Shut-up Or Get-out

It was a “historic” moment when 10 Petaling Jaya city councillors walked out of the council’s monthly full board meeting after failing to get their opinions heard. 

Some councillors even had their microphones turned off by mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain, who chairs the monthly meetings. 

Soon after, when voices were raised, the official live streaming of the meeting was cut off and security was called in to escort a few councillors out.

Once councillors started walking out, reporters were also told to leave the room and to delete all recordings on their cellphones.

The commotion erupted over the approval of the 1:8 plot ratio for a development at the former site of the iconic A&W restaurant in Lorong Sultan.

This morning, StarMetro had reported that the approval was for a single block of 20-storey office tower on the 0.4ha land. 

“I am the chairman and I no longer allow anymore discussions here. The decisions made at the One Stop Centre (OSC) committee meetings are final and it is only brought up in the full board meetings to inform councillors,” said Mohd Azizi after failing to control the room, which erupted in objections over the matter. 

Majority of the councillors had only wanted Mohd Azizi to bring this issue back to the OSC meeting for a review due to the many objections but that proposal was shot down.

“It is our right to have a voice in this matter as all final decisions should be done based on the majority approval of the full council, which consists of a mayor and 24 councillors,” said councillor Sean Oon who further moved to call for a vote to be carried out. 

However, this motion was also shot down by the mayor as he felt that a vote was not necessary over this matter.

Who Is Indira Gandhi

The unilateral conversion of Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi’s three children was unanimously voided and set aside by the Federal Court today, ending her nine-year ordeal.

The five-member panel led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin said the conversion of the children, made unilaterally by her Muslim convert ex-husband in 2009, must be “set aside”.

The court ruled that the Registrar of Mualaffs (Muslim converts) had acted beyond the “limits of power” in registering the children as Muslims when conditions for their conversion were not fully met.

The 99-page judgment was read out in summary by Justice Tan Sri Zainun Ali, after the Federal Court deliberated over Indira’s application for 14 months.

Super Genius Mara Real Estate Advisor

Australian real estate giant Raine and Horne’s offshore arm has been embroiled in a global corruption scandal involving the sale of prime Melbourne property, corrupt Malaysian officials and the Panama Papers leak. The scandal centres around the vastly inflated valuation of a 280-room city apartment building, UniLodge, which mostly houses overseas students on Swanston Street, near Melbourne University.

t follows earlier revelations of dirty money from Malaysia being laundered through Australian property purchases with few consequences for those facilitating the corruption. It’s a problem which the Australian government insists it is confronting, but despite two years of investigations by the Australian Federal Police and a promise to expose the scam from Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, nobody is facing prosecution in either country.

In June 2012, a Malaysian government fund created to help the country’s rural poor asked Raine and Horne International to issue a valuation for the Melbourne building.But this was no ordinary request.

Raine and Horne International’s Kuala Lumpur office valued the property at $43 million, despite the fact that the building’s seller, Australian businessman Lionel Harber, had simultaneously valued it at $23.5 million.

Mr Farber considered that his sale price equated to fair market value, a view endorsed by an independent valuation.

“That’s a joke,” a surprised Mr Harber told Fairfax Media this week when informed that within weeks of selling his Swanston Street building for $23.5 million to an agent connected to an offshore company, it had been resold to the Malaysian government’s anti-poverty fund, Mara, for $41.8 million.

The leak in 2016 of the “Panama Papers” – millions of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca – is still being trawled through by journalists and police across the world to tie corrupt officials to secret offshore accounts.

The leak helps to tell part of this story. Prior to the Swanston Street property purchase, Mossack Fonseca created two secretive front companies in the British Virgin Islands and the Isle of Man. These firms were used, in turn, to set up a Melbourne company.

Next, these three companies were used to facilitate the “flipping” of the Swanston Street property for $41.8 million, despite its true market value. The transaction freed up $18.3 million which rightly belonged to Malaysian taxpayers and which was meant to be used to help the country’s development. Instead it was distributed among the conspirators.

The Panama Papers and other leaked files reveal that corrupt Malaysian officials tied to the ruling Umno party of Prime Minister Najib Razak, including senior political figure Mohammad Lan Allani, are behind both the property scam and offshore companies.

When the $41.8 million was paid to an offshore firm by the Malaysian government fund to secure ownership of the Melbourne building, Mr Allani was the fund’s chairman. It was Mr Allani’s staff who requested Raine and Horne’s inflated valuation.

And, according to bank transfers recently analysed by anti-corruption investigators, Mr Allani’s personal bank account was paid $3.2 million in kickbacks shortly after the $41.8 million left Malaysian government coffers.

When asked in 2015 about another corrupt deal, Mr Allani said he couldn’t recall them, and was only involved in setting up offshore companies in tax havens as a “convenient” way of selling property bought by the Malaysian government. When questioned about his knowledge of any alleged kickbacks, the former politician hung up the phone.

Along with Mossack Fonseca’s lawyers, a small army of Australian middle men facilitated the corruption, which involves not only the Swanston Street property, but at least three other Australian buildings which the Malaysian government bought for around $75 million.

In 2015, Fairfax Media published an investigation into the $22 million purchase by Malaysia of another apartment building, Dudley House, in Melbourne’s leafy south. The price of this building was inflated by $4.75 million in a corrupt deal supported by Melbourne developers Chris Dimitriou and Peter Mills, a CBD accounting firm and a former Westpac banker.

The same accounting firm, along with two Melbourne law firms, appear to have facilitated aspects of the Swanston Street purchase, assisting in the creation of offshore companies, providing legal advice or moving large amounts of money. 

Raine and Horne’s Australian head quarters said this week that its offshore arm pays a fee to usethe firm’s name, but is run by Malaysian managers. Raine and Horne said these managers have insisted the $43 million valuation was appropriate.

“Local investigations … concluded no impropriety was found under the terms of that investigation,” Raine and Horne Australia said in a statement.

Fairfax Media has now traced at least $8 million in bribes and kickbacks funded by Melbourne property transactions to bank accounts controlled by corrupt Malaysian officials or their relatives or friends, but the figure is likely to be much higher. 

The corruption provides an example of the mostly unchecked exploitation of Australia’s property market, which the OECD recently partly attributed to the federal government's failure to adequately crack down on money laundering and bribery facilitated by real estate agents and other facilitators of property sales.

The revelations also raise further questions about Australia’s failure to hold to account companies which bribe foreign politicians and officials or engage in other misconduct.

Just 10 Years For Starving & Killing Maid

A couple who are on death row for starving their maid to death, escaped with a 10-year jail term each when the Federal Court convicted them for a lesser offence. Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif ordered store owner Soh Chew Tong and his wife Chin Chui Ling to be jailed for committing culpable homicide instead of murder.

Soh and Chin were initially convicted for the murder of their Cambodian maid, Mey Sichan, 24, at their home in Taman Asas Murni, Jalan Bukit Minyak in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, between Jan 1 and April 1, 2012. The maid, who started working with the couple in July 2011, was found dead at the couple’s shophouse with fresh injuries on her body and was severely dehydrated.

Yesterday, clad in white and red prison clothes, Soh, 48, and Chin, 45, looked stunned upon hearing the verdict delivered by the panel of five judges led by Md Raus.

As soon as the panel adjourned the proceedings, Chin burst into tears and immediately hugged her mother and a family member who rushed to the dock to hug her, before both were taken to the court lockup.

On Oct 7, 2015, Soh and Chin were sentenced to death after the Court of Appeal restored their conviction to the original charge for the murder of 24-year-old Mey Sichan. The couple had initially been sentenced to 24 years’ jail each by the Sessions Court in Penang on May 16, 2013 on a reduced charge of committing culpable homicide.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud said the incident occurred over a period of time and a message should be sent to the public as it involved cruelty to a maid.

Met outside the courtroom, the couple’s other lawyer - said that his clients were in custody for almost three years and with a one third remission for good behavior, the couple would only serve four-and-a-half years.

Who Is Ramli Ibrahim

Malaysian classical dancer Datuk Ramli Ibrahim was conferred one of India’s highest civilian awards to honour his distinguished service in the arts. According to a statement by India’s Home Ministry, the Padma Awards are conferred in three categories, namely the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. 

The awards, which are given in various disciplines such as the arts, social work, public affairs and more, are announced annually on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, while the Padma Bhushan is awarded for distinguished service of high order.

Ramli, the 64-year-old Sutra Foundation chairman, will receive the Padma Shri, which is awarded for distinguished service in any field. Ramli would be one of 16 foreigners to receive a Padma Award.

According to the Home Ministry, this year the President of India has approved the conferment of 85 Padma Awards. The list comprises three Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 73 Padma Shri Awards. Of the awardees, 14 are women and three are posthumous awardees.

Wallmarts Distrust African American

A Californian woman sued supermarket chain Walmart on Friday, accusing the company of implementing extra security measures on products marketed toward black people. Essie Grundy, 43, says all beauty products marketed for black people are placed in a locked glass case, while cosmetics targeting other ethnicities are freely available at the Walmart near her Perris home, about an hour southeast of Los Angeles.

When she asked a shop employee why the products were under lock and key, Grundy was told it “was a directive from corporate headquarters,” longtime women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred told reporters.

The employee also told Grundy “she would need to be escorted to the cash register with the product so she could purchase it,” Allred added. When Grundy raised the issue with a store manager, she says she did not receive a clear response, and no action was taken.

Grundy says she also visited two other Walmarts close to her home, and in one cosmetics marketed for African Americans were freely available, but monitored with security surveillance, unlike other products.

“As a result of this discriminatory business practice and policy, we filed a lawsuit this morning against Walmart,” Allred said, without specifying the damages being sought. It perpetuates a racial stereotytpe that African Americans are thieves.”

The lawsuit demands an immediate stop to the practice — noting the humiliation and psychological trauma Grundy was made to feel. Grundy, a 43-year-old mother who owns an online clothing business, returned to the shop after the initial incident and filmed the beauty department.

The video was played during the press conference — showing men’s and women’s shampoos, body creams and combs of little retail value among other products with labels featuring black models, all arranged in a locked glass case.

“We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at Walmart. We serve more than 140 million customers weekly, crossing all demographics,” the retail giant told AFP in a statement. Some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products are subject to additional security,” which Walmart said individual stores determined “using data.”

The issue of Walmart securing beauty products marketed toward black people has already been a topic of controversy in the US — most notably in Virginia, where the practice was denounced by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

Little Tyrant In Office

I have a friend; let's call him Kim Hai. He is a stand up kind of fellow, the kind of man you want working in your company: trustworthy, hard working, humorous, and dedicated. Over the summer, we had plenty of interaction and I had always admired his commitment to his company, which he has been at for 13 years. Last month I called him just to chat about an idea I had. When I asked him the standard question "how are you?" he just mumbled "fine." You don't need a doctorate to know this is a bad sign. He has a wife whose health is precarious at best, and so I immediately asked him if he wanted to talk about it.

"Yes... I do. I am leaving my job. Do you have any suggestions of where I could work?" After ensuring that I had heard him correctly, I asked him why. He told me an all-too-familiar story. Over the course of the last few years, he has been managed by the dreaded senior leader. I call them the CAO (Chief Asshole Officer).

This is the person in the workplace who is not a C-class executive but thinks they can do the job better than any C-class executives. They are nice to their boss, and are tyrants to their subordinates (kiss up, kick down management). I used the word "subordinate" because that is how they view people who they manage. They use the word "team" when in front of HR or a boss, but when you are alone in the office with them they ensure that you know they will ruin your life if you don't do what they want, when they want. In short, they rule by fear.

Please don't think this isn't happening at your workplace. This is a virus that has spread far and wide. I know because I see it everywhere I look

I can tell you that CAO are ruining your business. People leave jobs because of the tyranny of the manager. And right now we have a lot of people who are ruling over your employees and using fear as their primary weapon. You just don't know it, or in a minority of cases, you learn about it after the damage is done.

Less than 10 per cent of the people trust their boss, learn from their boss, or respect their boss. That means that 90 per cent of the time people with CAO for bosses are not working at their optimal abilities. In fact, we have found that 72 per cent of white collar employee's day is busy work: answering emails, attending meetings, or answering to the CAO for some minor or perceived transgression. This means that your employees only have 18 per cent of their day to move projects forward. And this is what the CAO wants, no movement. If there is movement then the status quo might change and the position of the CAO might change. Mediocrity loves inertia.

Very few companies have a bonus structure in place for talent development. Meeting or exceeding sales targets is rewarded, while talent development is neglected. But without it, your workforce will stagnate. Your best people will flee their petty tyrants, a sullen group will remain, and "the best" -- those who survived and thrived under the CAO's' political games, will get promoted and continue the cycle.

The Kim Hai -types of the world are leaving, or just deciding to settle. This means that when they are at work they stay out of the way, don't want to ask for promotions and accept their fate because they have mortgages and kids' tuition to pay for. Either they can't afford to leave or their competitive spirit has been so damaged that they no longer have the confidence to leave. Call it the "battered employee syndrome." (perhaps we could also insert the word voter for employee?)

When they finally get so fed up that they leave they are going into other industries. They are even going to your competitors. Imagine that: 13 years of experience walking out the door to the competitor. How much is that going to cost you?

How do you know if your senior leaders rule by fear? Read your employees' reviews, but read between the lines. Employees are very careful what they put on their assessment, rightly fearing management payback. Look for short answers, or really long examples. When people are lying they tend to give too much detail.

Watch how your employees respond to the CAO. Are they living in the culture of nice? Meaning do they always keep their mouths shut? Do you see people interacting, chatting or moving around? Is there a buzz in the office or do you see people walking out to talk or not looking at each other in the eye? As for the CAO, watch how they listen: are they on their smartphones every minute instead of interacting with team members? Do they take more meetings than notes? Do they share they credit?

Top management should evaluate their managers with a fresh eye. Ask yourself, who has the CAO promoted? How has this promotion moved the company forward? How do they develop talent? Have they showcased the talents of their team or have they taken credit for all the ideas?

It is not all the senior leader's fault. Years ago when these people joined the workforce, training programs were sacrificed to the altar of "shareholder return." That profit-before-people approach meant a generation of managers (those in place today), were never trained to lead. They haven't been invested in, so they are not investing in others. They don't have talent development goals, only affinity group quotas.

A training coach, used to say: "you plant corn, you get corn." Were you expecting sugar beets? Or decent managers? If less than 10 per cent of your workforce believe in their bosses, how productive do you think they are? Shareholders are important, but that approach has hollowed out companies physically and spiritually. 

Before you berate or threaten or quietly scare another subordinate, remember the story of Kim Hai. He is leaving his workplace of 13 years to go to a competitor. What did they lure him with? One extra week of vacation, a new title, and a similar salary. One person won't cost a company that much but think of what is coming in five years. For the first time in five years, we will be faced with more jobs than qualified employees when the baby boomers finally leave the workplace. When employees finally have the upper hand, will your organization be a destination or a disaster zone to be avoided? Will you be an employer of choice or will you be a place where people just go to pay their mortgage and survive until they can't take it anymore, like Alan?

Perhaps instead of allowing a shut down we should force politicians to participate in ethical leadership training or has that become an oxymoron?

Glass In Pizza

Two sisters who suffered cuts to their mouths and throats after eating a pizza containing glass shards from Pizza Hut six years ago were awarded damages totalling RM55,000 at the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday.

Magistrate A Akhirudddin@ Boy Acho in his oral judgment found the fast-food restaurant liable for negligence, with the plaintiffs proving their claim against Pizza Hut.

He ordered Pizza Hut Restaurants Sdn Bhd to pay E Kumaravally, 40, and E Uma Maheswari, 32, RM2,500 each in general damages and RM50,000 in exemplary damages and costs.

According to the sisters’ statement of claim, they had both bitten into an Island Supreme pizza with glass shards in it at the Pizza Hut restaurant at Tesco Jelutong at 1.15pm on Nov 25, 2012.

As soon as they bit into their first slice, the women felt sharp pain in their mouths and throats. Upon spitting out their half-chewed pizza, they found blood stains and pieces of glass in it. The sisters alerted the waiter, who in turn alerted the store manager. The manager, Hasalawati Ahmad, brought the rest of the pizza for inspection and took photos of the pizza and the half-chewed slices.

Hasalawati then brought the women to the restaurant’s panel clinic, Klinik Tanah Melayu at Sungai Nibong, for treatment. The doctor described their injuries as “multiple small cuts in the mouth and throat”. The manager then apologised to the sisters and told them they would not be charged for their meal. The sisters and Hasalawati lodged a police report each for the record.

Pizza Hut, in its statement of defence, denied all claims made by the sisters. It also denied that such an incident had taken place. However, during the trial, the defence witnesses admitted to the incident.

J Shamsher Singh represented the sisters while Mohammad Syafiq Nasrullah Saleem Ali appeared for Pizza Hut Restaurants.