Roadmap For Achieving Vision 2020 by Koon Yew Yin

Look for Mr. Koon Yew Yin's book in stores out NOW, "Roadmap For Achieving Vision 2020".

Mr. Koon's speech on Occasion of Book Launch

Let me begin by thanking everyone gathered here for taking time off from their busy weekend to attend this formal launch of my book titled “Road Map for Achieving Vision 2020”.

As noted in my acknowledgements in the book this work is the result of almost a decade of observation and writing on the Malaysian political scene after I retired from active involvement in business

It is said that one should not judge a book by its cover. But in fact, most readers do look closely at the cover before they read or buy a book.  In this regard, I must record my special appreciation to the five reviewers of the book.  The reviewers - Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan, Prof. Glen Arnold, Dr. Azly Rahman and Prof. James Chin – are all eminent and respected people in their own right.   I must say that the nice words they have written of the book provide special satisfaction to me.

Many of you here must be wondering though the reasons why I decided even to begin the journey to write the book. As you know, I am not a politician and I have no political ambition.

Let me refresh the memory of those here that attended the lecture that I delivered to the Perak Academy on ‘The Conquest of Happiness’ held on 26th Feb 2010 at this hotel too.

In my talk, I discussed fourteen characteristics described by the great philosopher, Betram Russell in which you will give yourself the best chance of achieving not just happiness but also freedom from the  ‘human bondage’.

For me writing the book was my way of achieving non-material ends as well as avoiding boredom and ensuring happiness.  In a way, the book can be considered as my non-business or social contribution to Malaysian society.

I would like to record my appreciation to the many individuals and organizations that have encouraged me to share my perspectives on the country’s road map to becoming a modern and progressive nation.  They include people such as our distinguished guest of honour, Tengku Razaleigh. 

Part of the book has been inspired by Vision 2020 and a speech given by Tengku Razaleigh about 2 years ago to the Perak Academy.  Following his lecture titled “The Challenge of the Present” I was motivated to write an article which subsequently appeared in a number of websites.  In my article which is reproduced in the book, I stated that many Malaysians would agree with Ku Li that the nation is in crisis and that “a rebirth of the ideals of the Rukun Negara; of diversity and unity” has never been more urgently needed than today.

Another good reason for writing the book is all the wrong doings in the last 50 years by the ruling Government , including the following two which I was personally involved :-

A.    Building the RM 1.2 billion dam across Sungei Kinta was not necessary:

 About 10 years ago, I wrote several letters to the former Perak M.B, Tan Sri Rosli to say that I am an old Chartered Engineer and in my opinion building the dam at Sungei Kinta costing RM 1.2 billion was not necessary and was a waste of tax payers’ money. He did not reply. Then I wrote another letter to ask him to engage a reputable consultant to prove me wrong, otherwise all the consumers would think that they were being cheated while having to pay higher water rate. He simply ignored all my complaints.

 B.     UTAR controlled by MCA rejected my Rm 30 million donation to build hostels.

 As you probably know, Dr Lim Teck Ghee has been helping me in my charity work. Up till now, I have already given more than 100 scholarships to help poor students to continue their University study.  About 4-5 years ago, I offered Rm 30 million to UTAR to build hostels within the university Campus. In all our meetings with UTAR council, we stated clearly that all the net rental profit should be used to build more hostels but the truth was never published.

Eventually my donation offer was rejected because the MCA leaders who owned all the land outside the Campus did not want me to disturb their lucrative rental business.

I would be failing my duty as a patriotic Malaysian if I did not bother to speak out and write this book. 

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my dear wife, Pheng, who has had to live with the book and me. Living with one is already difficult. Living with the two must have been impossible. She has been someone with whom I have bounced many of the ideas and concerns of the book and has been my constant source of inspiration.  Without her, I can safely say that this book would never have seen the light of day.

Being Human, Humane, Humaneness, Humankind-redspirit

Beyond the 'Dong Zong issue'

by Azly Rahman

in Malaysiakini

I read with interest about ongoing governmental discrimination against Chinese schools, as highlighted by Dong Zong.

Why are quality teachers and an abundance of resources still channeled only to Malay-dominated schools? Why are children in Chinese schools criminalised by the ‘sanction on teaching staff” which will ultimately deprive students of a good mother-tongue education?

What actually is our illness with regard to denial of the students’ right to their own language? Do policy makers actually understand the relationship between culture, cognition, consciousness and citizenship?

What does nationalism mean these days, and how do we understand it vis-a-viz use of language in schools? Whose brand of nationalism is being made dominant and what should an inclusive one look like?

What is the real issue behind the age-old request for the Chinese schools to have more teachers? How are the children criminalised by all this? Where is the peaceful path to this gentle profession called education?

When I think of education, I think of the children first and foremost. I think of each child as a gift brought into this world in all his/her cultural and cognitive complexities and of the pride of the family raising the child independent of what the ‘state’ wants the child to become.

Schooling is a process of mass babysitting in a capitalist state, such that the child will be provided a place for eight hours a days, seven days a week, to be taken care of, like in a kibbutz, while the parents go to work, selling their labour to the state.

The child is supposed to behave and learn new things while the parents are supposed to be obedient and, as good workers, bring profit to the state. The state, through its apparatuses, uses the profits and products of ‘alienated labour’ of  parents/workers and ‘develops’ the country according to what the political and economic elite imagines what ‘development’ means.

The child gets to be socialised to become citizens of the state. The mass baby-sitting agencies called public, private or parochial schools, tended by ‘managers of virtue’ called teachers - and wardens’ in boarding schools.

Their role is to ensure that the child learns to become nationalistic or even ‘patriotic’ in accordance to what this means vis-a-viz state ideology. In Malaysia, the current ideology is perhaps called ‘1Malaysia’.

Polarised education system

Are schools a happy place for the child? How shall the child be moulded? What language will he/she be proficient in? Whose culture will he/she inherit? In Malaysia, will it be the culture of the Malays? Or a hybrid of the Malay-Muslim culture? Who defines what will be it in the best interests of the child?

What actually is Malaysia's philosophy of education in this age and time of growing restlessness demanding for radical change, inclusiveness, linguistic diversity and competency, and the demands of a globalised world?

Why not let the child be schooled well first in his/her mother-tongue to develop cultural pride, and next let the medium of instruction at the secondary level be in English primarily?

Why not teach even the subject of Islamic Studies and Moral Education in English, and next prepare the child well for tertiary education that is predominantly English-speaking, with courses such as Philosophy, Ethics, and Cultural Studies as compulsory first-year subjects?

Malaysians: Let us not be dishonest, ignorant or hypocritical in the way we design the best cultural and cognitive environment for the child to grow up to become world-wise and productive citizens. As it is now, Malaysia's education system is polarising and inspired by the apartheid system.

The products of the Malaysian educational system have for several batches passed through the conveyor belt. The issue of race relations has become more and more exacerbated, partly as a consequence of the inability of the education policy makers to design peaceful educational settings and peaceable learning environments to allow respect and appreciation for each other’s culture to flourish.

Public discourse is becoming more plagued with calls by this or that racist-fascist groups in defence of the bankrupt and morally and nationally bankrupting ideology of Ketuanan Melayu or ‘pseudo-Malay idiotic pride’ as I would translate it.

Has there been any effort by the Education Ministry to design and implement a curriculum on multicultural education? Has there been an interest in it at all, given the nature of Malaysia’s communal politics that has evolved into the state of ethno-psychopathology bordering on irrationality, greed and massive corruption?

As an educator involved in the teaching of cultural perspectives, philosophy, and education, I’d like to see children in Malaysian schools bring their culture with pride into the classroom, to be shared with others in a deeply engaging creative learning context.

This is so that we bring in what the philosopher Charles Taylor would call the “ethics of authenticity” - of the ethical traditions of culture - into the learning process and not have these young curious cultural minds evolve into become ‘knockers or boosters’ of this or that brand of ultra-ethnocentrism.

Let us see how the Education Ministry will resolve this Dong Zong issue once and for all, before another regime takes this important  task more seriously.

---

DR AZLY RAHMAN, who was born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York) doctorate in International Education Development and Master’s degrees in the fields of Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 300 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience spans Malaysia and the United States, over a wide range of subjects from elementary to graduate education. He currently resides in the United States.

Finally, A Stock Worth Considering

As mentioned before, haven't been writing about stocks because of the state of the local markets. Besides mid sized plantations, there was basically nothing that caught my fancy. Readers may remember the posting on JCY at 45 sen when it started to move. Brilliant, no, more lucky than brilliant. It so happened that it was such a glaring opportunity when you look at the affected areas in Thailand, the ones not affected, the size of the affected supply chain, and the likely developing scenarios. No one knew for sure what would be the real impact on JCY, mainly guess work.

Now things are a lot clearer. It has moved to reach a recent high of RM1.50 and has dwindled down to below RM1.20. Yes, it has gone up a lot, but mind you, it is still nowhere near its IPO price (yes, laugh please). I mean seriously, the business model has now improved by a multiple or two thanks to "divine intervention", and still nowhere near IPO price?



So, to assess whether its still good, so-so, or really good, we have to look at what the market is pricing in, what they already know. Does the market know most of the good news? Is it all in the price?

What we know:

1) The HDD industry shipped about 119m-120m drives in the Dec quarter (including 11m of pre-flood inventory), down from 176m in 3Q11 and 167m a year ago as the full impact of Thai floods hit home. The supply fell well below estimated demand of 170m-180m drives. WD was the worst hit with volume 
plunging 51% qoq to 28.5m units. This was followed by HGST  (down 46% qoq), Samsung (down over 30%), Toshiba (down 15%), and Seagate (down 8%). Despite the lower volume and higher costs, margins for both Seagate and WD jumped as a result of a spike in ASPs.


2) Seagate and WD guided shipment of 130m-135m drives for the Mar quarter, implying 9-13% qoq growth. Yoy, this would represent a 16-19% decline. Can expect the HDD industry to resume its yoy volume growth only in 4Q12. Among the two top HDD OEMs, WD expects to resume pre-flood volumes in 3Q12. Seagate, on the other hand, is in a much better shape and provided positive guidance as its facilities were not 
affected by the floods.

3) Based on Seagate’s and WD’s projections, HDD shipments should continue to lag demand due to the tight supply of mechanical components and sliders. As a result, a 10% yoy contraction to 295m units is expected for 1H12 before  a strong recovery of 20% yoy to 395m in 2H12  from a low base in 4Q11.


4) JCY is one of the few listed component companies profiting from the tight supply of base plates and actuator arm pivot flex-assemblies (APFA). It also counts the two largest HDD OEMs as its major customers. Can safely expect record sales and profits in FY12 for JCY.

JCY is gaining allocations for APFA from WD due to disruptions at its main competitors, Belton and Min Aik. On top of that, ASPs for base plates and APFA have jumped by double digits. Gross margins probably mirrored the improvement at the drive makers in 4Q, enabling the group to post record earnings despite a slight qoq drop in  volume.


What The Market May Not Have Priced In:
1) There is still sufficient capacity at JCY to further take on fresh longer term orders. A major catalyst could be the whispered highly substantial new contract from Western Digital.


2) The restoration work by competitors is taking longer than anticipated causing the big guys to consider shifting larger projects to JCY. This will allay fears that the revival for JCY is the short lived type.  


 3)While the strong uptrend in share price is largely due to anticipation of earnings jump on the back of supply disruption resulting from the flood in Thailand, the selling pressure is largely unjustified (could be due to JCY-CD) as JCY has successfully delivered the 1QFY12 numbers (1QFY12 core net profit of RM163m vs. 1QFY11 net loss of RM16m).


4) JCY's stronger margins (with average base plates and actuators price up 20 – 30%) due to current undersupply situation, two new plants in China (Suzhou and Guangzhou) in 2012 as well as capacity expansion in Malaysia (with more CNC m/c, 30 casting m/c and 10 e-coating lines) - while competitors are restoring operations, JCY is expanding and that is why the big guys will be giving major projects to JCY. Besides the rumoured WD contract, the management is confident there are more on the way. Sizeable contracts are on the way given the relocation of the “slider” business (which is currently 60% produced in Thailand and the remaining 40% in Malaysia) to Malaysia.

I like the RHB Institutional desk's conservative paper just issued:

"We value JCY at RM1.72/share based on 6x CY2012 PER, which present an upside of around 51% to current share price level. Even pegging a conservative 5x CY2012 PER (historical low trading band), JCY could easily worth RM1.44/share (upside of 26%).

FYE Sep	2011	2012F	2013F	Comments
(RMm)
Base plate	669	836	962	Conservative 25% yoy jump in BP
Top Cover Assembly	196	226	248
Actuators	807	1,009	1,160	Conservative 25% yoy jump in Actuators
Turnover	1,672	2,071	2,370	Volume growth driven by stronger base plate and actuators loading from WD and Seagate
EBITDA	115	705	748
Margin (%)	7%	34%	32%	ASP for Base Plate and Actuators up 20% to 30%
core net profit	15	576	621	1QFY12 earnings RM163m
Weighted no. of shares (m)	2,044.9	2,044.9	2,044.9
Core EPS (sen)	0.71	28.19	30.36
2012 CY EPS (sen)		28.73
PER		Target Px	Upside
(x)		(RM/shr)	%
5.0		1.44	26%
6.0		1.72	51%
7.0		2.01	76%

Its a lot less aggressive than CIMB's RM2.22 target price. Looking at fundamentals, besides plantations, JCY may be the sole shining star for the newt few months. Expect it to retest the RM1.50 within the next couple of months.

NOTE: The above opinion is not an invitation to buy or sell. It serves as a blogging activity of my investing thoughts and ideas, this does not represent an investment advisory service as I charge no subscription or management fees. I may already have positions in the above mentioned counter. The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument. The ideas expressed are solely the opinions of the author. Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or commentary on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

Texas Holdem (Ways To Lose Your Money Other Than Playing Stocks)

This is my favourite card game, and the only game I would play when I am at a casino, which meant that I do not frequent the casinos in Malaysia and Singapore. They do not have Texas Holdem for players only (the Carribean and other versions are stupid odds-favouring the casino bullshit games) because its a low yielding game. Money basically changes hands among the players themselves and the house just takes a cut after every hand. Too small for the casinos in Malaysia and Singapore apparently.


I don't undrestand that because the biggest gaming place is Macau and Texas Holdem is very big there as in everywhere else.Most people like poker, but nothing can compare to Texas Holdem because of the various possibilities. Many people who play like to think they are good players, me included (lol), just like many people who invest in stockmarkets like to think they are better than the average (again, wrong). To make money in stockmarkets you NOT only have to be better than 50% of the players. You have to be in the top 20% because only 20% or so really make money over the long run, the other 80% will eventually lose - want to know why, come to the seminar on 14 April and remind me to tell you.


Anyway, back to the game, got nothing to write about the local markets for the past many weeks cause its a punting penny stocks phase. If I write, then I am becoming too speculative, so better not to write anything. Only thing worth writing about, which I have written already, is plantations. I think if you stick to second tier plantations, you should be getting 30%-50% return if you hold for rest of the year (i.e. NOT IOI Corp, Sime Darby, UM,  ... go for those I did not mention).


I like the game because its not about cards or what you have, most games end up not having to flip over any cards, so I don't know why people are so enamoured over what two cards they have in the first place. The first video is the great Johnny Chan, why, he shows us clearly never to fall in love with high pairs. Be them aces, kings, queens ... many people will never get away from them. The flop shows 6, J, J .... and you have two players in as well. Chances are high that at least someone will "decent high cards", i.e. J (one out of 4 cards in the other two persons).. not to mention anyone having a solo 6 to boot, your pocket Aces is almost worthless after the flop. But how many will still keep playing them with gusto, and wondering why they lost.


Play the players and your math skills. People wondered why they never make a lot of money when they have big cards, they curse when they get small pots when they have high pairs ... then that person does not understand and appreciate the game that well. Big pots has to do with somebody else having a hand and the flop has to be open and having some thing for everyone.





Among the current crop of players I really like is Tom Dwan, he is young and has balls of steel. Watch how he plays in a CASH game. He never needs to have the best hand. His skill is trying to make others think you have the ultimate best hand. After the K came out on the turn, his cards does not matter anymore. All Tom is doing is making the other person think he has the best hand. Maybe it does not work all the time because the ultimate best hand usually only happens 1 in 10 hands. But you still need balls of steel.


Because in a hand, when Phil Laak has the K pair, he can be beat by trips 5s, hidden pairs of 3s, or trips Qs.





Which is why, if you want to master the game (you will never, btw) instead of watching great wins, study the great folds. Ask yourself, would you have folded if you held those hands.

Bursa's New Persuasion Tool & The Man

Bursa's move to persuade brokers to stop their stockists from trading certain stocks IS a good move. Particularly, this is a full acknowledgement that the UMA does not work. Neither does Bursa wants to employ the dreaded DESIGNATION too liberally as that could choke off the entire market.


While that is a good ploy, Bursa SHOULD HAVE MADE KNOWN their move on their website or as part of an official announcement. I believe there was only one English paper that carried the article on Friday. This would be deemed as not fair to the rest of the public. 


Is this market moving "announcements" much like market moving corporate announcements? Yes, of course. Imagine if a company announces a 10 for 1 bonus and it was reported only in The Sun??? You would be livid. Safe to say that on Friday morning session many people were trading without the knowledge of Bursa "move" with the brokers' stockists. While it may be a friendly persuasion thing, it had the same effect as some brokers followed the "advice".


If bursa needs to make UMA announcements or censuring announcements public, why not this? This is even more pertinent and market moving. The best reason for making this a normal public announcement is to prevent fallacious rumours in the markets in the future on any stocks under heavy speculation - some parties may create havoc by spreading rumours that so-and-so counter trading by stockists is being barred by Bursa. By having an official announcement - after market close of after first session would level the playing field a lot.


I am not against Bursa or for Raymond Chan, I am all for fair trading and access to proper information flow.


Many investors have speculated whether RC is good or bad for the markets. That is up for debate. What is true is that all markets need their cowboys and mavericks. To totally stop them all is stupid, silly and counter productive. Of course Bursa has to control the situation to prevent things getting out of hand. Bursa's role in unenviable, don't do anything, they will be seen as colluding. Do anything, they will be seen as destroying market sentiment. Its a balance that is difficult to achieve.


What is true is when a company completely turns over its entire market cap in one single day, it is too extended. By right Bursa can designate the stock, but because of the size and pervasiveness, it could really shut down the markets for months and put sentiment on the backfoot. Hence the move is good by Bursa, but make it a proper announcement to one and all.

Music Empowering Women

I still remembered the recent talk show section in BFM which focused on why women aren't climbing the corporate ladder more successfully. The world has never been treating women nowhere near fair since the beginning of time. Just pluck any cross section from historic times. We have made strides over the past 100 years or so but oh, we still are so far from being "fair".


In the corporate world, much has been said about women being represented in the board rooms and top management. The US being a much touted place for equality, and even Australia, are still poorly represented in those areas.


Do we dare to say women are not as capable? I don't think so. Look at the academic results for the past 20 years, given a fair go, women generally outperform men. Maybe success and a career in the corporate world requires more than just academic excellence, for sure actually. Leadership skills, charisma, interpersonal skills,  soft skills, high EQ, ambition, resilience of character, risk taking ability ... while most of those may "favour men" in their "natural makeup", it is not absolute.


The burden for women when it comes to child bearing, family, birth control, victims of sexual discrimination and abuse, etc... is for all to see. For a woman to make it to the same position as a man demands even more "productivity", perseverance and intelligence from them. Luckily for many women, that is not too difficult because men are generally assholes, yes, especially in the corporate world of chumminess, scratch my back - I scratch yours, old school ties, collusive behaviour, etc..


Sadly, the same can be said for women in relationships. Many are still locked in a time warp. Taking charge, knowing your worth as a person, self actualisation, being responsible for your own happiness ... are important objectives for a well functioning person of any gender. To rely on men to "open up" the boundaries for women is too passive. Too many women still play the role of "victims", docile in too many ways that represses the character. Too reliant on the other party for one's happiness and well being.


Equality for the sake of equality is hollow an ideal. Equality because we know its the right thing to do, because we are different yet the same, respecting the soul and integrity of a person ... then that means the world.


There are wonderful songs about empowering women (no, not I've Never Been To Me ... which is very much the exact opposite to what I have been writing):


Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" back in 1964 says so much ...



Burt Bacharach's wonderful song sung resolutely by Dionne Warwick in 1963. "Don't Make Me Over".



What a song title by Meredith Brooks, all about the angst of being a female, in the roles of a girlfriend, mother, wife, daughter, lover.



Tori Amos' Silent All These Years, a thinking woman's empowering song, note the gut wrenching lyrics.

Excuse me but can I be you for a while
My dog won't bite if you sit real still
I got the anti-Christ in the kitchen yellin' at me again
Yeah I can hear that
Been saved again by the garbage truck
I got something to say you know
But nothing comes
Yes I know what you think of me
You never shut-up
Yeah I can hear that


But what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent All These Years


So you found a girl
Who thinks really deep thougts
What's so amazing about really deep thoughts
Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon
How's that thought for you
My scream got lost in a paper cup
You think there's a heaven
Where some screams have gone
I got 25 bucks and a cracker
Do you think it's enough
To get us there


Cause what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent All These...


Years go by
Will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand
Years go by
If I'm stripped of my beauty
And the orange clouds
Raining in head
Years go by
Will I choke on my tears
Till finally there is nothing left
One more casualty
You know we're too easy Easy Easy


Well I love the way we communicate
Your eyes focus on my funny lip shape
Let's hear what you think of me now
But baby don't look up
The sky is falling
Your mother shows up in a nasty dress
It's your turn now to stand where I stand
Everybody lookin' at you here
Take hold of my hand
Yeah I can hear them


But what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice [x3]


For pure fun, Shania's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!". Nuff said.