A Letter from the Past

As there are a few articles in the newspapers on the nostalgia surrounding Merdeka, I would like to share this letter sent to the papers in 1986 but never published.

"The BMF affair should make an interesting comparison with Watergate which proved beyond doubt that it is foolhardy to vest too much power in human beings.
Investment history was made when PNB, the largest shareholder in Bank Bumiputera, enjoyed capital gains of millions of ringgit when it transferred its unwanted shareholdings in the endangered bank to PETRONAS.

As the majority shareholder, PETRONAS has the authority to direct Bank Bumi to make the BMF Report public.
The authorities have adopted a strategy of stalling in the hope that a selective witchhunt would appease the public.
If the question as to why the committee members accepted their appointments with the restricted authority can be raised now, the more important question should be, "Why did the authorities give their blessings to such a paper-tiger committee?"

How is it that no one in authority in Bank Bumi, Bank Negara or the Ministry of Finance has accepted the responsiblity for the BMF fiasco? In the United Kingdom, it is honourable for the Minister to resign when a major blunder occurs by omission or commission. Of course we do not expect anyone to commit "hara-kiri" as they do in Japan to preserve one's honour. There appears to be a ring of truth in the saying,"There is no honour among thieves."

As our Barisan MPs are too numerous and too scared to direct the actions of the Executive branch of the government, the public must seek alternative measures to communicate with those in power. Although our elected representatives have lost touch with the aspirations of the common people, we can still show our dissatisfaction through legitimate and non-violent means.
For example: To get PETRONAS to direct Bank Bumi to release the BMF report, we can boycott all PETRONAS petrol stations for 2 weeks commencing 1st February 1986.

All loyal citizens must support the courageous Malaysians in the committee who have dared to confront the truth. If we do not stand by them, we should blame ourselves if the cancer of corruption and AIDS(Acquired Integrity Deficient Structure) becomes a fact of life in Malaysia."


Fast forward to 2005. Bank Bumi has since been renamed BCB after merging with Commerce Bank. It is now going further restructuring with CIMB and the bank still has loads of NPLs.