Two interesting developments in the Halim Saad RM3.2 UEM debt saga in the past week: Halim's claim of having fully settled the debt, and a new revelation of Anwar's role in the original put option.

Halim Saad was quoted by The Edge Financial Daily of June 29 as saying: 'As far as I am concerned, I have settled everything. You should ask UEM, not me.'

This means he has fulfilled his pledge to pay RM3.2 billion to buy back 723 million shares or 32.6 percent of Renong Bhd (now known as UEM World Bhd) from UEM under his put option granted in 1998.

And what did the chief executive officer of UEM Abdul Wahid Omar have to say? He declined to respond.

Now, that is interesting. First, we have former chairman of the Securities Commission brushing public enquiry aside by saying this is a 'private matter' between Halim and a private company ( The Edge Financial Daily , June 23), meaning the public must not poke its nose into this affair.

Then Halim comes forward to announce he has 'settled everything'. And finally, the UEM CEO refuses to comment.

To pursue this matter further, I looked up UEM World Bhd's annual report to Dec 31, 2003. True to expectation, Halim was not found to be among the major shareholders, while UEM Bhd holds 37.69 percent.

However, The Stock Performance Guide Malaysia dated January 2003 shows one 'Ikral Capital (Halim Saad) holding 11.61 percent, with UEM Bhd holding 31.03 percent as on Oct 31, 2002 in then Renong Bhd.

If Halim has made the full settlement, he should have held 32.6 percent of Renong Bhd as provided for under the put option.

I cannot imagine Halim having paid RM 3.2 billion and the government keeping quiet and not making a fanfare out of what should be considered a praiseworthy act (if real) - honouring a long promised pledge to rectify a previous wrong.

After all, this shameful episode that occurred during the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98 was perhaps the most sensational scandal in our stock market history.

It triggered off a mass exodus of foreign funds, and contributed significantly to the eventual collapse of our stock market.

Minority shareholders of UEM and Renong Bhd would probably never forget those panicky days when they saw their investments shrink to one fifth within three months (UEM falling from RM8.75 to RM1.60 and Renong falling from RM3.16 to RM0.66 between November 1997 and Febraury 1998.

Halim's granting of a personal put option then to buy back the same 32.6 percent stake in Renong Bhd from UEM at the same price of RM3.2 billion within three years was, of course, welcomed by the market.

It was taken as some form of compensation (though only a promise) to the minority shareholders, as well as Halim's tacit acknowledgment of guilt for having illegitimately siphoned off massive cash and profits from shareholders of both UEM and Renong (the latter held 36 percent of former directly then).

We all know that Halim (representing the interests of Umno, its leaders and himself) was reluctant to grant this option but was pressured into it, as the price of RM3.2 billion price was considered heavily overrated.

But we didn't know the exact main force that compelled Halim to promise to absorb this massive loss then. Now it has come to light, through a malaysiakini reader, that the hidden hand of Anwar Ibrahim was the cause.

Letter writer Bystander revealed in malaysiakini on July 1 that following UEM's mysterious purchase of the 32.5 percent Renong stake from some anonymous sellers, the Securities Commission granted UEM exemption from making the mandatory general offer to other Renong shareholders at the same price.

This was deemed grossly unfair and improper as the minority's interests were grievously hurt apart from the stock market being badly damaged. As finance minister, Anwar intervened and directed the Securities Commission to withdraw the exemption.

Stung by Anwar's move, the Renong clique sought Mahathir's help, resulting in the compromise solution of Halim himself granting the personal put option.

Bystander's revelation is credible, as it is compatible with a series of similar incidents related by Anwar himself, where he resisted the improper encroachments on public funds by these crony predators.

Anwar's determined adherence to his principles as loyal custodian of public interests eventually led to the conclusion that his continued presence in the government would prove fatal to the survival of these crony enterprises. Hence the fateful decision to chop him off.

While Anwar's role in that episode is history, Halim's obligation under the put option is not. The government has used massive public funds to bail out the Renong group, including the complete acquisition of UEM Bhd.

Now that UEM is pubic property, the least the government should do is to give an accurate and honest account on the latest status regarding Halim Saad's RM3.2 billion debt to the people.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahamd Badawi has given numerous speeches, pleading for and promising incorruptible and transparent government ('work with me, not for me', 'tell me the truth', etc, etc), and the people have responded by giving him an unprecedented mandate.

Perhaps the time has come for him to let his actions speak. On this Halim-UEM saga, where the people have been shut out, we earnestly hope that he has heard the truth from the people that we want transparency and we want things to be put right.

Will he show this time that his action is louder than his words?