Filed under: Real Estate
surian tower will be ready by march 2009…good and bad news for me….
good news
this will create additional properties demand at damansara…rental would be good…purchasing may be….
bad news….
traffic jam..currently mutiara and KD have terrible jam during peak hours!!
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THE development of 360 acres in Mutiara Damansara by Boustead Properties Bhd will see the addition of another jewel in March with the completion of the 26-storey Surian Tower office building.
According to its executive director Datuk Ghazali Mohd Ali, this is part of the property developer’s efforts to add value to the current development: “Of the 360 acres of development, 20 acres are allocated for corporate office projects while the other 40 acres are for retail.”
“It will be the tallest building in this area. We will also build and maintain the roads here to ensure easy access, not just for those living here, but also for visitors as well. With the help of the authorities, we have managed to control the traffic here, though there is still room for improvement,” he said at a recent media briefing.
Ghazali: About two million people come to The Curve every month.
There are several access roads to Mutiara Damansara – via Persiaran Surian from Bandar Utama, Persiaran Surian from Kota Damansara, Jalan PJU 7/1 from Damansara Perdana and via Penchala Link from Kuala Lumpur.
Sited on prime area just beside Bandar Utama and with freehold title, Mutiara Damansara properties enjoy high appreciation value especially the residential units.
For example, he pointed out, when Mutiara Damansara first launched its bungalows and semi-Ds in 2002, the selling prices were RM1.3mil and RM843,000 respectively. Last year, he says, these units were changing hands for RM2.4mil and RM1.8mil respectively.
Boustead Properties is now preparing to launch its last residential development in the area, Mutiara Damansara Surian Residency, which will be its second condominium project after the Surian Condominium. The freehold development will have about 300 units of between 900 and 2,200 sq ft.
It will have two blocks of 23 and 25 storeys each and some low-rise units, priced at about RM400 psf.
The Surian Tower building, he says, will be eco-friendly as it will tap rain water through its ground reservoir for landscaping.
“We are building a car park above to give natural ventilation. Apart from that, we are using layers of sun shading louvres for energy consumption,” he adds.
The new office building will have over 300,000 sq ft of space for rental and each floor plate offers 15,000 sq ft of space with net lettable area of 12,000 sq ft.
“Our plan is to have about 60% anchor tenants while the balance would be for smaller companies. About 50% of the space has already been taken up,” he says, adding that Nestle (M) Bhd will be one of the anchor tenants.
Work on the building, a gross development value of RM165mil, started 1½ years ago. It was sold to Lembaga Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) for RM500 psf.
“Surian Tower will provide a total of 930 car parks to add to the existing 7,000 parking bays around The Curve area. This will help ease the shortage of parking bays around this area especially during the weekends,” says Ghazali.
The Curve, Malaysia’s first lifestyle pedestrianised shopping mall, is owned and developed by Mutiara Rini Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boustead Properties.
Currently, about 98% of the space at The Curve is occupied. Even so, he says, there is a long waiting list of new tenants eager to move in.
“About two million people come to The Curve every month. Traffic is high, which is a good sign for our tenants’ businesses. Some of them are, in fact, expanding their businesses here,” he says.
The Curve has about 70 food and beverage outlets, bistros and cafés, as well as, 250 shops plus 20 office suites.
Boustead Properties also plans to build a second Royal Bintang hotel (the first is The Royal Bintang Damansara) to be located behind Cineleisure which will have about 300 rooms and a convention centre.
“We plan to build an interlink connecting The Surian Tower to the hotel and straight to The Curve shopping mall. It would be fully air-conditioned, five metres wide with some shops along the way,” he says, adding to improve connectivity, the company is also hoping to have a physical link from the proposed new LRT station beside the Surian Tower.
Filed under: Real Estate, Stocks Investing | Tags: global financial crisis
this is how US faces the global financial crisis….banks still lend money to some1 who can’t pay (who is not eligible according to strict standard)…they make US citizen in debt up to their eyeball…irresponsible banks plus the complacent American citizens and US govt no regulations on banking system created the global crisis..
no market for our export means no jobs mean our economy will be in deep troubles.
so buying opportunities for us by end of march? pbbank at RM5?? prime properties auctioned?? hopefully i have lots of cash to grab all the opportunities.
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Eve Pidgeon, communications director for a nonprofit credit counseling service in Michigan, says she’ll never forget the day she realized she owed more than her home was worth.
“I was at work, saying, ‘Can you believe I can’t refinance my house?’” recalls Pidgeon, who had made timely payments on her 30-year mortgage for nine years and has a credit score over 800. “Then a [colleague] said, ‘You’re upside down — like our clients.’ I thought, ‘My God — I am?’ I thought that happened to people who had $50,000 on credit cards and refinanced into adjustable-rate mortgages.”
A Canadian immigrant who became a U.S. citizen, Pidgeon bought her home in 1999. Her mortgage broker said she qualified for a $240,000 loan — on her then-salary of $33,000 per year and her husband’s volatile income as a freelance photographer.
Passing Up the Big, Fabulous House
“Calculations for insurance, escrow for property taxes — none of that was considered,” recalls Pidgeon, who has two children. “Of course we wanted a big, fabulous house, but when I crunched the numbers, I thought, ‘If the cost of any one thing in our [budget] goes up, we’re going to be in a deficit every month.’ It put a lot of pressure on my marriage because my husband said, ‘You’re terrible at math; this is a professional who knows what he’s doing, and we should get this house.’”
Instead they bought a quaint 1918 Victorian for $135,000. Pidgeon, who eventually divorced and navigated a job layoff without ever missing a mortgage payment or accumulating high-interest credit card debt, has refinanced twice — from 8 percent to 6.8 percent, and then again to 6.3 percent, always locking in for 30 years. She wanted to refinance again when rates slipped under 5 percent, but widespread foreclosures have depressed her home’s value; comparable dwellings are selling at or below the $117,000 she still owes.
Pidgeon is emblematic of the financial insecurity afflicting millions of Americans who are being punished despite doing all the right things with their money. Hard work, steady savings, and thoughtful sacrifices haven’t protected their jobs, nest eggs, or home values from an economy twisted by fraud and stupidity, coldly indifferent to responsibility and productivity.
Homeowners Underwater
By one estimate, 12 million homeowners – one in six — are underwater
on their mortgages. In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices dropped an average 18 percent in November compared to the year-earlier period, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, released earlier this week.
Unemployment rose in all 50 states in December and surpassed 10 percent in two — Rhode Island and Pidgeon’s home state of Michigan. Moreover, in the year following October 2007 — the stock market’s peak — more than $1 trillion of stock held in 401(k)s and other defined-contribution plans evaporated, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
“The new insecurity doesn’t look like the old insecurity — grainy Dorthea Lange photos of Depression-era men and women, their weathered faces projecting despair and helplessness,” writes Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker in his book ‘The Great Risk Shift’. “Those who experience it have homes, cars, families, degrees. They’ve usually tasted the fruits of success, if sometimes only fleetingly. They very rarely end up on the streets or in shelters. For most, insecurity is a private experience, hidden away behind closed doors, felt in quiet despair.”
A Fair Question in Unfair Times
Consider a reader’s comment last week following my column on the difference between optimism and magical thinking. The poster wrote that he was a computer programmer who had been employed for 25 years, worked hard, lived frugally, and was now laid off. His 401(k) had lost half its value and his home equity had declined sharply.
“Please tell me again why you believe I should be optimistic?” he wrote. “Is it that you expect folks (suckers) in my situation to get up, brush off, and once again toil to accumulate wealth that will be seized from me in one way or another?”
That’s a fair question in unfair times. At the very least, we can mitigate the risks of having our hard-earned cash seized in the future by asking ourselves a series of questions:
1. Do you live within your means? How long could you live without your current income if you lost your job? Do you know exactly how much money comes in and where it goes each month? What areas of your budget could you slash immediately? What expenses can you cut back for the next year and reallocate toward a cash cushion?
2. If you consistently ratchet up your lifestyle to match rising income, can you
divert half of any raise, bonus, or other increase you receive into savings instead?
3. Have you considered a strategy to obtain severance or other benefits in the event you’re laid off? How up-to-date is your resume and network of contacts, and what would be the first five steps you would take to find a new position? Have you investigated your options for continuing or obtaining health insurance?
4. If you are living on two incomes, how can you shift your lifestyle and spending to rely on one for needs and the other for wants?
5. How well do your insurance policies protect you and the people you love? Have you shopped around for the lowest premiums?
6. If you carry high-interest, revolving debt, what is your plan for eliminating it, and how long will it take?
7. Do you have written goals — short-, medium- and long-term — for your money that reflect what you value most, with specific dollar amounts and time frames? Do you know how fast the cost of your goal is rising?
8. Do you understand how your money is invested, how much risk you’re taking, and what expenses and fees you are paying? Do you understand the tax implications of your financial decisions (and your geographic choices)? If not, are you making an effort to learn about these critical areas of your portfolio?
9. Are you taking good care of your health to reduce the risk of financially devastating medical costs?
10. Do you give as much energy to your family and friends as you do to your finances? (Losing your shirt is a lot more painful when you go through it alone.)
The Risks We Face
“Studies consistently suggest that we are good at some kinds of risk assessments and very bad at others,” Hacker writes. “And unfortunately, the kinds of risks that we face today — diffuse, interwoven, mounting, uncertain — are precisely those we are most likely to overlook. Economic losses for families are often like system failures in engineering — they cascade from seemingly small events into major crises. Yet few of us worry much about the small events that can set off the chain.”
Pidgeon says she never imagined she’d be in her first home nearly a decade after she bought it, but she is focused on the positive. “If I could [refinance], I could gain a few hundred dollars in my monthly surplus and use it to stimulate the sagging local economy,” she says. “But my priority was to move to the States and make the most of my education and my career, and raise a wonderful family in a safe, comfortable, and loving environment. Whether I’m paying 6.3 percent or 4.5 percent, I feel very proud that I accomplished that.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/137398
KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd will reduce their Base Lending Rate (BLR) and Islamic Financing Rate (IFR) by 55 basis points from 6.5% to 5.95% from Feb 3.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Hong Leong Bank said the cut in the BLR followed Bank Negara’s move to cut the overnight policy rate by 75 basis points on Jan 21.
“The reduction of BLR/IFR would translate into lower cost of financing for our customers and businesses,” it said.
It added the lower borrowing costs would support the central bank’s objective to promote domestic economic activities.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/28/business/20090128181535&sec=business
Filed under: Real Estate, Stocks Investing | Tags: bank negara, global finaancial crisis
Global financial crisis already affects the real economy since 2 months ago. The economy is getting worst especially in US &Europe. US & Europe are the market for most of Malaysian products. It will affect Malaysian economy by end of Q1.
I think our market is already affected that is why Bank Negara cuts OPR by 75 basis points which are a lot.
Troubles time ahead for unprepared ones and opportunities time for those who are prepared for this one.
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By CATHERINE RAMPELL Furloughs, wage reductions, hiring freezes and shorter hours simply did not do enough. A year into this recession, companies across the board are resorting to mass job cuts. Home Depot, Caterpillar, Sprint Nextel and at least eight other companies announced on Monday they would cut more than 75,000 jobs in the United States and around the world — a gloomy start to the workweek for employees anxious about holding their own as the economy sinks. Caterpillar, the maker of heavy equipment, is slashing its payrolls by 16 percent. Texas Instruments said late in the day that it would eliminate 3,400 jobs, or 12 percent of its work force. Jobs began disappearing in home building and mortgage operations early in the recession, then across finance and banking more generally. Now the ax is falling across large swaths of manufacturing, retailing and information technology, taking out workers from New York to Seattle. Just last week, Microsoft announced its first significant job cuts ever. Because companies like Microsoft have invested in their workers’ skills and knowledge, they usually delay major work force reductions as long as they can. But with orders for new products and services drying up and financing tight, employers are looking to shrink their costs drastically and are slashing their payrolls, anticipating a protracted decline for business in 2009. Monday’s parade of negative news comes after months of announcements from other prominent companies like Citigroup, General Electric, Nokia and Harley-Davidson. On Wednesday, the tally of mass layoffs for December will be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Already, the bureau says the United States economy has shed 2.55 million jobs since the recession began, pushing the unemployment rate up to 7.2 percent last month. The latest round of job cuts — and the additional rounds likely to come as these move through the economy — mean more pain ahead for states as unemployment insurance claims rise and deplete state budgets. Congress has proposed setting aside $43 billion to assist the states and to provide for new and current recipients of unemployment checks. That money is intended to increase the weekly benefit amounts; to extend how long people can collect payments; to cover more types of workers, like part-timers; and to help states distribute benefits more quickly. It is based largely on an estimate that the unemployment rate will rise to 8 to 9 percent this year even with a stimulus package, according to the proposal summary from the House Appropriations Committee. But if unemployment soars into double digits, as some economists expect, the financing may not be enough. “The economy is deteriorating at a faster clip than even the most dreary forecasts had expected,” said Joseph Brusuelas, an economist who, bucking the current job market trend, will soon start a new job at Moody’s Economy.com. “At the current trend, $43 billion will not be sufficient should we breach 9 percent unemployment and maybe reach into the double digits.” President Obama cited the layoff announcements in remarks Monday urging Congress to approve an $825 billion economic stimulus package of tax cuts, emergency benefits and public spending projects. “These are not just numbers on a page,” he said. “As with the millions of jobs lost in 2008, these are working men and women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold.” Charles DiGisco, of Randolph, N.J., is one casualty of the downturn. He said he had been looking for work since Sept. 18, when he lost his job as a vice president for sales and marketing at Master Cutlery, a knife maker. He frequently hears a familiar refrain from would-be employers: “We would hire you, but we’re not hiring anybody.” His family’s monthly expenses are four times what Mr. DiGisco collects from unemployment, and he said his family was selling two of its three cars and might dispose of some stocks or dip into retirement funds to keep paying the mortgage. “It takes me 20 years to save it, and it takes me five months to go through it,” Mr. DiGisco said. While stimulus spending on public works may take some time to get going, some companies could bring back displaced workers quickly if the government initiative generated new orders. Caterpillar, for example, had announced buyouts, wage freezes and work stoppages around the holidays because of “a dramatic decline in orders,” said Jim Dugan, a spokesman for the company, based in Peoria, Ill. On Monday, the company said that a total of 15,000 permanent and temporary jobs, out of about 125,000, would have been eliminated by the end of this week, and that it would trim 5,000 more by the end of the first quarter. Should orders for earthmovers and other heavy equipment improve, which some expect as countries around the world start building bridges, highways and other public works to help create jobs, Caterpillar can recall some workers quickly. Many companies, though, may not rush to increase staffs even if business begins to pick up. Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project, said downturns often motivate companies to restructure business models permanently, meaning jobs they cut now are unlikely to be replaced. “Structural change is put into overdrive because of the recession,” he said, “so who knows for sure how a company like Microsoft will fare?” Sprint Nextel, which announced Monday that it was eliminating 8,000 jobs, or roughly 14 percent of its work force, is similarly facing some tough restructuring decisions as it continues to hemorrhage subscribers. After the worst holiday shopping season in decades, retailers are letting employees go in droves. More than 66,600 retailing jobs were lost in December, the worst period since the late 1930s. Home Depot, the home improvement retailer, said Monday it would cut 7,000 jobs, or 2 percent of its workers. Some 5,000 cuts will come through store closings, largely of its upscale Expo chain; the rest will come from corporate support, many at its Atlanta headquarters. Carol B. Tomé, Home Depot’s chief financial officer, said the company had explored ways to save Expo, but “as we kept looking at alternatives, the business kept getting softer and softer.” Finally, she said, executives simply realized, “we can’t fix it.” For most of last year, relatively healthy demand for exports gave global companies like Caterpillar a cushion. But with downturns deepening across Europe and Asia, and the dollar strengthening, global demand for costlier American goods has faltered. “There really isn’t any hiding place for companies anymore,” said Nigel Gault, chief United States economist at IHS Global Insight. “The recent numbers coming in from the rest of the world are disastrous.” Jack Healy, Stephanie Rosenbloom, Louis Uchitelle and Jenna Wortham contributed reporting.
PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara has slashed its overnight policy rate (OPR) by 75 basis points to 2.5%, its single largest cut since the OPR was introduced in April 2004, outlining its growing concern on economic growth.
The ceiling and floor rates of the corridor for the OPR were correspondingly reduced to 2.75% and 2.25% respectively while the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) was also reduced from 3.5% to 2%, effective Feb 1, the central bank said.
“With the heightened downside risks to growth, the magnitude of the reductions in the OPR and the SRR is aimed to be pre-emptive in providing a more supportive monetary environment for the domestic economy,” Bank Negara said in a statement yesterday.
Bank Negara last reduced the OPR in November by 25 basis points to 3.25%, its first cut since May 2006.
The sharper deterioration of the global economy is expected to have a greater impact on the Malaysian economy with the large decline in external demand already seen.
“These developments have also affected labour market conditions. Under these circumstances, the urgent implementation
of policy measures will be key towards ensuring the Malaysian economy continues to experience positive growth in 2009,” Bank Negara said.
Inflation continued to decelerate to 4.4% in December 2008, a seven-month low from 5.7% the month before, due largely to lower fuel prices.
The deceleration is expected to continue in line with the weaker demand conditions and lower imported inflation.
Lower inflation essentially allows policy-makers the flexibility to lower rates.
Aseambankers chief economist Suhaimi Illias said the pace of the deterioration on the global front was creating the urgency for the central bank to act aggressively and that he did not expect such large quantum of reductions in both borrowing cost and SRR, which is the amount of reserve capital that banking institutions place with the central bank.
A lower SRR translates into more loanable funds to consumers.
“Its drastic move also seems to suggest that the central bank is done with cutting rates at least for the first half of the year,” he said.
Citi Asia Pacific economics and market analysis vice-president Kit Wei Zheng described Bank Negara’s move as “very bold” and “probably a sign that recession may be hitting home.”
Exports and industrial production have been falling for the past months alongside layoffs and a fall in loan approvals.
The Government is targeting a 3.5% growth this year with certain quarters projecting 2.5%, the lowest growth rate in at least eight years.
Citi is expecting at least a further 50 basis points cut to 2% by mid-year, with more cuts possible depending on the evolution of incoming data.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/22/business/3085020&sec=business
PETALING JAYA: Public Bank Bhd’s fourth-quarter earnings announced Tuesday are within analysts’ expectations, but earnings outlook is still expected to be dampened by the weaker economic prospects this year. For the quarter ended Dec 31, Public Bank posted a slightly lower pre-tax profit of RM812.9mil compared with RM821.2mil in the previous corresponding period. This was due to an increase in loan loss allowance of about RM46mil as well as lower “other operating income” from unit trusts fund management business and stockbroking activities. However, a lower effective tax rate during 2008 that lowered tax expense and zakat to RM156.3mil in the quarter, compared with an expense of RM213.4mil in the previous corresponding quarter, helped boost net profit for the period under review. Net profit for the fourth quarter at RM654mil was 12.8% higher year-on-year and a 6.1% increase from the third quarter. An analyst at a major brokerage said: “Public Bank has met ours and everyone’s expectations. This means that it will do okay but (earnings) will still be affected by higher non-performing loans (NPLs) that are expected to hit the banking sector this year. “However, I think Public Bank will be better off than most other players in the banking sector due to strong asset quality and stringent credit control that it has been demonstrated so far.” Public Bank’s asset quality has improved as at Dec 31, with its gross NPL balance decreasing 13.8% to RM1.21bil compared with RM1.4bil at Dec 31, 2007. The NPL ratio has also improved to 0.9% from 1.2% a year ago. An analyst at another major brokerage said the bank showed “quite strong growth on many fronts, but Hong Kong asset quality took a hit in syndicated loans.” AmResearch deputy head Fiona Leong in a report also expressed similar sentiments. “As warned, loan loss allowance jumped 41% quarter-on-quarter due to additional provision made on impaired loans of Public Bank’s operations in Hong Kong. “There were also specific provisions made on certain loans secured by properties exceeding seven years with zero value assigned to collateral.” However, Leong – who maintains a “buy” call on the counter – said Public Bank’s 6% quarter-on-quarter increase in net profit to RM654mil in the fourth quarter was an achievement. “Although net interest income dipped 1% quarter-on-quarter, a 16% increase in non-interest income and a 17% rise in Islamic banking income pulled up Public Bank’s bottomline,” she said. Public Bank’s gross NPLs rose 4% quarter-on-quarter to RM1.2bil as the bank’s small and medium enterprise customers experienced stress in the fourth quarter, but net NPL ratio remained low at 0.9% while loan loss coverage was high at 160%. Leong sees capital ratios remaining healthy with core capital ratio at 7.7% and risk weighted capital ratio of 13.1% as at end-2008. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/22/business/3082210&sec=business
By Tee Lin Say
His 3-year turnaround plan called for a profit of RM500mil. Impossible, they said. But the airline made more than that – RM851mil – in 2007, a year earlier and 70% more.
Malaysia Airlines Systems Bhd chief executive Datuk Seri Idris Jala not only sets seemingly impossible targets but achieves them – you cannot help but notice, his unrestrained passion for all things impossible.
The loftier the targets, the more he thrives and loves it. But there’s an x-factor – things you can’t control. That, the stoicly spiritual Idris, leaves to divine intervention. But he explains how you can get the divine to be on your side – more on that later.
There is an important caveat for those wanting to transform companies. There has to be personal transformation first.
Idris Jala performing on stage“For me, my baptism of fire was when I went to Sri Lanka as the CEO of Shell in 1998. The company had acute problems and had been losing money for years.
“If I had relied on my textbooks, there was no way I could fix the problems. During that time, I had to unlearn what I had already learnt. I had to reinvent myself to make the impossible happen,” he says in an interview.
To make the impossible happen – that was the key. But how?
“After my Sri Lanka experience, I was a different Idris. Before that, I never believed in the game of the impossible. I was scared of failure and would never think of setting unthinkable targets.
“If you always do safe things, then you will never realise your potential. But if you stretch your targets and push yourself to the limits, you will be surprised at what you can achieve.”
The book by Tracy Goss titled The Last Word on Power/ Executive Reinvention to Make The Impossible Happen helped shaped Idris’ ideas, and today, he makes all his staff read it. “It taught me how to think,” he says.
It is exactly because of his fire for restructuring troubled companies that saw Idris accepting the gargantuan challenge of turning national airlines MAS around in 2005. He got right down to business. On the first day itself at 8.30am, Idris presented his turnaround blueprint to the board of directors.
Idris went so far as to make the business turnaround plan totally public – something never been done before by a listed company in Malaysia. And everybody felt Idris’ targets were crazy. They were wrong, of course.
He breaks down the turnaround process into four crucial parts:
·Build the case for change and get the buy-in from stakeholders such as the board, employees, shareholders and the Government.
·Lay the facts on the table and explain their consequences. “I told them, if we don’t change, we will run out of money in three months,” he explains.
·Unleash talents, much of which was done through running laboratories, where people were put together in rooms to come up with solutions to problems.
·Focus on the profit and loss (P&L) accounts. “If an activity did not generate profit or reduce losses, I was not interested.”
“Today, all MAS staff are very aware of having to anchor everything to the P&L statements. We have created leaders and seen so much potential from our staff through our strategy of running laboratories,” he says.
Divine Intervention
Despite Idris pinning everything down to numbers and getting to the root of problems, he is a strong believer in divine intervention – God or fengshui, or something else if you prefer. Idris believes the majority of things that happen in our lifes are beyond our control.
“We cannot control 60% of the things in our lives. With the 40% that we have, we can try our best. It does not matter if we fail. We need to recognise that we are vulnerable. That gives us the peace of mind.
“We need to bring in the element of humility. The day you think the world is at your feet, that is when pride sets in, and it is over,” he says.
He thinks divine intervention works to one’s favour, when you do some things.
First, be a good human being, for instance, helping the poor.
“Recently, we increased the salaries of all MAS staff earning below RM1,000 (per month). Now, there is no MAS staff who earns below RM1,000. This may increase cost but we need to do the right thing, which is to help our staff make a decent living and support their families,” says Idris.
Second, Idris believes in having the right values, in terms of being ethically correct.
For instance, in business dealings, there are always the white, grey and black areas. Many times, people are forced to step into grey areas when making decisions.
“My belief is that we should always stand firm on the white area even when we are forced to step into the grey area. We need to document and clarify our reasons for stepping into the grey area, then quickly return to the white area.
“If we do not document it, eventually our conscience will be modified. Hence the next time we step into the grey area, we will think we are in the white area. And when we are in the black area, we think we are in the grey area!” says Idris.
Third and very importantly, Idris believes in self-renewal and time for solitude and reflection. It is during these period that one should take the time to count one’s blessings.
“Most people are not happy because they are living for another day. That is why they are jealous of their neighbour’s new car or new house. What is enough for a person? For me, what I need is a house, a car, insurance and education for my family and money to buy my blues CDs. Everything on top of that is luxury.”
Adds Idris: “Don’t take things for granted. I believe that when somebody dies, suddenly life is different. You realise that very few things are important. That we should just be happy to be alive.”
Nonetheless, Idris also believes that if you want something bad enough, somehow you will get it.
He cites Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and quotes one of the phrases in the book: “If you want something desperately, the whole of the universe will conspire to give it to you.”
Spirituality and Love
A spiritual person, Idris is a practising Christian who prays diligently. If there is a Sunday where he does not attend church, he will hold mass at home where he leads by conducting readings for his family. He even prays with his 19-year-old son Leon (who is studying in Britain) via Skype.
Idris’ life principles are based on love, enabling others, God and passion. Passion, for him, is a convergence of heart, soul and mind.
He believes in the importance of getting married and having children. After 26 years of marriage, Idris keeps his marriage alive by having love, commitment and respect for his wife, Datin Sri Pang Ngan Yue.
“Marriage is about give and take. I believe that when you first decide to get married, you need to be deeply in love. You need to be sure that you have found the one. It is about two people becoming one. You can never be right all the time,” he says.
As for enabling others, it is about taking a back seat, or sacrificing oneself for the betterment of another. Idris says he feels great when he enables someone else to feel good about themselves.
Last Friday, Idris performed in a concert for the first time at the Groove Junction pub in Sri Hartamas. While he demonstrates much adroitness with the guitar, his main motivation for playing was to get his son Leon to perform in public.
“Leon plays a mean guitar. I have asked him before to play but he refuses. So the only way to get him to perform is if I also perform. That is why I put my name down that night,” he says.
On this note, Idris’ first guitar was made of two pieces of plywood, which he strummed at the age of 13. His favourite blues musicians include Kelly Joe Phelps, Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy and Jackson Brown, among others.
Idris’ other great passion is deep-sea fishing, a passion which has brought him to the Maldives, Vancouver Island and Perth, Australia.
“Once I went fishing in Vancouver Island. The skyline was beautiful and we caught fish and ate it with wine. That was such a perfect moment. And I thought, that would be such a perfect way to die!
“If you catch a perfect fish and then have a heart attack, I think that is a nice way to go,” laughs Idris.
And what’s next for MAS? As announced, it is talking about transforming into a five-star value carrier, earning RM1.5 to RM3bil – yes you read right, as much as RM3bil – a year by 2012. Impossible? Don’t bet on it.
WHAT made you agree to take up the job in MAS?
I came because I was very passionate about turnarounds. The Government came to me via Khazanah. I never applied for it.
The person who was really chasing me (for the job) was Khazanah MD, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.
In transforming MAS, what was key in enabling you to succeed?
Transformational leaders must pursue the game of the impossible. That means you must put targets that are seemingly impossible for everyone else, and you state them and go further. You need to conquer the fear of failure. And if you’re not able to do that, most of us will then say, if there is a high chance of failure, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to do the safe thing.
I believe if you put really stretched targets, you have no choice but to reinvent and push yourself to the limit.
How did you succeed in implementing all the positive changes in MAS?
It is all about unleashing the talent. We run laboratories. We get people to come into the room and solve the problem. That is the answer.
In MAS, there are many good people, you just need them to do the right thing, the things that matter to the company’s P&L. It’s a good airline. The product and services are good, but unfortunately it was not making money. I always say – if something does not improve the P&L, then it is not a priority.
This belief in divine intervention, when did that happen?
I have always believed this. I find that more than 60% of what happened to me, happened not because I planned it. They just happened.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/10/business/2965142&sec=business
Filed under: Bank, Stocks Investing | Tags: global financial crisis, public bank
Public Bank founder and chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow expects the banking industry to remain resilient this year and Public Bank to outperform the industry growth rates for deposits and loans.
WHAT is your outlook for the banking industry in Malaysia in 2009?
The banking industry is expected to remain profitable and sound although growth of the Malaysian economy is expected to moderate to around 3.5% in 2009. The growth outlook, which is based on the strength of domestic demand and the proactive management of the economy, is still respectable considering that some of the developed economies have entered into a recession and will remain in recession this year. While the inflationary pressures in Malaysia should ease further in the first half of 2009, we expect the unemployment rate to inch up slightly due to significantly slower external demand. We believe that the action to support global financial markets and to provide massive fiscal stimulus and monetary easing will limit the decline in world growth. Based on this economic outlook, we expect loan growth for the banking industry to be around 7% this year.
The banking industry in Malaysia will remain resilient due to its strong capitalisation, healthy asset quality and improved risk management standards and practices. Credit goes to Bank Negara for the successful reforms and capacity building measures which have been taken to strengthen the banking system after the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98. The banking industry is well capitalised with the risk weighted capital ratio of 12.6% in October 2008, which was well above the minimum international requirement of 8%.
The industry’s net non-performing loans ratio at 2.4% in October 2008 is at its lowest since the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago. We also expect the impact of the financial turmoil and credit crunch in the West on the banking industry in Malaysia to remain muted as the industry has no significant exposure to the subprime and other toxic securities that had hit institutions in the US and other countries.
Banks in Malaysia have built more robust corporate governance and risk management frameworks to overcome the challenging economic environment.
The preemptive and precautionary measures introduced in October 2008 with Bank Negara standing ready to provide liquidity and the Government providing a full guarantee to all ringgit and foreign currency deposits in the banking system should sustain the high confidence in the Malaysian financial system. We believe the Government and Bank Negara still have ample capacity to undertake the appropriate policy response to avoid a severe economic downturn.
Tan Sri Teh Hong PiowWhat is your strategy to ride out the economic slowdown?
Our core business strategies remain unchanged in that the Public Bank group will continue to focus on its organic growth strategies to grow its retail loans and core customer deposits. For 2009, we expect the group’s loans and deposits to increase at above industry rates by tapping on the group’s competitive product packages, competitive pricing, superior delivery standards, strong PB brand and extensive delivery channels.
The high rate of loans growth will continue to be supported by growth in home mortgages, passenger vehicle hire-purchase financing, personal financing and retail commercial loans to the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In growing its funding base, the Public Bank group will continue to promote both retail and wholesale deposits to ensure that the group continues to maintain a healthy loans to deposits ratio. As part of long-term ongoing efforts, the Public Bank group will accelerate growth in fee-based incomes, particularly by tapping on Public Mutual’s fund management business, the long-term bancassurance tie-up with ING Group and a broader range of wealth management services.
As a prudent banking group, the Public Bank group will remain focused on maintaining its risk management standards to ensure that it maintains the best asset quality in the banking industry in Malaysia.
Public Bank has been voted as the best in Asia by several publications. What aspects of your business will you be seeking to improve on in 2009?
Our key business goal is to ensure that the Public Bank group continues to sustain its superior financial results amidst the challenging economic environment ahead. To achieve this goal, we need to drive retail loans and retail deposits, fee incomes and also asset quality management.
Management resources will continue to be devoted to efforts to further increase the productivity of the group’s staff and branch network and also to increase the contributions from overseas operations.
Retail banking and SME lending has been a big success for Public Bank. How would this segment perform in 2009?
Retail banking has been and will continue to be the main driver. Currently, the Public Bank group’s retail banking contributes close to 80% of the group’s profits.
Within retail banking, lending to households, comprising mainly residential mortgages and passenger vehicle hire-purchase financing, and lending to business enterprises, particularly SMEs, for purchase of operating premises and working capital, constitute about 86% of the group’s total loans outstanding. From December 2007 to September 2008, the Public Bank group’s retail lending to households and businesses increased at an annualised rate of 20%.
Going forward, the group’s retail banking initiatives will continue to drive business growth. As part of its core business strategies, the group is committed to support the Government’s ongoing efforts to further develop and strengthen SMEs, including bumiputra SMEs and micro enterprises, as a key engine of domestic economic activity. To grow its SME lending, the Public Bank group will continue to provide competitive financing packages as well as promote the various Bank Negara funds for SMEs. The group will continue to provide a full range of trade bills facilities to SMEs. In 2009, the group’s lending to SMEs is expected to continue to expand at a healthy pace.
How do you see the group’s business in Hong Kong and China in 2009? How will the Public Bank group continue its expansion drive abroad?
The Public Bank group expects its businesses in Hong Kong and China to continue to grow in 2009 amidst the challenging economic environment and competitive pressures in that market.
Currently, the Hong Kong economy is projected to slow to around 2% in 2009 with significant downside risks to that forecast. Because of economic uncertainties, declining local property prices and a potential rise in unemployment, demand for financing by consumers and businesses in Hong Kong are likely to ease.
Despite the economic slowdown, the Public Bank group’s operations in Hong Kong and China have the capacity to withstand the challenges and continue to contribute significantly to the group’s results.
As in domestic operations, the Public Bank group will continue to focus on organic growth strategies and accelerate growth in retail loans and retail deposits.
Various delivery standards, which have been established quantitatively and implemented successfully in Malaysia, will be implemented by the group’s overseas operating units. This year the Public Bank group plans to open 16 new branches in Hong Kong and China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The group’s initiatives to promote the PB brand abroad continue unabated.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/1/1/business/2889648&sec=business
