theSun | WEDNESDAY JUNE 3 2009 13

speak up! RUKUN NEGARA: THE PRINCIPLES

BELIEF LOYALTY TO KING THE SUPREMACY THE RULE COURTESY AND
IN GOD AND COUNTRY OF THE OF LAW MORALITY
CONSTITUTION

THE OBJECTIVES
TO achieve greater unity TO maintain a TO create a just society in TO ensure a liberal approach TO build a progressive society
among Malaysians democratic way of life which the wealth of the nation to her rich and diverse which shall be oriented to modern
shall be equitably shared cultural traditions science and technology

Queries directed
edge, talent and skills and common
law principles dictate that they
must exercise “care as an ordinary
man might be expected to take on
his own behalf”. In short, they must
look after the finances of PKA in the
same manner as they would look
eral’s report was made public. Was
it assumed that money was coming
from a bottomless pit?
The report goes on to say: “The
General Manager had only an oper-
ational authority limit of RM50,000.
We have not noted any evidence
which PKA cannot afford, or which
may threaten long-term financial
viability.”
Therefore, herein lies the prob-
lem when it comes to appointment
of board members, especially in
statutory bodies. Are they there

at directors
THE files in the meeting room
of the Port Klang Authority (PKA)
headquarters are voluminous. They
form the appendices to the report
on the Port Klang Free Trade Zone
(project) and if read together, they
must be treated like catalogues of
shame. Going through them, the
over-used phrase “Malaysia boleh”
comes to mind and one cannot be
faulted for adding three other words
– “Semua pun boleh”. How and why
did the board of directors of the
PKA and even the PKFZ watch with
folded arms and remain silent as the
plunder of public funds continued
unabated?
Directors are appointed to jointly
oversee the activities of a company
or organisation. Their activities are
determined by the powers, duties,
and responsibilities delegated to
them or conferred on them by the
statute books and the memorandum
of articles.
Their duties include ensuring the
availability of adequate financial re-
CitizenNades
by R. Nadeswaran
sources; approving annual budgets
and most importantly, accounting
to the stakeholders for the organisa-
tion’s performance. Hence it comes
as a shock that the directors never
knew about the agreements, the
supplementary agreements and
other deals which were entered
into. But ignorance is no defence.
The directors have a fiduciary duty
to protect PKA’s assets. They were
appointed because of their knowl-
after their personal finances.
Having said that, the inevitable
question is: How did they allow the
common seal to be used in various
transactions? (The common seal
has legal significance because the
affixing of the seal signifies that the
document was the act and deed
of the company, whereas when a
document was merely signed by a
director, then that is deemed to be
an act carried out on behalf of the
company by its agents.)
The PKA board was in the
dark when various professionals
like lawyers and architects were
appointed and variation order for
costs were approved. The Price-
waterhouseCoppers report states
that 14 agreements and contracts
were entered into using the com-
mon seal and authenticated by the
general manager and the chairman
or other employees of PKA. What is
more shocking is that the auditor-
general’s report of 2003 which was
published a year later had already
warned of the financial problems
and implications and that the PKA
would be insolvent in five years. Yet,
the board did nothing to prevent the
PKA from further committing itself
to more than RM1 billion worth of
contracts AFTER the auditor-gen-
that the Board gave authority to
the General Manager of the Steering
Committee to implement the project.
Therefore, roles, responsibilities and
accountability were not defined.”
Hence the billion ringgit question
is: If this was the case, why didn’t the
board do anything about it knowing
that several million-ringgit deals
had been signed by the general
manager without the knowledge of
the members? Ignorance? Go, tell
it to the marines! Even if they had
not read the A-G’s report, the series
of articles in this newspaper would
have alerted them to the fact that as
of 2005, the costs were ballooning
beyond the budget. They may want
to claim that approvals had been
given by the transport minister
and the prime minister and thus,
remained silent.
However, they must have ex-
ercised “care as an ordinary man
might be expected to take on his
own behalf”. The report emphasises
this point: “Whilst such approvals
are important from a corporate gov-
ernance standpoint, it would appear
to us that the Board still retains the
overall responsibility to run PKA in
a professional and sustainable man-
ner. This would include the respon-
sibility not to enter into agreements
because of “past services” to the na-
tion or they are appointed because
of their experience, knowledge, skill
and talent? Are they there because
they are high flyers with strong
connections or because they have
the expertise? Are they appointed
on quota basis vis-à-vis political af-
filiation or because they know their
duties and responsibilities? In the
aftermath of the PKFZ scandal, it is
time to review the composition of
the boards of public corporations.
Let us not have yet another scandal
because the directors were sleeping
on the job.
As for the directors of the PKA
and the PKFZ, they owe an explana-
tion to the taxpayers whose money
has been (mis)used. They should
not hide behind the veil of secrecy
and claim they did not do anything
because the matters were of a sensi-
tive nature, (whatever that means!)
Speak up, let’s hear your side of
the story and there are provisions
in the Companies Act which could
possibly be used for your inactions
in the past.
R. Nadeswaran is editor (special and
investigative reporting at theSun. He
can be reached at citizen-nades@
thesundaily.com.

letters
letters@thesundaily.com
allows for a maximum fine
of RM15,000, a jail term of up
to five years or both – paltry
compared to the fortune
MYCAT appeals to the Inaction and complacency
Wildlife and National Parks are no longer viable options.
Department to investigate We are risking emptying
the origin of these tigers. The forests of tigers to the extent

Save the Malayan tiger awaiting the smuggler when

FRIDAY was a black day
in Malaysia’s fight to save
her wild tigers. While the
seizure of five tiger skins
from smugglers near the
Malaysia-Thailand border
is testament to greater en-
forcement, the find has also
delivered a grievous blow to
Malaysia’s dwindling popu-
lation of wild tigers.
With five confiscated
skins in this one seizure,
the official annual figure of
tiger poaching has jumped
by 500%, and this does not
include the seizure of four
tiger carcasses in northern
Thailand earlier this year,
which were believed to
have been smuggled out of
Malaysia.
The vigilance of the anti-
smuggling unit officers pre-
vented the smugglers from
slipping their illicit haul of
skins through the border
and into the illegal trade in
tigers and their parts.
Though the skins did not
reach the end buyer in this
instance, these tigers are lost
forever to our forests and the
rest of the tiger parts; meat,
bones and skulls – may have
found their way into those
buyers’ hands by now.
The enforcement agencies
may have won this battle but
the war is still being won by
smugglers seeking to strip
our forests of wildlife, for
profit. Simply put, there are
more smugglers than en-
forcement officers and they
are taking full advantage of
this situation.
Law enforcers sorely
need more financial support,
particularly for patrolling
protected areas and there
must be greater co-ordina-
tion between the police, cus-
toms, anti-smuggling unit
and Wildlife Department
each of whom are doing
good work individually.
And when wildlife poach-
ers and traders are caught,
they should know that they
will be prosecuted to the
full extent of the law, espe-
cially in this case where one
poacher tried to pass himself
off as a Thai policeman.
As it stands, taking a tiger
or any part of a tiger is an
offence under the Protection
of Wildlife Act 1972. This
his illegal haul is sold.
Malaysian Conservation
Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT)
is aware that this law is being
amended and that other more
stringent regulations are be-
ing finalised but this process
must be hastened; so too must
the implementation of the
National Tiger Action Plan for
Malaysia, which aims to have
1,000 wild tigers ing in our
forests by 2010.
seemingly undamaged skins
– clear of snare marks and
bullet holes – raises many
troubling questions about how
some smugglers now operate.
MYCAT also appeals to the
judiciary to impose the maxi-
mum sentence to illustrate
to the world that Malaysia is
doing all it can to protect tigers
in the wild. Saving the tiger is
not only the responsibility of
the authorities and a handful
of NGOs.
that in the future the only
places where Malaysians will
be able to see their national
animal will be in a zoo or on
the country’s crest.
If you have any information
regarding poaching or smug-
gling of wildlife, please notify
the Wildlife Department or
the Wildlife Crime Hotline at
019-356-4194.
MYCAT
Kuala Lumpur

Watch out for perverts in trains

SEVERAL days ago, I took the
LRT home from KLCC. The train
had an acceptable crowd as
people were leaving the city
around 7pm.
I noticed nothing much as
my mind was preoccupied
with work except for a woman
standing behind me. More
people got onto the train at
subsequent stops, and the
woman behind me had moved
further inside the cabin.
I felt some constant contact
against my rear thigh, but I did
not turn to check and assumed
it was a handbag. About five
minutes later, another woman
who was in front of me typed
something on her cell phone
and asked me to read it. She
asked if I felt anything behind
me (suggesting somebody
was doing something “funny”).
Stunned, I took a moment to
think. Then I turned around and
saw a guy (no handbag for sure)
right behind me.
I stepped a little to my side
to see if this guy was trying to
get some cheap pleasure, and
to my surprise he tried to push
himself against my thigh again.
I had a few seconds before my
stop but did not do anything as
I just wanted to get off as soon
as possible. After disembarking,
I felt very stupid that I could not
make up my mind and accepted
the fact that a pervert had
taken advantage of me. It took
me a few minutes to realise the
guy had more space as people
were getting off the train and it
was not like other people were
pushing against him.
I write this letter to caution
other women commuters. Be
vigilant at all times and keep a
lookout for each other.
If I had more time, I would
have either confronted the guy
or made a scene. We should
not let these perverts get away
so easily. While it may not be
realistic to request a separate
train for women like in Japan,
I believe that looking out for
each other is the most prag-
matic and effective solution to
prevent such incidents. To the
woman who looked out for me,
thank you so much.
A Victim
Kuala Lumpur