Why did MITI stop issuing APs to Wald’s Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd?

The Royal Customs of Malaysia confiscated 37 Wald-branded cars belonging to Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd last week at Teluk Intan. The cars included Wald-badged Toyota Harriers and Volkswagen Touareg SUVs.

Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd belongs to Tunku Datuk Zainol Tengku Izham and Ramzia Arshad and was issued 2025 APs this year. MITI has halted the issuance of APs to Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd because of non-compliance.

The question we asked when I blogged about this previously is, why did MITI stop issuing APs to Wald? Why have the cars been confiscated? Has Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd been made a scapegoat?

A Berita Harian article tells us the answer.

Katanya, kebanyakan kenderaan itu diisytihar kepada pihak kastam berharga RM11,000 seunit, iaitu hanya 13 peratus daripada duti import sedangkan di pasaran ia dijual melebihi RM100,000 seunit.

Turut dirampas ialah kenderaan model Harrier dan Touareg yang sudah diubah suai menjadi Wald.

“Duti import yang cuba dielakkan lebih daripada RM2 juta. Semua kenderaan yang dirampas kini disimpan di gudang KDRM di Teluk Intan, Perak sementara menunggu siasatan lanjut.

“Malah kes ini juga sedang disiasat oleh Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR),” katanya ketika dihubungi Berita Minggu, semalam.

There we have it. I have been drooling over the Wald-imported Volkswagen Golf GTI but my heart sank at the price tag exceeding RM200,000. Cars at a selling price of over RM100,000 being declared worth only RM11,000 per unit in order to evade tax.

I end this with a quote from Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd’s press statement on the matter.

While we find this a bitter pill to swallow, especially since we are only 10 months old, Amazing Tempo prides itself on conducting its business with the highest levels of ethics. We continuously strive to adhere to all relevant rules and regulations governing the automotive trade, and we will continue to do so. Thank you in anticipation of your continued support and understanding.

One thing though… it seems the government has double standards when it comes to actions taken against AP cheaters. I blogged about a list of identified AP cheaters who underdeclared their cars before, and they only got slapped with a 30-38 percent PGE fine which caused their cars to be more expensive. But with Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd, they stop getting APs and have to go out of business.

Of course, as quoted from the ministry source in the Berita Harian article, we’re still waiting for siasatan lanjut, so keep your fingers crossed for the final outcome.

Sources:

Kastam rampas 37 kenderaan jenama Wald
Miti maklum batal AP Amazing Tempo

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • Wondering about BRABUS…Tuning version for Mercs..Like WALD for TOYOTA…etc…This is the result from Dato' Shahrir investigation on tuned AP's.He looks like Grissom in AP's issue.

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  • DOG THE WAN on Sep 17, 2005 at 4:24 pm

    Yeah! Let's clean it up! no AP f***king rich easy money business!! FULL support!

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  • Wald AP is stopped because it is imported under performance AP yet there is no modifications on its engine ! it remains stock (same HP and Torque) like the rest of the toyota or VW. The only different is badges, bodykits, rims and maybe the suspensions.

    anyway, for undervalue… i dont think only WALD is the only 1 playing dirty. my sis boss bought his SLK 230 from merecedes benz malaysia n he got to know they declared the car to custom for only rm19000 !!! imagine that, WALD is the only escape goat for Custom, not MITI.

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  • eRis-Aeir4s on Sep 17, 2005 at 6:17 pm

    …..Bleh , I forgot this is bolehland. Nothing is impossible in bolehland xD.

    Seriously they suck , I hate them , as in people underdeclaring this n that. Someone care to explain why they can underdeclare the car so easily? Is the customs so easy to fool?

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  • Under-declaring is good for the consumers like you and me. Cheaper prices, hello?!

    The bigger picture is where the 100-200% duties go to.

    Straight to the government, where they throw RM2million retirement parties, but not into more and better roads, or subsidizing more tolls.

    And the 100-200% duties also serve to prop up Proton to continue to implicitly economically force everyone to buy substandard cars that have below-par safety feature for this modern age.

    Hell, for example, it's a law in the US for most cars to have air bags. And the cars are still so much cheaper.

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  • pls check Rafidah's niece imported kleemman, import duty also low.

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  • michael lee on Sep 17, 2005 at 9:27 pm

    while most of us are picking up our jaws from the floor, maybe it will be equally astounding if somebody is able to varify the amount ACTUALLY paid to the principals. Is there some more wayang kulit involved ? – if there is, and I hope not, good corporate governance may also have to be seriously questioned.

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  • michael lee on Sep 17, 2005 at 10:09 pm

    Paul – sorry for more time – what is the law if we are caught driving an under declared vehicle even though we did not know ? … any salah kah ?

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  • I don't know… but I can try to find out. I don't think it's our salah, the government did not go after the Korean owners after they slapped the PGE fine on the purchase price. Sold means sold already lah probably.

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  • narrowband on Sep 17, 2005 at 10:29 pm

    This whole AP thingy shouldn't exist in the first place. What a mess.

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  • michael lee on Sep 17, 2005 at 11:31 pm

    … dunno Paul. What if those guys still with underdeclared imports quickly " sell " them at RM1 each to a company ? Does this mean that they cannot be confiscated because they have suddenly become legit ? I know we are talking about Wald – but this is kind of related. Pls. delete if you ( Wald ) wish.

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  • patrick on Sep 17, 2005 at 11:33 pm

    AP or no AP the prices of cars in Malaysia sucks! They are so expensive relative to our earnings. Honestly I don't care if the prices of cars are high or petrol is not subsidised – just improve the public transport system! We consumers don't not much of a choice here. Imagine you stay somehwere in PJ and your teenage daughter is studying in a college in Setapak. You'd need to get a car for her as you would probably not want her to take buses to attend a couple of lectures! It's all mainly because of the ned to protect Proton. Since car prices are all jackd up, we need to unnecessarily pay a lot more in insurance premiums. As for the imported cars, imagine that probably 2/3 of the premium paid is just to cover taxes. Insurance companies are also laughing all the way to the bank. Everyone should boycott or delay buying new or imported cars for 1 year just to shake up the motor industry.

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  • Selvenz on Sep 18, 2005 at 12:46 am

    Its sad ….that we as malaysians are not able to afford to drive better cars like our counterparts in Singapore or Thailand. The tax regime has totally burderned our financial system. Can you imagine if they removed the taxes the chaos it would cause with bank loans, used car prices…..but still its sad…

    When i was in the US anyone who drives a PERDANA here can easily afford a BMW 3 series in the US. But due to the protection of PROTON its not going to be possible maybe if were lucky our grandkids will be able to afford a decent car but I highly doubt it…….

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  • HANG JEBAT on Sep 18, 2005 at 4:52 am

    no wonder many M'sian prefer to stay oversea then return to M'sia.. suck huh? keep voting the current G…

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  • Impul Motorsports is in the same position as Wald – more or less. Wondering if Impul is really THAT clean…to escape such sanctions. My instincts tell me that Wald is a reflection the entire grey import cars business, just that Wald was caught, the rest weren't. Of course, I am just a layman with no time to dig up more info or facts to back me up. Just instincts.

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  • Pentan Sakua.... on Sep 18, 2005 at 6:05 am

    Aisayman…Any idea when the Custom Department going to LELONG all those cars they confiscate? Does anybody know? Who have contact in the Custom Department/ Any Kang Tau ka to get one when they LELONG? Ha ha ha he he he ho ho ho……………….

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  • narrowband on Sep 18, 2005 at 6:52 am

    Hey I want to buy the lelong Walds too, if they gonna lelong them.

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  • Keith on Sep 18, 2005 at 11:00 am

    There'll be no more services being carried out by Wald? I wonder where's the Wald owner is going to service their car…afterall…

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  • terrence on Sep 18, 2005 at 12:10 pm

    seriously i think that mahadthir is scared to take IMF's bail out package during 97 because he knows they would not tolerate such policies and acutally would dig up all his shite like this.

    honestly with IMF in the country reformation of all these unjust policies and those crooked politicians would all be behind bars. look at south korea. but hey he spinned the story round and we are still where we started….. APs, NEPs..sigh…….how are we to comepete globally?

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  • The_Backbencher on Sep 18, 2005 at 4:52 pm

    If im not mistaken, a few months back someone posted a joke about Proton & Perodua.

    Link = http://www.peroduamyvi.com/viewtopic.php?id=80

    Protection for Proton again? What do u guys think?

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  • FiveElements on Sep 18, 2005 at 10:31 pm

    Ha HAH AHAH what a joke. They have been operating for 10 months and now CUSTOM said they under declared the car.

    I believe the CUSTOM poeple is not stupid. They dont live in the Jungle. Obviously they would know it is under declared. Can u imagine RM11000 per car???

    Go ask a kindergarten student and they can tell you that car worth more than that. I smell something fishy here.

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  • akari on Sep 18, 2005 at 11:38 pm

    *ahem* *ahem*………

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  • hi terrence, with IMF we would have been paying market price fuel for years already (since '98).. at 2 to 3 ringgit per litre.. mati loo..

    …then again we would have been driving toyotas..no more proton protection…

    ..but, how can we afford, need to langsai hutang to IMF first loo…

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  • terrence on Sep 19, 2005 at 5:26 am

    i know with IMF coming in it'll be tough but atlest it'll over turn all of the wrong doings in this country. in a fairy tale ending it may even pull the rakyat together instead of us being to segregrated by distrust and bigotry like now. just look at how tailand and korea pull themselves together and paid off the debt in such a short time. look at how far they are ahead of us now.

    it's jsut a question of tightening our belt for a few years and endure. what's 5 years of suffering and enjoying the fruits of labour for eternity…. fairy tale again….

    sigh…………………………

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  • terrence on Sep 19, 2005 at 5:29 am

    now we're were we started……..practically the wagon did not even move…….. everyday the newspaper uncovers more shite with our g-men.

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  • nalie on Sep 19, 2005 at 3:49 pm

    perhaps we should get rid of proton along with the whole AP issue.. no more ridiculous auto taxes (reduced government income? go tax tobacco products at 300% i say!)..

    then perhaps i cud get myself an m3 n a gtr.. :)

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  • nalie, stop dreaming, now back to our regulary scheduled programming

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  • dear terrence, dont forget indonesia, argentina?, other south american countries?

    ……its not always rosy with IMF…

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  • Biothing on Sep 19, 2005 at 5:46 pm

    Ahemm indeed!!

    hey people, I agree with many of us that it is Custom that needs reeducation. Wonder if the DG who's son also have tune up cars AP is cringing in his seat.

    One look and you must know Golf GTI does not cost RM11K. What the (sic). The one I know costing RM11K are Korean cars, and that's not under value. It's the real value of some models of Kia, Hyundai etc. MASS PRODUCTION maahhhh!! Nothing against them they are good, some better than Proton. WHo brioght them in, Sime Darby, NAZA bla bla. They are competing with Proton, not Brabus or Kleeman or Wald.

    Agreed WALD is made scapegoat, read www.malaysia-today.net

    I remember in the same article, some of the cars were confiscated for not having having the duty paid? if NOT PAID yet, so how come under UNDER DECLARE!!??? Stupid or what!!

    Again, the question is, can someone in Amazing Tempo response (anonymously) to tell us what really happens? How does this stopping AP really started?

    What will happen to my WISH?

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  • our G double standard??? u are wrong Paulie ~~ it has no "Standard" and "Standard" or "Policies" can be made overnite without consideration of public interest (oni to private or private group interest) and here we have these AP kings! owning a helipad la..driving diff. model of freaking luxury cars everyday still chanting they need more la bla bla bla.

    Globalization? hold it mate!! there will never be a globalization if our G still running at how they are now, Rapida was made embarrassed when mat salleh asked her who no electricity…this will further hurt the repo and sooner the investment is going elsewhere…this piece of bolehland will become bogelland liao!

    Wake up~~~!!!!

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  • Biothing on Sep 19, 2005 at 9:12 pm

    G no standard correcct!!! How can one 'follow standard, rule, law etc' if there is no such thing. OOHh if there is one, then it can change overnignt, exception la bla bla.

    Standard for you not the same with standard for me, he he. What the heck with Automotive Policy? MITI and Custom? What have they been doing? All cannot work together, only when there is a problem (like AP King NAZA problem.. wait he's the good guy apparently, after milking lots of money form tax payes and car owners but managed to built 1 bil new factory — hey I can do that!.) Still, we need only ONE company running car for Malaysia, then we can possibly get cheaper car, because we only have to feed ONE AP King who own Proton, perodua, inokom, whatever and will not be advised by Mahathir.

    And then they must found a scapegoat, to say that they have DONE their duty. Come along WALD the whipping boy! later all other Tune Up car if necessary. They can't do that to Honda or Kia importer, as the Manufacturer will flip. Who's WALD, no one heard of them. Impul whatever. So they kill it!! They don't care about people/dealers and anyone who started business selling these cars, all theay are worried about is their own sorry and smelly ASS.

    Now this guy saying he doesn't want any party for his farewell, save the RM5million!! What a joke.

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  • terrence on Sep 19, 2005 at 9:39 pm

    those countries have corrupted governemnt.. just like us.. maybe that's the reason alone why we did not take the package. scared our own ministers take all the funds and siphoned it into their own swiss bank accounts of run off to OZ with a briefcase full of cash like last time

    sigh…. in a perfect word.. we would have reformed like hong kong, south korea and thailand. how are we to compete globally now? sigh…………

    now where's the AP case? where's the explanation by rafidah to us rakyat? anyone can tell me what happened to tajuddin? off topic abit

    cheers

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  • FiveElements on Sep 19, 2005 at 10:07 pm

    I wonder why we are paying the anti corruption agency at all??? Isnt that complete waste of our money???

    Even a five years old knows there are too many coruption take place in the Malaysia.

    They definately never do their job. Should the tax payers still keep this bunch of non contributing people. Should fire them all, use their salary to help the poor instead…

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  • aksMS on Sep 19, 2005 at 11:20 pm

    There are too many LOOP HOLES in Custom's imports and excise acts and regulation. Nuthing fishy really. These so called Kings are happily taking advantages of these weaknessess with the Custom could only look helplessly. You can't blame the Custom department…..not entirely at least. The 1st person to ask is….the BiG G! Why all these loop holes exist and why it has been there for years without any initiative taken to stop it? Be it from Tun's era until PLah's era? So much for war on corruption.

    Paul, I think u must've heard such loop holes. Care to DIG more? To be cont….

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  • Biothing on Sep 19, 2005 at 11:45 pm

    Yeeah Paul. loop wholes, without getting into trouble with Big G la. like the Singaporean bloggers. In the name of Transparency OK.

    Now, consider having a business like Perodua or NAZA. Only bumi Malay company or Can anyone do it? Can ahh..

    Proton is G initiated, but cannot even conquer ASEAN market. I'm dead serious about having only ONE car company. let these guys, GLC or AP King NAZA fight it out. Big G must decide, we are wasting time and money on these stupid cars.

    Good car = Cheap car

    Not cheap car = no good car

    ahy not cheap = big tax la!

    Very good car = hybrid car (for now la!!) also cheap because use less petrol.

    excellent car = hybrid and no tax car ha ha ha!!

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  • I don't really have any comment to make. Just to sick to think of one.

    I am actually waiting for my Golf FSI. Registration no. is going to "expired" soon.

    Are they taking forever to "siasat" this matter? Or are they not doing any investigation at all? What would happen to people like me who had paid the deposit for the car and bought the insurance? Can somebody advice?

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  • honourMe on Sep 21, 2005 at 4:49 am

    why bother AP when it doesnt harm u or screw ur monthly salary? see what have become now, more expensive CBU, and toms,wald dan lain lain will out of msian road soon.

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