Here's a piece of news that do us Malaysans proud, via The Malaysian Insider:
Former Petronas chief named chairman of energy company
Hassan left Petronas in 2010 allegedly due to friction with the government. – File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Former Petronas CEO Tan Sri Hassan Marican has been named as chairman of Pavilion Energy Pte, a new energy company under Singapore’s investment fund Temasek Holdings.
Hassan, who left the national oil company at the beginning of 2010 allegedly due to friction with the government, has been accepting directorships with several foreign firms in the energy sector, including as chairman of Singapore Power Ltd in February last year.
According to a Bloomberg report, Hassan was appointed together with chief executive Seah Moon Ming who joined Temasek in March.
The report pointed out that Pavilion Energy was set up with an initial authorised capital of S$1 billion (RM2.47 billion), to capitalise on the growing demands in Asia, especially on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The energy company expects “to participate and invest in various parts of the LNG value chain to ensure long term LNG supply,” said Seah in a statement.
“These could include LNG trading; investing alongside international oil and gas companies as partners to develop upstream LNG projects; building of LNG storage and re- gasification terminals; and investing in LNG shipping.”
The company will start operations in September this year.
Hassan has joined a number of Singapore government-linked companies in the past few years, including SembCorp Industries Limited and SembCorp Marine Limited. He is also a director at Sarawak Energy Berhad and US oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips.
Marican, 58, was part of the board that had appeared to have clashed with the government back in late 2009 over the appointment of a former senior aide of the prime minister as a Petronas director.
It was reported then that the former aide, Omar Mustapha Ong, was rejected twice.
Hassan was widely credited with turning Petronas into the only other state-run major international player in the oil and gas space apart from Norway’s Statoil.
Hassan’s flurry of overseas appointments also comes at a time when Malaysia is grappling with a chronic brain drain that threatens to derail its ambitions to become a developed country.
Putrajaya however had in March last year dismissed concerns that Hassan’s move to Singapore was an indicator of Malaysia’s failure to address its “brain drain” problem, saying “there are no indispensable people in the world”.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop told Parliament that in the current era of globalisation, the government could not stop individuals from migrating abroad for better job opportunities but could do its best to reap benefits from the phenomenon.
He said Hassan’s acceptance of top positions in firms outside Malaysia should instead be revered as an honour to the country as it shows the abundance of high-skilled human capital available here.
DESIDERATA: I have written posts lamenting that an exercise similar to what Talent Corp is embarking on -- attracting Malaysians currently working overseas to return home to utilise their special expertise and skills to lift Malaysia up the economic ladder a few notches -- several decades ago had reported some 100-plus Malaysian returnees WHO AFTER JUST ONE YEAR, ALL DECIDED TO GO BACK OVERSEAS TO WORK BECAUSE -- EXCEPT FOR ONE MISERABLE SOUL WHO STAYED BEHING -- THEY FELT MALAYSIA WAS NOT THE PLACE FOR THEM TO MAXIMISE THEIR TALENTS!
And so is it any surprise that since Hassan Merican "retired" from Petronas, the Little Dot south of the border, promptly grabbed him. The Lion city knows a gem when it sees one. So also the present leaders recruiting Malaysians as ASEAN SCHOLARSHIPS from lower secondary school to tertiary and post-graduate studies. Just a chat at any kopitiam in town like Furong, one would hear of such-and--such retire's son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter going over to our Asean neighbour to study, FREE OF CHARGE TILL GRADUATION, WITH LIVING ALLOWANCES THROWN IT! Malaysian parents' burden lightened NOT BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT but like Hassan Merican's, their talents are better appreciated overseas!
PS: I await the day when Hassan Merican writes about his wonder days at the national oil corpoartion, and maybe, mayhaps, enlighten us on the TRUTH OR FALSEHOOD of rumours of how polically-connected UMNOputras had/have been/still are syphoning of billions -- USD OR BARRELS at USD100-plus per! --from Petronas. That could explain WHY WHEN IN THE PAST DECADES AS PETRONAS' PROFITS ROSE EVERY YEAR WITH RISING WORLD OIL PRICES, MALAYSIANS NEVER GOT TO ENJOY LOWER PUMP PRICES. Instead these BN leaders whacked us with HIGHER PUMP prices and HIGHER INFLATION. Yeah, they would respond with a shout: "We gave you two rounds of BR1M of RM500 each, no?" Yes, BR1 for Bribe Malaysia First just before GE13! Right, vely de genelous!
1 comment:
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