Aliran Monthly 2004:6

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There are suggestions that Abdullah's close family members have become too influential

A cynical view of the world is expressed by Peter�s Principle whereby everybody is said to rise eventually to his level of incompetence. I have no doubt that some of these social axioms such as Peter�s Principle or Parkinson�s Law (�work fills the time available for its completion�) are as true as human nature itself. For example, take the one that�s rather more like common wisdom: �Give a man enough rope or a gun, or whatever, and he�s bound to hang himself or shoot himself in the foot!� The thing is, will something like this happen to someone like Pak Lah � given that he is human after all? Many had great expectations that this prime minister would be different and would do things differently. But will Pak Lah be able to resist the temptation to rise to his level of incompetence or find enough rope to hang himself or shoot himself in the foot, like others before him? Well, perhaps the jury is still out for Pak Lah, but one thing is for sure, the thing dubbed as the �Abdullah Badawi phenomenon� has fast turned into a mirage.

Barely months into his new job, and fresh from an electoral victory, there are already suggestions aplenty that close family members have become too influential and powerful under this prime minister�s still short tenure. No one would blame Pak Lah for his wanting to preserve or even show a modicum of favour to his progeny but when offsprings and offsprings-in-law begin rapidly to assume the dizzy heights in business and politics, the first minister of the government must be prepared for some severe public scrutiny. After all, it wasn�t too long ago that the new premier had promised heaven and earth in the fight against corruption. And that too has turned out to be more rhetoric than action. No sooner was he given the mandate (via the electoral victory) to do all he said he would, the early resolve seeminged to dissipate and the stamina to push ahead flagged palpably. In some areas in KL, graffiti has sprouted ridiculing Pak Lah�s anti-corruption drive. When you have a freshly formed cabinet that includes many personages already fingered for dubious indiscretions of the past, why should not the citizenry be disillusioned with the so-called �Abdullah Badawi phenomenon�?

But to get closer home, if a company controlled by one�s son has been allegedly embroiled in the manufacture of centrifuge parts for nuclear weapons through a shady business partner who has been fortuitously locked up under the ISA, what are ordinary citizens supposed to think? And then if one�s son-in-law is also thought to be the most powerful 28-year old in the country with allegedly strong controlling connections to the country�s investment arm, again, what is the person-on-the-street supposed to make of all of this? Finally, if one�s retired predecessor continues to hold sway in cash-rich and flag-bearing companies of the country, could not one be forgiven for believing that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The Son....

To continue, let�s start with the son, one Kamaluddin Abdullah Badawi. Well, never mind the fact that Kamaluddin has a majority interest in a company which not so long ago became a major player in the oil sector, which saw its share price ascending to the stratosphere; that we can take. As it turns out, one of the now defunct subsidiaries of that same company, Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd (SCOPE) was unsuspectingly (so it was thought) duped into producing centrifuge parts for nuclear weapons headed for Libya via Dubai! The CIA and the MI6 no less broke the news to the world and both the ex-CIA chief George Tenet and the American president George W Bush himself spoke openly about the expos�. Surely, this extraordinary affair has to be about the most embarrassing thing that could happen to any incoming prime minister of Malaysia. For the record, Malaysia was the first country to call for a nuclear-weapons free zone in Southeast Asia. And now this�.tsk, tsk, tsk.

The pertinent facts of the case, culled from various sources appear to be as follows:

• The CIA fingered Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan staying in Kuala Lumpur, as a deputy of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, already forgiven by his government for his involvement in the affair.



• Tahir was said to be Khan�s chief financial officer and the coordinator of the manufacture and distribution of various components that could be used in making a nuclear bomb.



• SCOPE was the alleged factory that produced the centrifuge parts found in containers on board the BBC China, a German-owned cargo ship. The containers reportedly had a SCOPE seal.



• SCOPE has admitted making the parts but said they were unaware of its final destination. They thought the parts were to be used for the oil and gas industries. A company in Singapore that supplied parts to SCOPE has made the same plea of ignorance.



• Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the police to investigate �without fear or favour� the above allegations and was quoted in the New Straits Times as saying he would �not interfere� in the probe of SCOPE



• On Feb 20, 2004, Malaysian police, after denying for two weeks any wrongdoing in Malaysia, released a report that agreed with President Bush that indeed Tahir �had known that the centrifuge components manufactured by SCOPE were destined for use in Libya�s uranium enrichment programme�.

The affair prompted veteran journalist M.G.G. Pillai to write:

Are we beginning to miss Mahathir? If we are, he�s certainly not making it difficult for us to forget him.

�In this instance, Kuala Lumpur panicked. Pak Lah had just taken office, he had declared his war on corruption, and as that stalled, he is faced with a crisis far more serious. This SCOPE factory was built in 2001 and, let us face it, when the then Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, took it upon himself to help the Muslim world however he could. The eminence grise of this shadowy network is the Pakistan nuclear scientist, Dr. A.Q. Khan, who would have met Dr Mahathir during his several visits to Malaysia. How did Pak Lah not know of the SCOPE factory and what it made until he was officially told of it on 10 November 2003? It is highly unlikely too that Dr Mahathir also would have known of this at the time. Curiously, no one has bothered to ask him about it. Besides, the report suggests that SCOPE officials did not control the operations. All this should have run alarm bells. But we are told it did not. Strange.� (�The SCOMI affair becomes curiouser and curiouser,� M G G Pillai Commentary, 21-02-04, Internet).

The Son-in-Law�.

Yet another early faux pas of Pak Lak�s was to give place of honour and influence to his son-in-law by appointing him as his Principal Private Secretary. It didn�t take long for the media to pick up on Khairy Jamaluddin and to dub him as �the most powerful 28-year old in Malaysia�. I remember this bright twenty-something during the APEC summit of 1998 in Malaysia when he was interviewing big-wigs on one of the local television channels. One couldn�t help being impressed by the poise, confidence and savvy of this young personage on our otherwise hopelessly staid and boring TV programmes. Not much later, I remember reading columns from someone with the same name in the Economist. Again, I was genuinely impressed by the analytical capability and generally open-minded tenor of the writing of this person. Not long later, we came to know that Khairy Jamaluddin had become the only son-in-law of the prime minister. Sometime in between, he had also slithered into UMNO politics � what a pity, I thought subconsciously.

To be absolutely fair to Khairy, he had been rather quiet ever since ascending the palamin at Number One, Putrajaya. However, he couldn�t hide the fact he was the PM�s Principal Private Secretary. Replying to various queries, Khairy described his relationship with his father-in-law-cum-boss as a professional one: �In the office, I cease to be his son-in-law. I call him �Sir� to establish that I am talking to the PM. At home, I continue to be his deputy chief of staff because he asks me to do work. Unfair deal.� (Ho Kay Tat, Political Aide, Khairy Jamaluddin, Internet, May 2004).

Under pressure because of the media hype, surat layang and other innuendos about his influence over his father-in-law, he has rightly quit this post. Instead he has decided to get into the UMNO Youth deputy chief contest. Defensively responding to his son-in-law�s resignation, Pak Lah said: �All decisions requiring my duties as Prime Minister I made 100 per cent.� And, as quoted by Bernama, he said, �there was �no conflict there in our relationship as father-in-law and son-in-law�. Pak Lah has this incredible knack for saying nothing even when he�s saying something � did you notice?

Khairy was stoutly defended by NST editor Kalimullah Hassan for being picked upon because he was the Numero-Uno-in-law. Complained the editor on behalf of his friend, everything that Khairy did came under the microscope. He was denied contesting for a seat in his home town Rembau; he was quizzed for playing golf, and buying a 500 c.c. Kawasaki bike; sob, sob, sob... Well, why not? If you can�t stand scrunity, stay out of the limelight!

The Predecessor �.

Are we beginning to miss Mahathir? If we are, he�s certainly not making it difficult for us to forget him. He keeps popping up like those irritating ads on the Internet! There was the Petronas advisor appointment, then the appointment as adviser to Proton; and most recently he has characteristically made press statements in vintage Mahatherise as if he was still first minister. There�s that classic statement on the infamous gift of RM100,000 worth of timber given to one Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, which came to light in parliament, thanks to Kit Siang and Co. Said the unflappable Tun Mahathir, �We provide timber for a lot of people. He wasn�t a criminal at that time. He hasn�t been put in jail. So what�s wrong with giving timber to him?� When asked if the gift could be interpreted as a misuse of public funds, Mahathir said: �No, we give timber to everybody because we want to promote Malaysian timber.� (Sapa-AP, June 11, 2004)

Then ex-PM went on a tirade on a favourite subject of his � the cost of water. However this time the target was not the neighbouring country down south but the neighboring state south of Mahathir�s home state, Kedah. Speaking at a dinner to honour him for his contributions to the state to a thousand guests, which included the Sultan of Kedah and his consort, the Tun railed that Penang should pay for its water from Kedah. Kedah, he said, should also raise the lease amount for Penang from the current RM10,000 which he said was too low This was greeted with thunderous applause. Said Tun Mahathir:

�Unlike Kedah, Penang is a rich state. Kedah wants to become a developed state by 2010, but doesn�t have much funds to spur the economy. So the state government must seriously consider charging Penang for raw water and raising the lease amount� (NST, June 14, 2004).

Hmmm�.isn�t this a bit like lawan towkay seeing that Pak Lah comes from the state of Penang? Pak Lah has remained mum on the subject and instead left it to CM Koh Tsu Koon to mumble vague responses to Mahathir�s broadside, something about previous agreements and contracts with Kedah. If I were him (CM Koh), I would have said, it will take much more than water prices to turn Kedah into a developed state. More like an injection of oil, perhaps? And here�s where Mahathir�s role as advisor to Petronas could be of great help.

But poor Mahathir, he must be desperately looking for a new arena for a new political trajectory and he�s even prepared to come down from a 2020 vision for the country to a 2010 vision for Kedah!! I guess, pushing 80 he�s not giving away too many years and whoa, who are we to blame an ambitious old man. So watch out, what�s-your-name Menteri Besar of Kedah, a major challenge maybe on the way!

D.L. Daun

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