Say what you like about Malaysia's former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, he sure makes good copy. And especially now..everybody wants a piece of him -- wants to know what he thinks. he says it as it is.
You can choose to ignore him, to not believe a word he says.. it's a free country.
But here's the first part of the NST interview with Daim, headlined "I Want Najib To Win, Anwar Not Fit To Be PM".
WHENEVER Tun Daim Zainuddin is not orbiting the globe, he will be holed up in his workstation at Wisma YPR (Yayasan Pok Rafeah, named after his late mother).
His desk is one sprawling clutter of printouts and financial analyses
helpfully sent daily by an organisation headed by a friend -- a former
prime minister of a neighbouring Asian country.
The hallway is in a different galaxy. It is virtually an art gallery.
He owns more than 2,000 paintings. Some paintings are now worth 10 times
what he paid for. He was chairman of the National Art Gallery before he
joined the cabinet. The lawyer-turned-housing developer who later
became finance minister (twice) is not selling.
The range of passions is bewildering. He is a fan of Datuk Shah Rukh
Khan. Daim is a significant shareholder of a bank with many branches in
Africa. He is chairman of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) audit
committee.
At 74, he plays badminton with increasingly younger mates. And, he
displays a Manchester United replica jersey autographed by Sir Bobby
Charlton.
"I am a busybody," he explained as he greeted New Straits Times
journalists -- A. JALIL HAMID, RASHID YUSOF and HARIZ MOHD -- and
photographer, ZAHARI ZAKARIA, to kickstart a series of exhaustive
interviews.
Daim, who had precipitated a near-crash of the stock market in 1994
with his "sell" advice and later named "chief conspirator" by Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim, has since sparked a media frenzy for a new reason.
It is political punditry, having correctly predicted the outcome of the
March 2008 general election; so the NST prodded him for new
predictions. We probed his political allegiance and provoked him even as
the sessions shifted focus from one hot topic to another.
By the time we were done, newer perspectives and insights had been
gleaned from the political events of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis,
the future of Umno, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Anwar, Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad, Lee Kuan Yew, to the rise of China and the Arab Spring (which
he jokingly referred to as "the Arab Fall").
Daim: "If you ask me, between the two, Najib or Anwar, I would choose Najib."
Question: Tun, since your retirement, you have given a number
of interviews to the Chinese dailies, but hardly any to the mainstream
media. Any particular reason for this?
Answer: I have been asked to give so many interviews, but all they
wanted to know is when will the elections be held and what is my
prediction of the outcome. So, before the election, which I predict will
be by next month (he laughs), this will be my last interview.
I don't want to give any more interviews because all of you only ask about the elections and it's quite tiresome.
Also, I don't want people to misquote me. I heard people say that I had
said BN would win only three states. That is not true. You must read my
answers in full. I said BN, in particular Umno, must work hard, stay
united and put up the best candidates to win.
Yes, I have given interviews to Chinese press mostly. The Chinese
wanted to understand the thinking of the Malays. To address their
concerns, I must know what is in their minds, their fears and their
aspirations and they wanted to know if our economic policies are right.
They want peace in the country and they know to have peace, you need
political stability.
Have you read their articles on government policies? Someone will
whisper to the government about this or that paper, or that this writer
is being anti-establishment.
I say, "Stop!" I have read their articles. While they do criticise,
they are not being anti-establishment. You argue with facts and
statistics. The process will produce a healthy debate.
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