Extracts from Malaysiakini:
The repeated terrorising and plundering of GLCs
by P Gunasegaram
Political appointments are nothing new in Malaysia – they have been going on since the time of independence. But at no time in the past was it needed so much for the survival of a prime minister – and that is why it makes it so dangerous now.
Right from independence in 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman made political appointments but none for the sake of his own survival but many for the sake of the advancement and survival of the country at a time when talent was scarce because there were so few who were educated and able.
He dished out patronage but it did not personally benefit him or his family. Lim Goh Tong built a gambling empire called Genting on a mountain in Pahang. Tunku was instrumental in granting him a casino licence which made the place such a success.
His successor Abdul Razak Hussein (below), Najib Razak’s father, nudged Tunku out of office with the help of others who included Mahathir, who was expelled from Umno for writing against Tunku in 1969 before and after May 13.
In 1974, not only was Mahathir given a seat to contest, he was given the plum position of education minister by Abdul Razak, unheard of for a first-time minister until the infamous appointment of Maszlee Malik in 2018 by, of all people, Mahathir. Abdul Razak’s father-in-law was on the boards of numerous companies in those days, including Genting.
Hussein Onn, Razak’s successor after his death in 1976, offered former Umno Youth head Harun Idris an ambassador’s position to Jakarta to get him out of the political arena before the latter was charged for criminal offences related to a boxing event featuring Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur.
Mahathir 1.0
And then there was Mahathir from 1981 to 2003 who brought new meaning to the terms patronage and power. His cronies were everywhere prevalent. He gave away plum government offerings to his cronies, orchestrated together with Daim Zainuddin – independent power producers, mobile telephony, gaming companies, tolled roads, naval vessels.
Right from independence in 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman made political appointments but none for the sake of his own survival but many for the sake of the advancement and survival of the country at a time when talent was scarce because there were so few who were educated and able.
He dished out patronage but it did not personally benefit him or his family. Lim Goh Tong built a gambling empire called Genting on a mountain in Pahang. Tunku was instrumental in granting him a casino licence which made the place such a success.
His successor Abdul Razak Hussein (below), Najib Razak’s father, nudged Tunku out of office with the help of others who included Mahathir, who was expelled from Umno for writing against Tunku in 1969 before and after May 13.
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Hussein Onn, Razak’s successor after his death in 1976, offered former Umno Youth head Harun Idris an ambassador’s position to Jakarta to get him out of the political arena before the latter was charged for criminal offences related to a boxing event featuring Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur.
Mahathir 1.0
And then there was Mahathir from 1981 to 2003 who brought new meaning to the terms patronage and power. His cronies were everywhere prevalent. He gave away plum government offerings to his cronies, orchestrated together with Daim Zainuddin – independent power producers, mobile telephony, gaming companies, tolled roads, naval vessels.
Sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd was formed during his time, the Employees Provident Fund had a subsidiary Makuwasa formed in a failed attempt to corner the London tin market, and he pushed people into moribund heavy industries such as steel and cement, costing the country dearly when they had to be rescued.
Many of his cronies went under during the 1997/98 financial crisis, and many of Daim’s boys disappeared into oblivion, but Daim by many accounts was one of the richest men in Malaysia.
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When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became PM in 2003, one of the main things he did was to institute changes in GLCs, especially the big ones under Khazanah Nasional, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Petronas. During his time, major changes were made to improve the corporate governance procedures in GLCs although the politics of patronage and appointments continued.
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As advised by Zaid Ibrahim, AAB decently compensated Tun Haji Mohamed Salleh bin Abas for unbelievable wrongs done to him and other judges by the then-Mahathir (1.0) government |
mahathir kicked out by that backdoor pm already, many months ago, can we start talking backdoor pm n not the past pm?
ReplyDeleteKT is so selective when re-tweeting Guna. He missed Guna's earlier article, maybe because KT admits he knows little about 1MDB.
ReplyDelete1MDB is a current event, strangely KT is in the dark....but Toonsie's scandals from 30, 40 year ago KT is an expert, and he got memory like an elephant....ha ha ha...so strange....
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COMMENT | Give due credit for 1MDB recoveries
P Gunasegaram
17 Apr 2020
COMMENT | Honesty, integrity and the desire to give credit where due decree that the right people are recognised for good things that happen to the country. The Muhyiddin government could have earned some precious public goodwill if it did that for recoveries of money stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Instead they took credit for something they should not have – the return by the United States of US$300 million or some RM1.3 billion in monies from the sale of assets in the US bought with money stolen from 1MDB.
This brings the total recovered and repatriated to US$620 million or RM2.7 billion – a sizeable amount of money but still just a fraction of the US$4.5 billion (RM19.6 billion) the US Department of Justice or DOJ said was embezzled from 1MDB by Jho Low between 2009 and 2015, implicating also then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
In a 2015 report, then classified secret under the Official Secrets Act, Malaysia’s auditor-general said that some US$7 billion or RM30.5 billion could not be accounted for. The RM2.7 billion so far recovered represents under 10% of the 1MDB money which went missing.
The public unhappiness is over who is credited with getting this money back. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed gratitude to the US government, in particular to its embassy here. But he added more.
“I would also like to commend Malaysia’s minister of finance and the attorney-general for their role in the negotiation process. 1MDB asset recovery efforts are ongoing, and the government will continue to work with the US, the DOJ and other governments to recover and repatriate more 1MDB monies in the future,” Muhyiddin said.
The question is which finance minister and which AG. Sources tell me that a meeting and announcement had been scheduled for the same purpose on Feb 19 with finance minister then, Lim Guan Eng, his political secretary Tony Pua, the US ambassador Kamala Lakhdhir and then AG Tommy Thomas to announce the return of monies.
But for various reasons, including waiting for a larger amount of money, the meeting was postponed. In the meantime, the backdoor government move started, Thomas resigned and Lim and Pua were out of government...
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Podah lah Guna.
ReplyDelete