COMMENT | Wealth accumulation: A harder look needed

COMMENT | The latest social buzz and dinner conversations have been fixated on the trials and tribulations of one of the nation’s richest men, Daim Zainuddin, former finance minister during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure as prime minister, who is accused of failure to disclose his assets.

The investigation by the MACC has been described by some as politically selective persecution; others have less of a concern even if they see it as part of the nation’s continuing power play.

Many hold the view that so long as there is no miscarriage of justice and if we can get answers on how the extraordinary wealth of Daim and various other ‘untouchable’ business and political leaders have been achieved, the end justifies these means, though the methods used may be seen as politically motivated or indefensible.

Can this case open the door to a larger discourse on what some see as the capture of wealth by the elites and how this relates to the structural problems in the country’s economy?

How and why has our economic development been held back? What are the key structural barriers to development so that the economy can realise its full potential?

Is there an issue with the government’s...