People may also still remember him as the Chairman and controlling shareholder of the Overseas Trust Bank
of Hongkong, which collapsed in the early 80’s also as a result of mismanagement, criminal breaches of trust
and plain theft (very much the same things that he had done in Faber Merlin).

UMBC came under the control of Daim’s family companies in a manoeuvre under which it was exchanged
for the Malaysian-French Bank which Daim had previously bought. Was this a coincidence or was it quid
pro quo - you scratch my back and I scratch yours? In Malaysia this became the name of the game. Only
those with the right connections to Mahathir or Daim could jump on the bandwagon and take part in the
game. Only Mahathir and Daim knew the game-plan. All others followed instructions, whether they
understood them or not - this was the new breed of Malaysian professionals, many of whom were
accountants but numbered among their ranks lawyers, engineers, architects, bankers and others.

These and many other corporate exercises and excesses were the main sources of funds used to keep
Mahathir in power both in UMNO as well as over the country. This was where money politics in UMNO
and the nation reached unprecedented scales. Hundreds of millions of ringgit were spent on party and
national elections. Candidates of the ruling National Front coalition whose credibility was doubted had to
ensure their being voted in by purchasing credibility and buying votes either with hard cash provided by the
party leadership or from projects and businesses that they had been favoured with.

Mahathir became Prime Minister in 1981 and immediately launched his administration with the slogan
"Bersih, Cekap, Amanah" or "Clean, Efficient, Trustworthy". After a while, this slogan became a joke and
was quietly forgotten in favour of various others from time to time - Mahathir’s government has made a fine
art out of sloganeering to divert people’s attentions from what they are really up to. But many did realize
what was really going on.

The joke was that "clean" meant to "sweep clean" and "efficient" meant that this clean sweep was done so
efficiently as to leave nothing behind for others except his cronies, while the only "trustworthy" aspect of his
administration was that it could be trusted to keep the clean sweep a secret. At the same time, high levels of
borrowings were also used not only to finance these purchases and corporate exercises but also to sustain
operational shortfalls caused by these exercises.
 

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