Adopt good financial practices, GLCs told
KUCHING: Government-linked corporations (GLCs) in Sarawak are urged to adopt good financial practices recommended by the Securities Commission of Malaysia.
Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs Abdullah Saidol, said practices adopted by publiclisted companies could be picked up by GLCs to enhance their performances.
“Not only should you ( GLCs) adopt practices of public-listed companies but you must also understand what those practices are to strengthen the way you do things,” he said when closing a workshop ‘ Financial News Reporting In The 4.0 Era’ here yesterday.
The three- day workshop was jointly organised by Angkatan Zaman Mansang (Azam) Sarawak and Commonwealth Journalists Association ( CJA) Sarawak Branch, and supported by Sarawak Energy.
Abdullah said it is his obligation to monitor the performance of GLCs in Sarawak besides working on improving the working culture of GLCs.
To journalists in Sarawak, he advised them to go for analytical
Not only should you (GLCs) adopt practices of publiclisted companies but you must also understand what those practices are to strengthen the way you do things. Abdullah Saidol, Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs
reporting so as to play a checkand-balance role in ensuring good governance.
According to him, some quarters might not accept Sarawak’s financial report tabled by the chief minister during the November State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting each year.
He said the chief minister had mentioned that Sarawak was given good ratings by International ratings agencies.
Abdullah observed that some individuals had no knowledge of the procedures of those international ratings.
“Some do not understand what it takes to be rated; what are the financial standards and practices that Sarawak has to adhere to in order to get those ratings,” he said.
He added that these people should dig into the financial reports prepared by the international ratings agencies if they could not bring themselves to believe what the politicians said.
He pointed out that the Sarawak government of the day would not be ‘ jumpy and jittery with constructive criticism’.
Instead, they would welcome constructive ideas and criticism from the ground for not just advancement but also preserving unity in Sarawak.
Earlier, Abdullah quoted a statistics released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations: “The collective number of newsprint copies sold in three major languages – Malay, English and Chinese – in Sarawak between July and December last year totalled 345,413.”
“According to a Survey Radio Audience Measurement 2018 conducted over six weeks from March 25 to May 5, the weekly radio listenership has risen to 20.2 million.
“These numbers show that despite the challenges and the competition of news media outlets versus social media, people still need and look for news from incredible sources as part of their daily news consumption,” he added.