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Writer's pictureHussein Abdul Hamid

Banks got their fingers burnt lending to the politically connected.

From Tan Sri Mohd Sherrif Kassim:


I beg to disagree with Tun that Malays hv the charactericts of natural losers bcos they are lazy and cannot be trusted to pay back their loans. .


Any race , when spoon fed by the govt , will do like what the Malays did under the NEP.

Banks know this . They are reluctant to lend to Malays not bcos of their race. Bcos many of them are politically linked and take for granted that the banks owe Malays a living.


Banks are scared of d moral hazard in lending to such Malays - they worry abt the political risks to their business if they take the Malay debtors to court. Its now standard guideline in Standard Chartered and foreign banks not to lend to politically connected persons -- whatever their race - jangan cari sakit.


When banks suffered in the 1997/98 financial crisis , its those banks who lent heavily to Malay corporates and GLCs. The old Bank Bumiputera suffered most .


How do I know ? Bcos we in Khazanah had to sell it off - it became CIMB with Khazanah becoming minority s/ holder. RHB also had to b rescued by Khazanah. I sat on RHB board as Khazanah owned part of it .


Who brought RHB down ? The Malay borrowers who were too political to be sued.

The Chinese and foreign banks were not so badly hit as they had v little loans to political Malays.


Today , UMNO is complaining banks are not lending or not lending enough to Malays. Tun M shd tell the Malays why .


FYI , I was chairing the Entrepeneur Rehabilitation Fund set up by BNM in 1988 for 12 yrs to save the Malay businesses who were being sued by banks for defaulting on their loans. If they were Chinese , the banks would hv declared them bancrupt. But as they were Malays , we had to save them bcos of d political repercussions.


As a civil servant , I did my duty. But I could see why banks got their fingers burnt lending to the politically connected.


Sheriff Kassim

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6 Comments


naidu simon
naidu simon
Aug 13, 2023

If the malays don't change their tongkat mentailty and if the malay government

introduce don't help in this matter , they are in for a great rude awakening

like Sri Lanka .It is a question of time

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Alfred lim
Alfred lim
Aug 08, 2023

Sheriff, you are part and parcel (swamp) of accomplices...if not, promotes the continuation of the psycho mindset...don't say did your duty....☺️☺️☺️To save your soul, publish ALL those write off details ....bcos I 100% believe it will NOT stop (CIMB-wrote off >8billion)....☕☕☕Sure lots more still manipulated into BS n off BS.....just waiting for time to explode....FELDA/Boustead/Felcra/PFI and what have you...makes 1MDB chicken feed....NO telur "civil servant duty" 🤭🤭🤭

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Anak Kelantan
Anak Kelantan
Aug 08, 2023

So much for the Malay-Islamic centric cultural milieu with no basic understanding of ethical and moral obligations nor living a lifestyle in corruption-free, full of equity and fairness for all citizens irrespective of human-made labels/catogories in which we were born into. If what Tan Sri Sheriff Kassim stated, experienced and observed was indeed a prevalence among the Malays in Malaysia, then they collectively only perpetuate and maintain the unhealthy homeostatic dynamic that is counter to what Islam is all about! Sheehh . . . . so much the Malays who are fixated in championing and in making Malaysia more Islamic than it already is. Oxymoron?!

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Mohamed Isahan
Aug 08, 2023

It's still happening but the victims are PNB, EPF, LTAT, TH etc. No lessons learnt. Only difference is the source of funding which is ALL OF US directly while it was indirectly before. A whole new meaning to crowd funding

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dr kamsiah
dr kamsiah
Aug 08, 2023

The core issue revolves around education and meritocracy. There is a group that has acquired loans and, due to political connections, seems to believe they are exempt from repaying these loans. This behavior reflects both financial and moral corruption.

Those who exploit race, religion, and preferential policies for personal gain are not adhering to the principles of a devout Muslim. Their utilization of religion is superficial, and it's apparent in such cases that repaying loans isn't a priority.

A true practicing Muslim, embracing Islam as a way of life, places great importance on managing debts and avoiding them whenever possible. Only individuals lacking genuine commitment and possessing flawed values would treat debts casually.

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