Thesun 2008-11-03 Page18: Citizen Nades: "a+" Proposal For Port Vale

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NEW theSun

| MONDAY NOVEMBER 3 2008

speak up!

‘A+’ proposal for Port Vale SAY whatever you want but agency or department) to buy if you can’t give them an “A” Port Vale Football Club which is for excellence in achievement, languishing in the bottom half they’ll definitely get an “A+” of the English Second Division, for effort. The peddlers, the rates right up there in the Book middlemen and the Mr Fixits of Dubious Records. are at work again in the name If only the people behind of sports – albeit to make the proposal had done some a quick buck. Now that the research, they would not have Brickendonbury project in the wasted their time, effort and United Kingdom is dead and money on this venture. The club buried, someone has come out CitizenNades says it is run as a non-profit with an even more “brilliant” operation and is committed by R. Nadeswaran idea. And of course, it involves to re-invest any surplus funds “investing” large sums of money generated back into the business. and suckers are being sought out. The club also has other contractual Instead of building a forward training commitments which preclude the base or a high performance centre in payment of dividends to its shareholders. England for our athletes, why not buy It says openly and without inhibitions: over an existing facility which has its own “The likelihood of a dividend being paid grounds and even a club for which our either now or in the foreseeable future is Malaysians can represent? Why buy a therefore extremely remote.” cow when the milk is free? Sounds logical Never mind that. According to the but then, there’s always a catch. club’s website, its authorised share capital Word is around in London and also is £5 million (RM28.8 million). As at back home that a group has sent in a January 2008 about £1.2 million (RM6.9 proposal to buy an English football club. million)worth of shares have been issued It is understandable if such a proposal and fully paid-up, leaving around £3.8 is being considered by a corporate million (RM21.8 million) worth of shares organisation like AirAsia which has available. already tied up with Manchester United Are these the shares which are to be and the FA of England or Petronas which purchased by the Malaysian government? is already involved in motor racing and But then, there’s this caveat: Port Vale wants to spread its wings. But who in Football Club is a private limited company his or her right sense of mind would and cannot lawfully issue shares to the invest in a team of non-achievers? Datuk public. But of course, there are back-door Tony Fernandes and Tan Sri Hassan entries. The Port Vale Association can, Merican are no fools. But the proposal to however, issue shares to its members; the government (you can guess which anyone can buy shares by becoming a member for just £5. The club itself is in the dark on this proposal. Its commercial manager Mike Aldridge in an email to theSun said: “I have discussed it with the Chairman and we have no knowledge of the details.” So, there’s another theory or hunch, so

to speak. Someone has invested £5, hoping to make a big bundle by buying and re-selling the shares at an inflated price! Very possible and with just less than 15% of the share capital, there’s no guarantee that our mediocre footballers will even be able to sit on the substitute’s bench! But then, there’ll be plenty of reasons, such as “giving exposure to youngsters”; “acclimatise our juniors”; “using the club as a springboard to play in the English Premier League or Bundesliga” and the like. And there’ll be no dearth of people raising their hands and voices in support. But then, our entrepreneurs always have a trick up their sleeve by throwing in a couple of famous names and incidences. Didn’t former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra once own Manchester City? Isn’t Elton John linked with Watford? The entrepreneurs would say: “We have the perfect link” but who? Singer Robbie Williams is also a shareholder. He grew up in that area and had supported the club since he was a kid and two years ago, bought some shares in the club. “Although I can’t be at the Vale often, my investment is just to say that my heart is still there and I’m a huge supporter,” he told BBC. But there will be gullible decisionmakers who would buy the line that he can help promote Malaysia and that by our country being linked to such a famous person, it will help to draw tourists to Malaysia. (Didn’t someone propose making Datuk Michelle Yeoh our tourism ambassador for a whopping sum of money? But the rest of the world have always considered her a Hongkie!) But be assured, Robbie Williams like most rich and famous people, will do nothing without incentives – not even for a song (pun intended). R. Nadeswaran is not in the least surprised that people are continuing to hog proposals for anything and everything. What about trying to export ice to Eskimos or sand to the Arabs? There’ll always be takers! He is editor (special and investigative reporting) and can be reached at: citizen-nades@ thesundaily.com

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DAP reps need to focus I READ with disbelief “DAP seeks to name roads after party stalwarts” (Oct 24), where Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan proposed new names for three roads. This is ridiculous and can be equated to Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s exercise in changing Jalan Alor to a planet’s name. It seems both DBKL and the DAP assemblyman are having the same short sighted and selfish mindset. If you want to honour someone who has contributed to the country’s history or advancement, by all means name a road after him/her as long as it is a new road. Otherwise, name a building. Renaming a road is like cutting away a piece of history from the road. A case in point is Jalan 222 in Petaling Jaya. Most of the roads in Petaling Jaya follow a naming convention of section numbers and road numbers.

This has been the practice as far as I can remember. As such, Petaling Jaya roads are either easily understood or a pain in the butt when it comes to locating a specific road. By changing Jalan 222 to P.P. Narayanan, MBPJ has taken away a piece of Petaling Jaya’s identity. It also created much work for companies located there to amend their addresses, post offices had to make the necessary adjustments, visitors to the country had to re-learn the road. Taxi drivers had to re-learn the road. Maps had to be amended and so on. Instead of renaming Jalan 222, Narayanan could have been honoured by naming a building after him. By renaming Jalan 222, the council sliced off a big piece of Petaling Jaya. We elected DAP assemblymen to give us solutions to the economic situation, the corruption and to address the unfair-

ness of some laws. Instead they are acting like map makers, renaming roads, trying their best to gain political mileage at the expense of the people. I suggest these assemblymen, rethink what they have promised before the election and change their ways. They should manage their constituencies with maturity and responsibility. If you want to honour someone who had contributed to the country (Do not even consider your party. It’s pure selfishness.), think first, be far sighted and look at the implications before shooting your mouth off and creating havoc for the community you are serving. I hope Sivanesan will stop fiddling with unproductive ventures and fulfil his promises to his constituents. JW Via email

Pemudah sets it right THE article “Defiant KL mayor’s days are numbered” (Oct 31) by your reporter Terence Fernandez is unwarranted, highly speculative and not at all grounded in fact. Pemudah as the Special Task Force to Facilitate

Business focuses mainly on initiatives to enhance Malaysia’s competitiveness and improving the business environment. Pemudah does not intervene in the selection and appointment of civil servants,

including the KL mayor. A. Vigian for Pemudah on behalf of secretary-general International Trade and Industry Ministry