GUNA WHACKS ARULKANDA
Malaysiakini
Article by P Gunasegaran
4 May 2018
Arul Kanda and the lies about 1MDB
QUESTION TIME | 1MDB CEO
Arul Kanda Kandasamy has launched a vitriolic, personal, and unwarranted attack against me which, of course, has no substance but let me deal with the most preposterous of his claims first - the so-called achievements he has made at 1MDB.
I have reproduced in full the “achievements” he claims since 2015 when he joined 1MDB in italics followed by my comments in each case:
- Transparency: the company has become much more open, transparent and accessible, both to the media and to the public
I wanted to roll around in laughter at this. Truth is, not one 1MDB annual report has been released since he came on board. Instead during his time, the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB was made secret under the Official Secrets Act, probably on his advice. He never told the government to make the report public.
These two documents are all that is needed to condemn or exonerate 1MDB.
- Cooperation: full assistance and cooperation have been provided to investigators from Bank Negara, the National Audit Department, the Public Accounts Committee and the Royal Malaysian Police
Did you have a choice, Arul? Are you not supposed to help investigations by the relevant authorities? Would you not be contravening the law if you hid some things? So for you, abiding by the law is an achievement?
- Massive debt reduction: 1MDB debts have been massively reduced from RM50 billion to RM31 billion
I already explained this in the last article I wrote. You did this by selling the power assets, extinguishing the bank loans. The sale simultaneously removes the loans from the books of the power companies. That’s nothing.
- No short-term loans: all short-term loans and bank debt have been fully repaid with RM43 billion of long-term assets now fully backing RM31 billion of long-term debt
The excess of assets over liabilities is simply because of the revaluation of land obtained cheaply from the government in the first place for both TRX as well as Bandar Tun Razak, not because you did anything, Arul.
However, it has been widely reported that the auditor-general said that US$7 billion of 1MDB assets could not be accounted for or verified - almost RM30 billion gone missing, evaporated into thin air. Where is the money Arul, you have not told us yet.
- TRX a success: the Exchange 106 tower in TRX will be the tallest tower in Malaysia upon completion in 2018. International investors such as HSBC and Prudential have collectively committed billions of ringgit to their headquarters in TRX. Lendlease, one of the most well-respected global property developers is in a joint venture with TRX to develop 17 acres of land
TRX was a ruse for 1MDB to borrow money and then have it allegedly stolen by the kleptocrats. There is no evidence to show that any money borrowed went to TRX - TRX does not need RM30 billion for development - all it needs to do is to sell the land for others to develop.
- 30,000 high-income jobs will be generated in TRX, upon completion, with RM3 billion being spent on infrastructure in and around TRX
This is, again, a lie. If you have a building, people will work in it especially if you force them to move here, but that does not mean you created those high-paying jobs. Instead, by building so much of commercial space - too much - you will create excess and cause a glut in office supply. Go read the Bank Negara report on that, Arul.
- Bandar Malaysia relocation completed: practically all of the eight new and upgraded bases for the air force and police with 1MDB as the developer and LTAT as the contractor are now completed thereby paving the way for the development of Bandar Malaysia
Again, your bond money did not go into this project - it allegedly went into the pockets of your benefactors. All these could have been done without 1MDB and at much lower cost.
- 200,000 high-income jobs will be generated in Bandar Malaysia, which will be a premier transport-oriented development and will house the terminus of the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail link
Again, this is a lie. High-income jobs are not being created. What happens is high-income earners will shift and work in this area, which is not the same thing. And you don’t need to lose RM40 billion in the process.
Want to know how to make RM90 billion from Bandar Malaysia? Read this article I wrote.
A dishonourable career
Now that the substance of this debate is over, we know that Arul, despite what he said, did not stick to the facts. Let’s move on to the vitriol and the personal attacks.
When I set up KiniBiz together with Malaysiakini in 2013, I was already 60 years old, and had been managing editor at The Star and group executive editor at The Edge. I had no desire to go any further than that in either organisation. Earlier I held other editor jobs and was head of equity research at local and foreign brokerages.
I lost money at KiniBiz, Arul, but I made no secret of the fact that KiniBiz was shut down - we announced it on the website. But it was not your money I lost or the country’s, and I am not defending someone else’s alleged robbery at 1MDB and thereby becoming complicit in that act the way you are.
I am proud that my team and I tried to do something about good business journalism in Malaysia, although we could not, at the time, make it financially viable for various reasons. We were the ones who broke the 1MDB story in March 2013 as you very well know. We helped uncover this story which you are so desperately trying to bury – and we won’t let you do that.
This time, I am not going to mince my words about this excuse of a man who not only lacks, sorry, is devoid of, not only integrity and morality but intelligence. People tell me he is smart and a great debater but all I have seen demonstrated repeatedly is the stupidity and banality of the desperate, trying to cover up with words his lack of achievement.
He could have made an honourable career in the financial industry but was duped and drawn in as the CEO of 1MDB to do his master’s bidding of engaging in systematic deception to deny the biggest kleptocracy the earth has ever known. No amount of money is worth that, Arul.
While Jho Low was until recently sailing around the world in a billion-ringgit yacht, enjoying the spoils of the 1MDB money, this man sits here and blithely says 1MDB did not lose any money. What a clown!
And if Pakatan Harapan wins this election, you will see this man flee from this country with his tail between his legs. He will not have the balls to stay and face the music. Which is why he is campaigning so hard for his political masters for it is also his own future that he is fighting for.
For us Malaysians, we will say good riddance and chalk up one more reason we should vote against this government which continues to allegedly steal from its people and appoints ball-carriers to important positions in government-linked companies, which is a sure way to ensure they fail.
And if BN wins, you still lose Arul, because you lent your name to the biggest kleptocracy in the world and your support to an immoral, incompetent and corrupt regime. Your name will go down in the halls of shame but perhaps you don’t care about that, do you?
P GUNASEGARAM says the country is in danger when alleged thieves and their co-conspirators flaunt themselves in the open instead of being brought to account and locked up.
Email: [email protected]
———————————————————————————————————————-
By a guy who attended it (source FB)
ARUL KANDA'S TALK ON 1MDB - LUCKY GARDEN BANGSAR, 7TH MAY 2018
To cut the long story short:
If you subscribe to the narrative given by Tony Pua or Rafizi Ramli, I have good news for you:
What Arul Kanda said tonight, neither disproves or debunks the narrative from Pakatan Harapan.
So are Tony Pua and Rafizi telling the truth? I don't know about that. But what was telling was the lack of effort from Arul to even convince the audience in Lucky Garden tonight not to believe the allegations thrown by PH leaders at 1MDB.
And to me, that was the biggest disappointment of the evening.
I came to the talk tonight with high hopes. Call me an idealist, call me a romantic. Time has thought me that there is always two sides to a story, and the only fair thing is to listen to both sides before coming to a judgment.
Arul Kanda has the reputation of an excellent debater. Even 20 years ago back when I was in MCKK, the legend of Arul Kanda the extraordinary debater from the Royal Military College filled the imaginations of wannabe debaters, along with the homegrown legend like Rafizi himself and also Saifuddin Abdullah from the Class of 1980 (now the Secretary General of Pakatan Harapan)
Tonight, his legend status preceded him. I wanted to be convinced. I wanted to me wowwed. I wanted to have that spark in my mind saying "Hey, this dude does make sense"
And i walked away from the talk. Disappointed.
There were 4 main things from tonight's event that sealed my judgment on 1MDB.
ONE - Arul Kanda went to great lengths to explain the reporting structure on 1MDB, and how NTR was not involved in any way in influencing the decision making within 1MDB.
The funny thing was, he placed the blame of all the bad decisions made within the company on the management and also of the Board of Directors, conveniently leaving out the roles played by its Board of Advisors of which Najib is the Chairman, and also the roles of the sole owner of 1MDB which are MOF Inc, which minister is also Najib himself.
Convenient Arul. But not smart.
TWO - He placed the blame squarely on the management and on the BOD for making all those bad decisions, calling those as 'business errors' and absolving himself from any blame.
Funny again, for a company supposedly managed by the brightest Malaysia had to offer, they were making massive decisions worth billions of dollars without consulting and without the approval of the Board. Even penny stock companies on Bursa Malaysia would know that this is wrong. How come the brightest in 1MDB had the temerity and audacity to act in that wrongful manner, which in normal companies will earn you a quick removal from the job?
Nope. No explanation from Arul.
THREE - He stated and agreed with the findings of the PAC that the 1MDB business model was wrong which ultimately led the company into cashflow problems due to heavy borrowing and high debt repayments required.
Funny as well, since from day one of 1MDB it had that seemingly flawed business model in place. None of the brightest stood up, the BOD stayed silent, even more so Board of Advisers chaired by Najib.
It was never a viable venture to begin with. And for many years nobody voiced out against this business model, until it is already too late.
Thanks Arul for agreeing with this point. Which in hindsight is really dumb to have happened to a company transacting in of billions of dollars, mostly in debt.
FOUR - Arul skirted around the Auditor General's Report on 1MDB, which is still being kept hostage by the Official Secrets Act. "Download the PAC report" he said too many times tonight, never responding to calls to release the AG report.
Something you want to be kept hidden, Arul?
I walked away feeling disappointed. I didn't even wait for the Q&A to start.
The thing is, I somewhat felt pity for Arul. He was there with a mic in his hands and PowerPoint slides to back him up, but I got the feeling that he was just going through the motions, like the story has already been scripted. "Believe me if you want to, I don't care if you dont". And from his talk today, Arul was just there giving a talk - he didnt bother to convince, he didn't bother to connect with this audience to get them to see things from the way he sees it.
Which to me is very telling.
I would wager a reason for this. For he himself does not believe in the bullshit that he is peddling.
Apatah lagi rakyat Malaysia.
So I end with the same conclusion that I started with.
I was waiting to be convinced straight from the horse's mouth. If there was somebody who should be able to sell me the 'real' story of 1MDB, it should have been Arul Kanda Kandasamy, debater extraordinaire.
But that didn't happen.
Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli can rest easy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Arul Kandasamy story starts at 1:30