A mid-week short. But first, Tengku Zafrul Aziz is now Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) chairman.
This will be the first among other roles PM Anwar Ibrahim designates for him.
He’s yet to be appointed special adviser on economics and trade, or maybe there’s no longer a need, given the Mida role. Either way, it’s the easiest to implement.
Today’s newsletter is inspired by work I did between 2019 and 2020.
Post-GE14 was an extraordinary time to be a business journalist because there were leaks, and I was in the thick of it.
There was the Malaysia Airlines-AirAsia deal that fell through. I was writing for Focus Malaysia then, and that bunch of stories earned me some infamy fame... and a police report.
But there were others I didn’t get to write about that, in hindsight, would have made equally thrilling stories.
Back then I was part of the herd, always chasing headlines, never taking a step back to pick something that could have landed harder.
This time, I retrace the documents relating to a highway acquisition bid and that concerning a Razak (not Najib, for sure).
First, Monday’s ICYMI for all subscribers:
Today’s story is one for founding members. A Brainjam piece. It’s Khazanah Nasional-lite but not the one I want to push. That’s one still baking.
Brainjam is a space for founding members where I publish loose notes, unstructured datasets and anything that won’t pass muster as a standalone newsletter.
Upgrading is easy. On the fence? No worries. Brainjam is a mainstay.
I forgot about this entire episode until businessman Abu Sahid Mohamed made news recently over the long-delayed Maju Expressway extension (MEX II).
He now faces multiple charges over the first MEX highway and stares at the prospect of bankruptcy over the incomplete second one.
The government yesterday said that RM449 million is required to complete MEX II. Someone will surely have to bail out the project.
When I had the opportunity to write about Malaysia Airlines-AirAsia, I actually had to pick and choose from a tranche of documents.
Talk about Hunger Games for scoops.