August 15, 2009
Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan if you to get more richer please dont steal the poor malaysian money
| I write in response to the letter ‘Celcom Broadband: Pathetic and Horrible’ by Mohd Nazim Ganti Shaari. I sympathise with the writer’s predicament, one that is experienced not just by Celcom customers, but by all internet users. |
BEFORE you accuse me of losing my memory, let me say tha
| I write in response to the letter ‘Celcom Broadband: Pathetic and Horrible’ by Mohd Nazim Ganti Shaari. I sympathise with the writer’s predicament, one that is experienced not just by Celcom customers, but by all internet users. |
t yes I do remember that I wrote Thursday a piece about the government’s “plan” to filter internet content. But since this “filter” issue is still filtering in, so to speak, I think I’ll have another go at it.
Filter in Bahasa Melayu ( or should it be Bahasa Malaysia ? or Bahasa Kebangsaan ? I’m confuse, forgive me). Anyway I’ll start again. Filter is translated in Malay as “tapis”. Hence the Censorship Board, whose job among other things is to cut off “dirty scenes and dialogues,” is, in Malay, “ Lembaga Penapis ( the key word being “tapis”) .
So when minister Rais Yatim used the word ‘filter’, it’s not much of a surprise that most of us see this equation: filter = censor. Prime Minister Najib Razak has denied that the government want to censor the internet, a denial made on the very same day Rais was confirming earlier report quoting sources that the government was looking into the filtering of net content.
But only porno stuff. That’s what he said. Despite that, and Najib’s assurance, the “filter” issue has not gone away. Many feel the filter will come in one way or another and from porno sites the filter will ‘enroach’ into other things. Namely “independent” news portal and socio-political blogs. Mere speculation ? Unfair conclusion? Usual prophets of doom stuff? I don’t know. I do know public concern is real.
But then, usage of the internet in Malaysia is not “really great”. Don’t get me wrong. More and more people are surfing the net now. Most of us are connected. Or that’s what we tell ourselves and our friends. There are WiFi in many places. Even our favourite hangout for the tarik and roti canai. Malaysians young and old with laptops is a common sight. Then there’s the sophisticated mobile phones and black berry and what not. We know of websites, blogs, face book, twitter, you name it we’ve know it.
However, accessing the internet is not as fast as we would want it to be. Heavy traffic we are often told. In fact our broadband is slower than the narrow band in Japan for instance. This despite the trumpeting of our first world facilities.
I’m sure we have lost count of the number of times when we got connected but cannot “masuk.” Reason ? Cannot find server lah, glitch, heavy traffic ( again ?) and all kinds of “hi tech excuses”.
I know all this things happens and we can’t expect a 100 percent perfect system. There are bound to be , glitches. Yes. But our beloved country has always been proud to say we are “up there’. We’ve got MSC, Cyberjaya and all that.
So how come we can’t improve things? And how come other countries do not experience frustrating moments we are facing in front of the computers? And I’m not talking about the US, UK. I’m just looking at our Southeast Asian friends. Not Singapore lah. The island republic is way ahead. I’ll stop praising them before I’m accused of being a Singapore lover and thus a traitor.
Still, ever the loyal Malaysian, I have the confidence that the good people entrusted to shoulder this cyber thing will fix it. Hopefully ASAP.
Last point, I’ll state the obvious. Sorry.When you can’t ‘masuk’ , then you can’t surf, cannot navigate. Or you can access but get to the sites of your choice. Or it will take ages. You get so frustrated you just switch off your computers and walk away. Hey, come to think of it, this can be an effective way of “censoring ”the net. Accusing fingers can’t be pointed at anybody. Blame it on technology. With that in place, who need filters?
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan
is set to restructure his premier satellite television operator, Astro All Asia Networks, in a RM9 billion transaction that will rank as the region’s largest corporate exercise so far this year.
Under the proposed corporate deal, Astro’s two main shareholders — the Ananda-controlled private investment company Usaha Tegas and Malaysia’s state-owned Khazanah Holdings — will acquire the satellite television company’s fledgling and still unprofitable international business interests.
The planned hive-off of its international business will turn the Malaysian-listed Astro into a clean entity that will house its profitable domestic operations, bankers close to the transaction told The Straits Times.
The corporate restructuring exercise, which could be announced as early day after tomorrow, will also feature a major sweetener for the company’ shareholders.
The company is set to announce a one-off dividend payment of about RM1 per share, the bankers said, adding that the whole deal will value Astro at around RM9 billion.
The planned transaction is set to remove the drag on Astro’s share performance, which has been bogged down by problems in its international operations.
Speculation that a restructuring is imminent has re-ignited interest in the stock in recent weeks.
Astro shares, which have been hovering at just under RM2.80 apiece for much of the year, currently trade at around RM3.50 apiece.
A windfall for shareholders is emerging as a hallmark of Ananda’s large corporate manoeuvres.
When he launched his buyout of his listed mobile telecommunications company, Maxis Communications, in May 2007, he paid sharp premium for the shares held by the public in a deal valued at over RM16 billion.
According to bankers involved in the Maxis transaction, government-controlled entities such as Khazanah, Permodalan Nasional, the Muslim pilgrimage fund Tabung Haji and the two national pension funds collectively received just over RM7.5 billion for their holdings in the mobile telco.
Under the soon-to-be-announced Astro transaction, Khazanah, the state investment agency modelled along the lines of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, will receive close to RM340 million from the dividend payout, bankers with knowledge of the deal said.
Khazanah will also retain its 22 per cent interest in the listed Malaysian entity and control a roughly 33 per cent stake in the private vehicle that will house Astro international business.
Ananda’s Usaha Tegas and its other affiliates will control the remainder in the yet-to-be-named private entity, the bankers said.
Over the past decade, the 71-year-old Ananda — who is ranked as one of South-east Asia’s wealthiest tycoons — has emerged as a powerful force in the region’s multimedia sector, with Astro and Maxis forming the cornerstones of his new-media empire.
Astro, which has invested over RM1 billion to develop its own content for the region’s large Malay-language speaking population, beams its services to more than three million households currently. Bankers say the company’s customer base could hit 3.5 million in the next three years.
But results from its overseas investments have been mixed.
Its foray into Indonesia, under a joint venture project with the powerful Lippo Group controlled by the Riady family, has been a disaster.
Astro is now caught in a messy legal wrangle with Lippo and has been forced to make provision for losses of just over RM1 billion for its investment in the Indonesian venture.
The company has moved into the entertainment and media markets in India, China and other parts of South-east Asia, and bankers estimate that Astro will require investment of over RM1 billion in the next three years to develop these markets. — ST
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