INTERVIEW | When Arul Kanda Kandasamy came on board 1MDB as CEO in 2015, his primary task was to handle debt rationalisation.

However, he quickly found that he had to take on tasks that he did not bargain for.

"The noise got louder after I joined. A lot of people asked me why I joined 1MDB. The short answer was when I accepted the job in December 2014 and started work in January 2015, the noise wasn't that loud," he told Malaysiakini in an interview.

Now, Arul Kanda has not only taken on the role of 1MDB's public face in a way that past CEOs had not done, but also gone on a ceramah blitz to explain the 1MDB matter.

"I think I've been doing more ceramah than some politicians," he said, laughing.

Asked if he was looking to join politics, Arul Kanda said he wanted to focus on what he was best at in the corporate sector for the time being, but did not rule out the possibility in future.

"Well, never say never. All of us will have multiple careers in our lifetime and – touch wood – we will have long, healthy and productive lives. So, never say never.

"But I think at this point in time, my focus is on corporate matters," he said.

Arul Kanda said he followed politics, but felt that many issues were unnecessarily politicised.

"Like 1MDB, it's a business issue that has become a political issue and frankly, a lot of other issues become political issues when in fact they are business or other sorts of problems," he said.

No regrets joining 1MDB

Despite the challenges, Arul Kanda said he did not regret joining 1MDB.

"I think there are pros and cons and of course, there are things I wished were different or better. But there were also a lot of other things I learnt.

"For example, I learnt how to deal with the media, politicians on both the government and opposition sides. I had access to businesspersons in Kuala Lumpur, got to know people in government, I got to make lots of friends, and enemies no doubt, like my best friend Tony Pua.

"So, I think, overall I have definitely grown and learnt as an individual. As a professional, I don't think many would have had the opportunity to undertake a restructuring of this size and this complexity. So, in short, I don't regret," he said.

The son of a government doctor and a civil engineer, the Kelantan boy had come a long way from his Royal Military College days in Sungai Besi.

While he dismissed a career change from corporate to politics anytime soon, it will not be his first if he decides to do it.

Read more: 'Stolen' 1MDB Funds: The DOJ Lawsuit Revisited

Having graduated with a law degree from the London School of Economics and a masters in International Finance Law from University College London, Arul Kanda was called to the bar in the UK.

"Having done five years of very intense law, I then started working in the legal field in London and I didn't want to be a lawyer.

"I think at that time I was quite young... and probably a bit immature. I had this view of how the law should be, and then once you get into practice, there is a difference between theory and the reality, and I supposed I was not able to bridge at that point in my life," he said.

Arul Kanda then went into management consulting with a French investment bank and specialised in securitisation. He joined Barclay Capital in 2006 and later Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) in 2008.

"The final piece of my career puzzle was the global financial crisis. When that happened a lot of customers of the banks got into difficulties, in terms of repaying their debts and so on, so I started to develop a specialisation in restructuring.

"So we started doing a lot of debt (restructuring) and that was what led to the government reaching out to me in December 2014 to come and take over 1MDB," he said.

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