Be fair to EPF
Mohd Fazil Mohd AliPublished: Mar 20, 2001 12:23 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
I am one of the many Malaysians who are not happy (disgusted would be too strong a word) with the way the authorities are pandering to the Renong Group with regard to their various high-handed corporate deals. However, to be fair, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang should check his facts before championing any cause. ([#1]Cancel EPF bailout of Time dotCom: Kit Siang[/#], March 19)
EPF has already clarified that the loan was given in 1996 to Time Telecommunications (now known as Time dotCom), which was one year before the abnormal economic turbulent. To cut the story short, Time Engineering, the parent company of Time dotCom, has entered a restructuring scheme via Sect 176 that was approved by the authorities and the courts sometime in March 2000.
And I am convinced that like any other creditor of Time Engineering, EPF has accepted the court-sanctioned arrangement, whereby inter alia, the swapping debt-to-equity is one of them. The majority of analysts (as a qualification, though, reported by the mainstream media) have said that that was the best deal which can be offered by the group.
And it should be noted that EPF, like other creditors for the Group, settled for such settlement since during the period of appraising the loan, I believe, no one has had expected the ensuing economic events would turn the way they did.
Although EPF is not in the banking business and the Time Telecommunications foray was one of its many investment opportunities (owing to the fact that the Group has benefitted so much from its political connections), I do not suspect the prudence of that institution's trustees.
Having said that, I hope malaysiakini could double check with domestic or for that matter foreign analysts on the issue before or at least after publishing the opposition man's statements. This will improve its credibility more so at the time when the shocking 'Soros Deep Pocket Affair' is still buzzing.
Again, to be fair, keep up the good work and I conclude my comment with this quote: 'Two good eyes are a better vision than one, hence two sides of a coin would give a better judgment for any value.'
EPF has already clarified that the loan was given in 1996 to Time Telecommunications (now known as Time dotCom), which was one year before the abnormal economic turbulent. To cut the story short, Time Engineering, the parent company of Time dotCom, has entered a restructuring scheme via Sect 176 that was approved by the authorities and the courts sometime in March 2000.
And I am convinced that like any other creditor of Time Engineering, EPF has accepted the court-sanctioned arrangement, whereby inter alia, the swapping debt-to-equity is one of them. The majority of analysts (as a qualification, though, reported by the mainstream media) have said that that was the best deal which can be offered by the group.
And it should be noted that EPF, like other creditors for the Group, settled for such settlement since during the period of appraising the loan, I believe, no one has had expected the ensuing economic events would turn the way they did.
Although EPF is not in the banking business and the Time Telecommunications foray was one of its many investment opportunities (owing to the fact that the Group has benefitted so much from its political connections), I do not suspect the prudence of that institution's trustees.
Having said that, I hope malaysiakini could double check with domestic or for that matter foreign analysts on the issue before or at least after publishing the opposition man's statements. This will improve its credibility more so at the time when the shocking 'Soros Deep Pocket Affair' is still buzzing.
Again, to be fair, keep up the good work and I conclude my comment with this quote: 'Two good eyes are a better vision than one, hence two sides of a coin would give a better judgment for any value.'
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