Leave IJN alone ...

The Malaysian authorities like to do things on the quiet. The case of IJN (Institute Jantung Negara -literally meaning the National Heart Institute) is one in point. Sometime, some people in authority thinks it is a good proposal to have IJN privatised by a large conglomerate like Sime Darby. Although Sime Darby is big and capable enough to manage the IJN since it is already involved in health care like having the SJMC medical center in Subang Jaya, taking over an institute that has efficiently catered to the public is a step in the wrong direction. If Sime Darby is really interested in looking after heart patients, why can't it build a new institute to cater to those who are in need of heart or cardio-vascular treatment ? The CEO of Sime Darby, Zubir Murshid, meekly claims that Sime Darby is not really taking over the IJN wholesale but a mere 51%. Doesn't anyone know that, with 51% ownership, Sime Darby shall be in control of the whole IJN - that when Sime Darby becomes in control of IJN, it can easily raise prices, charge patients according to its whims and fancies.

I am against the takeover of IJN or any successful government institute by commercial bodies whose sole interests are to make money - as much as possible. Assurances from these commercial entities that they would look after the welfare of the public are all nonsense. They are in business and they exist only to make profits for their shareholders - nothing else.

Another case in point where the authority does thing on the quiet was the disposal of the Merdeka stadium to PNB. Nobody knew about it until one or two politicians blurted it out; but then it was already too late because the deed had been consummated. The Merdeka stadium was given to the UEM group in exchange for UEM to construct the sports facilities in Bukit Jalil for the Commonwealth Games in 1998. Before 1998, it was all hunky dory for the Malaysian economy and that UEM was then the darling conglomerate in Malaysia and it had plans to turn the land on which was located the Merdeka Stadiem (also the national Stadium) into one big township.

But when the financial crisis struck Malaysia in 1998 like a huge tsunami, UEM had no money to develop the Merdeka stadium land or had difficulty to get more loans, the group turned to the authority to say that it was in great financial crisis and therefore had to give up any ideas on developing the stadium land. UEM wanted its money back since it cost UEM no less than RM 800 million to build the sports facilities. The government too had no money then, being itself mired in the financial crisis. Who then had money then. Not the banks because they were also in trouble. Not Bank Negara because it had paltry reserves. The only institutions that had money, in the billions, were and still are, the EPF, Petronas and PNB. Getting money from the EPF would be one big problem for anybody that approved it to explain. Getting money from Petronas was also problematic since Petronas had disbursed a great deal of money for Putrajaya development. But getting the money from PNB was easier, since the shareholders were all individual bumiputras. And bumiputras, by nature, seldom raise complaints.

I blame Mahathir for this since he was the one in power and was the one who could armtwist PNB into buying back the land from UEM and I blame Ahmad Sarji and Hamad Kama Piah for submitting meekly to the arm-twisting and for keeping things quiet on the deal. Had it not been for the one or two politicians who exposed the deal, the bumiputra shareholders would never know. The Chairman of PNB later - very much later - attempted to justify the purchase by saying that it was done to preserve the heritage of the country. The fact that UEM planned to demolish the two stadiums to replace them with a township escaped him. Not one shareholder in the PNB scheme ever made any complaint on the deal which was done in secret. To this day, no one knows how much was paid by PNB to the UEM group

Another case which was aborted was when the Hong Leong group had the audacity to acquire the University of Malaya grounds in exchange for the group's land bank somewhere in Sepang (?) or Johore (?). Engku Aziz, former Vice-Chancellor of the university called the people involved "kurang ajar". It is later learned that a small portion of the grounds has been acquired by some commercial group, possibly the Hong Leong Group.

The authorities should think twice before endeavoring to sell Malaysia's institution which belong to the people.

Update:27/12/2008: Just before Christmas 2008, the two leaders of Malaysia reckoned that the privatisation of IJN was a good thing. They were soon joined in their thinking by Musa Hitam, the Chairman of Sime Darby. They claimed that the exercise was good for the general public. However, a better far sighted thinker than them, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, was of the opinion that a privatised IJN would ultimately become expensive for the general public and would only cater to the rich. Again, I repeat that if Sime Darby is interested in the welfare of heart patients, why can't it build its own cardio-vascular institute knowing that the biggest killer in Malaysia is the disorder of the heart. Leave IJN alone.

Update:07/01/2009: News has it today that Sime Darby is pulling out of the IJN deal because of the unfavorable publicity. Good !