Tuesday's Macabre Tales...

The Star frontpage
Tuesday February 28, 2006


Petrol up 30 sen

KUALA LUMPUR: The price of petrol and diesel is up by 30 sen a litre effective today, the highest increase in the past two years.

However, the Prime Minister's Department, in a statement, said that this would be the only increase for the year.

Public transport and commercial vehicle operators only face a 15 sen rise for diesel.

“The Government has decided to introduce a direct subsidy for these operators, making up 84% of diesel users, through a fleet card scheme,” the statement stated.

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If you think the rest of the news is uplifting, you masochistic Malaysians, go INfest RM1.20 for a copy and DIjest more of the D'lite'fool nu'es.

Come G2008/9, VOTE FOR A CARING GOVERNMENT> VOTE DACING!

Thus follows A sprinkling of the news headlines that sing of great times/dimes to come!

Jump now to page 20:

Why the increase in price

Higher fares expected

More worries, say many

To add insult to injury, The Star proudly had a
FLASHBACK: Our page 1 report on Feb 1.
Brace for petrol hike

I say "INSULT" because this daily was good in "omitting" national news like the recent furore involving the New Straits Times Non Sequiturcartoon on first news break, but it showed much initiative to prepare the citizens "psychologically" for the impending "bad" news of a price hike in petrol. Coincidence? or Collusion?
Don't you see the propaganda-ganda wang anda at work?
NO? I weep for Malaysia, but the tears no come.

At Desi's Place, I have argued in a series of essays that PETRONAS, reaping RM36billion net profit in the last financial year, could more than absorb any world price increase in peroleum because Malaysia is a NETT BENEFICIARY. By right, everything being equal, Malaysians should ENJOY a price discount whenever the international price goes up. I won't reprice the case here because it's like a Dog Barking at the Moon when citizen Joe speaks his mind in dear olde Malaysia on civil and CONsumer issues. Maybe Citizen Nades could make a dent.


The MACABRE-lity lies in the fact that many fellow Malayisans will moan, mourn, growl and even yelp like li'l pups, so appropraie in this Year of the Fire Dog, but when the General Elections come around, season after tired season, the Voters will put the cross against the Dacing.

I'm taking a bre-A--k, or isit br---A---ke, at the DogHouse. Madhouse?

FOOTNOTE: Over the past six months, there has been at least two new oil fields being discovered off Malaysian shores. Are citizens Joe and Jane getting to taste any of the sweet crudes? Or, maybe the funds are diverted elsewhere?
Should PETronas -- NATIONAL OIL CORPORATION -- be renamed something else, like National Bailout Agency?

Please serve the next macabre tale, with the HIGHLIGHTS denoted by Desi, NOT The Star, but by this Blogger, Desiderata:

From The Star, frontpage top:

MAS do plan

and from a related report from the Business Section:

MAS sees profit in 2007

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) expects to return to profitability in 2007 with a projected RM50mil net profit rising to an all-time high of RM500mil in 2008 under a recovery plan that was unveiled by its new managing director, Idris Jala.


The airline reported a net loss of RM1.26bil for financial year ended Dec 31, 2005, and expects to incur another loss of RM620mil this year if the actions outlined in the business turnaround plan are executed. But, if nothing is done to improve the “cash and profit crisis’’ at MAS, the airline is expected to lose RM1.7bil this year.

“We have a cash-and-profit crisis at MAS and we will surely fail unless we radically change the way we run our business. Our poor pricing, rising cost structure, mismatched fleet, weak operational performance, and social obligations all contribute to our dismal financial performance. We estimate that 60% of our routes are not profitable,’’ Jala told reporters yesterday after announcing the airline’s results and business plan.


Jala’s ambitious recovery plan focuses on three crisis areas – profit, cash and people. He outlined several cost cuts to revenue-enhancing measures, which include route cuts and fleet rationalisation. He also spoke of raising domestic airfares by 10% and taking back the domestic operations from the Government. There are plans to change the reservation system, sell assets to raise cash and borrow RM2bil from the Government to meet its RM4bil working capital requirement this year.

This is just the beginning of the wide range of drastic changes that Jala proposed.

Although he has not got a “free hand” from the Government to proceed with his ambitious plan, he is hopeful that the “okay’’ will be granted.

“The Government is supportive and it needs time to (go through the details),’’ Jala said.

“I do not know (when the Government will get back to us) and it is up to them.’’

Jala’s challenge is nothing like what he has seen before but he remains confident that MAS employees are firmly behind him to “create a company that will be a source of pride and admiration.’’

Under the profit plan, MAS will terminate all unprofitable routes via its secondary hubs and maintain the KL International Airport hub. It will re-negotiate some of its code share agreements, as it does not want to continue to fly planes with load factor of 30%-40%, especially long-haul flights.

MAS’ passenger yields (revenue passenger per km at 18.9 sen versus industry average of 22-32 sen) is a problem and so is labour productivity versus its regional peers. But, cost wise, it is competitive and this is despite fuel prices going up from mid-2002 to 2005 by over 168%.

For the cash plan, Jala said: “We need RM4bil cash to run the business and are working hard to raise the money.’’ He added that MAS would generate RM1bil internally, source RM1bil in short-term borrowings and secure RM2bil from the government.

Jala said it would not be a “bail-out.’’ MAS will also cut unnecessary expenditure. It will sell its headquarters and overseas offices and aircraft engines to raise RM2bil. He said while there was no retrenchment, employees would have to be leaders, accountable and work as a team.


DESIDERATA: Just wonder how sure Malaysians are that the RM2billion to be gievn by the Government to help MAS won't be a bail-out?

Remember Perwaja Steel, Bank Bumpiputra, Bakun Hydroelectric Dam -- no bailouts?

I wish to remind that in the same periods under review, MAS counterpart across the causeway has been consistently reporting good profits. Not a good Aplple-to-Apple Comparision? Then tell me, what is a gooder one?


And from the New Straits Times, which seems to be raising its journalism standards nowadays, with more critical analyses than usual, IMHO, rite!

MAS Turnaround Plan: Overcoming the grim outlook
Analysis by Shukor Yusof

Feb 28
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) continues to be in a precarious state despite having had all its debts transferred to Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (PMB) under the Widespread Asset Unbundling (WAU) of 2002.

This grim situation is despite generally robust economic conditions in Malaysia and government support over the past years. This brief article provides some perspectives on MAS’ problems by highlighting three areas:

What are the main reasons for MAS’ problems?

The answer, in part, has to do with the nature of commercial aviation, which is a high-risk business with high fixed costs such as expensive aircraft, expensive specialised staff and expensive fuel. Compounding the situation is an industry vulnerable to big swings in demand and external shocks over which it has little or no control. In our opinion, MAS for too long employed the wrong strategy (increasing load factor but not improving yields), failed to keep abreast of fundamental changes in the industry (advent of low-cost carriers or LCCs) and was bankrupt of ideas when it came to self-renewal.

Is MAS responding adequately to the financial problems?

Losses of RM616.4 million in the third quarter of 2005 were appalling. High jet fuel prices remain the most serious concern and were a big factor (although not the only one) in the latest losses.

Many airlines do not have the necessary financial strength that would allow them to enter into hedges without putting up cash collateral. This, therefore, depletes their cash reserves. We believe high fuel prices are another key risk to MAS’ operating performance in fiscal 2006.

Much depends on how savvy MAS is at fuel-hedging, and we think it will succeed given Idris Jala’s intimate knowledge of the market. MAS needs RM2 billion from the Government to get over its cash shortfall. The presence of the Government as the controlling shareholder, and the Government’s track record of past assistance, should cushion a further deterioration in the airline’s underlying financial profile. But would MAS be financially sound if its costs were reduced to, or near parity with, those of AirAsia? Don’t bet on it.

What about MAS’ prospects?

We were somewhat disappointed with the turnaround plan as it did not fully address key issues such as over-staffing, the immediate replacement of older aircraft with newer, more fuel-efficient ones, plans to deal with the proliferation of LCCs, and how to monetise the A380 in 2007.

NOTE: The writer is an aviation analyst with Standard & Poors

DESIDERATA closes with a fictional MACABRE TALE so that Malaysians will continue their dreamland travels, OR is it an enjoyable nightmare ride, MASOCHISTIC FRIENDS?

Some deaths are easily xplanable.
IF you have Sherlock Holmes for a friend.
OR you have seen enough episodes of CSI: Koala Lumpur.
This following episode came courtesy by a Friend's email with a finedish sense of h(R)umour...she Xclaimed it's a true episode shown over RTelm on Frydae 12 plus 1 in one of the wards in Pantai Vale Ospital.

My recount is with APologies because I could not ID the story-teller.
Maybe he was the lust patient jest on the bed of serenity before the vacuum cleaner appeared in his doctored overalls.

~~~~~~~~This case happened in a hospital's Intensive care ward where Patients always died in the same bed and on all Sunday morning at 11a.m, regardless of their medical condition.

This puzzled the doctors and some even thought that it had something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths took place at 11 AM.

So a world-wide expert team was constituted and they decided to go down to the ward to investigate the cause of the incidents. So on the next Sunday morning few minutes before 11 a.m. all doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves
what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books and other holy objects to ward off evil........
Ju st when the! clock struck 11...

and then
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.
.
.
.
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then
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

then .......Santa Singh, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward,
and unplugged the life support system & plugged in the vacuum cleaner.

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