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Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan comes into much-needed cash

That international business man of unquestioned repute, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan -- this first description is by his lawyer in court and his name is as in a policy report he filed against a journalist -- is rolling in good luck. First, the island resort he controls -- Pulau Tioman -- becomes duty free so 40,000 of so Singaporeans could purchase duty free items more expensively than he could at home. But Pulau Tioman is duty free because the other duty free island, Pulau Langkawi, has lost its lustre, and the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, is worried that his desire to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state could put paid to it.

Then this persistent rumour that Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan is to get another gambling licence. He already has Sports Toto. The rules prohibit one to have two gambling licences. The rumour was he would also control Magnum. But even the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient Dr Mahathir could not bend the rules for a crony. One assumes of course the former insurance agent and second hand motor car salesman and wheeler-dealer is a crony of the Prime Minister. He is more of a crony of former finance minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin. And shrewd enough to have a foot in both camps, shifting it whichever way the wind blows.

He did more than his national service by destroying the newspaper he runs, the Sun. his business empire is heavily in debt, but he is rescued time and time again. (It is worth mentioning here that when I wrote he was prepared to subvert the independence of the Sun to further his business interests that led him in 1994 to sue me, without proof of any kind, and obtained RM2 million in defamation damages; that is still mired in the the appellate courts.) The authorities bend over backwards to see he is freshly energised, as blood to a vampire, and he becomes an efficient Baba crony for Ali.

Market sources tell me that Magnum has withdrawn its considerable fixe deposits from Malaysian banks, and buys land as if there is no tomorrow. That in itself is not unusual. Land is a good investment, the prices have lost their lustre, and some good buys are clearly possible. But where the land is bought is what makes it interesting. The rumour I heard was wrong. The government could not bend the rules for a crony, even one as well connected as Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan, and who willingly shot himself in the foot in his bid to be a media mogul. But there is much truth in the rumoured links between Magnum and Tan Sri Dato' Vincent Tan.

Magnum's property department spent time and effort to scour the country for investment-grade land, and every suggestion is that no better buy exists than in Bukit Tinggi, and the land it wants is owned by one Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan. So, on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis, Magnum gets the land and Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan the cash. So, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan has the cash he desperately needs and Magnum has the land it desperately needs to take advantage of Malaysia's awesome development potential. But somehow I do not think one is happy he is rolling in money and the other is happy that it has got, in return, prime investment land.

Since the KLSE must be informed of deals like this, why is it kept in the dark? Simple. It is not the habit of listed companies to go into mega deals like this. It is too time consuming, this clearance for the deals. The parties cannot make profits before the shareholders are informed of it. So, unlisted subsidiaries far removed from the listed companies do the deal, which would then be injected into the liste companies, for the second killing. The third, they hope, would come when the share market shoots through the roof. But this international business man of unquestioned root can heave a sigh of relief. He managed yet again to keep the wolf from the door. Thanks to his cronyistic connexions. And despite his uncanny belief in acquiring debt beyond the greed of Croessus. It is an unmistakeable sign that Malaysia Boleh is not a slogan for the likes of him and his ilk.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my






        
Ke atas    Balik Menu Utama    Tarikh artikal diterbitkan : 15 Februari 2002

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