Hanafiah’s concern of TH turned out true
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
There are folks that expect certain pro-BN bloggers to stop raising issues on Khazanah Nasional coming to an election.
They are entitled to their view. True, some issues can be kept on hold for after the general election. However, for issue like MAS-Air Asia CCF, it would be too late by then. These buggers would want to lock up everything fast.
Most corporate issues are not election campaign material unless there are elements of corruption. Even if there is suspicion of corruption, it has to be comprehensible to a simpleton PAS politician and supporter. Usually they do not articulate on corporate issues well and one got themselves sued for saying the wrong fact for nothing.
Without fear of that political backlash, there are a potpurri of concerns over trust companies under the Government, like Tabung Haji and PNB. It could be about the deviation from formation objective, personalities, investment policies, and leakage.
As Prime Minister cum Finance Minister cum Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Dato Najib has a lot on his plate to chew. Inheriting the premiership from the incompetent Pak Lah was not easy. It is time he identify a capable Finance Minister to take some load of his shoulder.
Hanafiah’s concern
The objective of Tabung Haji is clear cut. It is a saving mechanism for potential pilgrims to Mecca. They are also the authorised agency to manage the pilgrimmage.
For many years, the concern with Tabung Haji was it’s investment portfolio. Back in 2010, the was much talk that Tabung Haji was over exposed in stocks with 40% of it’s RM25 billion fund in equity, unlike EPF which was less than 20% of it’s RM300 billion fund. Earlier in 2009, despite the market surge, Tabung Haji only declared 5% dividend vis-a-vis EPF’s 5.65%.
Utusan Malaysia dated March 8th, 2010 reported former Tabung Haji Chairman, Tan Sri Hanafiah Ahmad seeking for investigation and questioning their investment. The report below:
Lantik badan siasatan bebas
KUALA LUMPUR 7 Mac – Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) didesak supaya melantik sebuah badan akauntan bebas yang berwibawa dan profesional untuk menyiasat secara terperinci segala aktiviti pelaburannya dan anak-anak syarikat.
Bekas Pengerusi dan Pengarah Besar TH, Tan Sri Hanafiah Ahmad berkata, siasatan itu perlu disegerakan kerana terdapat banyak aktiviti pelaburan lembaga itu yang dipersoalkan oleh para pendeposit yang kini berjumlah 5.1 juta.
Hanafiah berkata, TH merupakan sebuah institusi yang dimiliki oleh orang ramai khasnya umat Islam dan pihak pengurusan tertinggi perlu tampil untuk memperjelas dan menunjukkan bahawa segala urusan pelaburannya telus.
Beliau menegaskan, terdapat banyak perkara kini dipersoalkan oleh para pendeposit terbaru melibatkan Petra Perdana, pelaburan dalam syarikat-syarikat tertentu seperti Ramunia, Silver Bird dan Lityan serta di sektor perladangan bernilai berbilion ringgit di Indonesia.
Hanafiah berkata, TH sebelum ini pernah bercadang untuk memiliki hotel di London, United Kingdom tetapi tidak menjadi kenyataan.
“Soalnya kenapa boleh timbul cadangan untuk memiliki hotel di negara itu sedangkan keutamaan perlu kepada pemilikan tempat penginapan di Arab Saudi yang akan memudah dan menyenangkan umat Islam menjalankan ibadah haji,” katanya.
Beliau khuatir keghairahan pengurusan lembaga itu dalam pelaburan menyebabkan tujuan asal penubuhan firma itu dilihat tersasar lebih jauh.
“Saya memang takut melihat keghairahan mereka melabur.
“Jangan membuat pelaburan ala koboi kerana ditakuti institusi ini ‘runtuh’ sekiranya ia tidak dipantau dan dikawal,’’ kata beliau kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini.
Tabung Haji’s officio, Abi Musa Asa’sari Mohamed Nor denied Hanafiah’s concerns with claims on their performance and accountable process. [Read Utusan Malaysia here. ] However, Abi Musa, whose position in Tabung Haji was not mentioned in the report, did not answer precisely the concerns of Hanafiah.
Information source from Tabung Haji (invesment monitoring unit) reveals then that Tabung Haji made major losses in equity investment:
Axiata – (>RM150 million)
Tenaga – (>RM150 million)
Ramunia – (>RM50 million)
BIMB Holdings – (>RM150 million)
Lityan – (>RM60 million)
Green Packet – (>RM40 million)
MEMS Technology – (>RM40 million)
Muhibbah Eng – (>RM40 million)
AKN Tech – (>RM30 million)
Out of 200 stocks owned by Tabung Haji, only 30% (or 60 stocks) are profitable. The total losses of those 140 stocks that are in the red are about RM2 billion. That should explain why Tabung Haji paid the same dividend rate of 5% for 2009 when KLCI surged more 40%.
Bad investment
Today those concerns of Hanafiah are beginning to realise. What happened to investment made in Petra Perdana, Ramunia, Silver Bird, Lityan and the 83,000 hectare plantation in Riau, Indonesia?
Why was Tabung Haji getting themselves in desperate cases of bailout like in the case of Ramunia, Silver Bird and Lityan?
While this blog had defended Tabung Haji [read here] against politicians making mountain out of mole hill with regard to Silver Bird, Ramunia and Riau plantation, this blog share the concern of Hanafiah.
Perhaps, serious reflection need to be made on the competence and integrity of management and various committee of Tabung Haji. Phenomenon of moral hazard in banking should not be allowed to happen in Tabung Haji. Nothing is too big to fail in the world today.
As our claim earlier of the lack of intelligence of PAS politician on corporate matters, Husam tried to spin an issue on the sales of Riau plantation to the opposition friendly Kuok Group. Trust a PAS politician to be factually wrong that he got himself sued by Khairy for making wrongful allegation to link him with Pantai deal.
The more credible Hanafiah was more concern with the purchase and not the sale of the multi-billion plantation in Riau. Read the following news report, below:
