H-Net* DAIM YANG DIAM

[Yusri-Mohd . Ali]

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  Undilah PAS : MENENTANG KEZALIMAN & MENEGAKKAN KEADILAN
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     WHO IS THE REAL DAIM?

     Books have been written about Tun Daim Zainuddin, but not many people know
who the real Daim is. He
     is famous for being taciturn. Everyone knows that Daim is the silent type;
so silent, in fact, that the victims
     of his scheming and conniving have fallen like ten pins without ever
knowing what hit them. He has, on the
     quiet, made a career of shooting poison darts, laying booby traps, and
knifing friend or foe in the back.
     His hand is never seen, but his mark is everywhere. Truth to tell, he has
been at the root of many
     national crises, but his name has never been smudged, thanks to the wealth
he wields and his
     bond of friendship with Dr Mahathir.

     Most members of Umno?s new generation are aware that Daim is an acquisitive
 millionaire and a macho
     man with a taste for young women, but they concede him these weaknesses
because they see in him a
     clean and competent Economic Adviser to the Government. But the generation
of Harun Idris, Musa
     Hitam and Manan Othman, to name just a few of the old hands ? they are the
ones to ask in order to
     discover who the real Daim is. It was Datuk Harun who plucked Daim from
depths of failure in the salt
     business. Daim'? wife Mahani and Harun'? wife Salmah were good friends and
influential pair in the early
     1970s. It was wife power that moved Harun to give Daim 160 acres of prime
Kampung Pandan land. And
     thus Syarikat Maluri was born.

     There is no use of speculating over how much Daim paid Harun. After all,
the two were fast friends. For
     the gory details, just ask Low Kiok Bow or Thamby Chik. They can relate how
 Daim cheated a land
     broker and greased Selangor state executive councilor and Mahathir
brother-in-law Ahmad Razali for
     that piece of land. Of course, Daim still had to pay for the land. In those
 days, it wasn?t easy to borrow
     from bank. Hence, he was forced to corrupt Bank Bumiputra. Lorrain Osman
and Rais Saniman know
     how much he spent. Manan Othman can no doubt confirm the figure; he was so
close to Daim that they
     used to share a girlfriend, with Manan often borrowing the bedroom at
Daim?s office in Taman Maluri.
     Daim, thus, has distinguished himself as the first Malay entrepreneur to
give bribes.

     Daim?s elevation as Senator and subsequently, minister of Finance, was part
 of Mahathir?s strategic
     plan. Mahathir?s choice should surprise no one, after all the two were
intimate friends from the same
     kampung in Seberang Perak, Alor Setar. Upon becoming Prime Minister on 16th
 July 1981, the first thing
     on Mahathir?s mind was how to sideline his archenemy, Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah. Daim told everyone
     he had no interest in politics, but all the while he was confident of
getting the Finance Minister?s job after
     a stint with the Senate. A few months after joining Senate, Daim became the
 third most important man in
     the Federal Cabinet, after the Prime Minister and his deputy.

     Musa Hitam, the Deputy Prime Minister, was at first oblivious of the closet
 ties between Mahathir and
     Daim. Innocently, he expressed to Mahathir his disquiet over Daim?s
kneeling and dealing, particularly his
     award of projects and contracts to his own associates and cronies. It must
have baffled Musa when his
     complaints fell on deaf ears. Although he was Deputy Prime Minister, he had
 no say when it came to
     economic matters, particularly privatization and the assignment (to
supporters) of economic projects.
     How disappointed Musa must have been to find that Daim couldn?t care less
about his effort to help his
     supporters secure some projects or contracts. Daim succeeded in making
millionaires of such cronies of
     Wan Azmi, Halim Saad, Tajuddin Ramli, Shamsuddin Hassan, Razali Rahman, and
 Tan Sri Basir, but
     Musa in the end was cast off as a poor ex-DPM. Musa once complained to
Mahathir that Daim has
     stolen a number of his supporters? project proposals, but again Mahathir
ignored him. These were the
     first cracks in the eventual breakup of the Mahathir-Musa partnership. As
the interest of Daim, Mahathir
     and Razaleigh bloated, Musa got squeezed out.

     Many Umno members assume that Razaleigh is Musa?s number one enemy. In
fact, the blame for the
     1986 split in Umno must fall on Daim. It was he who drove Musa to the edge
until he had no choice but
     resign. Again, Daim?s man-of-few-words demeanours worked to his advantage.
Few knew of his
     behind-the-scenes role in that Umno rupture, and not many more know it
today. One really shouldn?t
     wonder why Musa called a

     Page 2 truce with Razaleigh and the two decided to collaborate in the 1987
fight, the one that eventually
     caused Umno to be outlawed. At that time, Daim was almost invincible, what
with support coming from
     such strongmen as Sanusi Joned and Anwar Ibrahim. The comradeship of the
three was rock solid and
     the Musa-Razaleigh camp could do nothing except to make a joke of it by
giving them the nickname
     AIDS.

     To enable the formation of the new Umno, Daim and Mahathir had first to get
 rid of the Lord President,
     Tun Salleh Abas, Daim was the chief plotter in sacking of the wise, pious
and respected Tun Salleh, and
     his replacement with Tun Hammed, a playboy and chronic gambler, but
Mahathir?s and Daim?s
     schoolmate. The appointment of Hammed triggered the collapse off the
integrity and the independence
     of judiciary.

     As Finance Minister, Daim persuaded Mahathir to give the Economic Planing
Unit and Treasury full
     power in implementing the privatization policy. Thence, it was no longer
necessary to call for tenders for
     government projects. Instead, the projects were offered directly to
favoured companies. And so began
     the era of wealth accumulation by Daim and his cohorts. The United
Engineering Company, bought for
     RM2, changed into multi million ringgit corporation. As Finance Minister,
Daim practically ordered banks
     to lend to companies that he himself owned. And no Daim crony ever
complained of difficulty in securing
     bank credit. Indeed, bankers lived in fear of Daim. Having appointed Wan
Azmi and Basir to head
     Malayan Banking and Bank Bumiputra, he could give any project to any of his
 cronies because funding
     was not an issue.

     As if those physical projects were not enough, Daim also took every
opportunity to rake in wealth from the
     share market as well. Every time the Treasury approved a company for
listing on the stock exchange,
     Daim cronies received their lion shares. That was how stocks in Southern
Bank, Resort World, Sports
     Toto, Berjaya, Tanjung and scores of other blue chip firms landed with Daim
 and Company. Once, when
     share values were rocketing, Daim boasted among friends that his visible
wealth alone totaled
     RM65 billion. To shut the mouth of Barisan Nasional leaders, Daim gave
massive projects to Samy
     Vellu and Ling Liong Sik so that their children could be......

     Why did he quit?

     Daim managed to fool Umno members into believing that Mahathir would not
let him go although he had
     asked to be relieved of his Cabinet post on a number of occasions. With
Musa and Razaleigh out of
     picture, Daim could grab as much wealth as he wanted without even Mahathir
stopping him. Besides, he
     was Umno?s treasurer and he could make it look as if the companies he
controlled were those in which
     the party had a stake.

     Daim?s avarice damaged not only his own images as finance minister, but
also Mahathir?s and
     Malaysia?s reputation with the international community. It is said that he
used to demand exorbitant
     fees for himself in negotiating contracts involving foreign suppliers. The
chairman of Japan?s two
     biggest banks ? the bank of Tokyo and Sanwa Bank ? once complained to
Mahathir that his Finance
     Minister demanded commissions that were too high when negotiating yen
loans. Margaret Thatcher, too,
     has complained about Daim?s role as a commissioned agent. He had ? or still
 has ? accounts in Zurich,
     London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Caymen Island, Channel Island and
Virgin Island. Indeed,
     instead of keeping his billions in Malaysia, he has stashed them overseas.
With his immense wealth and
     far-reaching influence, Daim eventually became a burden that Mahathir could
 no longer bear. In every
     deal he made, there was something in it for himself. It was not beneath him
 even to conspire with
     Lee Kuan Yew to snatch KTM land, Tanjung Pagar, in Singapore. The Malaysian
 Cabinet had
     no knowledge of this. But this issue of Malaysia being cheated by Lee Kuan
Yew and Daim is
     far from over.

     Mahathir eventually realised that he had to end Daim?s lordship over the
Finance Ministry. And so he told
     him to quit. Mahathir worried that if Daim continued as Finance Minister,

complaints would come not only
     from Vincent Tan, Ananda Krishnan, Arumugam and other members of the
Malaysian business elite, but
     also from foreign leaders. Signs of a Daim-related scandal were ominous and
 it could break anytime in
     Japan or Britain, therefore, Daim had to go.

     Daim?s resignation was planned such that it would not appear as if he had
been sacked. Indeed, it does
     not make any sense why a powerful Finance Minister, rich and in control of
so many public companies,
     would suddenly quit simply because he had lost interest in the job. The
truth is that he was ordered to
     resign. Observers will recall that Mahathir?s first comment on the
so-called reaction was: "He has asked
     several times for permission to resign, and I?ve finally allowed it. I hope
 Daim won?t leave the country after
     resigning." The statement was pregnant with meaning. Mahathir knew Daim was
 sulking. So did Anwar
     and Sanusi. Mahathir retained Daim as Umno Treasurer for a good reason; he
wanted to ensure the
     safety of Umno money, a lot of which was under Daim?s control.

     But Daim, who holds so many of Mahathir?s secrets, is truly a sly one.
After resigning he ran off to live in
     his San Francisco residence. He told the Malaysian public he wanted to
study at Harvard, but in fact he
     wanted to leave Malaysia. Mahathir, who was familiar with Daim?s trades,
pleaded with him to come
     back, saying he needed him to advise on economic matters. Daim returned and
 announced that Mahathir
     had named him Economic Adviser to the Government. Rafidah asked Mahathir to
 confirm this, but all she
     got was a silence. Daim was never formally appointed as Economic Adviser, a
 post which Tun
     Raja Mohar once held. The appointment is the prerogative of the Public
Service Department.
     Daim gave himself the job. To keep Daim happy, Mahathir allowed him to open
 an office at the
     Economic Planning Unit, and this strengthened the public perception that he
 was still in control as far as
     economic affairs were concerned.

     When he was told to resign as Finance Minister, Daim asked Mahathir to
appoint Anwar Ibrahim to the
     job. Obviously, he thought this would help to ensure that his skeletons
would remain closeted. He warned
     Mahathir of the peril that Rafidah would be to both of them; the secrets
they shared would be uncovered.
     Daim also persuaded Mahathir to appoint Mustapha Mohammad as Anwar?s deputy
 because these two
     could be depended on to fill up the holes he had left gaping. Anwar is
nobody?s fool, but he sacrificed his
     idealism to protect his towkay.

     As far as we know, no Finance Minister in this world has retired a
billionaire, except Daim. In the book
     Daim yang Diam: Sebuah Biographi (Daim the silent: A Biography), Daim
explains his retirement: "I?m
     happy in retirement. It was too heavy a responsibility. In truth, I love
the business world. Business is in my
     blood. I love to make money. I know how to do it. I can do it just by
sitting in this chair. On a lucky day, I
     can make millions."

     Friend of Soros

     According to an internal bank analysis, corroborated by the corporate
community, and a hint from Daim
     crony Amin Shah, Daim?s wealth, in ringgit and foreign currencies kept
overseas, currently
     amounts to RM20 billion. With so much money at his disposal, Daim can
manipulate the Kuala Lumpur
     Stock Exchange. He showed his hand in 1991, just to prove how much
influence he wielded. After selling
     off his stocks, he made a statement to the effect that the market would
crash. And crash it did. As we can
     recall, even Mahathir couldn?t help but make a wry remark when Daim boasted
 that he invested in KLSE
     only for pocket money. But to his good friend, Daim said he could turn in
profit on RM90 million a day
     when the market was up. When the market was plummeted in October 1991, Daim
 bought back his
     share on the cheap. When the market turned bullish again 1995 and 1996,
Daim made billions of
     ringgit. This, then, is what the work of an economic adviser amounts to.

     So, it turns out that Soros isn?t the only big time market manipulator and
currency dealer. Daim met Soros
     twice in London when ringgit was being hotly traded. Anyway, when the
ringgit fell below RM4 to the US
     Dollar. Mahathir asked Daim for help and, according to a source in
Singapore, he lost RM1 billion trying
     to prop up the Malaysian currency. To lose that much in currency trading,
imagine how much money he
     had at his disposal.

     The falls in currency and share values put Mahathir in a feverish panic. He
 knew his policies and his own
     belligerent attitude were partly to blame. Seeing Mahathir in such a
frenzied state, Daim recommended
     that he declare a state of emergency to enable him to restore the economy
and, at the same time, bury
     the corpses that were beginning to stink. We hail the Chief Secretary to
the Government and the
     Solicitor-General for opposing the move. If Daim?s plan had been followed
the Malaysian economy
     would be utterly ruined. Having failed to declare an emergency, Mahathir
set up the national Economic
     Action Council, headed by Daim, with the Economic Planning Unit as its
Secretariat. The original plan
     was to give the NEAC complete autonomy, but the Cabinet ministers opposed
to this for fear that they
     would lose any vestige of power they had left. Eventually, the council
become merely an advisory body,
     with the Cabinet having final say on its recommendations.

     The establishment of the council was to wedge between Anwar and Daim. Thus,
 two old friends who had
     together stood behind Mahathir against Musa were now turned against each
other. All the council?s
     recommendations were rejected by the Cabinet and Bank Negara. Daim openly
assailed bank
     Negara for dismissing his proposals, such as those relating to interest
rates and credit control.
     We salute the bank Negara Governor for maintaining a prudent monetary
policy in the face of Daim?s
     bullying and insults. Unlike Daim and his cohorts, Bank Negara?s officials
are not self-serving. Daim?s
     appointment to NEAC was a major national mistake.

     Going by press reports of its deliberations so far, the NEAC?s sole
preoccupation is with saving
     mega corporations from bankruptcy. No doubt, these are Daim-related
companies. Daim has
     yet to show any concern over the rise in the price of chilies, or the leaps
 in fish prices or how
     the price of rice has boiled over. Neither has he talked about small
businesses in their death
     throes. Class F contractors going bankrupt or kampung-road projects being
abandoned. In his
     dictionary, there are no entries for the small man?s worries, nothing about
 low-cost houses,
     water cuts, or study funds for the children of poor Malays. In fact, it
contains only billion-size
     figures. While the Malaysian economy is close to ruin, Daim remains a
billionaire, living a life of glamour,
     jetsetting with his new wife Naimah and the attractive Josephine, an Indian
 lass who helps him run one of
     his firms, the International Malaysian Bank.

     We have merely given a sketch of who the real Daim is. A thorough account
will soon be available in
     book form. We recommended the book to Umno members, especially those with
big ambitions, because
     they will learn from its fantastic-but-true tales of economic and political
 intrigues. We denounce the
     likes of Vincent Tan and Ting Phek Khiing for land-grabbing, but perhaps we
 should ask the
     Mentri Besar of Johore and the Mentri Besar of Kedah how much land Daim has
 taken. Ask
     Sanusi how much Daim paid to the Kedah government for 12,000 acres in
Sungai Petani and how much
     profit he made from them. For 12,000 acres, Osman Arof had to be
sacrificed. The true story of the
     Daim-Sanusi conspiracy in Kedah will be exposed in the book.

     Umno is at a crossroads and has to decide wisely where is it going. One
road leads to glory, where
     stability and democratic practice will abide. The other leads to division,
autocracy and, ultimately, utters
     destruction. The call for REFORM, which used to be made only whispers at
small, secretive gatherings,
     is becoming louder. Umno members, showing that they can no longer contain
their restiveness and
     frustration, have begun to openly debate the need for change, even at party
 conventions. Can there be a
     clearer indication that they have reached their tether?s end, that they can
 no longer stomach the
     leadership?s undemocratic attitude and the prevalence ? whether in the
party or the government ? of
     favouritism, cronyism, nepotism, graft and other misdeeds? Malay
nationalism is dead and materialism
     and egoism are running amok.



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