By Subramaniam Krishnan
TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad was seen in the headlines again this week, this time, he demanded his former protégé, Najib Razak to explain where did the RM114 mil seized from his apartment came from.
Well, that’s ironic.
Before that happens, shouldn’t we find out where did the wealth of Mahathir’s family and his inner circle came from.
After all, Mahathir’s first tenure as Prime Minister was characterised by “bumiputera capitalism”.
Through himself, Daim Zainuddin and Anwar Ibrahim, prior to his downfall in September 1998 – massive swathes of public assets were privatized including multi-billion projects such as the North-South Highway, water and sewerage, the Bakun dam, Light Rail Transit System (LRT) and the National Train Service (KTM).
Looking back, these “wealth creation” only benefited the political elites that were tasked to oversee them and the corporate patrons that they used to create legitimacy.
When these companies inevitably failed, they were often bailed out. The only loser being the rakyat, who now have to deal with (and pay for a) myriad range of substandard and overpriced public infrastructure.
In the short 22 months that was Pakatan Harapan, there were multiple signs of the rich getting richer.
Just four days after his father was sworn in as Prime Minister, Opcom Cables was awarded a RM11.16 mil contract by Telekom Malaysia. Mokhzani is the chairman and CEO of this Opcom Cables at that time and his brother, Mukhriz (who is Opcom’s co-founder), was the largest shareholder until he turned his shares over to his wife before entering politics.
Mokhzani is also Malaysia’s 45th richest man according to Forbes 2020 50 Richest Net Worth list.
A few months later, a letter of appointment that addressed as Petron Fuel International Bhd as one of the fuel suppliers for government vehicles went gone viral on social media. Another of Mahathir’s son, Mirzan Mahathir, is a director of Philippine-based Petron Corporation, which owns Petron Malaysia.
On Aug 29, the shares of Opcom, a company engaged in the manufacture and sale of fiber optic cables and cable related products in Malaysia rose 41.11% in a day.
The timing was pretty suspect given that the government only recently approved a RM21.6 bil National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan.
Again with hindsight, could we blame anyone but ourselves at these recent turn of events?
Some truths still remain – the closer an individual is to Mahathir, economic prosperity is almost sure to follow. It is no secret that Mahathir generously spreads the wealth around his close circle and friends. After all, companies linked to his family often secures GLC tenders, better financing, government bailouts and more.
Were these activities what the component parties of Pakatan Harapan had fought for? A simple changing of the guard.
Pakatan Harapan was disappointing, let’s be clear – and no doubt had lost its bite in the days leading up to Langkah Sheraton. Where were the warriors, for example, Nurul Izzah and Rafizi. Let’s not forget it was Mahathir’s own choices that burdened us with individuals such as Redzuan Yusof and Rina Harun?
After all it was opposition (now Mahathir ally) leader Lim Kit Siang who stated that, that it was during Mahathir’s 22-year tenure as prime minister that Malaysia first began to “rot”, thanks to corruption and rampant power abuse.
He pointed out that it was during Mahathir who had “single-handedly destroyed the independence, impartiality and professionalism not only of the judiciary, but also of other important national institutions like the police, the Election Commission, the anti-corruption agency, and the civil service”.
Let that sink in. – June 3, 2021
Subramaniam Krishnan is a contributor for FocusM.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
