Car before cattle?

MARCH 19 — It has become blatantly obvious that Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil lives on a different planet from the rest of us. In her world, it is perfectly acceptable for a company like the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) to spend money meant for buying cattle on things like a luxury car and a condominium in Singapore.

Did it not occur to her that it might seem inappropriate that the company spend so much money on trappings like a company car and foreign investments before actually building up the company’s core business which is cattle?

Instead, the company, helmed by her husband, bought a RM534,622 Mercedes-Benz as a company car. This vehicle was then parked in their home because the four directors — her husband and three children — stayed in the same house.

To hear her say it in court today, “one car for four directors” sounded like a cost-saving compromise. 

But why a Mercedes-Benz CLS350? Again, the reply from Shahrizat might give us a clue on how her mind works: NFCorp is a “big enterprise” visited by many foreign guests. 

So appearances and the need to look like a “big enterprise” take precedent over the actual building-up of the company?

Surely, this is not right. 

And the condominium in Singapore purchased under the names of her family members? Shahrizat explained that it was because Singapore law did not allow a start-up company like NFCorp to purchase the property directly.

She added that it was for investment purposes.

Investment? Isn’t that like putting the cart before the horse? The money given to NFCorp was to buy cattle and build up the feedlot business AND not to put into investments. 

On our planet, you invest AFTER you get your business up and running.