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Hi,

Just to note and share with you that such "investments" from a government is very normal. Our neighbours down south and further down in kangaroo land have done and keep doing the same. They subsidize allot of the operating costs, if they cant return by way of buying something.

This is very common. In return, you have many bright young people who are given really good jobs. being a direct benefactor of this, i must say, it was certainly a golden opportunity being able to work with the big M for many years of my career startup!

on the question if this should be made an issue? I dont know whats the umpan! If its RM1B of investment in way of upgrades, i think its certainly due! Having worked in this industry before, we should note that the police and other public safety equipment are way out of standard.

other countries are adopting TETRA as the new Pblic safety standard and we are still int he dinasour age. Even the KL ERL runs its comms over Tetra and Motorola is the world leader in Tetra! and i am proud to say that i was part of the pioneer Tetra R&D team in Penang years ago, working ons ome very highly classified design projects!

So the question, is this an issue?

if you ask me, i say NO!!! This is very common in the Telecoms industry!

But fro a layman who care nothing more then a daily meal, i guess it matters they dont!

Should the G stop, certainly not! I dont want those 4000 odd eager hardworking engineers to loose their job! And given the current Motorola financial state, them leaving is more beneficial then staying! So you need to dangle a carrot to keep them, even if it means an RM1B carrot!

Jeff,as I am sure you are aware these companies yield a lot of influence and most even use the political system to their advantage. The timing of this threatened departure with the election may not just be a coincidence.

Besides commenting on running dual analog and digital systems, how would you deal with the threatened departure of a key employer? Are you suggesting you would not make any side deals to keep an anchor company?

JEFF OOI says: Reading KTK's letter to the PM in its entirety, the political expediency to thwart "a catastrophic impact" on the general election provides a perfect recipe for bad governance.

This is so politically motivated as there have been rumours of Motorola relocating since the past year.

This proves that CM is so desperate to go to such measures.
Anybody who has been in the market would have known that the past year was one hell of a struggle to get some business from any factories in Penang. It is still sliding down the chart with no end in sight!

You have my vote, 100%!

"We first blew Tsu Koon's cover on March 1, giving him a saving grace of 48 hours to redeem himself".

Why? You should just report the facts as it is fast. The public has a right to know asap. Koh Tsu Koon is but a public servant and should not deserve any special privileges. If he screws up, he should be made accountable. After all, like you say, it is the public's funds and that means my money too!

i agreee with goks.

I think this is a non-issue. This is a common deal in the telco industry. Better to award to Motorola than any of KJ company. At least we have more investment from them.
We have to upgrade the comm system anyway. why dun we get some side deals on it.

As for timing, i think any political party will push for it for enhancing their election campaign. It's all about timing. I am sure that when DAP or other party is in control, will do the same on the timing.

goks,

please read the whole article properly. With Motorola, Malaysia will have TWO(2) NEW system to be deployed.

Two system! And we have no idea whether there is ISO system they use to talk to each other.

And integration are NOT GOING TO come cheap.

However, Malaysia are not new to this isn't it? The multiple billions Starlink, Putra LRT, Monorail, Commuter and the ERL DON'T join. They use 5 DIFFERENT track, 5 DIFFERENT ticketing system, 5 DIFFERENT train. Except Monorail concession, all are now under Malaysia government.

Someone should also investigate the reason for the Mid East investments in IDR. Rumours it was linked with certain acquisitions and developments of Mid East involvements with Malaysia's finance industry.

Motorola got pissed off because it has been overlooked over the years due to the bumi policy practised by the Malaysian government, therefore it has to resort to some arm twisting to get what it wants. There was this window of opportunity opened up, and Motorola did what every investor will do, to get some returns from the billions or RM it has invested in Malaysia over the years. I agree with goks, this is a non issue.

http://jgspot.com fully support DAP!!!
fully support JEFF OOI 4ever!!!

I think all you guys are missing the point.

Yes, tit-for-tat deals are quite common between governments and MNCs the world over.

But the point here is that our dear friend KTK is only concerned about the ramifications to the general election.

From what I've read elsewhere, he doesn't seem too ruffled that Penang has lost its edge. And he still maintains, with the new Motorola investment, as proof of her competitiveness.

As Tonto told Lone Ranger, "kimosabe talks with forked tongue".

"So you need to dangle a carrot to keep them, even if it means an RM1B carrot!"

How many RM1B carrot you have my friend? Do you want the country to keep on feeding these FIs with excuses of bad governance? We will have higher ground in business negotiation if we start with an effective system.

Allow me to attempt to summarise the issues as I see them:-

Is it acceptable for the CM to lobby for a MNC?

Is it in the interest of Malaysia to have an obsolete analogue radio system alongside a new digital radio system at the additional costs of RM1Billion.

Is it acceptable for the Governments (State & Federal) to bow down to MNC over such threat? Who's next?

Was it all for RM350Million investment for the upfront costs of RM1Billion? Where is the cost benefit analysis?

Is Penang so unattractive to MNC that we need to pay MNC to invest?

If semuanya ok, why so shy about it?

Hi,

we are all stuck in an dilema washing machine... RM 1Billion is alot of money, many times more than the amount of money i will make in my entire life. RM1 Billion to upgrade a national police radio infrastructure can be said to be a good investment. Becoz its public money being spent to improve on the well-being of the public. The implementation of the $$$ however is a completely diff issue. I believe that is what most people are majorly concerned about.

On whether its more of a political rather than an economic decision, its quite difficult to differentiate. Coz one might argue, motorola is a huge employer. If the projected 10,000 jobs that are at risk is taken to be accurate, thats a huge loss for the local economy, and most likely impact all the way up and across the supply chain too.

Sure the concidence of the timing is too convenient but americans aren't at all, i assume, too foreign to political patronage.

But the bottom line is, i have to agree with "boks". Its really heart wrenching to see more jobs go, and with jobs gone, where will our workforce go? will they leave our shores for greener pastures. Look at our southermost state, and you will see where our talents are headed. Without jobs & people, our economy is as good as dead. So as politically motivated it mayb, it is nevetheless a grave concern. It would be very sad to see Malaysia lose out gradually to all our neighbours. Who then should us "apples" compare against.... coz all the "grapes" had already been turned into wine already... cham loh.

As for if theres a need for overlapping analogue and digital systems... anyone from the industry can shed some light on the migration ?

So.. whats to be done? what could we have done? Whats to be put in place?

Well, I would vote for the party who has a REALISTIC solution to that. Prove me wrong, but MOST politicians make big promises but have short memories..

My 2 cents.

moo_t,

To give a little more insight to your concern,let me assure you that this too is common. To re-collect my past knowledge on a similar case where both analogue & digital being in use..let me share!

back in 2002 WorldCup, Korea National Police was in a major upgrade to move from analogue to Digital. In fact i beleive they were one of the early users for a brand new release of tetra handsets, fully designed and manufactured 100% in penang! it was a record project which was done back then and proved that we malaysians were capable of lots mroe then the older analogue radios we've been doing for ages. However, as these sets and the digital systems were delivere to KNP, they refused to swap entirely, though if you read the Tetra stndard, it has dual modes. When there is no coverage, it can switch to normal 2-way. Infact i'm not sure but i read somewhere that Mot also did some cool features where handsets can proxy analogue signals to increase analogue 1-1 coverage!

So during the world cup, all the police man, had 2 radio's on the hip, one really big analogue one and 1 brand new Tetra mobile. Obviously this was a phase (i'm not sure how long) where they wanted to make sure and be confident that the standard actually delivers as what ETSI has defined and the vendor (Mot) has deployed!

Eventually after some time, they discarded the analogue but still use it in areas with no coverage.

Being digital standard, you rely on coverage much like GSM. perhaps malaysian government doesnt wanna spend that much money to cover all parts of the country. So, in some rural parts you may end up having a combination of a Tetra digital walkie talkie but running on 1-way mode OR the existing Mot saber analogue sets!

Hence, it does make sence to a certain extend to keep the analogues for some time untill the police is confident of mving entirely!

The case in singapore was much different. It was so much more esier to have 100% coverage in the tiny dot! So it made sence for most of the public safety folks to move!

As for integration, you have to first ask if its really needed. if yes, some kinda proxing can be done and wont cost billions. The game plan will always be to migrate 80-90% of your populated areas with digital, 5% capable of dual modes and the rest 5% may stick to analogue for a long time as it wont make business sence for it, unless you have loads of $$$ to throw!

okay, as for rail integration, i dont think its part of this topic! But its a good example of not having a good future sight!

Anyhow, what jeff is saying makes sence. It seems like KSK is using the investment as abait for BN's win this election! Thats not morally right! He should have addressed this long time ago!

also, another case in point. motorola from what i know helped the government allot on the Wimax project definition and eventually the G gave away this project to the French-American cmopetitor which has a less superior product but aparently well connected cable! So if i was Mot, i'd feel like a unpaid pros!!! So why should i stay in a country that only bother about peoples pockets?

Come on guys, read the articles before you make any comment. The $1b are not going directly to the Motorola's hands. Do we really need the redundant systems(which justifies the $1b spent)? BTW, Motorola has been operating in Malaysia since 1974, so we are not talking about giving incentive to attract new FDI.

Let's list out, for the benefit of KTK, some of the high-tech MNCs that have their regional HQs in Singapore:

- Microsoft
- Dell
- Intel
- Cisco
- Lenovo
- IBM
- Motorola
- Siemens
- Lucent
- Sun
- AT&T
- Apple
- Google
- Wipro
- Satyam
- Tata Consultancy
- Infosys

Get the picture, KTK?

Get the picture, Rafidah?

skilgannon...

why in the world have you listed out the successes of FDIs of the little red dot...

its makes me sad.

enough with this, i'm going back to bed and continue to live my life in self denial, just like our leaders..

opps.. i'm late for the 170 bus.

Dear Jeff & CM

In Penang, due to the abolishment of the NEP, certain groups of people are not happy. Kindly consider my humble proposal. We shall continue the apply the NEP on the following manners:

(A) First, we shall still conduct open tender of all projects.

(B) Once, we have the outcome of the tender. We shall see whether any Bumi companies won the tender. If the bumi companies won over 30% of the total value of the project, then the next conditions does not apply.

(C) If bumi won less than 30% of the total value of the project, the total project shall be forward to UMNO for their selection of which part of the project BUMI could participate with competitive pricing. It must be transparent. We must fulfill the minimum 30% rule. If the Bumi companies could not meet the lowest price, we could give additional 5-7% of mark up for Bumi companies. However, this additional special allowance must disclose to public. There should be a deadline for UMNO to get back to CM for the project participation. In the event, that UMNO could not find suitable Bumi companies for the project. They should accept the outcome of the result of open tender.

(D) Then, the awarded companies will be disclose to public. For those BUMI companies with special mark up allowance, we shall also indicate in the public information.

(E) In addition, the government should receive some form of guarantee say 10% of the awarded amount in bank guarantte form. This is to avoid the contractos delay the progress of the planned project. If the contractor, fail to meet a milestone set earlier. The deposit or bank guarantee is forfeited and we have the right to change new contractor or the next best contractor who participated in the bidding process.

I believe this approach is more acceptable to certain people.

Hope that CM of Penang could accept my humble proposal.

Good Day.

Pg thinktank