FREE YOURSAY 'No CEO of a government-controlled corporation will ignore the offspring of the adviser in any business deal, whether or not a request has been made.'

Dr M: I had nothing to do with son's Petronas contracts

TehTarik: The market capitalisation of Mokhzani Mahathir's Sapura Kencana Petroleum (SAKP) is over RM14 billion.

SAKP's main customer is Petronas. And SAKP is the biggest beneficiary of oil and gas contracts issued by Petronas. The advisor to Petronas is Mokhzani's father, former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad. A clear-cut case of conflict of interest.

Mahathir is lying through his teeth when he says that his son is a self-made billionaire. Without his father's influence, his son would have been a nobody.

Another of Mokhzani's companies, Tongkah Medivest, was awarded the contract for the privatisation of hospital services in the country's southern region. Indeed, both SAKP and Tongkah Medivest are examples of the purest form of cronyism.

Raja Chulan: It is plainly and morally wrong for Mahathir to be Petronas's advisor while his son have business dealings with Petronas. In this particular case, it involves huge sums (in billions of ringgit).

It is so obvious and everyone knows that the actions and decisions of Petronas are bound to be somehow affected in such situations. Mahathir's claim that he has nothing to do with it is like asking us to ignore the obvious.

It is not necessary to have Mahathir sign the contract award letter from Petronas to his son before it becomes a wrong.

Petronas's effort in asking all its vendors to sign pledges refraining from corruption and giving gifts to its staff is really a joke. One wonders, what sort of advisor is Mahathir to Petronas?

Abasir: Given the prevailing feudalistic practices in Malaysia, no CEO of a government-controlled corporation will ignore the offspring of the adviser in any business deal, whether or not a request has been made.

I know of a mediocre daughter of a non-executive chairperson of a GLC (government-linked company) whose surname alone got her a job - in the same GLC.

Awakened: Mahathir should understand what conflict of interest is. In any big organisations, there is SOBC (standard of business conduct) which prohibits immediate relatives of high-level executives of the company from getting any business from the company.

If there is no such SOBC in a company, then the CEO or any senior executives of the company can influence the awarding of the business to their wife (or wives), brothers and sisters and other relatives.

It is very easy to just deny that the award has nothing to do with them. The National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal is one such example - Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said she had nothing to do with the RM250 million government grant given to her husband.

Not Confused: Once again, this old fool thinks we are all stupid. A board member for so many years and now advisor to Petronas, and yet he claimed he had no influence on the decision-making in the company? You think we believe you?

When you were PM, no one would dare cross you and everyone was in fear of your dictatorial attitude. Of course, if your children bid for contracts, probably with your prompting, the board would award those contracts to your children to curry favour with you.

What else could they do?

Starr: In Bolehland, can any government and government-related contract be awarded without any political consideration? Mahathir must think Malaysians are gullible to buy his story.

As recently as two weeks ago, a Malay business NGO publicly demanded the resignation of Petronas president in the presence of Mahathir for not awarding more oil and gas contracts to Malay contractors.

Petronas is a national oil company, its president has to put up with political pressure over the awarding of contracts to Malay contractors, what more a son of the corporate advisor?

Being the corporate advisor of Petronas, Mahathir is strategically placed to influence management decisions and yet not personally responsible.

This is what one may call it, being near enough to influence decisions and yet far enough not to be responsible for such decisions. This shows the craftiness of the man.

Xabiso: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's wife and daughter went into politics to save their father's legacy and to fight for justice on his behalf.

Mahathir's kids went into business to become cronies. Their wealth is into the billions. Please prove otherwise.

Onyourtoes: There is a Chinese saying, "Hanging a goat head to sell dog meat". This is exactly what you did and are now doing - a great pretender and hypocrite who think others are idiots.

Can you confirm or deny that your children are billionaires? If they are, can you explain what exactly are their capability and acumen which have enabled them to make so much money within a short span of time.

And your other son who is now a deputy minister in charge of APs (approved permits). Please tell us what were his contribution and position in the party which qualified him to be appointed deputy minister over the Umno Youth chief (not that I am supportive of him).

And what about you, are you prepared to disclose all that you own?

Kamal19: You have imbeciles for children and yet you claim they succeeded on their own. If that is the case, why is your brilliant son's (Mokzhani) primary drilling concession are from Petronas, while other operators venture on a global scale.

I believe it is the general policy for government-controlled entities to buy fuel from Petronas, so why did MAS (Malaysia Airlines) recently switched to Petron (which your other son, Mirzan, is a director).

Since when does the losing contender (yet another son, Mukriz) for post of the head of an Umno Youth wing gets a ministerial post, while the winner and the head does not get any.

Please do understand, we are not moronic imbeciles like your children.

Getting things done, Dr M style

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