Leaving Petronas gives Dr M more leeway – A Kadir Jasin

Told by his doctors “to slow down”, (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as adviser to Petronas effective December 1.

Why Petronas? Isn’t he not also the adviser to Proton?  Petronas is way larger and more glamorous than Proton.

"I have been with Petronas for 10 years, I feel that Petronas has performed well and made a huge profit.

"I hope Petronas will continue to play its role in nurturing young entrepreneurs," The Star quoted him saying.

That bit about continuing to nurture young entrepreneurs is loaded because he was recently embroiled in a tussle of sorts with Petronas management over allegations that the national oil company was not doing enough to help Bumiputera businessmen.

I will take the doctors’ advice at face value. They treated him and should know better.

But what I know is, he does not have to climb 88 floors to get to his office at Petronas and the job was not 9 to 5, seven days a week. He can even advise without being there.

But he often said that he was a Malaysian adviser. Unlike a British adviser during the colonial days, being a Malaysian adviser he has no power and his advice was not always accepted.

My own diagnosis of the malady that led to his resignation as Petronas adviser is this. He is better off letting go of the Petronas job than hanging on to it and risk suffering the heartache of being spurned by The Power that now controls the national oil company.

Everybody knows that the single most influential person in Petronas board member Omar Ong and everybody knows that Dr Mahathir objected to his appointment.

Breaking away from the government may be good for Dr Mahathir. He can now say and write things about the government without having to look over his shoulders. He is not beholden to the government anymore.

Although he was quoted as saying that he was leaving the national oil corporation “to concentrate on his health”, we all know that his good health and clarity of thought (at 88) are the products of the many good battles that he fought. So leaving Petronas might very well accord him more time and energy to fight other battles. He might have already fired the first salvo at the government when he said there was corruption during his time as Prime Minister, but it is worse now.

Wallahualam. – kadirjasin.blogspot.com