Originally posted by Atobe:
This news article will be withdrawn after 3 days, and will be
available only on a subscription basis from the archives:
[b]KL will not oppose port tie-up with S'pore
[/b]
Somehow, the Malaysian has a different view on this. NST columnist
seems to relish at the idea of finally having brought this
"sleeping dragon" on "its knees". Nationalistic flavour is never
far behind those money talks and so-called business interests. I
would view BT's report with skepticism considering the fact that
diplomatic relation is now at the their lowest ever.
New Straits Times (P.Y. Chin,
Aug17 2003)
Money Game: PTP has proven sceptics wrong but must not be
complacent
SOME years ago, when businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary
started building his seaport at Tanjong Pelepas at the western tip
of Johor, many Malaysian businessmen, corporate leaders and of
course politicians were sceptical that Syed Mokhtar would survive
financially beyond the completion of the port.
They commented the project was too massive, let alone getting
foreign shippers to stop at the Port of Tanjong Pelepas (PTP), when
the modern and sophisticated Singapore Port was just next door,
less than 50 miles away.
Some of Singapore's shippers were also expecting the PTP to fail
even before it got off the ground.
Today these sceptics had to eat their words. Not only had PTP not
become a "corporate white elephant", as many would have wished, it
has awakened the "sleeping dragon" (Singapore Port).
Reality has sunk in for Singapore Port officials and they know that
PTP will not be fading away, that it is here to stay.
Singapore Port officials have put PTP on their radar screen day and
night and hardly a week passes without some news on Syed Mokhtar
and his port appearing in the Singapore newspapers.
Two weeks ago the Singapore Business Times reported that Singapore
Port had been holding talks with PTP, for at least 10 months, for a
possible "merger of operations" between the two to take on world
trade, instead of fighting each other as competitors.
One can read many things into this report or one can just dismiss
it. But as it is always said, there's no smoke without fire.
So if one assumes the report to be true, and there is no reason not
to, then one obvious inference from it would be that PTP had not
only awakened the "sleeping dragon" but has also brought the
"dragon" to its knees.
One may not believe that could be possible given the sophistication
of the Singapore Port, until one has read what PTP chief executive
officer Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman told Malaysia's Business
Times.
He said a few weeks ago that PTP had "re-routed between 300,000
TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) and 400,000 TEUs that would have
otherwise gone through Sin-gapore".
This figure worked out to be about 50 per cent of the total cargo
from Malaysia that had traditionally been shipped via
Singapore.
"The leakage used to be from Malaysia. With PTP, now it is
Singapore that is experiencing the leak." If this is not sufficient
reason for Sin-gapore Port to get even more jittery, then the
"sleeping dragon" is really sleeping, or rather has over-slept. PTP
is definitely not going to go away. It is staying to become the
biggest headache for Singapore Port.
Some Malaysian businessmen would say that Singapore had certainly
under-estimated PTP.
Of course, Singapore Port would say that it was just observing,
ready to strike at the right moment with the right strategy hitting
at the right places.
But with about half of the cargo having gone back to PTP, it is
difficult to see how Singapore Port would fight back. In setting up
PTP, the plan has been seen as simple, with only one objective in
mind: Re-divert all the cargoes that have for far too long been
"leaking" through Singapore.
In simple terms, what Singapore has been doing all these years was
to develop its port to an extent that Malaysian exporters and
importers found it highly efficient and cost-saving to ship their
exports and imports through Singapore.
Singapore was able to provide a point of re-export and re-import of
Malaysian products going out and foreign products coming in.
Singapore Port in essence has become a "toll-collector" or
"gate-keeper", for Malaysia's export and import trade.
So, it is time that Malaysia gets back some, if not all, of the
trade that passes through Singapore.
Indeed, in a wider context there is no necessity for Malaysian
exporters and importers to ship through Singapore Port. And in a
longer-term perspective, if Malaysia could develop its ports into
top international ports of call for all foreign ships, why not go
for it? After all, there is always the strong spirit of Malaysia
Boleh, and Malaysians are good at almost anything from building
the tallest building in the world to conquering Mount Evert,
sailing the Seven Seas solo and swimming across the English
Channel.
At first, it was thought that the traditional re-export and
re-import distribution channel through Singapore could be countered
with the West Port, building it near Port Klang; the latter being
the traditional gateway for Malaysian and foreign shippers.
At the same time, Port Klang and North Port were also beefed up to
show that they had become more efficient in providing foreign
shippers with better quality services.
Though all the ports in Port Klang gained substantially in cargo
transshipments, none was able to outdo Singapore Port, which
continued to flourish. Then came the PTP idea: To create an
entirely different port with a different concept but with the
objective remaining the same. PTP is today working beyond every of
the planner's expectations and many wondered what it has that
Singapore does not.
The answer is very simple: Study Singapore Port's weaknesses and
limitations, and capitalise on them. As it is always said in
combat, "Hit at your enemy's weak points, and you will win the
fight." Singapore Port has over the years developed to such an
extent that foreign ships arriving at there are finding it too
crowded for their liking at times, and many ships have to wait for
hours to unload their cargoes. And Singapore Port being limited in
space finds it difficult to expand fast to cater to the increasing
traffic.
PTP planners use this disadvantage to their advantage, turning it
into an opportunity.
What the planners did was to site PTP in an area where there is a
vast hinterland, which could be leased out in parcels for
transshipment storage. Singapore lacks the hinterland to provide
for such facilities.
With this strategy, PTP has been able to draw Maersk Sealand and
Evergreen Marine Corp to call at the port, with more coming
soon.
PTP handled about 2.66 million TEUs at its six wharves last year,
though its current capacity is about five million TEUs.
But with the completion of the two new wharves by early next year,
PTP's container capacity would increase by 750,000 TEUs. PTP has
set itself a target of 3.5 million TEUs by year end.
It certainly looks like PTP is not going to go away for a very,
very long time. Singapore would now have to accept the fact that
there is a strong competitor at its doorstep, who is not only
sitting there pretty well but also stealing its business.
For now Singapore Port could have under-estimated PTP. But given
the resourcefulness of Singaporeans, it would not be long before
Singapore Port fights back with a vengeance.
It is advisable for PTP not to remain complacent and continue to
bask in its glory that it could take on the mighty Singapore
Port.
END.
