Kim Quek's letter on the episode preceding the downfall of Halim Saad missed one very significant fact: ousted deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's role.

When UEM agreed to buy over Halim's 32.6 percent stake in Renong, it was granted exemption from making the mandatory general offer to the remaining shareholders of Renong, apparently on orders from the top.

The minority shareholders of both companies felt cheated in their own way. Those in Renong were deprived of the chance to dispose of their shares to UEM at the price paid to Halim, which was higher than the market price.

Meanwhile, minority shareholders in UEM had no say in the decision to buy the Renong shares from Halim at a price higher than the prevailing market price.

That was when Anwar stepped in and directed the Securities Commission to withdraw the exemption. This infuriated the group that had put together the deal, and they sought the help of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

A compromise was reached whereby the exemption granted to UEM would remain, while Halim was required to grant the put option to UEM.

Incidentally, the group that had put together the deal were also frantically trying to get Anwar out of the government. They could not risk Anwar becoming the prime minister and possibly giving life to the changes in the Prevention of Corruption Act that he had already initiated earlier that year when Mahathir was away in London on a holiday.

From my observation, I believe this UEM-Renong incident marked the beginning of an elaborate scheme by the group to convince Mahathir that Anwar was a threat to the country (read Umno) and should be removed at all costs.

This scheme culminated in the confrontation between Anwar and Mahathir over the buy-out by Petronas of Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) shares held by Mahathir's son.