The Francis Yeoh bull

By MT Webmaster Last updated Dec 27, 2015

Singapore was convinced that the nationwide blackout was not an accident or bad management on the part of TNB but was intentional — hence Paka was sabotaged. That was also what the TNB engineers and station managers told me, which was why they were very sore about the creation of IPPs.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Samy Vellu was Malaysia’s Minister of Works from 1979 to 1989 while Leo Moggie was the Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts from 1978 to 1989.

Then, in 1989, Samy Vellu and Leo Moggie switched posts. Samy Vellu became the Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts while Leo Moggie became the Minister of Works.

Six years later, in 1995, they switched posts yet again. Samy Vellu went back to the Works Ministry while Leo Moggie went back to the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts.

Most importantly, in 1992 (during the ‘switching of Ministers’ period) there was a nationwide power blackout — which triggered the government’s decision to privatise the generation of electricity through IPPs since TNB was not capable of doing the job (or so we are told).

There are a few things we need to note here. Francis Yeoh said in his interview done in June last year (which you can read below) “when Dr Mahathir introduced YTL as the first independent power producer (IPP), the then prime minister had already been pushing for privatisation.”

So there you have it. By Francis Yeoh’s own admission, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had already decided to privatise the generation of electricity much earlier, before the 1992 nationwide blackout. So it was not due to the 1992 nationwide blackout that the then Prime Minister decided to create IPPs.

The second point to note is Francis Yeoh says that he gave the idea to Dr Mahathir to privatise the generation of electricity by creating IPPs after the major national blackout in 1992. That is not true. Francis Yeoh had prepared his proposal for the IPPs before the 1992 nationwide blackout.

And, according to what Singapore’s investigation revealed, the story goes as follows.

Francis Yeoh and Dr Mahathir had already plotted to create this cash cow called IPPs long before the 1992 nationwide blackout. But they needed a trigger to justify the IPPs. So they sabotaged the TNB power station in Paka, which would result in a nationwide blackout.

Singapore had already noticed that there was something wrong in Paka and they contacted the TNB headquarters to inform them about it. TNB then brought this matter to the attention of the ‘higher-ups’ but they were told to ignore it.

The TNB engineers warned the ‘higher-ups’ that if corrective measures were not taken then this may cause the Paka power station to run into problems, which may then trigger a nationwide blackout. But these warnings were also ignored.

Then what was expected to happen did happen. Paka ran into problems and Malaysia suffered a nationwide blackout. And then the government announced that since TNB was not capable of managing things they were going to privatise the generation of electricity through IPPs.

They say that the nationwide blackout could have been avoided and need not have happened. They allege that it was intentionally made to happen to justify the IPPs. And they further allege that the IPPS were planned before the 1992 nationwide blackout.

In short, what Francis Yeoh is saying is bull.

Francis Yeoh also says he is not Dr Mahathir’s crony and that he made his money not through cronyism but through innovation. The truth is, YTL was on the verge of bankruptcy in the mid-1980s and it was Dr Mahathir who bailed them out. In fact, Dr Mahathir not only saved YTL from bankruptcy but he also helped turn them into a billion-dollar company.

So this is yet another bull from Francis Yeoh.

“Now Malaysia demands a leader in Najib… to really be a Churchill, or be a Tun Razak like his father,” said Francis Yeoh. I really do not know what that means. Churchill was a Machiavellian politician who believed in the doctrine of the end justifies the means. Is this what Francis Yeoh means Najib must become?

Tun Razak, on the other hand, was a Malay nationalist, which some Chinese would label as a racist. Is this, too, what Francis Yeoh means?

You have to be careful with what you wish for. If Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak becomes both like Churchill and Tun Razak then he would have to be a Machiavellian Malay nationalist who will do anything under the sun to achieve what he wants to achieve for the Malay race.

Or maybe Francis Yeoh does not really know his history like he pretends.

By the way, in case you are wondering why Samy Vellu and Leo Moggie switched posts from 1989 to 1995 the answer is quite simple. Leo Moggie would not go along with the IPP plan (which means the plan started before 1989 and not after 1992 in the aftermath of the nationwide blackout). Samy Vellu, however, had plenty of ‘experience’ privatising services such as highways and was an Umno stooge.

So Samy Vellu and Leo Moggie were made to switch posts so that the privatisation program could be done without any obstacles. It is said that Leo Moggie was too ‘decent’ to go along with what he thought was more piratisation than privatisation. And I personally know Leo Moggie so that is very likely.

So there you have it, the true story, and not the story that Francis Yeoh spun back in June 2014.

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Crony capitalism in Malaysia has to go, son of YTL founder says

(Malay Mail Online, 3 June 2014) – Malaysia has to free itself from the constraints of “crony capitalism” and stop racial and religious rhetoric in order to compete on the global stage, business tycoon Tan Sri Francis Yeoh said today.

The group managing director at YTL Corporation and eldest son of founder, billionaire Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay said 85 per cent of YTL’s business are in Britain, Singapore and Australia because these countries do not tolerate corruption, practice meritocracy and stand for the rule of law.

“For example in Singapore, we own a third of Singapore’s electricity, there is no subsidy of any kind, there is no cronyism of any type.”

“The good thing about these three territories, I don’t have to kowtow to the prime minister before I do deal(s), I don’t have to see them even, even after I’ve won the deal.”

“I turn west because of this transparent, coherent regulatory framework,” he said during Pemandu’s Global Malaysia Series at the Securities Commission.

Yeoh said the country’s leaders have to get rid of all racial and religious rhetoric, and focus instead on the economy to improve the lives of Malaysians.

As far as non-Bumiputera small and medium enterprises (SME) go, he said they “absolutely have no chance” to even fight “for the crumbs” as they are already at the low end of the food chain.

“I don’t think you’ll have a chance. Even in Petronas contracts, if (you are) a non-bumi you won’t get to do anything, for example,” he said in response to a question from the audience.

Yeoh said the SMEs would have to rethink their business strategies, be innovative, and use more technology and try to get global exposure.

“Like me, I had to survive so 85 per cent of my business (is) outside, I had to invent a lot of the stuff, for my own self-interest, to make sure I survive.”

“I don’t depend on the largesse of the government. I can’t, SMEs more so,” he said.

Despite that, Yeoh said it is up to the prime minister to do away with “crony capitalism” for the future of the country.

“I think this crony capitalism stuff has to go. It’s 20 years old this idea, I think we should replace it with new, fresh, truthful idea.”

“Now Malaysia demands a leader in Najib… to really be a Churchill, or be a Tun Razak like his father,” he said.

When asked about how his “close links” with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had contributed to YTL’s successes, Yeoh denied being the latter’s “crony” and credited the company’s achievements to “innovation”.

“At that time… I think up till today, almost 21 years later, people still think I’m a crony of Mahathir’s.”

“People think I’ve got a very fat, lucrative contract from Tenaga, [but] I think it’s about time the truth comes out that we actually were very innovative,” he said.

The 59-year-old said when Dr Mahathir introduced YTL as the first independent power producer (IPP), the then prime minister had already been pushing for privatisation.

Yeoh claimed to have given the idea to Dr Mahathir after the major national blackout in 1992.

“We made profit from day one by this incredible innovation of inventing the bond market, inventing IPC (infrastructure project company) listing, financing it in ringgit that indirectly made Malaysia able to withstand financial crisis,” he said.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK