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Next Tuesday, Selangor’s next Menteri Besar will be sworn in, ending an embarrassingly public argument among the Pakatan Rakyat coalition over incumbent Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s replacement.
But the identity of the new Menteri Besar is not yet known to the public. Senior Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including state assemblypersons from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), have also denied knowledge of who this person might be, as reported by Malaysiakini.
The mystery is strange considering that the Menteri Besar is required to have the majority support of the state’s assemblypersons. Do all assemblypersons know who their next leader is?
In any case much will be answered come Tuesday. While we wait, here are some of our best stories this week — news, analyses and comments you won’t find anywhere else:
Pick 1 — From Char Kuey Teow to chairs. Ben Teo, now a furniture mogul exporting his company’s products to international markets, began his journey from behind a wok burner, hawking char kuey teow. How did he make such a startling shift? In a two-part series, KiniBiz looks at his journey and why his company’s static sales volume isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Start reading here.
Pick 2 — Deadline looms for 1MDB. Next month would mark six months after the close of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)’s last financial year, which ended in March 2014. That means 1MDB only has until the end of the next month to file the annual report for that financial year, as per Section 169 of the Companies Act 1965. Read further here.
Pick 3 — Batu Kawan land sale to Eco World not yet finalised. Following a previous news report that fast-emerging Eco World Development Group Bhd is buying a 190.2 ha land parcel from Penang Development Corp for RM1.02 billion, the state’s chief minister has told KiniBiz that the sale is not yet finalised. Read the whole story here.
Pick 4 — SP Setia’s acting CEO charade continues. This week SP Setia’s acting chief executive officer Voon Tin Yow announced his resignation, effective year-end, which alarmed analysts given the lack of stability in the developer’s senior management. What gives? Our resident cat ponders the issue here.
Pick 5 — Leave interest rates alone. On Thursday Bank Negara Malaysia announced that it will maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3.25% for now, saying the current monetary policy stance “remains supportive of growth”. Prior to the announcement, however, our resident cat thought interest rates should be left well alone anyway since we have among the highest interest rates in the world, arguing the previous increase in July was unwarranted. Read here.
Pick 6 — Rebranding Malaysia Airlines. The airline’s flawed branding narrative had not been discussed as much as it should have amid the restructuring issue. Should a full-service, five-star airline be equated with low-cost, no-frills carriers? Definitely not, argues our resident cat. Read why here.
If you like these and want more, stay in touch with us on Facebook (click here) and Twitter (click here) and we’ll keep you updated with the latest from the business scene.
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— by Khairie Hisyam Aliman, Assistant News Editor
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