OK To Go Abroad But Not For Fraud
That the MACC’s investigation might derail Felda Chairman, Mohd Isa Samad’s bid to win the Umno vice president post is insignificant.
A Kadir Jasin
FELDA, PNB, Khazanah, Pilgrims Fund Board and EPF – they are all going abroad to invest.
There’s nothing wrong in that. In fact it should be applauded provided it is done prudently and above board.
But that had not always been the case as the Sime Darby billion ringgit foreign project losses had shown.
So it is totally understandable that when Felda, a smallholder-based plantation agency, ventured abroad to invest not in plantation but in a posh London apartment.
What does Felda know of hotel and apartment management? It does not sound right.
So it is timely and appropriate that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had stepped in to investigate the purchase.
That the MACC’s investigation might derail Felda Chairman, Mohd Isa Samad’s bid to win the Umno vice president post is insignificant.
Mohd Isa not winning the seat is unimportant compared to the damage Felda could suffer if the London deal was inappropriately done.
The Malaysian Insider had reported that Felda’s £98 million (RM497 million) purchase of a London serviced apartment complex is now being investigated by anti-graft officials and could derail Isa’s chances in the Umno vice-president race.
And that the deal is causing growing disquiet in Umno is a good thing. At least there are still people in the party who care beyond winning posts in the ongoing leadership election.
If they truly care, they should bring the case up at all levels of the party. They should also debate the appointments of chairmen of GLCs and ambassadors, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, the strengthening of the Bumiputera economy, the new education blueprint and much more.
The news portal quoted an unnamed person it described as an Umno warlord as saying that the price tag is being widely discussed by Umno members because it is very expensive and it is not something that Felda should be venturing into.
