What Arul Kanda Had To Say About 1MDB When Grilled On Radio For The First Time
Pic: BFM
He has gone on record with international journalists, appeared in TV interviews and given countless statements to the press but Arul Kanda clocked a first when he decided to go under the BFM Breakfast Grille.
While other interviews had been mainly with journalists interviewing him from a news perspective, his first radio interview would actually be with people who analyse and discuss finance and business news every single day live on radio.
The President and Group Executive Director of 1MDB willingly sat in the hot seat in the Breakfast Grille segment of the radio's programme which was aired today where titans of industry are regularly interrogated over their companies financial performance and accountability.
Asked why Malaysians still do not accept the repeated answers provided by the numerous authorities and the company itself, Arul says all they can do is address the facts.
"From January 2015 onwards, we have been extensively engaging the public. Unfortunately, it has been politicized from what was originally a business challenge.
"When politicians jump on the bandwagon, when they use sound bites without reference to facts, and when they make allegations without offering proof, that is sexy.
"And the press laps it up and reports it as such.
"Our challenge is to explain our position, but you know frankly facts are boring and people turn off but this is why I am here with you for example," Arul points out the importance of his very public role in getting the message across in the widest possible platforms.
Pic: BFM
Pic: BFM
Despite having to ask the radio deejays, Julian Ng and Ibrahim Sani, repeatedly to allow him to finish answering the questions they pose to him, Arul did manage to get his side of the story across.
He addressed many of the issues that have courted controversy over the last two years and even threatened to destabilize the nation when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's name was dragged into the front row of the scandal even though he was not even in the picture as far as the decision-making process of the company is concerned, as Arul reveals in the interview.
When posed a question on how involved the prime minister was in the day to day operatioin of the company, Arul answered firmly, "Not at all".
"Day to day operations is by the management team which reports to the board and the board meets at least once a month.
"Certain board resolutions require shareholder approval and the shareholder in this case is the Ministry of Finance (MoF). We follow this procedure in the governance of the company.
"Our communications are through MoF as the shareholder. There is a committee in the MoF set up last yearr to assist in the rationalization process. We meet with this committee every two weeks or so to present updates from which shareholder decisions are made and the prime minister is not on that committee.
When asked if Najib as chairman of 1MDB's board of advisers come to see him regularly, Arul dispelled the notion.
"The board of advisers is a purely advisory entity, there is no legal authority. The legal authority resides in the management, board of directors and MoF.
"I am sure everyone will understand that 1MDB is but one among hundreds if not thousands of companies owned by the government," he highlighted the impossible task for a ruling prime minister to have any decision making role in all these companies.
Questions about 1MDB's alleged non-compliance with regulatory authorities worldwide was brought up in reference to Bank Negara Governor's recent statement on administrative action, the financial investigation being conducted by Swiss authorities and land valuations as well as financial transactions that suggest the deals were not conducted with due process and at arms length, to which Arul patiently pointed out the facts repeatedly when he was allowed to finish his answers without being interrupted.
After all the hue and cry over unseen political puppet masters having an invisible hand in moving the actors around in the 1MDB saga, Arul responded professionally.
Pic: BFM"Again, I have said this many times, I am not a politician, I can only speak from the perspective of 1MDB. From our perspective, we have always cooperated, we have always maintained that if any wrongdoing is found, action must be taken.
"1MDB is a business issue or business challenge that has been politicized.
"From my perspective, I was brought in to do a job, and that job was to help the company resolve its challenges. Alhamdulillah, I can say that we have achieved that," he stated with conviction.
He then painted an analogy of 1MDB as a person being involved in a major car crash in 2014 when the IPO of Edra Energy did not materialize which resulted in the company being in ICU the whole of 2015 and having turned a crucial recovery milestone, it is now in rehabilitation and undergoing physiotherapy in 2016.
However, his analogy drew a humourous retort from the interviewers, asking, "were you driving too fast to end up in the ICU in the first place?"
"I am pleased to say we have achieved what we set out to do, which is to repay the debts or match the future maturity of the debts with stable, steady and defined cash flows," Arul sums up the facts.
His statement reaffirms what international rating agency Moody's announced yesterday that 1MDB no longer represents a threat to the nation's financial health.
Arul revealed a little more of his personal insight into this trial by media experience he was thrown into since assuming the helm when asked what was he thinking when he accepted the job.
"I looked at it purely as a restructuring job. Little did I expect the investigative aspects of it and also political aspects of it. These came after I took on the job.
"Frankly, it has been a great learning experience for me. I made some mistakes along the way but overall if asked whether I would do it again, most definitely.
"Why would I do it again? Because I am here to help solve the problem," he concluded.
- mD
