I took over a thousand shots while I was in London. Yet, the amount of good photos that I have is astoundingly limited. Part of the reason probably has something to do with the fact that these days, I frequently shoot in manual mode.
This is one of those good photos.
This is the National Gallery in London.
Here is another case of private gains but socialized losses.
The Star reports that some bus operators wanted the government to bail them out. They reasoned that they would go bankrupt. Fares “that they collect can no longer cover costs.”[1]
That is nice, is it not?
When things go awry, get somebody to pay for you. When the going is good, keep the money for yourselves.
Without any doubt, I prefer bankruptcy to bail out. In fact, bankruptcy is likely to be good for these bus operators.
One, if they face competition along the routes that they serve, then some of them will be out of business, which then grants the surviving operators monopoly power. The fares can be raised after that, subject to other constraints, like train services, cabs or private cars. The government of course should refrain from the temptation of regulating those fares. If they cannot compete with these other means of transportation, then clearly the market does not appreciate the bus service, and thus, no need for this type of bus service.
Two, these bus operators will stop losing money once they are bankrupt. That is the point of bankruptcy, anyway. Coupled with limited liability, bankruptcy can do wonders. Of course, some banks in Malaysia demand individual guarantee, which makes limited liability irrelevant. Still, that is a different issue that requires solution that I cannot think of right now.
Apart from that, the Pan Malaysia Bus Operators Association president Ashfar Ali reasoned that the “government is no longer our proponent, but our competitor.”
This is the only hard point to counter.
I however prefer the government to privatize some of the services instead, like that belonging to Mara, i.e. Transnasional. For others like RapidKL and RapidPenang, I wonder how many of these private bus operators actually compete with RapidKL and RapidPenang?
[1] — PETALING JAYA: Hit by escalating cost of operations, stage bus operators nationwide have asked the Government to take over their businesses and liabilities.
Pan Malaysia Bus Operators Association president Datuk Ashfar Ali has sent a memorandum to Land Public Transport Commission (LPTC) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Syed Albar proposing that the Government buy over their assets. [It’s bailout or bust, bus firms tell Govt. Teh Eng Hock. The Star. February 21 2011]
I wish I stood slightly to the left when I took this shot.
The Najib administration and its supporters defended the proposal by Perbadanan Permodalan Nasional Berhad to build a 100-storey skyscraper earlier by stating it was a private company’s initiative.[1] And so, the government should not be blamed for the proposal. I seriously doubt PNB was a private company but perhaps, it is a matter of definition.
This week, the Deputy Prime Minister said something that convinced me that it is not a matter of definition. As in politics, it is a matter of convenience and dishonesty.
What did the DPM say?
He was commenting on an issue completely different from the tower. It was about wages of GLCs in the plantation sector.
He believed plantation workers at government-linked companies should received higher wage since commodity prices are at good levels. Bernama reported that he said that the Cabinet agreed to review the wages for these workers.[2] The government will meet these GLCs to discuss the issue.
This raised a flag in my mind. Which plantation companies are government-linked?
At least one name comes to mind: Sime Darby. Sime Darby is linked to PNB, the same entity that some people, including the DPM, argued that PNB is a private entity.
Then again, it could be Felda that is both a GLC and not involved in the tower, hence I could be wrong. In the report, no name was mentioned. So, I decided to give the issue the benefit of the doubt.
That was, until I saw a television news report in which the DPM actually mentioned companies linked to PNB. So much for PNB-and-its-private-initiative-100-storey-skyscraper line.
The Najib administration and its supporters defended the proposal by Perbadanan Nasional Berhad to build a 100-storey skyscraper earlier by stating it was a private company’s initiative. And so, the government should not be blamed for the proposal. I seriously doubt PNB was a private company but perhaps, it is a matter of definition.
This week, the Deputy Prime Minister said something that convinced me that it is not a matter of definition. As in politics, it is a matter of convenience and dishonesty.
What did the DPM say?
He was making a statement on a completely different issue. Nevertheless, it reveals the kind of honesty that the argument used to defend the tower lacks.
The DPM believed plantation workers at government-linked companies should received higher wage since commodity prices are at good levels. Bernama reported that he said that the Cabinet agreed to review the wages for these workers. The government will meet these GLCs to discuss the issue.
This raised a flag in my mind. Which plantation companies are government-linked?
At least one name comes to mind: Sime Darby. Sime Darby is linked to PNB, the same entity that some people, including the DPM, who argued that PNB is a private entity.
Then again, it could be Felda, and I could be wrong. In the report, no name was mentioned. As such, I decided to maintain give the issue the benefit of the doubt.
That was, until I saw a television news report in which the DPM actually mentioned companies linked to PNB. So much for PNB-and-its-private-initiative-100-storey-skyscraper line.
To me, these people think that PNB is a private company in some circumstances, and a GLC in another, based on convenience. I call that downright dishonest.
[1] — KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said public opposition towards the proposed 100-storey Warisan Merdeka was due to a lack of clear explanations for the RM5 billion project, which he stressed was a private venture despite belief it was a government effort.
When asked about the concerted protest against the project on social media outlets, personified by the ”1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower” Facebook page, the deputy prime minister reiterated that the undertaking would not be government funded.
He also highlighted that the project will be solely borne by PNB Merdeka Ventures, which is a wholly-owned unit set up by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) to undertake the RM5 billion skyscraper project on land it bought from Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad in 2000. [Warisan Merdeka misunderstood, DPM says. Melissa Chi. The Malaysian Insider. November 1 2010]
[2] — PUSA (Sarawak): The federal government will hold discussions with the plantation-based government-linked companies (GLCs) to review the wages of their workers, especially since the prices of palm oil were ”good”, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday, Feb 18 the review of the wages was agreed to at the Cabinet meeting last week and it would be expedited. [Muhyiddin: Federal govt to meet plantation-based GLCs over workers wages. Bernama via The Edge. February 18 2010]
After Paris, I decided to cross the Channel to meet a good friend of mine.
I was inside the British Parliament listening to debates just before I took this shot. Oh boy, the debates in both Houses were boring.