Thank You Hassan Marican

Been meaning to write for so long, but I have been stalling. I’ve become the typical bitch who whines about having meaningless life when there’s just so much around me. I’m degrading

Let’s just backtrack on things that bother me the most.

“Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan”

How is that even possible when the most outstanding CEO in Malaysia, Tan Sri Hassan was ousted from the position he held best in 15 years to give way to his successor who is just as old? Talk about grooming young potentials when you know the new guy probably will be as good, but not better? Not to discredit him or anything, but MISC was PETRONAS’s. Come on, the only reason why MISC is doing very well is because PETRONAS is pumping money into the company in whatever venture we can think of! It’s subsidiary, MMHE is a given example of how MISC has prospered.

Until now, Najib has not disclosed the widely-publicised KPI, though it was supposed to come out sometime last year. Even the brainy Idris Jala can’t think of a fair KPI which will make the ministers look good on paper, cause honestly, I don’t think they can cope in a KPI-environment. Throw them in a multinational company, and they’ll be like needle in a haystack. Without crony support, they won’t survive! “Datuk siapa..”

I’m just a tee-bit irritated with the fact that my CEO was ousted. I may not like some of the policy he introduced, but he did well at the helm of the national oil company. If an outstanding leader like him can be thrown out as the government pleased just because he didn’t submit to politicians demand (remember the whole fiasco on Omar Ong and alas, the board had to succumb to Najib’s veto decision to put him there), what of me who is just a minor junior Engineer who has yet to make an impact in the company?

When Omar was elected to the board, I only thought of two things:

1. Mr President, now that Omar sits in our board, would this mean that the policy that you’ve uphold for the last 15 years need to be revamped? I mean, PETRONAS’s reputation has already been tarnished by the decision to bring back a default scholar into the company. So would this mean that we will open recruitment to those who have left for better opportunities in the Middle East and now crying back for a return to home country? I mean, we’ve been talking about shortage in quality manpower, and this is a great time to re-look at opportunities and making sure that we will have strong manpower to lead the company when Omar Ong takes over as CEO later.

2. There’s so much instability in the country and I felt the first-hand effect seeing Hassan bid farewell to thousand of staff who awaited him in the lobby of KLCC on the fateful 9 February. No matter what qualm Najib may feel for Hassan, a one week notice is just too demeaning. With Hassan’s extensive network worldwide, he should have been given the opportunity to bid proper farewell to not just his staff in over 30 countries, but also his peers from all over the world. Isn’t there such thing as work handover? (But then again, because the job of a politician is so damn easy, any Dick, Tom & Harry can pick up fresh. Oh well). So do I really want to work in this country or should I think about relocating myself to a more stable country? Or if I really want to work in some junk ‘place’, I should really think about a massive paycheck just to compensate the hardship I have to go through.

Ok so there it is. Venting out my frustration here. Enough said.

Cheers all. Salam 1 Malaysia.

ps: I do welcome the new boss who will be another charismatic leader to PETRONAS. All my support to the company, obviously!

Episode Geram: Malaysian Mentality

So i really hate all this Malaysian mentality. Da! what's up with all this politeness and all those so-called Asian courtesy- err, are you confuse between courtesy with just being stupidly-arrogant? Scenario today:

1. "Why your staff tak senyum kat i tu? Dia tak suka i ke?" I entered the bosses office and handed him the info he wanted. There was another lady in the office talking on the phone, and i did not stop,greet and smile at her. So i don't have the courtesy? What the!!!? Its not like i went to throw a banana at her, or put on a long face being displease at her presence there. I just didn't look at her and happily smile WHILE SHE WAS IN A FREAKING CONVERSATION. I thought it was rude to interrupt someone who's on a MIDDLE of a conversation? And apa peduli aku. Do i really have to be nice to every single person on earth!

2. You should address an older person by their title - in Malaysia, that means En, Puan, Cik etc. In anywhere else, you don't address people as Mr, Mrs, Miss something unless you are really trying to be those proper aristocrat (i think). Why do you have to call people by title (unless its a Datuk, Datuk Seri, Tan Sri, etc) if you are doing it on a professional level? Hmm.. i may be a bit bias here, but unless you are at least a Senior Manager or General Manager in my company, i don't think much of you. Professionally, everyone should be the same.

So yeah, i am being bitchy today. Probably didnt feel much loved these past few days.

Until then, the bitchiness rest.

Selamat Datang ke Company-ku

I was looking at my entry and noticed that the last time i wrote on this blog was in April of this year, right before i left for the Kuching Toastmaster Annual convention.

Ok let me get my names cleared. I so did not entirely dissappear from the face of the blog-world. If you just google out my name, you'd notice that i've been busy with another blog i've set up which pretty much reflect where much of my time was - with Toastmaster! I've been busy uploading entries from DDYPC TMC to my very own toastmistrez.blogspot.com.

And i can't blame it entirely on toastmaster, cause then i have my speed dating (justsingles.blogspot.com) and some other secret society blog (which only us girls have the privy to bitch about guys we were/am with) and of course, i was busy with Mr. Somebody who apparently will step his first foot in KLCC working as an exec with MY COMPANY.

Probably will be a terrifying experience when your boyfriend works in the same company, and have probably set up some ploy to check out your every move. Erkk.. No sayang, i did not mean that.

But yeah, am happy that you will be joining us brains working diligently for the Nation. Go 1Malaysia, in whatever logical sense that will make.

Welcome welcome.

Interview PETRONAS: TSH tells it all

This is one of the most interesting interview that TSP has ever given, and the fact that he doesn't give much air for interviews made it more interesting. Thank you Malaysia Today for publishing this.
I read the shorter version of the interview last week, but i was too busy to actually share my thought on this. Then i found the excerpts of the interview.

I read the stupid comments made not just by the public, and after 1 day of careful thinking, i am glad that i didnt post it earlier. I may have over-reacted. Well, who wouldn't feel irritated after reading these painful comments, and realising how you are getting beaten left right up bottom. Women with their EQ difficulties.

I am very much directly involved in the project, where my Kebabangan field is one of the gas field going into SOGT. So of course, it very much affected me.

We develop the gas, we get scold.
We give work to the local, we get scold.
We give business to the government, we get scold.
So we get scold no matter what la.

Geez... i am getting all emo again.

Cheers. Happy reading.
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Controversies have surfaced on the oil and gas development in Sabah, especially with regards to the RM1.6 billion Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline project. Certain Sabah politicians are in no mood to share the gas with Sarawak, even though there may be an excess. There have also been questions raised over the role of the state government. There are even voices that since the gas belongs to Sabah and if the state cannot use it right away, it should be kept for future generations. Questions have also been thrown at Petronas on how the oil and gas industry in Sabah will benefit the local people. Petronas president and chief executive officerCEO Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican speaks to gives his view and explanation in this exclusive interview with JONISTON BANGKUAI of the New Sunday Times and Sabah-based Daily Express chief editor JAMES SARDA. The following are excerpts of from the interview. are as follows:

Q: There have been numerous questions raised about the oil and gas industries in Sabah, particularly the 500km multi-billion ringgit Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline project and the setting up of a petrochemical complex in Sabah. How do you deal with this?
A: We have to put this in perspective. I am only going to deal with facts because I am a technocrat. You have to go back to history. The oil and gas industry in Sabah started many years ago, even before the incorporation of Petronas. But Sabah has small resources and therefore small production. But it has been a producer for a long time. The oil and gas industry in Sabah was based in Labuan and this included the Labuan Crude Oil Terminal, Asian Supply Base and methanol plant. Labuan became a federal territory in 1984. But the development of oil and gas continued. The first methanol plant was developed by the Sabah Gas Industries which was bailed out by Petronas in 1992. Even though Labuan became a federal territory, Sabah continued to enjoy royalty from the production of oil and gas offshore Sabah. In the last six years, there have been discoveries of oil and gas, particularly in the deepwaters off Sabah. The first major development of this new discovery of oil is Kikeh which came into production in August last year. With that production, Sabah's royalty value went up. The reserves of gas offshore Sabah are small, about 10 trillion cubic feet, and they are scattered in reservoirs that are not very large. This is different from the reservoirs in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia which contain huge reserves. Because they are small and scattered, the viability of developing the oil and gas is quite limited until such time when we discover sufficient volume to develop. So what we came up with is this: The development of offshore Sabah gas is going to be undertaken in two clusters -- the northern and southern clusters. What the clusters mean is that there will be a central facility which will gather the gas from various reservoirs and it will be brought to Sabah. So you have two big pipelines coming in from the north and south. And they will end up in Kimanis at the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT). That is for gas. The future development of oil that has been discovered, starting with the Gumusut development, which is ultra deep, will also be landed in Kimanis. There will be crude oil tanks with a capacity for three billion barrels and the oil will be exported from there. Hence, the combined Kimanis facility will be called the SOGT. It took us 30 years to develop Bintulu which is today one of the single largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) complexes in the world. It has taken us 35 years to develop Kerteh. In order for gas to be developed, there has to be a base load to make it commercially viable. In the case of Peninsular Malaysia, the base load was provided by the export to Singapore. Only when you have this base load can downstream gas industries proceed. We are bringing gas from offshore Sabah to onshore Sabah. A portion of it, as we design this, will be piped to Bintulu. That gives us the base to provide the economic viability to develop the gas offshore Sabah. Bear in mind that the gas reserves are not all Petronas' but they also belong to production-sharing contractors who would only develop it if there is economic return.

Q: When did discussion with the Sabah government on the petrochemical plant begin?
A: The first discussion was in 2006 when the whole concept was deliberated. At that discussion, we (Petronas) said we will embark on a masterplan for downstream gas industries which would include petrochemicals. In fact, we conducted a joint feasibility study with Yayasan Sabah for a world-scale fertiliser plant or urea plant. But it was not commercially viable because the cost of construction was very high. We have not given up and we will revisit the proposed project when the cost and market environment changes. In the meantime, we are in the process of completing the integrated petrochemical masterplan which will then be presented to the state government when it is ready. To have a downstream integrated petrochemical complex also requires a lot of other things such as infrastructure -- meaning not only roads but also marine facilities and water. For example, in Kerteh, we use 30 million gallons of water every day. We also need power and human resources. All these need to be taken into account if we are going to attract world-class companies. This is a global business. We need to attract and bring in the "big boys" as partners. We have not been keeping quiet. We have held discussions with key petrochemical companies and identified potential sites. We have been very quiet about this because we don't want any speculation, especially where land is concerned. We are in a competitive global business environment. If you make an announcement prematurely about what project you want to embark on, you will be alerting the competitors who can then be ahead of you. The industry is such that you cannot build little plants here and there. It is not viable. That is why all the facilities we have built are of world-scale capacities.

Q: Can you elaborate on what the SOGT entails?
A: As part of the development of the SOGT, the immediate thing that has happened is the joint venture between the state government and Wah Seong Corp Bhd which is a listed company operating pipe welding and coating plant in KKIP (Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park) which employs 250 Sabahans. The plant is not built just for the SOGT but also for other projects in Malaysia and outside Malaysia. We are also training close to 500 Sabahans in various skills and not just for this development. But again, the expectation of the oil and gas industry as a large provider of jobs is also not correct. It is a highly skilled, highly technical job with few vacancies. But the spillover effect for small-and medium-size industries to provide services is huge. We have been in communication with the state government to encourage Sabahans in this. What is important is that this is a long-term industry and we have to look at the success of the Sarawak service providers because they have been very focused. They have been able to look at the long-term to the extent that they have been able to export their services. If the expectation is for all this to happen overnight, it is wrong. Another key consideration is when we talk about having a gas-based industry, any investor who wants to invest in a petrochemical facility will want to see the sustainability of production and reserves for at least 20 years. You do not invest billions of dollars and find that there is no gas after six or seven years. As the gas owner, you have to give that commitment that you will be able to provide the resource for at least 20 years.

Q: How long will Sabah be able to produce gas?
A: The offshore Sabah resources compared with Sarawak and the peninsula is very small. Sarawak's gas reserve is 45 trillion cubic feet and in the peninsula, it is about 39 trillion. Sabah has about 10 trillion to 12 trillion, if you include associated gas, and it is scattered and in small reservoirs making it expensive to develop. The important thing is developing the gas the way we have conceptualised and planned to help maximise value to the state government because the state will receive royalty from the gas production.

Q: Is the setting up of the proposed petrochemical plant in Sabah something new?
A: It has been ongoing and the methanol plant in Labuan is also a petrochemical plant. Many competent and capable Sabahans are actually located in Labuan where they are the service providers. The chief minister (Datuk Seri Musa Aman) and some state officials visited Kerteh in 2006 to see the operation there.

Q: Some Sabah leaders want a gas plant to be set up in the state, instead of spending RM1.6 billion to build the gas pipeline to Bintulu.
A: The proposal was considered but it was not viable because we cannot sustain it for 30 years. In the end, if you look at it in the national context, we will be wasting resources because we already have a complex in Bintulu. The reason we are sending the gas to Bintulu is because of the base. The cost of an LNG plant today is about US$1,200 (RM4,224) per tonne. The third plant in Bintulu which was completed in 2002 cost US$200 a tonne.

Q: Does this mean that the only option is to send the gas to Bintulu?
A: Yes, but we will still pay Sabah the royalty. We don't plan to take everything to Bintulu. We keep a certain amount to support the downstream gas industry in Sabah. This will provide the base to develop the resources.

Q: When do you expect the masterplan on the proposed petrochemical complex in Sabah and the urea plant to be completed?
A: By early next year we will be able to complete the petrochemical masterplan. As for now, the urea plant is out because the cost is too high.

Q: What about the proposed gas-powered plant that is to be built in Sabah?
A: Petronas Gas Bhd has already entered into a joint venture with Yayasan Sabah for a 300 megawatt combined cycle power plant in Kimanis. It should be fully on stream in early 2011, which is when the gas is expected to land. We have a joint committee chaired by the state secretary to oversee this.

Q: The public has the impression that the state government had not been playing an active or participatory role in the project.
A: Like I said, you cannot make a premature announcement on a project like this.

Q: What is the overall investment required for the petrochemical complex in Sabah?
A: Kertih's was RM70 billion. As for Sabah, developing the two gas clusters and the Gumusut field has already exceeded RM10 billion. Gumusut, which is being developed by Petronas, Shell Production Sharing Contractors and Conoco, is expected to start producing in 2011. We are working with the various training institutions in Sabah to train Sabahans.

Q: Some Sabah politicians are saying the gas belongs to Sabah and as such it must benefit the state.
A: I think this is a national resource. You cannot look at it in a parochial way. The focus should be on all the supporting industries. We have explained to the trade and business chambers in Sabah on many occasions that there will be many opportunities for them. When we talk of certain packages of contracts, we restrict it to Sabah contractors. For example, the site preparation work for the SOGT in Kimanis involves two Sabah Bumiputera contractors and the value of the contract is RM100 million. One consortium gets RM60 million and the other RM40 million. The first consortium is led by Montis and the other is Ribuan Gaya. The supply and coating of pipes is worth RM400 million, and it is a 60 per cent joint venture with the state government. The company is Petropaip Sabah Sdn Bhd.

Q: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok had said that he was disappointed that the state government was not supporting his objection to the pipeline on grounds that the gas was most needed in Sabah. What is your view on this?
A: To be fair to the state, they know more about what had transpired. But we did not want to have a premature announcement. We are only a small reserve holder compared with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. If we make too much noise, what happens if the Saudis say they want to do the plant first? You are in competition as a resource holder to attract the right investor to come into a joint venture with you. The competition from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore that I went through to get Dow and BASF to come to Kertih and Kuantan was tremendous. We were on the same flight to New York with the chairman of EDB (Economic Development Board of Singapore) and we were going to see the same investor.

Q: Are you saying it is unfair for certain quarters to say the state government was hardly involved in the project?
A: What I can say is that they have been fully involved since 2006 when we presented and discussed the concept with them. Like I said, I am not a politician but a technocrat. I can give you facts, the history and how we've done it.

Q: Is it fair to say then that in the case of the state government, the chief minister was aggressively involved in the petrochemical plant project, contrary to the perception that has been created?
A: Yes. I think it is fair comment. And also together with him we even discussed this with the national leaders, both the prime minister and his deputy since 2006.

Q: In the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), one of the core focus is the development of an oil and gas industry in Sabah. Can you elaborate?
A: That is how it got lifted and included as part of the corridor's development. Not the other way around. Even before 1995, when we landed gas in Kg Gayang (Tuaran), for many years nobody used the gas. The independent power producer only used 20 per cent of the capacity that we landed.

Q: Sabah is facing an energy shortage and following the proposal to build a coal-fired power plant in the east coast, there is talk of using gas to produce electricity.
A: This (gas-powered electricity plant) is in our discussions with Tenaga Nasional. You cannot just land (the gas) here, there and everywhere. We are continuously discussing with Tenaga Nasional their requirements. I have always believed that Borneo should have its own power grid instead of having small power plants here and there. It makes economic sense.

Q: The published cost for the gas pipeline is RM1.6 billion but some politicians in Sabah think it will be RM3 billion.
A: The EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) cost of the gas pipeline is RM1.6 billion. One of the members of the consortium is a Yayasan Sabah company, Petrosab. The others are India-based Punj Lloyd and Dialog E&C Sdn Bhd.

Q: Although you have outlined the reasons, the lingering feeling will still be why not a LNG plant in Sabah?
A: The Kertih plant was not cheap because you are talking about reactors. An urea plant today will cost a fortune. And all these products have a global market and the price will be determined accordingly. So when you do a feasibility study you are not only doing the technical feasibility study but also looking at the market, the future price.

Q: It is left to Sabah then to get a better deal in some other way, perhaps higher royalty?
A: That is not for me to comment.

Q: Another grouse of Sabah leaders is that Petronas has hundreds of subsidiaries and yet Sabahans are not benefiting in the form of directorships, etc.
A: Sabahans have got quite a number of our scholarships. And all these training is funded by us.
- nst

Sign - Hijau Atau Merah?

Dear company collegue,
Anonymously written.

For your info, we have already stated our case to the management last Thursday. We have engaged the management enquiring them into getting clarifications for the new salary increment. Believe me, it did catch their attention. And on Friday, a group of staff have collectively stated their case to the advocates, hence HR. The two main issue that was brought up are the concern as the salary difference are not equitable throughout the years of difference, and that the salary gap between those with years of experience almost matches the salary of new entrant.

So far, the Carigali HR seems concerned and has been very helpful, and they are trying to seek further clarification from the Task Force. At the end, the group has demanded two things: HR to share the formulation of how the new salary is calculated and the justification on the differences for the salary adjustment. But then, there’s nothing else that can be done at this point in time.

If you choose to run petition, you can expect that it will trigger just the wrong side of the management. And look at this:

STAFF WILL REJECT
- New entrants are still getting the new salary increment regardless. So you can see yourself earning much lower than the new entrants.
- New allowance package will not kick in (your meal, travel, new salary progression, etc)

STAFF WILL ACCEPT
- We have stressed to them that loyalty will remain a concern

In the end, you see that you are in the losing end with only ONE option to choose from.

Don’t just give in to resentment! Perhaps you are angry that you are not getting what you deserve and started to compare against others. But the HR answer was that you are not supposed to make comparison. What you earn is Private & Confidential and you are not allowed to share it with others. In other words – it’s better than nothing, right?

So listen, I know that in the angry mode you’d be telling yourself that the company does not value your years of experience. The thing is, if you are an E1 in the market (a junior engineer in this case), the market does not treasure your experience and hence what they have applied here. So you would see that you are not getting much higher than the new entrants. Yes, the task force must have consisted of some older G that are probably envious to the current state in which we lack of E2, and E1 are mostly the doer nowadays. They don’t value our experience because during their times, you do not seek independence within 2 years of working experience. Well, they should wake up obviously. I doubt that there was any Technical personnel view accounted for when they came up with the salary revision.

But anyway, that’s an old issue. Let’s look ahead and work with what we have. Yes, pride should be accounted for. The company should reward us for our hard work, and differentiate performers with non-performers. But with debts of more than RM300 K, I am in no position to argue. Perhaps I should just reap the company of its knowledge and trainings, and ensure that I use this opportunity to enrich myself. Some might not be here long, but for some others, you’d realize that the package will reward you long term. They are making it up in other ways, ie. Salary progression increment which has doubled, new allowance package and revision to your current EPF. I had my first tantrum with the company on Thursday, but I soon settled off. Some say that I went back against what I believe so much, and decided to accept. But my answer is I do not want to be on the losing end.

Yes, I will accept. But at the same time, I’ll try harder into making the management listens. If I succumb to rejecting the offer, I might just not get anything. And dear friends, 16th September political uncertainty is something to ponder.

Anonymous?

Tan Sri-ku, Director-ku

You may have read this…

“Tan Sri Hassan Merican resigned from the post of CEO & Director of PETRONAS Gas Berhad (PGB), effective Friday. He’s replaced by Wan Zulkeflee”

Just to clarify to everyone, as yesterday Tils was giving me the exact expression that has been lingering the mind of the whole nation.

Tan Sri is not resigning from his post as THE Managing Director CEO & Chairman of PETRONAS, but simply relinquishing power as the CEO & Director of PETRONAS Gas Berhad.

He will be here for a long time, all.. making the necessary changes to the country. Fingers crossed. Hopefully you’ll see a bigger paycheck coming your way before Raya.

Tisu Bang...

Malaysians are a generous bunch.
Hmm, Malaysians are a generous bunch?
Aha, Malaysians are a generous bunch!

We may be skimpy on paying the tolls, parking ticket, that extra tips to the waitresses or some (ehem) even resort to stealing the papers and magazines from the office, but we never say no to those who offer tissues for a reasonable barter trade of your money.

The normal scenario where you see a blind old man accompanied by a young looking women, or a young boy from the Tahfiz school, or another familiar looking kid asking “Tisu bang”, or with the mini poster of “I-am-from-Rumah-so-and-so-and-we-need-your-donation-to-help-build-our-home”, or some “Please-Help-My-Sister-She-is-Suffering-From-Cancer”. This is some typical catchy phrases that would definitely attract you.

Somehow we think that giving money to the disadvantage is actually our legal ticket to any wrong doings we have done in the past. But I bet that there are somehow, perfectly two reasons why most Malaysians are a generous bunch.

Firstly.
Ladies, do you know that some boys are a show off! Boys, you are out on a date with this girl who got your heart beating fast that you can’t think straight. So you reach into your wallet in the hope that she would go ahh at the sight of your kind generosity to help the disadvantage.

Or let’s face the second reason.
Malaysian is just a generous bunch!

This is perfectly the valid reason why the very first thing I’ve done when I assume presidency of DDYPC is to organize a fund raising during the fasting period for 2 of the orphanages homes for 39 kids in Rumah Haluan Penyayang, Shah Alam and another 25 kids in Baitul Fitrah, Rawang. The effort put forward by the dedicated DDYPC committee has enabled us to collect more than RM 9’000 from the Development Division’s community. Not bad huh. These are the great Samaritan in PETRONAS.

However, this is not the typical scenario that you see overseas. Well, probably because they have completely eliminate the so called ‘Poor-Index’, or enforcing zero tolerance towards open charity such as what we see at the side of the street. And surprising, it has worked well as the people are not at all a thrifty.

Believe me or not, your act of giving openly, however good the intention it is, just does not feed all too well in this community.

Do you notice that the more you give, the list of people receiving multiply. Have you noticed that if you stay for two hours in places like Rasta or Uptown, you would eventually bump into the same “Tisu bang” again. Well, these people do the hourly sweep you see.

It is not my place to condemn, but some people say that they get a monthly income of approximately RM5K at least (tax free), which is 2 times bigger than the normal salary of a PETRONAS entrant. And some people say that we in PETRONAS enjoys the lavish benefit of Oil & Gas in this country. Hmm.. probably it is the best time to swap job. At 3 am when their shift is done, ‘through some personal experience’, you can see the handicap man drive away in that Honda that you always long for.

Hence people, listen. Realising this, why don’t you use your will power to channel your fund accordingly? It can be through zakat, or through various other efforts put by our company, PETRONAS. Remember the spirit of Energy Receive, Energy Return, Aspiring People Everywhere?
PETRONAS is the One-Stop-Solution for the Community.

Helping the kids – we have got the BAKTI program which helps underprivilledge students in improving their communication skills
Orphanage – Every year, we organize the Sentuhan Kasih for us to realize their dreams, and of course to give some duit raya as well
Community Service – Have you heard of the ongoing effort we are doing with the Penan, a community living remote off Sabah
Education – You can always volunteer to become a speaker at any of the Career Talk

And lots of other things on the list which continue growing. And right now, we have hundreds of dedicated PETRONAS staff serving voluntarily to drive the effort.

So, I am convinced that Malaysians are a generous bunch, and they just need to be directed to the proper way to channel their hard earn money and sweat. So, if you seek any advice, I can be consulted anytime as your Financial Adviser should you need to make that generous decision.

Aku DAN Minyak

This is what i talked about during my 3rd Toastmaster Speech in MCOBA building on Tuesday. Something very close to my heart.
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To celebrate our anniversary, I asked my boyfriend to take me out to some place expensive. We drove around, and he made a quick stop in SHELL (mind me) and turn to me and said. “Sayang, this is the most expensive place I know”.
(Bam..) Well, of course he was just kidding around but this onviously is the impact of RM 1.92 vs RM 2.70

Oil price has made a shocking increase from the usual USD 30 to a startling USD 130 within this last 5 years. In it’s heavily consequence of subsidizing the masses, the government made a bold decision last month to increase the petrol from RM 1.92 to RM 2.70. Some says that the reaction by the government shows apathy to the suffering of its people.

Let me try to educate you how the RM 2.70 came about?
Fuel price in Malaysia is controlled by the government using a formula under the automatic pricing mechanism introduced in 1974.
The calculation is made based on the actual cost of petrol or diesel, the operating costs, margin for dealers, margin for retail oil companies and the balancing number of duty or subsidy.

This is how it is calculated:
Product Cost : RM2.7637
Marketing Cost : RM0.0692 (fixed)
Distribution Cost : RM0.0262 (fixed)
Dealers' Commission : RM0.0950 (fixed)
Companies' profit : RM0.05 (fixed)
Duty or subsidy : (RM0.30)
Total Pump Price = RM2.7041

So you see, no retail oil company or dealer makes money from the hike of fuel prices. Oil companies pay for the product at market prices, but have to sell low, so the government reimburses the difference, hence subsidy. So, let me try to spell this out clearly to you, we (PETRONAS) have NOTHING to do with the fuel hike.

In fact, we do not even earn as high in the increasing oil price scenario. Exxon Mobil who preached about being the top of the Big Four Company in world earns USD 40 Bil in 2007, just USD 1 Bil higher than the year before due to the increase in price in producing 1 barrel of oil, as any other Oil & Gas majors in the world including PETRONAS.

Friends, We realize the fact that as PETRONAS was set up in 1974 with the seed capital of RM 10 Million by the government, we are obliged to generate income and value back to its shareholder, which is the government. Hence, after 34 years of hard earned work by the people who are loyal to serving the nation, we can boast on our 2007 Year End Financial Statement of RM 570 Billion in accumulated profit in which last year, we proudly sit on No 121 in terms of revenue of the Fortune 500.

Some critics have the misconception that we had it easy just because we are an Oil & Gas company, but do you know that not all National Oil Company (NOC) stand as tall as us? There come about a perverse fact that PETRONAS Carigali, the arms of the Exploration & Production for PETRONAS is duly given the right to explore and produce the blocks in Malaysia just because we are a linked to a government entity. This statement is very misleading as much as it is not true.

As an operator in this country, PETRONAS Carigali has the same rightful ownership to the entire Oil & Gas field in Malaysia as other operators such as Shell, Newfield or even ConocoPhillips in its quest to bid for the national interest. In fact, most blocks offshore Sabah & Sarawak are operated by the other operators like the famous deepwater Kikeh by Murphy Oil or even the Shell’s MLNG. However, I do have to admit that having an Oil & Gas reserve on our very own backyard does have its perks on gaining the capability advantage.

PETRONAS is perhaps a National Oil Entity, for now. 20 years down the road, it might transform itself into an International Oil Company, where in the depleting Oil & Gas scenario in Malaysia at present, we will see the company aggressively venturing out to the International arena. Then it would be a question of whether the 65% of profit going back to the government is justifiable. It would be the sort of birthright that we dare not question.

I admire my bosses who have spent 20 or even 30 odd years serving the company, and indirectly the nation. These are the loyalist who could have resigned and work elsewhere and easily earning triple or quadruple the salary they are enjoying now.

Statistic which was released sometime in late 2007 made a comparison between the earnings of Oil & Gas technical expertise in different part of the world. No surprise there that the earnings of the locals in Asia Pacific are the lowest, in which the expatriate working here are earning 4 times higher than the same locals who has the same years of experience. You would see this scenario everywhere, regardless of which nationals they are from.

This, ladies and gentleman, is the sole reason why PETRONAS staffs migrate to other companies, especially in Middle East. Two years ago, the whole section of technician in MLNG of about 40 staff resigned and works in Middle East, and a lot of other pursuit by other individual soon followed. A colleague of mine who has worked for 6 years was offered a USD 10K salary plus benefit to migrate and work in the Middle East. At this critical point where there are lack of expert in the Oil & Gas field and the eagerness of other companies racing to offer better compensation, some of my collegue who merely work for 2 years even migrated to other service providers and consultant offices which are offering … a lot more.

Nowadays, the 30 something thousand of PETRONAS staff are mostly juniors. In my division of about 1,200 staff, 50% of them are junior staff with experience of less than 5 years. Can you imagine the struggle that PETRONAS has to accomplish in trying to excite the staff to continue being loyal to the national’s agenda?

So, it is not that PETRONAS boast about being a loyalist by being underpaid and serving the nation undividedly, but we are. Take our bonus away, take our other benefit, scrutinize our every movement and decision, and you take away those loyal ‘government’ servant who wants nothing more than loyally serving the nation.

So please hear us out. If you can’t support us, join us and then you see. Thank you.

Lagi-lagi PETRONAS

This is what happen when politician tries to dictate what PETRONAS do and plan to invest. Obviously their long hours of reading does not include effort to gain Economic background advantage. Whatever la...

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FROM THE STAR:

Petronas's setting up of medical centre based on return of investmentBERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, WED:
The involvement of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) in the healthcare sector with the setting up of the Price Court Medical Centre (PCMC) is based on the commercial return of investment, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz said today.

He said the aim of setting up PCMC was to provide Malaysians with health services of international standard.It was part of the corporate social responsibility initiative by Petronas and in line with its corporate mission to contribute to the well-being of the people and nation, Amirsham said.“The setting up of PCMC also helped to add to the government’s efforts in providing medical services under the health tourism programme,” he said in a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat.He was replying to a question from Mohamed Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) on the costs of building and managing the five-star PCMC owned by Petronas and the rationale for the national oil company’s involvement in the sector.

Amirsham said among the services offered by PCMC were those by specialists in critical areas like cancer, heart and lung, women and children, urology, neprology and men’s health, plastic surgery, cosmotology, dermatology and burns.According to him, PCMC is the only private hospital in Malaysia equipped with the hyperbaric chamber facilities to treat burn victims and expedite their recovery.Asked if Petronas proposed to set up a fund to help poor people in getting treatment at the medical centre, he said there was no such proposal at present but people could still use PCMC for specific treatment.

Apa Hak Mereka?

This is what I read from some random blog:

… Our national wealth must be accounted for in a transparent manner. We need to know how much is earned by Petronas and we know in detail how this acquired wealth is being managed and spent. We need to know how much those in the ranks of hierarchy are being paid and how they are rewarded. What kinds of bonuses do they receive? How much is their gratuity when they retire?

And then Khir Toyo recent comment on his famous blog:
"Janganlah terlalu dipentingkan keuntungan beratus juta syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (Government Link Company - GLC) sehingga rakyat di bawah menderita. Apa penting diumumkan keuntungan besar syarikat ini tetapi rakyat tidak merasai apa-apa?" katanya.
Selain itu Khir juga menyarankan Petronas dan semua GLC negara mengumumkan keuntungan kepada kabinet sebelum kabinet memutuskan jumlah bonus yang perlu di berikan kepada mereka.

In the wake of the RM0.78 petrol increase, everyone now talks about the infamous role that PETRONAS plays in managing the price increase and the effort to solemnly share the burden of the rest of the population. I fret everytime I read a post about PETRONAS. How dare they talk like they own us (or probably the do. Gosh, what a realisation).

Malaysian are very oblivious about the world scenario. They are comparing PETRONAS to other governmental body which does not come close to generating even some minor revenue of the country, and they expect that we (PETRONAS staff hereafter) would want to share our well-deserved hard-earned value of bonus with the rest of the government bodies.

Look at this. It is bad enough that we do not get the market pay that we deserve, now we are being denied our only solace.

They (the community in large hereafter) often talk about globalisation and moving PETRONAS towards Global Championship, but how could we when we are being treated like a second class workers in a first class cash generating world? How do we compete with the likes of Shell, Exxonmobil, Total or even NOCs like Petrobras and CNPC when we are getting ridiculously un-competitive pay and benefit?

I’ve heard talks from unhappy friends who were seriously considering joining their other peers in Middle East, as they were not happy with the recent rumours of a 2-month bonus. (As the writer now listen to background noise of “Oi bersyukurlah”, “Ek ele.. 2 bulan pun nak komplen”, “Macam2 aa orang PETRONAS ni”).

We deserve so much more boys & girls. Please do not compare us conglomerate with your own (unless it is another Oil & Gas company), as we are pretty much aware of our net worth. I am still proud to be serving the nation, but with all this money tension all around, I may just drop my national pride and walk away.