As Mahathir Mohamad leaves power in Malaysia, connected capitalism is meant to be following him out of the door. His anointed successor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, is known as Mr Clean, an honest politician who has said that it is time to stop the favoured treatment of certain businessmen with government contracts and lucrative concessions, a one time hallmark of the corporate landscape under Dr M.
All well and good, but then why is the local market in Malaysia ramping up one stock more than 1,000% on the back of its, frankly, political connections. That stock is Scomi Group Bhd, a provider of drilling fluids, mud engineering services and industrial chemicals to the...
