The banker is in the building

It's hard to spot Tun Daim Zainuddin, the former finance minister during the Tun Mahathir administration, when he walked into the hall. His slight figure was lost in a sea of admirers and camera flashes. He took his seat and we ate our lunch.

It was around 12:45pm and the Hotel Istana Grand Ballroom was filled with great hopes, admiring faces and empty stomachs.

In just under two hours, the audience left the 'An Exclusive Afternoon with YABhg Tun Daim Zainuddin' event feeling satisfied, elated, happy and a little bit shaken.

Tun Daim, according to the MC, the youngest of 13 siblings from Kedah, delivered. And boy, did he deliver.

The banker even gave the audience a little more than what they paid for. Sixteen minutes into his speech on "Politics and the Business Community-A Holy Alliance or A Devil's Pact", the biggest shareholder of the Swiss-based International Commercial Bank Group appeared shaken.

"I'm unwell, you know," he uttered after touching on the decreasing global oil prices. People seated near the stage rushed to help him and gave the 76-year old banker a chair.

Tun Daim, now seated, calmly asked for his speech and spoke to his aide. Everybody gave a huge round of applause and cheered on as he continued his speech. (Tun Daim later revealed during the press conference that he was okay. He had by then taken his medicines)

The rather elusive banker spoke on the importance of transparency with regards to the symbiotic relationship between political parties and the business community. He explained that politics and business relationships don't just happen in Malaysia.

Tun Daim went on to explain the various examples of lobby groups, and practices which benefit both the political party (in the form of funds to operate the political party) and business (for returns including oil contracts and policies in favour of businesses).

He cited that in the United States, "through the operations of Washington's revolving door, have held high-level positions both in the Federal government and in major corporations. To take but one example, the set of all Treasury Secretaries includes Hank Paulson and Bob Rubin, which overlaps with the set of all Goldman Sachs CEO/COO."

Here are some excerpts from the speech delivered at the event that was organised by the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance (MIDF).

* "Finally, we have not answered the question before us – Business and Politics – a Holy Alliance or a Devil’s Pact? Thus far, I have been trying to establish that the nexus between business and politics is real, inevitable, and inherent and will not go away in the near future. In some instances, we also noted that this nexus has been used to attain foreign policy or trade objectives, albeit still to the advantage of the favoured big businesses. However, the fact is both sides need each other for their survival and continued existence. The question here is that the people must demand for such alliances and relations to be conducted in an open and transparent manner whether by the BN Government of the Pakatan-controlled States. In my interview with Far Eastern Economic Review in July 1990, when I was UMNO Treasurer, I was open and categorically said we have nothing to hide."

* "As citizens and voters of this country, we must demand of that not just from the ruling Government but all parties including the Pakatan in States where they are in power. Let us not be fooled to think that it is only political cronyism when it involves BN or UMNO related companies or supporters but when it happens in Pakatan controlled States or when it is at a smaller scale, it can be glossed over."

* "I don't think we want this to continue. We must demand accountability and transparency and only we can determine the type of government we want. The choice is ours. As people who love Malaysia, we must continue to fight for an open clean government free from corruption and wastage and only then we can be proud to be Malaysians."

Besides his speech, Tun Daim also answered questions from the audience. The issues ranged from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to General Election 14, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

These are some of the answers he provided to questions posed by the audience.

On bank mergers

"It's good to have big banks. But big banks alone don’t mean that it’s going to be profitable. What we need now is good management and great capital base to compete with foreign banks."

On TPPA

"If it's really about trade, why is China, one of the biggest economies in the world, being left out? The readings by others are that this is very politics, trying to curb China's economic expansion."

"The (details of the negotiations) are not known because it’s being done in secret. And yet we talk about transparency, American talks about transparency."

On trades being done in secret

On the rising property prices

On change and increasing cost of living

Tun Daim left the building at around 3.30pm, but not without answering questions from the media with such grace and finesse, on the same issues stated above.