Ibrahim Ali laughs off link to Vincent Tan and says, So what if I do business with the Chinese?

Ibrahim: So what if I do business with the Chinese?
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali said today he will continue to speak out against the dominance of the Chinese community in business despite being forced to acknowledge today that he was once a board member of a company controlled by Chinese tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

He told The Malaysian Insider that his opinions about the need for Malay economic interests to be protected was focussed on the macro-economy.

Ibrahim acknowledged being a board member in Dunham Bush (M) Bhd, a refrigeration and air-conditioning system manufacturer, when it was a listed company and controlled by Tan’s Berjaya Group. The company has since been taken private after a takeover by another company.

“So what? I am talking about macro economy and issues in a bigger picture...even if I did business with lots of Chinese friends and have Chinese partners,” Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider in a text message.

“Is it wrong to say Vincent Tan got lots of benefits from the government even if I am his group CEO. Ha ha, I just want to prove a lot of big companies that belong to these types of groups got monopoly (over) businesses, subsidies and etc,” he added.

The independent Pasir Mas MP said that his position in the company when it was controlled by one of Malaysia’s most prominent Chinese businessman did not mean that he was wrong about the fact that the community dominated the economy.

Ibrahim’s Perkasa, a member of the Malay Consultative Council or MPM, is worried that the New Economic Model (NEM) will increase that dominance.

His position in Dunham Bush was raised by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin in his Malaysia-Today website. The website published the company’s 2003 annual report which showed Ibrahim as one of its directors.

According to the report, Ibrahim was appointed to the board on August 28, 2000. Ibrahim pointed out however that his views about the Chinese community were not wrong despite doing business with them.

“So don’t say get rid of little brothers and go ahead with brutal competition as said by Tan Sri Datuk Francis Yeoh of the YTL Group.”

Yeoh had reportedly said that Malays must do away with its “little brother mentality”, a description for the Malay protectionism practiced under the New Economic Policy.

Yeoh had reportedly urged Malaysia to practice “brutal competition” if it wanted to remain competitive.