MACC has seized Ilham Tower, a high commercial-value building located in Kuala Lumpur.
The building is owned by the family of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin,
who is also a close associate of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
TUN DAIM_former MERBOK_KEDAH PARLIAMENTARY MENTRI cum 2 timesFINANCE MINISTER
When Anwar was in Jail in 1998) , Wan Zaleha_former TV3 famous Newscaster-is one of his Wife. His mansion already be confiscated
PUTRAJAYA: Menara Ilham belonging to Tun Daim Zainuddin and his family may not be their only asset to be seized. Several of their other assets may also be confiscated, following what graft investigators claim is a failure to explain the source of funds to buy the real estate.
“This (more seizures) is a possibility. If it is necessary for assets to be seized, investigators will proceed to apply for seizure,” said a source.
Other sources with knowledge of the investigation said officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had sought an explanation from the former finance minister on the source of funds but had received no response.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, when asked about the investigations on Daim, said his officers were probing allegations of corruption and money laundering – but declined to reveal details of the cases.
He said the seizure of Menara Ilham was a normal process and was meant to prevent the building from being sold while the investigation was ongoing.
Azam said the seizure would not affect operations and that companies, shops and offices in the building could continue operating.
“When we investigate allegations of corruption and power abuse and there are non-movable assets involved, we are allowed under the MACC Act to submit to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for the asset to be seized.
“This is what happened. We used the power of the DPP to instruct the Land Office to place a caveat on the land,” he explained.
Azam said the same process had been done on numerous occasions during MACC’s course of investigation.
“This (Menara Ilham seizure) is not the only case,” said Azam.
He said that in early 2000, the agency had seized several plots of land belonging to a former senior government officer who was believed to have obtained the property through corrupt means.
According to a notice published in a newspaper, the 60-storey Menara Ilham, built at a estimated cost of RM2.7bil, was seized after it was found to be involved in an offence under the MACC Act 2009.
“Take notice that according to Section 38(5) of the MACC Act 2009, whereby anyone that goes against this notice, has committed an offence that could be fined no more than twice the amount of said value, or RM50,000, or whichever higher amount, and can be jailed for a period no longer than two years,” read the notice.
The MACC had placed the notice, dated Dec 18, in a local newspaper.
Reports quoted financial executives close to Daim as saying that the seizure was effected on Thursday after Daim’s refusal to submit to MACC’s petition to declare his and his family’s financial holdings.
TUN DAIM_former MERBOK_KEDAH PARLIAMENTARY MENTRI cum 2 times FINANCE MINISTER (When Anwar was in Jail in 1998) , Wan Zaleha_former TV3 famous Newscaster-is one of his Wife.fyi
His mansion already be confiscated (DISITA), by Government now.
Notes:-
1.Anwar &SPRM(MACC), doo a marvellous job!
2. His wealth spread over more than 20country globally. This news MUCH MUCH MUCH BIGGER than 1MDB.
It has taken the slow but steady route while addressing an ethnic incongruity
. Kuala Lumpur's new landmark, Merdeka 118, is a symbol of the country's growing affluence. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Hiroki Endo and Reuters)
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim vows to focus on achieving faster growth.
KUALA LUMPUR -- Asia's megacities often undergo surprising metamorphoses in short amounts of time. Kuala Lumpur is one such example. When I visited the city in late October, I was amazed at how much it had modernized since I visited nine years ago.
Urban rail lines now crisscross the city, with new shopping malls sprouting everywhere. Particularly eye-catching was Merdeka 118, a 118-story skyscraper completed earlier this year. The 678-meter tower -- the world's second-tallest after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- is a symbol of the country's growing affluence. Its spire was designed to evoke the image of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister, raising his hand as he proclaimed national independence in 1957.
Malaysia over the past few years has experienced a rapid turnover of prime ministers, though the political situation seems to have stabilized. On Dec. 5, about a year after the launch of his government, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed his intention to push for faster economic growth. "It's time to focus on developing the economy," he said in an interview with a local broadcaster.
Anwar's government in July unveiled its 10-year Madani Economy plan and the National Energy Transition Roadmap. These were followed in September by the midterm review of the 12th Malaysia Plan and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. In October, Anwar's government launched its Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap.
"It is not clear how these relate to one another," a Japanese businessperson said. Still, it seems clear that the government's main goal is to achieve annual growth of over 5.5%, a target specified in the Madani plan.
Malaysia's gross domestic product grew 8.7% last year, the highest in 22 years, and growth for this year is estimated at 4%, despite the global slowdown. Given its relatively young population, domestic demand is expected to further expand. The country's semiconductor and other sectors are also attracting foreign direct investment as alternative supply chain bases amid mounting U.S.-China tensions.
The country's per capita gross national income was $11,780 in 2022. If the economy grows 5.5% per year and there is no sharp depreciation of the ringgit against the dollar, it could shed its middle-income status, as defined by the World Bank, in two or three years, joining the ranks of high-income nations.
Graduation has been a long time coming.
Malaysia became an upper-middle-income country in 1996, according to a working paper that Jesus Felipe, a professor at De La Salle University in the Philippines, wrote in 2012, when he was with the Asian Development Bank. Felipe reasons that upper-middle-income nations become ensnared in the middle-income trap if they are unable to move up for more than 15 years. Once trapped, countries suffer stagnant growth, sandwiched between technologically advanced developed nations and developing countries abundant in cheap labor. The description fits Malaysia's situation.
To see why Malaysia could not extricate itself from the trap for so long, one needs to look at its history.
Twelve years after the country gained its independence in 1957, a racial riot engulfed the capital. Malays accounted for nearly 70% of the population, but ethnic Chinese, who made up less than 30%, controlled the economy. The strain of this incongruity led to the clash, resulting in about 200 deaths.
To prevent a recurrence of the tragedy, the government began to address the economic disparity and in 1971 adopted a policy called Bumiputera (sons of the soil) -- a type of affirmative action for ethnic Malays. The policy treats Malays favorably in all aspects of life, including school admissions, employment and even stockholding.
The country's ethnic Chinese are traditionally considered to be strong in commerce and industrial activities. "If we recruit people by ability alone, many could be Chinese," an executive at a Japanese company said.
By trying to fix the racial imbalance artificially, Bumiputera is often cited as a source of inefficiency, but it has its merits.
"If the government had not provided elementary and secondary education to Malay villagers and helped them migrate to cities and find jobs in the commercial and industrial sectors, the country would have suffered a serious labor shortage in the early stage of economic development," said Satoru Kumagai, director of the economic geography studies group at the Institute of Developing Economies of the Japan External Trade Organization. It can be said that Bumiputera's goal is to strike an optimal balance between distribution and growth.
A shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's Bumiputera policy has helped educate young Malay villagers and bring them to cities hungry for workers. (Photo by Toru Takahashi)
Mahathir Mohamad, who in 1981 became Malaysia's fourth prime minister, shifted the national focus to growth by adopting the Look East policy, which sought to emulate Japan's economic success. The country also began to actively attract more foreign capital. In 1991, Mahathir launched Vision 2020, the goal of which was to become a high-income country in 30 years.
"His greatest achievement was to set a goal of becoming a high-income country," said Abdul Razak Ahmad, founding director of Bait Al Amanah, a private think tank. He "thus changed the people's mindset, encouraging them to have a can-do attitude."
Malaysia enjoyed annual growth of nearly 10% for 10 years before the Asian financial crisis hit it hard in 1997. Afterward, its growth slowed to around 5% to 6%. Anwar, then the deputy prime minister and finance minister, clashed with Mahathir over how to cope with the crisis and was dismissed.
When Anwar this year announced the Madani plan, he said the country had been "caught in a vicious cycle of high costs, low wages, low profits and a lack of competitiveness" since the 1997 crisis. Anwar clearly sees the plan as a roadmap to push the country into the high-income category during his tenure -- something his old enemy could not achieve.
The reason for Malaysia's inability to pull itself out of the middle-income trap becomes clear when looking at the economic development of Taiwan and South Korea.
In terms of population, Taiwan and South Korea are not much different from Malaysia. Taiwan is home to 23 million, South Korea to 51 million and Malaysia to 33 million.
In 1981, when Mahathir became prime minister, the three were not far apart in per capita GDP. Taiwan's was at $2,691, South Korea's at $1,883 and Malaysia's at $1,920.
Taiwan became an upper-middle-income economy in 1986, followed by South Korea two years later, according to Felipe. Taiwan stepped up to high-income status in 1993, with South Korea following in 1995. It took just seven years for the two to move from upper-middle-income to high-income status.
Unlike Malaysia, they did not fall into the trap. Last year, Malaysia's per capita GDP was $12,465, far below Taiwan's $32,687 and South Korea's $32,418. Several factors were at play here.
First, Taiwan and South Korea do not have complex ethnic problems that cause them to pursue difficult socioeconomic policies. Second, the two had no choice but to industrialize as they are not blessed with natural resources like Malaysia, which is rich in petroleum, natural gas and palm oil.
Third, democratization in Taiwan and South Korea began shortly before the end of the Cold War in 1989, allowing them to catch the waves of globalization and information technology. Taiwan democratized in 1986 and South Korea in 1987.
Malaysia has held democratic elections since it gained independence, but the country was under a "developmental dictatorship" that prioritized economic development while restricting political freedom. Malaysians had to wait until 2018 for their government to hand power to another party for the first time.
Fourth, internationally competitive businesses like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics have driven growth in Taiwan and South Korea. Malaysia, meanwhile, has failed to nurture such companies with an economy that instead has been led by government-affiliated entities. Its automobile, electrical and electronics industries have depended on foreign businesses.
Grab Holdings, whose ride-hailing superapp is now ubiquitous across Southeast Asia, was founded in Malaysia but quickly relocated its head office to Singapore to facilitate fund-raising and other benefits.
On the whole, Malaysia's lack of economic dynamism was to blame for its lower growth curve.
Still, it should be noted that Malaysia has avoided the so-called resource trap, in which the presence of abundant resources holds back a country's industrialization. Malaysia's leading exports are electrical and electronic products, which account for 40% of its total exports. It tops the U.S. and Japan in terms of exports of semiconductor-related products by value.
This trap can be seen in Saudi Arabia, which in 2016 drafted its Vision 2030 strategy to reduce its dependence on natural resources. Malaysia achieved 40 years ago the industrialization Saudi Arabia is now pursuing.
Said Kumagai: "Malaysia is different from East Asia's elite economies like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and from countries with unique strengths such as Singapore, Hong Kong and oil-producing Gulf states. If it achieves high-income status, it will be the first 'normal' country to do so."
Still, challenges abound. In chip manufacturing, Vietnam and India are catching up fast, making it imperative for Malaysia to boost investments in higher value-added upstream industries. Given the accelerating trend toward carbon neutrality, demand for its fossil fuels will likely decline.
Yet, while balancing growth and stability, the multiethnic country with an average age of 30 has succeeded in making slow but steady progress toward overcoming the middle-income trap. Its industrial success will certainly serve as a beacon for other emerging and developing countries in the Global South.
Merry time: Saw (left) and her family preparing for the Winter Solstice Festival at their home in George Town, Penang. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: The rolling of glutinous rice balls for the Winter Solstice Festival has been a reunion of generations for the family of 75-year-old great-grandmother Saw Soh Lan.
This year is no different, as Saw continued the family tradition at her home in Sungai Pinang joined by her grandson and all her great-grandchildren.
“I’ve learnt to roll these rice balls since childhood and continue to do so at every festival for our own consumption.
“My children have picked up the skill from me, but most importantly was for them to understand the significance of doing so.
“To me, it’s not just a dessert made during festivals, but a symbol of reunion in Chinese culture,” said Saw as she rolled the rice balls with the family on Monday.
Saw said two of her other sons are working in China but she is grateful to have 27-year-old Tan Yee Kai, his wife Tan Seow En, 26, and their children Tan Jun See, five, and 10-month-old Tan Jun Siang this time.
“Normally, I would roll the rice balls on the eve of Winter Solstice Festival, then cook them for prayers on the next day.
“It has been a ritual practised all my life and I shall continue to do so for the family,” she added.
Glutinous rice balls, otherwise known as tang yuan in Chinese, symbolises unity, togetherness and reunion, partly due to its name being a homophone for the word reunion and its roundness of shape.
Winter Solstice, which falls on Dec 22, is a day with the longest night of the year.
It is the peak of winter and after the solstice passes, daylight hours become longer and nights grow shorter.
The glutinous rice balls are used to worship ancestors and given to relatives and friends as gifts during the festival.
With little to eat in China’s ancient agrarian societies during the snowy weather, tang yuan desserts became their sole feast back in the day.
Farmers would look forward to winter ebbing and getting ready for the next planting season when spring comes.
The local Chinese community celebrates the Winter Solstice Festival by making the delicacy synonymous with the festival – the tang yuan – that comes with a variety of fillings such as red bean, peanut or sesame paste, and is served in plain or ginger syrup.
All smiles: Anwar taking pictures with Malaysians at an event in Imperial hotel in Tokyo. — Photo taken from Anwar’s Facebook page
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, which has long looked to Japan and South Korea as models for economic development, is now also interested in learning from China, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“We need to be open to revise any policy that has been in place for 40 years,” he told Asahi Shimbun in an interview in Tokyo on Sunday.
He was referring to the Look East Policy that fourth prime minister Tun (then Datuk Seri) Dr Mahathir Mohamad introduced in 1982 to learn economic modernisation strategies primarily from Japan and South Korea.
“I wouldn’t say ‘East’ (in this policy) means Japan and South Korea minus China. Now, when we say ‘Look East,’ it’s East (including China),” he was quoted as saying by the Japanese newspaper, according to Bernama.
Anwar added that because digital technologies, cybersecurity and other issues are changing the world, Malaysia needs to expand on the decades-old policy while continuing its aspects that remain beneficial.
The Prime Minister was on a five-day working visit to Tokyo from Dec 15 to attend a summit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the friendship and cooperation between Japan and Asean.
Malaysia, he said, advocates a “fiercely independent” foreign policy, and the country will deal with China depending on Malaysia’s interests.
He said when he was in the United States recently (for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2023), he was asked why Malaysia was tilting towards China.
He replied: “Because they’re investing more.”
But Anwar said Malaysia will firmly negotiate with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and not allow any unilateral action by Beijing.
The Prime Minister also described Japan as a “very important strategic partner”, adding that Malaysia’s relationship with Japan should be expanded under the Look East Policy such as sharing the Japanese work ethic and its technologies.
According to Asahi Shimbun, Japan announced on Dec 16 that it will provide equipment for warning and surveillance activities worth JPY400mil (RM13mil), including rescue boats and drones, to the Malaysian military under the official security assistance programme.
Anwar emphasised that the defence equipment is designed to help Malaysia protect its territorial waters and does not include any submarines or large aircraft.
“The assistance is mainly for our own security needs, not for offensive or aggressive means,” it quoted Anwar as saying.
Meanwhile, Anwar attended a high-tea event with the Malaysian diaspora at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on Monday.
There were 416 attendees ranging from students to those working and residing in Japan.
Also present at the event were Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Anwar spoke about the need for Malaysians to change their mindset and free themselves from the racial and religious divisions that undermine unity.
To a concern from a postgraduate student that their salaries are not commensurate with their qualifications when they return home, Anwar said the government is also looking into ways to improve wages for all.
Another student voiced concern that students sent to Japan are opting to remain and work there after completing their studies.
Anwar replied that they are encouraged to work overseas, especially when they can learn the Japanese work culture, but should return and contribute to their country when the time comes.
Prior to the event, Anwar and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail were at the Imperial Palace where they had an audience with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Look East Policy with the inclusion of China is a wise and necessary move given the latter’s rapid economic rise, says the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong).
“The time has come for us to fine-tune and further expand,” said its president Tan Sri Goh Tian Chuan.
The same policy with Japan as the role model was first introduced by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1982 – 41 years ago.
Goh said with China’s rapid economic growth over the past decades that saw it overtaking Japan as the world’s second largest economy, it is timely for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to include China in Malaysia’s Look East Policy.
“This is especially appropriate, as China overtook Japan as the world’s second largest economy 13 years ago with the United States remaining the largest economy.
“So, for any nation to ignore China’s economic prowess will be unwise diplomatically and economically,” he told Bernama yesterday.
Malaysia and China will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year.
With Malaysia being the first Asean nation to establish diplomatic ties with China in 1974, Goh emphasised that it is an opportunity for Anwar to moot the idea.
He noted that Anwar has conducted two official visits to China and successfully brought in a host of advanced Chinese technologies and financially strong investors to set up operations and collaborate with Malaysian businesses, since he became the Prime Minister in November last year.
“I strongly believe that with a strong and stable strategic partnership in Anwar’s era, diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China will be at its peak,” he added.
Goh said more Chinese are expected to invest in Malaysia following the positive shift in the present government’s stance towards Chinese investments, coupled with closer bilateral ties under his leadership.
Malaysia-China bilateral trade hit a record high of US$203.6bil (RM948.38bil) in 2022.
For the first nine months of 2023, trade with China was recorded at RM410.01bil, with exports at RM174.55bil, mainly comprising shipments of electronics and electrical products, palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products as well as iron and steel products.
He said Malaysia could boost its collaboration with China in the field of advanced technologies, such as aerospace, automotive, high-speed rail, artificial intelligence, drone technology, e-commerce, logistics and packaging as well as environmental technologies.
“Other sectors that are worth collaborating include higher education, human resources, culture and tourism, which will ultimately boost bilateral trade and social relations between Malaysia and China,” he added.
#Shenzhou17 crew will soon conduct their first spacewalk mission after having stayed and worked in the #ChinaSpaceStation for 54 days, the CMSA announced on Wednesday.
China's #Shenzhou17 crew successfully completed their first extravehicular activity on Thursday. The 7.5-hour activity saw taikonauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin completing all planned tasks, including the repair experiment of the Tianhe core module's solar wing, through close collaboration with the space station's robotic arm and ground research personnel.
