ALTHOUGH it’s a case of all’s well that ends well in the inheritance dispute over the late Tan Sri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis’ (JJ) assets valued at RM2.1 bil, many ordinary folks are basically stunned by the staggering wealth accumulated by the corporate tycoon-turned-politician during his lifetime.
This aside, many are flabbergasted as to why it took such a lengthy spell of six years for the deceased’s next-of-kin – widow Puan Sri Dr Kalsom Ismail, 68, her four children and her 89-year-old mother-in-law Aminah Abdullah – to amicably resolve the legal dispute on Wednesday (July 3).
“So much wealth. Why was he (JJ) not listed in the list of rich Malays? This is an example of a leader who does not want to show off. The deceased used to be a good person,” proclaimed a commentator to a Sinar Harian news portal report about the happy outcome which took place at the Federal Territory Syariah High Court.
Tuntutan harta lebih RM2.1 bilion Jamaludin Jarjis selesai
Selepas enam tahun berlanjutan, balu Allahyarham Tan Sri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis, Puan Sri Dr Kalsom Ismail bersama empat anak dan ibu mentuanya akhirnya bersetuju untuk menyelesaikan kemelut tuntutan harta sepencarian lebih… pic.twitter.com/LDciocqGGm
— SinarHarian (@SinarOnline) July 3, 2024
Recall that the former Rompin MP and former Malaysian ambassador to the US, then aged 64, was among six people killed in a helicopter crash on April 4, 2015.
Bound for Kuala Lumpur from Pahang, the chopper ferrying the confidant of now incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak had exploded mid-air before crashing in a rubber estate at 4.55pm at Kampung Sungai Pening in Semenyih, Selangor.
The entire inheritance ordeal started in March 2018 when Aminah filed a lawsuit on seeking a share of her son’s assets worth RM2.1 bil at the Syariah Court. She also sought the court to issue the Islamic wealth distribution (faraid) certificate for this matter.
According to faraid law, the mother gets one-sixth of the estate’s assets, the wife gets one-eighth and the remainder is shared among the children with the men getting more than the women.
One netizen fantasised that he would have utilised his portion of RM350 mil (RM2.1 bil divided by six claimants) to move to Mekah and settle down there.
Another reckoned that if he were one of the children or in-laws, he would have proposed that all halal gained wealth be distributed fairly while “whatever from non-halal sources are to be donated to the government”.
One commentator remembered JJ as being instrumental in developing the once remote Muadzam Shah district in Pahang by having established a UNITEN (Universiti Tenaga Nasional) campus there to stimulate the economy for its populace.
Last but not least, there is a need to answer this so-called curiosity that lingers in the mind of many netizens: where did JJ’s wealth come from?
Questions have arisen as to how JJ became a billionaire with some pointed to Najib as both men were quite close when the latter became Malaysia’s sixth prime minister (PM).
Malaysiakini had on Sept 1, 2018 cited Najib as saying that JJ was already successfully rich and well-known before he worked for him.
Najib further justified that JJ bought the company EPE Power Corp Bhd in 1986 which was listed on the then Second Board of Bursa Malaysia on Feb 17, 1994 (delisted in December 2007). This is when JJ accumulated his wealth to invest in other projects that generated revenues. – July 5, 2024
Main image credit: Sinar Harian
