Whatever happened to this Daim boy?
Malaysia's most privileged corporate son never found his footing.
Just a quick update on the money laundering allegations surrounding IJM’s chairman Krishnan Tan.
The MACC arrested Tan for questioning but released him after 24 hours, citing the 75-year-old’s health.
In statement, Tan said he’ll cooperate with authorities, adding that he isn’t involved in IJM’s day-to-day operations.
For a backgrounder and a different take on what’s happening in one of the biggest scandals these past months, these newsletters will bring you up to speed:
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This one was inspired by last week’s trip to Bangsar Shopping Centre, the favourite haunt of some of Malaysia’s corporate and political elite.
While window shopping, I spotted a certain aged, slim Malay man in a striped polo t-shirt, tote bag in hand, perambulating towards that perennial trope of champagne socialist dining — 27 Scotts.
Halim Saad, who owns that restaurant, was among the coterie raised by the late Daim Zainuddin, when he was finance minister, to prove the world could produce capable Malay corporates.
These men were known as Daim’s boys, a pejorative shorthand for the privilege and power they enjoyed courtesy of their mentor and the government-link booster that came with it.
Among all the “boys”, Halim received the biggest gift: Renong-UEM, the crown jewel.
He had years to make something lasting of it. Instead, it devolved into a string of lawsuits that finally ended early this year, snuffing out any lingering ambition to reclaim what he insists was stolen.