Rubber glove tycoon Stanley Thai, the managing director of Supermax Corp Bhd Group, has issued a public apology to caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for supporting the opposition in the 13th general election.
"I am hereby calling this press conference to make a formal apology to our prime minsiter Najib. Again the main purpose of this press conference is to apologise to Najib and BN for what I had done in the 13th general election.
"I regret that in GE13, I believe I was influenced by the opposition. Being a businessperson, I should not be involved in politics under any circumstances, and I regret it," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
Thai's business had took a beating after he announced his support for then opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat in an interview with Bloomberg.
Following the results of GE13, the Employee's Provident Fund sold off its shares in Supermax, with share prices taking a hit.
Later in 2014, Thai was charged for insider trading. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment last November. He is currently appealing his conviction.
In his press conference today, the tycoon was also quoted by Bernama as saying that he wants political stability, and believed businesses will continue to grow under Najib's stewardship.
He also criticised the caretaker Selangor state government's handling of the state's water supply.
“Our last two projects there were delayed for two and a half to three years due to the water supply issues in Selangor, where most of our plants are located,” he said.
He said eight out of 11 Supermax factories were located in Selangor.
In his 2013 interview with Bloomberg, Thai said he supported Pakatan “to protect the future of my children”.
He said the Chinese had lost the fear of going against the BN after the ruling coalition did badly in the 2008 general election.
Thai also claimed in the interview that Chinese Malaysians had been “brainwashed (to support BN) from Day 1.”
In February 2013, Thai and several other business and academic personalities joined Institut Rakyat.
