If you keep your mouth shut, you won't put your foot in it!

SOMETIMES it is best not to open one’s mouth, lest an unintended quote or fact or truth is uttered, and could lead to the proverbial “opening a can of worms” so to speak.

So when businessman J Ambrose Lee last Sunday (August 8 2010) furiously denied having had a hand in the crash in the unit price of Saham Amanah Sabah (SAS) in 1997 – and he gave his reasons why – the articles in the local newspapers gave rise to more questions for Malaysians in Sabah to ponder.

Just to recap: “Lee was known to be the owner of now defunct Suniwang Holdings Sdn Bhd, which bought the MISC blue chip shares from Sabah government’s investment arm, Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd (WHSSB), in exchange for the North Borneo Timber (NBT) and Sugarbun shares back in 1997.

”The allegations riled him enough to want to put on record that he had “nothing to do” with the SAS unit price plummeting from RM1 to less than 20 sen in 1997-1998 and causing some 55,000 investors to lose about RM400 million.” – as quoted by Free Malaysia Today in its 09 August edition. The local newspapers carried a similar article the day earlier.

Lee also explained: “The share swap dealing under his former company Suniwang Holdings Sdn Bhd was with Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd (WHSSB) and it had nothing to do with SAS.

”The deal, he said, was for WHSSB to sell to Suniwang Holdings 32 million MISC shares for RM182,400,000 at RM5.70 per unit, which is more than the market price of RM5 at that time.

”On the other hand, Suniwang Holdings paid the RM182.4 million by way of RM50 million cash (in January 1998) to WHSBB through Innosabah Securities, RM96 million from sales of three million NBT shares at RM32 per unit and another RM36.404 million from sales of 4.79 million Sugar Bun shares at sale and market price of RM7.60.”

Now, the government has no business to be involved in the stock market business in the first place, especially so, when its leaders have faint knowledge of the vagaries of the stock exchange. Somemore, a shrewd and clever lawyer/businessman in the likes of Lee, who definitely had nothing else on his mind, but to make a killing out of that transaction. Nothing wrong you would say. Perhaps!

Let the people of Sabah, especially those who lost out RM400 million and who now hold paper that is somewhat not worth what they paid out in the first place, be the judge of whether the transaction is right or wrong. And let the people of Sabah judge whether the government of the day made the correct decision at that time.

Let us just consider this simple mathematics: -

Some 32 million MISC shares sold to Suniwang at RM5.70 per share. Today MISC shares are worth RM8.86. So the State Government lost (RM8.86-RM5.7) x 32 million = RM101,120,000.00. Or the owner of those shares now hold more than RM100 million worth of shares at today’s market value. Ermmm ….. what a fantastic deal.

But what about the NBT and Sugar Bun shares? What are they worth today? Oooops I believe both companies have been struck off the Bursa Saham (as the Malaysian Stock Exchange is known as). So ………..

Lee also proudly said: “(Due to the losses) my company (Suniwang) then agreed to pay Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd the difference between the purchase and the market traded price amounting to RM96 million as he had issued a personal guarantee. He claimed that he had proposed that the amount be paid through a third party Borneo Marble Corporation Sdn Bhd by transferring its properties worth RM350 million which he said was valued by independent valuers, to WHSSB.

The question that begs to be answered here, is, who is the owner of Borneo Marble Corporation Sdn Bhd, and how come Lee was able to offer this company to WHSSB.

Lee at the said Press Conference also questioned that the status of North Borneo Timber (NBT).

“If all this while politicians have been saying that the NBT is worthless, then why was the NBT Forest Management Unit (FMU2) concession sold and bought by another party and a senior lawyer?” he asked.

He said a check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) showed that a senior lawyer was holding a proportionate amount of shares in the new company, also known as the NBT Corporation.

Surely, the people of Sabah deserve to know who this gentleman is.

Lee’s remarks may or may not absolve him of any wrong doing, but, whatever said and done, the government of the day has to accept the responsibility and shoulder the blame, and not just shirk off the blame as if to say, “it’s no longer my problem”. The person or persons concerned has a moral obligation to accept responsibility for anything that transpired during that period, rightly or wrong.

Chong Kah Kiat is an uncaring Chief Minister

KOTA KINABALU, August 12, 2010: Another Chinese community leader has come forward to protest against Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaders glorifying of their former party president cum former Chief Minister of Sabah Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat, portraying him as “a hero for the Sabah Chinese community”.

Lin Foo Sin, Chinese Kapitan for Telipok concurred with social activist Kong Yu Kiong’s recent statement that Chong has no moral standing to be accorded such an honour, citing his past dubious track records during his tenure as Chief Minister of Sabah.

Kong had among others cited that Chong had not only failed to assist the Chinese community of Sabah especially in terms of education development, something which is always close to the community’s heart, but irked the community when he slashed the much needed annual allocations to the Chinese schools in the State, besides giving away a piece of state land in Kolombong that was originally given to the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) for the construction of its new school building, to solve the problem of acute congestion in the classrooms of its existing primary schools. This controversy was first highlighted by the other Chinese community leaders and educationists.

In addition to this, Kong also accused Chong of promoting gambling in the State by allegedly increasing the number of slot machines in the recreational clubs throughout the State, from five to ten machines per club, besides allowing Diriwan 88 to resume its operations in Sabah.
“Tan Sri Chong may be a hero for some people, the leaders and supporters of LDP especially, which is understandable. But to say that he is a hero of the Chinese community is an overstatement if not an insult to us (Chinese community), as in as far as we the people of Telipok are concerned, he (Chong) is an arrogant, uncaring chief minister,” said Lin in a statement issued here today.

He cited his personal encounters with the former Chief Minister for example where at one occasion, the latter outright rejected the appeal of the Telipok folks not to relocate the Gaya islanders to Telipok for fear of their wellbeing. Such fear was later proven to be legitimate when social ills and crime rate shot up in the area after the relocation plan was carried out. A nine year old student was even raped and murdered by a drug addict who is a foreigner from the area.
He also claimed that the forced relocation of the Gaya islanders to Telipok was made largely based on commercial consideration, in favour of a certain tourism operators closely aligned to him at that time, to establish their business on Pulau Gaya, completely ignoring the plight of the Telipok folks who were already living in great misery due to constant flooding in the area.
“In another occasion, he (Chong) simply brushed aside our plight over the constant flooding situation in Telipok every time when there was a heavy downpour. It must be put on record that this dreadful issue was subsequently resolved after Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman became the Chief Minister,” he related.

The same issues were also raised by another former Chief Minister of Sabah and their respective elected representatives, but they too were showed the doors.

“We thank God that he (Chong) was only the Chief Minister of Sabah for two years, otherwise we would still be living in agony today, every time when there is a heavy downpour,” he said.

Lin also asserted that he has got nothing personal against the former Chief Minister but merely stating the facts based on his personal encounters with him (Chong).

Be a gentleman and admit past mistakes!

KOTA KINABALU, August 5, 2010: Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat has been urged to be a gentleman and admit his past ‘mistakes’, instead of denying them outright.

“Of course he (Chong) can try his best to deny his past ‘mistakes’ and dubious track records, but I personally believe he will be haunted by his conscience for the rest of his life,” said social activist Kong Yu Kiong.

He said this in response to Chong’s rebuttal to his (Kong) earlier statement that Chong has no moral standing to be a hero of the Chinese community, as portrayed by Chong’s protégé cum LDP President, Datuk VK Liew.

Kong said this was because Chong during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Sabah from 2001 to 2003 not only failed to assist the Chinese community, but had allegedly done the opposite.

He charged that Chong had not only reduced the much-needed state government annual funding for the Chinese schools in the state, he had even allegedly given a piece of state land located in Kolombong that had been allocated by another former Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Yong Teck Lee to the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) for it to build a new primary school to resolve the issue of congestion in its existing school, to a private firm when he (Chong) became the Chief Minister.

The said piece of land was later replaced by an adjacent piece of land, a former dumpsite, which was less strategic in terms of location.

But what was even more outrageous, in as far as Kong is concerned, was Chong’s decision to allow for an increase in the number of slot machines in the various recreational clubs in the state, from five to ten units, also during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Sabah.

In a rebuttal issued on Tuesday, Chong however rubbished such claims, contending that it was very defamatory and irresponsible of Kong to accuse him of doing so.

Chong stressed that he had never taken away any such piece of land that had been allocated by previous fellow ex-CM Datuk Yong Teck Lee to the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of building a new primary school.

Likewise, Chong said Kong's allegation that the increase in the number of slot machines in recreation clubs in the State was due to him was also mischievous and calculated to tarnish his image on behalf of those with a hidden agenda.

Chong said the increase in the slot machines was a Federal Finance Ministry decision and had nothing to do with the State Government which did not have such powers.

“In fact, the Federal Government decided to reinstate what had been reduced and that power rests solely with Federal and not the State,” he said.

Nonetheless, in his response today, Kong who is Youth chairman of Liu Kwee Tang Association Kota Kinabalu categorically maintained that his earlier statement was never intended to defame Chong but was merely stating an undeniable fact based on Chong’s past track records which were reported in the newspapers.

He contended that if what he commented about Chong was truly irresponsible and defamatory, then he (Chong) should have sued those who first highlighted the issue of the school land in the first place. This included the President of KKCCCI, Datuk Seri Panglima Sari Nuar who first highlighted the issue through Sabah DAP Chief cum MP for Kota Kinabalu, Dr Hiew King Cheu who was later joined by former deputy chief minister, Datuk Tham Nyip Shen and prominent Sabah educationist, Datuk Wong Yit Ming.

He recalled that the KKCCCI only managed to secure an adjacent piece of state land which was a former dumpsite, in replacement of the original piece of state land which had been given to a private company by Chong through the Sabah Urban Development Corporation (SUDC), following the swift intervention of the present Chief

Minister Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman just took over the office from Chong in less than six months, at that time.

Kong who is also Vice Chairman of the Sabah Agape Counselling Centre also rubbished Chong’s rebuttal that the increase in the slot machines was a Federal Finance Ministry decision and had nothing to do with the State Government which did not have such powers.

“The State government certainly have power to stop gambling. Sarawak is a good example where unlike Sabah there were no such things as slot machine clubs. Recently, the Sarawak State government even became the first Barisan Nasional state to declare its disapproval of the federal government’s move to legalise sports betting,” he pointed out.

He further noted that it was Chong who reversed the previous decision of the State government to allow Diriwan Corporation to resume its 4-D operations in Sabah, despite a strong objection from a few members of the State Cabinet.

Diriwan used to operate some 200 gaming outlets statewide through its subsidiary, Lotteries Corporation, before its trading licence was revoked in 1996 after being found violating Section 5 of the Pool Betting Act 1976 for operating an illegal lottery.

Controversies emerged a year later when the State Government under the then Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee upheld the decision not to give back Diriwan the trading licence despite having its licence reportedly renewed by the Federal Finance Ministry.

Yong was also reported as stressing that while the issuance of a gaming licence is the prerogative of the Federal Finance Ministry, the operations in Sabah such as relating to trading licence and building policies fall under the purview of the State.

Kong reiterated that he was not targeting at Chong per se nor intended to tarnish his image on behalf of those with a hidden agenda, as what claimed by Chong, but merely to correct his (Chong) successor cum deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk VK Liew’s perception and moral standard in proclaiming a person as a hero, especially when such person does not deserve such an honour.

“Otherwise, it would be a gross insult to all those real heroes out there, some who even sacrificed their precious live to defend the country and its people, besides sending a wrong signal to the public that a person can become a hero regardless of his past immoral conducts,” he said.

He also stressed that he was speaking in his personal capacity as a concerned citizen.

BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER

FOR more than a decade Sabahans have forgotten about Joseph Ambrose Lee Yok Min, 52, who once boasted of himself as the new Syed Kechik of Sabah, after he failed in his scandalous schemes to take over the RM30-billion timber wealth of Yayasan Sabah.

The late Syed Kechik was the de facto Chief Minister of Sabah when he was legal adviser to the late Tun Datu Mustapha bin Datu Harun who ruled the state with an iron-fist from 1967 to 1976.

Ambrose was back in Kota Kinabalu, having made his home in Perth, on August 7 at the Sutera Harbour Resort defending his bosom buddy Yong Teck Lee, who was Sabah Chief Minister from 1996 to 1998, over the fiasco of Saham Amanah Sabah (SAS) arising from a scandalous share-swap between Warisan Harta, the Sabah government’s investment arm, and Ambrose’s Suniwang Holdings Sdn Bhd.

More than 55,000 Sabahans, most of them pensioners and low-income civil servants, lost all their life-savings when the price of the state unit trust plummeted to 17 sen from its RM1.00 unit price soon after he sealed the deal when he became Chief Minister.

At the press conference, Ambrose (that’s what his few friends and many foes call him) made a feeble attempt to defend Yong over the missing RM50 million from the share-swap which Yong has been unable to explain to Sabahans.

Ambrose stressed that he paid RM50 million in cash through Innosabah Securities, the stockbroker to Warisan Sabah in a deal that saw him exchanging his over-priced shares of NBT and Sugar Bun for Warisan’s blue chip MISC shares.

No one has disputed this. But what has not been answered is that the money received by Warisan was never given to SSB as Yong has said. Yong was the Chief Minister and Warisan Chairman. Yet he has failed to tell Sabahans what happened to the RM50 million which he, as Warisan Chairman, received and which he never gave to SSB.

Dr Yee Moh Chai, Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, told the assembly on August 3 that Saham Sabah Berhad (SSB) which manages the SAS has confirmed to him that it has never received the RM50 million out of the share dealings of Warisan Harta.

At the assembly, Dr Yee pointed out that it was Yong who linked the disastrous share-swap of blue chip MISC shares belonging to Warisan with shares of NBT and Sugar Bun, which were cornered speculative stocks. The swap resulted in a loss of RM114 million to Warisan.


Yong had defended the share-swap. As Warisan’s chairman, he was on record to say that “the wider policy in entering into this transaction was that the Government through Warisan Harta could utilize the RM50 million fund.”

Yong said the RM50 million was to support counters (stocks) on the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE,now Bursa) in which Warisan and the people of Sabah had investments. The true outcome, according to Dr Yee, is that as a result of the share-swap deals, Warisan Harta lost RM114 million.

Ambrose blamed Warisan for the loss because it refused to accept his offer to pay RM96 million for the difference between its purchase and market price of NBT and Sugar Bun shares which he said fell sharply because of the Asian financial crisis.

What he failed to, in Ambrose’s own words, tell the “entire populace of Sabah” was that he did not have the cash to pay RM96 million. He suggested another share-swap! Thus Warisan sued Suniwang for RM179,825,000. True enough, Suniwang folded. Warisan did not get a sen. If Ambrose had the money, would his flagship Suniwang Holdings Sdn Bhd collapse like a pack of cards?

Ambrose blamed Musa Aman, who was then Finance Minister, for rejecting again his proposal in 2007 to settle his debt of RM179,825,000 by transferring shares of Borneo Marble Corporation Sdn Bhd which he owned through proxies.

He said Warisan had entertained his proposal but the Sabah government rejected it. Warisan officials said it was true that they entertained his proposal but it did not accept it because the company was a liability.

Recently filings with the Companies Commission of Malaysia have proved this to be so. Borneo Marble was formerly known as Galmore Resources Sdn Bhd and was a fully-owned subsidiary of Suniwang Sdn Bhd which was owned by J Ambrose Sdn Bhd.

As at the end of December 2006, Borneo Marble suffered a pre-tax loss of RM108,793. There are no records of its financial filings from 2007 to 2009.

Ambrose boasted that his NBT owned 200,000 acres of timber land under Forest Management Unit which was bought by someone else.

Officials said what he failed to say was that NBT was in debt to the tune that the company was worthless and the timber land was pledged to a bank as collateral. The property was sold by the bank to recover its loan to NBT.

Ambrose had banked on the Sabah government to bail him out which it had rightly refused.

By his own admission, he has a Receiving Order of the court placed on his assets under the control of an official assignee. He has not been adjudicated a bankrupt yet.

Any chance of the Sabah government bailing him out now hinges on the remote chance of Yong Teck Lee becoming Sabah’s Chief Minister again. And why shouldn’t he? After all it was Yong’s late father, Yong Yun, who financed Ambrose’s law studies in London.


SAS VICTIM