The Government's 30 (Billion) Pieces of Silver

There must be a moral here that we are missing. Perhaps PM AAB could break his ‘elegant’ silence once again to help us identify the message.

Nor Mohamed Yakcop was allegedly identified as ‘one of the culprits’ behind the nearly RM 30 billion loss incurred by Bank Negara, the Malaysian Central Bank, due to foreign exchange (forex) speculation in the early 1990s.

This was asserted by Rosli Yaakop, who was then deputy economic Manager of Bank Negara.

Rosli said that speculation activity was illegal because they went against currency market norms and practices as well as Bank Negara’s internal regulations and policies. As punishment, the Central Bank allegedly barred Nor Mohamed from working in any financial institutions

But hey-ho, after Nor Mohamed left Bank Negara, he was appointed to high positions with financial institutions Rashid Hussain Securities and the Abrar Group International. According to a Malaysiakini reader, Ibnu Hakeem, it was Anwar Ibrahim who as Finance Minister then appointed Nor Mohamad - see my earlier posting Malaysia's Mr 'Forgetful'.

And if those allegations about his culpability in the RM 30 billion loss are true, then in the greatest insult to taxpayers, he was later recalled to Bank Negara as special adviser to the government.

Wait, there’s more! In January 2004, PM AAB, who is also finance minister, appointed him second finance minister.

What’s the moral lesson? Maybe we need to read about the rewards of the government, our Judas Iscariot, for betraying us.