Hong Leong Boss Quek Leng Chan loses shares in AMR Corp of American Airlines Inc.

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By FINTAN NG fintan@thestar.com.my

Paper loss following AMR bankruptcy at RM273mil

PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, whose family interests include the Hong Leong and Guoco groups, may be looking at an almost complete loss just 3 months after acquiring a 7.3% stake in AMR Corp, the holding company of American Airlines Inc, which filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday.

Quek had acquired 24.4 million shares in AMR through Hong Kong-listed Guoco Group Ltd and related companies.



On its website, Guoco group said investments covering the global capital markets were made in view of enhancing capital value in line with the company's vision of achieving superior long-term returns for shareholders.

Media-shy: Quek acquired 24.4 million shares in AMR through Hong Konglisted Guoco Group Ltd and related companies.

The United States third-largest airlines went bust and filed for Chapter 11 bankcruptcy after it failed to post full-year profit since 2007 with US$24.7bil in assets and US$29.6bil in debt, according to news reports.

Other major shareholders of the airline included Primecap Management Co, a Pasadena, California-based investment firm with 12.30% stake, ICC Capital Management from Orlando, Florida with 7.49% stake and Capital World Investors with 7.40%.

Although it is unclear at what price the cigar-chomping Quek had acquired the shares, based on the closing price on Aug 15, the shares would have been worth US$92.2mil (RM275.21mil based on the exchange rates then) or US$3.78 per share.

On Tuesday, AMR's share price closed at 26 cents, down 93.12% since Aug 15.

Therefore, the media-shy Quek, known as a super high-roller who frequents casinos in Las Vegas according to reports, may be looking at paper losses of US$85.88mil (RM273mil as of yesterday's exchange rate).

American Airlines jets take off and land at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas, USA, 29 November 2011. American Airlines, a part of AMR Corp. the nation's third-largest carrier, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. - EPA

His potential losses came on the heels of another turbulent period for the airlines industry which has barely recovered from the global financial crisis of 2008/2009.

The International Air Transport Association director-general and chief executive officer Tony Tyler had said that 2012 would be a tough year although the industry's net profit forecast for this year had been revised to US$6.9bil from US$4bil in June.

He said this was due to “still exceptionally weak” profitability, with net margins at 1.2% versus the industry's US$594bil in revenue.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd posted a 22.11% drop in net profit to RM252.20mil for the third quarter ended Sept 30 compared with the quarter a year ago after taking into consideration a surplus transfer of RM175mil. Revenue for the quarter under review rose 19.04% to RM919.67mil.

Agung UMNO: Fists of fury from the wings

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Wanita, Youth and Puteri in fighting mode at their assemblies

The star

KUALA LUMPUR: The Youth, Wanita and Puteri wings of Umno were in combative mood, with their leaders striking hard at their Opposition counterparts.

Wanita chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil expressed surprise that her PKR rival Zuraida Kamaruddin “had the audacity” to demand her resignation over the National Feedlot Corporation controversy.

She dared Zuraida to ask her party president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Ismail to step down because her husband, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, “had been found guilty and charged with various offences which I don't even have the heart to say out loud”.

This, said Shahrizat, would be in accordance with Zuraida's logic behind blaming a person for the actions of his or her spouse.

 

Hear me roar: Shahrizat gesturing as she delivers her fiery speech during the Wanita Umno general assembly yesterday. – NORAFIFI EHSAN / The Star

For his part, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin mocked his PKR nemesis, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, for suggesting that Umno change the Federal Constitution so that only a Malay can be Prime Minister.

He said PKR suggested such a proposal only because it realised that its support among the Malays was waning.

Puteri Umno chief Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin, meanwhile, slammed the Opposition for “twisting facts and figures” to arouse fear among the people over the country's economic situation.

For his part, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin mocked his PKR nemesis, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, for suggesting that Umno change the Federal Constitution so that only a Malay can be Prime Minister.

He said PKR suggested such a proposal only because it realised that its support among the Malays was waning.

Puteri Umno chief Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin, meanwhile, slammed the Opposition for “twisting facts and figures” to arouse fear among the people over the country's economic situation.

Fists of fury from the wings

Analysis By Joceline Tan

Umno’s three wings were on fire as they took up their party president’s call to prepare for a do-or-die battle in the coming general election.

WHO would have thought that Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil had that sort of fire in her belly? The normally demure Wanita Umno chief was on fire as she made the most aggressive and fiery speech of her life at the opening of the wing’s assembly yesterday.

None of the senior ladies who had supported her through the years had ever seen her in this high-octane mode and it brought them to their feet, cheering their lungs out and calling out encouragement to her.

She brought the house down. Even her aides were stunned.

“I’ve never seen her speak like this,” said one of them.

Then again, Shahrizat is fighting for her life – or rather her political life. She is facing a career crisis like never before over the “cows and condos” issue. Not even her fight for the leadership of Wanita Umno had been this stressful or critical.

Shahrizat’s policy speech had begun ordinarily enough, spelling out the wing’s role and commitment to Umno and its long string of accomplishments for Malaysian women.

Midway through, she lashed out at Zuraida Kamaruddin, the PKR Wanita chief whose style of politics is, well, far from being lady-like.

Or as Shahrizat put it, “Zuraida, perempuan biadap (rude woman).

There was no stopping Shahrizat after that. She also hit out at PKR politicians who had gone to town on the cattle-rearing scheme in Negri Sembilan headed by her husband and children and which has become such a controversy.

The Women, Family Development and Community Minister seemed incensed that PKR politicians had demanded her resignation. Why should she, she said, when she had nothing to do with the project.

Instead, she challenged Zuraida to ask her own party president to resign over the alleged indiscretions of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The women loved this other side of Shahrizat, they were with her in her fit of fury against their opponents and they stayed on their feet till the very end of the speech.

Umno’s steel magnolia showed she could be a smiling tigress.

Not everyone in Umno may agree with the way she used the Wanita assembly to defend herself on the cattle scheme. But no one would disagree that she inspired her ladies to prepare for the general election.

Shahrizat knows that public opinion is not with her on this issue. Her aim is to get through the Umno assembly as best as she can. After that, she will have to evaluate her political future in the light of the Umno president’s uncompromising stand on winnable candidates.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s call for the party to get ready to fight the most difficult general election ever seems to have sunk in with the three wings.

There were lots of opposition-bashing. They went for the jugular of their opponents, pointing out their contradictions and shortcomings.

They served warning that the next election will not be a walkover for Pakatan Rakyat.

Those who spoke in the three wings have also moved on to new targets like Bersih chairman Datuk S. Ambiga, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and PKR’s deputy president Azmin Ali and strategy chief Rafizi Ramli. The old staples like Anwar, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and PAS leaders Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang are not interesting to them.

Perak DAP star Nga Kor Ming was singled out for derogating Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir at a ceramah as hitam metallic haram jadah (metallic black and damned). It was a shocking racist remark for which the DAP leader has since apologised.

Of the three wings, Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s speech im­­pressed in terms of content, structure and the way it translated the president’s ideas in the context of the Youth wing. It was also thankfully free of rhetoric.

He explained what Najib has tried to do since taking over the party as the first Prime Minister to have been brought up in the post-Independence era. The generational shift that Najib is advocating is more than just replacing old faces with new ones; it’s about a change of worldview and he is trying to balance tradition and modernisation.

He put it well when he argued that the party’s push for winnable candidates is crucial because surveys have shown that 62% of young people are fence-sitters who will choose only parties and candidates they consider the best.

The Youth wing stands to gain most because the fresh and qualified candidates will mostly be sourced from the Youth rank and file.

The wing also has a well-thought- out assessment of the economic issues but it was the way Khairy poked holes in Pakatan’s critique of everything connected to Umno and the ruling coalition that was most interesting.

He signalled that the Youth wing knew the game the other side is playing and that it will be a fight to the end or lawan tetap lawan, as they say in Malay politics. Khairy calls it a test of survival for Umno and the Barisan.

The battle cry will get louder when the main assembly starts today. This once very powerful Malay party is determined to defend Putrajaya as much as Pakatan is eager to get there.

Agung UMNO Watershed? Battle to win the warlords over!

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Watershed assembly for Umno

THIS general assembly is certain to be Umno’s last before the 13th general election, and its leaders have taken great pains to ensure members put on a good show for the whole country.

The party bosses, in the run-up to the meetings which started last night, told the delegates that they were free to speak up on any subject.

And so they should, as Umno assemblies have been noted for the freedom politicians have to speak their minds.

However, the speakers must be aware that whatever they say will reverberate far beyond Merdeka Hall at the PWTC.

From party president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, the advice has come for speakers not to say or do anything that might offend other communities.

The leaders remember the Youth-keris incident as well as the fiery speeches of the past few years which the non-Malays had found unsettling, if not threatening.



This cannot happen again if Umno wants Putrajaya to remain under Barisan Nasional. National polls are imminent, and party members must remember that whatever they do will affect Barisan’s 13 other component parties.

Every misplaced word and misconstrued action will be exploited by their political foes to the fullest to drive the non-Malay electorate away from the ruling coalition.

Najib has repeatedly said in the past few days that his 1Malaysia concept calls for “acceptance” and not just “tolerance”, and the party leadership has re-emphasised this by putting up huge billboards depicting multi-racial scenes with wordings like “Kami anak Malaysia” (We are the children of Malaysia) all over the PWTC.

This is one of Umno’s biggest efforts to reach out to the other communities.

The more than 100 speakers at the Youth, Wanita, Puteri and main party’s assemblies must also reflect this spirit of accepting all Malaysians so that the calls that their leaders make will not be seen as mere slogans.

The speakers should also pick up on the call by Najib for unpopular elected representatives to “voluntarily” bow out instead of having to be pushed out.

Umno has been, for too long, associated with warlords who refuse to give up their seats or positions that they see as theirs for life, but this will not do in today’s modern, connected world.

Voters today want to see changes and abhor politicians who overstay their welcome. Umno warlords must realise this and by voluntarily stepping down, play their part in reinventing the party, and at the same time gain the gratitude of younger members.

Malaysians of every social and political stripe will be watching this assembly and listening intently to every word each speaker makes.

Umno and Barisan Nasional will be measured, judged, punished or rewarded based on what happens in the next four days.

All political parties like to claim that their annual gatherings are important, but few can deny that this Umno assembly is a watershed that could change Malaysia’s political landscape forever.

Battle to win the warlords over

Comment by BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

The pressing issue for Umno is to hammer home the theme that the party’s warlords, division chiefs and apparatchiks are unimportant for the crucial battle ahead.

UMNO is mobilising its grassroots to stage its annual general meeting at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur this week in a great show of choreographed pomp and colour and with members pledging party unity ahead of the most crucial battle of all, the 13th general election.

The party is set to put on the biggest show ever and the media coverage will be overwhelming; a stark contrast to its rival PKR, which just concluded its annual general meeting in Pulai Springs hotel, Johor, and whose assembly attracted less attention.

While for PKR, the debate in a nutshell centred on enemies from within, the Umno debates are expected to centre on winning candidates – a theme Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has been broaching for some months now.

For the Umno leadership, the pressing issue is to get the party grassroots behind this theme, that Umno warlords, division chiefs and party apparatchiks are unimportant for the crucial battle ahead.

What is important would be winning candidates who will fight in the constituencies that Umno will contest and in other constituencies where the party’s allies will do battle.

The challenge for the Umno leadership is to convince the power brokers in the party and the division chiefs that the next election is a battle for Umno’s survival and that only a certain type of candidate will be allowed to carry the Barisan Nasional flag.

Najib has to convince the power brokers to voluntarily relinquish the decision to choose the candidates to the party’s top leadership.

Once that is accomplished, this would ensure that the warlords and division chiefs work to ensure the party wins.

They must not, out of anger at not being chosen, simply abandon the election machinery in their areas, go for a holiday at the most crucial moment or even indulge in acts of sabotage.

They must not, as party members, stand as independents and split the votes.

Everything hangs in the balance for the next general election: the number of seats that Barisan Nasi­onal can expect to win, the percentage of votes it can garner, the extent of transformation to society that has taken place and whether voters are convinced.

Najib has been preaching about winning candidates as he makes his rounds around the country.

Deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has also been spreading the importance of winning candidates.

Above all, they want consensus.

An agreement from the party warlords that their candidate choices for the general election will be accepted and endorsed.

A division chairman or his deputy are not automatically the best candidates in their constituencies.

The best candidates could be a humble teacher or a district officer or a doctor or just any ordinary member in the party hierarchy who has a certain degree of easy confidence and restraint and has no derogatory label at the local level.

This, then, is what Najib will set out to do – to establish the fact that party comes first above all else.
The warlords will be asked to make sacrifices and not pull the party leviathan in different directions at the grassroots level.

They will be asked to promise that they will strictly put party interest above self and support wholeheartedly the candidates that the leadership has chosen for the big battle.

Pakatan Rakyat is not an easy enemy to defeat. It might be wounded, it might have “enemies within” and it might have three different agendas.

But they have a unifying figure in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, no matter how beaten down, and a unifying vision of occupying Putrajaya.

They are not easily defeatable.

Besides, Umno has to carry the MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP into battle with it, at least in the peninsula.

These parties are in various stages of reinventing themselves for a new generation of voters.

Except for the MCA, which is in a showdown with the DAP, the rest have to accept their defeated images and exist as feeders of votes to big brother Umno in return for representation in parliament.

It’s a new reality that they will have to accept.

Najib will spell out the realities of the altered political landscape at the Umno general assembly that he is not just Umno president but also the Prime Minister for all Malaysians no matter what their race, ethnic group or social status are.

Although badly mauled by defections, PKR has pledged to reinvent itself and fight Umno.

The DAP, on the other hand, is a strong, sleeping giant, sure of Chinese voter support.

PAS, meanwhile, is struggling for Malay votes beyond its one-million card carrying members, having lost the political initiative to Umno.

Its many liberal policies were designed to endear it to non-Malays but it has woken up late to the fact that it needs the Malay voters too and is fast catching up, ratcheting up a hardline stance.

If Najib can convince his party warlords to ease off and not battle him over his choice of candidates and to put party above self, then he would have won half the battle.

The other half is to convince voters that he has been working day and night since becoming Prime Minister in February 2009 while the “Prime Minister-in-waiting” Anwar has been giving speeches from India to Egypt and countries in between.

Najib can win a new mandate from voters but he has to get his party warlords behind him.