In the last 2 days, the FGV boardroom tussle has captured the local limelight. The size of the funds involved, and the width of the area covered could soon make this latest smelly episode international.
The chairman of FGV, the troubled company, is trying to remove the ceo. Pure and simple. The many words used by the chairman during the p.c. in the video circulated may be his attempt at downplaying this. But what he's really trying to do can't be missed.
In the phone call shown immediately after, the ceo said he is saddened by what's happening to him, after 31 years in Felda. The chairman had been "friendly" to him, and so he was surprised by it, he said.
Which is a lesson seen and ignored too often - you don't see the knife until it's too late, and the smile can distract.
My take is, this attempt at sacking the poor ceo is without due process. I would fight, and I'm told he's fighting. Good.
First of all, there's the record of 31 years of managerial business experience to rely on. The chairman has no business experience. Look at the record of service, and of any criminal cases. For both, I might add.
Then look at the powers bestowed to the chairman and the ceo. Have they been acting within these? Has the board been informed of all the decisions made by the ceo?
All registered companies must carry out annual financial auditing. Within the company, an internal audit machinery normally exists. Where do these reports go first, and what are the procedures installed? In this case, have both the internal audit and the financial audit reports been properly done? Has the company's board of directors discussed them ?
I think there's more than meets the eyes.
Since the chairman was appointed, Felda has seen too many financial scandals, right from the IPO objected to by practically all the staff at that time. The exercise only made political sense, and events have shown how bad this exercise has been. With the huge amount of cash coming from new investors ( some willing, some not so willing ), Felda went on some wild spending spree, going where it had no business to go, and spending good money for bad buys. Everyone in the market talks about these, and the same chairman in right in the centre of things.
It seems the chairman is chasing after a small oil spill, when he's mired in a bigger mess !
In spite of the "friendliness" and the smiles, the chairman must be very angry at the ceo, and there must be a very strong reason, because as a long-time politician he knows when things can be left alone. Maybe one operation in your leaky boat spills some stuff, but if overall things are ok for you, don't rock the boat, don't draw attention. After all, when he was running a state,they could never consolidate the accounts of the various ventures the state went into, and he stayed longer than Mahathir !
Or maybe after doing it to four other guys and getting away with it, he feels his method is tried and true.
Probably not this time.
But first things first, the ceo should engage a good lawyer with an excellent judicial review record.
Like Aman Shah, I cry for Felda !
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