Category — General News

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he don’t believe that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will becoming Prime Minister as Najib had failed to speak up about the real reasons behind Barisan Nasional’s losses in the general election. Dr. M said, when the Pak Lah blamed Barisan’s losses on sabotage, Najib merely agreed to it. However, he added that if Abdullah were to step down now, it would pave the way for a smooth transition as Najib would succeed him in accordance with Umno tradition. Dr Mahathir had earlier this month withdrawn his support for Najib to be prime minister but did not give his reason. Dr Mahathir cited another instance when Najib gave his full support for Malaysia to build a bridge to Singapore despite the republic’s disagreement. But Najib suddenly changed his mind when Pak Lah decided against the project.

On the plan to set up a judicial appointments commission and the goodwill ex-gratia payments to six senior judges, Dr Mahathir claimed it was a political move to boost the government’s popularity. He said there was no reason for the compensation because everything was done in accordance with the law.

Dr Mahathir also felt that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would not be the sole candidate for Prime Minister if Pakatan Rakyat were to win in the next general election. He believed there were other candidates as well, saying PAS was eyeing the post while (DAP’s Lim) Guan Eng could be premier too. The former prime minister claimed that Najib was not “brave enough” to directly say anything that was not liked by his boss.

Here’s some qoute from Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

“We see that he is a penakut (coward). He is always saying, ‘yes sir, yes sir, saya sokong, saya sokong (I support, I support).”

“I believe he should rightly explain the real reasons for Barisan’s losses in the election,” he said when asked on the reason for his change of mind about Najib after giving a talk on “Malay, Malaysian and Malaysia: Challenges Ahead” at the University of Manchester on Saturday.

“I’m not so confident (about him taking over as prime minister). Even so, it all depends on Umno to appoint the person to be prime minister.”

“Najib will have to face competition from others such as (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin Yassin, (Datuk Seri Dr) Rais Yatim, you never know.”

“Anwar thinks he will be prime minister. It’s not that they loved him but it’s a marriage of convenience,”.

“If they can show me the removal of (former Lord President) Tun Salleh Abas was against procedures prescribed by the law, please let me know,”.

The strong wave of selling that swept across Bursa Malaysia wiped out RM86bil, or 8.7%, from the bourse’s total market capitalisation of RM984bil as at last Friday. The KL Composite Index (KLCI) tumbled 123 points, or 9.5%, to a 14-month low of 1,173.2 points in its biggest single-day loss so far. The intensive selling activated the circuit breaker at around 3pm. Trading was halted for an hour when the benchmark index plunged 130 points, or 10%, to 1,166. This was the first time the market-wide circuit breaker was activated on Bursa Malaysia.

“The magnitude of the fall was bigger than expected,” said Kenanga Asset Management Sdn Bhd chief investment officer Chen Fan Fai. Chen described the market as currently in “uncharted territory”. He said the direction of public policy and economic measures had become a big unknown after the ruling Barisan Nasional lost its two-third majority in parliament and the opposition parties took control of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

The KLCI is down nearly 343 points, or 22.6%, from its record high of 1,516 on Jan 11. Such a drastic fall is a sure sign that the local bourse has turned bearish. The ringgit also fell 1.3% to 3.2074 versus the dollar. The drop was seen as evidence of the outflow of foreign investment. The regional markets also suffered from heavy selling. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Index shed 250.7 points, or nearly 2%, to 12,532 points, Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 29.6 points, or 1%, to 2,836.6 while the Jakarta Composite Index slid 128.6 points, or 4.8%, to 2,527.9.

Given the jittery sentiment, more stockbrokers have now slashed their fair value for the KLCI. AmResearch has cut its fair value to 1,300 from 1,590, while Aseambankers Malaysia Equity Research reduced its year-end target for the KLCI to 1,350 points. HwangDBS Vickers Research also trimmed the KLCI’s year-end target to 1,360. Despite the expected sell-down, Citi Equity Investment urged investors to pick up “fundamentally good” plantation and telecommunication stocks. It warned clients to avoid the cyclical property and construction stocks.

Credit Suisse said Malaysia would not be attractive until political clarity emerged over the next six or 12 months. One main concern is whether the roll out of infrastructure projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan would be affected since these involved both federal and state governments. Also, there are worries over the possible delay in contracts that have already been awarded should the newly formed state governments review them. Analysts said scrapping certain public projects would certainly hurt companies’ earnings. However, they said it would be good for the economy in the long term if those projects were not justifiable in terms of social benefits, and the money could be channelled for better use.

Stocks perceived to be politically linked and heavyweights were among the worst hit. Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd, Equine Capital Bhd and Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd hit limit-down amid fears that these companies might not win certain public projects as expected. Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s share price dived RM1.30 to RM7.35 on concerns that the utility group’s efforts to lobby for a tariff hike would not bear fruit.

1# Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud
Net Worth: US$ 29.5 Billion
Country of Residence: Saudi Arabia
Industry: Banking & Finance, Travel & Hospitality
Companies: Kingdom Holding Company

2# The Al Rajhi Family
Net Worth: US$ 24 Billion
Country of Residence: Saudi Arabia
Industry: Banking & Finance
Companies: Al Rajhi Banking & Investment

3# The Hariri Family
Net Worth: US$ 17.8 Billion
Country of Residence: Lebanon
Industry: Technology, Construction & Industry, Banking & Finance
Companies: Saudi Oger

4# Nasser Al Kharafi
Net Worth: US$ 12 Billion
Country of Residence: Kuwait
Industry: Retail, Travel & Hospitality
Companies: Atheer, Zain, Kharafi Group

5# Maan Al Sanea
Net Worth: US$ 10 Billion
Country of Residence: Saudi Arabia
Industry: Construction & Industry, Healthcare, Banking & Finance
Companies: Saad Group, Saad Specialist Hospital

6# Mohammad Al Amoudi
Net Worth: US$ 9.2 Billion
Country of Residence: Saudi Arabia
Industry: Energy, Healthcare, Travel & Hospitality, Construction & Industry, Banking & Finance
Companies: Saudi Amoudi Group, Corral Group, Midroc Group

7# The Bin Laden Family
Net Worth: US$ 8.5 Billion
Country of Residence: Saudi Arabia
Industry: Construction & Industry, Banking & Finance
Companies: Bin Laden Group

8# Abdulaziz Al Ghurair
Net Worth: US$ 8 Billion
Country of Residence: United Arab Emirates
Industry: Banking & Finance
Companies: Mashreq

9# The Olayan Family
Net Worth: US$ 7.2 Billion
Country of Residence: Saudi Arabia
Industry: Banking & Finance, Retail, Technology
Companies: Olayan Group, General Trading Company, Arab Commercial Enterprises

10# The Sawiris Family
Net Worth: US$ 6.2 Billion
Country of Residence: Egypt
Industry: Technology
Companies: Orascom Telecom, Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E, Orascom Hotels and Development (OHD)

Sugar King Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien remains the richest Malaysian, ahead by a wide margin from closest rival T. Ananda Krishnan, according to Malaysian Business magazine’s list of 40 Richest Malaysians. The magazine in its Feb 16 issue puts Kuok’s wealth at RM58.11bil, which accounts for nearly 36% of the total wealth of the 40 richest.

The Hong Kong-based tycoon added a whopping RM25.7bil to his vast fortune last year, due to the higher equity prices of his stable of listed stocks. It said Ananda Krishnan’s fortune however registered a marginal drop to RM19.63bil. IOI Corp Bhd’s Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng said the magazine, had for the first time put him in the top three of Malaysia’s richest by doubling his fortune to RM14.94bil.

Others in the top10 ranking are Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan of Hong Leong Group (RM11.09bil), Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary of the Albukhary Foundation (RM8.55bil), Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow of Public Bank group (RM8.06bil), Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay of Genting group (RM3.17bil) and Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King of the Rimbunan Hijau group (RM3.87bil).

The magazine said two tycoons found their way to the Top10 - Tan Sri Vincent Tan of Berjaya group (RM3.41bil) and Tan Sri Azman Hashim of Amcorp group (RM2.87bil).

“They dislodged YTL Corp patriarch Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay who slips to 13th position (RM1.75bil),” it said.

Among the notable new entrants to the list is Singapore-based Ong Beng Seng who, at RM1.74bil, ranks number 14. The others are Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian of TA Enterprise Bhd, Datuk Seri Lau Cho Kun of Gek Poh Holdings, Datuk Lin Yun Ling of Gamuda Bhd, Datuk Seri Liew Kee Sin of SP Setia Bhd and Kwan Ngen Chung of Kwantas Corp Bhd.

The full list of the 40 tycoons and details of their wealth appears in the magazine’s Feb 16 issue. Their wealth was assessed based on the value of their stakes in listed companies as at Jan 18, 2008, the magazine said.