I wrote this to my egroup in December of 2000...

"...and Daim says " RM8.00/share is a good price for the government to buy, based on a willing seller, willing buyer.. it's a real good investment, coz the MAS share value is a lot higher"

Well Daim, if it's such a good investment, why don't you just let your co. "Maluri" buy the "MAS shares" from "Naluri" at the same price?

We'll see whether you'll be singing the same tune , when it's YOUR CO.'s MONEY. not the Government's money doing such a moronic act of no economic sense whatsoever..."

Hey,hey,hey...the issue is getting hot again; very, very, very HOT and SPICY

Brendan Pereira on Monday: Government the big loser in MAS shares episode
10 Jul 2006
Brendan Pereira

NOT all wounds received in combat can be seen by the naked eye. One episode this week will have an impact on more than just the main actors named or involved.

It will test the already frayed lines of trust between the Government and the public, it will fuel paranoia, and it will cast doubt on the integrity of public servants and politicians.

Perhaps more than anything else, it will rock one of the cornerstones of governance anywhere: The willingness to take what the Government says or does at face value.

As a case study, let’s look at the startling allegations in Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli’s RM13 billion counterclaim against the Government, Danaharta and a host of individuals and companies.

In a nutshell, the tycoon is alleging that he was instructed in 1994 to buy a stake in Malaysia Airlines at way above the market price to help the Government avert a financial crisis brought about by heavy losses in foreign exchange speculation.

The way he tells it, he was a reluctant investor and only agreed to buy the stake for RM1.8 billion because he had been persuaded by the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin that he would be absolved of all liabilities if the job of running the airline became too onerous.

Tajudin also said he was assured that when the country’s financial health improved, the Government would buy back the MAS shares.

He had to keep the backroom negotiations secret because the market would have been spooked had word got around that such deals were being cobbled together by entrepreneurs and the Government.

In 2000, the Government bought the MAS shares at RM8 a share, 117 per cent over the market price.

Tajudin is taking legal action because the Government allegedly reneged on an agreement to protect him from losses and liabilities.

The merits of his case will be heard by the High Court on Aug 10, but the court of public opinion has begun passing out judgments like confetti at a wedding.

Some say it is a self-serving tale, a yarn spun by a man with his back to the wall; a man fighting to make sure that his money and companies are not taken from him.

Others pitch Tajudin as the victim and paint Dr Mahathir and Daim as the villains of the piece.

Their main point: That the once-powerful tycoon had little choice but to play the role of national saviour.

A variant of "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country".

Perhaps a less obvious fact is that the big losers in this whole episode are not individuals but the GOVERNMENT.

Not the Government that was in office in 1994 and 2000 but the institution — the branch of the executive.

Why? Because every time allegations and accusations are made on how business is conducted by ministers, senior government officials and civil servants, it:

• lowers the estimation of Government in the eyes of the public;

• turns more believers into sceptics;

• reinforces the belief among some Malaysians that little those in power say or do can be taken at face value; and,

• can cut the umbilical cord of trust between the governing and the governed.

Tajudin’s allegations are a stark reminder of how combat can leave a trail of unintended victims.