The Felda Settler: Bleak future ahead

What is the most disturbing feature about this whole FGV listing exercise? 

To my mind, the most unsettling feature about the listing is it’s unconscionable and so unjust. The FELDA settler- the romanticized vanguard of Najib’s transformation plan gets 810 units of share. They responded by hallelujah-ing and ululating Najib’s virtues. I am afraid, that’s premature and undeserving.

 The premium the settler gets at the closing on the listing day was 75 sen. That gives him a RM607 profit. Deduct RM200 being the loan processing fee and that gives him a net profit of RM400. Add that trifling amount to the advanced bribe of RM15, 000, he gets RM15, 400.

Now compare that to the selected bumiputeras who get anything from 1 million to 5 million units of share. These people are getting anything from RM 750,000 to RM3.75 million. What can u call this kind of disparity? It’s usurious. And it’s done at the behest of UMNO through its plant in the form of Isa Samad.

This skullduggery is carried out by the party which has now become the peddler of pornographic VCDs and installer of hidden cameras in toilets. So all Malaysians better beware when entering toilets- make sure there are no hidden cameras or else UMNO will politicize the size of your penises!

FELDA settlers are increasingly angry as they now know that the FGV listing is yet another chapter in the pillaging and sacking of the country. Worse, FELDA settlers are used as pawns in the con-porate chess game. We hope more will understand of the treacherous plan to plunder the country’s economic resources. Our economy is being manipulated by politicians and their crony business friends  profiteering from the stock market.

Its time people become aware, they cannot trust this government any longer. It all stems from the duplicity of UMNO led government. The leader of the government says pompously that he intends to implement the open tender system. The ink hasn’t dried when it’s revealed that he interfered in the tendering of the LRT Project servicing Ampang. He has extended his hand to helping his golfing partner, the owner of George Kent. This businessman is also the person brokering the double tracking deal which saw the contract snatched from China Railways to be given to China Harbors.

It’s also rumored that a certain business comprador involved in that deal, represented himself to the CCP as a person authorized to collect USD500 million on behalf of the master he served. 

Yet, this is the very person who piously speaks about transforming the country. Unfortunately he has proven to be long in form and very short in substance. He has repeatedly contradicted himself so many times, that people find him to be a farce actually.

Where are the transforming agent and indeed the transforming mechanism when you are reluctant to cut yourself free from the umbilical cords of conservative forces? You want to usher in a new environment but you put in place persons associated with the ancient regime?

Example: The man who should be pensioned off is instead made the Chairman of PETRONAS. An UMNO retiree has been made chairman of Bank Rakyat. The new Chief Secretary- we shall remember to terminate his employment as soon as Pakatan takes over displayed his unflinching loyalty and gratitude to people who made him the highest government servant. Is his PhD legitimate or what as he does not seem able to act professionally to recognize that he owes allegiance to the King and country not to UMNO.

He might as well tender his resignation and join UMNO to replace Nor Mohd Yaakob so that the quota for this unidentifiable ethnic group can be maintained. Is that a Malay, half Malay or non-Malay? No, it’s superMamak.

Right from the beginning I have been writing that this FGV listing isn’t right. If the `true north’ of the government’s objective has always been the welfare of the settlers, then why compromise a revenue generating means by diluting the ownership of the means? Why wasn’t the other way round done? Allow FELDA Holdings to buy out FGV. Because as we were to find out later, the earth shattering idea to create added value turns out to be the  rigorous and aggressive intensification of the same thing FELDA Holdings has been doing all this while. Which is, planting more palm oil trees by increasing acreage! Hence expanding cultivated land areas in places such as Africa and Indonesia. So we ask, what’s so magical about doing something that’s already done better by FELDA Holdings than FGV? FGV is replicating what has been done better by FELDA on its own.

If we were to do that, then the benefits of better business management accrues entirely to the FELDA family. Better management and better quality people can’t be accomplished if not done by listing? Better business operations cannot be done, unless listing is carried out? FELDA can’t get credit on its own based on its merits? FELDA has borrowed RM 6 billion from EPF.

This listing exercise yields them how much? RM 10-11 billion which is not impossible to achieve through normal borrowing. Productivity can’t be achieved unless listing is carried out? Why can’t the things cited by the sponsors of this listing be achieved even if FELDA remains unlisted? The same things cited can be applied equally effective if FELDA Holdings and FGV remain private provided they are carried out rigorously.

The answer is if listing is not carried out, then the rentier class cannot milk the cow.

So we ask why the settler gets RM600 gross when those not at all related to FELDA are able to get thousands and millions of Ringgit? Those with RM 1 million worth get RM750k. others bought the FGV stock with bank borrowings too. If the same facilities were extended to FELDA settlers, they are also able to get more money. The borrowings would be entirely secured anyway. The FELDA settler could have gotten 50,000 units per household yielding them a gross profit of RM35k. FGV’s payout to them would only amount to 3.9 billion. That would be around 30% of the total earnings raised from this listing of around RM 11 billion.  

The government has deceived the settlers by making it out that they are looking out for settlers’ interest. The interests that it fights for are the interests of the rentier class. These are the people gathering around at the KLSE’s scoreboard urging the FGV stock to go up. It was like a Bingo game that day with suited people gesturing like lollipop licking children on something they were happy about. Indeed they were a lot happier lot compared to the FELDA folks who exclaimed excitedly when they received the advance bribe of RM15 thousand per family. These people are jumping with joy getting RM750, 000 to RM1, 000,000 on the FGV stock they bought using the same bank loans. 

Posted by sakmongkol AK47