Editor’s Note: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) head honcho Tan Sri Azam Baki has confirmed to Buletin TV3 that Menara Ilham, a prime commercial building owned by the family of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, has been seized by the anti-graft agency.
Citing financial executives close to the UMNO treasurer between 1984 and 2001, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported that the seizure took place yesterday (Dec 21) following the former politician’s refusal to submit to petitions from the MACC to declare his and his family’s financial holdings.
The MACC’s move against Daim is part of an anti-money laundering investigation that began in late May into a corporate transaction valued RM2.3 bil in November 1997 involving publicly listed Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM), two entities that were former cornerstones of the business empire tied to the one-time ruling UMNO party.
“Financial executives close to Daim said the former politician received an order from the MACC in late May to declare his financial holdings and other assets belonging to members of his family,” noted CNA.
“But Daim rebuffed those demands and had insisted during questioning by MACC officials that he had nothing to do with the Renong-UEM deal.”
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I HAVE always believed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim doesn’t not have in him the seed of the world to come.
Anwar belongs to the past. Like it or not, his place is in the world that his mentor-turned-nemesis Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reigned. In memories, proclivities, disposition, standpoints and aspirations, he belongs in the same world that Dr Mahathir calls home.
The sun has long set on the old world. The old order, however, is stubbornly clinging to a world that is ceasing to exist and its stubbornness is delaying the new world from having its time under the sun.
If the ancient regime continues to have its way, it might even force the new world to be stillborn.
The slate needs to be wiped clean to prepare the grounds for the birth of the new world. The old trees that are taking all the space and blocking the sunlight and from reaching the ground need to be felled so that young saplings can grow and replenish the forest.
Anwar might not contain the seed of the world to come but destiny might have chosen him to be the one who prepares the ground for the new world to be born.
It doesn’t matter for what reason Anwar cuts down the old trees. It doesn’t matter whether he is doing it to settle old scores or to be the midwife of the world to come.
As Deng Xiaoping once said, it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white but as long as it catches mice. The only thing we need to know is that the old trees need to be brought down for the forest to survive.
As long as he does what is necessary for the times, Anwar’s name will be remembered and honoured in the world that he will help bring forth though he himself might not have any part in it.
For all you know, destiny might have conspired to bring Anwar to this very moment by setting him on a path filled with trial and tribulations for the past 25 years.
This is Anwar’s hour. His entire life might have been a preparation for this exact moment in our nation’s history.
With the seizure of Menara Ilham, the gauntlet has been thrown and the salvo has been fired. Soon the forces of the old and the new world will be arrayed on the battleground.
Leading the new world will be Anwar Ibrahim, the last great man from the old world.
He will be leading the charge against his old companions, mentor, allies and comrades in the old world for the sake of the world that is yet to come.
If he succeeds, he will be forever remembered as the man who saved Malaysia at a critical juncture in its history. He will be the Bapa Reformasi Malaysia who against all odds, forced the old world to march into the sunset and set the stage for a New Malaysia to have its time under the sun. – Dec 22, 2023
Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main pic credit: Berita Harian
