Soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister in mid-September 2008, a corporate roundtable session was organised. Six individuals, each with a deep knowledge of his field, were personally chosen by Najib. They were tapped for ideas on how to address issues ranging from the economy, capital markets and business in general. The six were …
1. Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, the managing director of Khanazah Nasional Bhd;
2. Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof. An ex-banker, he was the former managing director of Malaysia Airlines and past chairman of the Securities Commission. He is currently director and chairman of Khazanah’s executive committee;
3. Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, chairman and MD of express bus operator, Konsortium Transnational Bhd. The former Proton boss was called upon by the Government in 1996 to revive the ailing public transport company;
4. Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin of Sapura Group, which has interests in communications, information technology, and oil and gas;
5. Datuk Mohamed Azman Yahya, director of Khazanah, and founder and group chief executive of outsourcing firm Symphony House Bhd. He is also the ex-CEO of Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd; and
6. Dr Gan Wee Beng, the executive director of CIMB Group.
All six have at one point or other played a significant advisory role in government agencies and strategic sectors. Some are still at it.
Azman Mokhtar continues to play a prominent role in the reforms of government-linked companies after instituting wide-ranging boardroom and management revamps.
Md Nor has a wealth of experience in banking and a keen insight on capital markets.
Nadzmi’s expertise is in transportation, a sector that requires much reform.
Shahril is the technology and multimedia man.
Azman, an ex-banker, helped set up and headed Danaharta during the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98. He sits on several advisory panels for the development of the capital market, venture capital and public service delivery system.
And Gan was a consultant to Bank Negara, the Economic Planning Unit, finance ministry and the World Bank.
The influence these six people wield in the new administration would be worth watching.
Abdullah was a main force behind the transformation of the government-linked companies (GLCs). The PM’s political will and Azman’s stewardship injected new life into the companies. The once lumbering giants were spruced up and restructured. What will become of the Khazanah-linked GLCs – and their captains – when Najib takes over? Will he maintain the status quo, is a question in the minds of many.
Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Mohamed Nor Yakcop, another key figure in the GLC transformation, hand-picked Azman to head Khazanah. Mohamed Nor is also believed to have brought in Datuk Seri Wahid Omar (currently Maybank CEO), Datuk Seri Che Khalib (Tenaga president and CEO), Datuk Shahril Ridzuan (MRCB managing director) and Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad (Prima Media managing director) to help push through the GLC reforms.
Whether Mohamed Nor will stay on as Second Finance Minister is anybody’s guess. It’s Najib’s call. But if Mohamed Nor leaves, it might be taken as a hint that Khazanah-linked companies are in for changes at the helm.
As one observer puts it: “Najib may have his own trusted lieutenants who he deems are more suited for the job, moving forward.”
Without a doubt, the spotlight next year (2009) will be on the other Razak brothers: CIMB’s Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, corporate figure Datuk Nizam Razak, Shearn Delamore & Co partner Datuk Johari Razak and architect Nazim Razak. For Nazir, in particular, given his high profile the potentially closer scrutiny could be discomforting.
Out of the family, a name that frequently pops up when asked who is in Najib’s milieu is Rohana Mahmood, chairman and partner of Ethos Capital, a RM200mil private equity firm. Rohana and Omar Mutapha Ong, a former special assistant to Najib, are co-founders of the boutique advisory firm Ethos & Co.
Rohana sits on the boards of Paramount Corp Bhd, TH Group Bhd and Dijaya Corp Bhd. She and another close aide of Najib, Abdul Razak Baginda, are co-founders of the independent think-tank, Malaysian Strategic Research Centre. Najib was chairman of the think-tank, now (Dec 2008) disbanded.
Omar was seen not too long ago in the finance minister’s office “just assisting a friend with some perspective’’ as one source puts it. But speculation about Najib building a “wall of advisers” around him resulted in Omar being asked to return to Ethos. The political rationale for Najib to distance himself from the “fourth-floor boys” syndrome is understandable. That was one of the most criticised aspects of the Abdullah administration.
Sources say Najib is not keen to have “filters” between him and the civil service. And he will likely have more direct his dealings with the business sector.
Inevitably, various names will be linked with Najib. But who counts more than others will be difficult to say; some may be social acquintances, others confidantes.
Johan Holdings Bhd chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock is among the people said to be close to Najib. They have known each other for a long time and are also golfing buddies.
Najib’s father and Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, and Tun Hussein Onn, uncle and third Prime Minister, were good friends of Tan Sri Robert Kuok, their friendship going back to their school days. But there’s nothing else to infer from that, a family friend says. “When the family is in Singapore, yes, they visit the Kuoks and spend some time with ‘Uncle Kuok’.”
Sapura’s Shahril and his family are also said to be close friends of Najib. Sources said that the Shamsuddin family has persevered through many prime ministers. And there is also a business link. Many years ago, a unit of the Sapura Group had produced portable radios for Mindef. Najib was previously Defence Minister.
And then there is Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary. One of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s closest allies, Syed Mokhtar controls DRB-HICOM. The company has a huge vehicle assembly plant – and is one of the largest employers – in Pekan, Pahang, Najib’s mains
tay political base. Here too there’s a defence link. Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd or Deftech is a DRB unit and it is the country’s leading supplier of land-based defence vehicles. Yes, there are common links. But it would really benefit Syed Mokhtar if Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin becomes the PM (Muhyiddin was Johor Chief Minister when Syed Mokhtar was building his empire in the state. The two have very close ties.).
But it is understood that none are as tight with Najib as those who had journeyed with him through his early days in Umno Youth. His clique includes Datuk Seri Jamaludin Jarjis (Rompin MP and Pekan-born), Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister), and Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamidi and Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (both Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department). These are the chaps in his inner circle as they go back a long way.
The Brothers …
The five sons of the late Tun Abdul Razak have long been in the public limelight – they were growing up when their father was prime minster from 1970 to 1976. The eldest, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was 17 years old when his father became prime minister while the youngest, Datuk Nazir Razak was then just four.
It was, however, a relatively short prime ministerial tenure as Razak passed away after about five years in office. The family will again be thrust into the spotlight cast from the prime minister’s office which Najib will assume in March 2008.
His brothers have long been engaged in their own respective professions.
Datuk Johari Razak, the second eldest, read law, like his father. He is a senior partner at Shearn Delamore & Co, a large law firm in Kuala Lumpur. Johari is also a non-executive director in several publicly listed companies including, being chairman of Ancom Bhd, deputy chairman of related Nylex (M) Bhd, and directorships in Hong Leong Industries Bhd and Daiman Development Bhd. He is also a director of Deutsche Bank (M) Bhd.
The middle brother, Datuk Mohamed Nizam Razak studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University in the UK and was a stockbroker, being CEO of PB Securities Sdn Bhd in the 1990s. At present (Dec 2008), he is also a non-executive director in several publicly listed companies including Hiap Teck Venture Bhd, Mamee Double-Decker (M) Bhd, Delloyd Ventures Bhd and Yeo Hiap Seng (M) Bhd. Like Johari, Nizam is also a director of Deutsche Bank.
The fourth brother Datuk Mohamed Nazim Razak, who also studied in a British university, is an architect. His wedding in 2005 when he married to Norjuma Habib Mohamed, former host of TV3’s Nona show, was widely covered in the media.
The youngest brother is the most well-known. Datuk Nazir Razak had studied at Cambridge University where he obtained a master of philosophy. A career banker, he joined
CIMB Investment Bank almost 20 years ago, rising through its executive ranks to become its CEO in 1999. Following the merger of CIMB and Bumiputra-Commerce Bank to become Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd (BCHB), Nazir became CEO of the merged group. This was not an easy charge as Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, during its years as Bank Bumiputra, had a history of falling into financial difficulties and needed to be rescued by the government. Under his watch, the BCHB group, which is branded as CIMB group, was transformed into a GLC (government-linked company) bank that could compete with its peers in the private sector regionally.
Najib has been careful that there is no incidence of “family cronyism”, although that has not deterred his political opponents from raising the issue.
His record, however, is a good one. Among his brothers, only Nazir has risen to the top post of a large GLC but he had to climb the corporate ladder. More importantly, Nazir has proved to be a capable banker, an accolade offered by his peers and fund managers for the results he produced at CIMB group. Furthermore, he advanced at CIMB at a time when Najib held other cabinet posts, not that of finance minister.
In recent years (Before 2008), Najib had held the portfolio of defence minister and throughout his term of service, there were no scandals of defence contracts involving his brothers. The family is proud of the Razak name and do not want to tarnish that. When Najib was defence minister, any involvement by his brothers in the defence industry would have been politically sensitive or even suspicious.
The dilemma of his brothers now (Dec 2008) is that when Najib becomes prime minister, any career progression they may have in whatever field could be the subject of criticism of Najib’s influence. Yet, the brothers have built their respective careers and have the right, as any other individual, to move up in their careers.
That raises the possibility of a move to public service by some of the brothers. They are well-educated and are known to be well-mannered, rather than arrogant, and have not been known to abuse their family ties.
Soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister in mid-September 2008, a corporate roundtable session was organised. Six individuals, each with a deep knowledge of his field, were personally chosen by Najib. They were tapped for ideas on how to address issues ranging from the economy, capital markets and business in general. The six were …
Sapura’s Shahril and his family are also said to be close friends of Najib. Sources said that the Shamsuddin family has persevered through many prime ministers. And there is also a business link. Many years ago, a unit of the Sapura Group had produced portable radios for Mindef. Najib was previously Defence Minister.
tay political base. Here too there’s a defence link. Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd or Deftech is a DRB unit and it is the country’s leading supplier of land-based defence vehicles. Yes, there are common links. But it would really benefit Syed Mokhtar if Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin becomes the PM (Muhyiddin was Johor Chief Minister when Syed Mokhtar was building his empire in the state. The two have very close ties.).
CIMB Investment Bank almost 20 years ago, rising through its executive ranks to become its CEO in 1999. Following the merger of CIMB and Bumiputra-Commerce Bank to become Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd (BCHB), Nazir became CEO of the merged group. This was not an easy charge as Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, during its years as Bank Bumiputra, had a history of falling into financial difficulties and needed to be rescued by the government. Under his watch, the BCHB group, which is branded as CIMB group, was transformed into a GLC (government-linked company) bank that could compete with its peers in the private sector regionally.
