The resignation of business jihadi Tan Sri Ali Hashim from all 6 listed firms under the Johor Corporation yesterday 12 January 2011 marks the passing of an era for JCorp in particular and the nation in general.
Muhammad Ali quits boards of 6 listed firms
By Zurinna Raja Adam Published: 2011/01/13
The former Johor Corp chief has squarely denied rumours of share price manipulation.
Former Johor Corp (JCorp) chief Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim has decided to quit the boards of all six listed firms related to the state investment group and has squarely denied rumours of share price manipulation.
He has decided to resign so as not to put his ex-colleagues in a spot and to avoid hurting JCorp's image, Muhammad Ali told Business Times and a Malay daily in an interview in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
"I do not want to undertake anything that will similarly affect negatively on my relationship with my former colleagues.
"For me, to go through with the board meetings as planned and confront my ex-colleagues at the EGM (extraordinary general meeting) as scheduled would compromise upon my principle that whatever I do, the last I want to see happen is for JCorp to be diminished in anyway," he said.
Muhammad Ali, who has served JCorp for more than 30 years, was due to be removed from the boards of Kulim (M) Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd and Damansara Realty Bhd at special shareholder meetings that will start from next week.
The three firms yesterday cancelled the meetings after they announced the resignation of Muhammad Ali, who has also quit QSR Brands Bhd, KFC Holdings Malaysia Bhd and KPJ Al Aqar REIT Bhd.
The decision to resign from all companies was made as he had anticipated JCorp would insist on his departure.
"JCorp would subsequently insist on me leaving the companies just as they did in the case of Kulim, KPJ Healthcare and Damansara Realty for reasons best known to themselves," he said.
Muhammad Ali had denied online rumours that have been accusing him of manipulating shares in Kulim, QSR and KFC Holdings.
"That is a wild and baseless speculation," he said.
Muhammad Ali explained that the reason he stayed as chairman and director of public-listed companies after he abruptly left JCorp on July 29 2010 was to prevent the state investment agency from being forced to sell its core businesses under the pretext of paying its debts.
Even before he decided to resign at JCorp, Muham-mad Ali said, he was aware of plans to sell QSR, which was later confirmed when it received bids from Tan Sri Halim Saad and Carlyle Group.
"These bids were unanimously rejected by Kulim's board under my chairmanship. I hope I have done my little part in upholding the trust placed upon me," he said yesterday.
Read more in full here.
Sadly, the manner in which he had to leave office is not befitting of his tenure at JCorp, if its any consolation, Tan Sri Ali will be a very, very hard act to follow in successfully juggling between the political needs of the state and the business objectives of JCorp.
Patah tumbuh, Hilang Berganti. Wishing Tan Sri Ali the best in his next endeavor, whatever he does he should not retire. Also, I hope he writes a book about his career in Perbadanan Johor, it will be an inspiration to Malaysians.
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