Bleeping Sod-Offs

These days I often winced every time EPF appears in the news.

As is often the case, the news would be on the nation’s richer institution spending money for something or the other.

Recent ones being the RM2.4 billion for the RRI land, the 20% stake for the RM2 billion Battersea project, and not to forget, the RM1.5 billion for Raja Nong Chik’s housing loans for the KL poor scheme.

And yet another: the EPF has apparently been accumulating shares of Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) and now holding close to 7% from 5.4% for the controversial IPO, which price reached a low RM4.57 before noon today.

How much is EPF, urm , exposure vis-a-vis FGVH in pure money terms, I wonder? 

According to fellow blogger SakMongkol, it’s around RM1.2 billion. Another multi-billion venture, if that is so.

In the shareholding business, it’s great to be able to buy low especially if you are holding the shares for a much longer term with the proviso of a company with positive outlook. Is this the case with FGVH?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. This depends very much on who you ask this question to.

The fact remains however that for the FGVH IPO, even the State governments – not the epitome of financial savvy managers – were roped in to, urm, prop the debut price.

There is in place a 6-month’s holding period for the local institution. I supposed this includes the latter.

Query: What happens if the price continues to tumble below the issue price? Will EPF continue to accumulate FGVH shares on the quiet? Up to what point will it continue to do so?

And if the shares continue to tumble, wouldn’t buying them constitute a breach of responsibility on the EPF part in managing its contributors’ hard earned retirement savings for good returns?

Unfortunately, EPF contributors do not have much say on the institution’s investing decisions.

Hence, the go ahead for Raja Nong Chik’s loans for the poor scheme despite some rumblings of how the EPF seemed to be the other favorite purse of the politically-intertwined.

The other being Petronas, of course, but the still-mighty corporation of the nation has made its feeling known over it reservations in being a cash cow for all and sundry.

Cash flushed as it is, the EPF is not a bottomless well of funds and eventually – if everyone were to dip into the piggy bank as if it was their own – the base would be reached.

We certainly have plenty of examples of once cash-rich coffers hence depleted, don’t we?

So, do Sod Off all you grubby hands. Please.

Dense Macabre (With apologies to Stephen King)

“I know the blogs have been quite confused about it. My response is that I am the CEO of Pemandu and report in the capacity as CEO to the minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon (Pemandu Chairman),” he clarified.

Jala added that as CEO of Pemandu, his first task was to find out what has been done by the organisation to date and would be working closely with Koh and the Pemandu board to chart out the way forward.

Is it only me, but did anyone else reading the above arrived (pun intended) with a smile?

That’s sure a whole lot of “pemandu”s.

Idris Jala seems stuck in his CEO mode to not realize that he is now a Minister instead.

There will be less of a chance for anyone driving anything anywhere when they become Ministers, especially one without any portfolio.

But never mind Mr Jala.

For such a serious news organization, the above paragraph came out very much tongue in cheek.

Not sure if it’s deliberate, though, but if it was, I hope the author had as much fun typing them out as I did reading them.

We sure need all the humorous distractions to dilute the bitter taste from the utterly moronic antics of those in the “cow-head” incident.

I mean, what gives Dudes?

Surely there are some even more creatively ironic ways you can push your cause than to stomp peoples’ toes (and much worse) isn’t there?

There was evidently a good measure of rabble-rousing hatred within the group for the poor dead animal’s head to end up a sick object of derision.

The question must thus be: hatred against who, or what?

The PR state government? The Hindu temple that is yet to be built? Khalid Samad? Khir Toyo?

Wonder who thought up the sick idea. Took some preparation for it to be a-spur-of-the-moment kinda thing.

Sadly, it could have easily be done in a cheeky way that would have made much “healthier” headlines.

As it is, Islam is again dragged into the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

Nicely done, Dumb Asses.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)