"Daim's Last Hurrah!" Is Anwar Making Him Accountable For His Past “Secret Sins” Under Mahathir?

"Daim's Last Hurrah!" Is Anwar Making Him Accountable For His Past “Secret Sins” Under Mahathir?


1 Feb 2024


JK Joseph
Repentant ex-banker who believes in truth, compassion and some humour.

Credit Image: Agenda Daily / YouTube


When ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin turned up in court last Monday no one could have imagined that the country’s former well-respected economic “czar” and stock market “guru” had become so frail and wheelchair bound - he was almost beyond recognition!


In one of the highest-profile cases in a crackdown on graft involving a prominent figure the ex-finance minister had pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose assets involving 38 companies, 25 properties and several luxury vehicles under the country's anti-corruption law


Daim, 85, a close ally of Anwar's long-time foe Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is among personalities being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on suspicion of holding wealth in excess of that declared. He was granted bail after his lawyer had cited health issues. Incidentally, the charge carries a maximum jail term of five years and a fine of up to 100,000 ringgit.


In fact, barely a couple of weeks earlier the normally reticent octogenarian had defiantly claimed that his wealth could have rivalled Malaysia’s richest if he didn't join politics, saying that his decision to join the government from 1984 to 2001 and serve the country came at "a great financial loss" to him and his family.


The report further quoted him as claiming that had he stayed on in business and done nothing to actively grow these assets, the value of his liquid stock holdings alone would be worth over RM50 billion today!


Surely, that statement would have set tongues wagging and caused some to cynically point out that although he is already super rich he is still ruing the billions more that he could have amassed. Has greed no limits - especially when many of his fellow Malaysians in the B40 segment were struggling to make ends meet by performing double or even triple jobs daily?


Still, in spite of all the glare of publicity, it would seem that the former Umno treasurer has still remained elusive regarding his actual wealth. According to court documents, Daim had said that he had entered the business world in 1969, and founded a property development firm in Kuala Lumpur, later going on to become owner of two banks — the Malaysian French Bank, and subsequently UMBC (which is now part of RHB Bank Bhd now).


Incidentally, Daim who seems visibly upset with Anwar also claimed that honesty, integrity and good governance have all gone out of the window under the current prime minister’s administration; he further bemoaned how independent institutions in the country have now been turned into pliable tools by his former Umno colleague to pursue his political opponents.


As if not enough, he went on to label Anwar as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who cries for reforms, but does the polar opposite; Daim also asserted that he is not too bothered about his fate and challenges Anwar to throw everything at him despite his frail health.


Ironically, the ex-finance minister also quoted the famous saying that “for evil to triumph it only takes good men to do nothing.” But then, some may ask, where were he and all the other good men during the heady days under Dr Mahathir when Tun Salleh Abas was controversially "sacked" in 1988?


Meanwhile, many would also recall another fateful incident involving Daim from the past, as was reported by Malaysiakini, when in early January 1994, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) plunged by nearly 30 per cent within two days. It was said to have wiped out billions of ringgit - burning the hands of countless investors - allegedly triggered by an interview with Daim in which The Star had quoted him as saying: “Get out now, don’t say we didn’t warn you”!


According to the said report, the then-government economic adviser had apparently warned investors that the stock market boom had reached a dangerous level and he had personally cashed out apart from several blue chip stocks; apparently, these remarks literally turned Malaysia’s share market into a rout.


Then, following that, he went on to criticise the newspaper instead for irresponsible sensationalism, further claiming that he had never made such suggestions; this effectively absolved him from all blame for the mayhem.


However, his critics (including opposition icon Lim Kit Siang) were quick to point out that Daim’s response to the incident only came 12 days after his statement was published by the newspaper!


The question on many people's lips then was, why didn't he issue the clarification earlier? At least then he could have rebutted rumours that he may have deliberately triggered the market “collapse” so that he could manipulate the situation by picking up more stocks at dirt-cheap price.



In fact, Kit Siang smelling something fishy, had also raised the issue of whether the said stock market meltdown had something to do with the manoeuvres by corporate players with connections to UMNO leaders - and whether the KLSE plunge had been the opportunity for the raising of election funds for the party for the Sabah state general elections.


The truth is, Daim, in spite of possessing brilliant business acumen and for all his corporate conquests had also served as a former finance minister and for a prolonged period the treasurer of the country’s dominant political party - and its economic advisor.


Of course, when you combine that with the fact that he was also a prominent investor, clearly it gave him immense powers; but didn’t that also give him a grossly unfair advantage over others? In fact, isn't this the sort of “unholy” practices from the past that Anwar is trying to stamp out now as part of his “reform” agenda?



Meanwhile, last December, a report by Kritik.com openly questioned Daim on how he became so rich while the country was bouncing from one crisis after another, even painting him as a cunning businessman-cum-politician who had allegedly mastered the art of deftly exploiting his position for personal gain.


In fact, the same report had alleged that he might also have been at the root of many national crises, yet mysteriously his name had remained untarnished; was it because of the “obscene” wealth he possessed coupled with his bond of friendship with the authoritarian Dr. Mahathir?


It further alleged that back then Daim had also persuaded Dr Mahathir to give the Economic Planning Unit and Treasury full power in implementing the dubious “privatisation” policy (sometimes dubbed "pirate-station" by critics!) where it was no longer necessary to call for tenders for government projects with much of it said to be often shrouded in mystery. Imagine such things happening today under Anwar?



Moreover, it was also alleged that Daim had a hand in making millionaires of cronies such as Wan Azmi, Halim Saad and Tajuddin Ramli - perhaps, to give the false impression to the Malays that under Dr Mahathir, the Malays have finally taken over the ketuanan mantle in the business world from the Chinese?


The bottom line is, while Daim may play victim now, more than the millions (or even billions) that he may have legitimately earned and stashed overseas, could it be his alleged “secret sins” - under Dr Mahathir during their glory days in the eighties and nineties - that has finally returned to make him answerable to the nation?