Doing business the Malaysian way
R. Nadeswaran – The Sun Daily
If paying for air tickets for aides and trainers of ministers – solicited or otherwise – is the key to succeeding in getting contracts or getting “close” to the minister (whatever that means), you might as well throw away all that they taught you in business school.
Instead, it would be better to take the tried and tested path (according to this businessman) to success by buying not only air tickets but also gifting gem-studded golf putters to those in the “inner circle”.
THREE days after spending more than an hour at the High Court Registry going through several bundles of documents, we sought clarification from one of the parties in the civil suit. The meeting held about three months ago at an Indonesian restaurant was cordial and the conversation with a partner of an advertising agency went something like this:
Q: Why did you pay for the air tickets of the minister’s personal trainer to Japan and Hawaii?
A: What is wrong with that?
Q: You are doing business with one of the agencies which comes under the purview of the minister. Therefore, we can assume that you did it to further your business interests.
A: If you want to be close to the minister, you have to look after those who are close to that person. That’s how we do business in Malaysia.
Terence Fernandez and I were flabbergasted with the reasoning. If paying for air tickets for aides and trainers of ministers – solicited or otherwise – is the key to succeeding in getting contracts or getting “close” to the minister (whatever that means), you might as well throw away all that they taught you in business school. Instead, it would be better to take the tried and tested path (according to this businessman) to success by buying not only air tickets but also gifting gem-studded golf putters to those in the “inner circle”.
Fast forward to last Thursday and phones were buzzing and the exchange of text messages went into overdrive. The Saloma Bistro was the buzzword. Apparently, one little bird, which termed it as “Operation Boxer Shorts”, said that the political aide of a minister was apprehended with RM70,000 on Wednesday night. But that was not the end of the story. Overnight in the hands of officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the aide provided names of people who gave the money and for whom it was meant for. Two more partners of an advertising agency were taken in for questioning.
We cannot ascertain if it was the same minister and if it was the same advertising agency involved. We can’t even put two and two together because the MACC, after having boasted that it had enough evidence to prosecute yet another politician with the rank of mentri besar, has suddenly gone into silent mode. It has issued a statement saying that it will not issue statements on ongoing investigations. When queried about the arrest by Terence, there was a one-line note from a senior official which said: “Sori my friend. No komen.”
When I asked his boss, the response was: “We have not arrested any minister, yet.”
“Yet” is a subjective word and could be interpreted in several ways. But we will leave it for a full-fledged discussion on another day.
PS: Something totally unrelated: A little bird tells us that a visiting dignitary called on a VIP in early January. The company has dealings with the ministry. In the course of the conversation, they talked about the American elections and the hopes of the people. And that discussion led to the inevitable question: “Could you arrange an invitation to the inauguration of the president? I would love to be there.”
The visitor politely told the VIP that he had no access to such invitations. Using the Malaysia Boleh concept where anything and everything can be done for a song, the VIP retorted: “I thought you were American and you can use your position to secure one …” Is that soliciting a bribe or an inducement or is it how “we do business in Malaysia?”
NORMALLY, the surat layang and the anonymous email end up in the bin after being read, but this was one I savoured reading and have decided to have it for keeps. It appears to be one of those letters which appear before an Umno election and lists the misdeeds of a minister – from the beginning to the present. Some of the information contained is true because it merely confirms what I already have gathered from other sources, while others cannot be verified.
But this surat layang gives honourable mention to this writer. This edited version (to protect the personalities) reads like this: Datuk X telah diarahkan oleh Mentri untuk merasuah Nadeswaran (penulis ruangan Citizen Nades dalam akhbar theSun). Harga yang ditetapkan untuk Nadeswaran ialah RM10 juta. Walau bagaimana pun, Nadeswaran dikatakan telak menolak tawaran tersebut.
(Datuk X was instructed by the minister to bribe Nadeswaran (theSun columnist Citizen Nades).
The amount was fixed at RM10 million but Nadeswaran is said to have rejected the offer.)
Like most surat layang, this claim is a figment of imagination. Yes, Datuk X and I are good friends but never did he broach the subject during our regular meetings over a beer or at the golf course.
And we know each other well enough that he wouldn’t try something like that lest the friendship is lost forever. Yes, I am flattered but why waste so much money when it would be cheaper to get a hit-man to bump me off? I never knew ministers earn so much that they have so much money to spare!
R. Nadeswaran is having a ball reading what ends up on his table. He is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. Feedback: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
R. Nadeswaran – The Sun Daily
If paying for air tickets for aides and trainers of ministers – solicited or otherwise – is the key to succeeding in getting contracts or getting “close” to the minister (whatever that means), you might as well throw away all that they taught you in business school.
Instead, it would be better to take the tried and tested path (according to this businessman) to success by buying not only air tickets but also gifting gem-studded golf putters to those in the “inner circle”.
THREE days after spending more than an hour at the High Court Registry going through several bundles of documents, we sought clarification from one of the parties in the civil suit. The meeting held about three months ago at an Indonesian restaurant was cordial and the conversation with a partner of an advertising agency went something like this:
Q: Why did you pay for the air tickets of the minister’s personal trainer to Japan and Hawaii?
A: What is wrong with that?
Q: You are doing business with one of the agencies which comes under the purview of the minister. Therefore, we can assume that you did it to further your business interests.
A: If you want to be close to the minister, you have to look after those who are close to that person. That’s how we do business in Malaysia.
Terence Fernandez and I were flabbergasted with the reasoning. If paying for air tickets for aides and trainers of ministers – solicited or otherwise – is the key to succeeding in getting contracts or getting “close” to the minister (whatever that means), you might as well throw away all that they taught you in business school. Instead, it would be better to take the tried and tested path (according to this businessman) to success by buying not only air tickets but also gifting gem-studded golf putters to those in the “inner circle”.
Fast forward to last Thursday and phones were buzzing and the exchange of text messages went into overdrive. The Saloma Bistro was the buzzword. Apparently, one little bird, which termed it as “Operation Boxer Shorts”, said that the political aide of a minister was apprehended with RM70,000 on Wednesday night. But that was not the end of the story. Overnight in the hands of officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the aide provided names of people who gave the money and for whom it was meant for. Two more partners of an advertising agency were taken in for questioning.
We cannot ascertain if it was the same minister and if it was the same advertising agency involved. We can’t even put two and two together because the MACC, after having boasted that it had enough evidence to prosecute yet another politician with the rank of mentri besar, has suddenly gone into silent mode. It has issued a statement saying that it will not issue statements on ongoing investigations. When queried about the arrest by Terence, there was a one-line note from a senior official which said: “Sori my friend. No komen.”
When I asked his boss, the response was: “We have not arrested any minister, yet.”
“Yet” is a subjective word and could be interpreted in several ways. But we will leave it for a full-fledged discussion on another day.
PS: Something totally unrelated: A little bird tells us that a visiting dignitary called on a VIP in early January. The company has dealings with the ministry. In the course of the conversation, they talked about the American elections and the hopes of the people. And that discussion led to the inevitable question: “Could you arrange an invitation to the inauguration of the president? I would love to be there.”
The visitor politely told the VIP that he had no access to such invitations. Using the Malaysia Boleh concept where anything and everything can be done for a song, the VIP retorted: “I thought you were American and you can use your position to secure one …” Is that soliciting a bribe or an inducement or is it how “we do business in Malaysia?”
NORMALLY, the surat layang and the anonymous email end up in the bin after being read, but this was one I savoured reading and have decided to have it for keeps. It appears to be one of those letters which appear before an Umno election and lists the misdeeds of a minister – from the beginning to the present. Some of the information contained is true because it merely confirms what I already have gathered from other sources, while others cannot be verified.
But this surat layang gives honourable mention to this writer. This edited version (to protect the personalities) reads like this: Datuk X telah diarahkan oleh Mentri untuk merasuah Nadeswaran (penulis ruangan Citizen Nades dalam akhbar theSun). Harga yang ditetapkan untuk Nadeswaran ialah RM10 juta. Walau bagaimana pun, Nadeswaran dikatakan telak menolak tawaran tersebut.
(Datuk X was instructed by the minister to bribe Nadeswaran (theSun columnist Citizen Nades).
The amount was fixed at RM10 million but Nadeswaran is said to have rejected the offer.)
Like most surat layang, this claim is a figment of imagination. Yes, Datuk X and I are good friends but never did he broach the subject during our regular meetings over a beer or at the golf course.
And we know each other well enough that he wouldn’t try something like that lest the friendship is lost forever. Yes, I am flattered but why waste so much money when it would be cheaper to get a hit-man to bump me off? I never knew ministers earn so much that they have so much money to spare!
R. Nadeswaran is having a ball reading what ends up on his table. He is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. Feedback: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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