HISTORY: TOLD AS IT IS | Sept 7, 1981, was perhaps one of the most significant dates in Malaysian history after Aug 31, 1957.

On that day, the Malaysian government led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had only been in office for two months, executed a coup to remove some of the final vestiges of British colonialism off the face of the country.

This was when the government, through Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), surprised everyone by purchasing 50.41 percent of the share capital of Guthrie Corporation Limited, one of Malaysia’s largest British rubber and oil palm conglomerates, on the London Stock Exchange. The entire operation was completed in a matter of a few early morning hours, and was hence known as the ‘dawn raid’.

The raid was undeniably a political success on a never-before-seen scale. The Malaysian government's acquisition of a “colonial” corporation – the origins and establishment of which were part of the colonial economic policy of depleting economic potentials – has also been hailed as a...