When the Chinese talk about feng shui, they have a holistic view and approach to it and one of the most famous saying is “first is Destiny, second is Luck, third is Feng Shui, fourth is Virtue and fifth is Knowledge”. That’s the importance in ascending order to the Chinese. But at the same time, a very important component within an individual (to the Chinese) is the name. Chinese people always attach great importance to the choice of names, so much so that in ancient time, Chinese believed that name contained the invisible fate and the visible and meaning characters.

Even in the current modern day, when parents or elders named a new born baby, they will normally consult the “wise-man” (fortune-teller) who will take several factors into full consideration: the astrological principles, the birthdate, the array of five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), the form, pronunciation, the numner of strokes and meaning of name. Ever wonder how Chairman Mao Tse-tung (毛澤東) rised and became the leader of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976? It was all in his name, as most fortune-tellers will tell you.

Ok, we’re not going to talk about fengshui or fortune-telling, though I’m very much interested in learning this area of meta-physic if there’s a true master who happens to be the reader of FinanceTwitter. Hey, one has to learn as much as possible across the board and not hiding oneself under the “coconut shell” in the name of complacent.

Talk about changing name, unlisted pay-TV operator MITV Corporation Sdn Bhd yesterday announced that it is now known as U Telecom Media Holdings Sdn Bhd. It futher claimed that the name change was to better reflect the group’s plans in offering multiple technology-driven services, applications and content. Its subsidiary, U Mobile Sdn Bhd (formerly known as MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd) is the newest mobile service provider using the 018 prefix.

U Mobile’s jewel is definitely the 3G license it won from the government of which is still sitting collecting dust without any productive roll-out from it yet. The fact that the company has signed interconnection agreements with Telekom Malaysia Berhad (KLSE: TM, stock-code 4863), Time DotCom Berhad (KLSE: TIMECOM, stock-code 5031), Celcom (M) Bhd, Maxis Communications Bhd and DIGI.com Berhad (KLSE: DIGI, stock-code 6947) only proves that besides the 3G paper license, it has nothing as far as infrastructure is concern in rolling out 3G services.

So, what about the pay-TV business that Vincent Tan and his lieutenants have been screaming about? If memory serves FinanceTwitter right, the MiTV’s ambitious plan to give Ananda Krishnan’s Astro All Asia Network Plc (KLSE: ASTRO, stock-code 5076) a run for the money stretches as far back as in 2001 (or earlier). Of course numerous promises were made and announced but it seems the fate (or feng shui) has determine that pay-TV is not the cup of tea that Vincent Tan should embarks on.

With the announcement on the name changes, does that mean Vincent is pulling his last leg out from the pay-TV business to concentrate in the lucrative telecommunication sector? Having started the DIGI.com only to sell it off to Norway’s Telenor ASA (OSL: TEL) for a huge profit, Vincent is indeed not a new kid on the block. But would it be a little too late to start all over again with the telco market already reaching its saturation stage?

It actually depends on whether he can attract a good management team who not only knows how to plan, execute and market the products but also how to create innovative services and offerings along the line. Furthermore it was after the Telenor’s team on board that DIGI.com managed to gain respect from other mobile service providers namely Maxis and Celcom and the stocks soar to the current level.

• The tale of pay TV business, ASTRO and NBC
• Who’s the New Buyer for 12% stake in DIGI.com?
• Privatization Gaining Momentum – Junk Stocks Left

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September 20th, 2007 by financetwitter

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