MALAYSIAN WARSHIP: Why is Dr M lobbying for naval procurements - WHAT DOES HE GET?

A national news daily had as its front page report a story with the headline title ”Keep him Locked Up”.  I am sure that my Barisan Nasional friends are beginning to think of this solution in respect of our former prime minister as the flow of half-baked or senseless suggestions and proposals from Dr Mahathir continues unabated.

Far from being an asset, Dr. Mahathir is seen by many as a liability to UMNO and the Barisan.  Although some recent analysts have argued that Dr. Mahathir may want to contest the next elections and ‘save’ UMNO, I am sure the election team advising Prime Minister Najib sees it very differently.

Short of locking him up, these strategists must be desperate for ideas on how they can muzzle Dr. Mahathir as he continues his one man show around the country reminding the nation on how they badly need him back in power; and how mediocre Najib has been (compared to Dr. Mahathir) in his stewardship of the country.

Opaque agenda: Unusual interest in military procurements

Not all of Dr. Mahathir’s rants focus on lambasting the Malays for their stupidity and ignorance.  Not all of his verbal assaults are directed at the Malaysian electorate for failing to appreciate the positive aspects of UMNO rule and his own role in Malaysian politics.

Other public appearances and speeches by him have an opaque agenda which can cost the country dearly if careful attention is not paid to them and questions are not publicly raised as to their ultimate hidden objective.

One of the most recent of such public appearances was in Perak in which he expressed his confidence that local shipbuilders are capable of building large vessels, including warships.  The occasion of this remarkable boast was during his visit to at a shipyard owned by NGV Tech in Kampung Sijangkang in which he was accompanied NGV Tech executive chairman Datuk Zulkifli Shariff and Chief of Navy Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

According to a Bernama report, he is reported to have said:  "I am confident NGV Tech is capable of building large vessels and warships as it is a sophisticated company entrusted with building two Royal Malaysian Navy training ships through a joint venture with a South Korean company".

Now everyone knows that although we may shout out the national cry of “Malaysia Boleh”, it is really the foreign joint venture partners of local companies that are responsible for the expensive hi-tech war toys purchased by our Defence Ministry, be it airplanes, helicopters, submarines or warships.  Our role in all of these is simply as assemblers of the sophisticated hardware and software that are manufactured elsewhere.  Some low technology components may be manufactured in the country but these comprise only a tiny proportion of the total contract.

Let us also not forget that the early negotiations for the notorious scandal surrounding the Scorpene purchase from the French took place during Dr. Mahathir’s time as prime minister, and that the earliest commission payments paid out to Malaysian middlemen were given out in 2000, three years before Dr. Mahathir left his post.

A method to his madness

Dr. Mahathir also knows of our lack of capability in the defence industry and our dependence on the technologically advanced nations, including South Korea. He is no fool. But there is a method to his apparent madness.

His expression of confidence in the country’s ability to build its own warships, just as he had confidence in Proton’s ability to manufacture a Malaysian car, is quite simply to help lobby the Malaysian naval chief to recognize that warships are necessary to protect the nation’s waters.  It is also to reassure Malaysians that we already have a local company that is ready, willing and able to build these warships.

It is important to note that this is not the first time Dr. Mahathir has appeared at a NGV occasion. In February 2011, he had appeared at the contract signing ceremony held to seal NGV Tech’s collaboration with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd (DSME) to construct the two 75.9-metre training vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), each costing more than RM$140 million!  There may be other occasions in which he may have been present at NGV functions that may not have been publicly disclosed.

Incidentally, NGV Tech’s sophisticated work specifications appears to be to weld together the different parts of the vessel after they are transported to Malaysia!  Such is our hi tech expertise!

One wonders why Dr. Mahathir is putting so much time and effort in helping NGV Tech do its lobbying and marketing.  Surely, our ex-prime minister has better things to do and more noble causes to help with his time than appear to be a salesman on behalf of NGV Tech.

Hypocritical

Besides concern at this new development in Dr. Mahathir’s career – what many would see as functioning as a military lobbyist – which is very bad for his and our national image (the South Korean company’s leaders must be laughing behind our backs at our local hi-tech capabilities!), I am also worried that these expensive military warships that Dr. Mahathir is touting for our naval chief to consider buying will get into the defence procurement priorities and become a reality.

In my view, there is no justification for our enormous defence budget and further purchase of expensive military planes, ships, submarines and other instruments of war which has already cost us hundreds of billions of ringgit.  Besides being situated in the peaceful neighbourhood of ASEAN, we already have more than sufficient military capacity to deal with whatever external threats there may be.

In fact, our enemies are not from outside but mainly within the country as can be seen from our rapidly escalating crime and sophisticated white collar crooks ripping off the Malaysian treasury.

Dr. Mahathir likes to see himself as a peacenik compared to leaders such as Bush and Blair whom he has labeled as “war criminals”.

In advocating for the further militarization of the country and acting as a super salesman for what many see as local rent seeking companies, he is not only further tarnishing his legacy but also strengthening the impression that he is a hypocrite.

Koon Yew Yin is a prominent citizen, a civil society leader and the founder of IJM Corp