By SHEILA STANLEY
Introduce mentorship programme to help young entrepreneurs
LAST year, there was an event here which got most IT heads pretty excited. It was Silicon Valley Comes to Malaysia, a supercharged event which saw Silicon Valley billionaires down in Kuala Lumpur sharing their experiences and giving advice to wannabe Malaysian tech billionaires. We saw the likes of Jawed Karim, Steve Koskie, and Jeff Hoffman — all well-known personalities in the world of billionaire IT heads.
At the event, throngs of young innovators, inventors and IT programmers surrounded these personalities like they were rock stars. They were pitching ideas, hoping to hook the billionaire from Silicon Valley to invest in them.
At the end of the event, when I spoke to the Silicon Valley participants, they had a number of takeaways to share. They were impressed with the quality of Malaysian talent. But they found there was a lack of mentors in the local scene who could nurture this talent. Our talent was therefore quite raw, without the benefit of some polishing off the rough edges.
Mentors in the business world is something every young or new business person could do with.
In European countries and in the United States as well, there are mentorship programmes, structured organisations where a young business person can go to and “apply” for a mentor to help them with their business.
The help they may receive may not be financial. More often than not, it is in the form of advice on how to navigate tricky situations.
When you’re young and starting off a business and filled with the ideals of a campus lifestyle, you may not be quite ready for the sharks just yet. In cases like this, having someone metaphorically hold your hand, help you plan out business strategies, decide on whether your product or service will survive the marketplace — all this informal transmission of knowledge, social capital and psychosocial support — is not just immensely helpful, but reduces stress levels.
We’re living in an age in Malaysia when entrepreneurship is being encouraged, when human capital is being seen as another one of our resources, along with oil and gas. And a lot of young people are trying their hand at business start-ups. But most fumble along, making mistakes and unsure how to learn from them. If they had a mentor, the process would be less painful, and be more positive.
A young person’s choice of mentors can be very revealing about their nature and risk taking practises. Here’s an example. Steve Jobs’ college mentor was a drug dealer-turned-billionaire Robert Friedland.
Bill Gates’ mentor was Warren Buffet. Jobs is known as the risk taker, Gates is not. Both had hugely successful business empires, though, just different ways of running them.
Right now, Malaysia could do with some mentorship programmes. There really should be some avenue for a small business or a young business person to turn to an organisation which can help them meet up with a mentor who can give them advice on developing their business.
Here’s a story I have to share on a friend of mine who was in a mentorship programme in Ireland. He had started an online business and approached a mentoring organisation in Dublin who located him a mentor who helped him through the years in developing and growing his business. This help was always informal. Being Ireland, they inevitably met up in the pub and over a few drinks would talk their way through the issues at hand.
After a period of about eight years developing his business, a large bank approached my friend and wanted to buy over the company. They signed a contract for the buy-out, which would take five years to complete, as it would be done in stages. This contract was signed just six months before the collapse of the Irish economy.
As it turns out, my friend was blessed. His business didn’t do as well once the economy turned, but the bank was still intent on taking over the company in five years. Next year the five years are up, and my friend will be able to say he weathered the collapse of the Irish economy better than a lot of other businesses. Yes, he was incredibly lucky, but having a mentor who helped him make the best decisions played a large role in how the chips fell for him.
I wish we had more stories like this in Malaysia. I wish there were more mentors out there, successful businessmen who felt the need to give back to the community. Is that too much to ask for?
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Here is a comment from Godfather in my previous post.
Anonymous said...
Syed: MAS has to rid itself of all the leeches. I'm surprised Badawi hasn't voluntarily resigned as Advisor. He gets RM 40k per month, plus a car and a secretary and an office. Sell the paintings that Munir Majid bought from his friend. Then tell the world how much MAS has lost from these stupid purchases. Finally, sell MAS to whoever gives Khazanah the best price. That'll stop the meddling from your friend Azman Mokhtar and will also get rid of Danny. You give MAS away to an experienced operator and it will make money.
Godfather - Friday, March 02, 2012 11:45:00 AM
Anyway here is the news:
Proton Q3 results down
Proton plunged itself deeper into the red with a net loss of RM88.2mil for its third quarter (Q3) compared to RM68.1mil recorded in the previous corresponding quarter. Revenue declined to RM1.43bil from RM1.83bil previously.
Group chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said the lower profit was largely attributed to lower revenue recorded from domestic sales. “With the increasingly stiff competition faced by Proton, the prospect for Proton does not look rosy...” he said.
Folks, this has been the fate of Proton under the management of people like Chairman Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, CEO Syed Zainal 'sembahyang hajat' and whoever. Yet we still keep these people in place - year after year. These are the fossils from the Jurassic Park who have been running some of these businesses into the ground for the past umpteen years. I suppose they meet all their KPIs too - without fail, year in and year out.
And Lotus is getting into deeper sh*t. For Lotus I have a solution. The Lotus Elise 2011 sells for less than RM150,000 in the UK. In duty free Pulau Langkawi I think the Lotus Elise also sells for about the same price.
Unfortunately in the rest of Malaysia the Lotus Elise sells for RM245,000. Few people in Malaysia can therefore afford to buy the Lotus Elise. So Lotus suffers poor sales in Malaysia. Kalau tak boleh jual kereta, mesti lah Lotus / Proton akan rugi.
Here is my question : how come Lotus can sell the Elise so cheaply in the UK and in Langkawi? Why not allow the Lotus Elise to sell for the much cheaper RM150,000 price in the rest of Malaysia as well? What is so special about the UK or Langkawi?
At RM150,000 I am sure the sales of Lotus Elise in Malaysia will shoot to the sky. Then the Lotus company can be saved. Or at least Lotus can clear their old stocks of unsold cars. Malaysians can drive high tech cars like the Lotus Elise at much cheaper prices.
Folks is that a good thing or a bad thing? Can the Government of Malaysia please explain why you do not want hard working Malaysians to buy and drive better and higher quality, high technology cars at much cheaper prices? And you still cannot save Proton - which is now making even more losses?
Then MAS is also losing money. There is a huge rip off going on. Now Air Asia is also a shareholder in MAS. Tony Fernandez is so much more cleverer than the boys running MAS. Everyone is a schemer but some people scheme better than others. .
But to whose benefit do they scheme? The airline passengers? The shareholders - ie you and me the taxpayer? I think someone is going to get a ride on a plane. But you and me folks, the taxpayers, we are going to be taken for a ride as well. Just wait and see. I think this is the beginning of something much bigger. There is no honour among schemers.
Despite announcing the largest ever losses of RM2.5 Billion yesterday, MAS still has to take delivery of 23 new aircraft. Here is the news :
MAS is staring at a capital expenditure (capex) of RM6bil this year and RM3.5bil for 2013 because of the aircraft deliveries that have been lined up for this year and next.
This year alone it is going to take delivery of 23 aircraft - five 555-seater A380 which it will deploy for the Kangaroo route (Sydney-KL-London-KL-Sydney); 13 B737-800s and five A330-300s.
Most of these aircraft were ordered during the time of Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin (previous managing director of MAS)
Air Asia has ordered 200 Airbus A320 Neos plus an option for another 100. MAS is getting 23 new aircraft including FIVE Airbus A380 Superjumbos. For comparison SIA has bought 19 of the 555 passenger Airbus A380 superjumbos since 2001 (the development phase of the A380). Maybe MAS is cleverer than SIA.
Folks all these troubled GLC companies suffer the same problems. They are all run by the same dunggus - all the way to its Board of Directors, their controlling companies and the Minister or Ministers in charge of these entire GLC fiasco companies. Dunggus are in charge and nothing is changing.
It is now beyond the Peter Principle already. The Peter Principle states that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence". Thats it folks.
These people at Proton, MAS, Khazanah Nasional, their Boards, their controlling companies, their con-sultans, their Senior Managements, the Minister in charge etc have all risen to their highest level of incompetence. They cannot go beyond this anymore. It is going to be yet a continuous series of losses, losses, and more losses. They have hit their ceiling. Just wait and see.
I personally think there is absolutely nothing wrong with MAS, Proton, Khazanah Nasional or any of the other major GLCS. If I were to run them, I am quite certain they can be turned around, make a profit, do not burden the taxpayer and most importantly they provide products and services closer to market prices. Not just me, but I think many of you can also do the same. All you need is some experience and a determination to do things right. And you must not have greasy fingers.
There has to be a complete overhaul of the human beings, the people who populate this entire chain of command. They all have to be removed. Sorry - but the greater good of the taxpayer is a much better option that protecting the narrow and selfish interests of a few lagards, marauders, nincompoops, pirates and even the corrupt who populate these troubled GLCs. They are all in there folks, they have fully infected the system.
Here is news about Khazanah Nasional's RM5.0 billion profits for 2011. But lets read carefully ya.
Khazanah posts RM5.3b pre-tax profit in 2011
- KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 19, 2012): Khazanah Nasional Bhd posted an impressive 156.3% jump in pre-tax profit to RM5.3 billion for the year ended Dec 31, 2011 from RM2.1 billion in the previous year, boosted by continuing strategic divestments, particularly the privatisation of PLUS Expressways Bhd.
- The government investment arm has declared a record dividend payout of RM3 billion.
- A selection of the 20 largest and significant government-linked companies (GLCs) under its stable are estimated to record total earnings of RM19 billion for 2011
- Realisable asset value decreasing by RM4.5 billion or 4% to RM108.1 billion
- Net worth adjusted declined RM5.2 billion or 6.9% to RM70 billion from RM75.2 billion as at Dec 31, 2010.
- The major deals included the sale of a 32% stake in Pos Malaysia to DRB-Hicom Bhd for RM622.8 million
- The others are IHH's acquisition of a 60% stake in Acibadem Saglik Yatirimlari Holding A.S.
- and the completion of the PLUS Expressways acquisition through UEM Group Bhd and EPF.
And here is more news about Khazanah Nasional :
Diversity pays off for Khazanah
A DIVERSE portfolio of companies under Khazanah Nasional, the Malaysian Government-owned investment arm, is helping to shield its investments from volatile global markets amid dark economic clouds gathering over the horizon presently.
Azman: ‘When we started in 2004, our portfolio was very heavy on utilities, but today it is quite balanced.’
Khazanah's stakes in UEM Land Bhd has surged more than 400% since its listing in November 2008.
Azman explains that figure, however, was not exhaustive per se as companies such as CIMB Bank and Axiata Group Bhd are categorised as Malaysian companies while in practice these were companies which have invested in other parts of Asia.
It is to be noted however, that comparing with 2010 however, these RAV and NWA figures declined slightly in 2011. Its portfolio RAV declined to RM108.1bil in 2011 from RM112.6bil in 2010, while NWA also declined to RM70.0bil from RM75.2bil respectively.
The surge in profits and dividends declared was attributed to continual divestment of its investments especially the recent RM23bil privatisation of PLUS Expressways in 2011, Khazanah says.
In 2011 alone, Khazanah made gains on divestments of RM2bil and made new investments totalling RM5.8bil.
Azman Mokhtar keeps repeating that Khazanah Nasional began operations in 2004 (when Slumberjack took over).
This is so typical of the bullshit coming out of the Slumberjack era. Khazanah Nasional was set up by Tun Dr Mahathir in the 90s. The job of Khazanah Nasional was to open new frontiers in high technology industries in Malaysia and create new high technology jobs for Malaysians. It was part and parcel of the entire technological upliftment of Malaysia together with the launching of the Multi Media Super Corridor.
Instead Khazanah Nasional has now become a company that buys and sells shares in other companies. There is little "new wealth" creation and very little new job creation in Malaysia.
If you ask Azman Mokhtar, 'how many new jobs have you created in Malaysia for all the billions that you have invested' I think he will not be able to give you any answer.
The latest example being an investment by Khazanah Nasional in Turkey. Why should Malaysian taxpayers money be invested in Turkey creating jobs for the Turkish people? Our own graduates are unemployed or unemployable. Pasal apa kera di hutan disusukan padahal anak sendiri kebuluran?
Khazanah Nasional was also supposed to help in the upliftment of the bumiputras. Orang Turki ini bumiputra ke? Other than Boards of Directors who fly first class to attend Board meetings, just how many Malaysians are employed in all the companies which Khazanah has invested in overseas? Can we have a total figure? 10 Malaysians? 100 Malaysians? How many? For what amount of investment : RM5.0 billion? RM10.0 billion?
Khazanah Nasional has become no more than a fund manager - playing the share market, taking positions in companies no different from any other fund manager.
Folks here is a question for you : How many 'Directors of Investments' do you think an investment holding company should have? I would assume just one. Guess how many Directors of Investment Khazanah has? One? Two? Three?
Well Khazanah has eight "Directors of Investments". Yes eight. And how much is each one of them paid? Lets see lah.
1. The Chief of the 'let me spend all the taxpayers money' guy is one Ganen Sarvananthan, Executive Director, Investments
This is the guy who basically tells Azman Mokhtar when to go to the bathroom. Folks say he does all the thinking and talking. Azman Mokhtar just signs on the dotted line. The typical 'Ali Baba' set up. How much is he paid? Well he drives a Ferrari around town - they say. He makes most of the deals for Khazanah. Lagi satu kes India lagi pandai dari Melayu.
2. Ben Chan Executive Director, Investments
3. Michael Jude Fernandes Executive Director, Investments
4. Joseph Dominic Silva Executive Director, Investments
5. Kenneth Shen Executive Director, Investments
To my Perkasa friends, dont worry. Ganen Sarvananthan, Ben Chan, Michael Jude Fernandes, Joseph Silva and Kenneth Shen are actually "young Turks". That means they are also bumiputra. Jangan risau, there are some Melayu as Director of Investments. Here they are :
6. Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin bin Raja Abdul Aziz Executive Director, Investments - this is the guy who bought the FIVE Airbus A380s for MAS (when he was running MAS). Then he split from MAS and now sits as the Director of Investments at Khazanah Nasional.
7. Dato’ Noorazman Abd Aziz Executive Director, Investments
8. Hisham Hamdan Executive Director, Investments
Somehow I get the feeling the last three Melayus are for the purposes of filling up the "Ali Baba" quota only. Saja nak kasi penuh quota Melayu sikit. Otherwise Khazanah is run by 'young Turks' - bumiputras one and all.
Here is the catch folks. Khazanah made RM5.0 billion in 2011. But a huge chunk of that was made from selling shares in Plus Expressways and also the RM622 million they made from selling shares in Pos Malaysia Bhd.
I say Azman Mokhtar, this was Dr Mahathir's handiwork lah. His free gift to you FROM BEFORE 2004 lah brader.
The Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan or PLUS Hiway was completed in 1994 (15 months ahead of schedule - so typical of Dr Mahathir). So the Gomen parked its PLUS shares with Khazanah Nasional. Now, 17 years later, you sell the PLUS shares given to you by Dr Mahathir and make a huge profit and tell the world that you are "very very crever". You keep saying "When we started in 2004, our portfolio was very heavy on utilities, but today it is quite balanced".
Kepala hotak engkau lah. You are now making money by selling PLUS shares which Dr Mahathir gave to Khazanah Nasional Bhd in the 1990s. Jangan bohong.
I say brader Azman Mokhtar, this is the "nenek tua" punya business model lah. I say 'nenek tua' because my mum-in-law once sold very old shares (some of the share scripts were from the 1960s) in Sime Darby, Singapore Press Holdings etc given to her by her father in the 60s and 70s. This is the same business that you are doing man. Selling old shares given to you by your great grandpa Dr Mahathir (Najib is now the third generation PM after Dr M) and then claiming to make a huge profit.
And the Prime Minister is the Chairman of Khazanah - completely oblivious to the wool being pulled by some of the other Board Members of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
Outsyed the box
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From Khazanah to the Bumiputras on the street doing business, the common goal should be to make money and be successful. But this is not the case for most.
Khazanah and the likes are run by people out to squeeze every penny in sight for their own needs, they were groomed and brought up by a mamak who thinks he is the best and that money is free for the taking.
Today we have a Bumiputra class of useless Malays who are arrogant, cannot stand working and clueless as to what they want. These class of Bumiputra enjoy sitting in mamak restaurants and surau to talk cock.
Today Bumiputras who have connection with the authorities can get contracts, projects and money for every damn thing in Malaysia. These Bumiputra do not know how to work. Today many Bumiputras go to the authorities with money in their pockets to bribe and Kow Tim everything. Bumiputras today only know how to use money to exchange for goodies. They do not know the meaning of working long hours, planning, logistic etc and the word to describe is STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE.
One good example is MARA. Mara provide free money to Bumiputras who are willing to bribe them or have strong cables within. Mara itself make money from equipments and stocks they supply as part of the terms of agreement for the money given to you. Then you are left to run the business without further ado. So if you do not know how to run a business, within six months the money is finish and again a fresh application is forwarded to Mara. This process will go on until the sum is too big. Then the file goes missing or you are bankrupt and lose confidence to re-start.
Then there is other small money given like RM2,000 to RM5,000. Again they expect the Malays to sell Nasi Lemak or Goreng Pisang or others. This kind of business has been taken up mostly by Indonesians. Malays do not like to compete with Indonesians, so again after a month, they go to another agencies to ask for help. The cycle of going round and round asking for more money NEVER STOP.
So how long is this going to be? Another century? Even if we allow this to go on for another 1,000 years, the Bumiputra will still be the same, unless they or the Government can get successful businessmen to be their mentor. A person who can show the way through teaching and advice. Not money, money and more money.
I have been in business for 8 years now, yet I have been asking certain people to be my mentor because I know what I lack and more money coming in is not going to help me to achieve my goal. But alas I still do not have one. Maybe Daim is correct to say I should stick to be just a HOUSEWIFE. I really don't mind if my husband is filthy rich like him.
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