Bye bye BII

This article first appeared in the Malaysia Insider

I am not surprised that the acquisition of Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) by Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) was railroaded by Bank Negara at the eleventh hour. The purchase was not well received by the markets and the rakyat from the beginning.

The deal was deemed expensive and the investment could have suffered a potential writedown due to runaway inflation which was expected to slow Indonesian economic growth in the short term. The unpredictable regulatory environment did not help either. Read the post »

New politics doesn’t need old ways

Anwar and Ahmad Shabery (right) shake hands at the end of the debate. — Picture by Choo Choy May/The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in the Malaysian Insider.

Less than 72 hours ago, we had the privilege of something totally new to Malaysia — a United States presidential candidate-type debate between a government minister — Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek — and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Less than 24 hours later, we went back 10 years with police in balaclava arresting Anwar. Read the post »

Belling the cat

This article first appeared in the Malaysian Insider

World crude prices were little changed this morning, settling at US$145 (RM478) for US light crude while London Brent slipped four cents to US$144.45, the news headlines said tersely.

The police had roadblocks across Kuala Lumpur today because some wanted to protest the fuel price hikes. The roadblocks caused traffic to crawl, wasting precious fuel and delaying most, including my trip to Parliament.

Well, at least petrol is still RM2.70 a litre. And that is precisely what Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will argue tomorrow night at a debate organised by AgendaDaily.com. Read the post »

Umno reforms must go on despite pact

This article first appeared in the Malaysian Insider

For an announcement with such significance there was very little drama.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi had made the most difficult decision of his political life, by announcing his retirement plan to ensure a smooth transfer of power to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

His ultimate sacrifice was executed with honour and without the emotional scenes that accompanied Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s retirement in 2003. Read the post »