Musa successful in both business, politics
Published on: Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah needs a visionary leader, a Chief Minister with correct management style and financial prudence, a Sabah CEO who can inspire investors' confidence and a leader with a caring heart for the less fortunate Sabahans. This especially in view of the uncertain economic, political and social environment in Malaysia and globally these days, said Datuk John Lo, a past President of the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu (RCKK), when introducing Datuk Seri Musa Aman as the speaker of the inaugural lecture on "My Vision for Sabah".Lo said under Musa's leadership, Sabah achieved an impressive record in terms of economic and social development. "He is a leader for all Sabahans. I believe we have the right man to lead and steer Sabah to greater heights." He said one of the attributes that favour Musa in this regard is that the latter has been successful in both business and politics.
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"Anyone can be a politician but to succeed in business like him needs a lot of brains. He has succeeded in business in a big way, and most importantly, he has managed to maintain his wealth."Musa's special relationship with the Prime Minister has also opened up tremendous economic opportunities for Sabah in oil, natural gas and downstream processing, infrastructures, tourism and foreign direct investments," he said.Lo, a Daily Express columnist, noted that applying his expertise in business management in turning Sabah around, the CM has initialled a number of policies and decisions that would benefit generations of Sabahans.
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"What is notable is his prudence…always prudent with money, Musa has looked after Sabah's finances judiciously, like his own. He has accumulated more than RM4 billion of State reserves for Sabah which is the highest on record. Lo said many investors have been attracted to Sabah because of this. Of the many policies and projects initiated for the less fortunate Sabahans, Lo singled out Communal Land titles which permanently safeguards land ownership for Bumiputras in rural areas.
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Lo noted that soon after being installed as Chief Minister in 2003, Musa began to transform the Sabah Civil Service which no other Chief Minister has done before. "It is now the best in Malaysia. The Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ambrin has maintained a very high, exact professional standard throughout his career. Without fear or favour, he has no hesitation to chastise many Federal Ministries and BN state governments for bad management. He has given praise to Opposition States of Penang and Selangor. "But he has awarded 5-star ratings to the Sabah Government, Departments and Agencies consecutively for more than 10 years. No other State Government has received so many high distinctions and with such consistency from Ambrin," Lo said.Also singled out was Musa's transformation of Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) which have been bleeding in the millions each year, with accumulated losses running into billions. "He hand-picked Sabahan CEOs for all the GLCs, gave them explicit instructions. Very quickly, these GLCs have turned losses into profits. Sabah now has some of the best and most profitable GLCs in Malaysia. "These GLCs have become substantial contributors to the annual State budgets from their dividends to the State Government," he said.Lo said before Musa became CM, all the seafront land from Sabah Foundation to Tanjung Aru, including the 100 plus acres where the former government staff quarters were, had either been alienated or approved for alienation to vested interests. "He revoked all of them so that future generations of Sabahans can enjoy the economic benefits from these valuable pieces of land. A good case in point is the Tanjong Aru Eco-Development (TAED) which will transform Tanjung Aru into a tourism destination under the Minister of Finance Incorporated. "He even got Datuk Victor Paul to be in charge of this project pro-bono (without payment). This project will provide thousands of jobs for Sabahans and billions of tourist dollars when fully operational," he said. He said the public now eventually know that if it was not for Musa's courage and keen sense of what is right, Yayasan Sabah's timber land would have ended up being sold in a so-called RM1 billion business deal."Against all political odds for he was alone in this very sensitive matter at that time, without considering his own political future, as the Director of Sabah Foundation, he went straight to the then Prime Minister (Tun Dr Mahathir) and got his consent to stop this sale in writing. "Which is why I stress that an outstanding political leader needs to be more than just a good administrator. He has got to have courage to make the right political decisions for the good of Sabah," he said.Lo, a former banker, recalled how he first met Musa in The Chartered Bank in 1972. He said even then, Musa was a handsome young man, impeccably dressed, hair stylishly groomed, knowledgeable and extremely business savvy. "With an extraordinary enterprising talent in his twenties, the company he founded (Musaman Enterprise Sdn Bhd) became The Chartered Bank's largest and most successful Bumiputra customer in the 1970s."Subsequently, Musa went on to build a business empire comprising stevedoring, trading, timber, property development and finance. "To me, his most outstanding business masterpiece was the corporate turn-around of City Finance. He bought a controlling stake of this floundering finance company, engaged professionals, introduced proper management and operational systems and in no time, turned it around."In accordance with Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM's) policy of consolidation of the finance industry at that time, he sold City Finance for a very hefty capital gain (the sale value at that time was reported to be around RM100m)," said Lo.Hence, he said, Musa was wealthy in his own right even before entering active politics unlike many Malaysian politicians who went into politics for self-enrichment. "He entered politics to serve Sabah and the Nation."Lo noted that Musa was one of the political pioneers in Usno and later Umno, although seldom active in politics in the early days, preferring to focus on managing and expanding his business empire. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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