Dubbed ‘prophet of doom’, Pua holds up Proton as evidence
(MMO) – The fortunes of national carmaker Proton reflects the frailty of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Bukhary’s highly-leveraged business empire, said DAPs’ Tony Pua after a minister accused him exaggerating claims against the Umno-linked billionaire and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Responding to Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s diatribe posted on Facebook, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP insisted that his warnings from years ago over the systemic risk posed by Syed Mokhtar’s over RM34 billion in combined liabilities was an accurate assessment.
“The debts are huge and some of his companies, such as Proton, are desperately seeking support — directly or indirectly— from the government.
“If an economic crisis hits Malaysia, the there is no doubt that a massive bailout will be required, just like what happened to Umno-controlled Renong Bhd in the 1990s which had RM28 billion of debt,” Pua said in a statement yesterday.
The DAP national publicity secretary added that even without a crisis, allowing Syed Mokhtar to dominate industries such as rice and sugar have been detrimental owing to the creation of monopolies.
Syed Mokhtar, listed by Forbes as the seventh richest man in Malaysia, owns Bernas that control the local rice industry and Central Sugars Refinery (CSR) and Gula Padang Terap (GPT) that supply most of the country’s sugar.
Proton came under the private ownership of Syed Mokhtar’s DRB-HICOM group in 2012, but remains identified as a national carmaker.
Syed Mokhtar’s business empire also includes POS Malaysia, various ports across the country via MMC Corp, the country’s largest independent power producer Malakoff Corp, and many others
Pua yesterday adamantly said that his warnings from years ago of the risk that Syed Mokhtar’s debt posed to Malaysia in the event of an economic crisis were unchanged, and extended this to his other warnings about 1MDB.
