Mukhriz tells family members 'BUTT OUT' but does that include dad Mahathir?

KUALA LUMPUR - Mukhriz Mahathir sounded just like his dad when he said he would not give any business projects to members of his family and if he was faced with a choice, he would put the people's interest first.

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad too had made such heroic declarations throughout his 22-year despotic rule of the nation. Yet, 2 of his sons are now ranked billionaires in the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest.

Mukhriz, 49, is Mahathir's 3rd son and not on the Forbes list . But he is now the Kedah chief minister, and his father has been accused of going all out to maneuver into the prime minister's chair.

As such, it would certainly be interesting to see how Mukhriz's own 4 kids do in the future.

Will it be a case of history repeating itself, with 3 of the Mukhriz offspring going on to become billionaires like his brothers Mirzan and Mokhzani while the remaining child stays in the political arena - like Mukhriz himself - to inherit the political legacy passed down by the family patriarch?

Only time will tell. But for now, as far as his rhetoric in public goes, it's no meddling, no handouts. Family members must butt out!

"At the moment, no members of my family have any intentions to embark on projects here. I hope it will remain like that. If not, I will be in a dilemma as I do not want to hurt their feelings," Bernama reported Mukhriz as telling a press conference in Kedah held in conjunction with his 100th day in office.

"My priority is the people's interests. If I have to choose between the interest of the people and those of my family for business, I will be behind the people.

"Rather than hurting their (family members') feelings, it is thus better for such situations not to arise at all."

Cynicism

Already cynicism shrouds the Mukhriz comments as few people who know Mahathir can imagine him taking orders from anyone else, least of all his youngest son.

Not surprisingly, Mukhriz was also quick to leave a door open for himself, saying that he may seek the advice of family members in their 'respective areas of expertise'.

Although, he mentioned no names, the one whose advice he is bound to seek or perhaps even get slapped with without any solicitation is likely to be Mahathir's.

Be that as it may, Mukhriz has already begun firing salvos in the true Malay-championing style of his dad.

One of the first key policies Mukhriz announced at the press conference was the decision to maintain the 50:50 policy for ownership of houses by bumiputras and Malays. This contrasted against the BN's 30:70 housing policy.

"We will continue to practise the 50:50 housing policy as there is a huge demand for houses by bumiputras and we want the ratio of bumiputra residents in urban areas to be maintained, said Mukhriz.

"So the 50:50 practice started by PAS will be maintained. However in terms of implementation, PAS failed. In this regard, we must also ensure the interests of non-Malays are also being looked after...there are many ways to keep a fine balance."

Mukhriz also said the 50:50 policy would prevent Malay reserve land from being swapped with land in other areas, which had been practised under the 30:70 policy.

"In Alor Star, virtually all lands are Malay reserve land. We want towns in Kedah especially Alor Star to maintain the present demography," he said.

Zooms in on land deals

Finally, in the true tradition of his dad, Mukhriz turned his attention to land and land schemes - one of the chief mechanisms that many Umno warlords have used to create enormous wealth for themselves.

One of the most famous examples is the huge tract of land Mahathir allegedly allowed former finance minister Daim Zainuddin to develop into a sprawling commercial hub in Sungei Petani.

According to Mukhriz, the Kedah government will begin identifying suitable non-padi farming land to be developed as large tracts of land in the state had already been devoted to padi farming.

He also plans to discuss with the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) to develop land owned by federal government agencies.

"At the moment, non-padi land can be developed as industrial estates. For example, in Bukit Kayu Hitam, 3,000 hectares are being developed for this purpose," he said.

"We will discuss with Mada on developing some 8,000 hectares of such land around Alor Star."

Not a bad start. For a chip off the old block, that is!

Malaysia Chronicle