SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd turns RM50 million into RM5 billion
Published on: Friday, August 09, 2024
By: Larry Ralon
Masidi urged Sabahan entrepreneurs to venture into the oil and gas sector.
Kota Kinabalu: State-owned SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd (SMJE) is now a RM5.1 billion company despite having started three years ago with a RM50 million grant from the State Government and manned by 14 staff, said State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
Last year SMJE’s profit after tax was RM259 million, he said, adding the government-linked company started with a RM20 million grant from the State Government which then gave it another RM10 million in the second year and another RM20 million last year.
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“The point I am trying to say is that if we have honest people, hire purely on merit, are blind to race or religion, just get the best people we can afford and keep it clean, we will never go wrong.
“Some ask me how many people do you have in the company that makes a profit of 259 million? It’s not a joke, there are only 14 of us. Why? Because we don’t hire people, we outsource. So we free ourselves from paying salaries because we don’t want our current expenditure to be big.
“You outsource some of the jobs, you hire these people on a seasonal basis, so we are free from administrative costs like paying salaries and everything,” he said at the CEO Master Class Sabah 2024 at Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), Thursday.
The Sabah Young Business & Industry Leaders Network (SYBIL) and the Malaysia International Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MICCI) Sabah Chapter co-organised the event.
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Masidi urged Sabahan entrepreneurs to venture into the oil and gas sector.
“The oil and gas sector will be the best place for you actually to really think about making money. Every year, Petronas spent RM2.7 billion value of work in Sabah the last two years.
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“How much did we get from the companies in Sabah? 11 per cent. In totality, it did come up to RM1.2 billion, but half of these companies are from outside Sabah. That also shows that some of the companies that operate in Kuala Lumpur are doing well,” he said.
“Beginning last year, we initiated a programme whereby local best companies participate aggressively.
“Following the signing of the Commercial Collaborative Agreement (CCA) between Sabah and Petronas, we now make it mandatory to offer all jobs either directly or indirectly to Sabah companies, so long as they are qualified for it.
“We have set up rather a centre for assistance for local companies at SMJE headed by Terry Biusing, who will coordinate to assist as a liaison person between local companies and Petronas.
“We also make it compulsory for Petronas to do a mentorship programme for a Sabah company to work with a bigger company from outside Sabah. Meaning to say, it (the works) can be given to a non-Sabah company on condition they must take a local partner.”
Masidi also thinks that young people who succeed their parents in managing a company need to realise that the ecosystem of doing business has changed.
“From those that your father or your grandfather have started, now it’s a bit more complicated. We need to grow with time, we need to evolve and we need to make sure that we are in a position whereby we are creative enough to realise that the way to do business may have changed...the way of doing business has evolved into something completely new.
“But what remains is the ethics of doing business. That is actually where our forefathers or our fathers and grandfathers have succeeded, namely self-discipline, accountability, professionalism and the way to realise that it is not about winning or taking all.
“It is about sharing something that you are there to make, while at the same time, you do not lose money in the process of sharing the wealth with other people.
“You can only become rich, you can only succeed if you are willing to share it with other people. Otherwise, trust me, you may make a lot of money today but you lose it tomorrow because you realise that you have lost friends...it’s the same with life philosophy, Life is about sharing,” he said.
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