Who is the better Chief Minister?

MALAYSIA TODAY - SPECIAL REPORT
An analysis of Innoprise Holdings Sdn Bhd

Musa Aman has attracted the attention of Malaysia Today the last couple of months basically because he is currently in office and those in office must be held accountable for their misdeeds. Furthermore, he would most likely remain in office for some time to come and the big question is: should he be allowed to do so just because he, as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself said, is his personal friend from way back? (But then, the reason could also be because Malaysia Today is a CT or Cyber Terrorist that enjoys terrorising Chief Ministers). Well, today we are going to spare Musa Aman. Instead, we are going to see whether the Chief Ministers of Sabah before him were any better.

Sabah, before this, practiced the rotation system where a Chief Minister stays in office for only two years then hands the baton to his successor, handpicked by no less than the Prime Minister.

While Musa Aman’s management of the state leaves much to be desired, how did the other Chief Ministers before him fare? To do a detailed post-mortem would require months of research and pages and pages of write-ups. Nevertheless, let us summarise, as briefly as possible, the performance of the previous Chief Ministers to see whether they were any better than Musa Aman.

And the yardstick we will use in establishing this is the performance of the jewel in Sabah’s crown; that crown being its cash cow, Yayasan Sabah, and the jewel, its investment arm, Innoprise.

Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, the investment arm of Sabah, owns a stable of companies. One of these is Innoprise Holdings Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary with a paid up capital of only RM500,000.

‘Holdings’ would of course suggest it ‘holds’ all Sabah’s investments. And what is the performance of this company over the last ten years?

Before that, this is the chronology of Sabah’s Chief Ministers over the last ten years. It starts with Joseph Pairin Kitingan and ends with the present one, Musa Aman.


22 Apr 1985 - 17 Mar 1994: Joseph Pairin Kitingan

17 Mar 1994 - 27 Dec 1994: Tun Sakaran Dandai

27 Dec 1994 - 28 May 1996: Salleh Said Keruak

28 May 1996 - May 1998: Yong Teck Lee

May 1998 - 14 Mar 1999: Tun Sri Bernard Dompok

14 Mar 1999 - 27 Mar 2001: Datuk Osu Sukam

27 Mar 2001 - 27 Mar 2003: Datuk Chong Kah Kiat

27 Mar 2003 - present: Datuk Seri Musa Aman


In 1994, the year our analysis starts, Innoprise Holdings under Pairin achieved a turnover of RM7,095,630 and an operating profit of RM5,208,090. The profit brought forward from previous years, also under Pairin, was RM5,067,805, giving the company a net worth of an impressive RM10,416,294 against this meagre RM500,000 paid up capital. Its current assets were RM10,903,930 against current liabilities of only RM491,951, which included provisions for taxation of RM321,525. So this means it hardly had any liabilities.

This shows, under Pairin, Innoprise Holdings grew from strength to strength.

Then the leadership of the state changed hands and, the following year, Salleh Said Keruak took over. Surprisingly, in 1995, Salleh’s year, the accounts filed showed no turnover whatsoever. This is indeed most puzzling. How come Innoprise Holdings filed returns showing zero turnover?

It, however, still managed to post a profit of RM1,970,715. It also saw an interest income of RM286,475 giving it a total profit of RM2,257,190. Its balance sheet shows current assets of RM12,588,717 against current liabilities of only RM66,847. Again, with a meagre paid up capital of only RM500,000, this can be considered most impressive as this would increase its net worth to RM12,591,351.

No doubt Innoprise Holdings saw its net worth increase to RM12,591,315 from RM10,903,930 the year before, but its profit dropped to RM1,970,715 from RM5,208,090 -- so you could say Pairin was better than Salleh at managing the state’s investments.

So much for the Pairin-bashers! I would take him over Salleh any time.

In 1996, Yong Teck Lee’s year, (with only five months of that year credited to Salleh), Innoprise Holdings’ turnover was a measly RM936,978. Its operating profit was just RM120,174. What happened? It saw an interest income of RM411,083 so its net worth increased to RM13,019,821, just slightly above the previous year. But its income came mainly from its RM5,612,401 fixed deposit, so this is really nothing much to shout about as anyone can make money from savings in the bank.

In 1997, still under Yong Teck Lee, Innoprise Holdings did not show any turnover, yet again. It then, for the first time, made an operating loss of RM53,523. Could this be due to the Asian Crisis? But the year before that, before the coming of any Asian Crisis, it managed to scrape through by the skin of its nose with an operating profit of only RM120,174 after making millions the years before that. So surely this must be due to bad management.

Then the 1998 accounts go missing. Somehow the 1998 accounts were never filed and cannot be traced. 1998 must have been a terrible year for the Chief Minister then, Bernard Dompok -- what with the Asian Crisis and Reformasi and all that.

The 1999 and 2000 accounts show what probably happened in 1998, a disaster year for Innoprise Holdings.

Its 1999 profit was RM248,442 while in 2000 it posted a loss of RM47,400. And by then Osu Sukam was at the helm. Its current assets, which were in excess of RM12 million before 1998, had dropped to RM4.2 million in 1999 and 2000. By then it had also incurred some debt and its net worth was a mere RM3 million for both years running.

What happened thereafter -- in 2001, 2002, 2003 and last year, 2004? These are the years Chong Kah Kiat and Musa Aman were in charge.

Well, 2000 was the last year any accounts were filed. Since 2000, Innoprise Holdings has not filed any accounts so there is no way of knowing whether the company’s performance has improved or whether it is still bleeding profusely. Probably its performance is too embarrassing to show so they would rather ‘hide’ their accounts instead of letting the public see how this government owned company is performing.

So, there you have it! Like it or not, Joseph Pairin Kitingan was a better manager. Thereafter, all those Chief Ministers who came after him ran Innoprise Holdings into the ground until they no longer dare show the company’s accounts.

As they say, the figures speak for themselves.