The following is an entry by A Kadir Jasin via Facebook:
NAJIB PAYS THE PRICE
Kadir Jasin
نجيب تريما عقيبة – قادر جاسين
1. It’s a coincidence that, 44 years ago, my editors at the Business Times would give this headline to a profile I did on Mohd Najib Abdul Razak.
2. But the price then was sweet. It was about managing the good things that came fast and furious due to his pedigree – being the son of the much loved and respected Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. Today, more than four decades later, the price he’s paying for his folly is astronomically higher.
3. When I interviewed him exclusively at his family home in Jalan Eaton, Kuala Lumpur, he was into his second year as the Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament for Pekan and the newly appointed Chairman of the now defunct National Livestock Corporation (Majuternak).
4. It was already obvious then that being the son of Abdul Razak put him in a very favourable career position. At 23, he was not only an MP and Majuternak Chairman, but also the Manager of Public Affairs for the fledgling National Petroleum Corporation (Petronas).
5. Sons and daughters of ordinary people could not hope to be all those at that age. I was then into the eighth year of my journalism career.
6. He literally had everything laid out for him. First by his uncle, the late Tun Hussein Onn who succeeded his father, and later by his father’s staunchest supporter, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He was promoted and protected by them.
7. I would say that his relationship with me was cordial and respectful. I visited him regularly when he was the Menteri Besar of Pahang and we met professionally and socially until 2015 when I started to disagree openly with his handling of the affairs of the country, in particular the 1MDB scandal.
8. By the time he became Prime Minister in April 2009, I was already eight years out of the New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad. I resigned as Group Editor-in-Chief in early 2001. As such I had little to do with influencing his premiership.
9. December 8 will be another milestone in determining whether Najib, who is appealing against his SRC International conviction, will continue to pay the price.
Thank you.
The Business Times newspaper cutting of 1977.
