mas bailout
MAS Bailout? Why Not Rescue Smallholders Too?


PRM President Media Statement

In whatever way Tun Daim Zainuddin tries to justify the purchase of MAS shares from Naluri, at RM8 per share (which is more than 100 percent of the share market price), the public is still not convinced that it is other than a bailout. Naluri is owned by Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli. It may appear that Finance Ministry Inc. is bailing out Tajuddin, but in actual fact, it is suspected it may also be helping to bail out more powerful political figures for whom Tajuddin is known to act as a nominee.

A few months back, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad explained that MAS faced problems owing particularly to the economic downturn experienced by the Asian region beginning July 1997. But then he did not explain why other Asian airlines, such as the Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways survived pretty well under the same circumstances and continue to be doing pretty well till now.

Perhaps Mahathir and Daim should also explain two other things that might have added to MAS difficulties. First, MAS might have overstretched itself when it ordered to buy a number of state of the art Boeing planes costing billions of ringgit before the economic downturn. Second, MAS was practically forced to give up the lucrative annual flights during the pilgrimage seasons to Air Asia. Of course it is well known that one of the children of the Prime Minister has interests in Air Asia.

The Government or Finance Ministry has always been ever so keen to bail out ailing cronies or crony companies. Why are they not equally concerned about the plights of much less fortunate sections of the population? For example, the oil palm small-holders are now facing difficulties because the price of their produce has plunged from over RM300 per ton at the beginning of the economic downturn to merely RM80 per ton now.

The rubber tappers as well as rice farmers are also suffering from low prices and difficulty to dispose off their produce. Why is there no help from government to rescue them from their difficulties? Doesn’t Mahathir or Daim consider them worthwhile helping, when the elections are still far away, because the smallholders and farmers are not their cronies? But then, Mahathir claimed that all Malays are his cronies.

Dr Syed Husin Ali
PRM President
19 January 2001
umno's
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Bailout of MAS and LRT


First MAS. Then the LRT. The BN Government has decided to take them over. The BN government leaders may consider them to be good investment or good restructuring plans. But from my point of view they are nothing more than just blatant bailouts. There is no need for any pretension on this.

Both MAS and the LRT were originally privatised presumably to make them more efficient and competitive. But what happened? Their privatization was used to help promote the likes of Tan Seri Tajuddin Ramli and Tan Seri Halim Saad. From all kinds of deals, contracts, commissions and so forth, a small coterie of cronies of the political leadership is able to enrich themselves. Now that MAS and LRT are almost bankrupt, the BN government leaders come to their rescue, using the people’s money, our money. It’s a real win-win situation for them.

Who are the people behind MAS and LRT? We only know about their nominees or fronts. We are certain if people like Tajuddin and Halim were the real owners of MAS and the LRT (Putera) and completely on their own, the leading figures in government would not go all out to rescue them. Will the real figures behind MAS and LRT stand up? We would like to know them and how much they really care for the ordinary people. We already know how well they can help themselves and their cronies.
Tuesday January 23


Tajudin’s the national treasure, not MAS
Paul Warren

4:29pm, Tue: I am becoming annoyed by the continued reference to the government's purchase of the 29 percent stake in Malaysian Airline System from Tajudin Ramli as a bailout of MAS. What is worse is that those promoting this idea of a MAS bailout are those who are most opposed to it in the first place.

Can’t they see that of the billions to be paid out, not a single sen will reach MAS? Can’t they see that it was a personal possession of Tajudin - through Naluri Bhd - that got bought at the puffed-up value using taxpayers' money? All that money paid goes to Naluri and from there on to whoever is behind that facade.

If there is truth in that MAS is in desperate financial straits, then obviously none of what has been paid out over this purchase goes to securing MAS' position. Therefore, in the interim, MAS' precarious position remains just that... precarious!

If further new injection of funds is needed in order for MAS to continue as a going concern, then it is only then that any funds injected would amount to a MAS bailout. Until then, considering that the government found it more expedient at this time that the allotted billions was first appropriated to Tajudin rather than MAS, it would appear that it was Tajuddin who would have been in greater dire straits than MAS was and is.

If on the other hand it is found that MAS is just as badly in need of funds as Tajudin was, then what we can see from this is the government's prioritisation of preferences. And it would seem that between Tajudin and MAS, the former wins out. Tajudin stands out as a greater national treasure than MAS.

The government has hoodwinked the people into believing that in order to save a national treasure, MAS, the buyout at twice the market price was appropriate. We can see from the above argument that the national treasure in question is really none other than Tajudin, not MAS!

A lot more of taxpayer's money has to be paid in order to salvage MAS. Only then does a bailout happen. All that we have had until now is a Tajudin Ramli bailout.

I would also like to highlight one other matter. Does anyone recall any major publicity recently over MAS' new Boeing acquisition, Mastar (or something like that)? A real beauty, fit for more than just any king. Beautiful leather seats, lots of room for sleeping and lazing around, three different levels of seating - Executive, VIPs, and VVIPs - probably fewer than 50 can fly in it. It was used by our King's entourage to go to the Sydney Olympics last year and it is for hire!

No wonder MAS loses money!
Opposition files police report against Malaysian PM over MAS bailout

27 January 2001 1006 hrs (GMT) 1806 hrs (SST)



Malaysian opposition leaders have filed a police report against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, accusing him of profiting from a controversial bailout of Malaysia's national airline.

Nearly 100 senior officials and members of the National Justice Party gathered to file the report which allegedly contained 1,336 signatures, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport police station.

They urged police to take action against Dr Mahathir and Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, over the government's use of public funds to repurchase a controlling stake in the financially troubled Malaysian Airlines System, or MAS, from a prominent tycoon.

Police declined to comment on the report.

The government announced several weeks ago that it would buy back a 29 percent stake in MAS from the Naluri holding company run by businessman Tajudin Ramli for RM1.79 billion.