Should TNB take responsibiity for these deaths?
Posted by: mindspring on: August 11, 2007
Dear readers, please take a moment to read the following report from the Star, 10th August 2007.
Five in family die in fire
KLUANG: A couple and three of their children were killed when their house was destroyed in a pre-dawn fire that is believed to have been caused by a lit candle.
They were using candles because the electricity to the house had been disconnected as they could not pay the bill.
Firemen found the charred bodies of factory worker Kasmuri Jasman, 44, his wife Supiah Abdul Karim, and their sons Hishamuddin, 13, Nurul Marcella, 10, and Izwanuddin, eight, at the back portion of the semi-wooden house in Kampung Tengah, Paloh near here.
Another daughter, 15-year-old Nur Farhana, managed to escape unhurt.
Nur Farhana said her family had to use candles in the night because their electricity supply was disconnected 10 days ago.
Burnt down: Firemen searching for clues at a house which was razed in a fire in Kg Tengah, Paloh near Kluang, Johor yesterday.
She said two candles were lit in the toilet and living hall.
Bernama reports that according to neighbour Jamliah Othman, Kasmuri was forced to delay settling the home electricity bills as he needed the money for his three other children who were studying at institutions of higher learning.
She said Sufiah told her about it a few days ago.
Fearing the danger candles posed to the neighbourhood, Jamliah said she called the Kluang Fire and Rescue station three days ago to inform them about the matter.
She believed that strong winds early yesterday had caused the candle to fall over while the family was asleep.
Nur Farhana said she woke up feeling very hot at 3.45am.
“I saw fire in my brothers’ room. I was so scared and screamed for help,” said the Form Three student.
Nur Farhana said she then led her siblings to the front door to escape but her parents went to the back portion of the house.
“As I ran out of the house, my sister and brothers turned back to look for our parents.
“I wanted to go in again but neighbours stopped me,” she said when interviewed at her uncle’s house nearby.
She has three other siblings studying in local universities.
Fire and Rescue Department operation commander Zahari Hassan said 16 firemen in two engines were sent to the scene after a distress call was received at 3.57am.
“We found five bodies – one in the toilet, one in the shower room and three near the back door,” he said.
OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Fawzi Arshad said police were also investigating if there had been foul play.
The five victims were buried at the Kg Belahan Tampok Islamic Cemetery in Batu Pahat.
Reading the article, this was an accident waiting to happen. Where do we draw the line? On the one hand the bosses at TNB and Khazanah are celebrating their three months profit of RM1.09 billion ringgit. On the other hand we have families that cant afford to pay their electricity bills.
I am most keen to hear what YOU have to say about this.
Just as importantly, is to hear what Khazanah’s Azman Mokhtar and TNB’s Che Khalib have to say?
Remember – it was AZMAN Mokhtar who said to the GLC CEO’s- EXECUTE or BE EXECUTED and TNB’s Che Khalib, who contract has just been renewed is one of those CEO’s.
5 people are dead and 4 are orphaned…, Azman, was this good enough an execution? The buck must stop somewhere, my question is where? Who are you going to blame?
Think about it, Senator Tajulurus’s flight is delayed, he is calling for the sacking of Idris Jala. Now a family is killed, whose head is the good senator going for? Or is it because these deaths do not inconvenience him and most other people, it will just be down played?
This is what TNB has said in this release from the Star:
…Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional Bhd refuted news reports which put the blame on the utility company for the disconnection of electricity to the house.
TNB said in a statement that it had adhered to all procedures in disconnecting power supply to the house.
And from Bernama:
August 10, 2007 20:39 PM TNB Says It Followed Strict Procedure Before Disconnecting Supply
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 (Bernama) — Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) said today that it followed a strict procedure before it disconnected electricity supply to Kasmuri Jasman’s house in Kampung Tengah, Kluang, Johor.
Expressing its deepest condolences to the family of tile factory worker who died with his wife and three children when their house caught fire early yesterday morning, TNB said that under normal process, it would inform and provide sufficient notice to the customer on the outstanding amount in their bills.
“Upon a notice of termination, a customer will be given seven working days to settle the bill.
“Within this period, the customer is also encouraged to contact the nearest TNB office should he or she be unable to settle the bills in full,” TNB said in a statement here today.
Kasmuri and his family had been using candles to light up their home after TNB cut the power supply 11 days ago when they did not pay their electricity bills.
Kasmuri, 44, his wife, foodstall assistant Supiah Abdul Karim, 41, and three children, Hishamuddin (13), Izwanuddin (9), and Nurul Marcella (8), died in the pre-dawn fire.
Only his daughter, Nurul Farhana, 15, managed to escape from the burning house. The occupants of the adjoining house, senior citizens identified as Azila and Saiman, and a child also escaped unharmed.
Kasmuri’s neighbour, Jamilah Othman, was reported to have said that the family was forced to delay settling its electricity bills as they needed the money for their three other children who are studying at institutions of higher learning.
– BERNAMA
Meanwhile there is a move to get TNB to allow people who want to help the family by waiving 1/2 our currently electricity bill and using the 1/2 to donate to the surviving children…read it here.
Just to remind everyone on AZMAN’s Execute or be Executed story, let me reproduce this from the Economist:
The Malay way of business change
Aug 18th 2005 | KUALA LUMPUR
From The Economist print editionAn attempt to revive Malaysia’s underperforming state-owned firms “YOU either execute or get executed,” says Azman Mokhtar, of his mission to overhaul Malaysia’s 40-odd partially state-owned firms. Last year, his appointment as head of Khazanah, the government’s previously passive holding company, caused the publicly traded shares of various “government-linked companies” (GLCs) to soar. Briefly, the shares of Telekom Malaysia, the biggest firm in Khazanah’s portfolio, were up by over
50%. But the shine is beginning to wear off, as investors start to realise how tough his job is.The GLCs make up only 5% of the firms listed on Malaysia’s stockmarket, but account for36% of its market capitalisation. Yet on every measure but size, Mr Azman points out,they have underperformed. One study found them to be more highly indebted than average, to generate less profit per worker and to earn a lower return on equity. In the five years before he took over, shareholders made a total return of 3.6% on GLCs, and 7.5% on other firms in Malaysia’s stockmarket index.
The biggest firms in the Khazanah stable have bureaucratic origins: they are either former monopolists, such as Tenaga Nasional, a power firm, or pet government projects, such as Proton, a carmaker. Political considerations often trump commercial ones. All GLCs, for example, favour ethnic Malays when dispensing jobs or contracts, in line with the government’s policy to get more Malays involved in business. Politicians often seem to end up in cushy jobs as advisers or board members.
Mr Azman’s solution is a strong dose of corporate discipline. He has appointed young, foreign-educated professionals to run Tenaga and Telekom. Senior executives are now on fixed-term contracts, with extensions and pay linked to performance. Government officials with a regulatory role have been booted off boards. Suppliers (even the Malay ones) now have to bid for contracts, rather than stitch them up in backroom deals. This new policy, Mr Azman says, cut the cost of one transaction from 100m ringgit ($27m) to 12m.
Nationalism is also out of fashion. Last year, Khazanah sold a 5% stake in Telekom to Temasek, its Singaporean counterpart. Temasek’s previous attempts to buy shares in Malaysian GLCs had been rudely rebuffed. An American now runs SilTerra, Khazanah’s struggling microchip foundry; a Dutchman runs Rapid KL, which operates commuter trains in Kuala Lumpur.
Such reforms are also being adopted by the government’s other investment agencies,
http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=4307606� (1 of 2)20/02/2006 12:03:28 PM
READERS, I ASK THAT IF YOU HAVE AN OPINION TO EXPRESS ON THIS INCIDENT, PLEASE EXPRESS IT BY LEAVING A COMMENT.
2 Responses to "Should TNB take responsibiity for these deaths?"
August 21, 2007 at 8:56 am
TNB is very quick in taking action on household users but are known to be very slow in taking action against the big consumers such as mills or factories. With profits in the billions, TNB must have some soft spot when acting on small consumers like this family who is genuinely under financial straits.
Afterall contribution to their bottom line doesnt amount to much from the household users.
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August 12, 2007 at 1:51 am
I’ve said this elsewhere. But when you come across stories of people who have, on a daily basis, to decide on matters of life and death – feed the family or feed the mighty corporations – its worth repeating.
If only people sitting in power exercise that power to make life bearable for their customers instead of just for their bosses and themselves, then there is hope. After all you are paid hefty bonuses and salaries to find win-win solutions for your organisation as well as your clients – no matter who they are. Making great soundbites like “execute or be executed” may make you sound and feel like Mr Trump, but at least use your god-given advantages to also help the not so gifted. That will reap more dividends here and in the eternity.
Back to the story at hand. My heart goes out to the family of Kasmuri Jasman, and all the others who have to scrape and scrounge daily to pay for basic needs.
Its easy for TNB to wash its hands off any culpability. But like the many failed public corporations in the country, it too is liable for its inability or unwillingness to think of and put into place systems and people willing to help the needy and the marginalised instead of resorting to just “following procedures”. Ordinary German soldiers of WW2 were also just following orders when they sent millions to their deaths.
Where I am living now in the US I am amazed by how almost all segments of society or types of customers have recourse to alternatives or options if somehow they fall between the cracks. Options and alternatives that have been well thought out that would help both the organisation and its customers. And all without jeopardising shareholder value, returns to capital, etc, etc., and any other KPI you can think of.
For example, residential electric customers of Ameren (a local power supplier in Illinois) will be provided relief on their electric bills which went up due to a tariff rate increase recently.
Ameren Corporation announced a comprehensive $488 million rate relief package to their customers. The program is part of a more than $1 billion settlement to reduce electric bills for every residential customer of Ameren.
Through bill credits—retroactive to January 2007— residential customers will see a cut of 40 percent or more from the expected increase in their 2007 electric bill. Even customers using small amounts of electricity will get at least a $100 rebate (what a relief to poor student families like mine!). This assistance will continue in 2008 and 2009 to limit customers’ future rate increases.
In addition, millions of dollars in assistance will be directed toward the special needs of eligible low-income customers, senior citizens, small businesses, not-for-profit organizations and customers with unique hardships.
Other help is also available when it comes to paying electric bills.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is designed to assist eligible low-income households, elderly persons and people with disabilities pay for energy services. Assistance is based on the number of persons in the household, total income, etc.
Customers who have difficulty paying their bills are allowed to make staggered or installment payments to the company to avoid disconnection of utility service. This is based on factors such as size of the past-due amount, ability to pay,payment history,etc.
In some countries, I guess such elaborate payment plans, benefits and assistance are usually only granted to large corporations and the well connected. For the rest, toe the line or WE in all our righteous glory will follow procedures.