YOURSAY ‘Rulers should stay above politics, business and religion (other than Islam).’
Johor crown prince a top millionaire at age 30
Malaccan: Inherited wealth does not automatically mean a person has great business acumen. Especially so when the person has the contacts and access afforded by a royal title. There are plenty in authority who would pander to the requests of such personages.
It would be different in the case of a self-made rags-to-riches millionaire. In fact, greater heroism and acumen are shown daily by the many working men and women who labour to put food on the table and their children in school.
Even former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad has wondered why some scions of royal houses need to unfairly compete with ordinary rakyat for even more spoils and contracts. We don't see this as rampant in other nations' royals.
It seems like a feudal race between blue bloods and Umnoputras as to whom can rake in the most wealth and privileges, while leaving BR1M for the rest of us and soup kitchens for some.
Odin: In Malaysia, the Land of Endless Possibilities, one of the astounding occurrences is that children of sultans, prime ministers, BN chief ministers, BN ministers and BN politicians, and relatives, friends, cronies and hangers-on of these persons can acquire unmatched business acumen practically overnight, so that even in their 20s and early 30s, they can become multi-millionaires and billionaires.
Remember, these are all self-made multi-millionaires and billionaires. Without meaning to insult your intelligence, let me say that this means they all become overnight multi-millionaires and billionaires through their own efforts and not with any help from their parents - no, not even one cent nor a square inch of property has been given to them as their initial capital.
Swipenter: Firstly, Umno Baru and their cronies must be very sore that they are excluded from these mega projects.
If Umnoputras and their cronies were partners, the Johor sultan would not be frustrated with administrative requirements, delays and obstacles. That is why Mahathir came out with his ‘Johor Bahru Baru’ thingy.
Secondly, what can the Umno Baru federal government do to the Johor state government. This is power wrangling between a state government and the federal government. Thus we have the newly-minted Johor Housing Board and their proposed own EIA agency.
Thirdly, the Johor sultan is showing the way what they can do within their own state and the federal government can only rant and do nothing about it thus far. Let us see how Umno Baru reacts to the new-found strength and initiatives of the Johor sultan.
Boonpou: The prevailing culture of plunder in Malaysia continues but only now (or very soon) it is not about plundering the wealth of the nation using the rhetoric of race and religion (other than Islam).
It is no longer about plundering the wealth and sweat of the non-Malays. It is now about the plundering of the nation. Analysts have got it so wrong all the while when they write about the discourse of race and religion in Malaysia.
In the VVIP rooms across this country, there is no race, no religion. There is only class.
Also, at these VVIP rooms, the super rich has no sentiment of national patriotism or even the notion of external foes. All of these notions goes out of the window when what is truly "real" is money.
Reason: The simple truth of the matter is that the royalty should not only be above multi-billion dollar business decisions, but must also be seen as not using their power and privilege to unduly influence business dealings in the country.
Fair Play: The problem is far deeper and more serious than what we see. It's not only rich Malay versus poor Malay but rich state versus poor state.
No doubt, Johor would emerge (sooner or later) the richest state in Malaysia and overtake Selangor.
Foreign investors from Singapore and China want to protect their investment in a foreign land and the only way to protect it and make it grow would be to ensure stability and continuity.
For example, it was reported that China hold the most of United States bond. US' continued prosperity would ensure their investment in US bond would not turn into junk bond.
Multi Racial: Given that the royal families draw taxpayers’ money to upkeep their luxury lifestyle, surely the people do not expect them to go into businesses.
If they compete with commoners, where is the level playing field? Rulers should stay above politics, business and religion. They are the highest in our power hierarchy whom the people can look up to when the government fails.
Rajakera: At least the Johor royals will not need to go with a begging bowl to the Umno government for funds. It is good to see them standing on their own feet instead of depending on the state.
We only hope that the royals will treat all their rakyat (of all races) with compassion and care more than the BN government has done.
It is time they also went into politics and joined/formed an non-biased party who will treat all Malaysians equally. We would like to hear their voices supporting all races and equality.
Unfortunately, the Selangor sultan has spoken for Selangor Islamic Council (Mais) but has not spoken a single word for the Sabah and Sarawak bumiputeras whose Alkitabs have been robbed from them by Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais), the enforcer of Mais.
Where is the justice for them? One cannot expect rakyat to keep quiet in the face of adversity. Show that you care now.
Pemerhati: Quote: “Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Idris, has also proven his business acumen with his involvement in the two reclamation projects, both carried out by Benalec Holdings Bhd.”
Is this particular case of the prince having business acumen due more to ‘dedikasi’ (or more correctly ‘daddy kasi’) as in the case of Mahathir’s billionaire children?
Angelababy: Those who graduated from Wharton business school should do a case study on this as a guide for future budding entrepreneurs.
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