Tun Razak would have recoiled in horror at RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal and bailout


A marathon 50-hour forum was told yesterday why Malaysia’s second prime minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, had called off a plan to build a swimming pool at his official residence.

Razak had felt that the estimated RM60,000 to be spent on the construction of the swimming pool could be better used in building three rural health clinics.

This episode from the past was related by Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini, chairman of the Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama, at the Merdeka Forum “Sembang-Sembang Kopi `O’ Nasi Lemak” organised by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry and the Federation of National Writers Associations of Malaysia (Gapena) in kuala Lumpur.

There can be no doubt that Razak who cancelled a plan to build the RM60,000 swimming pool at his official residence, would have recoiled in horror at the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and any government bailout when the money could be better used for the poor of all races.

The second Prime Minister would have been utterly shocked at the mentality of the present batch of Cabinet Ministers in general and the Transport Minister in particular who clearly had no notion whatsoever about responsibility, accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance as there had been no proper explanation whether to the Malaysian public or to Parliament as to how such a RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal could have been allowed to happen when the government had been assured right from the beginning that the PKFZ was a feasible and self-financing project which would not require a single ringgit of public funding.

I have no doubt that if the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal had happened during Razak’s premiership, the then Transport Minister would have no choice but to tender his resignation, especially when it was the Transport Minister’s unlawful “letters of support” which had been used as government guarantees to induce investors to subscribe to the RM4.6 billion bonds for the PKFZ project.

A quarter of a century ago, the premiership of the fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, was marred by the then biggest financial scandal, the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal which Mahathir admitted was “a heinous crime without criminals”.

Are Malaysians to celebrate the 50th Merdeka anniversary in an increasingly somber mood with an even bigger “heinous crime without criminals” than the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal 25 years ago – the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal?

It was reported by foreign agencies on Friday that at a meeting between the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy late last Thursday, the Prime Minister gave the green-light for a RM4.6 billion soft-loan to bailout the PKFZ.

Abdullah may have been persuaded personally to approve a RM4.6 bailout of the PKFZ scandal, but the RM4.6 billion bail-out is not final unless and until there is approval by Cabinet and Parliament.

As a Prime Minister who is committed to “hear the truth”, Abdullah must be prepared to change his mind to approve a RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ if the weight of public opinion is against it — even more so when there had been no full parliamentary accountability and prior parliamentary sanction.

I call on Abdullah to honour his undertaking to be a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, and not just for MCA, Umno and Barisan Nasional cronies, and this must be fully demonstrated in his fair and wise handling of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal.

Is Abdullah prepared to respect the views of Parliament and withdraw any blanket approval for the RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ, which will be a blank cheque for waste and misappropriation of public funds, abuses of power and all forms of malpractices?

  1. #1 by Godfather on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 12:29 pm

    In those days, Tun Razak did not have to worry about giving angpows, green packets and sewing machines to remain in power. In those days, you serve the rakyat, not cheat the rakyat.

    “WE ARE NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF CHEATING THE PEOPLE.” – AAB, 2006

  2. #2 by observer on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 1:38 pm

    Uncle Kit , the long crusade by you and your colleagues is a big sacrifice. You are liken to be the Martin Luther King and hopefully AAB the Gorbachev of our Bolehland..Will it be a dream?

  3. #3 by Woody on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 2:02 pm

    “It was reported by foreign agencies on Friday that at a meeting between the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy late last Thursday”

    ——————————
    Probably the PM slept through the meeting and just when he woke up CKC asked if it is ok.

    The PM just say. ” semuanya ok”.

  4. #4 by shortie kiasu on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 2:04 pm

    After all the huha, when the dust settles, all will be quiet and calm and the RM4.6 billion fiasco that had happened in Port Klang Authority will be forgotten & forgiven, presumably. Every body will start scratching each other back again, hand in glove, for another financial squander to reap personal benefits through shaddy deals and projects.

    History just repeats itself in this country, there will not be the end, nor the last of RM4.6 billion. God bless all.

  5. #5 by James on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 2:50 pm

    Aiyah, easy one! The RM4.6 BILLION is only an excuse to suck money from the nation to fund dirty politics during the coming GE. See, AAB take 800 MILLION Ringgit in total but spend 400 million Ringgit for elections and pocket the remainder to go on honeymoon with his new love; MCA scoundrel take RM100 million & spend RM70 million on elections & pocket remainder for his enjoyment; the remaining crumbs to be shared by Gerakan & Semi Value for their illicit activities.

    The rakyat are all fools and nation run by con men of the worst kind.

  6. #6 by k1980 on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 2:59 pm

    AAB the Gorbachev of our Bolehland?
    Under Gorbachev, the USSR broke up into 15 separate independent republics

  7. #7 by Libra2 on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 4:19 pm

    I don’t think the PM slept through the meeting. This stupid fellow did not understand all the mambo-jumbo and the astronomical figures that were being bandied about at the meeting. His IQ is so low that he understands nothing but his son in law.

  8. #8 by dawsheng on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 5:09 pm

    Does Abdullah’s premiership after the next general election worth RM4.6 billion? Lets not talk about Abdullah’s premiership, lets talk about any other future Prime Minister of Malaysia, does it worth RM4.6 billion? Yes, it’s worth much more than that, possibly RM1 trillion. Would you pay RM4.6 billion to control hundred of billions? I would, by I don’t have the money. Abdullah has it though but guess who’s money is it? Malaysian’s politic is about paying for the license to steal, and you steal to pay for the license to steal. Sophisticated economic structure huh???

  9. #9 by Jeffrey on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 6:12 pm

    There’s no point in nostalgically speculating what would our past leaders have felt or said, and whether they would have recoiled in horror at the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and other bailouts.

    The circumstances then and now are different and no one really knows.

    I mean how would we know that Tun Razak would have rejected RM60,000 construction of the swimming pool that could otherwise be better used in building three rural health clinics if then Petronas (is like what it is now) raking in RM 76.3 billion pre tax profit from oil and gas, contributing more than 30% of govt’s revenues?

    Also then there was never a TDM who had since benchmarked the standard of what is or is not excess in terms of bailouts! Then also the Iranian Revolution led by Ayatollah Komeini had not taken place!

    I think there’s no point in talking of past leaders and comparing them favourably with those now.

    Don’t forget the worst incidence of racial rioting happened then in May 13 1969 here – and those in Singapore in early 1960s were allegedly instigated by ultra politicians north of the Causeway – under the watch of the past leaders; special privileges, the progenitor to our NEP, were conceived by them and Lee Kuan Yew and his Malaysian Malaysia (the banner of which is still waved by DAP) were expelled from Malaysia by our past leaders as an alternative to incarcerating him under the ISA!

    These are historical facts.

  10. #10 by grace on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 6:44 pm

    Aiya, honestly PakLah cannot compare at all to the the previous PMs i terms of abilities and intelligence.
    The way he answered the press shows how shallow in mentality is he. Most othe thing, “saya tak tahu”. where can you find a P

  11. #11 by malaysia_mana_boleh on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 7:06 pm

    pak lah tanya satu billion tu ade berapa sifar?

    ckc jawab sikit saja

    pak lah pun kata “ok ok no problem! Beres!”

  12. #12 by melurian on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 7:51 pm

    yes yes, sack chan koy choi and replace with umno lackey. in fact, should also sack fong chan on, kick all all mca ministers.

  13. #13 by smeagroo on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 8:18 pm

    what can phark lah do other than gv out the soft loan of rm4.6bil when in 5 years time his NOrth south eat west corridors will suffer the same fate in in even bigger proportion that all the late PM’s will turn in their graves together in sync.

    We put the pirates along the Straits of Malacca to shame.

  14. #14 by shortie kiasu on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 9:15 pm

    Yes, Jeffrey has hit the nail on its head, very right indeed about what happened before and after May 13, 1969.

    That changed the whole political and social landscape in this country for the last 50 years.

    Nothing to shout about that RM60K swimming pool that he did not build, even if that was true, but no one really the real circumstances. He did not have the oil money to play about.

    As far as mentality and attitude are concerned, nothing has changed for the last 50 years and for that matter for the next 50 years and more.

  15. #15 by shortie kiasu on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 9:21 pm

    Does any one care to compute how much that RM60K is worth now? Presumably, it is worth easily more than 10 times now, and that is RM 600K or more!

    So the political boomerang then is going to be strong, no sensical politicians would take that kind of risk, rather than to say he cares about rakyat.

  16. #16 by Educator on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 9:23 pm

    Taking the inflation (and corruption) rate, RM60,000 then is just about 4.6 billion now.

  17. #17 by Jackychin on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 9:37 pm

    Yang berhormat, I like to say something about the public transport as busses in malaysia, basic to see malaysian does not have the ability to manage and run any transportation company here in our own land, a simple visit to pudu or any bus terminals in the country we can see the incorrect people running the business, usually its lowly or uneducated people running the business, no manners, bad behaviour, zero responsibility and etc…That is why the high light on bus safety here recently…

    The goverment is setting up all kinds of measure like beefing up the summones issue to bus companies in all kinds of ways, basically is JPJ and Traffic being beefed up, if the systems does not have faults and runs smoothly, it will only kill or terminate more companies in the country…end up the public have less oppotunities to choose their balik kampong trip…this is surely not the solution, its a temporary “ad hoc” solution…

    If it is possible, maybe we can suggest to let overseas qualified transport companies to run our services here, thus the people will have a better service to rely on and it will show the local services the correct way of running their multi-million business here the correct way, cause i think they have no idea at all what a good service is…

  18. #18 by Godfather on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 9:40 pm

    Yes, given Badawi’s prowess in mathematics and statistics, he would believe that RM 60,000 during Tn Razak’s time is no different from RM 4.6 billion during Badawi’s tenure.

  19. #19 by babique on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 10:15 pm

    i doubt if only Chan Kong Choy is the only VIP involved!

  20. #20 by ployd on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 10:18 pm

    Sotong what is your comment?

  21. #21 by Cinapek on Sunday, 26 August 2007 - 10:21 pm

    I wish they will stop calling the bailout a “soft loan”. A rip off is a rip off by any other name. Playing with words (just like calling the VIP jet purchase a lease) does not take the stink away.

    First, over the Mongolian murder, AAB has one senior UMNO leader under his thumb now for saving his neck. Now with this scandal he has a senior MCA leader in his hands, also for covering his backside for him. MIC already in his hands a long time ago. So now, with these key people in his grasp and would do his bidding withourt question, AAB can do anything for him and his family without anyone daring to oppose.

  22. #22 by akarmalaysian on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 12:26 am

    i wonder how much more those people in this corrupted government is planning to swallow?

  23. #23 by sheriff singh on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 1:12 am

    As every accounting student knows, its all about book entries:

    Debit (Dr) : Taxpayers Suckers Account RM 4,600,000,000
    Credit (Cr) : Very Soft Loan Account RM 4,600,000,000

    Debit (Dr) : Very Soft Loan Account RM 4,600,000,000
    Credit (Cr): Port Klang Authority Account RM 4,600,000,000

    Debit (Dr) : Port Klang Authority Account RM 4,600,000,000
    Credit (Cr) : Port Klang Free Zone Account RM 4,600,000,000

    Debit (Dr) : Port Klang Free Zone Account RM 4,600,000,000
    Credit (Cr): Balancing Item RM 4,600,000,000

    Debit (Dr) : Balancing Item RM 4,600,000,000
    Credit (Cr) : Ali bin Baba RM 1,000,000,000
    Credit (Cr) : Baba bin Ali RM 1,100,000,000
    Credit (Cr) : Ting Tong Teng RM 1,500,000,000
    Credit (Cr) : Tong Ting Teng RM 1,000,000,000

    Aiyah, semua-nya balance. Every cent accounted for. All balanced ma. What’s the issue? No magic. Nothing’s missing.

    Bising saje!

  24. #24 by undergrad2 on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 1:49 am

    “There can be no doubt that Razak who cancelled a plan to build the RM60,000 swimming pool at his official residence, would have recoiled in horror at the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal…”

    “Recoil in horror”?? Tun Razak would not only turn in his grave, but he would have walked out of it in disgust!

  25. #25 by Woody on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 7:41 am

    Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini was talking crap? RM 60,000.00 to built a swimming pool more thirty years ago?

    You can buy a bungalow with a swimming pool in Damansara Heights.

    Is there other reason to that? Why not reported in the news early?

  26. #26 by Bigjoe on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 9:05 am

    No way Abudullah is not going to bail out PKFZ. It would otherwise be a permanent advertisement of his failure.

    After getting used to wasting money like the crooked bridge that never got built but cost the same anyway, Monsoon cup that does little, etc, this is just another step in Mahathirization of his soul i.e., the end, justify the means.

    Abdullah started out trying to be different than Dr. M, and ending up being just like him and maybe worst because he does not admit it nor have any control over it.

    The question now is this, when he slowly run out of option, what will he chose to do? My biggest fear is that he will leave a half-baked state of affairs to a bunch of greedy and over-confident group led by his son-in-law. Then what happens. Dr. M took decades to lead modernization in Malaysia and nearly bankrupt it in a few short years at the end. These punks, they will take decades to bankrupt this nation and build nothing in the end…

  27. #27 by Bigjoe on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 9:14 am

    … Or rather empty buildings in the end…

  28. #28 by sotong on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 10:27 am

    Decades of gross financial incompetence!

    There is no good and capable leader for a long time. If not for oil revenue, the country will be in a lot of trouble.

  29. #29 by witoutprejudice on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 11:12 am

    badawi still not familiar with the numbers and statistics? does he understand the value of RM 4.6bil?

  30. #30 by raverus on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 11:52 am

    All out to make money, pathetic but it’s just a norm.

  31. #31 by smeagroo on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 12:22 pm

    soft loan, so in the end if PKFZ cant repay the loan what happens? write-off? Syok!

  32. #32 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Monday, 27 August 2007 - 12:32 pm

    If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

    If you have words, prepare to shed them now.

    Actually, I have neither tears nor words left.

    There simply isn’t any word in the English vocabulary that can adequately describe a greater fool for a PM.

    Shakespeare would have recoiled in his grave too…and he’d be too lost for words as well.

  33. #33 by undergrad2 on Tuesday, 28 August 2007 - 7:44 am

    If you have strength show it.

    If you have wealth flaunt it.

    Actually, I have no strength only wealth. God has given me strength only at night when I am with my Jeanne.

    Shakespeare would have rolled over in his grave and may even walk out of it in disgust – like Tun Razak did.

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