Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Regulatory Agencies, GLICs and GLCs Are Not Fiefdom



A Kadir Jasin
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

PREAMBLE: Views expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Regulatory Agencies, GLICs and GLCs are not private domains
MANY young and not so young politicians and business executives do not like to be reminded of past events. They either think that they know all or they don’t want to be burdened by the past.

As such, in my half a century of practicing journalism I have seen mistakes and crimes of the past being repeated almost willfully and to the exact detail.

As a continuation to my stories in this Blog and in my Facebook on the goings-on at the Finance Ministry, the Bursa Malaysia Berhad and the Securities Commission, allow me to recall the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal of the 1980s.

BMF was incorporated as a wholly owned, offshore subsidiary of Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad (BBMB) in 1974 and commenced business in Hong Kong in 1977.

I was then a reporter at the Business Times and was assigned to get a comment from BBMB on rumours that BMF was facing problems due to fraud.

I managed to get a comment from the bank’s Chief Economist who dismissed the foreign media reports as mere speculations.

But in matter of weeks the scandal blew up. I confronted the executive and, in not so many words, told him that he had lied to me and I, in turn, lied to my readers.

To cut the story short, BMF collapsed dragging BBMB down with it. Internal auditor Abdul Jalil Ibrahim was murdered while investigating the scandal in Hong Kong in 1983. Three top managers of BBMB, including the officer who misled me, were eventually jailed in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

They were found guilty of conspiring with Hong Kong-based Malaysian businessman, George Tan, to defraud the bank.

Another Chinese Malaysian businessman, Mak Foon Than, was later tried and convicted for the murder of Abdul Jalil. He was sentenced to hang but was later commuted to life. Tan was jailed for three year in 1996 on conspiracy charges relating to BMF.

The top managers of BBMB/BMF were all Malays and the businessman who conspired with them was a Chinese. Sounds very much like the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that partnered the former Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, and Jho Low.

Abdul Jalil was not the only murder victim linked to or were associated with high-level corruption scandals in Malaysia. Others include the Mongolian girlfriend of Abdullah Abdul Razak Baginda, Altantuya Shaariibuu, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Anthony Morais and the co-founder of Arab-Malaysia Bank (AmBank) Hussain Najadi.

So, my advice to politicians, businessmen and business executives is, please do not think too high and mighty about yourself.

With specific reference to people appointed to run regulatory agencies (like SC and Bank Negara), Government-linked Investment Companies (GLICs) and Government-linked Companies (GLCs), do not treat them as your fiefdom!

We are now living in the open world of the internet and social media. 

Information flows freely and there is only so much that you can hide from public views.

Eventually the muck will hit the fan and you may not have time to duck.

Wallahuaklam. Thank you.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Salam please be quiet.
Logically you have not fone good for the country.
You are nearing to liang lahad.

Unknown said...

You corrup person

wansee c said...

Many thanks to Tok Kadir for telling us yet another interesting true story, especially the very end bit. That really hits hard between their eyes with truth. Please don't get bogged down by all the unfavourable comments that have been bombarding you lately. Never mind, just blow them off and you are good to go again. No doubt, You are still the best of the best.

Aku said...

Kadiag, : ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ‎; [as.sa.laː.mu ʕa.laj.kum],
Terima kasih banyak Kadiag pasai bawak cerita skandal Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) tahun 70’an dan awai 80 ‘an.
Banyak pesamaan dgn cerita IMDB yg dok terungkai laa ni.
Tapi ada satu pesamaan yg munkin hang telepaih pandang, tak salah aku kebanyakkan pendakwaan dan penhukuman
dibuat di luag negeri, terutama di Hong-Kong dan di inggeris.... walau pon ramai penyangak, dan yg di bunoh
orang Malaysia belaka...nak harap sistem hukum malaya, aku rasa rakyat bulih pikiag sendiri.

Ni pasai komen hang bekenaan sorat orang yg kenun keturunan Ponorogo yg di lapog
mintak ketua gerombolan di sabah, sunggohpon mehadap tudohan mahkamah
dibagi pangkat lagi olih kerajaan ‘amirulmukminin hang, macam pisau dua mata pulak,
Gampang - sadja (ejaan ikut sebutan orang Gerisik)....

Jaga diri Kadiag, dan
maghap no,
Aku

OKJ said...

Salam Dato’ Kadir Jasin yg dihormati

Terima kasih kerana mengingatkan kisah skandal lama dulu. Eloklah sebagai pengajaran. Sebab itu penting kita mepunyai seorang PM yg beriman, yg boleh membaca doa didepan TV dan bersyujud syukur selepas dilantik menjadi PM. Izinkan saya berbalik semula kepada PKP yg dah 6 minggu sekarang.

Kerajaan Malaysia rasanya kenalah berpijak di bumi nyata. Kita bukanlah sebuah negara yg kaya yg boleh sponsor rakyat walaupun tak bekerja berbulan bulan. Utk lockdown 6 minggu je, Malaysia telah menggunakan RM 260 Billion pendapatan kerajaan. Itupun ramai PKS yg masih tak dapat bantuan pinjaman utk top up perbelanjaan perniagaan mereka. Utk pulih semula, ianya juga mengambil masa sekurang kurangnya 6 bulan.

Kita kena juga akui agak mustahil nak menurunkan jangkitan Covid ni kepada sifar. Nak tak nak, business kena dibuka seperti biasa dengan terma ‘new normal’. Sekurang-kurangnya ada juga pendapatan dari perniagaan. Sweden yg tak lockdown pun kadar jangkitan Covid nya sama je dengan jiran yg lockdown seperti Denmark, Norway dan Finland. Cuma kadar kematiannya tinggi, katanya dari rumah orang tua. Singapore yg buat lockdown ala-ala Malaysia pula terus mencacak penambahan pesakit Covidnya. Kesian Singapore. Ini bermakna ada negara yg sesuai dgn pendekatan lockdown dan ada negara yg tak sesuai lockdown.

Masalahnya, kerajaan hanya minta pandangan gov servant samada lockdown ke tak. Bila kerja makan gaji. Lockdown ke tak, sama je bagi mereka. Nampak tak bias tu. Cuba potong juga gaji orang kerja gov 50% macam orang lain, macam mana rasa. Sbb itulah kerajaan tak bolehlah dengar cakap satu pihak je. KKM pun degil betul sampai sekarang kata asymptomatic patient kata masih tak tahu samada boleh berjangkit ke tak sedangkan satu dunia dah tahu asymptomatic pun boleh jadi super spreader. Lepastu, mulalah kata boleh ikut suka nak pakai mask ke tak sedangkan ini pun satu dunia dah tahu kebaikan jika semua orang pakai mask. At least, kita dapat kurangkan penyeberan virus dari asymptomatic patient. Degil betullah KKM ni.

Lockdown juga bukannya jalan penyelesaian. Selagi tiada vaksin, Covid ni akan berpanjangan. Vaksin paling cepat pun akan mengambil masa 12-18 bulan utk betul-betul ready. Vaksin berbeza dgn ubat sebab vaksin ni kita nak bagi kepada orang sihat manakala ubat diberi pada orang sakit. Jadi kita kena pastikan vaksin tu benar-benar selamat baru boleh bagi kpd orang ramai. Jadi takkanlah kerajaan nak lockdown sampai vaksin terhasil. Bangkrap negara jadinya.

Satu lagi kita kena akui virus Covid 19 ni adalah tentera Allah. Allah menurunkan tenteranya sebab kemungkaran manusia di muka bumi. China dengan Uighurnya, Eropah dan Amerika dgn LGBTnya. Negara mereka siap bangga dan luluskan perkahwinan LGBT dan perarakan LGBT besar-besaran pada tahun lepas di berpuluh negara tanpa rasa takut akan Allah. Bodoh betul. Saya cukup geli bila tengok perarakan LGBT ni di negara-negara tersebut. Dah bila diturunkan bala, negara-negara tersebut teruk kena, tapi bila bom dilemparkan, tempiasnya budak dan orang perempuan pun kena juga termasuklah Malaysia.

Diharap seluruh manusia bertaubat dan jangan sesekali mencabar Allah dan mencabar Al Quran lagi. Ini sahaja jalan penyelesaian. Selagi negara kita beriman dgn rukun Iman dan beramal, InsyaAllah Covid 19 dapat dikawal di Malaysia. Akhir kata, dah masanya utk Malaysia menamatkan PKP ni. Sekian TQ.

Mika Angel-0 said...

The Scribe
Salaam

Aljazeera reports that tonight by the scientific calculation from a house in Qatar new moon will herald another Ramadan; but from across the road the cadence emanating from the siamese house may be sweet lullaby to a jinn named prak pong. Kadir is jubilating.

You can't talk down the acolytes of that satan from the south who sits in the PM chair with wise words from a broken pen. It's not ludicrous clamor just disharmonious music.

In these days of a novel virus running free, the only nice smell coming from amidst a stack of rotten mahathiric tomatoes is a young shoot from a Hadralmaut tree. Will he survive or fritter away succumbing the high and mighty Mahathir malaise?

Let see how Wan Fayhsal perform on his Lailatul-Qadr while the enigmatic Malay economy crumbles. Did he really sleep deeply in the lecture room of King's College?

The name is almost music to my ears as is Kamal Mat Saleh while looking at imagibary secret bank accounts and passwords and money trails and the era of block chain chicanery.

Salam Ramadan, Scribe.



tokomaya said...

Bismillah. Not only does Dato Kadir's expose of cases of fraud and corruption committed by highly educated professional Malay/Bumiputera persons occupying positions in high places (in cohort with their non-Bumiputera partners) give true meaning to the phrase, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", they aptly serve as a stern reminder to the general public to be wary and to start to question more, as most often than not (excepting perhaps in very rare cases involving persons of high moral conscience and integrity), authority and responsibility (for the custody and administration of public assets and interests) would most probably end up abused by those entrusted with them (because of their greed in pursuit of personal gains). Unfortunately for the general public, they are often left out high and dry in the process. The country having always (in the end) to foot the bill (often at a very high price, as with the 1MDB & BMF scandals related by Dato Kadir) for the gross misconducts and malpractices of our high office bearers. Thank ALLAH for people like Dato Kadir - and many others who choose to act as whistle blowers - for otherwise, the price could have been so much more astounding than it has been.

Law and justice said...

Datuk,
spoken and written with all honesty.
No one could have foreseen the global reach of Covid19, this is now happening right before our eyes, lives lost, saved, recovered, and post Covid19 our lives will never be the same again.
So it will happen to the people who helm the country, the GLICs, the Glcs, their day of reckoning will come soon. Can they predict what will happen to them?
Could CIMB and other big banks have predicted the demise of Hin Leong? Caught in their own greed.
Can the ex-PM predict his cases will be settled? Can anyone including himself predict what will happen?

khairi said...

Salaam Dato',
Well written and presented. Seemed that history is always repeated. Only with different characters and time.We the ordinary rakyat are always the spectators who hardly have much say.

After PRU 14, we the rakyat have put a very high expections to YB Tun M and his teams to repair all the damages. But sad to say, his right hand mans betrayed him right in front of him.

I do not know if YB TM is ever willing to manuevure his political skills again. Many be he do not have much stamina and times anymore.

mshukri60 said...

Why be quite.. where do you to throw Amal makruf nahi mungkar?

Unknown said...

Salam.Dato...melalui pengamatan saya sejak dato terlibat secara active dlm politik kepartian ternampak pandangan dalam tilisan tidak lagi seimbang seperti dulu, dimana agenda kemanusia dan bangsa serta agama mendahului lainlain agenda kepartian atau agenda golongan tertentu. Wallahuaklam

Yang Sudah Tu, Sudah lah said...

Aku ada baca open letter daripada Mathias Chang kpd TS Mahyuddin. Aku sokong tulisan dia tu.
Tulisan2 Dato susah sikit la nak sokong sbb ada terselit jugak unsur2 ***** hati.

Anees Khan said...

Salam DAKJ,

Most of our politicians are above the law, that could be the reason why they don't even bother to be burdened with the past. Even charged, they still can always walk away easily, just wait and see DAKJ...

Yang Sudah Tu, Sudah lah said...

Macamana tulis pun.....akhirnya dok menyalah sana menyalah sini jugak. Orang lain semua tak pandai. Kita sebagai wartawan jugak yg pandai.
Kan ka begitu Dato?

Unknown said...

Masuk neraka, bala menimpa, kesusahan melanda, hidup merempat semua hendak blame Allah? Kalau demikian simpanlah otak dalam peti besi supaya akal terkunci jangan diguna. Bukankah tangan, kaki & semua pancaindera termasuk hati akan dipertanggungjawabkan kelak? Siapa yg akan jawab?

Unknown said...

Otak melayu lazimnya kurang kritikal... semuanya takpa takpa

SH said...

Guys,

Seriously if you have nothing nice to say to someone then just dont say anything at all, by commenting negatively and using harsh words on the Author who unlike some uses his original identity and stands by what he is saying does not make right what is wrong.

If you have evidence or constructive arguments then by all means present it else you know...just shut it.

What is wrong to agree to disagree, the Author is old and at his age he does not need to write or comment on what is being done in Malaysia, You may be from a different party or aligned to a different thinking but at the end of the day we're all looking at the best interest of Malaysia.


It is the holy month of Ramadhan at least try to be nice to one another....

Yang Sudah Tu, Sudah lah said...

Dato',
Dari bacaan saya ke atas artikel2 tulisan Dato', memang lah sebagai seorang wartawan Dato' bijak menulis dlm apa2 saja subjek.
Tetapi satu kekurangan yang ketara, Dato' jarang2 sangat di hujung penulisan Dato' itu, memberi cadangan2 praktikal bagaimana nak menyelesaikan masaalah atau apakah yang patut di lakukan oleh mereka2 yang menjadi subjek dalam penulisan Dato'.
Dato' tidak lah patut bersikap... aku menulis dan menganalisa sahaja, macamana kauorang nak buat, apa yang kauorang nak laksanakan itu tanggungjawab kauorang".
Tak boleh Dato' tulis mcm ini. Dalam menghentam, beri lah juga buah fikiran dan cadangan macamana nak menyelesaikan masaalah walaupun mereka itu bukan dalam kem Dato' atau sealiran dengan Dato'.

Cikimak said...

Dah tua tua masih lahanat lagi.

Dah tua tua masih menjilat lagi.

Dah tua tua masih menyalak lagi

Dasar golongan pukimak tua. Jumpa tgh jalan terajang masuk longkang je Kadir tua celaka ni.

Yang Sudah Tu, Sudah lah said...

As Salam Dato,
Boleh tak Dato cerita sedikit perkembangan terkini dlm ruangan ini mengenai BERSATU ( Tun M) dan BERSATU (Mahyuddin Yasin) serta perpecahan2 yang berlaku dlm armada.
Dengan perkembangan terakhir yang berlaku di Kedah, adakan BERSATU mampu bersatu semula.

Mika Angel-0 said...

Better close shop, Scribe - you're too old for blogspot.com
But you've got FB, haven't you.

Of Ramadan and Mahathir laknatullAh upon him. Well, greed don't go away even in Ramadan and neither do Semburit and his semburitness.

Cheerio.

Switzerland is your grave, Scribe. Bi iznillah. You're lucky like fadil nor.



RD. said...

Cikimak & 2 Unknown paling-atas...

Jika begini sikap biadap dan kurang-ajar kamu yang menyokong Geng Pengkhianat, Semburit, Penyamun dan Penunggang Agama... maka jelas sokongan kamu hanya akan membawa rebah kepada Bangsa, Agama & Institusi Raja-Raja Melayu.

Hakikatnya,... kelakuan, tabiat, perangai atau sikap biadap orang-Melayu seperti kamulah yang menyebabkan, sedikit demi sedikit, Rakyat berbilang kaum dan Agama, merasa muak atau meluat sehingga hilang rasa-hormat, pandang-serong, kemudiannya memperlekeh dan mencemuh, didalam hati dan ada kalanya secara terbuka... apa saja yang 'dekat' dengan orang Melayu.

Kamu ingat... dengan menunjukkan sikap kurang-ajar kepada orang-tua seperti Dato Kadir dan Tun Dr.M, orang-kapir mahupun Melayu yang tidak setuju dengan pengkhianatan yang dilakukan kem TSMY dan Azmin... akan menyokong Kerajaan tanpa-mandat Rakyat ini kah?

Kamu ingat... dengan menunjukkan sikap kurang-ajar kepada orang-tua seperti Dato Kadir dan Tun Dr.M... orang-kapir akan kagum dan bertambah suka pada Bangsa Melayu, Agama Islam dan Institusi Raja-Raja Melayu ka?
Tidakkah kamu pernah terfikir bahawa sikap kamu yang kurang-ajar ini akan memberi kesan buruk kepada emej & maruah Bangsa Melayu dan Agama Islam?

Sepatutnya... berilah alasan yang munasabah bagi menyokong pendapat kamu... mengapa Rakyat Malaysia harus mempercayai bahawa Najib difitnah atau ditipu oleh Jho Low dalam scandal 1MDB.

Berhujah lah dengan bijaksana bagaimana jawatan Pengerusi yang diberi kepada Ahli-Politik UMNO, PAS, MCA, MIC dan Gabungan Party dari Sarawak dalam GLC/GLiC akan memacu kegemilangan Negara, jauh lebih baik dari apa yang telah dilakukan oleh Kerajaan PH selama 22 bulan.

Berhujahlah dengan matang, mengapa setiap kali ada dakwaan kes rasuah dan penyelewengan dikalangan Pegawai atau Ahli-Politik Melayu, mesti ada Cina di'belakang' mereka.

Memaki-hamun orang tak tentu-hala, hanya akan mengukuhkan lagi dakwaan terhadap orang yang kamu sokong itu.

Harap Maklum.

RD. said...

Oh lupa... Tulisan saya diatas juga di tujukan kepada Mika Angel-0, 2:44PM.

About Me

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I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).