Marina Mahathir was quoted as saying that the only way to silence the critics of her brother, Mirzan in business, is to ask him to be a pisang goreng seller.

Though I can emphathise with how she feels when people generalise that any of her brothers' success must be due to them being the prime minister's sons, it is also difficult not to have that perception, given how big businesses are run in Malaysia.

If Mirzan is just an ordinary Malaysian with a degree from Wharton Business School, he is likely to start as an executive in a large international corporation with good prospects of promotion to even chief executive officer. He will only be a professional corporate manager and at best with maybe a seven-figure annual salary.

Without connections and without our 'Malaysia Boleh ' way of paving the short-cut way for bumiputeras to super rich men, it is highly unlikely anyone, no matter what fantastic qualifications or experience, can own shares worth hundreds of million. Even if the shares were bought with bank loans, surely his being the prime minister's son must have been the main consideration for approval, without any need to arm-twist.

It was a case of the opportunities were there, and anyone who mattered got a chance, so why not the PM's sons? If ministers can be rich in terms of hundreds of millions, logically given PM's level, this should be in terms of billions. Was it divine intervention that now and again, the economy will correct itself and made those who were over-ambitious feel that power has its limits?

Now we have a new boy wonder in Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary who has proven himself in Tanjung Pelepas and now seems to get everything he wants - from airport to building the Bakun Dam. The fear now is that EPF might be financing his biggest venture. Why must we be put at risk for someone else's ambition? Even if the government were to guarantee, the ultimate loser in case of failure will be the taxpayers.