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How expensive it is to keep Dr Mahathir happy!

The Malaysian Airport Holdings Berhad chairman, Tan Sri Basir Ismail, 'surprised' the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, with a memento from the past: a 1959 Pontiac Catalina, the car he owned when in Kedah four decades ago -- and with the same number plate, K7600. The Prime Minister is pleased; he often is when he is fawned upon by cronies and acolytes and presented by them with baubles he likes. He is pleased as pink with the gift. He took his wife out for a spin, like in old times, and pronounced himself pleased. "I am happy, for sentimental reasons," he said. But nothing in Malaysia is as straightforward as it appears. A 6.3 litre, left hand drive 1959 Pontiac Catalina might cost $12,000 (not RM12,000 as the New Straits Times says - there was no ringgit then), but to buy it in 2002 from a specialist antique shop in the United States, and have it brought here by air, must cost at least 40 times that.

Nothing is as straight as it seems in Malaysia. Why did Tan Sri Basir and MAB go through this needless expense? Why should they spend about RM500,000 for a "gas guzzler", as Dr Mahathir describes it? Given the way corporate figures operate in Malaysia, he would not spend his money, even for his beloved Prime Minister; the chances are that MAB paid for it. So, why? When MAB built the Sepang International motor racing circuit, it was for the usual Bolehland consideration: RM260 million or thereabouts in seed money to start construction, one-thousand acres of choice land in the vicinity, and other perks. After it was built, MAB, which cannot be trusted to run an airport, found, naturally, it could not a race track either.

So it was palmed off to Petronas, who decided after a few years it would rather not. Khazanah, the government investment vehicle whose chairman is, surprise, surprise, one Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, then steps in and takes it over. But only the race track, mind you. Somewhere along the line, the 1,000 acres disappeared. No one knows who is the owner. No one talks of it. Petronas did not demand it for taking over the F-1 racetrack. Nor did Khazanah. Why not?

About a year ago, when Tan Sri Basir was in a private plane flying over the area, he asked the pilot to drop below the area around the race track so he could have an aerial view of the land he owned in the vicinity. Is this part of the 1,000 acres or the whole parcel itself? At the time the F-1 circuit was built, it was standard practice for cronies to be given huge construction contracts with large parcels of land attached to it. In this way, much of the Klang Valley's vacant land was distributed, so they could make a killing by selling them. So, one must assume, unless proven otherwise, the land is for keeps, not to be returned if the underlying contract is dishonoured.

So what was this exercise all about? So, he would not be asked to explain, now or in the future, about this missing 1,000 acres? Would the Prime Minister view the 1959 Pontiac Catalina as sufficient recompense for the mess Tan Sri Basir made of the Malaysian Airports Berhad and the management of the F-1 race track? But if you look at it through a corporate perspective, there are sound reasons to justify what Tan Sri Basir did. At least his company spent RM500,000 to import a car of a type the Prime Minister once owned. And got 1,000 acres.

Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli bought a six-year-old Daimler for RM1. The aim is to beggar whoever takes over a company. If it would not, then excellent management strategies are in place. While Khazanah owns the race-track, its management is in the capable hands of the super inefficient MAB. This is not new. Khazanah also owns the Star and Putra light rapid transit systems (and, in due course, as it must, the Monorail) but it is run by the same management team that provided the conditions for it to take over. On the principle that you get the thief to guard the treasury. That worked with the Maharajah of Jaipur's treasury. The treasure remained intact. The Maharajah of Putra Jaya, on the other hand, thanks the thieves for making the treasury disappear and keep them in charge for the treasure to come.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my