Bumiputera policy needs an update: Ex-CIMB head

Brother of Malaysia’s ex-PM says affirmative action policy crafted by their father is flawed

- Shannon Teoh

Former CIMB chief executive and chairman Nazir Razak hopes his brother, Malaysia’s former premier Najib Razak, can prove his innocence in the 1MDB scandal, a theft of billions of taxpayer dollars which the banker says was due to abuses of the system left behind by their father Razak Hussein who led the country in the 1970s.

In his autobiography released yesterday, Datuk Seri Nazir echoes critics who say the system of proBumiputera quotas in awarding contracts, licenses and senior positions is now riddled by corruption.

The over-centralization of power has allowed those in key positions to influence, and even dictate how government funds are channeled to allies in both business and politics, he said.

Mr. Nazir writes that 1Malaysia Development Berhad – the state-owned firm which prosecutors say had US$4.5 billion (S$6.07 billion) siphoned from it – was “the clearest evidence yet that the system of politics, government and business, which could trace its roots back to my father, was now deeply flawed”.

“As his brother, I pray that Najib is able to clear his name,” said Mr Nazir, who is now chairman of Bank Pembangunan.

Najib, the eldest of Tun Razak’s children, is appealing against a conviction and facing dozens of further charges in relation to 1MDB.