How Tong Kooi Ong is attempting to break Bank Negara and crash the RM

JANUARY 28, 2015 ~ JULIJULIPEH

An owner of a prominent news media empire is casting undue influence on the financial and political state of Malaysia for his own personal monetary gain.

Sources within Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) revealed that Tong Kooi Ong, the owner of the Edge Group and The Malaysian Insider has taken a USD1.4 billion short position on the Ringgit through a proxy. The first transaction took place in August 2014 and subsequent short positions have been taken leading up to January 2015.

Tong Kooi Ong is no stranger to investments, notably during the last financial crisis, Tong took a similar short position with Rashid Hussein which resulted in a significant gain.

He is a former stockbroker, financial analyst and banker who founded and built Phileo Allied Berhad, one of the most successful and innovative financial banking groups in Malaysia in the 1990s. Phileo Allied Bank was subsequently taken over and merged with Maybank in 2000.

http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=8374312&privcapId=4481718

According to the source, Bank Negara Malaysia and the securities commission are monitoring Tong closely.

How shorting a currency works:

A short position on the ringgit is essentially a bet that the ringgit will fall. The Malaysian ringgit will be traded for USD and if the ringgit reduces in value, the investor will make money when they buy back the ringgit at its lower value to cover the short position.

When a currency is being devalued, the central bank will step in to release reserves to balance the value of their currency against the currency that it is being most actively traded against.

In the Malaysian scenario as the RM drops, BNM will step in to buy RM in exchange for their USD reserves.

Speculators who short the currency will exploit this by taking a loan in Malaysia or using their own funds in RM to trade for the USD. The goal of which is to trade the RM for USD until the central bank is out of reserves so effectively the currency will crash.

The investor will then go back to the Bank that they initially borrowed money from and will convert it into RM to pay back the loan. The profit would be made off the gain that the USD receives against the RM. As the loan was made in RM and the currency has crashed the investor would have to trade less USD to pay back that initial RM loan.

Media and Mass propagation

With access to his media empire that spans from radio to print and online, Tong Kooi Tong is able change public sentiment through the mass distribution of articles that create doubt amongst the general public about the state of the Malaysian ringgit.
After reading headlines that spell doom and gloom above, what would you do if you were holding Malaysian ringgit?

Take into consideration that in order for the currency to crash, it is crucial that Bank Negara reserves are pushed to their limit. A media empire would be the perfect channel to damage the perception of the RM effectively facilitating the devaluation of the RM.

The unpatriotic acts of short selling coupled with media propagation will lead Malaysia into a recession causing untold suffering for the average man on the street whilst lining the pockets of a few individuals.

To give readers a better understanding of how investors make money by shorting a currency let’s look at 2 case studies followed by a comparison of how the same could happen in Malaysia.

Soros Breaks the Bank of England and earns $1 Billion in a day

This is certainly the most notorious forex market event which took place on September 16, 1992 which is called “Black Wednesday” and Soros got his nickname “the man who broke the bank of England” from transactions he performed together with other traders. They didn’t break it directly, but they devalued it so badly that Britain had to take it out from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).

Fig.1. How Soros Broke the Bank of England in 1992.

Britain was in a recession from 1990 but despite this the pound (also known as Sterling) joined the ERM thus fixing the pound’s rate to deutschmark in order to make the investments more predictable and stable among Britain and Europe. But as the political and financial situation in Germany changed during the unification of Germany many ERM currencies were under big pressure to keep their currencies within the agreed limits. Britain had the most problems – its inflation rate was very high and the USD rate (many British exporters were being paid in USD) was also falling. So more and more speculators began circling and making plans on how to profit from this situation as it became clear that the pound was not able to artificially stand against the natural market forces. Speculators waited until the financial situation got as bad as it could naturally get and then created extra pressure on the pound by selling it in huge amounts. The most aggressive of them was G. Soros who performed this transaction every 5 minutes profiting each time as the GBP fell by minutes.

The money that I made on this particular transaction would be estimated at about $1 Billion dollars. We very simply used the forward market – you borrow sterling and you sell the sterling that you’ve borrowed. And then you buy back the sterling when the loan expires.”

– G. Soros.

How Soros earns $790 Million, crashes the Thai Baht and triggers the Asian crisis.

The second most notorious trade of Soros came in 1997 as he saw a possibility that the Thai Baht could go down so he went short on the baht (by going long on USD/THB) using forward contracts. His actions are often considered to be a triggering factor which sparked the big Asian financial crisis, affecting not only Thailand but also South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Honk Kong and others.

Fig.2. How Soros gained $790 Million and destabilized Thailand’s and Asian economies in 1997 – 1998.

1. Soros goes short on the baht.
2. Thailand spends almost $7 Billion to protect the Baht against speculations.
3. Soros sells all his baht resources and keeps telling everyone to do the same by publicly scaring people with the fall of the baht and crisis. It works.
4. On July 2, Thailand is forced to give up the fixed rate of the Baht and it starts to float freely. Thailand asks for help from the International Monetary fund (IMF).
5. Thailand takes on hard austerity measures to secure the loan from the IMF.
6. Baht has fallen from 1$ for 25 baht to 56 baht thus Soros had gained more than 790 million USD.

How Tong Kooi Ong would break Bank Negara Malaysia

Fig.3. How Soros gained $790 Million and destabilized Thailand’s and Asian economies in 1997 – 1998.

1. Tong Kooi Ong goes short on the RM
2. . Malaysia spends reserves to protect the RM against speculators
3. Media empire is used to spread doubt to drive the RM down further
4. Tong Kooi Ong closes his trade after the RM has devalued enough for a significant profit
5. USD position of estimated USD1.4 billion is converted to devalued RM for huge profit. Bank is paid back initial loan of now devalued RM. The difference between the initial cost of the RM and the devalued cost of the RM is pure profit.

We urge members of the public to share this article with their friends and family Reports have been lodged with Bank Negara Malaysia and the securities commission but we urge the public to lend their support by lodging their own reports.

Revisiting the 1997 financial crisis.

During the 1997 financial crisis, the greed of a few unpatriotic speculators caused Malaysia to enter into a recession. Greed led speculators to make millions, if not billions, at the expense of the country.

Malaysian bankers then were hard at work unethically betting against the ringgit. Currency speculators borrowed ringgit from offshore forex markets and sold it. They proceeded to dump the money into the market – pushing the exchange rate down even further.

Once the ringgit was devalued sufficiently from all the selling down, these ruthless traders bought back the currency at a much lower price, paid back their borrowings and made a handsome profit, whilst millions of people in the country suffered and continued to suffer as Malaysia entered a recession.

Dangerous rumours were circulated about the deterioration of the economy, as it would aid the profitability of their short selling.

In response to the currency crisis in 1997, Malaysia banned short selling. However, once the economy recovered sufficiently, the ban was lifted in March 2006.

Why should a weakened currency matter to you?

During the 1997 crisis retrenchments soared by 444%. 83,865 people lost their jobs in the first 3 months of the crisis. The per capita income dropped drastically by half from USD5,000 to USD2,500. The ringgit drooped from RM2.50 per USD to, at one point, RM4.80 per USD. The KLCI fell from approximately 1300 points to nearly as low as 400 points in a few short weeks.

When a currency is heavily devalued unemployment rises and household incomes drop. Households change their spending habits to only purchase needs, this affects the entire economy as less people eat out or go shopping. A downward spiral begins as people lose their jobs, businesses have less customers resulting in the need to cut costs further which results in the lost of more jobs.

During the 1997 crisis despite strict counter measures from BNM, the country’s GDP suffered a sharp contraction of 7.5% in 1998, and the country went into recession.

During a recession people go out of business resulting in loss of jobs, projects get abandoned and local banks get huge withdrawals from customers.

As jobs become scarce people put up with lower pay with higher workloads and harsh working conditions. The number of bankrupts in the country increases as loans are defaulted on. People lose their houses, as they are unable to service their mortgage.

In the aftermath of the assault on the ringgit in 1997, Dr Mahathir said in reference to currency traders “There is absolutely no consideration given to the sufferings and miseries on the suddenly impoverished people and their countries. Going beyond the economic field, the threat of losing confidence was extended into the social and political fields. In one instance, the currency of the country was devalued by 600%”

“Currency war can achieve political objectives just as well as a military war.”

-Tun Mahathir wrote on his blog 29 March 2012 in reference to the 1997 currency crisis.

Sejarah Kota Bharu sebagai Pelabuhan

http://pp-sk.blogspot.com/2015/06/ramai-orang-tidak-tahu-kota-bharu-juga.html?m=1

PERSATUAN PENCINTA SEJARAH KELANTAN

Pages

JUN

8

Ramai Orang Tidak Tahu, Kota Bharu juga ada Pelabuhan : Siri Binaan Bersejarah

Pendahuluan

Kota Bharu adalah Ibu Negeri Kelantan, sejarahnya panjang dan lokasi pusat bandarnya telah berubah sebanyak dua kali sebelum kekal sebagaimana pada hari ini. Walaupun pusat bandar sering berpindah, ia tetap dibina di pinggir sungai, membuktikan bahawa Kesultanan Kelantan pada masa tersebut amat bergantung dengan pengangkutan air. Hal ini bertambah kukuh apabila di sepanjang sungai Kelantan wujud pelbagai pengkalan untuk perahu atau sampan berlabuh. Bagaimanapun  satu hal yang tidak ketahui ramai, Kota Bharu mempunyai Pelabuhan yang tersendiri suatu waktu dahulu.

Lakaran "Pelabuhan" Kota BharuJeti atau Pelabuhan

Dalam dunia maritim terdapat banyak istilah berkaitan kemudahan untuk kenderaan air berlabuh, istilah yang paling kerap kita dengar adalah pelabuhan dan jeti, walaupun dua istilah ini saling berkaitan ia sebenarnya membawa maksud yang berlainan. Berikut maksud istilah tersebut:

Pelabuhan membawa maksud pusat perdagangan untuk import, eksport, pengumpulan dan pengagihan barang-barang. 

Jeti pula membawa maksud binaan yang menganjur ke laut atau sungai untuk kapal, bot dan sebagainya singgah.

Daripada lakaran suasana di atas jelas kelihatan kemudahan tersebut lebih kelihatan sebagai pelabuhan walaupun ia tidak semegah pelabuhan-pelabuhan lain yang teradapa di semenanjung, lagipun ia terletak di tebing sungai, tidak seperti pelabuhan entrepot lainnya yang terletak di perairan lepas.

Bagaimanapun tidak dapat dipastikan dengan tepat dimanakah lokasi lakaran diatas memandangkan pada masa tersebut terdapat dua struktur yang sama wujud di Palekbang dan satu lagi dikenali sebagai Jeti Kastam, kedua-dua lokasi ini terletak di tebing sungai Kelantan dan saling berhadapan satu di tebing barat sungai Kelantan dan satu lagi di tebing timur sungai Kelantan.

Apa yang menarik disini adalah Jeti Kastam Kota Bharu di tebing timur Sungai Kelantan masih wujud, namun penggunaannya amat minimal, bagaimanapun pelabuhan di Palekbang sudah tenggelam dalam timbunan lumpur ekoran banjir yang selalu melanda Kota Bharu. Bagaimanapun ianya telah digali semula pada penghujung 2012 dan ia pernah mencetuskan satu kontroversi suatu masa dahulu.

Sebenarnya maklumat berkenaan pelabuhan atau jeti ini tidak ditonjolkan dalam mana-mana penerbitan dan agak sukar untuk mencari maklumat berkenaan kemudahan maritim ini di Kota Bharu sebaliknya fungsi Tambatan Diraja yang lebih ditekankan.

Fungsi Pelabuhan Kota Bharu tidak dapat disembunyikan lagi, terutama di Palekbang walaupun ia kini sudah sepi dan dibiarkan terus tenggelam ditelan masa, kami mengambil secebis masa untuk merakamkan perihal pelabuhan ini. Menurut buku yang ditulis oleh W.A. Graham, Penasihat Siam ke Kelantan yang berbangsa Inggeris menyatakan dengan jelas hasil dagangan di Kelantan pada tahun 1907 melebihi $2.5 JUTA,  satu nilai yang amat besar pada zaman tersebut.

Hasil Dagangan Negeri Kelantan pada 1906Rekod ini jelas mencatatkan nilai dagangan Kelantan sebelum dijajah oleh British pada tahun 1909 mencecah jutaan dollar, nilai ini pastinya tidak dapat dicapai andai Kota Bharu tidak mempunyai kemudahan pelabuhan yang efisyen dalam memastikan aktiviti perdangangan berlangsung dengan baik seterusnya meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi Kelantan.

Musnah

Pada dekad 1930an pelabuhan Palekbang masih wujud, ia menjadi pusat pengurusan sistem pengangkutan sungai di Kelantan yang pada masa itu menggunakan kapal stim. Perkhidmatan tersebut dimulakan oleh Syarikat Duff pada tahun 1905 yang menghubungkan Kota Bharu dengan jajahan seperti Pasir Mas, Machang, Tanah Merah dan Batu Mengkebang. Setelah sistem perkhidmatan keretapi diperkenalkan yang juga dibina sepanjang Sungai Kelantan menghubungkan Kota Bharu dengan jajahan paling selatan di Gua Musang, telah menjejaskan perkhidmatan pengangkutan Sungai. Selain itu, dengan siapnya Pelabuhan di Tumpat turut menjejaskan fungsi pelabuhan di Kota Bharu.

Setelah itu Penggunaan kapal terhad kepada urusan perdagangan sahaja. Dalam dekad 1920an, Kelantan aktif mengimport Lembu, Kerbau dan Kopra (kelapa kering) ke Singapura dan ia menggunakan pelabuhan Palekbang. Pada waktu ini juga, orang ramai menggunakan pelabuhan Palekbang untuk menaiki feri yang dikenali sebagai "Kapal Belangkas" untuk ke Kota Bharu. Ia telah mengalami kerosakan yang teruk ekoran serangan bom Jepun dalam Perang Dunia Kedua, ia tidak pernah dibaikpulih sebaliknya ia telah dirobohkan dalam tahun 1970an.

Justeru, rakyat Kelantan harus sedar bahawa Kelantan bukan setahun dua ini diuar-uarkan dengan pembinaan Pelabuhan, sebaliknya kita telah memiliki beberapa pelabuhan antaranya, Pelabuhan Kota Bharu (Palekbang dan Jeti Kastam) dan Pelabuhan Tumpat. Bagaimanapun kedua-duanya musnah dalam Perang Dunia Kedua. Pada saat ini, Kelantan sedang menyaksikan Pelabuhan Tok Bali sedang rancak dalam pembinaan di Kuala Semerak.

Jeti Kastam Kota Bharu

Bekas Pelabuhan di Palekbang

Bekas Pelabuhan di PalekbangBekas Pelabuhan di Palekbang

Bekas Pelabuhan di Palekbang

Nilai Import dan Eksport Kelantan pada tahun 1907 sebanyak $2.5 juta

Jumlah Import dan Eksport Barangan di Kelantan pada 1907

 "Kopra" dan Kelapa antara barangan eksport Kelantan pada tahun 1920.

Gambar ini dirakam di Pelabuhan Palekbang sebelum ianya musnah teruk

dalam serangan Jepun pada Disember 1942. Ia akhirnya dirobohkan sepenuhnya dalam

tahun 1970an.

Antara Kemudahan yang terdapat di Pelabuhan Kota Bharu dalam tahun 1920"Kapal Belangkas" di Kota Bharu

Posted 8th June 2015 by Persatuan Pencinta Sejarah Kelantan

Labels: Sejarah

 

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KEPADA ORANG PATANI DI MALAYSIA-AKU ANAK MELAYU PATANI

 KEPADA ORANG PATANI DI MALAYSIA

-AKU ANAK MELAYU PATANI

Kata orang aku sudah senang di Malaysia.Aku telah menetap di Malaysia setelah ibu bapa aku berpindah ke sini. Aku anak Teluban atau Selindung Bayu ( bukan Sai Buri yang Siam beri nama). Sebenarnya aku tidak senang. Aku menangis dalam ketawa memikirkan Agama, Bangsa, Bahasa dan Tanah Tumpah Darah Ku dijajah. Anak negeri pula sudah lupa asal-usul. Tidak ada jati diri!!!! Telah lupa sejarah.Mengaku dirinya Siam.Bila jijak kaki saja di Malay........mengaku diri, kita ore Siae............... menangis datuk nenek dalam kubur bila mendengar.

Sekali sekala aku balik melihat tanah tumpah darah aku, aku menangis betapa bangsa ku semakin terhakis. Orang melayu yang tidak berpelajaran dan berpelajaran peringkat menengah Siam begitu berbangga dengan ungkapan "rao khon Thai"(kita orang Siam) dan selalu mengaku " Thai rao"(Siam kita). Orang kampung yang tak bersekolah pula selalu kata "negeri siae kito".

Sedarlah bangsa ku kita bukan orang Siam. Bukan Siam kita.Bukan negeri Siam!!! Tapi negeri kita Patani.Kita bangsa Melayu.Bangsa Siam telah membunuh datuk nenek kita.Orang Melayu zaman dahulu mengalir darah, berbuih nanah kerana melawan Siam. Kita senang-senang mengaku kita ini Siam.Cuba ingat cerita orang tua-tua kita.Pahlawan Melayu ketingnya dicucuk dengan rotan baramai di bawa ke Bangkok. Dijadikan hamba abdi dan dipaksa sembah berhala. Mereka ini mati dengan terseksa.Menangis keluar air mata darah.Mati mereka seperti bangkai haiwan, dibakar,dibuang ke sungai dan dikambus seperti ayam itik.

Kalaulah mereka dapat dihidupkan kembali sudah tentu mereka akan tuntut bela dengan melawan Siam sekali lagi dan insyallah kita akan berjaya.Tapi adakah mereka boleh dihidupkan kembali.Sudah tentu tidak. Kita yang masih hidup inilah sepatutnya berjuang dan sambung perjuangan mereka. Tapi bangsa Melayu sekarang sudah jadi penakut, pengecut dan hati tikus.Tepuklah dada kamu dan laung kepada Siam "aku anak Melayu Patani".Di negeri Patani yang lain sebutlah "aku anak Menara"(bukan Narathiwat)!!!! "Aku anak Nibung" (bukan Yala)!!!! "Aku anak Setul"(bukan Sattun)!!!! Aku Anak Senggora (bukan Songkhla)!!!!

Hai orang Melayu........sedarlah bangsa kitalah yang paling besar di Asia Tenggara.Kita adalah Melayu Raya. Siam hanya sekadar Siam sahaja.Bahasa dia paling tidak laku di Dunia.Bahasa Siam adalah setaraf dengan Bahasa Burma, Laos, Kemboja dan Bahasa Orang Asli di Malaysia. Bahasa Melayu adalah salah satu Bahasa yang terbesar di DUNIA!!!!! Bahasa yang diguna oleh beratus-ratus juta manusia. Di Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunai, Singapura, Selatan Philipina, setengah kawasan di Afrika Selatan,s etengah kawasan di Sri Lanka dan setengah kawasan di Kemboja. Beratus juta manusia berbahasa Melayu bukan seperti Bahasa Siam.Kuno,jakun dan darat.

Sungguh memalukan.........wahai bangsa ku dengan memuja bahasa Siam kononnya dianggap bila pandai bercakap Siam dikatakan ada standard(hilir). Sebab itulah pelayan-pelayan kedai makan dan restoran di Malaysia yang mari balik sana suka bercakap Siam dan menyanyi lagu-lagu Siam. Aku tersa sungguh malu begitu bodohnya bangsa ku.Bangsa ku sudah lupa Bangsa Melayu Patani adalah bangsa Agung.

Marilah kita bersama2 tak kata dimana tempat pun dimana orang Melayu ada disitulah kita bercakap bahasa Melayu sesama sendiri

Kredit: Patanistory

#patanistory

#CPK

Lailasari, its hard for me to be ignored by u.. why u doing so? All of a sudden u hate me? I miss u so much la.. its really tearing me apart...

I miss you so much..

Link to a book about politics during Hussein Onn & Mahathir era

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14489742/Sejarah-an-Politik-Malaysia-19781987

Book about NEP implementation

http://books.google.com.my/books?id=68oIFR8jEe0C&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=tengku+razaleigh+petronas+1975&source=bl&ots=Qhrcn6s0_r&sig=ZeS8Mds6aprg12h_YIZ2GWpMWfw&hl=en&ei=CPTAScfyKZDG6gPml-msDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA126,M1

An Article in Singapore Business Times 18 Mar 2009

Published March 18, 2009

The odd man out in M'sian politics
The last of an Umno generation, Tengku Razaleigh makes everyone in politics uncomfortable with his straight talk


By S JAYASANKARAN
KL CORRESPONDENT

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TENGKU Razaleigh Hamzah is the odd man out in Malaysian politics. Since the March 8, 2008 general election, which fractured politics like never before, the lawmaker from the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) has come across as the lone voice of calm and moderation in a world of near-continuous bickering.



Radical ideas: A former finance minister, Tengku Razaleigh thinks it is time for a national unity government in Malaysia and that Umno should be democratised at all levels
Tengku Razaleigh makes everyone in the Malaysian political fray uncomfortable. He reminds Umno of its corruption, bemoans the judiciary's lack of integrity and whacks the Opposition's hypocrisy.

He slammed the Umno-led Barisan Nasional's (BN) takeover of the Perak state government through crossovers as 'a lie' and, probably much to the embarrassment of the state's sultan, who refused to dissolve the assembly for fresh polls, has called for just that.

And when asked why the state didn't have fresh polls, Malaysia's former finance minister (1976-84) replied bluntly: 'The chances are we (the BN) will lose badly in Perak and that is why they are reluctant to have the sultan dissolve the assembly.'

They may smart at his comments but BN leaders are loath to take him on. The reason: Tengku Razaleigh, 72, is the last of an Umno generation - that of Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second premier. Tengku Razaleigh was wealthy before he entered politics. He did not go into politics to line his own pockets and has contributed more than his fair share to the country and his party.

Not that he hasn't tried going for the top. In 1987, he came within a whisker of unseating former premier Mahathir Mohamad as Umno's president. And more recently, he tried to get enough nominations - he needed at least 58 - to bid again for the presidency. It turned out to be a fiasco. Deputy Premier Najib Razak got 190 while Tengku Razaleigh got just one nomination.

It was a situation that must have hurt. 'Of course, I felt let down,' he says softly. 'Maybe I don't know the party any more or maybe they don't think I have, in some small measure, contributed towards the country and Umno.'

Like Dr Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh began as a Malay nationalist, achieving prominence as executive director of Pernas, an organisation set up to promote the economic interests of the country's majority Malays. An economist by training, he is also pro-business and friendly towards foreign investment. But unlike Dr Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh isn't very blunt. Other politicians say he doesn't have the killer instinct to go for the jugular as Dr Mahathir used to do.

Indeed, he seems to believe in public service.

As the pioneer chairman of Petronas, the state oil company, in the 1970s, he refused to take a salary, apparently feeling his personal wealth was enough.

Unfailingly polite and with great personal charm, he has often been compared to Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first premier, from 1957 to 1971.

Whether Umno delegates know of his background is debatable, but Tengku Razaleigh doesn't care. He thinks the situation in the country is worrying, with the electorate getting more polarised. Of three by-elections that are coming up in April, he feels the Opposition has the edge in two - in Sarawak and Kedah - while the one in Perak is 'touch and go'.

Indeed, he is worried about East Malaysia as a whole. 'Sabah and Sarawak have to be closely monitored because it could spark the disintegration of Malaysia going forward,' he says. 'The people there have been quite unhappy with the way they have been treated, and we have to find out why.'

He thinks the disgruntlement is greater in Sarawak. 'I don't think the people of Sarawak have been happy with Taib (Taib Mahmud, the state's chief minister since the late 1970s),' he says. 'And now it's all slowly coming to the surface.'

After March 8, 2008, when the BN lost five states and its two-thirds parliamentary majority, some political analysts said the 'liberality of space' espoused by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had backfired.

'I don't agree with that,' snaps Tengku Razaleigh. 'It's better to try a more consensual approach. If you try and batten everything down with a sledgehammer, it will work so long as you are around. Then it will come back to haunt you.

'Look at Dr Mahathir and the revelations about the judiciary and other things that have repeatedly cropped up after his retirement.

'These were things that were whispered about during his tenure and now it's out in the open. Also, it's difficult to continue being a strongman now as the Internet has changed everything.'

On the economy, he thinks the slowdown should have been addressed sooner and with a lot more money - 'at least RM30 to RM40 billion' (S$12.5 to S$16.7 billion).

'Now is the time for micro-management, every week you have to make sure the money is going to the right places, that it's targeted,' he says.

But Tengku Razaleigh's economic plans have fallen on deaf ears. He has proposed a National Housing Programme - along the lines of Singapore's Housing and Development Board - and another programme to make Malaysia a regional oil and gas hub. While economists have lauded his ideas, nothing has come out of them.

But his most radical ideas are political. He thinks it is time for a national unity government and that Umno should be democratised 'at all levels'.

'Every member must be given a right to vote for their leader and there should be no more delegates,' he says. 'There should be no more quotas and everyone should be free to contest. The leadership should be separate from government. And the president should serve no more than three terms, that is, nine years, which is still more than the US president.

'The BN should be reformed, with everyone given the chance to join directly, and there should be elections to choose the BN leader.

'Similarly, all parties should reflect the demographics of Malaysia to contest in election. The DAP (the Democratic Action Party) says its multiracial but it's Chinese. PAS (the Islamic party of Malaysia) is the same, only it's Malay. And the money for campaigning should come from government and it must be for everyone. Donations should be limited by law.'

Pie in the sky? Tengku Razaleigh smiles wryly: 'You won't be the first one to say that. But I have been thinking about these things for a long time.'