When you are exposed, cornered, discredited, uncloaked or unmasked , sometimes the easier way out is to declined to comment, but the best evading answers can be learned from Grand Sifu Lim Guan Eng, a few examples are:-
- I won't engage in verbal war......
- I would not respond to the personal attacks.....
- I do not wish to engage at the level of those who .......
Star Online, Friday May 30, 2008
Koh’s ex-aide raps Guan Eng
PETALING JAYA: An aide to the former Penang chief minister has chided current Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for claiming credit over two high-profile foreign direct investments (FDI) into Penang.
Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon’s former political secretary Mark Ooi Swee Hing said that Lim had given the impression that “these investments are solely the result of the new state government's efforts in investment promotion within the short span of the past two months.”
“To set the record straight, the effort of the new government in the last two months merely represented the final short phase of a long process of promotion and negotiations stretching back one to two years.
“His announcements did not at all acknowledge the crucial roles the previous state government under Dr Koh played, together with the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA), in convincing the investors to locate here,” he said in a press statement yesterday.
The two FDIs are from Japan’s Ibiden Co Ltd (RM1.2bil) and United State’s Honeywell (RM115mil).
Ooi said that in each of these two cases, Lim had “hurriedly called a press conference to claim credit the day after MIDA made the announcement.”
“Such publicity was obviously aimed at giving the impression that these investments are solely the result of the new state government's efforts in investment promotion,” he said.
He added that multi-national companies always took time to assess economic feasibility, logistics, local supply chain and human resources, fiscal and tax incentives and others before deciding.
“Convincing investors during this 'due diligence' phase is the most challenging and crucial aspect of investment promotion.
“In the case of Ibiden, the entire process took two years, and Dr Koh himself personally visited Ibiden's headquarters near Nagoya, Japan, on July 19, 2007, and met with their top management to present a strong case for Penang,” he said.
He also explained that in Honeywell’s case, the process also took considerable time and effort, with the decision to invest only made and reported in the US press on Feb 28 this year.
“It is only fair and proper that the new state government honestly give due credit to the previous state administration, as well as to MIDA and the Treasury for the work they have done.
“Their own real ability in attracting FDI can be better gauged in one to two years’ time. For now, they should not just ride on the previous government’s effort,” he said.
Star Online, Saturday May 31, 2008
Guan Eng: I won’t engage in verbal war with predecessor
GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has declined to be embroiled in a “verbal war” with his predecessor Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and his assistants on the new Penang Government’s successes in attracting foreign investments.He said he would not respond to the personal attacks made by Dr Koh and his assistants.
“I do not wish to engage at the level of those who tried to claim credit as the people of Penang can judge this on their own,” he said in response to questions by reporters on the remarks made by Dr Koh’s former political secretary Mark Ooi Swee Hing that Lim had claimed credit for two high-profile foreign direct investments (FDI) into Penang...........
18 comments:
I know the statement of the former Political Secretary Mr Mark Ooi, did NOT serve as an intention to claim the credits for Dr Koh Tsu Koon, but that was merely to clarify the issue, making the perception right!
Thank you, Mr HKL.
In a different way, the Penangites or the Malaysians would be misled by DAP-PKR led government or would have a wrong impression about the FDI.
I would like to urge the new state government tells us the all facts and DO NOT make attempt to create a situation involving deception or founded on a mistaken impression.
At least the DAP gov did not have to bribe companies with RM1b contracts to invest... remember Motorola??
KTK had to BEG the federal gov for it or it would be detrimental politically for BN in Penang. And yet BN lost badly! It shows how lame the previous gov was that not even RM1b could save it from being rocketed.
People had been misled by Jeff Ooi on the Motorola contract issue. There is 2 sides to any coin. Unfortunately, during last election the previous government didn't put any serious effort to explain, probably fighting too many fronts. Always research before jumping to make conclusion. The contract had very technical specifications, Jeff totally simplified it to achieve his political objectives.
We had a "Town Hall"(factory meeting) in Equatorial Hotel even before the election. Dr Koh Tsu Koon was very happy and wanted to announce this himself. It was not a bribe or a "cloak & dagger" matter. Don't believe in twisted propaganda. Ask any senior Motorolan officer that attended the Town Hall meeting in Equatorial Hotel.
If Dr Koh had not put his efforts in helping the factories here, most would have moved out.
For your information, Motorola factory in Singapore will closed down soon. We still have our livelihood.
A few of my school mates who're working for Motorola, did share with me that, they have been really in appreciation of Dr KTK, otherwise, thousand of people would have jobless and their families would have been affected because of unstable incomes...
Anyway, Government also needed to spend the money for the products concerned. So, Dr KTK took the opportunity and convinced the government to sign with Motorola. Honestly, I would perceive he did nothing wrong, in fact good for the Penangites... ie. government have the products and thousand of people remain their rice bowl.
The only setback was Dr KTK did NOT do well in publicity... about his efforts and intention.
The rakyat is not that stupid not to see who actually brought in those FDIs - enough said.
Both sides insult the rakyat's intelligence by engaging in 'mud-slinging' in the media.
As a member of the rakyat, I only have this to say. Get rid of the politics and do something meaningful for the rakyat.
Grow up and get on with the real business of government or opposition.
Minimum 20,000 people will directly benefit from this contract that had been awarded to Motorola Penang.
Motorola & Comintel have about 5000 employees. If you include 1 spouse and 2 children, 5000 x 4 = 20000 people.
That is just only the direct benefit. If you understand multiplier effect it is usually at lease 5 folds. The benefit will reach more than 100,000 people.
In this situation, what Dr Koh did should had make him a HERO, but instead he had been turned into a villain by DAP.
People also had be bluffed into thinking that the RM1 billion is a total outflow. The police force network will be upgraded, there will be reinvestment by Motorola, supporting factories will benefit, technological expertise will be enhanced, etc.
If I am not mistaken, Motorola Penang is the biggest R & D center for Motorola in the world.
I'm not saying what KTK did was not justifiable, sure lots of Motorola workers still have jobs and some good came out of it but this is just a short term solution.
The underlying questions should be why did Motorola want to leave in the first place after being here for so long and why was Penang not competitive enough to retain Motorola without the RM1b contract? Was it because of gov policies, regulations, taxes, wages, etc? What was the previous gov's inadequacies to brought this situation?
How many other companies have blackmailed or threatened the Penang gov with "give us contract or we leave" threats other than Motorola? How long can Penang gov sustain this kind of "contract for investment" deals since Motorola has set the precedence that Penang gov can be blackmailed? What next after the RM1b contract ends and Motorola threatens to leave again, offer another bigger contract after another?
This is just one case that came to light because of the expose. What other hanky panky stuff that the previous gov had to resort to is anyone's guess.
Back to sapu-ing credit for FDI. You Gerakan people here are being unfair. On one hand you are critisizing that the new gov have done nothing after 3 months, and when they do you say it is not their effort. According to mark Ooi it takes more than 2 years to secure the FDI, so if it takes that long don't you think that 2-3 years is a fair timeline to give the new gov before you criticise them for doing nothing? KTK is doing the right thing by saving his criticisms till later. But that does not mean he should be free from past bad decisions.
aFirstly, I am no supporter of Pakatan or Barisan. Call me team C if you wanted to.
Here is my inputs for Pakatan -
a) LGE said wanted to expose Land Scam on 28 April as the deadline for Rashid. 28 April come and go, what happened ?
b) LGE talk about inappropriateness of Persatuan Bunga Tanjung and when the things get hotter, he asked his wife to take over to pursue the matter. What happened ?
c) LGE talks about PGCC. He either sounds like he doesn't know a single thing (but he mentioned that the Project is not approved yet right after election) or arrogant when he asked KTK to teach him how to go about a few things a few weeks ago. This is not the type of leader that we want to take us forward.
Here are my inputs for Barisan -
a) You come with a good intention but lack of co-ordinated strategy to create the big-wave needed. You are firing sporadicly and not in unison with other Gerakan Bloggers.
b) By digging into little things makes you look very petty and lack of strategy. Group some of these together and launch them as a missle.
c) Focus on issues that is close to the Rakyat's heart for the day. Now it is fuel subsidies, rice shortages and etc.
d) Work with the Motorolan and others to gather facts and data. Used them at the proper time to create the much awaited impact. Using your silver bullet now will make you a lame duck comes the time that you need it.
To fight a war is to win when it matter most and not to win every single battle.
Fishhook,your comment is totally wrong. Most countries in Asia, Africa and the old Eastern Europe are competing for FDIs. All multinational companies want the best incentives to continue investing in their existing factories or to set up new factories. They are running a business not a charitable organisation. It is not blackmail.
In Singapore, the government have managers or officers stationed in the factories. I was working in Maxtor Singapore in the 90's and saw a cubicle allocated to a government officer. I was very surprised the extend the Singapore government would do to ensure the factories get all the helps, supports and incentives necessary to stay.
ex-factory manager,
There are two parts to this.
One, did it benefit the people of Penang for now? Yes, and I admit that already.
Two, was it done correctly? NO!! It sure doesn't look so with the letter from KTK to AAB especially when he included the words "politically very detrimental" in his letter. This raises the question whether KTK acted to the best interest of Penangites or the best interest of the Gerakan/BN gov in Penang. Why RM1b? Maybe the actual worth of the project is only RM250mil and the other RM750mil is blakcmail/bribe? Who can ascertain that since the award of the contract was not done openly? Where's the transparency and accountability?
If Penang gov have to emulate Singapore gov's effort to retain FDI by placing officers in factories then go ahead. But dubious contracts awarded with political motivations is corruption.
i seen that the guy fishhook always know how to ask question only? Are you from penang? always buang the question out ???? if you feel that you know a lot of this issue pls share to us n propose to gov. Don t just always compare X-gov n the gov now. Who good or bad. if our x-gov no good, i think we wont be working in pg till today.
Dear fishhook,
I have agreed with you in the past before but on this, I have to disagree with you.
You take issue with KTK's usage of "politically very detrimental" in his letter.
What so wrong with that if its to emphasize a point to someone who may not be as locally attached as you are?
Emphasizing a point by what ever means including politics does not detract from his original concern for Penang in the 1st place.
Either you're overly sensitive or you're trying to split hairs to defend a position which no amount of logic to the contrary can convince you otherwise.
By all means, all people in the society must be treated in a fair manner, whether they're from NGO, governement agencies, political parties or even ordinary citizenship. Good means Good, it's not fair to deny the fact and New Comers should NOT divert the credits of others and make them theirs, under own custody.
The ethic of conduct becomes an unseen passage for translation!
Whether it involved a mean of dishonesty in return or corruption, it's out of the topic in discussion. The topic here is a kind of contribution for the Penangites.
Does it benefit the Penangites or at least employees of Motorola? The answer is YES. Thousands of the Penangites, especially those who're related to Motorola, whether directly or indirectly, find agreeable, enjoyable or satisfactory with the move by Dr KTK.
Of course, some do feel otherwise, because they don't feel the frugalness.
It's NOT easy to deal with FDI(s). Whether we like it or not, the credits should go to the former state government, under Dr KTK.
Hi guys,
KTK promised that he will make Penang like s'pore, but for god sakes, Penang has instead regressed and overtaken by S'gor and Johor. As we have seen in the last few years, under KTK many companies were leaving Penang, and Penang was not attracting any new companies. See for yourself whether Penang looks like Spore although in 1980s both were similar looking in some extent.
But the rejuvenated InvestPenang under LKC and LGE has attracted billions of ringgits investment, I know some people claim its KTKs hardwork, but how come under him no deal were done? All the deal is concluded by LGE because of open tender and NON - NEP based business. Even if KTK has initiated the deals, it needs a astute and brilliant leaders like LGE and LKC to finish the deals, something KTK never did - always start negotiation and then a lot of corruption and finally deal collapse. Or KTK force foreign companies to share business with bumiputra companies, if not UMNO get angry with him.
KTK also gave a lot of tenders in a non-open basis to bumiputra companies, and mostly they were UMNO controlled and corrupted. So honest Penang tax-payers money became wasted and nobody wants to invest in Penang, making Penang look like Redang and not Singapore.
How come Gerakan never opposed NEP which benefits only one race? Does Gerakan and this blogger support the abolishment of NEP which took the brave DAP to do? Does Gerakan support Najib, who once said 'let our keris soak in chinese blood'?
Please answer all this question and find your conscience. Its time for us to compete equally, honestly and not let NEP dampen us anymore. Let us not support UMNO which is racist, I will vote Gerakan if they leave BN and oppose UMNO. Not only me, but rest of Penangites. Until then, Gerakan will be in political oblivion.
Many thanks for reading.
David Ang
Saudara,
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It is very interesting to note that Dr KTK still trying to exert his non-executive pressure on the daily running of the new clean NON NEP, open tender govt of Penang led by saudara LGE.
He is getting all his proxies to bang LGE while he hides behind his wife. What kind of leader doesnt dare to meet LGE to discuss land corruption but uses his konco-konco, including telling UMNO youth to protest against LGE's plans to abolish the racist NEP. Why does KTK believe in Ketuanan Melayu? He must remember it is Chinese people who put him there and it is us again who kicked his sorry ass out of Penang for good.
Khoon Leng, you claim to be Tanjong Gerakan member. What did you manage to accomplish or even KTK do when his own UMNO mocked him and humiliated him during UMNO Tanjung division meeting in 2006. Did he take disciplinary action against those BN members? NO, he was warned that he will be changed and Dato Rashid will become CM if he doesnt give part of 2nd bridge contract to UEM, another UMNO controlled company.
End of the day, KTK sold the non-malays in Penang and the non-malays plus moderate malays have kicked him out of Penang. We also kicked the rest of gerakan out. The great people of Penang exercised their demoncratic right to expel Gerakan once and for all. They made sure not even one Gerakan apologist will be there in the assembly to sell the non-malays out.
Therefore there is no credit to sapu, but all your corruption to sapu to rubbish bin. The great LGE doesnt promise Penang will be Spore tomorrow but promises a clean govt with open tender. Whats so wrong with it that KTK declaring proxy war and not direct war like a true man. After all we know he is married to UMNo.
Motorolans,
Go ahead and add value for your plant by working doubly hard and with sincerity. If you do, probably they will stay on in Penang if they do not receive any government projects as they have capable and productive workforce in Penang.
KTK and all you Gerakans,
claim all the credit you want but to many Penang kias like me, you have sold you soul to Umno for your selfish end. Many will never ever forgive you, TRAITOR!
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