By HU Editor
The Oxford University’s Saïd Business School has come under fire over an invitation extended to Taib Mahmud , the controversial Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, to present an opening address at the “Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum” held on 26-27 July 2010.
40 people, who were prevented from entering the conference hall of the Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, protested in front of the famed University while the Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak used a side entrance to enter the conference venue unnoticed.
Feja Lesniewska, of the School of Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London together with representatives of 8 European human rights and environmental groups handed to the Oxford University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton and conference organizers a letter to register their protest over the invitation extended to Taib Mahmud.
Describing him and his family business interests as “notorious”, the European human rights and environmental advocates criticized the Oxford University for inviting the Sarawak Chief Minister who is said to be associated with many actions of injustices and violations of human rights. “The School should have researched into the widespread and documented evidence available of gross corruption, human rights abuses, environmental devastation and electoral fraud all associated with his 30 year regime”, said the activists.
Full text of the letter:
Dear Sir, Madam,
We, the undersigned, are disturbed that the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Mr. Taib Mahmud, has been invited to present the opening address at the Said Business School’s inaugural Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum 2010.
During his nearly 30 years of iron grip over Sarawak, Taib Mahmud has systematically plundered the rich Borneo jungles for timber. His multiple roles in government, as Chief Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Planning and Resources Management minister, has given him the power to dispense land, forestry and palm oil concessions as well as the power to approve infrastructure projects.
Taib Mahmud’s ‘business interests’ are notorious. Most of the state of Sarawak has been absorbed into the possession of his cronies and family members through ‘privatisations’ and the handing out of palm oil and timber concessions, via arbitrary state acquisitions of native lands. So the lands and other resources of many of Sarawak’s indigenous and poor communities have been taken by the state government purportedly for ‘development’ into large-scale commercial oil palm plantations and other tree plantations, which has resulted in environmental destruction, serious human rights violations and poverty.
Thus, while the Taib’s fortunes continue to increase and they have become multi-billionaires and owners of luxury properties in Canada, USA and the UK, much of Sarawak languishes in poverty.
We have always believed that a prestigious University like Oxford University would not provide a platform to anyone with a reputation of Taib Mahmud, and certainly not by asking him to be a keynote speaker.
We therefore express serious concern over the decision and criticize it. This decision could compromise your University’s standing as a hallmark of democracy, justice and human-centred development. To have Taib Mahmud give the opening presentation of the Inaugural Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum certainly gives the impression that the Forum or the Said Business School does not think Islamic Branding ought to be just, democratic, ethical and done with respect for the environment and human rights.
The questions we therefore have are: Why has the University/Said Business School deigned it fit to invite Taib Mahmud, a person reportedly associated with many actions of injustices and violations of human rights? More importantly, has the School researched the background of Abdul Taib Mahmud in terms of the widespread and documented evidence available of gross corruption, human rights abuses, environmental devastation and electoral fraud all associated with his 30 year regime?
We respectfully request a written response from the University on the above questions.
Signatories:
Feja Lesniewska, School of Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London - UK
Hermann Edelmann, Pro Regenwald – Germany
Lukas Straumann, Bruno Manser Fund – Switzerland
Nils Hermann, Rainforest Foundation Norway
Rainer Baake, German Environmental Aid – Germany
Reinhard Behrend, Rettet den Regenwald – Germany
Saskia Ozinga, FERN - UK
Stuart Wilson, Forests Monitor – UK
Tom Griffiths, Forest Peoples Programme – UK
PS :- We thank BMF for their permission to use the photographs taken at the demonstration.
Was taek Jho Low with Taib too? Taib Mahmud’s public listed UBG now has subtanstial Arab interest.
CMS and UBG back in the spotlight
By ANITA GABRIEL
FOR long, the name Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd has conjured up images of power, lavishness and wealth. But that’s less to do with the company and more about its controlling shareholders. CMS, if you don’t already know, is the flagship listed asset of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s family.
There is another listed entity, UBG Bhd (then, called Utama Banking Group) linked to the family but a sale (RHB Bank), massive restructuring and several acquisitions later in 2008 saw the family’s controlling interest reduced to an associate level.
It is for this reason – the pomp and grandeur associated with the family – that these two companies draw as much curiousity as they do scrutiny. More recently, these two companies moved back in the limelight on news of a takeover of UBG by a foreign party.
CMS deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib.
One foot in
After hiving of its interest in financial services to the Employees Provident Fund, UBG was left with a cash hoard (it has since partly paid this out to shareholders) and no core business, hence earning the title PN17. It either finds a new core business or gets booted out of the exchange. It managed to avoid the latter.
So, in early 2008, a private investment vehicle owned by Abu Dhabi-Kuwait Malaysia Investment Corporation (ADKMIC) – Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd – swooped into UBG. Following a complex plan (UBG’s regularisation plan to shake itself off the affected listed status) which among many things also involved the acquisitions of water infrastructure company Loh & Loh Corp Bhd (LLCB) and construction firm Putrajaya Perdana Bhd (PPB), it ended up with 53% of UBG while CMS, the original controlling shareholder’s interest had reduced to 32%. UBG’s public float had thinned out to just under 10% (to retain its listed status, MMSB was required to sell down its stake).
Fast track two years later, in January this year, both those stakes are being hived off, this time, to another Middle-East company PetroSaudi International Ltd – a name that flashed across business sheets’ headlines in Malaysia not too long ago for its US$2.5bil tie up with 1Malaysia Development Bhd – for RM2.50 a piece or total RM1.12bil.
The over riding issue behind this deal – CMS needs to cash out to fund its other projects, namely the multi-billion ringgit aluminium smelter project. CMS will raise some RM460mil from the sale and is also believed to be planning a bond issue for this purpose.
“No one haggled. CMS needed to raise money and the sale was fixed at RM2.50 per share,” says a source.
Truth is, there was no need to haggle. At RM2.50/share, it values UBG at about 20x over the street’s 2010 earning estimates for the group, which analysts deem “fair on the up side”. They also point out that UBG has over RM500mil in its coffers and this coupled with its sound earnings potential, would render the price tag reasonable.
MMSB is selling out, says a source, because its aspirations to use UBG as a vehicle to tap the construction opportunities in the Middle-East and more specifically Dubai had fallen flat given the global financial crisis.
“We admit it. We wanted the big jobs but we didn’t get it. So, we have changed our focus,” says a company source.
This could also explain UBG’s move in September last year to buy oil and gas company Pearl Thailand (Holdings Ltd) from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co for US$19.2mil (plus US$16.1mil for costs spent by Pearl). “It’s a risky venture nevertheless,” says an analyst, referring to its high risk and the fact that it was merely in the first stage of exploration and there was no earnings clarity.
Inflow of moneyed Arabs
Group executive director Datuk Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree.
There has been, in recent times, significantly more Middle-Eastern investors in Malaysia’s investing scene. In 2008, Kuwait Finance House bought super luxurious Oval Serviced Apartments in KLCC which was eventually sold to GuocoLand Bhd; Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank bought a substantial stake in RHB in the same year: MMSB acquired a controlling stake in UBG, which later also acquired two other listed entities Loh & Loh and Putrajaya Perdana two years back; several Middle East companies invested substantially in the Iskandar Development Region; and then last year, a sovereign wealth fund was set up called Terengganu Investment Authority which promised a strong participation of Middle-East investors. The entity, with RM5bil in its kitty, had flopped and was immediately converted into 1Malaysia Development Bhd, while still retaining its unmistakable Mid-East slant.
Most recently, comes PetroSaudi’s recent proposed takeover of UBG. Is that it, you ask? Think again – according to sources there is likely to be more of such news flooding Malaysian shores here on. In fact, on Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak began his first four-day official visit to Saudi Arabia and it is believed that a couple of key developments will be unveiled during this visit.
The ‘J Low’ factor
These ventures share one thing in common – they all involve Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, a Penang-born 29 year old who has attracted much curiosity and suspicion as he has intrigue in Malaysia’s corporate scene.
Low was in fact instrumental in driving TIA during its formative stage; he continues to play a role in 1MDB, particularly in wooing the Arabs to part with the money to invest in the country.
Much of Low’s strong ties with the Middle East, it is believed, was nurtured from his pre-tertiary education days at the famous Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, London.
His father is businessman Datuk Larry Low, who is co founder and chairman of Singapore-listed ElectroTech Investments Ltd. Low’s investment vehicle, together with other private investors, is ADKMIC and he is also a UBG board member.
And his latest pet project, sources say, is the setting up of a massive privately-held general investment fund with head offices in the Middle East and Asia.
Will 1MDB be involved?
It is for these two reasons – the `J Low factor’ and PSI’s earlier tie up with 1MDB – that tongues started to wag as soon as the Petro Saudi-UBG deal was revealed a week ago. Speculation is rife that the deal, in one way or the other, eventually, will see the involvement of 1MDB.
Low Taek Jho
PetroSaudi, in a written reply to The StarBizWeek, however clarified that they are two separate ventures. (refer to sidebar)
Even so, not many market watchers are completely convinced. Which means only one thing – 1MDB’s tie up with PetroSaudi will draw even more scrutiny going forward.
Score-ing in Sarawak
Over the past couple of years (with a pause in between given the crisis), the stock market has witnessed the revolving investment theme centred on the country’s many corridor development projects. From the North, to the East to the South, many counters had seen significant trading activity on the back of the promise of bagging huge jobs from these development agendas.
In recent weeks, another sweet spot has emerged, this time with a base in Sarawak; it’s called SCORE (the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy).
With a targeted investment (public and private) of a whopping RM334bil over the next 20 years, it’s easy to see why the state has become the focus. And it makes “political sense”. “There is strong political incentive for the Federal Govt to accelerate Sarawak’s development before the next state election, in our view,” said OSK Research in a report late last year.
Expectations are high that job flows in the state will accelerate soon. That, in fact, has already happened with a major kicker from 1MDB which early in the week signed a mega deal with the State Grid Corporation of China to jointly venture in major projects in Score with a potential of a mind boggling US$11bil.
On the back of such hype. several Sarawak-linked counters have risen in recent weeks as historically, “local” construction companies (think CMS, Naim Holdings Bhd, Hock Seng Lee Bhd) have been the preferred ones for the state’s infrastructure projects.
So, how exactly does UBG, fit into PSI’s overall scheme of things? An analyst speculates that Petro Saudi, through UBG, could be eyeing a piece of the action in the state.
The final answer to that however can be gleamed from developments in the coming months. But the biggest question still is – who stands to score the most?
Comment by Mata Kuching — July 27, 2010 @ 7:43 PM |
CM lap bin.
Comment by Bourgeois Revolution — July 27, 2010 @ 12:02 PM |
LOL!!! Well-done and THANK YOU all you good people in London/NGOs who even at such short notice, swung into action to help out in the protest Demo. It certainly was a ‘drop water-face’ for this Sarawak rat, that he so deserve!
The Sarawakreport.org had this to say…
#The protest certainly denied Taib his grand entrance. He had been due to arrive in style, greeted by the University’s Vice Chancellor (the sponsorship must have been huge) to give the opening speech for the two-day conference, but he ended up being sneaked in past the protesters and ushered in through the back of the building. A break-away group who spotted his entry surrounded his car and waived their banners in disgust#
- What a smack across the face for the irresponsible, those working behind to extend that Oxfart invitation and of all people, to one of Malaysia’s most notorious kleptocrat! How more disgraceful can it be?!!!!!
Comment by Jong — July 27, 2010 @ 10:10 AM |