Is Badawi Bailing Out his Friends?

An intriguing and mind-boggling question asked by Jed Yoong in Asia Sentinel, 09 January 2009

Malaysia's cabinet approves a low-cost air terminal to help out a political ally

With barely three months until March when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is due to relinquish his office, he has approved a project that reeks of an attempt to salvage the profitability of conglomerate Sime Darby and to further buoy the country’s budget airline, AirAsia, which is controlled by a Badawi ally, Tony Fernandes.

Over the objections of listed Malaysia Airports Bhd, which operates the current Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang and 38 other airports around the country, and which is also building a new permanent low-cost carrier terminal to replace its current facility, Sime Darby and AirAsia have been given the green light by the government to construct a new terminal in Labu, Negeri Sembilan, about 50km from Kuala Lumpur, and 10 km from KL International.

Well Jed, nobody knows for sure. Turning back the pages to the day since he assumed the premiership 5 years ago, you may be right. But certainly the decision raised a big biq ? for the Malaysian public to ponder.