PERSPECTIVE: ABDUL DAIM: Somewhat legal but unethical and immoral.

ANON

Yes, Bro, we are trying to understand, rationalize, and speculate how Abdul Daim became so immensely wealthy.

In the normal course of building a fortune of the magnitude he is associated with he would had to, as a citizen, file income tax returns and make the necessary declaration on zakat contributions. The truth is that it is difficult to chart the progression of his wealth. He was a lawyer, he knew the loopholes and he would have nominees, proxies, designated agents, some voluntary slaves, and servants to do his bidding. All of this is somewhat legal but unethical and immoral.

A character like Abdul Daim would have seen nothing wrong with it and he had this deep contempt for anyone who would question or caution him. He could rid the system of troublesome personalities. He was the ultimate silent, smooth, steady, and sophisticated operator who was imperiously confident that no one would stand in his path of accumulating assets.

This attitude of impunity he developed because he oversaw a process where revenue collection agencies were in his full control. Customs and tax authorities came directly under his control for years and he would have ensured that the key players/ bureaucrats would be beholden to him. The truth of the kind of constraints and pressures that these bureaucrats were subject to would never be known.

This diminutive Abdul Daim evidently had power and influence over the executive, especially PM Mahathir, and the judiciary as he could influence appointments and given the BN's hold on parliament it was made to function as a rubber stamp. The press was a joke for him as UMNO and MCA were completely in thrall to his power.

He succeeded in creating a situation where he, as a shady, shadowy supremely powerful politician could use and sideline a sitting prime minister as a tool for his inordinate avariciousness and obsession for subtle power and wealth. The state and its machinery were manipulated by Abdul Daim to the extent that they forgot the abdul in his name and he had inexplicably and inexorably become the richest person in the peninsula but very little could be traced directly to him. Every asset he had was provided a different cover and umbrella with a discreet, different name with the required layering at multiple levels. Abdul Daim knew the art of deception, dishonesty, and despicable conduct but he had the discipline, decorum, and the dispensation of the law to maintain his sullen silence.

The MACC is now trying to break through this solid wall of silence, surly indifference, and supercilious contempt. I believe that is the issue and we must realize that years of Mahathirism have weakened all the vital institutions of our country. Relatively unscathed is the Royalty itself and perhaps parts of the Judiciary and parliament. May the Almighty help us.

Anon.