Make America Great Again, or simply MAGA, was Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign slogan. It was a great success. Defying all odds, Trump emerged as the 45th President of the United States of America. About 15,000-km away, Najib Razak, whose obsession with American presidents is an open secret, wanted to copy the campaign.
It didn’t take long for Air Asia Group CEO Tony Fernandes to figure out how to express his support for the then corrupted Malaysian prime minister. He gave his A330-300 aircraft a new coat, sporting the “Hebatkan Negaraku (Make My Country Greater)” slogan, and flew PM Najib back to Kuala Lumpur from Sabah. Both happily took photos together, grinning from ear to ear.
Najib’s manifesto was urging the voters to make the country greater together with Barisan Nasional coalition. The manifesto was 220 pages thick which came with sexy infographic, a great marketing indeed. Millions had been spent on advertisement specifically targeting the social media – Facebook, Twitter and whatnot. Still, it wasn’t enough for Najib Razak.
The “Hebatkan Negaraku” slogan took to cyberspace when apps downloadable from Google Play Store and Apple App Store were launched. Soon, all of Najib bootlickers were seen fighting tooth and nail trying to promote the slogan, including top guns from GLCs (government-linked companies). These chiefs were part of 17,000 political appointees of Najib.
Instead of running companies, those chief executives were busy running Barisan Nasional (BN) Campaign. The peak of their politicking was the making of a “Hebat Negaraku” music video, obviously to show their support for Najib leadership. For four-and-a-half-minute, it appeared worshipping Najib and sucking up to him could guarantee their “over-paid” jobs.
Now, after the incredible defeat of their Big Boss, one after another of those GLC Chiefs has either resigned or about to be jobless soon. At least 53 GLC Chiefs had sung songs of praise for Najib or actively campaigned for the ex-prime minister. And it’s not hard to understand why some of them were freaking sad after the humiliating defeat of Najib Razak.
Shazalli Ramly, CEO of Telekom Malaysia, was paid a monthly salary to the tune of RM300,000 (US$75,000; £57,000) – exclusive of other mouth-watering perks, allowances and other director fees (ranging from RM5,000 to RM35,000 a meeting). He was reportedly the chief architect of the “Hebat Negaraku” music video and BN election campaign.
Mr. Shazalli has since resigned as group chief executive officer of Telekom Malaysia on June 6. Other chief executives of GLCs caught participating and campaigning for Barisan Nasional have lost or will be losing their high-paying jobs too. Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) CEO Badlisham Ghazali will be jobless end of the month.
Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) Managing Director Mohamad Salim Fateh Din will retire effective end of June. The corporate cleansing had earlier saw the resignation of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) chairman Mohd Sidek Hassan and Mohd Omar Mustapha, chairman of the national oil company’s remuneration committee.
Wahid Omar is reportedly negotiating his exit terms and is expected to resign as group chairman of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) as early as July. He is also expected to quit as chairman of Sime Darby Property Bhd. The former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) was one of the strongest supporters of GST.
Below are the top-15 chief executives of GLCs who have resigned or about to be jobless because they chose to play politics instead of running the companies they were entrusted to. However, judging by their musical talent in “Hebat Negaraku” music video, they should not worry about putting food on the table.
{ 1 } Axiata Group Chief Corporate Officer – Mohamad Idham Nawawi
{ 2 } Sime Darby Property Bhd Managing Director – Amrin Awaluddin
{ 3 } UEM Sunrise Chairman – Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa
{ 4 } CIMB Group Holdings Bhd Ceo – Zafrul Aziz
{ 5 } Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd CEO – Khairul Kamarudin
{ 6 } Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd Managing Director – Mohamad Salim Fateh Din
{ 7 } Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd Managing Director – Badlisham Ghazali
{ 8 } UEM Group Bhd CEO – Izzaddin Idris
{ 9 } Telekom Malaysia Bhd CEO – Mohammed Shazalli Ramly
{ 10 } Lembaga Tabung Haji Managing Director & CEO – Johan Abdullah
{ 11 } Affin Bank Bhd CEO – Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil
{ 12 } Pharmaniaga Bhd Managing Director – Farshila Emran
{ 13 } Malaysia Airlines Bhd CEO – Captain Izham Ismail
{ 14 } RHB Group Managing Director & CEO – Khairussaleh Ramli
{ 15 } Permodalan Nasional Berhad Group Chairman – Wahid Omar
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