC Air currently has three planes and will operate charter flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations.

The company's boss Peter Chan, who lent his initials to the airline, is proud of being a "pioneer".

He denies any intention to use the transsexual crews as a marketing ploy and highlights reasons of the "heart" and "human rights" to justify the policy.

"It was never about money," the eccentric 48-year-old told AFP, before embarking on a rendition of "My Way" by Frank Sinatra as if to prove his point.

The slogan is also painted on the company's aircraft: "I believe it's 'my way'".

Mew, who had sex change surgery two years ago, is now hoping that others will follow in the company's footsteps, in the air and elsewhere.

"Maybe in the future," she said, "all transladies, all transgenders could get a job like a flight attendant or be prime minister." – AFP"

I think Peter is right here.