Rubber glove tycoon Stanley Thai, the managing director of Supermax Corp Bhd Group, has issued a public apology to caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for supporting the opposition in the 13th general election.
“I am hereby calling this press conference to make a formal apology to our prime minsiter Najib. Again the main purpose of this press conference is to apologise to Najib and BN for what I had done in the 13th general election.
“I regret that in GE13, I believe I was influenced by the opposition. Being a businessperson, I should not be involved in politics under any circumstances, and I regret it,” he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
Thai’s business had took a beating after he announced his support for then opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat in an interview with Bloomberg.
Following the results of GE13, the Employee’s Provident Fund sold off its shares in Supermax, with share prices taking a hit.
Later in 2014, Thai was charged for insider trading. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment last November. He is currently appealing his conviction.
In his press conference today, the tycoon was also quoted by Bernama as saying that he wants political stability, and believed businesses will continue to grow under Najib’s stewardship.
He also criticised the caretaker Selangor state government’s handling of the state’s water supply.
“Our last two projects there were delayed for two and a half to three years due to the water supply issues in Selangor, where most of our plants are located,” he said.
He said eight out of 11 Supermax factories were located in Selangor.
In his 2013 interview with Bloomberg, Thai said he supported Pakatan “to protect the future of my children”.
He said the Chinese had lost the fear of going against the BN after the ruling coalition did badly in the 2008 general election.
Thai also claimed in the interview that Chinese Malaysians had been “brainwashed (to support BN) from Day 1.”
In February 2013, Thai and several other business and academic personalities joined Institut Rakyat. -MKINI
ACCORDING to The Star (Bernama):
KUALA LUMPUR: Supermax Corp Bhd group managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai has expressed regret for getting involved in campaigning for the Opposition in the 13th general election (GE13).
Extending a formal apology to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a press conference here on Saturday, Thai said he was influenced by the Opposition’s propaganda in the previous general election, and realised that it was wrong for him as a businessman to be involved in politics.
“As a member of the business community I like to see political stability. Businesses operating in Malaysia will continue to prosper with the sound economic policy of the ruling government that is led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib.
“Foreign investors will continue to have full confidence to participate and drive the economic growth and continue to expand their investments in Malaysia,” he said.
“Our last two projects there were delayed for two-and-a-half to three years due to the water supply issues in Selangor, where most of our plants are located,” he said, adding that Supermax has a total of 11 plants nationwide, and eight are located in Selangor.
Thai added that he believed that good governance and management are key to industry’s growth, and that he will continue to fully support the government’s policies. – Bernama
-mkini / ANN
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