Yes, this is the son of the Sarawak Chief ministers who is paid RM20,000 per month in salary. He is the ex-Minister in the current ruling government. A minister material ....
The Philippines’ Lost Opportunity
Kevin C. Limjoco
IT ALL BEGAN AT A POSH ITALIAN CLOTHING boutique in Tiburon, Marin County, California. I was not shopping, but my friend was. He leaned over to me as we were browsing and asked: "have you ever heard of a Bugatti EB110, lah?" my eyes lit up and immediately said, "yes, of course, the car is awesome but aren’t they nearly impossible to find?" He simply smiled. It was the summer of 1994; my friend and I were juniors majoring in business at the University of San Francisco. His name is Datuk Sulaiman Rahman Taib.
He is part of the Malaysian Monarchy, his father was and still is the Chief Minister of Sarawak, and his family owns over 100 companies, ranging from Sarawak Securities to logging, hence, the reason he refers to me as "lah" or buddy.
He was the first person I knew that had personally owned a vast number of ultra exotic automobiles. People who did not know Rahman were perplexed and ultimately intimidated by him. He seemingly had a new car every couple of weeks, and had a dedicated car shop and storage facility, (Conversion Techniques owned by John Siao,) that catered to his every whim. He had everything from an old K-type Mercedes Benz worth over a million dollars, an SL Gullwing, Ferrari 355 spider, Rolls Royce Corniche, Maserati Kamsin, to a "regular" S500 Mercedes. He had so many cars that he would routinely send them off to his home in Sarawak to clear his garage of the clutter. Therefore, when he asked me whether I knew what a Bugatti EB 110 was, my palms started to moisten because I knew that Rahman takes his "hobby" very seriously. He has "agents" scour the globe looking for cars that he desires. As we stepped out of the boutique, he excitedly told me that he had not one, but two Bugatti EB 110s coming to San Francisco! One, he picked up from a Japanese fellow somewhere near Detroit and the other near Louisiana I believe. It is an amazing feat in its self that he was able to find these cars in the US and in the most unlikely locals. He never disclosed the amount he paid because he always felt it was rude to discuss figures amongst friends. Man, I was curious though, because at its height these cars were worth over US$500,000.00. Well, I will never know. He did not volunteer it and I never asked. The EB110 prices itself ‘humbly’ between the Lamborghini Diablo, Ferrari 512TR and the Jaguar XJ220. It seemed to be a bargain considering its high level of achievement and prestigious marques, but still world sales never made up for the cost of building and marketing the automobile.
Two weeks later I was over at Rahman’s for Sunday lunch when he motioned me to go with him to his garage, I was ecstatic. I knew well enough that he was anti-climatic. Bugatti built a grand total of 154 cars, which included the 12 cars in the assembly line. Michael Schumacher is one of the lucky owners. Moreover, Rahman has two of them! There it was… a black Bugatti EB110 SS! I was in awe. What a super car: mid-engine, 3.5liter, 12 cylinder, 60V, Quad cam, 4 turbo, All wheel drive, 6 speed, carbon fiber frame, six piston ABS brakes, 611 bhp, 0-100 in 3.4 seconds, 355 km/h top speed, and 480 lbs. torque! On top of this, the car’s interior boasted such luxuries as a full Burl wood interior, a proper luggage compartment, power everything, a CD changer and sculptured leather seats!
Rahman’s EB110SS is still the fastest car that I have ever had the privilege to ride in. One Sunday, we drove past a café on Broadway street in downtown San Francisco where all exotic car owners conglomerate to show off their steeds, you should have seen the piercing eyes of the Ferrari and Lamborghini owners as we inched by then had all 4 tires scream in unison as Rahman floored the car to the next block! The Bugatti is truly a rocket ship on wheels. I recall a race once where a Bugatti EB110 GT- the lesser of the brothers - challenged a Ferrari F40 in Laguna Seca. The Ferrari won by a hair, but the EB110 driver drove with his aircon on, stereo blaring, and sat in opulence. However, that is another story, sorry folks.
Because of the car and the research that Rahman made on purchasing it, a unique opportunity presented itself. Through his network of moles in the capital of sports cars, Modena, Italy, (home to Ferrari, De Tomaso, Masseratti, and Lamborghini), he discovered that the Bugatti factory - owned by Italian tycoon Romano Artioli - was going bankrupt.
He quickly made contact with the owner only to find out in secret (a few months before the news went public) that the issue was already at the courts. Artioli had already filed for bankruptcy. Once again through his vast resources, Rahman had somehow sent his lawyers to Italy to jockey for position in the event that Bugatti would be sold. He miraculously secured the top position, above a list that included such huge names as Volkswagen and Fiat.
At this point, it would seem that Rahman’s ambition to be a world force in the car industry would be insured. His driving force was as relentless as the car itself proved to be. His inspiration at the time (1994) was that Malaysia had just began producing their very own car line, Proton (through a partnership with Mitsubishi Motors Japan) and that Prime Minister Suharto of Indonesia had the majority stake of Lamborghini. He wanted to top them all! Now back to the Italian courts, the amount needed to purchase all of Bugatti, which included the entire factory in Modena, all land owned by Bugatti, all patents, designs, plans, trademarks, machinery, positions with sister companies and other manufacturers, and the remaining unpainted 12 EB110s in the factory, hold on to your seats: a "mere" US$25 million!
Where did the Philippines fit in all of this? The ultimate plan was to have joint manufacturing facilities in Sarawak and the Philippines. Bugatti had a secret plan to build an affordable sports sedan that would compete with the BMW 3 series and the Mercedes Benz C-class. The EB110 would be revived again but built in Modena by order basis. The new sports sedan was designed with the help of Lotus to reduce building costs, using their experience with a more economical engine, chassis, suspension and coach works. The majority of the car would be built in Sarawak with the remaining 35% either in Subic or in Clark. In order for this vision to be realized, we had to give the courts a bank guarantee of US$5 Million to hold our position for 30 days. As a sweetener to individuals who helped get the bank guarantee, Rahman would give a brand new EB110 in any color from the last remaining stocks in Italy. This is where things get a little complicated. Though Rahman himself had access to the full US$25M, let alone a meager $5M guarantee, he still needed the 30 days to get approval and a final blessing from his father Datuk Taib without having committed any financial responsibilities. (That was left to me since I was gunning for a Philippine stake in this enterprise.)
Within days we both left the US and head to our prospective countries to execute our plans. His task was to get ultimate approval; my task was to get the bank guarantee. Time was against us at every turn. It took Rahman a week to get an audience with his father. I on the other hand was scrabbling all over Manila looking for prospective investors to issue the guarantee. It was a lot more difficult than I had imagined convincing people of the exciting opportunity. What was ironic was that I only needed to cough up a guarantee and not the physical money. Rahman would be the one to pay for every cent after 30 days and not only would we be able to create jobs for our compatriots, but everyone would be justly compensated with a bonus of an EB110! We had a few days left now and Rahman’s father had not given his approval. I was hard pressed to keep trying, I knew that if we could get the position within 30 days that it would not be unreasonable to believe that Rahman would be able to draw the US$25M; he had it in his own bank accounts! The final hour arrived, Rahman did not get his father’s blessing, and I was short of US$2M. That was indeed a dark hour. I pleaded with Rahman to simply give the remaining balance for the guarantee, which would give him enough time to ask his father to reconsider. He would not budge. He resigned himself to the fact that it was a cultural difference and that I would not understand. I was flabbergasted. My dreams had crumbled. The loss of face on both parties was so great that it affected our friendship severely. A few weeks later, there was a public announcement at the press that Volkswagen had ultimately purchased what could have been a tremendous future for our fellow citizens. I end this story with a heavy heart, but who knows? As it once was said, "as one door closes, another will open."
From ;http://www.bugattirevue.com/revue20/philipp.htm
Used with the permission of:Kevin C. LimjocoSenior EditorC! Magazine
Cemerlang and Gemilang
"Cemerlang means excellent. It is necessary to make a distinction between achievement and excellence. For example, it was doubtless an achievement for Abdul Malik Mydin to be the first Malaysian to swim the English Channel.
However, his time of 17 hours and 42 minutes is short of excellent if we keep in mind that a 12-year-old girl Samantha Druce managed 15 hrs 28 mins. Even a 70-year-old, George Burnstad, did better at 15.59 than the 29-year-old Malik at 17.42.
The Malay hero was nonetheless conferred a Datukship for his exploit, such ‘excellence’ as KPI-ed by our self-calibrated measure. Was it worth all the state-sponsored expense of Malik’s training under an Australian coach and ‘airflown’ to England for his almost 18-hour swim when the best channel crossers can complete the distance in under-seven hours?
For that matter, why not carry out the Malaysia Boleh stunt, if they must, swimming from Langkawi to Kuala Kedah instead?
It was however a different case with the second Malaysian to swim the channel that same year (2004). Lennard Lee was already based in England – at Cambridge University doing medicine, and at least his swim met a more useful objective, i.e. to raise funds for a cancer hospital.
Clocking 9.45, Lee was faster than Malik by a whopping eight hours.
More importantly, Lee did not land Malaysian taxpayers a hefty bill for ‘Satu lagi projek Barisan Nasional’.
However, his time of 17 hours and 42 minutes is short of excellent if we keep in mind that a 12-year-old girl Samantha Druce managed 15 hrs 28 mins. Even a 70-year-old, George Burnstad, did better at 15.59 than the 29-year-old Malik at 17.42.
The Malay hero was nonetheless conferred a Datukship for his exploit, such ‘excellence’ as KPI-ed by our self-calibrated measure. Was it worth all the state-sponsored expense of Malik’s training under an Australian coach and ‘airflown’ to England for his almost 18-hour swim when the best channel crossers can complete the distance in under-seven hours?
For that matter, why not carry out the Malaysia Boleh stunt, if they must, swimming from Langkawi to Kuala Kedah instead?
It was however a different case with the second Malaysian to swim the channel that same year (2004). Lennard Lee was already based in England – at Cambridge University doing medicine, and at least his swim met a more useful objective, i.e. to raise funds for a cancer hospital.
Clocking 9.45, Lee was faster than Malik by a whopping eight hours.
More importantly, Lee did not land Malaysian taxpayers a hefty bill for ‘Satu lagi projek Barisan Nasional’.
My letter to the CFO of Telecom Malaysia
Title:Debtor chasing debtee (TM)
Dear Sir,
This is a story of irony.
I am a recognised debtor to TM’s Streamyx division since my account was activated in Nov 2009 and have been chasing your esteemed organisation to pay my debt.
Here is a short summary.
1. Never received my bills from Nov 09 till now.
2. Have updated my mailing address 5 times with different departments. Customer service confirmed last week that my address was still wrong but got that corrected (checked today)
3. tmonline@tm.com.my & streamyx@tm.net.my is a blackhole and i can’t recall having an email immediately answered or a ticket number issued.
4. In January 2010, I was happy to get a call and made the payment via phone. The finance lady declared that I will get my receipt ( important as i need to claim) and my Nov-Dec bill. It never came (refer 2).
5. Other happy encounters
a. One fine day, decided to work at home and got the call on house landline to ask about the debt. I wonder if the finance department was calling my landline everyday instead of my hp?
i. My hp number is xxxxxxxxx, which i shared in my application form and every time i was connected to a customer service person.
b. Only 2 ways to obtain my copy of bill , via Fax or TMonline
i. Fax – Requested 3 times and it never came. Refer (4), was working at home and the phone kept ringing with fax tone at the other end. I think the fax was directed at my house landline instead.
ii. TMonline – the registration requires the latest bill date and amount. I have to call back and get the data yet still unable to process. Send screenshot to (3)
iii. Snail mail – it will take another 2 weeks for the mail to come. It never came (refer 2)
iv. Email – repeatedly told that this is not an option. One finance lady was kind enough and agreed to send. It never came.
At this rate, my internet connection will be disabled come 16th June 2010 and I do need that for business purposes.
Today: I finally got the customer helpline after waiting for 10 minutes but the lady (very helpful) was not able to facilitate payment via phone. The phone collection folks will call me within the next 24 hours, i was assured.
My impression so far are either delusional or comical and wonder if TM’s profit margin is extremely good that a small debtor like me are allowed to do the chasing.
I do hope that this feedback will be helpful to your organisation to move forward.
Dear Sir,
This is a story of irony.
I am a recognised debtor to TM’s Streamyx division since my account was activated in Nov 2009 and have been chasing your esteemed organisation to pay my debt.
Here is a short summary.
1. Never received my bills from Nov 09 till now.
2. Have updated my mailing address 5 times with different departments. Customer service confirmed last week that my address was still wrong but got that corrected (checked today)
3. tmonline@tm.com.my & streamyx@tm.net.my is a blackhole and i can’t recall having an email immediately answered or a ticket number issued.
4. In January 2010, I was happy to get a call and made the payment via phone. The finance lady declared that I will get my receipt ( important as i need to claim) and my Nov-Dec bill. It never came (refer 2).
5. Other happy encounters
a. One fine day, decided to work at home and got the call on house landline to ask about the debt. I wonder if the finance department was calling my landline everyday instead of my hp?
i. My hp number is xxxxxxxxx, which i shared in my application form and every time i was connected to a customer service person.
b. Only 2 ways to obtain my copy of bill , via Fax or TMonline
i. Fax – Requested 3 times and it never came. Refer (4), was working at home and the phone kept ringing with fax tone at the other end. I think the fax was directed at my house landline instead.
ii. TMonline – the registration requires the latest bill date and amount. I have to call back and get the data yet still unable to process. Send screenshot to (3)
iii. Snail mail – it will take another 2 weeks for the mail to come. It never came (refer 2)
iv. Email – repeatedly told that this is not an option. One finance lady was kind enough and agreed to send. It never came.
At this rate, my internet connection will be disabled come 16th June 2010 and I do need that for business purposes.
Today: I finally got the customer helpline after waiting for 10 minutes but the lady (very helpful) was not able to facilitate payment via phone. The phone collection folks will call me within the next 24 hours, i was assured.
My impression so far are either delusional or comical and wonder if TM’s profit margin is extremely good that a small debtor like me are allowed to do the chasing.
I do hope that this feedback will be helpful to your organisation to move forward.
Methodist becoming Pro Barisan National?
Updated:
Original
1. It is now clear that it is 4 churches, not 3. And they claimed that they have requested the money 'weeks before', contrary to what the bishop had claimed.
2. Rev Hwa Yung will ironically be talking about his new book on corruption and bribery. It is like listening to HRH Sultan Azlan talking about his rule of law book after what he did for UMNO in Perak.
Original
Once upon a time as a greenhorn, I joined and later serve in a Methodist church in Seremban and enjoyed the warmth of the people.
I have a secret, that I have sponsored a Tamil Methodist teenager with 2 month of my salary (just came out to work) so that he can study as his family could not afford it. It is a secret that I just want to kept to myself because it should be that way. Yet with this revelation, I hope that this 'act of kindness' will buy me 5 minutes of grace to fester about my biggest disappointment of the year.
Its about the Chinese Methodist Church in Sibu who were given RM1.75 million 'donation' of taxpayers money coincidently during a by election.
I called it a bribe.
Chronology:
17th May 2010 - trying to make sense.
Context: Election, money given to the Chinese and Christian as both are target group which are basically profiles the Methodist Sibu. No money was given all these years. This is special budget allocation.
Reason: not clear.
Consequence: May help in financial situation, distrust from the ... poorer Melanau/Iban Christians and other faith, allegations of buying over christians, unfavourable rumblings in Peninsular, increase derision of faith & causes the Christian leaders to spend time to make sense.
Principles to consider
1. Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse. ( Proverbs 28.6)
2."Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. (1 Corithians 10.23)
3.It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (Romans 14:21)So, we need to weight carefully. Any threat is an opportunity and this is one opportunity that church can make a stand on integrity even on donation or grant.
I then wrote emails to the Chinese Sibu Church via their FB page, and emails to the methodist organisation and to DUMC. No response for the church. The church did not make any effort to be transparent about the situation for about a week.
24th May 2010 - I prayed for forgiveness for the churches in Malaysia. Today, received a forwarded email from concern christians with an email which I found inadequate yet will respect the bishop's direction.
"After all, the money given is actually taxpayers’ money. Indeed the problem in our country is that most of the money for religious bodies is usually given to one particular religious community, with relatively much smaller proportions given to other communities. In so far as the money was given to the churches this time round, it can be said that the government is trying to right a past wrong. Further, the churches concerned never asked for the money."
26th May 2010 - The 4 churches ( not 3 ) declared that they are keeping the monies.
28th May 2010 - The Methodist church in Malaysia explained that the reason for keeping the money is that "returning the RM1.75 million government grant given during the Sibu by-election campaign will inadvertently make them out to be opposition supporters."
This is a day of mourning for the churches in Malaysia. Not only we have lost the opportunity to be a change agent and a reflector of Christ's value, we have lost the trust to be a credible faith.
Here are the given rationale and I do wonder why there was no bible verses that the Methodist leaders can use to substanciate their feeble attempt.
1. It is our money anyway -> Did the rest of the other faith who pay tax agrees to this? (refer 5)
2. We did not ask for it - > So, it is Barisan National's fault then? There are also report that the churches did ask for it. Who is lying?
3. Only election is when you will get these goodies. -> Isn't that the same with people who get paid RM50 to vote? And the church is an organisation and have collective conscience.
4. If we reject, we will be linked to opposition. And we are impartial and the money have no influence.-> Logic - if you reject = opposition, then accept = support Barisan National and UMNO. That already, is not impartial.
5. We do not get money from government always -> Lets not confuse the issue here. If talking about grant to non Muslim community, lets work it out with other faith and make a proposal to the government. 2 wrongs does not make a right.
Dear Reverand Hwa Yong and the Methodist ministers in Malaysia, remember that Judas was given 20 coins of silver to betray Jesus. You are not Judas, yet you have kept quiet about the money perhaps thinking that it will go away. We also do not see the Methodist's dynamism in the Allah issue or other issues confronting poorer churches in Malaysia. Is this not enough to imply that the Methodist movement in Malaysia is now friendly towards the Barisan National government?
The fact that the Sidang Injil Borneo churches are much poorer yet they were not given aid. The SIB church leaders spoke up & its a growing church that is not favourable to the desire of the government. And the Catholic church is also not given money as they displayed great courage to defend the rights of the Christians in the Herald case. And I think if they were given this bribe, both church leaders will refuse.
It is a shame to the Chinese church for our obsession with wealth, better looking churches and more land. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves planning bigger barns to keep your harvest.
End with a quote from another Methodist.
"Let them keep the money. Jesus came without a penny and He hung on the cross without a penny. But look what He did for all eternity. "
I have a secret, that I have sponsored a Tamil Methodist teenager with 2 month of my salary (just came out to work) so that he can study as his family could not afford it. It is a secret that I just want to kept to myself because it should be that way. Yet with this revelation, I hope that this 'act of kindness' will buy me 5 minutes of grace to fester about my biggest disappointment of the year.
Its about the Chinese Methodist Church in Sibu who were given RM1.75 million 'donation' of taxpayers money coincidently during a by election.
I called it a bribe.
Chronology:
17th May 2010 - trying to make sense.
Context: Election, money given to the Chinese and Christian as both are target group which are basically profiles the Methodist Sibu. No money was given all these years. This is special budget allocation.
Reason: not clear.
Consequence: May help in financial situation, distrust from the ... poorer Melanau/Iban Christians and other faith, allegations of buying over christians, unfavourable rumblings in Peninsular, increase derision of faith & causes the Christian leaders to spend time to make sense.
Principles to consider
1. Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse. ( Proverbs 28.6)
2."Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. (1 Corithians 10.23)
3.It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (Romans 14:21)So, we need to weight carefully. Any threat is an opportunity and this is one opportunity that church can make a stand on integrity even on donation or grant.
I then wrote emails to the Chinese Sibu Church via their FB page, and emails to the methodist organisation and to DUMC. No response for the church. The church did not make any effort to be transparent about the situation for about a week.
24th May 2010 - I prayed for forgiveness for the churches in Malaysia. Today, received a forwarded email from concern christians with an email which I found inadequate yet will respect the bishop's direction.
"After all, the money given is actually taxpayers’ money. Indeed the problem in our country is that most of the money for religious bodies is usually given to one particular religious community, with relatively much smaller proportions given to other communities. In so far as the money was given to the churches this time round, it can be said that the government is trying to right a past wrong. Further, the churches concerned never asked for the money."
26th May 2010 - The 4 churches ( not 3 ) declared that they are keeping the monies.
28th May 2010 - The Methodist church in Malaysia explained that the reason for keeping the money is that "returning the RM1.75 million government grant given during the Sibu by-election campaign will inadvertently make them out to be opposition supporters."
This is a day of mourning for the churches in Malaysia. Not only we have lost the opportunity to be a change agent and a reflector of Christ's value, we have lost the trust to be a credible faith.
Here are the given rationale and I do wonder why there was no bible verses that the Methodist leaders can use to substanciate their feeble attempt.
1. It is our money anyway -> Did the rest of the other faith who pay tax agrees to this? (refer 5)
2. We did not ask for it - > So, it is Barisan National's fault then? There are also report that the churches did ask for it. Who is lying?
3. Only election is when you will get these goodies. -> Isn't that the same with people who get paid RM50 to vote? And the church is an organisation and have collective conscience.
4. If we reject, we will be linked to opposition. And we are impartial and the money have no influence.-> Logic - if you reject = opposition, then accept = support Barisan National and UMNO. That already, is not impartial.
5. We do not get money from government always -> Lets not confuse the issue here. If talking about grant to non Muslim community, lets work it out with other faith and make a proposal to the government. 2 wrongs does not make a right.
Dear Reverand Hwa Yong and the Methodist ministers in Malaysia, remember that Judas was given 20 coins of silver to betray Jesus. You are not Judas, yet you have kept quiet about the money perhaps thinking that it will go away. We also do not see the Methodist's dynamism in the Allah issue or other issues confronting poorer churches in Malaysia. Is this not enough to imply that the Methodist movement in Malaysia is now friendly towards the Barisan National government?
The fact that the Sidang Injil Borneo churches are much poorer yet they were not given aid. The SIB church leaders spoke up & its a growing church that is not favourable to the desire of the government. And the Catholic church is also not given money as they displayed great courage to defend the rights of the Christians in the Herald case. And I think if they were given this bribe, both church leaders will refuse.
It is a shame to the Chinese church for our obsession with wealth, better looking churches and more land. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves planning bigger barns to keep your harvest.
End with a quote from another Methodist.
"Let them keep the money. Jesus came without a penny and He hung on the cross without a penny. But look what He did for all eternity. "
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About Me
- amoker
- Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
- I am mysterious ... and leave la some comments if my writting make sense. Proud Of Malaysia and disillusioned by the direction.