Sterling Service to Nation

By N.A.S.

SOME quarters have been questioning the role of Petronas and its

contribution to the development of the nation. Questions have been raised

in Parliament, and of course, even your coffee-shop conversationalists

could be relied upon to debate the topic at length.

Still, coming from a generation that remembers all too well the oil

shocks of the 1970s, I believe it is my duty to offer my two cents’ worth

on the matter, lest we forget.

Petronas was established during the days of Tun Abdul Razak by an Act

of Parliament to manage the nation’s interest in respect of its petrol-

eum resources.

The oil embargo by Opec member countries back then showed us that we

badly needed to have some form of control over our own energy resources,

in the event of a crisis.

Our leaders then probably also realised that it was time we had local

engineers and managers capable of running our own oil fields, instead of

relying solely on foreign companies.

As a young civil servant back then, I recall the first batch of

Petronas employees setting up office in a wooden building near the former

Prime Minister’s office on Jalan Datuk Onn. As the years went by, quite a

number of bright young men left the service to join the newly- established

national oil company.

Since those days, Petronas, I must say, has done a sterling job in

ensuring that our locally drilled crude oil gets to the world market and

earns us the petrodollars we need for the nation’s development.

The company also ensured that the power generation stations were

getting a steady supply of gas, providing Malay- sians with electricity

that is affordable and in a manner that is not detrimental to the

environment.

And many a time, Petronas has intervened in the public’s favour to

ensure a steady supply of fuel locally.

Some of us can still recall when Petronas was called to supply kerosene

and diesel to the domestic market, due to a major shortage back in 1979.

For those who are old enough to remember, I’m sure they themselves

would have been among those lining up in front of the silver- coloured

Pet- ronas tanks with their distinctive green logo, waiting to fill their

kerosene tins.

As a government clerk with limited means, I was thankful that the

makeshift stations allowed the mini-buses to keep plying their routes.

Since then, Petronas has not looked back.

They’ve planted the Malaysian flag in more countries than any other

Malaysian corporation.

I believe we’ve done quite well, so why this complaining?

N.A.S.

Kuala Lumpur