1MDB PAC Report: Summary of Key Highlights

Assalamualaikum and very good day to everyone,

It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on my blog as I was swamped with my daily work. Now that I have some time to spare, I decided to write something on the recently published PAC report on 1MDB where the audit fieldwork was performed by the Auditor General Department of Malaysia. The report was 110-page long, cover to cover so I guess that was the longest document I have ever read in recent times. 

My observation on that report was it's as if I'm back in college taking the Audit or Ethics paper and if the report were to be an exam question, it would read like this: "Based on the report, please highlight the weaknesses in internal controls and governance of 1MDB and provide suggestions for improvement", and I think it's quite easy to score because the weakness in governance are plenty and very clear. My write-up today aims to summarise the key issues highlighted in the PAC report. 

1. Non-adherence to Board directives

There were a few occasions where 1MDB management had disobeyed the Board of Directors orders in various transactions such as:-

a) The Board of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA, predecessor of 1MDB) had disagreed with the plan to subscribe to an Islamic Medium Term Note (IMTN) worth RM5 billion and had resolved on 22 May 2009 that any dealings related to the IMTN be halted, including suspending the CEO's authority in the dealings of the IMTN. However, 3 days later TIA's CEO at the time, En. Shahrol Azral (now Dato) had signed the IMTN Subscription Agreement with Ambank. This is clearly a case of disobeying the Board of Directors and a governance issue since Dato Shahrol didn't have any authority to enter to any agreement with regards to the IMTN. 

b) The Board of Directors via a resolution signed by the Terengganu Menteri Besar on 27 May 2009 also had dropped Dato Shahrol as a member of TIA's Board of Directors. However, another resolution on the same date was issued to cancel the earlier resolution to drop Dato Shahrol from TIA's Board. 

2. Setting up of joint venture between 1MDB and Petrosaudi International Ltd.

Based on the report, it was shown that the decision to set up a joint venture between 1MDB and Petrosaudi International Ltd. was reached even before the Board meeting on 18 September 2009. In addition, the report also revealed that the JV company, 1MDB Petrosaudi (BVI) Ltd. was also registered on 18 September 2009, which is the same day as 1MDB's Board meeting. This is clearly a mockery of governance because 1MDB management had decided to do a JV with another company without seeking prior Board approval. 

On 28 September 2009, a JV agreement was signed between 1MDB. 1MDB Petrosaudi (BVI) Ltd. and Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd. Upon the AG's review, it was noted that Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd. was also registered on 18 September 2009. This begs the question of why do a JV with a newly-set up company. Further reading of this report also shows that Petrosaudi has other offshore-registered companies such as Petro Saudi Turkmenistan 1 Ltd. (registered in Jersey) and Petro Saudi Ltd. Inc. (registered in Panama). Why is this company having so many offshore companies? What are they trying to hide actually? 

3. Obscene gearing ratio

1MDB was set up with an initial capital of RM1 million and as at 2014, the total debt that it has accumulated is approximately RM 42 billion, which brings the debt to equity ratio to 42,000 TIMES, I repeat 42,000 TIMES. Further review of its financial statements show that the revenue for 2014 is just about RM 4.3 billion or 10% of total debt accumulated. This begs the question on why the need to take such a huge debt from various sources when the revenue to service the debts cannot be matched. Also, the history of debt settlement and repayment shows that the settlement is also made using debt through the usage of Revolving Credit or Term Notes. 

While we do acknowledge that the use of debt is for acquisition of power assets and properties, the revenue generated does not commensurate with the amount of debt owing, resulting in more debts that need to be taken to service existing debts. 

4. Auditors getting sacked for asking too many questions

An auditors' key role in ensuring the true and fair view of financial statements involves asking questions. This is to ensure key information and assumptions are presented accurately and fairly to users of financial statements. During 2010 to 2014, there has been 3 auditors which had audited 1MDB's accounts namely Messrs. EY, KPMG and Deloitte. While changing auditors is not wrong per se, the fact that they changed 3 audit firms in the span of only 4 years shows that there may be big disagreements between 1MDB's Board and the auditors. 

Messrs. EY

Firstly, EY based on their 2010 Audit Plan had requested to review the due diligence report prepared by 1MDB's management to assess the fair value of assets and liabilities of the JV company at date of acquisition. EY had raised their concerns and request during 1MDB's Board meeting on 5 April 2010.

EY had requested further supporting documents to ascertain the value and ownership of assets of the JV company. This is actually a normal process in any audit. Auditors will continue requesting supporting documents and not rely solely on management representation, especially verbal ones. EY's adamant attitude in requesting further supporting documentation had agitated 1MDB's management and led to their dismissal by the Board on 15 September 2010.  

Messrs. KPMG

Messrs. KPMG was appointed as 1MDB's auditors effective from 15 September 2010, subsequent to EY's dismissal as the company's auditors. During their audit, KPMG had requested the following documents to ascertain the fair value of 1MDB Group's investment in Bridge Global Segregated Portfolio Company (SPC) through Brazen Sky Ltd. (BSL):- 

a) Verification of investment ownership of Bridge Global SPC through BSL by BSI Bank SA Geneva; 

b) Documents related to legal due diligence to verify that Bridge Global SPC has been legally incorporated, and to ascertain its legal structure for accounting purposes; 

c) Legal opinion from lawyers with regards to Bridge Global SPC's structure to ascertain BSL's ownership for accounting purposes; 

d) A Net Asset Value (NAV) Report in Bridge Global SPC as at 31 March 2013 and relevant supporting documents to show how NAV was acquired; and 

e) Bridge Global SPC's financial statements as at 31 March 2013. 

Despite the above request, 1MDB had only given verbal representation regarding the investments. KPMG obviously was not satisfied with this explanation and continued to pursue for documented evidence on the above transaction. 

1MDB's Board in its meeting on 9 December 2013 had been informed that KPMG was not satisfied with the management's explanation and proposing a meeting to decide whether the information given to the auditors thus far was sufficient as audit evidence. If the auditors decided that the info was not sufficient, KPMG will issue a qualified report. 

The increased rift between 1MDB's management and KPMG had led to the removal of KPMG as the company's auditors through a Board resolution dated 31 December 2013 to remove KPMG from office. 

The above findings show that it is indeed peculiar for a company to change audit firms (not audit partners) within such a short period of time. Also, it is indeed mysterious that a significant company like 1MDB cannot keep its accounts straight. In fact, for the 2015 results 1MDB has requested a 6-month extension up till June 2016 to present its 2015 financial statements. 

There are so many red flags highlighted in the PAC report, and while I do agree that the ex-CEO, Dato Shahrol Azral should be brought to book for his wrongdoings and gross mismanagement of 1MDB, other key players including members of the Board of Directors and Board of Advisers should also be answerable to the fiasco that has happened. As 1MDB is a company under the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Finance Minister himself should have answers as to what happened. 

Yes, the Minister's signature may not appear in any of the company's Board resolutions. But to be fair, he was the first person to be aware of the proposal for setting up a joint venture through the letter sent by Tarek Obaid, which he then forwarded to 1MDB management for further action. 

The report has been tabled. Now it's up to the relevant authorities to take action. Let's see how the next scene of this drama unfold. 

And yes, to those of you who are interested to read the full text of the PAC report you may follow the link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Xjo976uu8FRWJTdEVaUWR3eHM/view

Cheers and wassalam everyone,

Azim

Disclaimer: The above write-up is the personal opinion of the author based on his understanding of the report. For a more clear and detailed picture of the report, please visit the above link provided. 

My views on YB Pandan's financial analysis of TH

Assalamualaikum and a very good day to everyone,

Here I am again with yet another blog post on TH. This time, it's about YB Pandan aka En. Rafizi Ramli's analysis on TH financials from 2009 - 2015. I have read the entire document and I have to say that the analysis is quite overwhelming even for a seasoned accountant. I will not go into the details of the analysis but I'll just jump in into the areas that I do agree and disagree with Rafizi. For ease of reading, I shall go point by point on the areas that I would like to comment on. 

1. Kedudukan rizab Tabung Haji diunjurkan terus negatif bagi tahun kewangan berakhir 31 Disember 2015 iaitu dua tahun berturut-turut rizab Tabung Haji mengalami defisit. Ini selaras dengan peringatan yang diberikan oleh Bank Negara Malaysia. Rizab yang negatif bermakna Tabung Haji tidak berkeupayaan memulangkan semua simpanan pendeposit Tabung Haji jika ia dituntut serentak oleh pendeposit (dihuraikan di dalam Bahagian 3).

On the above statement, I agree with Rafizi in that Tabung Haji reserves will continue to be negative for the financial year ended (FYE) 31 December 2015. However, he does not elaborate further that the key contributor to the drop in reserves is the reduction of fair value reserves for securities available for sale which is NON DISTRIBUTABLE to the depositors and thus doesn't effect payment of dividends and/or bonuses. Also, on the ability to return all depositors savings, it should come from the distributable portion of reserves i.e. retained earnings and also the depositors savings fund column (you guys are welcome to give feedback if I may be wrong here). Please refer below for a clearer picture:

However, I do concur that the bonus payment is eating up the reserves. Thus, TH should be more prudent in future to ensure that the retained earnings figure does not further reduce as a result of bonus payment to depositors. 

A friend of mine has also asked whether is there any potential liquidity issue plaguing TH. On that note, I personally believe that there is no liquidity issue so far, based on the numbers available. Looking at the financial statements as at 2014, even after the bonus payment of RM 3.2 billion, TH has a total cash and cash equivalent balance of RM 9.5 billion at Group level. However, again TH needs to be careful to not dry up their reserves. 

Another point that I find a bit perplexing is the statement below:

i. Keuntungan bersih sebanyak RM3.53 bilion seperti yang diumumkan Datuk Seri Jamil Khir tidak mengambil kira kerugian akibat kejatuhan harga saham-saham yang dipegang Tabung Haji berdasarkan “Dasar Perakaunan Penting” (Significant Accounting Policies) yang diamalkan oleh Tabung Haji (rujuk mukasurat 245, Laporan Tahunan Tabung Haji 2014 mengenai dasar perakaunan bagi “sekuriti tersedia untuk dijual”).

ii. Ini berbeza dengan amalan biasa syarikat korporat yang mengamalkan dasar perakaunan bahawa kejatuhan nilai saham direkodkan terus di dalam penyata pendapatan supaya ia lebih menggambarkan nilai sebenar saham yang dipegang.

Read on especially on bullet point (ii), En Rafizi mentions that corporates have an accounting policy to directly book any drop in value of securities held straight into its income statement. This is NOT in line with the accounting standards related to securities held for sale, as TH is not in the share trading business (unlike securities firms or investment banks). Thus, any changes in fair value of securities should be recorded in fair value reserves until it is disposed, where only then any gains or losses should be booked in the income statement. 

All in all, my view on this matter is yes, TH should be prudent in its bonus payment policy and monitor its reserves closely. However, all parties analysing the financial statements should be fair in their assessments of TH's financial health so that readers get a fair and informed view over what is happening in TH. 

Disclaimer: The above writeup is totally my personal observation of TH's financials and I do not represent any person or organisation in expressing my views. Any comments or feedback on this posting is much appreciated. Thanks for your time to read this. 

Wassalam,
Azim

Kenapa rizab TH negatif?

Assalamualaikum wbt,

Hai semua. Lama jugak saya tak menulis dalam blog ni kan? Tu lah, busy sikit la dlm 2-3 bulan ni. Korang semua mesti follow secara dekat dengan apa yg berlaku pada Tabung Haji (TH) baru-baru ni kan? Kalau ikutkan penyata kewangan (financial statements) TH bertarikh 31 Disember 2014 yang ada di website mereka iaitu http://www.tabunghaji.gov.my, memang kita akan nampak yang rizab TH tu dalam figure negatif seperti dalam gambar kat bawah:

Sumber: Penyata Kewangan Tabung Haji bertarikh 31 Disember 2014 yang ada di website Tabung Haji.

Dan, kalau anda lihat di bawah column "Group" dan banding daripada tahun 2013 ke 2014, amaun reserves pun berkurang bukan? So maknanya rizab TH di peringkat kumpulan juga berkurangan. So, daripada sini saya mula mencari apa punca reserve figure ni jadi negatif. Pembayang pertama tentang perkara ini ialah sama ada TH ada mencatat kerugian yang besar tak pada tahun 2014, sebab biasanya kalau ada kerugian yang besar, reserves juga akan terkesan dengan kerugian tu (reserves tu antaranya terdiri daripada keuntungan (atau kerugian) terkumpul yang berlaku sepanjang kewujudan sesuatu syarikat tersebut). Tapi bila saya tengok dekat Income Statement (Akaun Untung Rugi), TH dan Group masih untung seperti boleh dilihat di bawah:

Jadi, sebab TH masih profit, saya pun tengok satu lagi dokumen iaitu Statement of Changes in Funds (SOCF) yang mencatat segala aliran dana sesuatu syarikat termasuk dana tunai dan bukan tunai (cash and non-cash fund movement). Bila saya baca SOCF ni, saya perasan satu amaun negatif yang besar dalam tu seperti yang anda boleh baca kat bawah ni (yang saya tunjuk ni SOCF untuk TH dahulu untuk lebih mudah difahami):

Fokus pada kawasan yang ada rectangle merah tu. Cuba korang tambah 3 nombor ni: (867,533) (ni negative figure tau), 223,366 dengan 292,704. Dah kira dah? Kalau korang tambah 3 nombor tu, hasil dia adalah (351,463) iaitu figure reserve untuk TH pada tarikh 31 Disember 2014 (rujuk atas untuk check balik). Untuk dapatkan figure untuk Group pun, tambah figure yang sama iaitu fair value reserve, accumulated reserve of TKJHM and TWT dengan retained earnings.

Lepas tu, korang perasan tak ada satu figure negative yang besar under column fair value reserve kat atas tu? Amount lebih kurang RM2.4 billion tu under line item "Changes in fair value of securities available for sale". Dalam Bahasa Melayu, ia bermaksud perubahan nilai pasaran terhadap sekuriti atau saham-saham yang dipegang oleh TH. Amaun ni bukan "actual cash outflow" atau aliran keluar tunai secara nyata, tapi lebih kepada perubahan nilai saham "atas kertas" atau mengikut nilai pasaran iaitu dalam kes ini, nilai saham tersebut berdasarkan harga semasa yang disebut di bursa saham.

Bila saya dah dapat info di atas, saya cari maklumat tentang saham mana yang TH merupakan antara pemegang saham utama ("substantial shareholder"). Kaji punya kaji (dan melalui telahan saya sendiri), rupa-rupanya TH merupakan pemegang saham ketiga terbesar dalam Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGVH). Berdasarkan maklumat di sini, dinyatakan bahawa TH memegang 7.78% saham dalam FGVH bersamaan dengan kira-kira 283.7 juta saham.

Kalau kita lihat berdasarkan trend pergerakan harga saham FGVH, kita boleh lihat ada 2 tempoh di mana harga saham FGVH jatuh dengan agak drastik iaitu daripada Mei hingga September 2014 (RM 4.24 ke RM 3.53 sesaham atau kira-kira 17% kejatuhan), dan sekali lagi di antara Oktober hingga Disember 2014 (RM 3.66 ke RM 2.18 sesaham atau kira-kira 40% kejatuhan). Carta pergerakan saham yang saya dapat daripada website The Wall Street Journal edisi Asia dilampirkan di bawah:

Carta pergerakan harga saham FGVH daripada September 2012 hingga Januari 2016
Sumber: The Wall Street Journal, Asia Edition (http://quotes.wsj.com/MY/XKLS/FGV/advanced-chart)

Untuk rekod, TH juga merupakan pemegang saham utama dalam syarikat tersenarai lain seperti dalam IJM Corporation Berhad (ketiga tertinggi dengan 5.5% pegangan saham) dan Axiata Berhad (kelapan tertinggi dengan 1.1% pegangan saham). Jadi, fair value reserve movement dalam akaun TH tidak hanya tertakluk kepada pergerakan saham FGVH sahaja tetapi ada saham lain yang mempengaruhinya. Namun, berdasarkan pegangan saham TH dalam FGVH, mungkin boleh diandaikan bahawa kejatuhan harga saham FGVH menyumbang kepada kejatuhan fair value reserve tersebut. 

Kenapa saya cerita semua ni pada anda? Sebabnya ialah saya tak mahu kita terburu-buru membuat keputusan untuk mengeluarkan semua simpanan kita dalam TH untuk pergi haji atau tujuan lain. Sebabnya, berdasarkan penerangan di atas, rizab TH jadi negatif disebabkan oleh kejatuhan fair value reserve dalam TH kerana pegangan sahamnya dalam syarikat tersenarai di Bursa Malaysia. Untuk pengetahuan semua juga, fair value reserve ini adalah "non-distributable reserve" atau rizab yang tidak boleh diagihkan kepada pemegang saham dan pendeposit termasuk kita semua. Hanya distributable reserve iaitu retained earnings (pendapatan terkumpul) yang akan digunakan untuk membayar dividen dan bonus kita (yang katanya akan diumumkan hari ni). Kalau tengok pada akaun TH di atas, masih ada positive balance dalam retained earnings tu, jadi insya Allah kalau tak ada apa aral melintang, ada la dividen dan bonus untuk kita tu. 

Jadi, sebelum kita buat apa-apa keputusan tentang akaun TH kita, mungkin kita patut tengok gambaran keseluruhan apa yang berlaku sebenarnya. Penerangan di atas cuma pemerhatian saya sendiri berdasarkan data dan maklumat yang saya cari dan baca. Keputusan terletak di tangan anda sendiri. Cuma satu saya nak luahkan iaitu saya sendiri tak setuju dengan pelantikan Peguam Negara, Tan Sri Apandi Ali sebagai salah seorang Pengarah dalam TH kerana ada potensi untuk "conflict of interest" di situ, dan mungkin TH atau pengarah-pengarahnya tidak boleh dibawa ke muka pengadilan atas apa-apa salahlaku yang mereka lakukan sebab adanya pengaruh Peguam Negara. 

Itulah sahaja tulisan saya yang panjang lebar ini. Harapnya bermanfaat untuk yang membaca, thanks for spending your precious time to read this. Let's have more info before we make any decision on our Tabung Haji savings. Renung-renungkan dan selamat beramal. 

Surat terbuka untuk Perdana Menteri

Assalamualaikum wbt,

Ke hadapan Dato Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, 

Dato Sri, 

Jika surat ini sampai ke pengetahuan Dato Sri, pertamanya saya ingin ucapkan terima kasih kepada Dato Sri kerana sudi meluangkan masa untuk membaca surat saya ini. Saya bukan siapa-siapa, saya cuma seorang rakyat Malaysia di antara 30 juta yang ada, yang ingin meluahkan isi hati mungkin kebanyakan rakyat marhaen di negara tercinta ini.

Dato Sri,

Tahun 2015 sudah hampir melabuhkan tirainya, dan apa yang boleh saya katakan adalah tahun ini merupakan tahun yang sangat mencabar, bukan sahaja bagi kerajaan tetapi juga bagi kami orang kebanyakan. Cabaran ini bermula dengan pengenalan GST pada April lalu. Kami dijanjikan dengan sistem yang lebih telus, efisien dan pantas dalam proses kutipan cukai. Ya, jika diukur dari sudut itu, memang boleh dikatakan GST mencapai tanda aras telus, efisien dan pantas tersebut kerana boleh dikatakan hampir kesemua barangan dikenakan GST kecuali yang diwartakan sebagai kadar sifar atau "zero rated", termasuk barangan yang tidak dikenakan cukai sebelum ini. Kami dijanjikan dengan harga barang yang lebih murah selepas pengenalan GST, namun setelah 8 bulan berlalu, apa yang kami rasai adalah kos sara hidup yang semakin membebankan. Dikatakan yang pendapatan GST berjumlah lebih kurang RM30 juta sehari, tetapi kami tidak nampak hasilnya. Sistem pengangkutan awam masih di takuk lama, sekolah masih banyak yang perlu dibaiki, rumah mampu milik masih tidak cukup jumlahnya dibanding dengan permintaan. Jadi ke mana hasil GST ini semua pergi?

Kemudian, beberapa bulan selepas itu kami dikejutkan dengan pengumuman kenaikan kadar tol untuk lebuhraya bertol dalam bandar yang kebanyakannya di Lembah Klang. Yang sedihnya, sudahlah kami terbeban dalam perbelanjaan asas, sekarang tol pula yang sekarang dikira keperluan disebabkan banyaknya laluan tol untuk sampai ke tempat kerja kami juga naik kadarnya. Dato Sri, memang ada Menteri yang kata "kalau nak elak bayar tol, bangun awal dan cari jalan alternatif". Tapi bagaimana pula dengan proses penjagaan anak-anak, bukan semua orang di Malaysia ini mempunyai pembantu rumah. Juga, takkan kami nak susahkan penjaga anak kami dengan mengejutkan mereka seawal masuknya waktu solat Subuh. Jadi, rela atau tak rela kami telan sajalah tol yang mahal tu. 

Selepas kenaikan tol tersebut, kami ingatkan pengangkutan awam akan menjadi "penyelamat" kami untuk mengawal kewangan yang sudah tenat ini. Namun, gembira kami cuma seketika bila di akhir tahun ini, telah diumumkan kenaikan kadar tambang untuk LRT, komuter dan monorel, ada yg sampai 50% kenaikannya. Nampak macam sudah tiada jalan keluar buat kami. Segala tempat nak dinaikkan harga. Apa lagi pilihan yang kami ada. Oh, saya terlupa...ada seorang Menteri kata "saya akan jadi orang yang paling gembira kalau ramai orang kembali ke kampung untuk bekerja". Alasan ini amat lucu bagi saya, kerana buat masa sekarang memang bandar tempat kebanyakan orang mencari rezeki tak kira dalam sektor awam atau swasta. Di kampung kita boleh menyumbang sebagai petani, penternak dan nelayan. Mungkin lebih prasarana boleh dibangunkan di kampung-kampung jika kita mahu ramai rakyat kembali ke kampung dan membangunkan kampung masing-masing. 

Saya faham yang kedudukan kewangan negara makin tenat, ditambah dengan penurunan harga minyak dunia dan juga nilai matawang kita. Tapi, apa yang kami ingin lihat adalah apa solusi yang akan dicari? Nampaknya sekarang ini, solusi yang didapatkan ialah dengan menaikkan kadar itu dan ini dan menyerahkan tugas menampung tabung negara melalui wang rakyat. Kami rakyat Malaysia mahukan penyelesaian yang lebih kreatif daripada ini, contohnya galakkan pembelian barangan Malaysia untuk mengelakkan pengaliran mata wang kita ke luar negara, galakkan pelancongan domestik, berikan bantuan kepada peniaga untuk menembusi pasaran dalam dan luar negara dan sebagainya. Bukan semua masalah negara boleh diselesaikan dengan mengambil wang daripada rakyat melalui cukai dan sebagainya. 

Dato Sri,

Tahun ini juga hampir setiap hari isu 1MDB diputarkan di seluruh media tidak kira arus perdana atau alternatif. Bagi saya dan mungkin kebanyakan rakyat, penerangan yang diberi masih tidak memuaskan. Pada pendapat saya, Dato Sri patut berehat sementara waktu buat masa ini. Berilah ruang kepada pihak berwajib bagi menjalankan siasatan mereka sebaik mungkin dan tanpa gangguan. 

Sebelum saya akhiri warkah saya ini, saya ingin ingatkan diri saya dan juga Dato Sri yang setiap apa yang kita lakukan ini dicatat oleh malaikat dan diperhatikan oleh Yang Maha Esa. Jika Dato Sri yakin Dato Sri di pihak benar, semoga Dato Sri diberkati dan dirahmati Allah. Namun, jika benar terdapat kekhilafan, marilah kita sama-sama insaf sebelum ditimpa musibah. Jangan kita tunggu sehingga Tuhan buka segala aib dan kesalahan kita, barulah kita mahu sedar dan insaf. Ingatlah, sesungguhnya Allah itu Maha Adil dan Maha Bijaksana. 

Sekian,

Rakyat Marhaen

Tahniah Nana...Juara Gegar Vaganza 2!!!

Assalamualaikum semua, 

Saya pasti ramai antara kita semalam telah menonton Konsert Akhir Gegar Vaganza musim ke-2 betul tak? Saya sendiri memang dah follow Gegar Vaganza ni sejak episod pertama lagi, dan bagi saya mereka yang bertanding di pentas akhir semalam memang "deserve to be there" sebab masing-masing ada kekuatan dan aura masing-masing dalam memberi persembahan yang terbaik. 

Apa pun, saya nak ucapkan tahniah lagi sekali kepada juara Gegar Vaganza 2 iaitu Siti Nordiana atau Nana. Secara peribadi, kalau dilihat dari awal memang saya tak jangka yang beliau akan masuk akhir pun, mungkin sebab dulu saya perhatikan Nana ni selalunya membawakan lagu-lagu dengan irama yang "simple" dan tak nampak "vocal range" beliau. Ya, memang ketika di puncak, Nana dan Allahyarham Achik Spin popular, tapi bagi saya bukan terbaik, kalau diukur dari segi lagu-lagu yang dibawakan dulu.

Jadi, bila Nana dah masuk Gegar Vaganza ni, saya perhatikan perkembangan beliau dari minggu ke minggu. Memang terbukti lepas dah banyak performance, baru kita nampak Nana keluar dari kepompongnya dan tunjuk bahawa dia boleh menyanyi dengan sangat baik. Antara persembahannya yang paling memukau bagi saya ialah ketika dia membawakan lagu "Mengapa" nyanyian asal Nicky Astria. Rasanya kalau kita follow industri muzik bahasa Melayu, kita tahu yang lagu tu memang nadanya tinggi dan bukan calang-calang penyanyi yang boleh bawak. Malah, Dato Ramli MS pun kata dia risau sebab takut Nana tak lepas certain notes masa menyanyi lagu tu. But, indeed everyone was proven wrong including me. Sejak daripada tu, memang saya terus minat dan mengharapkan Nana akan pergi jauh dalam Gegar Vaganza ni.

Persembahan Nana dengan lagu "Putus Terpaksa" semalam pun memang sangat baik bagi saya. Dengan key yang sangat tinggi (key asal Ziana Zain katanya), dia mampu untuk membawakan lagu tu dengan baik dan dengan caranya sendiri, siap ada suara serak dan "husky" sikit, very sexy in my opinion.

Nana, Farahdhiya dan Ezad, pemenang 3 tempat teratas Gegar Vaganza Musim ke-2

Gambar ihsan Harian Metro Online (http://www.hmetro.com.my)

Overall, saya puas hati dengan keputusan juri untuk top 3 iaitu Nana, Farahdhiya dan Ezad. Cuma terkejut sikit sebab Haiza dapat tempat ke-6. Prediction saya ialah Acong menduduki tempat tercorot tu, tapi panel juri lebih arif dan pasti telah membuat pertimbangan sewajarnya. Apa pun, kita tunggulah sama ada tahun depan akan ada Gegar Vaganza 3 pulak ya. 

Assalamualaikum...

5 Signs You Should Leave Your Job for a Better One

Assalamualaikum and hi there,

Alright, in general most of us are working with salaried jobs either in the public sector or private sector right? And I'm sure everyone of us have experienced situations where you think it's time to move to another job. Here, I've compiled 5 of the most classic signs where you should leave your current job and move on to a better one:

1. Waking Up Every Morning Feels So Heavy

This is the first sign that your current job may not longer be the ideal job for you. You dread the feeling when the alarm rings at 6.30 or 7.00 AM in the morning coz you know that you're going to the office and doing something you're no longer happy doing. If this is what's happening to you, then probably a career change is what you need.

2. You No Longer Get Along With Your Boss/Colleagues

This second reason might be obvious to some of us. In my own case, I've experienced this whereby the job I'm doing is actually interesting and exciting but the boss I report to is such a pain in the backside, coz he/she is always looking for your mistakes or shortcomings and seldom recognises your contributions to the team. There's even an article that says one of the main reasons why good employees leave an organisation is because of the managers in charge of the staff.

3. Your Skills Are Not Being Tapped to the Fullest

Yeah, some of us have our peak and off-peak cycles right? People in finance or audit would know this. Off-peak cycles are good because they give us time to rest for a short period and "recharge our batteries" before we go back to the next peak cycle. However, if you feel that your break is a little too long, you better start worrying. Why do I say this? It's because this may mean that your superior is not tapping your skills to the fullest, or worse he/she may have lost trust in you to deliver a project on time or at the level of quality he/she desires.

This issue can actually be resolved by the staff by being proactive and seek for opportunities to get more challenging assignments, which hopefully can prove to the superior that you can deliver what is expected. Give it perhaps 3 months and calmly ask for feedback from your boss on how you've performed. If the comments are constructive, then let's build on that. However, if the criticism is so negative, then perhaps that resume of yours needs some updating very soon.

4. Depression Sets In The Moment You Leave Your Home

If every morning you feel depressed, lost or sad and you know it's because you need to make a trip to that dreaded place called "your office", then perhaps you need to leave your job VERY SOON. Depression if left unchecked, could lead to more negative consequences such as feelings of hopelessness or worse suicidal tendencies.

Get support from your parents, partner or friends and talk to them about this. Emotions bottled up is dangerous to everyone, although we now live in a world that requires us to put on a brave face everyday. I guess that's why Stan Lee penned the comic "The Incredible Hulk" (one of my favourite Marvel characters by the way), it is to show us that we shouldn't keep our emotions hidden for too long, because it may bring a negative effect to everyone around us.

5. Your Physical Health Is Suffering

Stress - everyone experiences it. Minimal amounts of stress is actually GOOD for us because it will give us the drive to produce excellent results in whatever we do, be it work, competing in a marathon or answering your exam. However, excessive amounts of stress would lead and manifest itself into a deterioration of our physical health.

My own personal experience on this is I remember when I was an auditor in one of the Big 4 firms. At the time, our deadline was so close, that we were working up till 3 AM in the morning for about 2 weeks straight. However, we were still required to come in to work at about 9.00 AM at the latest. This resulted in me getting so little sleep every night, until my work papers entered my dreams. I remember one time where I drove my car like a zombie, where my eyes weren't really focused on the road but in the end I reached my office - I guess that was because the route to my office was already hardwired in my brain that I managed to reached my destination.

So there you have it guys, the 5 signs that you need to leave your job for a better one. Before I go, I'd like to leave you with the following picture for us to ponder upon. Have a productive day ahead people!!

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part 2)

Assalamualaikum wbt semua,

Apa khabar? Nama saya Azim dan ini merupakan "blog post" saya yang pertama (lepas dah banyak tahun tinggalkan blogging ni huhu)...Anyway, nak cerita dengan korang semua pasal movie yang saya baru tonton malam semalam iaitu The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part 2) yang mana bintang utamanya adalah Jennifer Lawrence yang membawa watak Katniss Everdeen. Untuk pengetahuan semua, filem ini merupakan filem terakhir dalam siri filem-filem The Hunger Games. 

Ok, sebelum saya teruskan lebih lanjut, nak intro sikit pasal cerita ni terutama bagi mereka yang belum menonton atau tak mengikuti siri filem ini. The Hunger Games mengisahkan Katniss Everdeen yang heroin cerita ini, iaitu salah seorang daripada peserta dalam "The Hunger Games", suatu pertandingan di mana 2 orang (seorang lelaki dan seorang wanita) akan dipilih dari 12 daerah dalam negara Panem untuk berjuang hingga titisan darah terakhir dan hanya seorang sahaja akan dinobatkan sebagai pemenang atau "Victor". The Hunger Games ini sebenarnya dikelolakan oleh The Capitol, pusat pentadbiran kerajaan Panem yang dipimpin oleh ketuanya yang zalim dan kejam, President Snow lakonan Donald Sutherland.

                                   Salah satu babak dalam The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part 2)

                                              Kredit: Murray Close/Lionsgate

Untuk movie yang saya tonton semalam, bagi saya tema kisah ini mudah iaitu sebuah "social critique film" di mana ia ingin menunjukkan bagaimana pejuang-pejuang Hunger Games ini menentang kezaliman President Snow dan antara babak dan dialog menarik bagi saya adalah bila Katniss berkata "Tonight, turn your weapons to the Capitol...turn your weapons to Snow" iaitu sebuah "rallying call"(panggilan untuk bersatu) bagi bergabung dan menentang musuh yang sama iaitu Snow. Jika anda mengharapkan filem yang sangat sarat dengan aksi, anda mungkin kecewa kerana babak pertarungannya tidaklah berterusan sepanjang filem ini, tetapi ia lebih kepada pengembaraan "Victors" menuju ke arah Capitol bagi menawannya dan membunuh President Snow. "Victors" akan melalui pelbagai rintangan untuk sampai ke Capitol, dan apabila semakin hampir sampai, satu serangan besar berlaku di mana babak seterusnya menunjukkan Katniss berada di hospital menerima rawatan. 

Penghujung cerita ini agak mengejutkan dan tidak seperti yang saya jangkakan. Kalau nak tau, moh kita ke pawagam berhampiran anda untuk menonton filem ini. Cepat...sebelum tayangannya tamat ya!! Oh, untuk filem ini saya berikan 3.5 bintang.