I refer to the letter by Ibnu Hakeem entitled 'Forex loss: Anwar was buddies with Nor Mohd'. I would like to comment on some factual mistakes that was made by the writer:
1. Anwar Ibrahim was never involved in the appointment of Nor Mohamed Yakcop in Abrar Corporation Berhad. In fact Nor Mohamed's appointment was as managing director (not chairman as stated) and I was in fact then the chairman of Abrar Corporation Berhad (then known as Mun Loong Berhad). Nor's appointment was made by the directors of the company, and was mutually agreed between me and him, whereby both of us were directly and indirectly shareholders of Mun Loong Berhad.
When the matter later came to the knowledge of Anwar, he informed me of his reservations of Nor Mohamed Yakcop's appointment, to which my reply was that this issue was Abrar's affair, and the decision taken by me and Nor was purely a commercial decision of the company.
2. Abrar's name has nothing to do with Anwar Ibrahim. Abrar came from Arabic word in the Quran carrying the meaning of 'good people'. Abrar was started by me in the US in 1989 as an investment company specialising in Syariah compliance activities. When I came back to Malaysia in 1993, I started Abrar with Dr Rahim Ghouse and another partner from Saudi Arabia, without the help of any other people. As a company we stand on our own, and we were never a nominee of anyone or any political organisation.
3. As Abrar has proven itself in the market, it gained the confidence of the political leaders to provide support to us, just like they did to many other businesses in the country as it was the policy of the government. Abrar became associated with Anwar because he was then the finance minister of Malaysia, and since we are involved heavily in a finance-regulated industry, it was natural that we seek his support.
At the same time we were also involved in many projects which were coordinated by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), which was under the Prime Minister's Department (i.e. under Dr Mahathir Mohamad).
4. I do not know if there is any arrest warrant for Dr Rahim Ghouse. As far as I know, he has not committed any crime and he was never been charged with any offence. Therefore, it is malicious and grossly inaccurate for the writer to inform readers as such, unless he can prove such thing exists.
Regarding Anwar, I always openly say to people that he is my friend and I share a lot of his views about Malaysian society, the agenda for reform and others. My support for him is for the principles that he has upheld. The younger generation of Malaysians should seriously avoid personal attacks on anyone and always be focused on substance rather than the form. In that way, then we become serious players in building our great nation.
