Tuesday, October 23, 2007
HUSH, Bangsar
From The Star
A recipe of success
CULINARY comradeship – that's what drew Tengku Zafrul Aziz, former investment banker and now CEO of no-frills financial portal Tune Money, into the business of eatery.
“I opened up the restaurant because of my friends. We usually go out for dinner or supper and so we thought it'd be nice to have a regular place of our own to hang out. Really, there is great intangible value in having our own restaurant.”
That “regular place to hang out” however comes with a hefty price tag. HUSH, a chic bistro perched in one of most happening spots in the city – the elite suburbs of Bangsar – cost a cool RM1.8mil to put up, which as far as fine-dining restaurants go, is actually quite the average seed capital and quite simply “lunch money” for some of these high-flying corporate personalities.
But then again, Zafrul's “culinary mates” are not exactly shallow pockets; they are Air Asia’s Datuk Tony Fernandes, Datuk Lim Chee Meng of Taliworks Bhd and Wesports Malaysia's executive director Ruben Gnanalingam. Providing a refreshing break from the corporate-tinted partnership however is another chum, musician and deejay Jason Lo.
So, does Zafrul agree with the notion that these days, corporate personalities owning a vogue joint is somewhat a mark of success and a growing trend? He doesn't seem to think so: “No. Not for me, at least. To begin with, this is not my first restaurant. But it's a convenient and great way of having friends over to chat. It's also suitable for business discussions over lunch or dinner as we have private rooms...”
Zafrul's other restaurant, his maiden endeavour into the restaurant business is Sari Indah – an eatery that serves authentic Indonesian cuisine, largely for the local palette (or adventurous foreigner), located in Alamanda Putrajaya. Co-owned with friends and after two years of lethargic business, mainly owing to the location, the curtains have come down on the outlet and with that, on an investment to the tune of RM1mil.
By Anita Gabriel The Star
Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Maybank Investment, Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, dijangka meninggalkan Maybank Berhad sebaik kontrak beliau genap setahun pada Jun 2011.
Menurut maklumat yang diterima, Ahli Lembaga Pengarah Maybank secara tidak rasminya telah bersetuju dengan saranan pengurusan Maybank agar kontrak Tengku Zafrul dikaji semula menjelang genap perkhidmatannya selama setahun yang menjelang Jun 2011.
Pada minggu lalu Tengku Zafrul dipanggil menghadap oleh Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) Maybank Berhad, Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar berikutan kenyataan beliau bahawa pasaran tidak gembira dengan keputusan perlantikan Tan Sri Isa sebagai pengerusi Felda.
Abdul Wahid dilaporkan meminta Zafrul menyediakan bukti dan fakta bagi menyokong dakwaan beliau tersebut.
Menurut sumber yang dekat dengan Wahid, Maybank memandang serius kenyataan ketua bahagian unit pelaburannya itu kerana ia dilihat tidak boleh dipertahankan dan tidak berasaskan sebarang sentimen pasaran saham negara. Wahid Omar dikatakan turut memberi surat tunjuk sebab kepada Zafrul mengenai kenyataan beliau dalam Forum Ideas tersebut.
Dalam pertemuan tersebut juga Zafrul secara lisan menafikan beliau membuat sebarang kenyataan yang membawa implikasi beliau mempertikaikan perlantikan Tan Sri Isa kerana pernah dihukum bersalah dalam kempen pemilihan UMNO 2004. Sungguhpun belum menjawab surat tunjuk sebab, kebanyakan ahli lembaga pengarah Maybank dikatakan sependapat bahawa Zafrul harus meninggalkan Maybank Investment.
Mykmu sebelum ini mempertikaikan kenyataan Tengku Zafrul yang mengkritik keputusan kerajaan melantik Tan Sri Isa Samad sebagai Pengerusi Felda. Zafrul yang sebelum ini dilihat sebagai “budak suruhan Khairy” dalam isu ECM Libra – Avenue Capital merupakan segelintir anak muda Melayu yang naik kerana sokongan dan dokongan kerajaan hari ini menganggap dasar membantu orang Melayu sebagai ketinggalan zaman dan tidak pro- perniagaan.
Sungguhpun Zafrul ditonjolkan sebagai anak muda yang berjaya dan mendapat kedudukan hebat dalam bidang korporat, namun blogger A Voice mendedahkan bahawa kenaikan mendadak zafrul sejak beberapa tahun lalu jelas bertunjangkan ruang-ruang dan kaitan politik dan pegawai kanan kerajaan. (baca sini: http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com/2011/02/tengku-zafrul-maybanks-wrong-signal-to.html).
Zafrul sebelum ini dilantik menjadi CEO Maybank Investment pada Jun 2010. Tidak hairan jika Zafrul mengikut jejak Rafizi Ramli menjadi orang kuat PKR dan pengkhianat bangsa
