Malaysian Business articles from October 2008

Malaysian Business archives from October 2008

Serving public interest first.
October 16, 2008... HOW SOON WILL THE NATIONAL REGISTRATION Department (NRD) be able to clean up its act? Like all other government departments, the NRD must realise it is there to serve the rakyat and nation. Its staff must know that their actions and level of...

The folly of free enterprise.
October 16, 2008... BY A SECOND VOTING OF 263-171 by the US House of Representatives, a US$ 700 billion rescue package was passed, giving what is supposed to be a lifeline to the financial crisis in the US. However, the market reacted negatively by losing 157...

Reversal of fortune.
October 16, 2008... JUST OVER A YEAR AGO, Proton Holdings Bhd was flirting with years of possible losses ahead, and perhaps closure too. It bled red for the first time since its inception over 20 years ago, with a steep net loss of RM591.4 million for the...

Long road ahead for mobile advertisements.
October 16, 2008... THE ROAD AHEAD FOR MOBILE advertising in Malaysia is paved with both gold and potholes. While the mobile advertising promises a bright future, at least on paper, the fact remains that it is still very much in its infancy stage. Even as...

On a roll.
October 16, 2008... REMEMBER PETRA PERDANA, a company that started with just three staff in 1988 and grew to become a major force in the country's oil and gas sector? Well, when many other oil and gas players are beginning to struggle as the world descends into...

Brancing for tougher times.
October 16, 2008... MALAYSIA'S LARGEST CORPORATIONS performed better in 2007, seemingly riding on an improved economic climate. But the impact of a slowing economy in the first half of this year is starting to show on the bottom lines of some companies. ...

Top 50 companies.
October 16, 2008... HIGHEST INCREASE IN TURNOVER THIS YEAR'S TOP THREE POSITIONS IN this segment see totally new entrants. Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (MPHB) leads the pack with a more than 600 growth. The boost came about after the consolidation of its cash-...

Stepping it up.
October 16, 2008... MALAYSIA HAS LONG BEEN ONE of the world's leading centres of Syariah- compliant or 'Islamic' finance. As global competition in the fast-growing sector increases, the country is looking to stay ahead of the pack by optimising its competitive...

Remove the shackles.
October 16, 2008... THE MALAYSIAN COOPERATIVE movement has been betrayed by various quarters. Angkasa, as the umbrella body of the movement, failed to discuss with the cooperative fraternity proposed changes to the Cooperative Act. Neither did the Ministry...

Malaysia continuing to lure investments.
October 16, 2008... THE current high oil and food prices, coupled with the recession in the US economy, have caused many countries to further refine their investment policies and strategies. Analysts say that this will directly affect the flow of global...

Successful bold move.
October 16, 2008... GOBALA KRISHNAN IS ONE successful and well-known Internet marketing and e- commerce expert in Malaysia. Today, he makes between $8,500 - $20,000 a month from his Internet-based products and services as well as affiliates marketing and...

Ooh yes!
October 16, 2008... OUT-OF-HOME (OOH) media in Malaysia is in for exciting times, proclaims Bala Pomaleh, managing director of Posterscope Sdn Bhd, an OOH media specialist. 'I believe that in the next three to six months, we will see something quite...

All together now.
October 16, 2008... WE ARE DIVIDED. NOT JUST here on our soil but generally, everywhere. For one reason or another, as we humans have evolved over the millennia, we have chosen to tweeze ourselves apart from each other. Our cultures and codes are based on how we...

Whatever happened to the Malaysia-US FTA?
October 16, 2008... IN THE FTA ABBREVIATION, THE 'A' stands for either Area, Association, Arrangement or Agreement. What remains constant is the 'F' and 'T', for Free Trade On this point, permit me to indulge in a bit of trivia. What is meant by 'Free' here?...

Six Sigma in IT.
October 16, 2008... SIX SIGMA IS FAMILIAR IN THE manufacturing sphere, and is now becoming more widely used in IT, particularly in software or IT management. Proponents say bringing in the quality aspect of Six Sigma and applying it to IT departments...

Getting that sale in.
October 16, 2008... ARE YOU frustrated that your sales letter is NOT getting results? Do you wonder how you could make a satisfactory sales letter even better? If you said 'YES' to either of these questions, then I invite you to read on - as you will be richly...

Roller-coaster ride.
October 16, 2008... ON Monday, Sept 29, the US House of Representatives, one of two parts of the US Congress, voted 228 to 205 against a bailout package for the US financial sector. Since then, a plan has been put in place. There isn't much choice in the...

Keeping the business within the family.
October 16, 2008... MR KONG'S father started the furniture business in Cheras some 30 years ago. Today, Mr Kong and his four siblings are involved in the family business. Each of them is married. All of them have children in their 20s and in their teens. A few...

Wall Street, Main Street, or sideshow?
October 16, 2008... SO, CONGRESS FINALLY PASSED the controversial US$ 700 billion financial package to rescue not just the United States' financial system from collapse but also - apparently - the international financial system from tanking. Let's be clear about...

The grand design.
October 16, 2008... YOU CAN'T keep someone as vivacious as Datuk Tom Abang Saufi down for long. She is the type who wakes up each day and is glad to have another day to live, learn and love. 'Everyday is a gift for me and I am immensely grateful for it,' she...

Najib's moment of truth.
October 16, 2008... WHEN PRIME MINISTER DATUK SERI ABDULLAH Ahmad Badawi, on Oct 8, ended months of speculation and rumours by announcing a new retirement plan, the reaction was one of muted relief. It was almost an anti-climax. Abdullah told the meeting of...

Preventing data loss.
October 16, 2008... FOLLOWING THE WORLDWIDE trends, data loss is becoming a growing concern in Malaysia as more organisations are feeling the heat to beef up their security infrastructure especially now that their customers are getting more sensitive on privacy...

A tale of two islands.
October 16, 2008... UNKNOWN TO many, Pangkor as an island is actually made up of nine smaller islands; yet only Pangkor Island and Pangkor Laut Island are inhabited by man. Although each is separated by a mere 10-minute boat ride from one another, the two...

A long look at short selling.
October 16, 2008... SELLING is probably the hardest part of trading. If the stock you buy rises, then you make a profit. If the stock falls, when do you bite the bullet and cash out? If the stock does not move, when do you say enough is enough and move on to...

The evolution of Wall Street.
October 16, 2008... WE HAVE all heard of Wall Street, J P Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan and the like. But have you ever wondered how it all began? Well, it took two centuries of pioneering, innovation, perspiration, mistakes and scandals...

CCAM And MDEC'S K-Worker development initiative.
October 16, 2008... CUSTOMER Relationship Management and Contact Centre Association of Malaysia (CCAM) and Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDeC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and further grow the Contact Centre Industry...

TM Asia Life's Asia TriMax.
October 16, 2008... TM Asia Life Malaysia Bhd has unveiled a short-term single premium investment-linked product known as Asia TriMax. This product, the first- of-its kind for TM Asia Life, is set to lock in RM50 million in premiums within three weeks of its...

Ricoh supports National Management Game.
October 16, 2008... RICOH, a global leader in digital office solutions, has contributed a significant cash sponsorship of RM500,000 to the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) in support of the Institute's National Management Game (NMG). Under the MoU...

Bioplastic to polymerise industrial biotechnology.
October 16, 2008... AS THE 3rd WAVE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY industrial biotechnology has attracted a great deal of attention as a potentially important tool in facilitating the paradigm shift from fossil to bio-based production. Previously, interests in things such...

When journalists are victimised.
October 1, 2008... BEING A JOURNALIST IS NOT EASY. LAST YEAR alone, nearly 100 journalists were killed and 150 jailed all over the world in the line of duty. Many others were either kidnapped, injured or abused while carrying out their duties. Thankfully,...

Telekom Malaysia wins high-speed broadband project.
October 1, 2008... TELEKOM MALAYSIA HAS BEEN awarded the contract to develop Malaysia's nationwide high-speed broadband (HSBB) network, a project that would cost RM11.31 billion to be built over 10 years. Under the agreement between the Malaysian government...

Constructing a green building.
October 1, 2008... IN an era plagued by global warming and climate change, green buildings offer a future of sustainable development as well as a cleaner and healthier environment. The benefits of such buildings, however, extend beyond the environment to reach...

Concrete innovation with design visualisation.
October 1, 2008... THE ADVENT OF TECHNOLOGY and digital lifestyles, increased globalisation, a boom in worldwide infrastructure and the impact on climate change and the environment are shaping the need for capacity and resources to accommodate rapid population...

KNM conundrum.
October 1, 2008... OIL AND GAS COMPANY KNM Group seems to be experiencing some financial strain after it acquired Borsig GmbH, a German process equipment manufacturer and membrane systems specialist, for 350 million euro (RM1.7 billion) in June. The...

MAHB on their radar.
October 1, 2008... FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING AT Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), on the cards for some four years now, has been snagged by delays. However, MAHB managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid is optimistic the group's long overdue...

Braun Buffel comes to East Malaysia.
October 1, 2008... BRAUN Buffel, the famous German leather brand, opened its first boutique in Sabah on June 7 in 1 Borneo - the first and largest lifestyle hypermall in East Malaysia. The Sabah outlet marks Braun Buffel's eighth boutique in Malaysia; the other...

SSO races on.
October 1, 2008... DESPITE STIFF COMPETITION from other countries, the shared services outsourcing (SSO) industry in Malaysia is blossoming. Over the past few years, Malaysia has improved her quality indicators, and is now competing with market leaders, India...

DiGi rolls out insurance package.
October 1, 2008... AS AN INCENTIVE FOR ITS customers to stay loyal, DiGi Com Sdn Bhd, had recently unveiled an insurance package. Widely seen as part of a move in anticipation of the new battle for market share once when the mobile umber portability comes...

On the path of sustainable growth.
October 1, 2008... LAST year, local property map "guru" Ho Chin Soon pointed out that since early 2007, the prices of property in Malaysia had increased strongly and properties within the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) area had doubled if compared to 2006...

Blowing hot and cold.
October 1, 2008... THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISION to drop the controversial windfall tax on independent power producers (IPPs) has tossed up two pertinent questions: Why did the government do it, and why did it suspend the power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiations...

A springboard to the ASEAN market.
October 1, 2008... INTERNATIONAL Trade (INTRADE) Malaysia 2008, the general trade fair promoted by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) has positioned itself as a potential gateway to the ASEAN market. According to Datuk Noharuddin...

What to expect.
October 1, 2008... VINCENT KHOO HEAD OF EQUITY RESEARCH, ASEAMBANKERS RESEARCH OVERALL, the economic outlook trend is consistent with our view of slowing quarterly real GDP growth after 1Q08, with expectations of sub-5% y-o-y growth during 2H08 and possibly...

Too early to buy?
October 1, 2008... IS IT TIME TO POP THE champagne for airline stocks? Share prices of airline companies had been sold down heavily since last year as crude oil prices soared to a record high of US$ 148/barrel, lifting aviation jet fuel prices in the process to...

Cashing in on carbon.
October 1, 2008... THE KYOTO PROTOCOL, AN international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas worldwide, came into force on Feb 16, 2005. While Malaysia, being a developing country, has no binding commitment to reduce gas emissions, being a protocol signatory...

Cooperatives in Limbo.
October 1, 2008... THE MALAYSIAN COOPERATIVE movement is a ripe 86 years old, its first operation established way back in 1922. Sadly, after 51 years of the country's independence, the movement is now in the doldrums, with only 20% of its cooperatives active....

It all starts with a dream.
October 1, 2008... PENANG IS GRADUALLY shifting towards the post-industrial era, where the economic activities on the island state are going through a paradigm shift, from a production-economy to a knowledge-economy. The recent launch of 'Penang Free WiFi'...

Loving their brands.
October 1, 2008... MALAYSIANS ARE A PRETTY loyal bunch, according to market research company Synovate Sdn Bhd. 'Loyalty to brands among Malaysian consumers is pretty high compared to many other markets,' says Synovate managing director Steve Murphy. ...

Risky business.
October 1, 2008... MALAYAN BANKING BHD (Maybank) announced on July 29, 2008 that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) had revoked its approval on the proposed acquisition of PT Bank Internasional Indonesia TBK (BII). The reason given was due to the latest changes in the...

Park Seven: Malaysia's premier earthquake-proof dwelling.
October 1, 2008... ON Boxing Day of 2004, seismic activities in the Sunda Trench had resulted in tremors being felt in various parts of the West Malaysia. With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a...

Another Thai revolution?
October 1, 2008... IT MUST BE WONDERFUL FOR the people of a country to possess a practising democracy, however embryonic, at long last. And the world has been witnessing one unfolding in Thailand since the ouster of multi-billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin...

Trusted solution.
October 1, 2008... PROPER SELECTION OF FUNDS Once this very important diversification issue is taken care of, how exactly to choose appropriate funds becomes a priority. Often, investors are lured into buying funds that have previously won awards. While it is...

Prospecting, cold calling & networking.
October 1, 2008... 'HI MR Bigshot, this is your friendly salesman calling. The reason I'm calling is to... (click), hello? hello?' Does this scenario sound familiar? Do you make cold calls to introduce your products? What are the best practices of top cold...

The force of money.
October 1, 2008... SUPERFICIALLY, it would seem that the only thing George Lucas and Charles Dickens have in common is that they are both storytellers extraordinaire. After all, they inhabited different centuries and used different media to communicate...

The human capital dilemma.
October 1, 2008... THE PRIME MINISTER announced a budget with three specific strategies recently, one of which was 'Developing Quality Human Capital', and backed it up by allocating nearly one-quarter or 23% of the RM208 billion total budget revenue towards...

Putting Malaysia on the world literary map.
October 1, 2008... NOT MANY literary works have been written with Malaysia as the setting. The latest book, Evening is the Whole Day, by Preeta Samarasan, a Malaysian from Ipoh, could put Malaysia on the world's literary map. The book has received...

The Kajang satay man.
October 1, 2008... 'I AM just a kampung boy who had never dreamed of going into business. My ambition was to get a job, with the government if possible,' says Samuri Juraimi, the founder and managing director of Sate Kajang Samuri. But fate had other plans for...

Wet getaway.
October 1, 2008... CONSIDERING THE CONCEPT of slow life in Labuan, I decided to visit one of its water villages to witness the art of living life to the fullest. It was still in the wee hours of the morning when I made my way there. But as the rooster called...

Najib has to revive confidence.
October 1, 2008... AS THE PROSPECTS FOR THE WORLD ECONOMY worsen and the developed economies are either stagnating or are heading for a recession, Malaysia continues to be mired in both political and economic uncertainties. The appointment of the Deputy...

"Buying properties at a discount".
October 1, 2008... I KNOW that properties make a good investment but that was before.' Some people would tell me. 'Why do you say that?' I asked. 'As prices are sky high I don't see how I can make money from them now. It was different in the 1980s and...

Who's next after you?
October 1, 2008... SUCCESSION planning is important in business as it ensures continuity in operations. However, companies often point to a shortage of talent to tap into to fill top positions in their companies. Research has also indicated that not many...

Going the extra mile.
October 1, 2008... IN TODAY'S ultra-competitive world, the only way to attract and retain customers is to become truly customer-centric. Customer connection, say the authors of Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough, Reinventing the Customer Experience, 'isn't...

Data theft detection and prevention.
October 1, 2008... FORTINET - a provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions - has introduced the first in a family of security appliances dedicated to database vulnerability assessment (VA). The FortiDB-1000B appliance is a mid-enterprise product...

Twenty years of creativity.
October 1, 2008... ASIA-PACIFIC Videolab Sdn Bhd (APV) celebrated the company's 20th anniversary recently by being accredited Imagecare status by Kodak. This is the 5th year running APV's 'thelab' has been accredited. In 2001, APV's 'thelab' opened its...

JVC for quality.
October 1, 2008... JVC Sales & Service (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has introduced a new line-up of leading edge high definition (HD) hard disk drive (HDD) camcorders under its Everio range that boast five world's first. The new HD Everio line-up of GZ-HD10, GZ-HD30...

The importance of ITSM.
October 1, 2008... ONE OF THE KEY CHALLENGES faced by managers today is to provide IT services that will cross many platforms to work cohesively with all core business functions internally and externally. It is therefore very pertinent for the top...

For business sustainability.
October 1, 2008... FOR MANY SMALL AND MEDIUM-sized enterprises (SMEs), the cost of IT solutions is difficult to swallow. Many are aware that IT can help their businesses run more efficiently, but do have trouble seeing these solutions as an important component...

Utilisation and going green.
October 1, 2008... HOW MUCH DO COMPANIES know about their power utilisation particularly in their IT environment? This is an important fundamental question that needs to be answered first if concentrated efforts to save energy costs are to be effective. Apart...

From garment manufacturing into property development.
October 1, 2008... WHEN DNP Holdings Bhd (previously Dragon and Phoenix Bhd) began to tailor its name as a respectable garment manufacturer in the 1960s, it was hard to imagine where once needle, thread and fabric met would eventually emerge a brick and mortar...