Let Dr Mahathir's BILLIONAIRE SONS Mokhzani & Mirzan speak for themselves

Zamil Ibrahim, leader of a minor political party called Kita, recently raised some questions regarding the wealth of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s children in questioning the former prime minister’s credibility. Describing Mokhzani’s and Mirzan’s rise to billionaire status as a “world record”, he said it was incredible that they could become so rich in a mere three years. He also accused Mahathir of misinforming, confusing, and misleading the public on 1MDB, challenging him to explain exactly how much the government-owned company has lost in its ventures.

Now, saying that there was no way Mokhzani and Mirzan did not get a little helping hand in getting started would be rather naïve, considering how politics functions in this country, but success, and true success at that, is something that comes from putting in your share of hard work as well.

Let us consider Mokhzani. At 54, Mahathir’s second son is one of the richest men in Malaysia, valued at US$1.2 billion. He sits on the boards of SapuraKecana, the largest oil-and-gas service provider in the country, the fibre-optics cable company Opcom Holdings and the telecommunications monolith Maxis.

While it is true that it took him three years to become a billionaire, Mokhzani was valued as Malaysia’s 14th richest man in 2012, worth US$685 million at the time. His rise to billionaire status is no real secret, as it was the result of a series of smart business moves that saw him merge his petroleum company, Kencana Petroleum, with SapuraCrest before trimming his stake in the new company to just over 10%, selling around US$248 million in shares and boosting his net worth very close to the billion mark. From there, it is simply a matter of letting the money work for you and letting investments pay themselves off.

Mirzan, 56, is no overnight success either. Bloomberg has a rather detailed account of his career, starting from his time as a Systems Engineer at IBM World Trade Corporation all the way back in 1982. Mirzan’s journey to success can be traced in incremental steps, showing a man who stuck to his job and became good at it, the same thing any of us must do to gain success. He now runs an investment holding and independent strategic and financial advisory firm called Crescent Capital, and that is after years of holding executive positions in various multi-national corporations.

Mokhzani and Mirzan appear to be the antithesis of what Zamil suggests, that they are parasites, relying on the patronage of their well-respected and powerful father to advance themselves in their careers. And while it is possible that they did get a helping hand, they are, at their age, their own men. They have reached the top on what appears to be largely the fruits of their own hard work. To suggest that they still rely on their father’s patronage is, to say the least, disrespectful of what they have built for themselves and accomplished outside the family business of politics.

Mokhzani Mahathir

In fact, why not ask Mokhzani and Mirzan themselves to explain the source of their wealth? As grown men, they are perfectly capable of answering for themselves instead of hiding behind their father. Not asking them to clarify themselves directly speaks volumes about Zamil’s intentions, which one would assume is to discredit Mahathir for going after Najib and 1MDB. This looks like another wayang kulit to entertain the rakyat in the blazing heat of this time of the year. We’ve had far more than our share of chicanery, I’m afraid.

If Mokhzani’s and Mirzan’s wealth is truly a source of concern for Zamil, let them answer for themselves as adults who are fully capable of being responsible. The sins of the father are not necessarily those of the son, and the two deserve to have their say now that someone is trying to point them out as examples of their father’s patronage. Failing to let them answer for themselves exposes this for what it really is – a ploy to make it seem as if Mahathir and Najib are not as different from each other as people might think. - FMT