Portrait of the average Malaysian Opposition politician
(MMO) – Half of the 26 politicians from the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Opposition pact who recently declared their assets are millionaires on paper, while the rest were generally worth more than the average Malaysian.
The least moneyed politician on the list of mostly incumbent federal and state lawmakers from PKR, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and PAS who publicly declared their assets to Invoke, a big data outfit run by PKR vice president Rafizi Ramli, was retired naval officer and Lumut MP Mohamad Imran Abdul Hamid, with a net worth of RM45,000.
The other 25 Opposition politicians have net worths (assets minus liabilities) ranging from RM124,000 to RM4.7 million. This is in contrast with the general Malaysian population where only about 10 per cent earn enough to pay income tax.
According to Credit Suisse Research Institute’s Global Wealth Report 2017 released this month, Malaysia was described as an upper middle income country with US$22,804 (RM94,055) wealth per adult this year. This was an increase from US$8,306 (RM34,258) in 2000.
A total of 30,158 adults in Malaysia were high net worth individuals with their values between US$1 million (RM4.1 million) and US$5 million (RM20.6 million), according to the report.
PKR’s Ijok assemblyman Dr Idris Ahmad who has a gynaecology practice — the richest of the 26 who declared their assets to Invoke — was the only high net worth individual on the list with a net worth of RM4.7 million.
According to Dr Idris’ asset declaration, he has four properties (one of which was a bungalow purchased in 2006 for RM3 million), two land lots and three vehicles — a Volvo XC70, Honda CRV and Toyota Camry — all of which were above RM100,000 in current market value.
The second wealthiest politician on the list was medical officer and former Kedah executive councillor Dr Ismail Salleh from Amanah with a net worth of RM3.1 million. His asset declaration said he owned 90 per cent of shares in one company and 200,000 shares in another, with total current market value of RM1.5 million. He did not name the firms.
He has three properties, one land lot, and three vehicles. Dr Ismail’s asset declaration did not contain details on his income sources.
The third richest politician on Invoke’s list was PKR treasurer Tan Yee Kew with a net worth of RM2.7 million. She declared a bungalow worth RM4 million in current market value. Her income sources were also unavailable on her asset declaration.
Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen from PKR (ranked fourth richest) was the only politician with more than RM1 million in cash savings, fixed deposits and his Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account, totaling RM1.4 million. His asset declaration said he had RM1.3 million in cash and fixed deposits, but did not list any property. Wong’s net worth was RM2.3 million.
The three politicians with the lowest net worth on the list were Mohamad Imran (RM45,000), Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang (RM124,000), and Simpang Pulai assemblyman Tan Kar Hing (RM178,319). All three were from PKR.
