Screenshots

TDM asked a good question which Mr AK should answer,come clean.

"Which friend lent him(AK)RM9 million?I also want to borrow,Pemuda UMNO also wants to borrow and buy ECM shares.Then all UMNO members will go and borrow"

AK,just give a straight answer,where did you get the RM9 million?

BTW,in my humble opinion,even Jeff you claimed that TDM was a yesterday man,still,I want to know where did his(TDM) own children get the fund to purchase all those billion RM companies as well

Fair?

The 31 questions are very disapointing! Perhaps only 20% are reallly serious ones...rest sounds like wanting to poke fun at KJ!

It surprises me, this same very blog that want to champion the truth in everything, did very little years back under the previous administrations to champion the same and question the previous admin!! for its misdeeds!

Blogging should be about fairness and bi-partisan ...so Jeff, why not start your list for TDM, and get him to answer..and please dont ask questions like what do you think of maya karin or whats your definition for nepotism...be la a little bit more serious...

you can start with the question Dell questioned above!

JEFF OOI says:If Khairy can answer the easy questions, we will be too willing to get into serious ones. But podcast differs from text, we need to be short, punchy, give room to the mindscape so that the listeners could absorb the gist of issues as the soundbytes flow by. Then, for podcast to succeed, the lsiteners must start talking to each other and come out with engaging conversation back in words... we may consider SMS/call-back MMS later, after there's a critical mass for a business case before we want to talk to a gateway provider. Meanwhile, please wait for all 5 instalments to be on air, then you guys let us know your ideas of getting the podcast better -- though wqe have a concept of our own. Like Pak Lah said. don't lah show us the red card when we are barely 10 minutes into the game. ;-)

BTW DEll ...didnt KJ state that he tooka loan from ECM libra to buy its shares?

Say i own ECM, u r my friend and i like you..and u mean allot to me...i offer to some shares in my company ...i give you loan to buy them ....so..whats wrong with it?

Its my business right ..i like you ....but then i hate all other malaysians...i only like you ...so i only give you money to buy my shares..u pay monthy..kah whatever...thats i dont care..so i like you..i let you buy ..i give you loan to buy!

So .....its a matter of busienss between them ...ofcourse there is a larger picture of avanue...but thats a different story ....since u r talking about shares purchase!

So why cant he get a loan from Kali ....to buy shares in ECM?

I'm with Goks on this one but not on posing questions to TDM. The old man no longer hold any post and therefore what good is there to ask answers from the past?

I'm also surprised at the bimboic tabloid questions posed.

AK took a loan of RM 9 million to buy share from that company?

No,I do not believe,is it that simple?

There must be some strings attached,speaking as some one with some business experience.

I do not expect AK to tell all,but perhaps one would do,a sensible one that can shut my mouth.

A proper system of checks and balances is the way forward!

This is the state of M'sian politics. Nothing but 'Esquire' like personal gossip and instead of Hollywood stars we get M'sian own politicians. Never once I hear questions on governing philosophy and other issues of real concern. If our daily papers are bias other avenues like the blogs are just immature and irrelevant. Its such a shame that we are caught in this time warp. Comparing with US bloggers where it can even correct factual errors like the Dan Rather forged documents and Little Green Footballs recent exposure of Reuters fake pictures in Lebanon, can't we do better? Anyway, Screenshot is the most visited blog in M'sia and it is what it is and we deserve the govt. we have. Its a pity that this space is not put to better use with its influence.

Guys

Give KJ a break, I believe he can't even answer the 20% serious questions, what is the point asking him all the serious question, you really want him to quit?

By the way, for those who wants the answer from TDM, my question is where were you when you see things were wrong then? We can't even tackle the current issues, why want to go back to history? Can you change the history?

beagle : TDM's retirement from mainstream politics doesn't mean he is free of his responsibilities in answering his own critics. Let's be honest; didn't most of us have a qustion or two on TDM's policies & 'misdeeds' during his heyday?

The point is, if you can shoot arrows at your appointed successor, then be a man & answer your own set of questions. IMO, the old man is just evading issues surrounding him; all I see is him throwing more questions rather than answers.

If & when he actually gets to it, lets hope he leaves out the melodramatic stage acting he's exceptionally good at & come clean.

Agreed on the "bimboic" trash bit. I guess that's what makes heads turn the most.

KJ must be a terrific guy otherwise who in his right mind would give him a 9 mil loan.
However most people look at the loan issue as a whole, NOT 2 separate issues. The loan and the reverse takeover of ECM over Avenue comes one after the other and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to connect the two. Many people still believe there's something fishy and it's better for KJ to come clean on this one before the perception of the people(which is less than good) becomes permanent.

again, some people miss the point...

yes, KJ got a loan to buy ECM shares. yes, it is all right for anybody to loan money to anybody else to buy whatever the borrower finds attractive.

BUT...

fast forward to "some time" after KJ bought ECM shares: ECM announced that it will propose a "merger" between ECM and Avenue, which was a GLC. (actually, some people would rather say acquisition rather than merger, since ECM ends up taking control on Avenue.) this kind of corporate merger requires the approval of several government bodies, especially since Avenue was a GLC. guess what? the merger was approved (big suprise...) and since the deal benefited ECM greatly, the price of ECM shares skyrocketed...

insider trading, influence trafficking, bribery...? a lot can be said...

i used to follow this issue closely, and stopped after it was clear that no action will be taken. if i remember correctly, the ECM shares surged so high that KJ could have paid back the loan and still be a multi-millionaire...

i still remember a journalist asking pak lah (shortly after the merger) what he thought of the issue. pak lah's answer: "i was not aware of that." what a great finance minister!

/// I'm with Goks on this one but not on posing questions to TDM. The old man no longer hold any post and therefore what good is there to ask answers from the past? ///

Beagle, on the contrary, I think it is good and relevant to seek answers from the past, especially if the person who ask those questions has questionable motives.

Those same questions should be thrown back at TDM. What is borrowing RM9 million by KJ to buy ECM??? Chicken feed. Remember during TDM's reign, Ling Leong Sik's son was able to borwwor RM2.7 Billion to buy listed companies. Why didn't TDM question his own minister then?

Family members in business??? What about Konsortium? MISC??? Pantai, etc, etc???

There is such a thing called moral high ground to ask questions. Or do we want double standards? Do we want people speaking from both corners of the mouth or with a forked tongue? Do we want selective amnesia?

Yes, those are buring questions and very pertinent. But is HE the right person to ask them? Should Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines preach to us how to run a clean government (assuming he can ask questions from the grave).

What good to ask answers from the past? It will show that the questioner is the one responsible for all the current mess and wrong doings. Nothing has changed - it is business as usual. Why start asking questions when this sudden desire for answers have not manifested itself for the past 20 odd years?

"after KJ bought ECM shares: ECM announced that it will propose a "merger" between ECM and Avenue, which was a GLC. (actually, some people would rather say acquisition rather than merger, since ECM ends up taking control on Avenue.) this kind of corporate merger requires the approval of several government bodies, especially since Avenue was a GLC. guess what? the merger was approved (big suprise...) and since the deal benefited ECM greatly, the price of ECM shares skyrocketed..."

To me,if what you described is true,then it is INSIDER TRADING.

This question should be posed by TDM,instead of his kampong style's question:

How AK borrow,I also wanna borrow!

There is no free lunch in this world?

If KJ is not the son-in-law of PM, would he still be able to get the RM9m loan from ECM-Libra to buy the shares?

Put in the other way round, How many investment bankers (except KJ) in ECM-Libra have been offered to buy ECM-Libra shares using loan from ECM-Libra/major shareholders and how much is the total loan given (exceed RM9m)?

How much of the revenue of ECM-Libra derived is from Malaysian government and GLCs for the FY2003 to FY2006 (prior and after Pak Lah took over the PM in Oct 2003). It would be good for corporate governance, accountability and integrity if KJ can disclose these figures. It would also help to dispel the allegation of nepotism and cronyism by his Father-in-Law.

Similarly, Malaysia government can give the breakdown of corporate advisory fees/etc. paid to each investment bank (including ECM-Libra) by the Malaysian government and GLCs. It would be good for transparency and governance and let these figures do the talking.

welll, i thought it was pretty entertaining at least - and some were quite pertinent.

it could be said that it was a little self-indulgent, but i guess since KJ will pretty much never answer honest questions from cockroaches like us no matter how considerately and diplomatically crafted those questions might be, then we might as well ask him the really challenging ones.

some questions didn't seem so relevant to KJ, but my favorites include - anwar, defying police orders (in effect defying law and gov't), the boycott list (israeli rather than jewish interests tho?), FAM, and the loan.

also, jeff's use of the word 'shoot' early on did not go unnoticed.. :)

The message in the photo says "PLEASE CLOSE ONE EYE, I'LL DO IT BETTER NEXT TIME babah".

Reminds me of my 5 years old.

I agree that RM 9 million is indeed Chicken feed compared to RM 2.7 Billion borrowed by Ling Leong Sik's son to buy listed companies. but it is equally serious.

In Taiwan,when it was discovered that the members of ruling party DPP were corrupted,they started defending themselves:

Yes,indeed we are corrupted but we are not as corrupted as the last ruling party KMT.

But this argument was throw out immediately by the Taiwanese people.

KJ has said nothing..as far as I am concerned. Tell us names..who lent you the money..if it is "legally" borrowed. Let's say Bank A lent me money..I will say bank A lent me the money..what is there to hide? KJ..can do better..so who lent you???..And can I go see him to borrow just half million?

insider trading is a big crime isn't it? so its a dangerous accusation to be throwing here and there and put jeff blog in trouble again.

Not so serious lah,I think

Reader vain_harper said a lot can be said.

I said if what he described was true which I am not too sure.

So I believe that both of us have covered our A**,hopefully that also include Jeff's.

I do agree that we have to be extremly careful and thanks for the alert.

DELL:

Just a correction so that no suit follows eh!

"I agree that RM 9 million is indeed Chicken feed compared to RM 2.7 Billion borrowed by Ling Leong Sik's son to buy listed companies. but it is equally serious."...
Ths sum well reported by the media then (1997/98) was purported to be RM1.2BILLION ... to take control of several KLSE listed companies -- NEVEER DENIED THEN when several papers esp HUaren-controlled The Star held Ling Jr up as a MOdel entrepreneur.

"Equally serious" -- nah, difference by THREE zeroes!
9million is 9,000,000
Contartsed with 1BILLION is
1,000,000,000 and I've always pointed out this for Contextual?perspective discussionns ...IRONY is that one was youngest billionaire at 27 then (1997), and the other Second most powerful man in Malaysia at 28 (two years ago) -- BOTH ARE NOW SECOND ECELONG LEADERS IN BN but respectively 2nd-in0-command in YOUTH WINGS of MCA and UMNO respectively. Long live Malaysia!

Wanna be a millionaire Young men? Join the Eat, Drink and Be Merry crowd, PWTC or MCA Hq beckon thee!

Thank you so it was purported to be RM1.2BILLION.

Still if it is inproper,it is inproper,regardless of the amount,here we are talking about proper behavior for political leaders.

Jeff,

Noted...but i must say..u guys are damn funny! perhaps you and oon shoudl consider stand up commedy on malaysian politics! ...serious :)

DELL:
On second reading, I raelise you quoted ORI commenter "wrathofgrapes" re the figure of RM2.7BILLION. Hey, friend, just note my friendly correction and I'd give thee my goblet of tehtarik for your barrel of wine OK?
"Why didn't TDM question his own minister then?" -- I second this -- WofG, are you raising this q in Parliament next?

for context:

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/1/20/business/13166090&sec=business

http://www.jeffooi.com/2006/07/pac_to_probe_ecmlibraavenue_ca.php

http://www.jeffooi.com/2006/07/an_open_letter_to_pac_members.php

and just use StarBiz's "Stock Prices" feature to take a look at what happened to ECM shares near that period...

just for the record, i am not making any accusation, just wondering out "aloud" (allowed?)... that's why the "?" is there, guys...

route to success:

paper from famous uni -> get contact dasyat -> marry someone berada -> info (lobang) will come (if i have such background, i think there will be people lining up to lend me 9 mil) -> rich -> more friends and supporters -> power

when a person got money and power, women will come, biasalah...

no one should disagree with the fact that he's smart. he will be a dragon if not a worm.

ummm anybody know how smart he is? he graduated from oxford 1st class? 2nd class?

Hi Desi - thanks for the correction. I knew it was in the billions, give or take a billion. See, the effect of the wrath of grapes (hangover) - is clouding my mind and slurring my speech. Better switch to kopi tarik.

This crying and teardropping must be some kind of disease infecting umno members. The focus on ECMLibra and avenue assets should be on the finance minister or his assistant who pull the GLC's shots and not KJ. he was suckered into the deal by the main players.