Bagai belut jatuh ke lumpur

The Malay language of old has much wisdom in its peribahasa and simpulan bahasa. More than anything else, a peribahasa reflects a culture that was clever at observation. I think this has been lost some time ago. Now it is zaman gaban.  

Bagai belut jatuh ke lumpur means 'like an eel falling into the mud'. An eel feels at home in the mud. He doesnt feel that it is dirty.  To humans, falling in the mud should not be a nice thing. 

Wahid Ibn Warak has quit as Minister and has now been "appointed" Chairman of PNB. (What happens to Kama Piah?) Wahid has written a 'reflection' of his career and deems it worthy of circulation. It has gone around the Net and I have seen it too. Here is a short version. My comments in blue.

Reflections by Wahid Omar Ex UBER Driver/ CEO of Maybank / Ex Minister:

Assalamualaikum & Salam Sejahtera,

eight weeks since I completed my term as Senator and Minister on 4 June 2016.

acquaintances asked what I have been up to and my plans for the future. 

announcement of my appointment as Chairman of (PNB) 29 July 2016.

I pledge to carry out my duties .. with honesty and full integrity.

(The Americans want to belanja your boss makan KARI - kleptocracy asset recovery initiative)

past 28 years, I have had the privilege of working in KPMG, Bumiputra Merchant Bankers, Kumpulan FIMA, Amanah Capital Group, UEM Group, Telekom Malaysia (including Celcom), Maybank and the Government of Malaysia.

(Other than KPMG all the rest are GLC, GLC related or gomen, or "license controlled" businesses, monopolies or oligopolies.  Otherwise known as  "access capitalism".  All controlled by the gomen. This is not the real economy. Hence you do not need competition and neither do you need any real business skills.)

Apart from my first two jobs (KPMG and BMB), I did not apply for the other positions. They all came by invitation.

(Wow brader Wahid - you have certainly learnt to be very humble. But isnt that the case with all of you "inside the loop" GLC guys. You are not the only guy who was invited. Its just musical chairs. A fellow can go from Felda to 1MDB to Sime Darby. Another fellow can go from 1MDB to Tabung Haji. Another fellow can go from 1MDB to Pemandu. Another fellow can go from MRCB to EPF. Or from MAS to Pemandu. All by invitation. Musical chairs.  As though there are no other Malays or Malaysians who can do the jobs that you are doing.)

The key lesson learnt - do your job well and your reputation will precede you.  Even your competitor will acknowledge your achievements. 

(I beg to disagree. It looks like the the same gang gets recycled over and over. People might say that your mamak mentor has now engineered you into position at PNB.)

case in point when I was CEO of TM, I was approached by the then Chairman of Maxis (TM/Celcom's competitor), who is now Maybank Chairman, to lead Maybank as CEO

(Exactly my point. You were approached by the then Chairman of Maxis who later became Maybank Chairman.  Maybe tomorrow he will become Chairman of PNB and you may become Deputy Chairman of Khazanah? The same gang gets recycled.)

two weeks clearing up work at Economic Planning Unit 

I didn't realise we had accumulated so much documents in three years. 

reflection of volume of work within three years. 

EPU, UKAS, DOSM, TERAJU, TalentCorp, EKUINAS, Yayasan Pendidikan Peneraju Bumiputera

(Err doing what exactly? Under your watch the Ringgit is at RM4.04 to the Dollar.  GDP growth is down to 4.5% and struggling. Your boss has now been labelled a 'kleptocrat' by no less than the US Attorney General.  Unemployment among young people is increasing especially Malays.  Banglas and Indons seem ok. Chinese and Indians have learnt to survive despite all your bungles and all your tripping them up. So what exactly have you been doing? 

The PM has said that he has spent RM7 Billion paying consultants alone. Despite EPU, UKAS, Teraju, etc. Talk is even letters are written by consultants. So what do you guys do? What does TalentCorp do? I have heard of people who wanted to come home anyway, so they got TalentCorp to fly them back - as returning expatriates !! )

I registered as an Uber Partner. 

how easy or difficult it is to earn a living 

Proton kind enough to lend me their new Perdana demo car 

Since then I have personally bought a new Perdana 2.4 in support of the national car.

would be able to generate approx RM4,000 to RM6,000 net income per 25-day month

(Itu pun Proton was kind enough to lend you a Perdana ? Wow !!  Sabsidi sampai kiamat. How about lending a Perdana to all the other Uber drivers? Or taxi drivers?)

August begin a 'new life' with PNB.

1. Improve the corporatoe performance of PNB and its Group companies ;

2. Enhance Bumiputera participation in business and corporate sector; and

3. Support the Government in providing more affordable homes for Malaysians.

The full article is here

My comments : Wahid's sum of experiences have been katak bawah tempurung over and over. These folks have no idea what the real world is like.  Here is an acid test - they are NOT able to pass their "business acumen" to their kids. They rarely have any.

The tests-by-fire of any business CEO are 

1. making, finding a sellable product or service
2. selling your product in the market
3. raising money for your business

plus other things of course.

The GLC boys rarely cut their teeth doing any of these things. 
They are in monopolistic, oligopolistic or license controlled businesses. 
Theirs is the world of "access capitalism".  
Wahid's resume confirms this to the letter.

What business should they do? The gomen will decide.

What about competition ? The gomen will block off competition, restrict entrants, provide tariff and non tariff barriers etc.
  
What about funding? The gomen will  provide funding. Or guarantee their borrowings.

What if they cannot sell the product? The gomen will buy your output. Or bail you out when you fail. RM1.5 billion for Proton is an example. 

This is a very sad state. This is not the real world.

To get a feel of the real world, Wahid tried driving a taxi. After all that education and training?

And Wahid feels very proud about all this. Enough to tell the whole world about it. Bagai belut jatuh ke lumpur.